Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
The current gnoll clans that were active within the territory had population sizes that fell between 200 and 600 gnolls.
Although they had the maps that Murphy had released to the public, the slave traders alone, who made small attacks or engaged in sneak attacks, wouldn’t hurt the gnolls too badly. To deal with creatures like the gnolls, who possessed a natural ability to fight, they had to focus on attacking!
In this era, the power of slave traders wasn’t as impressive as told in the legends.
After all, the council of nobles presided over the entirety of human civilization, and they wouldn’t allow the slave traders to have too much power!
In general, slave traders were like the nobles’ contracted agents.
The armed forces the slave traders had on hand were mostly the nobles’ private soldiers. But their real combat effectiveness was within the army, so the number of private soldiers the slave traders had was small, and the soldiers’ combat effectiveness was average at best. They could be used for fights against weaker creatures, like kobolds or gnomes, but the outcome wouldn’t be as optimistic if they fought against the gnolls, who had a size advantage.
Most of the slave traders who came to the port were in possession of private armies ranging from a few dozen to several hundred people.
They were equipped with weapons and leather armor, and had received a certain level of military training. They didn’t know how to march in formation, but they had cultivated basic tactical understanding and coordination with their fellow soldiers based on their past combat experiences. They also had an advantage in small team battles!
If they were put into a battle with less than ten people, perhaps even the Greek infantry may not be able to match them.
But if they were put into a battle with more than ten people, those mercenaries weren’t even worth watching.
The reason for this was very simple!
Discipline!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
After conferring with Lady Elizabeth, Murphy decided it would be best to organize the remaining slave traders with the strong-armed forces who had come to the port, and use the armed forces as a bridge between the slave traders to get them to work together this once.
Because only by working together would they be able to have an advantage in numbers, and only with an advantage in numbers would they be able to suppress the gnolls when it came time to dealing with them.
As long as this collaboration would be beneficial for them, it was natural that even these slave merchants would find ways to work together and reduce their losses.
But at the beginning, someone was still needed to act as the go-between.
And the best candidate in the town of Athens was of course the Governor—Murphy!
The armed forces of the slave traders at most numbered 100 to 200 people, and once this number was exceeded, it would be beyond what the noble council tolerated. Unlike the tribes of Psaiyans, ordinary slave traders could only recruit up to 200 private soldiers, and they were subjected to many restrictions and required a letter of guarantee from the local nobles!
These restrictions included not being able to equip themselves with a bow and crossbow, not being able to possess armor, not being able to move anywhere according to their own volition, their names needing to be on a list, among other things!
Murphy intended to gather these slave merchants to destroy one or two of the larger gathering grounds of the gnolls.
The first reason for doing this was to reduce the gnolls’ combat effectiveness, and the second was to train his soldiers and deter these slave traders!
You couldn’t expect a group of slave traders to be good people.
Wasn’t that often the case?
In the wilderness, these people were often robbers.
So, while trade in town was developing, it was important to show the slave traders through force who the boss was and save a lot of trouble in the future.
In addition, for Murphy, who didn’t intend to intervene at this time, his purpose was to bring the slave traders together and get them to cooperate in order to reap the most rewards. As for the specific distribution of these rewards, Murphy would let them fight it out amongst themselves.
Murphy didn’t mind if conflict happened among the slave traders!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
The rainy season was good weather for their plans.
This was because the gnolls’ hunting range would be greatly reduced, and because of the rain, the gnolls’ sensitivity to smells would be greatly affected.
As early as a few days ago, Murphy had sent a large number of cavalries to investigate the situation at the gnolls’ gathering grounds.
The plan to organize the manpower required to wipe out the gnolls had been formed in Murphy’s head much earlier on, but it wasn’t until the construction of the town was on the right track that he began to make the necessary arrangements. In the past, he couldn’t do it because of a shortage of manpower and because he was worried that the potential losses couldn’t be replaced as soon as possible. But now that the slave traders were the vanguards, Murphy no longer had to worry about this issue.
Although the slave traders couldn’t be blatantly used as cannon fodder, it wouldn’t be an issue to use them as cannon fodder in a subtle way.
The strategy map provided by the auxiliary system only had rough data, and you had to consider other specific variables and factors, such as terrain, time, weather, and more during an attack. Because he feared these variables could pose some problems, Murphy specially sent out the general, Rio Darley, three days ago to personally go to several of the larger gathering grounds of the gnolls to investigate and draw out a rough topographical map of the gathering grounds, as well as to sketch out the gnolls’ range of movement, and bring this back to him.
Since they wanted to boost the slave traders’ enthusiasm…
It was only natural that a glorious victory was needed!
The best victory was a victory where you had little casualties and were able to wipe out the enemy in one fell swoop.
Only with this type of victory would the slave traders be roused to their greatest potential.
So, it took a certain skill when it came to selecting their enemies.
The gathering ground of the gnolls couldn’t be too remote, because this was the first time they were cooperating together and didn’t yet trust each other that much. The gnoll clan’s population size couldn’t be too small, as there wouldn’t be a sense of accomplishment after capturing too few gnolls, and there wouldn’t be much profit to speak of. But there shouldn’t be too many gnolls either, because once there were too many gnolls, they would suffer a lot of casualties, so even if they won, they wouldn’t achieve the intended effect of boosting the slave traders’ confidence.
Moreover, Murphy had doubts about whether these private armed forces would flounder in the face of a large group of gnolls.
Therefore, in selecting the enemy there were a few conditions that had to be met.
Firstly, the enemy couldn’t be too far from town. Secondly, there had to be an advantageous terrain that made it easy for them to siege the gnolls and increase their chances of victory. Thirdly, it had to be a large or medium-sized gnoll clan with a population of about 400 gnolls and only a small number of adult gnolls who had strong fighting power.
Murphy’s purpose was to restore the slave traders’ confidence.
He wanted to reduce the chance of casualties and increase their chances of being successful. As for whether the enemy appeared strong but was actually weak, that wasn’t important in the grand scheme of things.
It was precisely because there were so many conditions that had to be met that it took the reconnaissance team three full days to investigate the gathering grounds of the gnolls.
“Your Excellency.”
In the barracks, Rio Darley was covered in mud and dirt. He handed a map to Murphy. The general also had specks of blood on his body, and it seemed like he had gotten into a fight on the way back!
Murphy took a look at the map and nodded with satisfaction.
With such detailed information, he could pretty much achieve his aims. The number of military armaments in the territory was still pretty tight, so it was better to have these slave traders stay as long as possible and make use of their power to contain the gnolls.
When summer ended and autumn came, better days would come.
“Did you run into trouble on the way back?” Murphy asked as he glanced at General Rio Darley, whose hair was somewhat grey, standing in front of him.
Although he was now middle-aged, from living the military life for so long, Rio Darley-Culis looked like he was full of strength and steadfast. The scars all over his body were like medals that told everyone about the battles and glory he had experienced!
“I met a few sentinel gnolls, but I cut the heads off those beasts!” Rio Darley-Culis said, smiling a bloodthirsty smile. He licked the corners of his lips, and his tone was full of murderous intent.
The pain of losing his son had made him full of hatred for the gnolls! But because he had the discipline of a soldier, he knew how to restrain himself!
The loss of his son had created the current Rio Darley—a tyrant!
He was a general who had a combination of bravery, violence, cruelty, and discipline.
The Spartans’ self-discipline made him an exceptionally good commander. It made him brave, but it also made it so that he never lost his calm on the battlefield!
. . . . . . . . . . . .
“Soon, we’ll show those beasts who’s boss!” Murphy said, patting General Rio Darley on the shoulder. Then he turned and walked out of the barracks.
Since the thing that he was waiting for was now here…
Then it was about time for the slaughter-fest to begin.