Side: Yuki
In the end, the talk with Killue was put on hold for the time being, and now I'm back in Betan for work.
Well, I couldn't say I didn't understand their point of view, but there were things on my side that I simply couldn't compromise on.
Still, things were going well... My wives had finally started pursuing what they wanted to do.
The fact that Killue actually voiced her own opinion to me would've been unimaginable when we first met. Back then, after hearing I was a messenger of the gods, she treated everything I said with absolute obedience. Her thinking does seem a bit too focused on me, but with time, that should turn outward.
...Probably.
Anyway, focus. I need to concentrate on work right now.
"Alright, we're proceeding according to plan."
"""Yes!!"""
"""Yessir!!"""
With that, I began issuing orders to prepare the town's defenses.
Before starting this project, we'd already taken care of various things—soft bread, tools for grinding wheat into fine flour, pump facilities, and plenty of other improvements.
As a result...
"Well now, under normal circumstances, you wouldn't expect spectators to gather for something like this. Is this what they call Yuki-dono's charisma?"
"Horst-san, you know the answer already, don't you? It's not charisma. It's because we've only ever done good things for the people here, so they expect the next thing to be good too. That's why they're looking forward to it."
"I understand. But even if you're paying wages through the construction work, this is still preparation for war, after all. I never expected you'd use women and children for that. Still, thanks to that, a great many hands have gathered."
Currently, the townspeople are divided into three groups:
- Those who were watching from afar.
- Those working part-time—or rather, helping with the construction.
- And those continuing their regular jobs, such as tending the fields.
Thanks to all the projects that appeared to be charitable works, the townspeople had developed a favorable impression of both us and the Jilva Empire.
As a result, everything was progressing smoothly.
"It's all about making the best use of what you've got. Sure, women and children might not seem as physically capable as adult men. But they have free time. If you reduce the workload, divide tasks, and have people cooperate, they can produce perfectly good results."
"The wages are lower for that, though."
"That's also part of the appeal. It's short hours, after all. Even people who weren't seen as workers before can participate. Even if the wage is below average, it's just right for helping the household budget, right? Besides, I doubt many people expected to earn as much as they do from their regular jobs."
"Indeed. You've declared that from the start. Paying wages by the hour... I believe you called it an hourly wage system?"
"Normally this town pays people by the day, doesn't it?"
"Indeed. Only fairly wealthy people can afford clocks, after all."
That's right. I was using the townspeople themselves as workers for these defensive construction projects.
And to attract workers, I'd introduced an hourly wage system and opened participation to women and children. With the slogan 'Anyone can work, even for a short time,' people just kept pouring in.
We'd told them the construction was for the coming war, but with so many women and children participating, the whole scene looked more like a lively community event than military preparations.
"Still... this approach is brilliant. Most of the townspeople who don't own shops are farmers. They're certainly busy from morning until noon, but after that, they're free. Even women and children, who are less strong, can do simple tasks like digging holes. And with the convenient tools Yuki-dono has provided, the efficiency is excellent."
We're using alloy shovels, scoops, and pickaxes from modern Earth, after all. On top of that, I'd asked Narjia-san to enchant them with a minor stat boost and stamina recovery.
Honestly, they might be stronger than the Betan soldiers now... Best not to think about that. Let's just call it employer liability protection. Even if they're only part-time workers, if someone got injured, it'd still be my responsibility.
This is also research on how effective enchanted weapons and armor are on ordinary people of the New Continent.
"By the way, Yuki-dono. You're burying long wooden poles into the holes at regular intervals. Are you planning to make a fence with them?"
"No, well... it's more like an evolved form of a fence — barbed wire."
"Barbed... wire? You intend to make that?"
"Yeah. Think of it as a series of heavy iron cables covered in sharp, metallic thorns."
As I spoke, I pulled a roll of barbed wire from a wooden crate.
"We'll tie this to the posts and connect them together."
"Hoh... But will this actually stop the enemy?"
"That's part of the idea. Just like you said, Horst-san, the enemy will probably be suspicious, but they'll also think it's easier to get through than a fence. After all, it's just a strand of iron wire."
"Is this iron wire truly that troublesome?"
"Do you think you could cut it?"
"Not with my bare hands... May I examine it?"
"Go ahead."
I handed him the barbed wire, and he studied it with a serious expression.
"...The fact that it's flexible is the key. Swinging a sword at it would accomplish nothing. It's made of iron to begin with, so cutting it would be extremely difficult. Even if you removed one wooden post, it's connected all the way across. This is far more troublesome than an ordinary fence or wall."
Horst really was outstanding.
Both as a lord and as a soldier.
Just as he'd concluded, barbed wire was a cord-like obstacle that prevented enemy infantry from advancing while allowing blast waves from artillery to pass through. Unless you had wire cutters or simply blew away the supporting posts, it remained an incredibly troublesome obstacle even in the modern age.
"And we're planning to attach nearly ten strands of this to each pole."
I wanted to make it coiled as well, but that would be too difficult.
It has to be something the local people can build themselves.
The enemy is probably watching, and if we suddenly construct modern-grade barbed wire in an instant, they'll become wary.
"Ten strands... and you're planning to build five layers of these defenses based on the current construction? This... will the enemy even be able to reach the town?"
"They'll get there eventually. Like you can see, it's just wire. They could throw cloth over it or force their way through by sheer numbers."
"But between every single layer of barbed wire, you've dug deep pits. If they force their advance under those conditions... can they really maintain an army's formation?"
He's really sharp to see through that much from this information alone.
Well, "deep pits" was a bit of an exaggeration—they were only large enough for one person to fall completely inside, but we'd dug them both in front of and behind every barbed wire line.
This prevents heavy weapons or siege equipment (like battering rams) from breaking through the wire. It becomes an extremely annoying situation where soldiers have no choice but to painstakingly crawl through one by one.
"That's exactly what I'm aiming for. We'll eliminate the soldiers who come through one by one using the archers and spearmen waiting behind the defenses. If a line gets breached, we'll immediately fall back to the next barbed wire position."
"...So your objective is to scatter the overwhelming strength of an army into individual soldiers. No... there's more to it than that... This style of warfare will surely change history."
The fact that Horst saw through it so completely proved what an exceptional talent he was.
How had they left someone this capable as nothing more than a provincial lord? If it were me, I'd promote him straight to general.
"Well, the enemy has already started moving. About 100,000 of them. We'll see how things turn out."
"What are you saying? We have fewer than 5000 troops. Under normal circumstances, no one would even consider fighting such numbers. The best one could hope for would be to loot everything valuable and make sure the town offered the enemy no profit after occupying it. Yet despite that situation, Lord Yuki has chosen to stand and defend it. What's more, you're calmly continuing to provide aid to the townspeople and asking for their cooperation rather than forcing them. It's a slow approach, yet I see no sign of panic whatsoever. To me... you look utterly convinced of victory."
Sharp as ever.
Just as Horst said, I don't feel even the slightest chance of losing.
At worst, we'd simply unleash a parade of modern weapons, immediately eliminate the magic sword wielders who were likely commanding from the enemy headquarters...
After that, it's just mopping up the remnants.
Even without resorting to that, while the enemy struggled against the barbed wire, our goblin rifle corps stationed far behind the lines would provide covering fire while the Jilva and Betan soldiers engaged them at the front, inflicting tremendous casualties.
It may look reckless to defend against 100,000 with only 5,000, but in reality, only about 20,000 to 30,000 will actually reach and clash with us.
Our goblin units will snipe them reliably from cover, while other goblin soldiers mix into the Jilva and Betan front lines to support them.
I'm looking forward to seeing how the enemy plans to 'overturn' this situation.
"Overturning it is unlikely; they'll probably retreat."
"I agree with Jessica."
"Huh? Was I talking out loud?"
"No. We'd already received a copy of the operation plan yesterday. The part about observing how they'll overturn it..."
"I don't think they can."
"Oh... that's what you meant."
Still, both of them voting for "retreat"?
How boring.
