Farming in the Magical World

"Of course we can't let them harm Castor!" Lanny waved his hand and shook his head firmly.

After thinking for a moment, he arranged the teacups, kettle, and other items on the table according to the surroundings of Castor, and then pointed to these items and began to express his thoughts.

"This is the castle, this is Hexi Village, and this is the farthest Black Mountain Village. They are going back to the Grumman Mountains, and this is the shortest route."

Pointing along the castle and Black Mountain Village, Lanny drew a line in the air. "That means they will most likely pass through the villages of Hexi, Hedong, and Black Mountain before entering the mountains. Once they enter the mountains, the Earl will most likely stop pursuing them."

According to his understanding, this route was the easiest to travel, the shortest, and had the fewest pursuers. In addition, considering that these Grummans had been moving around several territories for half a year, it was only natural that they would be exhausted and homesick.

Therefore, he deduced that this was the most likely route taken by the other party.

Looking at the teacups and teapot on the table, Tim pondered for a long time, then nodded again, as if agreeing with his opinion. He then looked up at him and asked, "So, what's your solution?"

"migrate!"

Lanny sat back down in his chair, picked up his teacup to moisten his throat, and then began to explain in detail.

His solution was simple: first, relocate everyone from Hedong Village to the castle, while Hexi Village could remain untouched for the time being, thus reducing the pressure on the castle.

Hexi Village is very close to the castle, and as long as their observation posts discover it early enough, there will be ample time to relocate these people into the castle.

They relied on the castle for defense, which was much easier than launching an attack.

These Grummen couldn't have been unaware that they were being closely pursued by three armies; otherwise, they wouldn't have suddenly changed direction. Clearly, their previous trip to Elfen was a feint, a deceptive move based on this information.

Once they know this news, they won't linger too long at the castle. Even if they attack the castle, it won't last long. So their security guards only need to hold out for half a day to a day before the enemy flees.

As for Black Mountain Village, it is too far from the castle to relocate in time, so people must be sent to evacuate them immediately and let them hide in the mountains, where they only need to avoid the Grummans.

In any case, almost all the villagers in Heishan Village are hunters, so pairing up to go into the mountains for short-term living is not a problem for them.

Of course, the most important thing is to immediately send out sentries to keep a close eye on the enemy's movements, buying time for the guards to defend.

"What do you think?"

After Lanny finished explaining his plan, he looked at Tim. As this was the first time he had commanded and arranged the deployment of hundreds of people outside of the game, he was a little excited and also looked forward to Tim's approval.

"The plan sounds good, but I have two questions."

"First, why bother with those civilians? Just tell them that the Grummans are coming, and they'll run away on their own."

"Secondly, what makes you think that this not-too-steep slope in front of the castle gate can hold off those barbaric Grummans for half a day? You know, there's no treacherous terrain behind the castle; you can still climb in slowly."

"Sigh!" Looking at Tim's indifferent face, Lanny sighed inwardly. Although he had been in this world for almost half a year, he was still not used to this idea of ​​not treating ordinary people as human beings.

Of course, he knew that Tim wasn't to blame for being cold-blooded; it was just the way things were in this world. He didn't intend to correct Tim's thinking, as that would be too difficult. He could only try to subtly change him later.

“These people are a treasure, Uncle Tim. I plan to do some things later, which will require a lot of manpower. We can’t do it without people.”

After saying that, he smiled mysteriously and asked, "Uncle Tim, do you know about trenches and barricades?"

"Ditches, barricades, what are those?" Tim racked his brains for a long time, but he couldn't remember ever hearing about them.

"This trench, well, it's..."

Since the castle's terrain wasn't particularly precipitous, Lanny wanted to use these two things to increase the difficulty of getting through. Coupled with the constant attacks from the security guards behind, anyone who climbed up would practically be a sitting duck.

Of course, this is under ideal conditions. Unexpected events are never lacking on the battlefield, but these require adaptability and cannot be prevented in advance.

In the end, Lenny persuaded Tim to go along with Lenny's idea.

Once they finalized the plan, the entire castle began to operate efficiently, like a machine that had been put into operation.

Lanny issued his first mandatory conscription order, summoning men, women, and children from the village of Hexi to dig a trench around the front of the castle, in the direction from which it could be attacked, while the slope behind the castle was cut and excavated to make climbing more difficult.

Even the trees within reach of the castle were cut down and dragged away to make barricades, preventing the enemy from climbing over them and seeing what was happening inside the castle.

In other words, he couldn't find enough fuel, and there wasn't enough animal fat; otherwise, he would have even planned to set up a fire wall.

Since there was no oil, his solution was to pour in water, as much water as possible, to turn the bottom of the trench into a swamp, and then insert sharpened wooden stakes to enhance the effect.

The security guards were also urgently assembled and asked to work with Jimmy, Hammer, and a few others to cut down as many suitable trees as possible in the surrounding area, then make simple cross-shaped barricades, and then pile them up on the side of the moat closer to the castle.

The main purpose of these barricades was to prevent the enemy from climbing the trenches so easily, while the guards defending the castle could conveniently use the length advantage of their red-tasseled spears to attack directly from behind the barricades.

At the entrance and exit of the castle, several logs were required to be placed to form a simple wooden bridge, which could be easily pulled back if the enemy approached.

Frank, the old steward, was also given a task by Lanny: to ride a horse to inform the villagers of Hedong Village to relocate, and then to go to Black Mountain Village to inform the villagers to take refuge.

Only he was suitable for this task. Unless Lanny made the trip himself, no one else could persuade these villagers. After all, it was quite difficult to get them to leave their homes with their families.

As everyone was mobilized, a tense atmosphere finally spread throughout the castle.

"Black Tiger, are you scared?" Gavin asked his captain nervously in a low voice, carrying a chopped log.

At this time, all training of the security guards had been suspended, and the two were assigned to the work of carrying things!

Since hearing the news, many members of the guard have been very nervous. After all, they are new recruits who have never been on the battlefield, so it is normal for them to be afraid.

"What's there to be afraid of? What's there to be afraid of!" Black Tiger scoffed at Gavin's words, thinking to himself, "I've never been afraid of bears in the mountains, why would I be afraid of these Grumans?"

In other words, Lord Tim forbade them to leave the camp and attack the enemy, otherwise he really wanted to meet these Grumans and see if they really had three heads and six arms.

However, after a period of training, his ideas changed somewhat from what they were initially.

If given the chance, he would certainly want to take revenge, but now his primary goal is no longer revenge, but rather to protect the castle and the people of Castor from being attacked by these guys.

"Hopefully, they will attack the castle on their own initiative; otherwise, I'm afraid we won't be able to get revenge this time!" He tightened the log on his shoulder and strode towards the castle.

Since starting to plan the castle's defenses, Lanny has become even busier, almost constantly being kept near the camp by people seeking his approval.

A little while later, Jimmy came to ask him how to make the barricades. After he finally taught him, another villager came to ask him to check if the ditch was wide enough and deep enough.

When he finally returned from the dusty moat, Candy found him again and invited him back to the castle for a meal.

He glanced at the busy crowd around him, then had Candy bring the food over, and they ate right there near the camp, abandoning all aristocratic etiquette.

He had barely eaten a few bites when someone came knocking on his door again. It turned out that a team member had come to report that people from Hedong Village had arrived.

When he stepped out of the barracks, he saw a group of villagers, dawdling along, heading towards the castle from the direction of Hedong Village.

Lanny panicked when he saw the slow progress and immediately summoned Joseph, instructing him to inform Frank to speed things up and get everyone moved over before nightfall.

Those who arrived first were temporarily settled by Lanny in the small square where the camp was located. Since the weather wasn't cold, they could simply build a campfire at night, which should be enough for a day or two. As for the elderly, women, and children, they were placed in a barracks that had been cleared out.

With the addition of this group, the excavation of the trench was greatly accelerated. By the afternoon of the next day, the entire excavation was completed, and the barricades were laid along one side of the trench.

As these works were completed, some of the surrounding trees were felled to make barricades, making the castle, which was already standing alone on the hill, even more conspicuous and prominent, like a small defensive fortress.

Relieved, Lanny immediately retreated to the castle.

It wasn't that he was ashamed to see people, it was just that he was... quite bothered by it.

At first, when the villagers of Hedong Village heard that the Grummans were coming, they fled to the castle in a panic, taking their families with them. Moreover, most of the villagers had hardly ever seen Lanny before, and out of natural awe for the nobles, they kept their distance from him, fearing that they might offend the nobles and incur a beating.

But the situation changed the next day. The villagers found that Lanny was also covered in dust and dirt among the busy crowd. When they occasionally interacted with him, they didn't find Lanny to have any aristocratic airs, which made them curious for a while.

It wasn't until the two households got into a dispute over who owned the grouse they had brought that they sought his help to resolve the issue. They then discovered that Lord Lanny was truly unpretentious and very easy to talk to, patiently listening to the two families' endless chatter.

Well, this is serious. A bunch of villagers gathered around and came up with all sorts of trivial matters, stirring up a hornet's nest.

When Lanny realized something was wrong, he fled back to the castle in a sorry state, which Tiffany found out about and mocked him for a while.

Once all the work was completed, as news of the Grummans getting closer to the castle arrived during the waiting period, the atmosphere near the chaotic camp finally became tense and somber.