With a series of rumbling, the territory of Xia Village expanded outward as it was upgraded from a Level 2 village to Level 3. A cob wall about 1.5 meters in height appeared on the outer perimeter of the village, and beyond the cob wall was a layer of wooden fences.
Xia Village was officially transformed into a large-scale village from a small-to-medium one.
[Territory]: Xia Village (Level 3 village)
[Feudal Lord]: Chu Tian (Level 2 Shangzao)
[Jurisdiction]: Langya Nation, Xu Prefecture, Eastern Han
[Specialties]: Crude Celadon (Level E specialty), Rice Wine (Level D specialty)
[Population]: 812/2000
[Popular Sentiment]: 75
[Public Security]: 87
[Level of Prosperity]: 221/500
[Administrative Efficiency]: 10/100
[Agricultural Efficiency]: 13/100
[Economical Efficiency]: 17/100
[Cultural Efficiency]: 15/100
[Military Score]: 1012 (1 royal special hero, 1 silver hero, 1 bronze hero, 2 light cavalrymen, 50 elite light infantrymen, 252 local soldiers)
[City Defense Works]: Wooden Fences (Defense power +1), Cob Walls (Defense power +1, can effectively fend off arrows)
[New Constructions]: Tudi Temple (value of blessings can be increased by gathering joss sticks and incense, increasing probabilities of propitious omens), Level 1 Farm Product Market (increases the prosperity levels of agriculture and commerce of the village), Level 2 Prchard (for fruit-planting), Level 2 Rice Mills, Level 2 Timber-Processing Mills
...
Several previously absent constructions were added after Xia Village was upgraded to Level 3. It was beginning to develop in the direction of a town, with cob walls serving as city defense works in the meantime. Cob walls were the prototype of future city walls.
The feudal lord's residence where Chu Tian lived was finally improved as well. The residence was reconstructed into a stone house from a wooden house. There were even asphalt tiles, which added a touch of luxury to its appearance.
The size of the population under his management was 800 now. Most of the feudal lords were still struggling with Level 2 villages. Some did not even manage to upgrade their Level 1 villages to Level 2 before they were destroyed by bandits or wild animals.
The feudal lord's residence was separated into the front yard, the stone tablet, and the backyard. The front yard was, of course, for administration and management of the village's policies. The stone tablet was the core of the place. If the tablet got destroyed, the entire territory would turn into ruins. The backyard was where Chu Tian lived.
"Build two wooden arrow towers at the entrance of the village. Besides that, build one wooden arrow tower in each of the three directions apart from the entrance, serving as watchtowers."
Chu Tian allocated labor forces for building wooden arrow towers. Wooden arrow towers required large amounts of timber.
The timber reserve of Xia Village alone was far from sufficient, but Chu Tian had consigned the commerce centers of Xiaozhu Village to collect timber from nearby villages.
A team of commercial horses arrived from Xiaozhu Village, shipping in a steady supply of timber. Besides, with the exploitation done by the great manpower of Xia Village, the timber was finally enough for use.
Carpenters were busy building wooden arrow towers with their labor forces. Carpenters belonged to the category of special talents as well. In the ancient times of war, craftsmen would be spared even in massacres, because they could serve a wide variety of purposes.
The hunters of Xia Village could set up hunting traps in the perimeter of the village. Once the Yellow Turban soldiers stepped on the traps, they would be wounded or killed straight away.
Zhao Qi reported the progress to Chu Tian. "Apart from the entrance of the village, from where people and cargos have to pass, 253 traps have been set beyond the cob walls."
"Take note of the locations of these hunting traps and prohibit all villagers from going near the cob walls for a couple of months, allowing them to use only the entrance. We'll clear the hunting traps after we're done with the Yellow Turbans. Bring your people and set more traps. The more the better."
"Sure."
Zhao Qi began setting more traps nearby the cob walls with the help of the hunters.
The advantage of hunting traps was that no resources had to be expended, only labor forces. However, the disadvantage was that they couldn't cover the entrance with traps too, could they… Besides, if the Yellow Turban soldiers focused on attacking a certain spot, they could destroy the traps in that spot with the human wave attack.
Hua Mulan was training the elite infantry in the Level 2 drill ground of Xia Village. The troop of infantrymen was using long spears, large knives, or iron swords as weapons. A minority of infantrymen had changed into rare leather armor, but most of them were still in sackcloths.
Long-term training and military expeditions could enhance the grades of the recruited soldiers, gradually making them into an experienced troop.
Hua Mulan had been upgraded from Level 30 to Level 32 for killing many Yellow Turban soldiers and the renegade general. Her current command was 72 and strength was 82, which could result in greater reinforcement.
"Weapons aren't standardized, and there aren't enough protective gears either."
When Hua Mulan brought up the current predicament of the first defense troop of Xia Village, there was worry in her eyes.
"I have ordered the blacksmith stores and timber-processing workshops to forge a long spear and a wooden shield for each infantryman, and for the protective gear workshop to forge a piece of leather armor for each of them. As for standardizing blades and bows, it will be considered in the future."
Chu Tian was proactively preparing for the war. The material for the leather armor was the skin of wild boars which could be obtained by hunting. As for the weapons of the infantry, Chu Tian's first choice was long spears. The effects of a long spear formation could be achieved with a troop of spear-holding soldiers forming a matrix.
With Hua Mulan training the infantry of Xia Village, Chu Tian ordered two light infantrymen to go on a reconnaissance outside the village.
"Lord Village Chief."
While walking the dirt roads of the village, Chu Tian saw a group of villagers chasing their domestic pigs into the hoggery.
Xia Village had been systematically divided into zones.
There were seven zones in Xia Village. The residential zone, the market zone, the military zone, the administrative zone, the manufacturing zone, the resource zone, and the spare grounds.
The buildings in the residential zone were residences, mainly consisting of wooden houses. The number of thatched houses were dwindling, and a small number of stone houses had begun to emerge. Chu Tian needed not to worry about the villagers' houses, because they would figure out ways to reconstruct their houses once they gained wealth. They couldn't expect the feudal lord to worry about each and every house of the village, could they…
The market zone had taverns, farm product markets, hospitals, private schools, Tudi temples, and tailors.
The administrative zone housed the feudal lord's residence, barns, and arsenals.
The military zone was made up of the Level 1 cavalry camp and the Level 2 infantry camp.
The manufacturing zone consisted of blacksmith stores, protective gear stores, timber-processing mills, rice mills, and celadon factories.
The resource zone housed farmlands, minelands, logging lands, orchards, fishponds, hoggeries, as well as chicken farms.
The spare grounds were reserved for building new constructions and future selling in exchange for money. Once Xia Village developed into a town, the price of the land would start to rise.
As the population size and number of constructions of Xia Village gradually increased, the development of Xia Village was gradually getting on the right track.
Xia Village had a thatched school now, which could enroll 50 children. Besides enhancing the cultural efficiency of the territory. Chu Tian selected a teacher from among the refugees and appointed him as the teacher at the school. The school even had hidden effects. When this batch of children turned into adults in the future, their mental attributes would be higher than ordinary villagers.
The fragrance of rice wine wafted from the taverns. Behind the taverns was the place where wine was brewed, the manufactured rice wine could be sold to other villages as well.
"Ha!"
A light infantryman of Xia Village was riding fast on the rural dirt road, sending dust and dirt flying from the ground.
The infantryman barged through the entrance of the village, and the passing villagers stared at the infantryman from Xia Village in awe.
The infantryman dismounted from the horse and got to Chu Tian with an anxious look on his face. "Village Chief, a large group of Yellow Turban soldiers have turned up outside the village. Some villages have been ransacked already!"
"Chase all the livestock back to the village and gather all the local soldiers. Get ready to fight to our deaths with the attacking Yellow Turban soldiers!"
Chu Tian acted as if faced with his worst enemy. This time, the number of Yellow Turban soldiers were far more intimidating than the 60 of them previously, and their grades were higher.
If they could kill enough Yellow Turban soldiers and attain a place in the ranking, there might be handsome rewards in store for them.
"Eastern Han District announcement: It is the sixth month of the lord's calendar, and the Yellow Turbans are uprising. Rogues from all over the country have responded by plundering the villages. The Han Court calls on the lord of the universe to defend our territory and suppress the Yellow Turbans!"
"Eastern Han District announcement: There have been Yellow Turban appearances in the following areas, please be careful. Lords of Ji Zhou are Zhang Jiao, Zhang Liang, Zhang Bao, lords of Qing Zhou, Guan Gai, You Zhou's Cheng Yuanzhi, Deng Mao, Xu Zhou's Zhang Kai, Yan Zhou's Bo Cai, Yu Zhou's Liu Pi, He Yi, Gong Du... Killing the special heroes of the Yellow Turban Army gets extra points and special rewards! The deceased special heroes from the Yellow Turban army can be summoned through recruitment orders in the future!"
Once the system announcement was released, players in the Eastern Han district went into an uproar. Even the closed beta players were stunned. They thought that this time it was just a group of high-level Yellow Turban soldiers coming out to loot food. But instead, a large number of heroes actually appeared. How could the players stop this?
"Insane. This is insane."
Chu Tian, who was actively preparing for battle in the Xia Village, was also stunned when he heard the announcement. The 'Yellow Turban Trail' event was just a warmup for the epic battle 'Yellow Turban Rebellion'.
The lord of Ji Zhou was under the greatest pressure for it was very likely he would encounter the Yellow Turban Army lead by the great sage, Zhang Jiao.
Even if it wasn't Zhang Jiao, the other Yellow Turban heroes were difficult to resist anyway. Since the Three Kingdoms consisted of NPC forces, the hero levels were very high. For example, Hu Mulan was level 32, but as an NPC power, Zhang Jiao had a starting level of 80!
If the warm-up events were this difficult, how hard was the epic battle?
"Xu Zhou district announcement: The heavens are dead; the yellow skies arise! The Yellow Turban Army's general, Zhang Kai, has responded, and one hundred thousand Yellow Turbans have invaded Xu Zhou. Can the lords of Xu Zhou district stay in the territory according to the situation? If you lose, it is recommended to abandon your post and take refuge in a nearby city!"
"Xu Zhou district announcement: The Xu Zhou governor, Tao Qian, has ordered Chen Deng, Cao Bao, Mi Zhu, Zang Ba, Sun Guan, and other heroes to take down the Yellow Turbans together with the lords. Please fight valiantly to ensure the safety of the villagers!"
Just when Chu Tian was thinking the difficulty was too high, a separate announcement from Xu Zhou District sounded.
Now Chu Tian understood why the heroes of the Yellow Turban had left their nest; it turns out they were at war with the princes. The Xu Zhou governor, Tao Qian, had a higher win rate than that of the Yellow Turban's Army general, Zhang Kai. The players' commanders only need to protect their village during the battle between the princes and the Yellow Turban Army.
After understanding the general context of the Yellow Turban catastrophe, Chu Tian sent a few more courageous patrollers around the village. Once the Yellow Turban Army was upon the Xia village, they would immediately beat gongs and drums to urge the villagers into a state of combat.
After several days of construction, five simple wooden archer towers had been built at four meters high, which was quite impressive. Each tower would accommodate up to three archers. Since the Xia Village had no professional archers, all the local militia had been equipped with bows and arrows instead as they stood guard along the tower.
After the large-scale Yellow Turban invasion, the speeds of construction in several villages all slowed down. Most of the villagers had been under attack from the Yellow Turbans, with the only difference being the scale of the attacks.
The villagers from the Xia Village seemed to be aware that the village was facing a large crisis at this time and were in a state of panic.
Chu Tian discovered that the popular sentiment had dropped from 75 to 71, and public security from 87 to 83. If it weren't for the Xia Village's original high stats in these sectors, villagers might have already begun to flee for the bigger NPC cities with their families. Large cities were generally guarded by special heroes and elite officers and soldiers.
There were already commanders in the guild who had been attacked by the Yellow Turban Army. Unfortunately, the distance was too far, and Chu Tian was unable to provide support. Plus, he had to prioritize himself as the Xia Village's forces were already spread thin.
"The Yellow Turban general in Xu Zhou is Zhang Kai. It is said that he murdered Cao Cao's father, and assassinated the Chen King, Liu Chong, at the signal of Yuan Shu. Zhang Kai was at least a gold-level special hero, and his rankings were high as well. Plus, he even has a large army of Yellow Turbans that contain advanced units such as chiefs and warriors. I hope he doesn't show up near our village."
Chu Tian's current weapons were only a silver-tier spear and a silver-tier leather armor. Plus, he had a warhorse. Appearance wise, it looked very proper.
He personally led the Xia Village guards and a large militia to guard the village. Divided into four groups of men and horses, they would always be on guard.
"Ding! Xu Zhou District announcement: Mochizuki Village has been looted by the Yellow Turban bandits. The village chiefs and the local militia have fought valiantly, but the Mochizuki Village will now disappear in the long river of history."
The Yellow Turban Army had not yet attacked the Xia Village, but a mere announcement was enough to make Chu Tian nervous. The Xia Village had just discovered traces of a large Yellow Turban Army, but he didn't expect that a player's village would be destroyed by them so soon.
Afterward, several announcements followed consisting of villages of other players that had been destroyed by the Yellow Turban Army.
The Xia Village had to figure out a way to block the Yellow Turban's offense. Chu Tian didn't know the scale of the army that would be invading the Xia village, but he was sure of one thing. This event was going to be difficult to survive. A large number of low-level players had already been wiped out, particularly the level one villages which had no resistance when faced with the Yellow Turbans' abilities.
"My lord, do not worry. I will do my best to protect the Xia Village to the end."
Hua Mulan's words brought relief to Chu Tian.
Although Hua Mulan was only level 32, her 82 points of strength were already Boss tier among the Yellow Turban battalions.
If he, who owned Hua Mulan, could not defend against the Yellow Turbans, then how many players in the entire Easter Han Dynasty could?
Thinking of this, Chu Tian relaxed.
Perhaps this event was meant to wipe out a small group of players with level 1 villages, but there was no reason he shouldn't be able to protect his level three village.
Unless... Zhang Kai, the chief of the Yellow Turban Army in Xu Zhou, lead the main forces and appeared near Langya County...
But he wouldn't be that unlucky, right?
Chu Tian shook his head. Xu Zhou was large in area and contained 60 or so counties. The area for 'lords' had been expanded tenfold so that the Xu Zhou area was over 1 million square kilometers.
Although most of the land was barren, Xu Zhou was large. There was no promise that Zhang Kai would appear in Langya County.
"Yellow Turban... Yellow Turban Army!"
The drumming from the archer towers startled Chu Tian.
"Everyone, assemble!"
Chu Tian climbed the wooden ladder on the archer towers so he could get a broader view. From the horizon emerged two hundred looters wearing yellow turbans. They were fierce and evil, with over 20 cavalry soldiers on horseback!
"Two hundred Yellow Soldiers and 20 cavalry soldiers with higher levels than the Xia village's militia. How many lords can resist... Oh no, I was fooled!"
Chu Tian looked at the dense array of Yellow Turban soldiers and instantly regretted upgrading to a third-level village. In this Yellow Turban invasion, the number of soldiers attacking a village was obviously related to the village's level. A third level village meant an invasion of over two hundred Yellow Turban soldiers!