Traveling through The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim

The two men and one woman have been identified as villagers who were previously abducted by bandits. After being questioned by Stein, they were reunited with their families.

According to them, the bandits in the mountains already knew about my attack on the bear tribe and the public trial I held. Fearing they would become my next target, the bandits released the three men as a gesture of reconciliation. During their captivity, they had been imprisoned in a cave. Because they were blindfolded when entering and leaving the cave, they didn't know the location of the bandits' camp or their numbers.

The three also mentioned that the leader who brought them out had asked if they could abandon their banditry and come live in Granite Village. That guy had been a bandit for years, his hands stained with blood, and he was very worried about being beheaded if he surrendered. Many of his accomplices shared similar thoughts and concerns, so they sent him to sound out the situation first.

Lund and I exchanged bewildered glances. The troops hadn't even started training, and the enemy was already backing down? Is this what they call subduing the enemy without fighting? Why isn't it as enjoyable as I'd imagined?

"Lund, what do you think?"

"I think we should stick to our original plan in general; we can make some minor adjustments in the details."

Lund gave his answer after a moment's thought.

"We must wipe out this band of bandits no matter what. The reason we chose this place for reconstruction was because it is convenient for transportation on the official road. In the future, merchants traveling here will have to rest and resupply in Shanlan Village. If the area is not peaceful, people will take detours. Even if the bandits stop robbing the village, they will still harm our interests. Therefore, we must not allow them to entrenched themselves here."

"Furthermore, they are showing weakness now because they see our strength and determination. When we attack Loristed Town in the future, we will definitely take the main force with us. At that time, they will find that Granite Village is poorly defended, and they will inevitably have designs on it again. After all, bandits make a living from this. It would be unwise to leave such a hidden danger."

"So, the overall plan remains unchanged. Training troops, building walls, and scouting the terrain will continue. At the same time, we've released some information that we might consider leniency for those who aren't the most heinous bandits. Once someone is willing to surrender, we can obtain more reliable intelligence. As for the bandit leader, you'd better be careful; those kinds of people are hard to control."

I knew I wouldn't need to use my brain. Lund's idea suited me perfectly; how could I allow someone else to sleep soundly beside my bed?

As for leaking information to the bandits, it sounds difficult, but it's actually quite easy.

Unlike their counterparts in the game, the bandits in this other world are living, breathing human beings who need to eat and drink. Therefore, they maintain intricate connections with normal human society through various channels to convert their loot into daily necessities. Some well-established groups—like Rigel's in the past—even cultivate land and engage in productive activities.

When the city of Falkriss was occupied by Lucius's legion, we also traded with the bandits of the Silent Moon Camp. The spear I'm using now was made by their blacksmith. To be honest, in terms of quality alone, it's certainly not as good as weapons forged in the Sky Forge; but in terms of cost-effectiveness, it's not necessarily worse than those produced by the Companions.

Specifically regarding the group north of Granite Village, I guess their channels are nothing more than three.

One type was traveling merchants. These people were worldly and shrewd, always readily offering tolls to highwaymen they encountered. Locke, who had worked with his uncle selling horses in his early years, often encountered such situations. The routes of merchants were usually relatively fixed, and the bandits they encountered were always the same few groups. Over time, the two sides became familiar with each other, and exchanging goods became a natural occurrence.

Making money is nothing to be ashamed of. Nobody says that bandits' coins are filthy while lords' coins are noble.

Another channel is the scattered farmers. Besides large settlements like cities and towns, Skyrim is dotted with countless small farms. These farms often consist of only one or two households, tending a small, barren plot of land. People like Lund, who moved out of the village to live alone, Annis, who hid deep in the forest, Miko's deceased former owner, and the owner of the burned-down hut that Cindy discovered while traversing the Plainslands, are all examples of this type of person.

But Skyrim had far more than just those few. In the Eastern Territory and Riften Territory alone, Uncle Sunil knew the approximate locations of more than twenty small farms. This was because he was often away from home and inevitably encountered situations where there was no village or inn in sight. If he could stay overnight at a farm, it was always better than sleeping in the wilderness.

The size of this group was dynamic. When the harvest was decent, they could barely make ends meet; when the harvest was bad, they would become refugees or even bandits. Sometimes, the bandits would also retire and choose a remote place to live in seclusion.

Given this duality between civilians and bandits, it's not surprising that they colluded with robbers.

Finally, I suspect that some of the Reich people who are not bound by Moira have become spies for the bandits.

According to Lund's field research report, many Ricci refugees live in the mountains west of the Granite Mountains and all the way to the Kas River Valley. Their original tribes have been destroyed, and the survivors suffer from oppression by larger tribes. It is understandable that such people would seek the support of a mountain chief.

In truth, the raid on the bear tribe and the public trial were all staged by me, a performance for these people. The purpose was to let them know that as long as they pledged allegiance to me, they would be under my protection, and even if they suffered losses, someone would avenge them. Since they were the target audience, there was naturally propaganda specifically for them. The side effect was that Moira quickly learned of both events.

The fact that those bandits got the news so quickly is probably related to these people, and coincidentally, Lund has quite a few connections with them. Once we understand the general information channels, we can target the bait accordingly. After preparing the baited area, we can just wait for the fish to bite.

“Lund, after the word gets out, remember to arrange for reliable people to secretly monitor the three villagers who were released and their families.”

"Are you worried they've been bribed by bandits?"

I squeezed the interrogation records that Stein had handed over.

"We have to be careful. They were captured for so many days, but when they came back, they didn't say a single harsh word about the bandits. Instead, they asked if they could be recruited."

I've heard of Stockholm syndrome, which roughly means that when victims face extreme pressure, they psychologically come to identify with and understand the perpetrator. It's a complicated thing to explain, but fortunately, Lund didn't ask many questions and just nodded in agreement.

"Do everything else as you say, but if bandits do surrender, you and Lydia must hold two bottom lines. The land you assign to them must be far away from sensitive locations such as warehouses and outposts. Lydia, confiscate the weapons these people are carrying immediately. Also, absolutely do not let them infiltrate the army."

Even after lying in bed, I was still uneasy.

I've been in Skyrim for a year and a half, and I've almost never won a political game. I've never been able to devise a flawless, masterful scheme that allows me to manipulate everyone. Whether it's Dangle, Tullius, or even someone like Moira, their actions always surprise me. As a result, I now lack confidence and always feel like I've missed some crucial information.

But this time it seems there really won't be any problems? After all, the strategy Lund and I devised was primarily focused on stability. When it comes down to a direct confrontation, how could I possibly lose to a bunch of bandits?

The next afternoon, I was taking a nap in the basement of the government building when I vaguely felt someone walking back and forth inside.

Because of the sand table, only four people are allowed in this room: me, Lund, Lydia, and Argis. Lund went to the farmland at the south end of the village after finishing his day meal; Argis was here yesterday and is on leave today, and she'll be setting off again for reconnaissance after nightfall. So—

I opened my eyes, and sure enough, it was Lydia.

She looked travel-worn, with her short cloak still draped over her shoulders and the mud still clinging to her deerskin boots. It seemed she had come straight to me as soon as she entered the granite village.

"I apologize for disturbing your rest, sir. I need to report on the training plan."

She apologized verbally, but there was no trace of remorse on her face. She grabbed the teapot on the table, poured a full cup of pine needle tea, and shoved it into my hand. Then, she opened a small leather suitcase and pulled out a few sheets of parchment.

The tea had gone completely cold, but it still had a somewhat refreshing effect. I took a big sip and held it in my mouth, quietly savoring the pine resin seeping into my lungs.

"With Madame Rigel's permission, I reviewed the archives of the lord's military training in Helgen. Based on this, I developed a new plan to meet the lord's requirements. I named it the 'Three-Three System'..."

puff……

I sprayed all the tea out of my mouth.

Could this girl also have been born under the red flag? She's been keeping it well hidden. Last time I mentioned the Ziwu Valley Plan, she was pretending not to know. Now she's even bringing up the "three-thirds system"—is she finally planning to acknowledge her fellow townsman?

Lai Mei's face flushed crimson to the roots of her ears, her previous capable and strong-willed image completely vanished. After stammering for a while, she finally explained that she had joined the army at a young age, thus neglecting some of the courses that noblewomen should have taken. She believed that my achievements in both literature and art surpassed hers, as evidenced by the horse emblem I had designed for myself.

"I just picked a name randomly, it's really vulgar. Sir, please listen to my explanation first. If you think this method is feasible, please bestow a name upon me."

Keep pretending! You're really into your role, aren't you? I was even planning to recite a couple of lines of poetry and give you a secret code, but you've already put on airs again.

"Tacky? Who dares to say it's tacky? I just choked on some water. Tell me quickly, what's the deal with this 'three-thirds system'?"

"This is my idea: form a combat team of three soldiers..."

Wow! That's got the vibe!

I glanced at Lai Mei, pondering whether I should recite "If it benefits the country, I will risk my life" or "To see who are the great men of today." It seemed that the "Qinyuanchun" poem was better, after all, "The scenery of the Northland is magnificent, a thousand miles of ice, ten thousand miles of snow," these lines were very fitting for Tianji Province.

Lai Mei didn't look up; instead, she dipped her finger in the tea and scribbled on the table.

"One shieldbearer stands in front, responsible for covering teammates and advancing; one archer is in the middle, responsible for ranged suppression or harassment; one spearman brings up the rear, using the length of his weapon to prevent the enemy from getting close to the archers and to launch attacks from the rear. The most experienced of the three becomes the team leader. Three combat teams form a squad, and another team leader is appointed, making a total of ten people. Because three people form a team, and three teams form a squad, it is called the 'three-three system'."

what?

I rubbed my face vigorously. It seemed impossible to meet an old friend in a foreign land; this name was just a fluke for Lai Mei. But what she said was indeed quite interesting.

Lydia believed that the tactics I devised in Helgen were too conservative and lacked flexibility. The new army needed to be capable of fighting in both plains and mountains. The mountains were characterized by complex and cramped terrain, making it difficult for large forces to deploy head-on. Plains, on the other hand, were too open and lacked natural defenses; without a well-organized formation, they were prone to chaotic, disorganized fighting, which was extremely disadvantageous for our troops, whose personnel were less skilled.

This creates a contradiction. Rachel's solution is to break down combat units into smaller groups.

If the terrain is open, the units link up to form a standard three-line formation, using their imposing ranks and orderly banners to suppress and crush the enemy. The effectiveness of this tactic had already been proven before; the Falkresh army, which was inferior in training and equipment, easily defeated the Imperial Legion led by Lucius with very few casualties.

Conversely, in mountain warfare and urban combat, troops would move in and out in small groups to disrupt enemy lines. In fact, Mednatch used this method to break through Tonal's encirclement in Marcas. Although Leslie didn't hear Argis recount the story firsthand, she certainly knew about it afterward. Whether she was inspired by this or had this plan all along is irrelevant.

Depending on the battlefield situation, the unit can either break into smaller units to execute more flexible tactics, or regroup into a coordinated formation. The three branches of service have clearly defined roles and responsibilities. In the event of casualties or chaos, isolated soldiers can quickly regain their combat capability by joining other nearby combat teams or forming new ones temporarily, thus preventing a rout after the formation is broken.

This is certainly not the three-thirds system I know, but the underlying idea is similar. It's important to understand that there is no invincible formation in the world. As the Art of War says: "Military tactics are like water; they have no constant shape. One who can adapt to the enemy is called a master strategist."

Be realistic and pragmatic.

These four words are the most valuable knowledge that our Chinese ancestors taught us.

If one fails to consider the actual situation, adapt to local conditions, and formulate tactics suitable for different opponents, but instead naively believes that simply copying the answers of predecessors stroke by stroke will yield a perfect result, then that is called knowing what but not why. Ultimately, it's nothing more than a poor imitation, a clumsy attempt to find a lost sword, inevitably leading to a laughable outcome.

Facing the well-equipped and heavily armed Fourth Rome, the local soldiers' advantage lay in their determination and courage to defend their homeland, and their rich experience accumulated over years of warfare. The much-praised pinnacle tactics of light infantry relied on equally high-caliber officers and soldiers. This was clearly not something the greenhorns recruited in Granite Village possessed.

Fortunately, I wasn't facing a formidable foe. Compared to the Imperial Legions, Lord Markars' army was far inferior in terms of armor ratio and training level, and almost no one in the combat troops was skilled in magic, let alone high-level mages. Therefore, there was no need to deliberately replicate the skirmish formations of the Imperial Guards. Instead, a relatively dense formation would maximize the protective effect of the shields.

Watching me excitedly scrutinize every detail, Lai Mei let out a barely perceptible sigh of relief, and her furrowed brows gradually relaxed.