Chapter 39：Organizing my Troops

After the preparations and assigning the positions of various Generals who were appointed just for the sake of this defense, Old Man Reol sent me and the 300 barbarians under me to the Western side of the tribe.

Along with another General who has the same amount of barbarians under him, we were to hold that position.

This will be the first time I will experience a battle of this scale. My Adaptability is working fine and it's clear to me what I shall do but even with that, I can't help but feel nervous. Is this because of me being inexperienced? No. I'm just probably overthinking again. I have to calm down.

It's true that warfare was pretty common back on Earth but everything I saw was either from movies or history books. No matter how good the movies or how accurate the books are, even the books about military strategies, this world is different. To apply the tactics here with the barbarians who have superhuman strength and skills that are not existing on Earth, it will be hard.

Especially what we will face are a mix of Wild Beasts, Corrupted Barbarians and Dark Beastmasters.

We have knowledge about the Corrupted Barbarians and Wild Beasts, but about the Dark Beastmasters, we only know that they can tame Wild Beasts forcefully. But surely that's not the extent of their strength, right?

That's what I have to look out for. I don't know if these 300 barbarians under me will live through this but I'll do everything to support them all.

"General, a message."

A barbarian came running in front of me. Old Man Reol set up the Great Hall as the center of command.

He will standby there while giving orders to the generals around the tribe.

According to the scouts he sent, the enemy will appear from the Southwestern direction. The place where we were stationed would not endure the full brunt of the enemy.

"What is it?"

"The enemies will arrive in an hour. Their vanguard are the Wild Beasts, behind it are the Corrupted Barbarians who have the size of at least 5 medium tribes which were led by one King Realm."

Hearing about it and seeing it will probably not be the same thing. Will we be fine? It will be too chaotic.

I tried to incorporate some tactics to the barbarians around me. I only picked this up from that one manga which featured melee warfare from Ancient China. This way the chain of command will not be disoriented. Each of them will have their own role.

These barbarians are all skilled at fighting anyway, organizing them like this, let's hope it will make a difference.

With Ophelia as the only Saint Realm, she'll be the head of the 300 barbarians, my orders will first go through her as the Commander.

The 300 barbarians will then be broken down up to the smallest unit.

Sixty 5-man Squad with each squad led by at least 3rd Stage Augmented Realm.

Six 50-man Platoons with each platoon comprising ten 5-man Squad and will be led by a 5th Stage Augmented Realm.

Combining the six 50-man Platoon will be the 300-Army led by Ophelia.

Each Squad will fight together and the Squad Leader will receive the orders from the Platoon Commander above him.

And those Platoon Commanders will then take the orders from Ophelia, my appointed Army Commander.

And above Ophelia will be me, Erin and Avelin will be at my side. As bodyguards?

Well no, I just want them to be near me in the upcoming chaotic battle. We will provide support to any Squad or Platoon that needs help.

The messenger left after bringing that message and then I relayed it to Ophelia. She'll be the one relaying the message to those under her.

When the message reached everyone's ears. All of them tensed up. One hour.

The battle will soon come to us.

From where I was, I smiled at seeing the distinction and organization of this 300-man Army from Squads to Platoons.

I tried using the Orb of Enhancement to see if I can enhance all 300 of my subordinates.

It worked but it took five minutes of channeling the Brute Energy to cover all of us.

I can cast it at the start but when it wears off, that five minutes needed to channel the Brute Energy can be proven to be fatal. Plus there's also the cooldown time of 10 minutes.

"I have a suggestion."

When the two girls saw me mulling over what to do. Avelin raised her hand and declared.

"I have a suggestion as well."

Then Erin also raised her hand. This girl. Is she trying to compete with Avelin?

"I also have a suggestion, General."

And Ophelia at my back waiting for orders also opened her mouth.

Well, let's hear their suggestion. It's not a bad idea to hear what they wanted to suggest. Erin and Avelin experienced how useful the Enhancement Aura is and Ophelia, well, she had just experienced it and according to her, it increased her strength for at least 30%.

"You first, Avelin."

"What if you reduced the number who will be enhanced?"

Her suggestion is good. It will reduce the channeling time.

"Next, Erin."

"I'll add to her suggestion. Those who were not enhanced by the aura will be on standby."

Well, it's not good to send them when they're not enhanced. They won't be able to keep up to those who have the aura.

"Last, Ophelia."

"I'll also add to their suggestion, only enhance three Platoons, when the effect wore off, they will be substituted by the other three Platoons who were on standby."

I see. Half the numbers will reduce the channeling time to two and a half minutes.

But there's still a problem. The enhancement buff lasts for ten minutes and the cooldown time is another ten minutes. Then it won't be much different from enhancing everyone and resisting the enemy for fifteen minutes.

Ah.

I guess I'll stretch it out. Everyone has limited stamina, only willpower will not tide them through if they get exhausted right in the middle of fighting against an enemy.

"Thank you for your suggestions. I decided what we will do."

The three stood in attention. All their suggestions piled up to one another is already a great plan. But I have to add up my own improvisation.

"Like you all said, Avelin, I'll reduce the number of who will I enhance."

I first turned to Avelin, when she heard I considered her suggestion, she showed a happy expression.

"Then Erin, you're right. Those not enhanced will be on standby, providing support from a distance. We have Bow and Arrows prepared to reduce the pressure for those fighting at the front. They will alternately shoot arrows to preserve their strength."

Erin also happily jumped but when she remembered that's not how she usually acted, she turned red from embarrassment.

The bows and arrows weren't made from wood. They're all made from wild beasts' bones and tendons. Because of the lack of wood, the blacksmiths here made use of bones that they couldn't chew. They mix it with the metals they mined to make arrows and arrowheads. The bows were made from durable but flexible bones and the bowstrings were made from tendons.

However, the barbarians favor close range combat so only large tribes like this use them.

Using it is easy but to accurately hit someone from a distance, that's what irked them the most. They'd rather charge towards their enemy with their own weapons in hand than aim to hit someone from a distance.

"Ophelia, you're right. Enhancing half of them at first is a good idea, but those who will substitute won't be enhanced, so I'm thinking to pull back the frontline and passively maintain the position until the cooldown ends and enhance them."

Right. When the enhancement wears off, I'll support the barbarians that will be sent next using Physique Boost until the Orb can be used again. Those who were sent first will take their places of providing support using the bow and arrows while they recover.

This way we would always have rested barbarians to take the frontline.

"The general is wise. I support this plan."

"Alright, then relay the message, Ophelia, I'll leave it to you which platoons will be sent first."

"Understood."

When Ophelia left, Avelin and Erin stayed at their position. These girls are also waiting for what order I will give them.

"You two, you'll stay with me. Ophelia will command the 300 barbarians. I will be walking around the battlefield, sending Physique Boost to anyone that might need it."

"I see, so we'll protect our General?"

Avelin, no I just want you to be by my side. There will surely be casualties here and you're still at 1st Stage Augmented Realm. You need more time to grow.

"This monster doesn't need our protection. I'm sure he just doesn't want us to leave his side."

Erin, I won't praise you for getting the correct answer.

She will most possibly be smug again if I confirmed her guess.

In one hour the battle will start. I wonder. Will we really be fine? Ah. I should look at the brighter side. What we're facing is just the detached force.

Raiden and the tribe's army will face their main forces. But what about the other tribe? If their Chieftain was killed by Raiden, will they submit to him and join hands to repel the marching army of the Invading World?

Ah. I shouldn't worry about his side for now. Old Man Reol is confident with him. That guy is strong, maybe if he and Yuko fight each other, it will end in a draw.

Surely, they prepared countermeasures so they can face those enemies without worrying for retaliation from that other tribe.

For now, the battle here is my concern. We'll live through this. I'll make sure of that.