Summoning Total War

Chapter 70 Ogre (Part 1)

The breeze blows, and a faint radiance falls on the marble sculptures. In the center of the square, a six-meter-high statue stands. The goddess of wisdom, Athena, holds a scepter in one hand and thunder in the other, looking solemnly into the distance.

In the square, six teams of Greek infantry with a total of 480 people formed a neat phalanx. Behind the phalanx were 160 Cretan long archers. The knights of the general's guard lined up on the left side of the statue, while the Spartan heavy-armed fanatical infantry stood solemnly behind Murphy. There are currently more than a thousand soldiers in the territory, accounting for 20% of the territory's population. Excluding women, children and children, about one-third of the adult men have been recruited as soldiers.

Counting the 2,000 serfs given to Murphy by Lady Elizabeth, the total population of the town of Athens now reaches 7,000. It has been able to upgrade the territory into a city and build a more magnificent governor's palace and many buildings.

However, problems also emerged.

That is, the labor force in the territory is not enough, because the cultivated farmland has expanded several times, and after excluding the fishermen and farmers, the labor force that can be recruited in the territory is seriously insufficient. Upgrading from a large town to a city is not a simple matter. It takes nearly half a year to build many buildings, expand streets, plan new residential areas, etc. In addition, what is more important is that in Murphy's plan, after the territory is upgraded to a town, a moat will be dug outside the town.

This moat will become a barrier for the town, and after the territory is upgraded from a city to a large city, Murphy plans to expand an outer city again outside of this moat, while the original town will exist as an inner city.

There is a moat in the inner city, and a wider moat is dug in the outer city.

That's Murphy's current urban plan.

As we all know, digging rivers is a very labor-intensive task. Especially in an era when the level of science and technology was relatively low, this required recruiting most of the labor force in the territory and took a long time.

The labor force in the territory is already severely insufficient.

After the two new teams of Greek infantry were trained, Murphy immediately no longer hesitated and decided to personally lead the team to the Barren Stone Highlands to capture the goblin slaves. Priests of Athena, the goddess of wisdom, have mastered how to enslave goblins and make these cunning creatures more honest. This eliminates the need for domestication by slave merchants. As long as the goblin slaves are captured, they can be used as coolies to dig moats in a few days.

There are a large number of goblin groups scattered on the rocky highlands west of the Nidolia River. Most of these goblin groups have a population of between 400 and 2,000. They have no connection with each other, so it is convenient for Murphy to deal with them one by one. According to the slave merchant Plife, it is conservatively estimated that there are close to half a million goblin slaves living in the Deserted Stone Highlands!

"This is a considerable amount of slave resources!" After getting this information, this was the first thought that popped into Murphy's mind.

As for the food for these goblin slaves, Murphy doesn't have to worry at all.

There are still hundreds of gnoll corpses in the territory, and these corpses have always been used as food for kobold slaves. Gnoll corpses can also be used as rations for goblins in the future.

As a qualified lord, Murphy has always deliberately avoided bringing in personal emotions when dealing with things.

Since the furs of gnolls can be exchanged for income, why can't their corpses be used as rations for slaves? There is no need for any mercy towards these man-eating species. At least for now, Murphy does not consider consuming precious food on those slaves. With these jackal meats, you can feed them by just adding some chaff.

"Soldiers, today we are going to capture a creature called goblins. Although they are short and cunning, they are good slaves! Slaves can work for us and bring us income! With the development of the city, we need a lot of Slaves come to work for us." This time there was no need to announce any pre-war mobilization. Murphy just briefly stated the purpose of his trip.

There are currently twelve teams of Greek infantry in the territory, three teams of Cretan longbowmen, two teams of elite Macedonian light cavalry, and a total of 400 Athenian longbowmen who are undergoing training and have not yet completed their formation. Murphy decided to take away about half of his troops during this trip. General Leo Dallie was responsible for staying in the territory, while Murphy took the newly promoted general Marcus Kane with him.

Just in case, Murphy brought along the Spartan heavy-armed fanatic infantry.

With these majestic figures in bright red cloaks beside him, Murphy believed that even if something unexpected happened, he would be able to cope with it.

Six companies of Greek infantry marched forward, followed closely by the knights of the general's guard. Murphy, the newly recruited Cretan long archer, also brought two teams, mainly to test their combat effectiveness and reduce casualties, so as to achieve zero casualties as much as possible. After all, if the regular army is used to deal with these small goblins, who are only equipped with simple weapons, there will basically be no casualties if they are a little careful.

The group headed north of the port, where a newly established fleet of boats would transport the soldiers across the river.

In addition, Murphy also brought along a talent recommended by the slave merchant Plife, an aborigine who knew part of the goblin language. Murphy wants to capture the goblins as slaves, not kill them all. So someone who knows goblin language is still needed.

Because goblins really don't pose much of a threat, Murphy only brought a small amount of holy water with him on this trip.

It is worth mentioning that after the temple was upgraded to a second-level temple, the validity time of the holy water was extended from the original twenty-four hours to forty-eight hours. In other words, the holy water can now be kept for two days after leaving the temple. Murphy estimated that when the Territory builds a Pantheon of Leadership, the holy water will be effective for seven days or even more than half a month after it is brought out of the temple!

This means that holy water will not only be useful in defense, but also can be brought as a medicine reserve during attack.

Although the holy water has powerful healing effects, Murphy has always felt that it was a pity that it lost its effect after 24 hours, because if he took the initiative to attack, it would take more than just one day. Now with the upgrade of the temple, the effective time of the holy water has also been extended. Before the military sacrifices became large-scale, it can be said that the effect was quite amazing!

After more than a month of accumulation, the amount of holy water in the temple is now considerable, which can fully support a large-scale battle.

To the west of the Nidolia River, there is a barren rocky highland.

This is the scattered settlement of goblins, located in the northwest of the continent. Beyond it is the Salma Basin where the centaur tribe lives. Now they are at war with a powerful species called mammoths in the north of the continent.

It was about three o'clock in the afternoon. The army passed through a vast grassland and circled into the Yellowstone Highlands from the north.

The other side of the Nidoria River is also a fertile land, but it is the outer territory of the Centaur tribe. In autumn and winter, part of the centaur tribe will migrate here from the Salma Basin in search of new pastures for grazing. It is impossible to obtain food for a strong group by hunting alone. These centaurs are somewhat similar to herders in Tibetan areas. In addition to grazing, they also plant some simple crops. However, the nature of the race prevents them from settling down in this place and living a farming life like humans.

Goblins can also plant, but they don't have the intelligence of humans.

They just throw the seeds into relatively fertile soil and then leave them alone. Maybe they also know that they should spread more fertilizer in the fields, but that's all.

These small, cunning creatures are more interested in gathering in groups to rob passing creatures.

Or gather enough people to rob other ethnic groups.

After the army entered the Yellowstone Highlands, Murphy ordered the cavalry of the General Guard to radiate outward at a 180-degree angle to survey the surrounding terrain.

Because he discovered that the auxiliary system of "Total War" included the places he passed into the statistics of the strategic map, and some areas with other biological activities were also marked one by one. Just like the place about fifty kilometers west of the Nidoria River, the label of the "Total War" auxiliary system shows that there is a pack of wolves moving nearby!

"It seems that the strategic map system is not only useful within the territory, but also places outside the territory can be included in the statistics." Murphy was overjoyed and immediately discovered the huge value hidden in the strategic map!

The light cavalry probed the terrain in a radial pattern, while the Greek infantry continued to advance in a straight line after a brief rest.

As the cavalry of the general's guard opened the map bit by bit, some small-scale goblin groups were marked on the strategic map one by one.

Most of these goblin groups live in peripheral areas, with small territories and small populations.

They are mostly losers, lazy, cowardly and fearful of death who were expelled from the larger group. Of course, goblins are inherently such creatures. These goblins living in peripheral areas were despised by goblins in other groups because they were too lazy, timid and afraid of death, and were eventually expelled. They are at the bottom of the goblin tribe and are often the target of plunder by other large groups of goblins.

There are many such small groups with a population of between 300 and 500 scattered around the outskirts of the Yellowstone Highlands.

They will attack weak races in the past. If they encounter lone centaurs and other races, they will also use their crooked brains.

Murphy doesn't like the small tribes that appear on the auxiliary system map of "Total War". Besides, the terrain here is relatively open, and there are so many soldiers on our side. I am afraid that the first thing these goblins thought of after reacting was to escape. It is too troublesome to catch such small groups one by one.

Murphy's plan was to find a few goblin groups with a population of more than a thousand to operate on.

This saves time.

Until late in the evening, after about thirty kilometers deep into the barren stone highlands, the first goblin group marked by the "Total War" auxiliary system as having a large number of people appeared in Murphy's eyes.

These goblins live near a bush, next to a small river, about five kilometers away from Murphy.

"All troops rest." Murphy looked at the sky and decided to wait until dark before launching an attack.

Because it is easier to surround.

He has no interest in catching those goblins one by one.