Chapter 363 - 4: Pre-battle Deployment 2

Chapter 363: Chapter 4: Pre-battle Deployment 2

A Level 10 Jade Sanctuary could recruit 200 Druids per day.

A Level 10 Druid Temple could recruit 100 Druid Guards.

A Level 10 Vein of Life could recruit 2 Death Devourers, 100 Withered Messengers, and 400 Shadow Reapers per day.

A Level 10 Shadow Teleportation Gate could recruit 100 Shadow Reapers.

A Level 10 Wall of Decay could recruit 20 Corruption Spreaders.

A Level 10 Steel-backed Porcupine Burrow could recruit 100 Steel-backed Porcupines and 200 Spiny Porcupines.

A Level 10 Peak Arena could recruit 200 Champion Gladiators.

A Level 10 Highly Poisonous Beehive could recruit 2,000 Highly Poisonous Bees.

(Recruitment numbers increase by 10% with each level.)

Over the past 1,500 days, he had accumulated 3 million Highly Poisonous Bees, 750,000 Shadow Reapers, 300,000 each of Senior-tier Druids, Champion Gladiators, and Spiny Porcupines, 150,000 each of Withered Messengers, Steel-backed Porcupines, and Druid Guards, 20,000 Corruption Spreaders, and 3,000 Death Devourers.

All of them had been recruited by Phantom, who held recruitment authority in the military center. During the period of rest, they learned the Sun and Moon Breathing Technique and the Star Technique, raising their levels through self-cultivation to an average of 10.

Moreover, all the Steel-backed Porcupines and some of the more capable units also learned the Intermediate Star Body Refining Technique (the Basic Star Body Refining Technique having been upgraded to Intermediate during the rest period), which strengthened their Defense Power and health.

(Intermediate Star Body Refining Technique: Slightly increases health and Defense Power.)

Adding these to the previously accumulated forces, the territory now had a total of 3.38 million Highly Poisonous Bees, 850,000 Shadow Reapers, 340,000 each of Senior-tier Druids, Champion Gladiators, and Spiny Porcupines, 170,000 each of Withered Messengers, Steel-backed Porcupines, and Druid Guards, 22,500 Corruption Spreaders, and 23,300 Death Devourers.

Additionally, the class-change functions offered by the Jade Sanctuary, Druid Temple, and Peak Arena had provided the territory with over a million Druid Guards, 100,000 Junior-tier Druids, as well as 300,000 Gladiators and 10,000 Heroic Gladiators (some of whom were beasts and human refugees who had joined the territory).

All told, the total military strength reached as many as 8 million.

If the territory’s armed populace (Plant People, Slimes, fairies, Great Elves, and so on) were included, the number of deployable troops would be even greater.

’With such a massive army, if it’s a head-on clash between territories,’ Lin Yu thought, ’absolutely no one can defeat me at this stage.’

However, for a territory the size of Lin Yu’s, this many troops actually seemed somewhat inadequate.

The territory’s border had a circumference of approximately 21,673 kilometers. If all these forces were dispatched to guard it, only 369 soldiers could be stationed per kilometer—nowhere near enough.

Keep in mind, this number included production-type units like the Highly Poisonous Bees. Excluding them, the density dropped to just 213 soldiers per kilometer.

’Hmm... This won’t do. The forces are stretched too thin. What can a little over 200 soldiers per kilometer even accomplish?’

Lin Yu thought for a moment before projecting his consciousness into the Wisdom Library. He found several books on military strategy, flipped through them at an incredible speed, and absorbed their knowledge. In that short time, he transformed from a military novice into a reasonably competent armchair strategist.

Coupled with his experience playing strategy games, he could now be considered a seasoned military commander.

’First, I’ll tentatively divide the territory’s forces into eight divisions, each one assigned to garrison a cardinal direction.’

’No, that’s not right. The distribution can be denser.’

Lin Yu zoomed his perspective out to its highest point, surveying the entire territory.

Originally, only the northern part of the territory bordered the edge of the continent. However, the World Tree Territory had expanded a great deal during the rest period.

The adjacent territories of the Human Race to the east and west had all been pushed south of Lin Yu’s territory.

(Imagine a square turning into a diamond: □ -> ◇. The territory went from being a small section in the northern center of the square to occupying the entire upper half of the diamond [twice as large].)

(The Human Race Continent is now shaped like a circle sitting atop a downward-pointing triangle: ○ + ▽. A small portion of the circle’s lower edge is inside the triangle.)

In other words, the territory’s southern border was secure, but the entire arc from west to north to east needed to be defended.

Lin Yu ran a simulation in his mind, deploying eight legions to various positions.

The First Legion would defend the west. The Second and Third would cover the northwest and act as a mobile force. The Fourth would defend the north. The Fifth and Sixth would cover the northeast and act as a mobile force. The Seventh would defend the east. The Eighth would remain in the center as a mobile reserve.

Once the deployment was set, Lin Yu looked at the simulated battlefield map. It was a vast improvement over his initial, thoughtless plan of simply distributing the forces evenly.

As for sentries, the Plant People at the borders and the animal subjects active in the outer zones would make for the best sentinels.

Then there was the militia. The vast numbers of Druid Guards, Junior-tier Druids, Gladiators, and Heroic Gladiators, once equipped with Spiritual Weapons, would also represent a considerable fighting force.

The territory’s modern Spiritual Weapons seemed comparable in power to the gunpowder weapons of a Technology World; at this stage, they were hardly outdated.

Most of the militia in the territory had already undergone basic military training. They just needed to be formally organized and put through the standardized combat training of a modern army. After some time, they would become qualified soldiers.

Unfortunately, the territory lacked professionals in this area. Lin Yu himself didn’t know much about it—it wasn’t taught in school. Or rather, this kind of specialized military knowledge wasn’t available to an amateur lord like him, who hadn’t majored in the subject.

As for the officers from the Glacier World, after so many years of turtling, followed by the Floating City’s final, desperate gamble, any experienced old officers had either died (of old age) or died (in battle).