Chapter 117 - 97: Combat Training
Little Claw was overjoyed to receive the assurance. He started brewing potions with a frenzied pace, even accepting the extra potion cauldron Shire assigned him.
"Mary is coming over at noon today, right?" Shire asked, looking at Bai Mao.
Bai Mao nodded. Today was the day Mary was coming to teach him new dishes. Mary would visit every so often, bringing him various seasonings and cooking methods. The last time she was here, Mary mentioned that humans had books about cooking, so Bai Mao was now considering learning Common Speech to better study the recipes.
"Alright then, I won’t disturb you." Shire took his leave of the "Head Chef" and walked out of the Fortress. Outside, a group of goblins was getting familiar with their combat techniques.
The Storm Brotherhood had provided Shire with 39 Abilities. Excluding 10 Mage Abilities and some Basic Power and Basic Endurance, there were 23 combat techniques. Shire had bestowed all these Abilities upon his combat personnel based on their habits and physiques. Now, a single goblin was equipped not only with Basic Power and Basic Endurance, but also with one or two Abilities like Charge, Horizontal Sweep, Jump Slash, or Quick Draw.
BANG! A goblin holding a Round Shield slammed into a tree trunk, then chopped down with the Short Sword in its hand. Its moves were still a bit clumsy, but it was clear it was gradually getting used to its bestowed Abilities.
’Their numbers are still too small.’ Shire mused, stroking his chin as he watched his subordinates "playing" with glee. After the battle with the Storm Brotherhood, the goblins had gained a lot more confidence. Even One-Eyed now stood up straight, no longer the hunched, stooping figure whose eyes would constantly dart from side to side.
Among the clan’s combat personnel before him, the majority were still melee fighters wielding swords and Long Spears. There were only five goblins capable of using a Bow and Arrow.
’Maybe we should practice formation coordination?’ He squatted down, picked up a stick, and began to sketch in the dirt.
"How did that formation go again," Shire muttered to himself. He picked up a few small stones and placed them on the ground as soldiers. "Two archers in the back, two shield-bearers in the front."
"We need spearmen on the flanks." He drew two horizontal lines beside the stones. "Right, I’m missing the heavy weapons. What was that thing called again?"
"The wolf-brush." Shire slapped his forehead. "This is going to be tricky. I haven’t seen any bamboo in this forest."
’I’ll just use thick branches as a substitute for now. What other troop types were there?’ He racked his brain, trying to recall the video clips he had seen and do his best to replicate that General’s formation.
"Grand Marshal Qi, I’m only borrowing the most basic elements of your work. The goblins aren’t the fastest learners, so please don’t be offended." Shire gradually sketched out an 11-man formation in the dirt.
"You lot, over here." He stood up and called over eleven goblins.
"You stand here. You, come over here..."
In less than a minute, Shire had arranged the goblins’ positions. Then, he began to explain their individual responsibilities to them one by one.
"Chief, what game they playin’?" Red Eyes walked over, shouldering his sword. He was curious about what the chief was up to.
"We’re trying out a new Combat Technique," Shire said with a smile.
"Combat Technique? Way to fight?" Red Eyes circled the eleven goblins, a little confused about how this was supposed to work for a fight. Goblins had always just swarmed their enemies and hammered away randomly; they’d never had to hold a fixed position like this before.
"They very weak. Can’t fight good," he said, shaking his head. He thought it was useless.
"Come on. Have that dozen or so over there give it a try." Shire immediately called over the remaining goblins.
Soon, the goblins were split into two groups, eleven versus eleven. Each goblin held a wooden weapon.
At Shire’s command, the two sides immediately charged and devolved into a chaotic brawl.
"Stop, stop!" he immediately shouted. The eleven chosen goblins had completely forgotten everything Shire told them, reverting to their old habits the moment the fight began.
He had no choice but to again explain their positions, attack methods, and sequence. They started again, and again it dissolved into a free-for-all.
"Ugh, just let the world burn," Shire sighed deeply, looking up at the sky. This was even harder than teaching that other group of goblins how to hunt wild boars.
"Chief, they useless," Red Eyes said bluntly.
"Just a little longer," Shire said through gritted teeth. He refused to believe he couldn’t teach the goblins the Mandarin Duck Formation. He didn’t expect them to be as formidable as Grand Marshal Qi’s troops, but it should be more than enough for dealing with lone Adventurers in the forest using a squad-based approach.
The reason he thought of this formation was, on one hand, that the goblins’ individual combat prowess was no match for an Adventurer’s. He had to find a way to make their combined strength greater than the sum of its parts. Furthermore, in an environment with constricted terrain like the forest, squad-based combat was more effective against small groups of Adventurers.
On the other hand, this formation didn’t require any legendary weapons, nor did it demand that the goblins be able to split the heavens with a single sword strike or conjure fireballs from thin air. They only needed to learn some basic combat techniques and then form up through regular practice.
’The Storm Brotherhood provided plenty of basic combat techniques, and every goblin has been granted Power and Endurance. Now is the perfect time for them to master this formation.’ Watching the goblins run through the positions as he instructed, Shire became even more convinced of his idea. ’Even if I can’t replicate Grand Marshal Qi’s terrifying battle record of killing 2,000 enemies without a single friendly casualty, we should at least be able to hold our own against a dozen or so Adventurers.’
After a good while, Shire called a halt to the training. The two goblin teams prepared to face off again.
"Chief, they gonna lose," Red Eyes said, still thinking the same thing. He remained convinced that the swarm tactic was a fine goblin combat tradition.
This time, however, the eleven goblins didn’t charge forward. Instead, they held their ground and waited for their opponents to come to them. They used two thick branches to block their opponents’ wooden clubs, and then a long, un-tipped pole immediately thrust out from behind, stabbing an opponent and knocking them down. After the front-rank goblins, holding wooden planks, blocked the "enemy" attack, the rear ranks immediately moved up to fill the gaps. Soon, the eleven goblins had driven their opponents back.
Red Eyes’s eyes went wide as he stared at the formation, which was advancing slowly like a porcupine. He muttered, "They... they won."
"They haven’t won yet." Shire shook his head. The eleven goblins’ formation was still a mess; the positions he’d taught them had nearly devolved into a long, single-file line. They had only managed to catch their opponents off guard at the start of the engagement. Against experienced Adventurers, they would still be routed.
’But it’s trainable. They need to continue practicing until they are familiar with the formation changes and how to use their weapons.’ He clenched his fist. Once his subordinates had mastered the formation drills and were equipped with proper Armor, weapons, and defensive gear, he wouldn’t fear Adventurers at all.
"When that time comes, let’s see who dares to cause trouble in my territory."
"Chief, me wanna try." Red Eyes stared at the goblin formation before him, eager to give it a go.
"Go ahead." Shire nodded. It seemed this brute wouldn’t be convinced until he experienced it for himself.
The moment the fight began, Red Eyes charged at the eleven goblins with his wooden club raised. But he was immediately blocked by two thick branches. He forcefully swatted at the branches, trying to break into the formation for close-quarters combat, but he couldn’t get through at all. Instead, he was poked several times by a few long spears. He had to take a few steps back, moving left and right to find an opening, but the goblins maintained their slow advance, constantly defending against his attacks.
After several failed attempts, Red Eyes realized that the only way he could break through was to endure being stabbed in multiple places.
"Me lose." Red Eyes held his wooden club and sighed, looking up. "Chief is very, very strong."
Shire walked over and patted his shoulder. "Once everyone is trained up, we won’t have to fear Adventurers anymore. We’ll even be able to take them on in a field battle."
"Then, we’ll be the ones who call the shots in this forest."
Red Eyes looked at his chief, a blazing fire igniting in his eyes.