5 HEAVY INFANTRY
The head servant, Arcia knocked on my door and gently said,
"My lord, the mayor came to the manor with urgent news on the barbarian attack. He wants to talk to you about that."
When I heard that I got up my from rest and followed Arcia to the living room. The mayor, the burly scout and also two new faces are waiting for me. They greeted in unison standing and I told them to take a seat as it is awkward for only me to sit. After sitting on the comfy sofa, two members exclaimed. It must have been their first time to see such a thing as only the manor is modern and the remaining places are primitive. The mayor introduced the two new men as Poka and Miller. They are the head of infantry and archer units.
"Klint, report to the lord what you have seen?", the mayor said
The burly scout whose name I heard for the first time replied, "My lord, Your revelation is correct. We have observed a huge barbarian group coming towards the village. They are on a 10-12 hours journey away as they are moving at a slow speed. With the help of the skills you gave me, the horse speed tripled and I was able to reach the village quickly. The others are still monitoring the situation outside as their horses are slow."
"Okay, tell me what kind of barbarian army you saw."
"Yes, my lord. The army mainly consists of infantry with heavy armor. This is the reason behind their low mobility. The group marching towards the village consists of approximately 1000-1500 barbarians. Though there are people of all ages and all genders, all of them fight. Also, we encountered some barbarian scouts on the way. They are skilled and our past selves could have easily killed by them. So, we can assume all the other scouts to be dead. Since our skills improved because of your divine abilities, we managed to fight with them. On our side, there are zero casualties and we managed to kill all of them except one who fled away."
After listening to Klint's words, all the faces listening to him darkened. I have expected the task of 'hard' difficulty. But it turned to be an 'impossible' difficulty. A 400 strong army without a proper wall defending a 1500 strong army in the worst case would be death to everyone in the village.
The mayor said in a panicked manner, "That shouldn't be the case. This village doesn't have anything for them to steal. Why are they attacking us?"
I also wondered about the same thing. But the important thing is to think of a way to solve this problem. I have won lots of fights in the game, but the fights are between people of a similar level. My best win against someone of higher level is I won against someone who is two levels more than me using some tactics and superior commanders. But this is like a Level 1 city fighting against a Lvl 10 one. The power difference is huge and there is very little time to prepare also.
The only good news is the enemy mainly consists of heavy infantry. Their mobility is very less and therefore, they are very bad at attacking. I asked Poka and Miller of their opinions about how to tackle the problem. Poka, the infantry unit head stayed silent, whereas Miller,
"Since archers are natural enemies of infantry, we can kill as many as possible before they reach the wall. Afterward, the infantry and cavalry can defend."
The strategy is very basic and even small children will know about it. I just ignored what he said and asked them about the terrain around the wall.
Klint replied, "There is space around the northern and western side of the wall. But the eastern and southern side is covered with dense forest. It should be very hard for us to use the archery for our advantage in the east and south sides."
I asked him, "Which direction do you think they will attack?"
"If they follow the route which they have been following till the time I saw them, they would reach the south-western side of the wall."
"Okay, let's do this. Let's lead them to the southern side of the wall using fast cavalry. Let's build small fences in front of the already existing wall using the wood logs that are present in the storage. They don't need to be strong or high. If they can stop the barbarians for enough time for archers to retreat to inner walls, that should be sufficient. Scouts should make sure they don't get any intel and also they have to act as communication between cavalry and defense army. Infantry will just protect the archers. I will use my abilities to upskill some of the commanders and soldiers."
After listening to my monologue, everyone made some 'This cannot be done' faces. I just ignored them and again said,
"Mayor, gather as much as labor available to build the wooden walls. Tell them they need to work just this night to save their village and live tomorrow. The remaining people will take me to the army headquarters. I will grant skills to talented soldiers."
After seeing my face with a resolution, all the people gave up on suggesting something else largely because they don't want to offend their lord. One of the servants inside the manor drove me on the horse cart and the mayor, Klint, Poka, and Miller rode their horses. The mayor went his own way and the others said they will reach the headquarters quickly and make arrangements.
On the way, I thought of how to distribute skills to soldiers and the feasibility of the plan. Many things can go wrong with the strategy. The scouts need to be alert and eliminate the enemy scouts, cavalry need to be very skilled to lure the enemy, archers need to be efficient and kill as many barbarians as possible and the new wooden fences need to thwart infantry from approaching the archers.
I cannot help with wooden fences for now as it will require granting lumberjack and carpenter skills. It is better to use my MP for granting skills to soldiers as the amount required for soldiers is less than that of lumberjacks and carpenters. I opened the commander grant and infantry grant skill page and looked at the details.
Skill - Lvl 1 Commander Grant
You can convert a normal villager into a commander. The commander gains the ability to effectively command the soldiers and lead them to victory. Each commander has multiple skills, active and passive that they can unlock as their overall level increases.
Requirement - 50 MP, a Level 2 soldier with a special bloodline
Skill - Lvl 1 Infantry Grant
You can convert a normal villager into an infantry soldier. The soldier's overall strength and fighting ability improve.
Requirement - 5 MP and a Level 1 soldier
Currently, only an infantry grant is available. But in the current war, archery and cavalry are more important. So, it is better to make archery and cavalry commanders though the amount of MP required is high. Also, I don't know what would happen if my level increases. If the archery and cavalry grants get unlocked, then it is worth trying. Only side objectives give experience for now. Granting skills for 5 people will be done that will get me 10 experience. I opened the Farmer grant skill and Build farm pages to see how easy it is to build a farm.
Skill - Lvl 1 Farmer Grant
You can convert a normal villager into a farmer.
Requirement - 2 MP and a normal villager
Lvl. 1 Farm - 500 Wood
Food production rate - 500/month
Requirement - 500 Wood, 2 Lvl. 1 Farmers and 3x3 units of land
Time taken - 1 hour
The MP requirement and time taken are low but the amount of wood required is very high. I don't know how much wood is required for the building fences. If I can build a farm, I will get 5 Exp and a new side objective. I will send someone to the mayor later to ask how much wood is needed.
The army headquarters is in sight and I saw Poka and an unknown woman standing near the entrance to welcome me.
