Chapter 5: Prepare for Battle!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The day passed in the blink of an eye.
Murphy felt a little dispirited when he got up the next day because he had slept in the study the previous night, and hadn't slept well on the sofa.
The maid helped him get dressed, and he had a simple oat drink for breakfast. Then, he went to the barracks to prepare the supplies needed to train the two teams of Greek infantry.
Yesterday afternoon, he had sent the cavalry out to patrol the area and realized that there were more active gnolls in their immediate vicinity.
To make matters worse, there were even sightings of gnolls, and some gnolls, which were gathering, had shown up on the Strategy Map.
This wasn't a good sign!
According to Murphy's estimation, these gnolls had probably been attracted to the group of aborigines they had rescued yesterday.
"It seems like there's more to that woman than I initially thought!" Murphy said as he frowned at the red dots that were gradually condensing together on the strategy map. Deep down, he realized he may have inadvertently invited trouble yesterday when he had taken in the aborigines.
Because the blacksmith had yet to be built, the weapons and armor needed to train the army were all provided by the auxiliary system. There were approximately 1,200 pieces, which was enough to equip about five to six Greek infantry or ten to twelve citizen hoplites. This military equipment hadn't yet been added into the system's resources data, but was instead being stored in the warehouse.
At the moment, more than 300 grown men had already gathered in the town military barracks, and they were distributing weapons one at a time to prepare the army.
Because of the large-scale gathering of the gnolls, Murphy had to get up earlier the next day to begin training the new army. The person in charge of training the soldiers was the newly promoted all-rounder general, Hamilton. There were 300 men in the new army, which was nearly one-third of the young laborers in town. These citizens were all tall and muscular, and their physiques were all above average. All they lacked were some fighting skills.
The training time estimated by the auxiliary system was one round, which was equivalent to one month.
But Murphy couldn't wait that long. He gave Hamilton three days to teach the men simple combat skills, and the basics on how to cooperate with each other. The key to the Greek phalanx was to strike with spears and block counterattacks with shields. These Greek residents, who originally belonged to the town, knew this, and with the general's guidance, they should soon have basic combat effectiveness.
Murphy didn't expect them to have the same combat effectiveness as the Greek infantry after such a short period of time, but when they were equipped with some basic infantry equipment, wouldn't they at least be as effective in combat as a military?
The barracks were equipped with five instructors, but due to a lack of experience, these instructors hadn't yet reached the level of general.
The auxiliary system didn't stipulate that the army could only train one team at a time, and it allowed the army to conduct simultaneous trainings. Moreover, under the general's supervision, the training would be more effective. At present, Murphy couldn't estimate the bonus value he'd receive from this. However, this morning, when he had returned from inspecting the cultivated land, the recruits in the barracks had already started Assassination training.
Murphy had assigned an uninjured team of Greek infantry to the lumber yard. As the town was currently undergoing rapid development, there was a large demand for wood. He used a relatively old and simple method of communication within the town, so that when the gnolls attacked he'd be able to mobilize the army.
This relatively old method was—setting smoke signals.
The spring wheat was planted, and simple ditch irrigation was completed. At present, about 1000 mu of cultivated land required 500 people to maintain it. Murphy transferred the approximately 700 remaining people over to build the wooden wall.
The budget for the wall given by the auxiliary system was 800 silver coins for the required two rounds of construction.
Two months was a long time, and Murphy couldn't wait that long. But the auxiliary system's date was just a vague guide. It might take two months to complete the construction of the wooden wall. However, if its foundation was reinforced and it was made taller, the wooden wall didn't need to be completed for it to do a good job at defending the town from the gnolls.
This was the point where data and reality differed.
It was the same with the port. According to the data given by the auxiliary system, the current progress on the port was less than 10%. The foundation hadn't even been built yet, but the simple fishing boats had already been sent out on the river. In fact, the herald had just sent some fat herrings to Murphy, saying that the fishermen had sent them to honor the Governor. Herring is a kind of fish with good quality meat and high oil content. They're mainly found out in the sea, but there are also freshwater species. Schools of herring are incredibly large. To the west of Nidoria river was the sea, so if there were several schools of herring nearby, then the benefits to the fishing industry would undoubtedly be great!
After a long period of time, one thing had become clear to Murphy. The auxiliary system was to give him guidance in terms of data. However, after the data was linked to reality, there would be certain fluctuations, and he was required to be the judge of those fluctuations.
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While Murphy was dealing with the various issues in the town of Athens, the aborigines were carefully watching this town, which seemed to have fallen from the sky.
At the moment, the middle-aged knight of the aborigines was standing behind the cloaked woman and was reporting information about the town. "Marchioness, the residents of the town are very careful. They seem to be very repulsed by outsiders, and don't talk much with strangers."
"Don't call me the Marchioness," the veiled woman said, frowning slightly. Her attractive voice had a special charm to it. She looked coldly at the flower garden in the Governor's Mansion and said, "The coward who ran away from his city, his people, and even his wife wasn't worthy of being a nobleman!"
"Yes, Lady Elizabeth." the middle-aged man said in a deep voice as his eyes flicked over her.
Deep sorrow flashed in the eyes of the woman who had been addressed as Lady Elizabeth, and she said softly, "You didn't hear anything at all?"
"I only heard that they claim to be Greeks, and that the town is named after Athens. The god of their faith is a goddess named Athena, and the residents here call her the goddess of wisdom. This town is named after Athens, and it seems that the citizens here worship this goddess of wisdom." After thinking for a moment, the middle-aged knight said, "The young lord named Murphy is greatly esteemed by the citizens. The group of soldiers who all have knight-level combat effectiveness are called Spartan Warriors. They are the most powerful soldiers of this Greek people, and are known as the guardians of Greek civilization!"
"Greeks? There seems to be no such people in the southern plains? Are they from overseas, or another land?" the veiled woman thought as she closed her eyes, pondering these people who had suddenly appeared. There were many fertile lands on the mainland that were occupied by other intelligent creatures or magical beasts. The southern plains were land that had been left behind after the war between humans and gnolls. Mankind has always tried to expand their territory, but because of the dangers in these dark lands, there were never able to make much progress.
One hundred and twenty years ago, mankind had made great efforts to open up the southern wilderness, as they wanted to open the way to the East. But after encountering a terrible counterattack from other creatures, they had no choice but to abandon their plans to expand their territory.
Because in the deepest parts of the southern wilderness, there was a group of earth dragons.
. . . . . . . . . . . .
In the northeast of the southern wilderness, about 2,500 square kilometers of land belonged to the earth dragons. All creatures that invaded their territory would be strongly countered. The human army had suffered unprecedented losses after recklessly breaking in!
"This land originally belonged to West Morton, but it was deserted as early as a year ago, and all the nearby citizens were moved to the rear of the human forces," the veiled woman said as she surveyed the busy scene outside the Governor's Mansion. "These Greeks won't be here for long," she said softly.
"Because the humans migrated away, mostly females were left behind in the nearby gnoll clan. Once the gnoll army finds out that humans have regrouped in this area again, it won't be long before the male gnolls form an army and start attacking," the veiled woman said. She surveyed the prosperous scene outside the mansion with cold eyes, and said with a hint of pity, "I wonder how long they'll be able to survive."
"It's hard to say," the middle-aged knight replied slowly.
"How effective is the army named Sparta?" the veiled woman asked suddenly.
"In a one-on-one battle, one warrior's power is similar to that of a crowned knight's," the middle-aged knight said with a solemn expression. "But as an army, even two elite silver shield infantry wouldn't be a match for them!" he said slowly with a trace of admiration.
"They're that strong?!" A stunned expression appeared on the veiled woman's face. She asked suspiciously, "But they don't even have any leather armor apart from a hoplon and a helmet?"
"That's exactly what makes them so powerful!" The middle-aged knight looked on with awe. He said slowly, "Not wearing armor alleviates the burden on their bodies, which increases their endurance and enables them to maximize their combat skills. The only explanation for why they're equipped with just a hoplon is that they trust their comrades and have each other's back. Their trust in their comrades, then, is their strongest armor!"
"But..." The veiled woman trailed off.
"Madam, the most terrifying thing about this army is their courage!" The middle-aged knight continued: "This town is very rich, but these Spartan warriors don't need armor, and the enter the battlefield without it. A round shield is all they need! That is confidence and courage!" When he said this, a trace of admiration appeared on middle-aged knight's face!
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"Then how long will they be able to last?" the veiled woman asked quietly in her attractive voice.
The middle-aged knight could only sigh and say, "If there are more warriors like this... Maybe a miracle will happen..."
-- Gift
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