On the third day, the first military construction of Xia Village, the Level 1 cavalry camp was officially completed. There was even a small stable attached to the cavalry camp, where the knights could take care of the horses.
The cavalry camp required an enormous space, so it was built outside Xia Village. The wooden fence was extended from the village to the cavalry camp.
"Level 1 cavalry camp can be used to train light cavalry."
[Army Type]: Light Cavalry
[Grade]: Level 1 Cavalry
[Attack Power]: 10 [Defense Power]: 5 [Speed]: 20
[Skills]: Low-Grade Reconnaissance (slightly increases chances of obtaining information of enemies), Low-Grade Horseback Archery (slightly increases accuracy of arrows while riding), Low-Grade Speed-Riding (while charging, Attack power +2, Defense power -1, very slim chances of wreaking havoc among opposing army)
[Characteristics]: A Thousand Horses Sweeping Across the Hills (Level E characteristic, when a hero of the cavalry line takes command, total attribute +1)
[Soldier's Pay]: 2 units/month
[Mandatory Equipment]: Horses, Knives, and Swords (blades)
[Additional Equipment]: Bow and Arrow, Long Spears, Leather Armor
In order to train a light cavalry, there had to be a horse and a blade.
The price of blades was affordable. Ordinary blades could be purchased with one unit of silver. Horses, wages, bows and arrows were the troublesome part. Ordinary horses cost 20 units of silver, and the grass that needed to be supplied every month was another burdensome expense.
Furthermore, the pay of a light cavalryman was 2 units of silver. Those who could rear a cavalry must either be feudal lords from the grassland who owned pastures with all their citizens serving the army, or they must be feudal lords from the central capitals with riches that could feed an entire nation.
However, the attributes of a light cavalry was explosive. Their basic attributes were high, and they possessed three low-grade skills!
The attack power of Yellow Turban soldiers was only 7, a skill that was better than nothing. Yet, the attack power of a light cavalry could reach 10, with three practical low-grade skills and outrageously fast speed.
Xia Village only had four horses at the moment, one of which was used by Chu Tian himself, and another which was rewarded to Hua Mulan. There were only two spare horses, which meant only two light cavalrymen could be trained for now.
The training period of light cavalry was 14 days.
Chu Tian allocated two local soldiers at the cavalry camp for training.
Cavalry camps had their own NPC instructors, but they would not fight for the village.
"Chief, the hoggery is done."
Right after Chu Tian settled the two local soldiers down for training, Elder Li hurried over with impatience.
Chu Tian followed Elder Li to the Level 2 hoggery. It was a spacious wooden hut. Pens were partitioned with low walls made from soil.
[Name]: Level 2 Hoggery
[Number of Pigs Available for Slaughter]: 500
[Could Be Expanded To]: 1000
[Effects]: Average Weight of Available Pigs +2%
"We have to select sows and boars for breeding. One boar can impregnate 20 sows," Elder Li reminded Chu Tian.
Currently, the number of commercial pigs that could be reared by the hoggery was 500, and it could be expanded to the scale of producing 1000 commercial pigs.
It would take quite some time to operate the hoggery.
"Purchase excellent boars from the villagers for breeding, and sows too."
This was the very first time Chu Tian reared pigs.
He summoned a villager and handed the 'Low-Grade Pig-Rearing Techniques'. By doing so, the villager was turned into a special talent——specialized household in low-grade pig-rearing.
The chicken farm was completed as well. It was separated into chicken coops and open grounds, and chicks could be collected from the villagers.
The fishpond was built near the Yi River. It was used to rear fry.
The shipyard took a longer time to build. A Level 1 shipyard could only build small-sized wooden boats, which were categorized into those for civil use and those for military use. The former could accommodate 2 to 3 people for water transport or fish-rearing and fish-catching purposes. The latter could accommodate 10 people and was used for battles on water. Sure enough, the building cost for the latter was higher.
On the fifth day, the Level 2 infantry camp was completed as well, and local soldiers could be trained into formal soldiers now. A Level 2 infantry camp could train two types of armies, namely light infantry, and elite light infantry.
"Weird. Even Level 2 infantry camps can't train heavy infantries? Does it have to be a Level 3 infantry camp to be able to train heavy infantries? But even if it can train heavy infantries, I don't think a village can sustain the troop with what financial capacity it has."
Chu Tian looked up the attributes of 'light infantry' and 'elite light infantry'.
[Army Type]: Light Infantry
[Grade]: Level 1 Infantry
[Attack Power]: 7 [Defense Power]: 5 [Speed]: 5
[Skills]: Low-Grade Speed-Sprinting (slightly increases morale in the midst of a tough battle, can only be used once a day), Low-Grade Shield Formation (Defense power +1 when the shield formation is formed), Low-Grade Gun Formation (increases harm to cavalries when the gun formation is formed)
[Characteristics]: Men Should Stand and Fight in the Battlefield (when a commander of the infantry line takes command, total attribute +1)
[Soldier's Pay]: 1 unit/month
[Mandatory Equipment]: Blades or Long Spears
[Additional Equipment]: Bows, Arrows, Leather Armor, Shields
The basic attributes of light infantrymen were the same as the Yellow Turban soldiers, but they possessed three low-grade skills. In a real war, light infantrymen would certainly be of greater use.
Yellow Turban soldiers were thieves, after all, whereas light infantrymen were official soldiers.
As for the elite light infantry, their pay was 1 unit and 500 dollars, which was equivalent to 1.5 light infantrymen.
If money was abundant but had a small population, it was alright to get an elite light infantry. If money was scarce but young, strong labor forces were abundant, it seemed like a light infantry was more worthwhile.
Chu Tian hesitated for a while, then he selected 50 strong villagers to be trained directly into elite light infantrymen. A total of 900 units of silver would need to be paid as wages on an annual basis.
50 elite infantrymen were enough for defeating 200 local soldiers of the same level. They were professional fighters, after all. All they needed to do was destroy the morale of the local soldiers, and they would flee in fright.
In that case, Xia Village would have 2 light infantrymen, 50 elite light infantrymen, and a group of local soldiers.
Xia Village could not afford to feed so many elites at the moment, but in order to cope with the possible upheaval by Yellow Turban soldiers next month, Chu Tian chose to boost his army.
If he ran out of enough money to pay the soldiers, he would have to go despoil the Yellow Turban soldiers.
By the time all the constructions were completed, the prosperity level of Xia Village had increased to 213 points, which fulfilled the requirement for level of prosperity to be upgraded to Level 3 village.
"Ding! System notification from the Eastern Han: At the end of June of the first lunar year in Feudal Lords, the event 'Trails of the Yellow Turban' will begin. Large groups of Yellow Turban soldiers will appear and rampage through the place to plunder food. Desolation will stretch for a thousand miles, and no sounds of animals can be heard either. Feudal lords, please be prepared. Protect your own villages and people with your own strength and wisdom!"
"Ding! System notification from the Eastern Han: This is a warm-up activity for the historical warfare, the 'Riot of the Yellow Turban'. There are rankings for nations, states, and districts. Points will be rewarded for killing Yellow Turban soldiers and Yellow Turban chiefs. The top 100 feudal lords in each of the rankings will receive handsome rewards!"
Right when Chu Tian was about to look up the requirements for upgrading a Level 2 village to Level 3, the system notifications buzzed all of a sudden.
This was originally an activity meant for eliminating a batch of weak, vulnerable feudal lords, but after all the players got trapped in Feudal Lords, this event turned dangerous. Some players might be killed by Yellow Turban soldiers.
"Have the blacksmith stores forge weapons, the protective gear workshops manufacture leather armor and wooden shields, the hospitals gather medicinal herbs, and have everyone rush to harvest the wheat to their best abilities!"
Chu Tian began mobilizing the manpower of the entire village immediately.