Forests Don't Support Idle Goblins

Chapter 401 The team is still far from ready.

"I witnessed the hardness of an ant's exoskeleton a long time ago."

Charles spread his hands and shrugged helplessly. "I saw the ant colony before winter even arrived, and I even made contact with their queen."

"You hired the giant ant clan in the fall?" Diana looked at Charles with some disbelief, but then she suddenly remembered something. "Speaking of which, I remember in the fall, in Plantagenet City, I saw two huge corpses of creatures that Count Valentine sent to Plantagenet City for exhibition."

"Oh, the giant spider and the giant bee," Charles waved his hand dismissively. "I killed them too."

"you?"

Charles glanced at the girl's disbelieving face, smiled and nodded, "Yes, these two giant creatures live by hunting giant ants, and they are constantly expanding outwards. At that time, they were almost invading my territory, so I had to kill them in advance."

"However," he raised his head slightly and smiled mysteriously, "we actually had to borrow that old bastard Valentine's power to successfully kill them."

"I knew it," Diana sighed softly, "those enormous creatures, it's said they had their own tribes back then, and a group of goblins alone would have had a hard time dealing with them."

She chuckled a few times, looking knowing, but after laughing, Diana looked at Charles suspiciously. "Wait, Earl Valentine will take your orders? I remember John and Sancho saying that you have some kind of grudge against him."

"It's nothing serious." Charles didn't care at all. Of course, if it were killing that fool Philip, it wouldn't be a big deal for Charles, but it was a different story for Count Valentine.

But that's none of my business.

"So you schemed against Valentine, getting him to mobilize his forces to kill those giant creatures for you?" Diana's previous dismissive expression vanished, replaced by a focused gaze on the goblin before her. "Isn't this what you meant before, that... 'using someone else to do your dirty work'?"

"Uh, I guess so."

"Tsk tsk tsk," Diana shook her head slightly. She wanted to say that she hadn't expected the God of War to have favored you back then, but she didn't say it in the end. It wasn't because she was afraid that Charles would become "proud," but simply because she didn't want to praise this goblin.

"So that's when I got the ant's exoskeleton. To be honest, it's a hard chitinous material, and it's very light, even lighter than iron armor." Charles steered the conversation back on track, not dwelling on the previous events.

"What?!" Diana blinked; she had never heard of such a term before.

"Chitin," Charles explained again, "of course, it's just a substance, the exoskeleton unique to insects. But unlike steel, it can't be shaped by forging."

As he spoke, he glanced at a worker ant walking by not far away. The ant's back carried several barrels of light beer, which were probably being delivered to its goblin subordinates.

Dinner will be served soon, and the goblins are now lining up to receive their "reward" for their hard work.

"You mean, this thing," Diana followed her gaze to the passing worker ant, its black and white exoskeleton reflecting a faint halo in the sunlight, "that thing can't be shaped, right?"

“Yes,” Charles nodded. “Look at the appearance of ants. Their shells cannot fit the bodies of goblins at all, not to mention centaurs and minotaurs. If you want to make them into armor, you have to reshape them, but these shells cannot withstand fire.”

Charles had tried to make armor from ant shells before, since his clan had expanded and his number of subordinates had increased. However, he had only managed to obtain armor by capturing adventurers' protective gear and by purchasing small quantities through Little John. The finished products he obtained were not very close-fitting.

If we could utilize the ants' exoskeletons to make armor, we could bypass the limitations of raw materials and quickly arm our troops.

However, this chitinous shell cannot be shaped. If you really want to make armor, you have to find a way to separate them and then cut and assemble them precisely. But goblins don't have such tools.

Moreover, even with simple tools, goblins are not qualified craftsmen and have no way of making a proper suit of armor.

"I tried several times, but I couldn't get the chitin right each time, so I just gave up," Charles said, shrugging helplessly. "It's an impossible task. You have to saw the shell into pieces first, then polish it, and that's not all. You also have to shape it and drill holes, and finally you have to put on the iron rings to secure it."

After saying that, he sighed, "This is too difficult for forest tribes. We don't have the tools or the skills."

"Why not go to the blacksmith in Girth?" Diana asked, frowning, but immediately shut her mouth, feeling as if she had asked a stupid question.

Seeing the other person's expression, Charles nodded silently. "We can't let Goat Horn Town know about these things yet. If it were just for making one piece of equipment, I could use monster materials to fool them, but what's the use? It's just a piece of armor. I need hundreds or thousands of pieces. If such a large amount of materials were left in the blacksmith's shop—"

He didn't finish speaking, but the implication was already quite clear.

Diana understood what Charles meant, and she nodded a few times in agreement, "There really isn't much we can do."

Making only one or two pieces of armor would eliminate the need for the blacksmiths to work on it. Not only would it expose them, but it would also slow down the production of other materials. Rather than these armors, Xia Er preferred to have the blacksmiths forge the outer shells of the "Cannonball Fruits," which were essentially two iron pots joined together, and were not particularly difficult to make.

"I understand. I didn't think things through properly before." Diana admitted her mistake for the first time, which Charles appreciated. In terms of team organization and training, this former president of the Crusade was indeed very responsible.

Thinking about this, Charles suddenly had an idea. "Do you think that if we train for a while longer, my tribe might be able to roam freely in the forest?"

"Walk sideways?" Diana curled her lip. "Like a crab?"

"No, no," Charles quickly waved his hand. "You know what I mean."

"Phew—" Diana sighed softly. "To be honest, your team shouldn't have any rivals in the forest right now, provided that the other side has similar combat strength and there aren't any particularly powerful characters appearing."

This means that if you encounter a number of goblins equal to yours in the forest, your Shire subordinates can easily defeat them.

But if the opponent is a group of goblins followed by a few wyverns, your team will definitely run faster than a rabbit.

"I know, of course, that's how it is in the forest," Charles nodded with a smile. He was already quite satisfied with the situation; at least now he could reign supreme in the forest.

As long as the other side does not have "weapons of mass destruction".

What? You're saying this level of strength isn't powerful enough?

No, no, no, you should know that the AKA-47 in the hands of African men can also kill people.

As long as they don't blindly fire their guns into the air.

"Then tell me," Charles chuckled, rubbing his hands together like a parent showing off their child, hoping to hear "this kid has a bright future" from them, "what if they clash with the human forces?"

"Human armies?" Diana tilted her head back, looking slightly at the goblins. "You mean, the major kingdoms?"

"No, no, we can't say that yet," Charles quickly waved his hand. "Valentine, at most, is facing the army of Earl Valentine."

"It's difficult," Diana shook her head. "Not to mention that your men's armor is incomplete and their weapons are all over the place, the composition of your team is not yet a qualified team."

These words made Charles's expression change. He pursed his lips, thought for a few seconds, and asked, "What's missing?"

"I won't even mention the magician team. You're currently trying to set up your own magic academy, with that lich as a teacher, but I—" Diana shook her head, looking skeptical. "Just consider this: if the team needs to charge or run, you'll have a hard time doing it."

"You mean, the cavalry?"

"Yes, I did a survey before. Many of your subordinates can control worker ants, they all rely on the headband to control them, but almost none of them can control soldier ants for a charge attack."

"Aren't there centaurs too?"

"Them?" Diana chuckled, her expression clearly disdainful. "They are indeed excellent runners, faster than goblins and minotaurs. However, they are much smaller than human cavalry, and once they are armored, they cannot run long distances. They have to stop and catch their breath after running only a short distance, which is not as good as human cavalry."

"Human cavalrymen wear armor on their horses, and they ride on horseback," Charles argued, but his explanation sounded weak, and even Charles himself wasn't very confident.

"Yes, that's why centaurs are at least half a body shorter. I think you know that weight is also part of the impact force," Diana shrugged, not explaining further. "Of course, they are very good light cavalry. If supplies are adequate, they can even launch long-distance raids. But on the main battlefield, their capabilities are indeed limited."

"Heavy cavalry—" Charles lowered his head and muttered to himself. He could understand Diana's words. On the battlefield, if heavy infantry like the minotaurs in full armor were the mainstay, then heavy cavalry were the chisels that could break through the "fortress." Their role was indispensable. Many battles relied on heavy cavalry to directly charge into the enemy's formation and break through the enemy's formation in one or two exchanges.

However, where can we find riders now? We don't lack soldier ants; we can "hire" them from the anthill. But riders are not so easy to train, and they need to be riders who can fight immediately.

"Cavalry is only one aspect. There's another aspect," Diana said, not intending to let Charles off the hook. She raised another finger and shook it in front of him. "If you really intend to fight against human armies, then I think you should also have a siege force."

"

"Siege?"

"Yes, humans live inside the city walls. If it's just open field battles, you can still think of a way, but once humans retreat behind the city walls, your troops can only sigh and look at the walls."

After saying that, Diana smiled and said, "You once said that the best strategy is to subdue the enemy without fighting, the next best is to disrupt their alliances, and the worst is to besiege their cities. I agree with that, but sometimes, siege warfare is necessary. Once you enter into a siege, your people will be helpless."

She held up a few fingers, slowly pointing to the parts of the Shard race that were missing. "First, you don't have air forces, like griffins, giant eagles, or pegasus. You have none of them, so you can't attack or harass the enemy from the air. This allows human forces to deal with the situation more easily."

"Secondly, you don't have siege equipment. Those huge battering rams or tall buildings are useless against them. Even your 'Api Chicken Cannon' can't do much damage to the sturdy city walls."

"You're right." Charles twitched the corner of his mouth and finally nodded. The effect of the cannonball fruit was only a more intense "firecracker." After the explosion, shrapnel would fly everywhere, and there would also be a shock wave effect. But this thing was not like the heavy cannons of his previous life, and it could not damage the stone city walls at all.

It's like a grenade with reduced explosive power, with limited lethality.

"What kinds of siege tactics do you know?" Since the topic had come up, Charles took the opportunity to ask, hoping to gain a better understanding of this fantasy world.

"What I know?" Diana looked up and thought for a moment. "There are many methods, including those records or legends I've seen. Some people create huge siege engines, such as battering rams that require a hundred men to push, and towering arrow towers. These are the basics. Of course, there are other methods. Some high-ranking mages command arcane servants. These servants are covered in heavy iron armor or stones, and then the arcane servants can rush towards the city gates and become siege engines. There is another method, but that only exists in ancient legends—"

She glanced at Charles, who was listening attentively, and smiled. "It's about controlling mythical creatures."

"Mythical creature?" Charles blinked. He was familiar with it, after all, a phoenix was about to hatch, and he would have to "lie" on the egg for a while after he finished eating.

"Yes, for example, letting dragons fly onto the city walls and attack the defenders directly, or having Behemoth charge directly."

"Behemoth, the land behemoth?" Charles raised an eyebrow. He had heard the lizardman lich Spencer mention this mythical creature before. The lizardman kingdom in the abyss also kept this thing, which they called the "Behemoth." This thing had a magnificent and huge body, and its thick claws were no less than those of a dragon. It also had sharp teeth and a powerful bite. More importantly, its hard skin could even ignore heavy human crossbows. Those spear-like crossbow bolts could not cause any real damage to the behemoth.

A berserk Behemoth charged toward the city wall with the force of a truck speeding through the brickwork.

Not to mention, they also have giant claws and sharp teeth.

"That thing is no longer available." Charles shook his head with a sheepish smile. He didn't have any of the methods the other party mentioned. It seemed that the only way to break through the human city walls was to set up a teleportation portal in advance, as Uncle Musa had suggested, and then catch the enemy off guard.

However, this method of surprise attack can only be used a few times at most, and the enemy will definitely be on guard afterward, so it cannot be considered an invincible tactic.

"So you guess you can only pin your hopes on your subordinates' digging methods." Diana shrugged and glanced sideways at Charles.

"There will be a way." Charles sighed. Goblins are not only good at digging, but if he really wants to accomplish his goal, there is still a long way to go.

After a few seconds of silence, Charles suddenly remembered something, "But speaking of mythical creatures, we do have them now."

'

"Hmm?" Diana frowned. Had the phoenix already hatched?

"It's Spencer's bone dragon," Charles patted his thigh. "A dead dragon is still a dragon, it still counts."

"This—" Diana looked disgusted and even leaned back slightly.

She really wanted to say, "If you, a goblin, were to actually command a bone dragon to attack a city, you'd truly have the words 'Great Demon King' etched on your forehead."

"I just don't know about that bone dragon," Charles said, pausing for a moment, "yes, its name is Little Zha. I wonder if Little Zha is easy to talk to."

"You're hopeless." Diana sighed, then turned away, no longer wanting to deal with the goblin.

But she had only taken two steps when she suddenly stopped in her tracks, and at the same time, one of her swords flew into the air and shot towards Charles's back.

"Come out!" Diana shouted sharply.