Chapter 561: Prepare For Battle, All Forces Set Out!
[Doomsday Calendar Month 4, Day 13… Wednesday]
[Lord: Su Mo (Host)]
[Territory status: A small self-sufficient territory with limited residential buildings and human ecological facilities, it can barely maintain the normal survival of about 2,000 people, but because most of the land in the territory has suffered minor natural disasters, the land potential is rapidly decreasing, and if measures are not taken to remediate it in time, the number of people that can be accommodated will gradually decline.]
[Territory area: 150 square kilometers (Not too small but not really big. Your living s.p.a.ce is sufficient but lacks strategic options and depth.)]
[Territory resources: Iron ore, oil, geothermal steam…The land has been cultivated…(The territory has basic industrial development resources, a small number of survival resources to meet the needs of planting, and enough resources to supply the survival needs of a small population.)]
[Territory potential: 21.90 (Current New World average is 7.89; highest New World score is 1225.45)]
[Weather forecast: The territory will be sunny tomorrow, the temperature will be -11 to 4 degrees, and the northeastern wind will be 3-4 (The weather will be chilly, and the air humidity is high. It is recommended to keep warm when performing outdoor activities to prevent the occurrence of chronic diseases.)]
…
[Territory residents: 1405 people (Expand +)]
[Territory residents’ loyalty level]: 100% (Stable loyalty levels means that your policy implementations will not meet any resistance.)]
[Territory residents’ att.i.tude: Excited (Appropriate rest and disclosure of the external war strategy could greatly improve the cohesion of the territory residents.)]
[Territory residents’ health level: Very poor (76% of residents have health levels of 40~50, 14% of residents have health levels of 50 to 60, 6% of residents have health levels of 60 to 70, and 4% >70)]
[Territory residents’ work efficiency rate: 69% (A few people have begun to experience complications due to the lack of sufficient vitamins for a long time. You’re advised to please pay attention and take proper measures.)]
[Territory residents’ needs: War, harvest, sufficient resources]
[Tip: A comfortable environment is not the central theme of the doomsday wasteland. The stimulation of necessary war and harvest will not only not reduce the confidence of the territorial residents but instead, give them the motivation to move forward courageously.]
…
[Economy: Basic trades (You have a simple trading environment insideyour territory, and there have corresponding trading allies outside, but because there is no suitable transportation route established, the current transportation can only be carried out physically byhumans)]
[Technology: Energy (Main), Machinery (Sub), Medical treatment…]
[Medical care: External injuries]
[Law enforcement: Excellent (When war breaks out, everyone will consciously abide by the legal provisions because they know clearly that it is not to restrain thembut to protect them)]
[Infrastructure: Basic village, heating system, basic energy excavation site, broken “cradle of mechanical masters”]
[Special attributes: Little Blessed Land]
[Civilization level: Primitive Age (Upgrade requirements: Not fulfilled; Progress: 89%)]
[Voices of the Wind:]
“Winter is coming, and there’s still a huge lack of black stones for heating. Send an order to increase the mining volume of all Black Stone Camps. Be sure to fill the gap before winter!”
“Prepare to attack! The longer we stay on this big mountain, the lazier we become! We have used this opportunity to take over a suitable place to develop when most aren’t paying attention!”
“I wonder how’s the progress of Su Mo’s development in the basin. The blizzard is coming soon!”
[Points Acquisition Rating: Qualified (Expand +)]
Su Mo sat on the shelter’s hilltop and sharpened his knife while paying attention to the daily system announcement that popped up precisely at eight o’clock.
The battle with the dwarves was imminent, and although Su Mo, the territory lord, did not have to partic.i.p.ate, it was on his mind the whole night. He was unable to get adequate sleep.
After having breakfast in the morning, Su Mo had to rely on sharpening his knife to keep himself focused.
‘Not bad. The energy stone’s upgrade has greatly increased the potential of the territory. This is way more cost-effective than investing the points and distributing them across the land!
‘Next time, I’ll focus on upgrading the resources first unless there are no available resource upgrades, then I’ll invest them into other potentials. That would be much more reasonable!’
It cost 10 territory points to upgrade the energy stone mine and it correspondingly increased the potential value by a little over 8 points.
At first glance, the energy stone mine on the panel did not have a huge positive effect.
Over time, when the energy stone began to be fully utilized in the territory, the development progress brought on by it would definitely be dozens or hundreds of times more potent than the highest potential value of all of the New World!
Su Mo glanced down the panel and saw that the villagers were eager for war. He paused for a moment but was not surprised.
There was no need for the system to remind him. After Chen Shen announced that the basin had entered a state of war last night, the spirit of all the villagers had undergone a sudden change.
After understanding that more people would be joining the territory in the future, those who wanted just to survive now wanted to live better.
This was the intuitive impact of implementing personal a.s.sets and the inevitable result of everyone’s ambitions.
‘Everyone wants to win a battle, yet only a few understand how terrifying a real war is!’ Su Mo sighed, and the image of the cyborgs and Demon clan at war in Freedom City flashed through his mind.
It was as the daily announcement suggested. Sometimes, being overly protective of the villagers was not necessarily a good thing.
Sacrifice and bloodshed would force the villagers to understand the urgency and speed up their steps.
Su Mo shook his head slightly as he thought about the population in the village and dispelled the idea of taking risks in the current state.
It would be possible to launch an official war if they had a population of at least 20,000 or even 30,000 people in the basin, so even if there were some casualties, it would still be acceptable.
They only had 1,000 people, and if they were to fight right now, even if no one was killed, it would be a great burden if many people were injured.
‘Let’s not think about it anymore. It’s useless to keep thinking about it. I’ll wait for Marshal w.a.n.g to return before I decide anything.
‘The Voices of the Wind brought three messages. Wait…’
Su Mo’s thoughts drifted to the mountains when thinking of the population issue.
‘Marshal w.a.n.g had just left. It would at least take ten days to travel back and forth. It’s useless for me to be in a rush.’ Su Mo immediately dropped the thought.
His line of vision turned downward to the Voices of the Wind and he was suddenly energetic.
‘Is the first one from the dwarves’ lord?
‘That means they have more than one coal base camp, but it makes sense. After all, they have a population of more than 500,000, and it’s only natural for them to have greater pressure on heating.’
The first voice was of an old acquaintance. Su Mo laughed out loud after hearing the first sentence.
A large population and a large territory are sometimes a good thing and sometimes a bad thing.
Usually, they could quickly swarm and outnumber even a powerful foreigner. No one dared to get on their nerves.
However, with the natural disaster approaching, it would be hard to control such a ma.s.sive population, and there would be an excellent opportunity to penetrate their defense!
‘They’re giving me just what I need.
‘The dwarf king’s order has just increased the success rate of our plan by at least 10%
‘Wonderful!’
Su Mo stood up excitedly and picked up his sharpened knife, descending the stairs after receiving the good news that was beneficial to their war.
On the way, he listened to the last two voices.
The second one seemed to be a human voice.
It was an unfamiliar voice and a very vague statement. The person’s ident.i.ty could be roughly identified as someone from the Great Mountain, and his real ident.i.ty could only be confirmed the next time it appeared in the Voices of the Wind.
The third voice was from Long Anguo, shelter leader Long, who Su Mo had not seen for a long time. The concerned voice made his heart warm.
‘The territory points collected today is 1.8 today, and I’ve got a total of 2.7 points.
‘I have a lot of survival points. There are more than 26,000 in total. I can easily solve any problems that arise during the battle with the dwarves!’
Su Mo returned to the sanctuary and started to go through their territory facilities.
The reason why he had not rushed to upgrade the alchemy furnace and other facilities, saving the points until now, was to prepare for the upcoming war.
He had more than 20,000 survival points as backup, and if there happened to be any accidents, he could create a miracle at a critical moment.
“Ahem, Chen Shen. How are preparations?!”
Su Mo took out the small walkie-talkie on his waist, and after a long indistinguishable noise, Chen Shen’s voice came through.
“Shelter leader, the people are in place, those who are responsible for the infiltration mission into Black Stone Base Camp have already left for the border with Li Hu preparing for an ambush.
“The person in charge of resources is also preparing the supplies. We’re estimated to be prepared for departure in half an hour.
“Also, we haven’t heard any news from the ents’ side!”
“Don’t worry. I arranged for them to arrive at nine-thirty in the morning. It’s still more than an hour away. They just haven’t shown up yet. First, arrange our troops and make sure that there aren’t any problems on the way!” Su Mo replied.
“Understood!”
Sizzle.
The walkie-talkie disconnected.
Su Mo re-inserted it into his waistband and returned to the shelter’s second floor, beginning to equip himself layer after layer.
With the previous inventory and a period of stockpiling, the current ammunition in the village had returned to about 2,000 rounds.
They would be able to maintain a head-on fight for a significant amount of time if a small-scale battle occurred.
In addition, they had to ensure to not fall into a pa.s.sive situation.
Therefore, Su Mo arranged another team with explosives in another location that had enough sizable packs of dynamites ready to strike.
Although the current basin did not have high combat power like Freedom City, against the dwarves and ents, with a few preparations and giving it their all, the victor of the war was still unpredictable!
“Su Chan, close the door and don’t let anyone inside after I leave.
“Oreo and Moore will be accompanying me. You’ll be alone in the shelter, so whatever happens, safety comes first!
After putting on all the equipment and seeing Oreo and Moore already standing around rubbing their paws together, Su Mo smiled and worriedly instructed Su Chan.
“Don’t worry. You focus on protecting yourself, don’t worry about me!”
After stepping forward and helping Su Mo straighten the armor on his body, Su Chan glanced at him obediently.
At this moment, she naturally understood the reason for his war.
‘As long as I don’t get in the way, then my mission is considered successful!’ thought Su Chan.
“Okay, I’ll help you close the door after you go up!”
Su Mo nodded thoughtfully, stopped hesitating, and immediately walked up.
Bang!
The door was lowered with a loud creaking sound, and all worries were thrown behind him instantly.
“Oreo, we’re maintaining the same tactic as before. You’re responsible for guarding near me, don’t let anyone notice you.
“Moore, you follow the main troops, and if a battle breaks out, rush to the forefront to support them as soon as possible!
At the village entrance, apart from the 300 people who were to stay behind, the remaining 1,000 people waited neatly.
As he walked over, Su Mo arranged the tasks for the two buddies following him.
In reality, the role of individuals in such a war had become insignificant.
What was important was the power and numbers on both sides.
Oreo was naturally aware of the fact and nodded to show that he understood, then gradually disappeared from sight.
Moore patted his shoulder confidently as if to say, “Leave it up to me.”
“You!”
Su Mo touched Moore’s st.u.r.dy arm affectionately, and the terrified expression Moore had when he first arrived flashed across his mind.
Seconds later, realizing that they were approaching the village, Su Mo turned his head and his eyes filled with determination.
“Shelter leader, the preparations are complete. Shall we set off now?”
Chen Shen ran toward Su Mo with obvious traces of sweat on his face.
This was his first time being in charge of such a big mission. Even if there was a plan in his head and he had already completed several simulations, when really facing reality, there was still a possibility of accidents.
For example, some villagers had stomach aches and went to the toilet, but could not find their posts when they returned.
They looked around, moved between people, and the troop that had managed to get organized suddenly became chaotic again.
Another example was some villagers had a little problem listening, and they were always a step slower when complying with orders. Others had already started to react while they were still asking around. It was really a headache to manage.
Some trained militiamen were evidently more experienced with the order than ordinary villagers, making the chaos of the troop even more prominent.
Fortunately, when Su Mo’s figure appeared in the distance, the team’s order finally improved, which gave him some time off his hands.
“Let’s set out. Remember to stick to the plan. The thousand people will be divided into four groups.
“Intelligence, combat, transportation, logistics, and someone in charge of delegating tasks!”
Last night, after they returned to the basin, Su Mo declared the mission during dinner.
Su Mo did not keep any formalities and directly issued a war order.
“Understood!”
Chen Shen retreated after receiving the order.
Moments later, the troop that had just been sorted started to move chaotically again.
They were divided into four small teams in less than a minute, led by Chen Shen, Pei Shao, Qi Qin, and Wu Feiguang, respectively, which headed in different directions.
The division of teams would inevitably reduce the main troops’ combat strength, but it was not without benefits.
After being divided into four teams, the order was maintained much better.
The person in charge would need to coordinate with the ten-team captains, and each captain selected a deputy captain to manage the 25 people under their command.
“Let’s go, let’s stop standing here. We’ll go to the front line first!”
Su Mo hopped into Earth Tiger and watched the figures slowly disappear from his sight. He narrowed his eyes and recollected himself.
This was his first time being a commander in charge of leading the people on the battlefield. Su Mo thought that he would be enthusiastic and excited but in fact, what he felt was a sense of responsibility similar to walking on thin ice.
The four teams were like a human body’s limbs.
He was like the host of the body that had Parkinson’s disease. Although he knew he had hands and feet, it was difficult to control them to his will.
‘No wonder the ancient historical figures always said it was easy to acquire an army of thousands but hard to find a general who could lead the army.
‘Even with the a.s.sistance of modern communication tools, I still feel the difficulty in commanding a thousand people to fight. It’s hard to imagine how they could control tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of people simultaneously during a war with only communication through people and flags.’
Su Mo filtered the valuable information from the conversation being exchanged through the walkie-talkie, and started drawing and strategizing on the map.
He chose not to resurrect Su Deben as the commander so he could train himself.
The plan this time was divided into three steps.
The first step was to replace the dwarves’ transportation team.
After twelve o’clock, two teams would be dispatched from Black Rock Base Camp to transport the coal from the mine.
Among them, if the dwarf captain in charge of transportation was the one they had information on, then it would be easy to handle.
The attacking troops would swarm and attack them, take them down at the speed of light, and replace the dwarves with Li Hu’s team in disguise.
They would get rid of them, and Li Hu would transform into an ordinary dwarf and escape back with the team. He would still be able to command the units.
The second step was to s.h.i.+ft the dwarves’ attention.
The team would be suspected and questioned if they rashly returned to Black Rock Base Camp and claim they encountered enemy interception.
It was necessary to exert pressure from the outside and give a false appearance to the dwarves inside the base camp.
This was precisely when the ents would make an entrance.
They would not have to attack Black Rock Base Camp and instead just need to make some offensive gestures outside the city, and naturally, the dwarves in Black Rock Case Vamp would recognize them as the attackers.
The dwarves would be able to easily return to the camp without suspicion with the appearance of a powerful enemy outside.
The third step, take advantage of our allies to achieve our goal.
To avoid casualties and reveal the true strength of the basin, the ents’ attack would be used as a feint at most and would not really launch an attack on the base camp.
Therefore, after helping the dwarf team clear their suspicions, they could withdraw temporarily from the scene.
Right now, with the order of the dwarf king and the bad news of the winter approaching, it was impossible for them to abandon Black Stone Base Camp for a few days like last time until guards were sent out to protect the area.
They would definitely take the risk to continue transporting the coal from the mines.
Li Hu, who was disguised as a transporter for the dwarves, could easily play a few tricks and lead the villagers to transport the coal that was meant to be transported to the center of the city directly to the basin’s border.
The whole plan could be considered a perfect plan!