章節 6: The Enemy Appears

By midday, the atmosphere in the camp began to shift. The goblins still eyed him warily, but their movements became more focused, their efforts more coordinated.

Lance climbed a low hill overlooking the camp and raised his voice. The traps were only half of the plan he had proposed after all.

"Listen up!" he called. "We've got a good start, but this is only half the battle. Traps will slow them down, but it won't stop them. That's where all of you come in."

The goblins gathered below, their expressions ranging from curiosity to outright hostility.

Theorizing, using his knowledge of goblins from the depictions on earth, Lance spoke. "You've all got speed and agility," Lance continued. "That's your biggest strength. Use it. Don't fight them head-on, that's only what they want."

He took a second to realise that their opponents were also goblins, so his analysis of speed and agility was supposed to apply to them too. But then, Lance remembered that the male goblins were bigger and bulkier, almost similar to depiction of orcs and ogres from earth's knowledge.

"Hit and run. Ambush. Keep them guessing. Make them fight on your terms, not theirs." He continued to rip from common knowledge he had from playing video games.

A murmur rippled through the crowd. Lia stepped forward, her arms crossed as she studied him.

"You're telling us to run away?" one goblin shouted, his tone accusatory.

"No," Lance said firmly. "I'm telling you to fight smart. Strength isn't just about who hits harder. It's about who outlasts the other guy. If you make them think you're stronger and tire them out, they'll break before you do."

Lia nodded slowly, her expression thoughtful. "He's right. We've been trying to fight like them for too long. That's why we've lost so much."

Her words seemed to settle the crowd, and Lance felt a flicker of relief. He went on to explain some practical tactics and advantage oppurtunities, gaining a bit of admiration from some of the goblins, as he appeared to be a tome of knowledge.

As the day wore on, Lance's plan began taking shape.

Pits lined the forest paths, camouflaged with leaves and branches. Spiked logs were rigged to fall at key choke points. Lines of tripwires crisscrossed the most likely approach routes.

Lance also directed the goblins to reinforce the camp's barricades, layering them with additional logs and embedding sharp spikes into the wood by peeling the bark roughly. The newly added logs were taller, so as to force the enemy to pass through the entrances.

The entrances themselves were narrowed, creating tight funnels that would force the attackers to cluster together, making them easier to pick off.

"Good," Lance said as he inspected the progress. "Now let's light some torches."

"Torches?" Lia asked, her brow furrowing.

"They're not for us," Lance said with a grin. "They're for them. We want the enemy to think we're bigger, stronger, and better prepared than we are. A few extra torches will make the camp look twice its size at night." Lance said, gaining an understanding nod from Lia and another elder who stood nearby.

Well, for that part, Lance had no idea what he was saying, he just pulled that fact out of his ass. There was no guarantee that such a thing would work the way he said it would.

'I think I read something like that somewhere before, right?'

As the sun dipped below the horizon, Lance stood at the edge of the camp once more, watching the goblins work.

He still felt like an imposter, a RTS gamer playing general in a world where the stakes were all too real.

…

The next morning while everywhere was still dark, the camp lay in eerie silence, broken only by the occasional crackle of a torch or the rustling of leaves in the forest beyond. Every goblin stood tense at their posts, their eyes scanning the shadows. Lance, crouched behind a newly reinforced barricade, felt his heartbeat quicken.

The reason they were all up now so early was because their scouts had caught sight of the enemy approaching from afar. For the time being, they were still some ways off, so it gave them time to prepare and take their positions, waiting for their enemies efficiently.

Faint snapping sounds of branches broke the silence, followed by the low growls of gruff voices. The male goblins were approaching, their heavy footfalls pressing the earth with deliberate force. Lance tightened his grip on the crude spear he'd been given, his eyes flickering toward Lia, who crouched nearby. The only thought in his head at that particular moment was why he was even standing amongst the attacking force?! He was supposed to be the strategist!

Breaking him out of his thoughts, Lia muttered, "they're here," her yellow eyes glinting in the torchlight.

Lance nodded. "Remember the plan. Don't engage head-on. We hit them where it hurts and pull back. Trust the traps."

The words hung in the air like a fragile promise as everyone tensed up, anticipating the battle to come.