Translator: CadmarLegend
Editor: ToiletPaper
Chapter 126 - Preparing Defenses
"I guess we'll just have to do our best for now."
I murmured to myself as I was left to protect Einrad Hill, watching Carlos and the rest of the army heading out.
I wonder what Carlos is thinking.
It doesn't make any sense to me that he would leave a small number of people in a place like this to go out on the offensive.
Anyways, I was given the task of defending Einrad, and now that I've accepted it, I have to finish it without complaining.
If I let the fort get taken back again, there would be no future for me.
"The first step is to repair the crumbling parts, but the question is, how long do we have to guard it?"
"Probably not very long. But I have heard that the attack on the city to the north that Carlos-sama went to reinforce is also a siege. I don't think it can be a short period of time."
"We’ll have to make this whole thing work out for a while huh. Is there anything in particular we need to do early?"
"General, aren't we going to recruit? We can't defend this place with our current numbers."
"That's right. Vargas, go and gather the men in the surrounding villages. I give you the freedom to offer them a job later if the need arises."
"Understood, General."
"So, Vargas will take care of the recruitment. Make sure they follow all the rules and orders. The nearby village has been ruled by the Uruks for years, so be wary of them harboring loyalty to them, if anyone tries to do anything strange, you can punish them. I'm counting on you."
"Ars, what do you want me to do?"
"Baito-nii, you'll work with me to build an outer line of defense."
"What will that be?"
"To protect Einrad Hill, we need to fortify this place. But that alone might be too little. I’m thinking about venturing out farther into the field and expanding our defenses there."
"...... What exactly are you going to do?"
"Since you were in charge of intercepting the enemy reinforcements during the battle of Einrad, I think you know the enemy's route to some extent now. I'm going to build a tower where we can keep an eye on their predictable route and set up a lookout. If we detect the enemy, I want you to be ready to intercept them before they siege us."
"I see... A watchtower. Well, I'll show you some interesting places to build it, Ars."
"All right, then, let's get everyone ready. We’ll protect this hill at all costs."
"""""Ay!"""""
This is how our defense of Ainrad began.
※ ※ ※
"Looks like we got quite a turnout, Vargas."
"Oh, General. There are quite a few of them. They all look like the second or third sons of farmers. They volunteered because you're so popular."
"I'm Popular? Since when?"
"General is a peasant who became a knight in shining armor. You even single-handedly defeated the Uruk cavalry. The applicants were so enthusiastic that they thought they might be able to receive magic and become knights."
"I see. But in a defensive battle, it's important to not go overboard. You’ll have to tell them not to be too impatient to gain credit."
You are reading story I Was Reincarnated as a Poor Farmer in a Different World, so I Decided to Make Bricks to Build a Castle at novel35.com
"About that, General, how do you plan on defending the Fort? Normally, you'd use bow and arrows to defend from the top of the walls, right? But neither the knights nor the recruits are able to use bows and arrows. Do we have time to learn archery now?"
"That's quite the problem, isn't it? It takes a long time to learn to use a bow properly, so I want to avoid that."
"Do you have any idea of what you're going to do?"
"I'm thinking about it... actually, what about using bricks as weapons?"
"Bricks? Do you mean dropping them from the top of the castle walls? That's not a bad idea, but it's only effective against those who are climbing the walls, no?"
"I know that's not enough. We'll use catapults."
Despite the Barca knights being mainly a cavalry unit, that doesn't mean I haven't thought about defense and sieges.
The possibility that such a situation would eventually arise was also on my mind.
At that time, I thought about the existence of a weapon.
In this world, magic exists, and on the battlefield, the presence or absence of magic will determine the outcome of the battle.
If that was the case, I thought it would be good if there was a powerful magic that could be the decisive factor in the battle.
However, I remembered the talk I had had with Lilina about the royal family.
She had said that the royal family used a powerful Grand Magic.
It was certainly very powerful and was the driving force behind the pacification of this land.
However, if I were to create a magic that was too deadly, it would be too dangerous if other people could use it at their own will.
On the other hand, a magic that could only be used by me would be useless since I would have to be at the scene every time.
I didn't want to unnecessarily increase the number of attack spells my people could use, but I also wanted to secure a strong means of attack that could be used even when I wasn't there.
To satisfy both of these needs, I decided to make a catapult.
I put a brick at the end of a large spoon-shaped stick and used the principle of leverage to send the brick flying into the distance.
Even Vargas, with his increased defensive capabilities, would not be able to survive a direct hit with a brick.
These bricks will be certainly be effective at stopping the enemies approaching our walls.
"...... But General, where is such a thing? You didn't bring that with you from Barcania, did you? If we're going to make it here, we need to get the materials and stuff right away, don't we?"
"Don't worry, Vargas. I'll make it, and all I need is some dirt."
After saying that, I put my hands on the ground and poured mana into the soil.
I had already made a prototype of the catapult with Gran when we were in Barcania.
Once that was made, I remembered the structure of the catapult from that time by using 【Memory Preservation】.
After that, it was easy. First I made a catapult out of Hardened Bricks with the same structure I remembered from the one back in Barcania.
The catapult had four wheels and could be moved from place to place.
In order to allow the bricks to be showered on the target, I made the opposite side of the stick to be heavier than the stone-throwing side.
Then, I connected a string to the stone-throwing side of the stick and connected that string to the handle on the base of the weapon.
When you turn the handle around, the side connected to the string will come down, but if you release it, it will jump up and lift the brick, sending it flying.
The bricks that are used as ammunition can be made by anyone with the Barca surname and so ammo was not a problem at all.
Thus, Einrad Hill was transformed into a fort with numerous catapults that day.