The attack on the water village had turned into a fierce and bitter battle. Arrows were flying insanely above their heads and Chu Tian's eyes had turned red from all the bloodshed. Liu Sandao followed closely beside him, protecting him with the strength of a golden-level commander.
When Xia Town's soldiers and horses marched into the water village, they were instantly attacked by a few dozen water bandits. The water bandits were more ferocious than the Yellow Turban soldiers they had once dealt with, and the Xu archers had no choice but to engage in close-quarters combat.
Liu Sandao had also given up on using his bow. In up-close fighting, the ring-hilted knife was far more practical.
If not for the two commanders holding up the troop, the dozen archers would have been devoured very quickly.
The chief of the water bandits appeared while being escorted by the bandits. Holding a big blade in hand, he looked horrendous and ferocious.
"Kill him!"
Chu Tian knew that in circumstances such as this, the king had to be caught before the rest of the thieves in order to resolve the crisis.
Hua Mulan took charge of the attack, while Liu Sandao and the rest defended. They rapidly approached the bandit chief!
"Foolish! How dare these people attack my water village with their meager numbers..."
The bandit chief shut up very soon, realizing a dozen people were quickly breaking through his defense!
Hua Mulan brought down around ten water bandits all by herself. Liu Sandao's ring-hilted knife also came alive with vigor, also chopping several water bandits, instilling fear in them.
It was slightly more difficult for the Xu archers, but the water bandits also had to pay a certain price if they wanted to kill them.
The bandit's archers dared not simply release their arrows amidst the battle.
Hua Mulan killed her way to the front of the bandit chief.
The two knives collided, and the bandit chief felt his wrist go numb, nearly dropping the big blade.
"Let's kill her together!"
The bandit chief realized that he was no match for Hua Mulan, so he sought help from his subordinates.
Two red-tasseled spears pierced towards the direction of Hua Mulan.
A blade held in one hand, Hua Mulan grasped the red-tasseled spear with the other. The force she exerted managed to push the two bandits holding the longspear into the water.
The bandits fell into the water before they could come to their senses. The disparity between them and a royal commander was too large, which allowed her to have a complete vantage point in small-scale battles.
In the settings of Feudal Lords, commanders were unable to rival ten thousand soldiers with a single horse. However, when Zhao Yun reached his highest level, he could break through the heavy siege seven times, and made it out alive seven times at the Changban Slope.
The bandit chief managed to take over ten strikes from Hua Mulan before he became worn out, after which both his arms went numb and he was killed right away!
"Your chief's head has come off of his shoulders! If you surrender now, your lives will be spared!" Chu Tian, who was great at exploiting the weaknesses of the human mind, seized the chance and issued a declaration.
Seeing his chief killed, one of the bandits abandoned his knife and surrendered with his hands raised up around his head.
There were clattering noises as iron knives hit the wooden planks, the rest of the water bandits also giving up on a chance at retaliation.
Three picket ships had sent more soldiers to the water village. Apart from some of the water bandits who ran away, 37 bandits had been captured in total.
Chu Tian promised not to kill them if they surrendered, but that did not mean he would forgive them so easily. These captives would be sent to mine in the gold and iron quarries, to contribute what was left of them.
Bang!
Liu Sandao kicked open the wooden door of the warehouse of the water village, where several boxes of treasures were placed. There were even weapons such as knives and spears on the weapon shelves.
Aside from removing the threat brought about by the water bandits, plundering the treasures of the water village was also one of the reasons Chu Tian had attacked the water village.
The plundered fortune could relieve the financial crisis of Xia Town, which still owed Xiaozhu Village a hundred units of gold.
The bullion and copper coins in the dozens of boxes added up to around a hundred units of gold.
One of the construction drawings drew Chu Tian's attention, however.
[Name]: Level 2 navy camp drawing
[Effects]: Can recruit Level 1 army, including sailors, marine infantrymen, marine archers, and marine crossbowmen, and Level 2 army, including elite marine infantrymen, elite marine archers, and elite marine crossbowmen.
[Prerequisites]: Possession of a Level 2 shipyard and undamaged military vessels
Chu Tian wasn't surprised to find navy-related constructions in the water village.
A Level 2 navy camp drawing wasn't cheap. Even without the drawing, Chu Tian would have consigned the trading contingent to purchase it at Langya City.
This battle also brought about six picket ships and more than ten fishing boats and wooden boats, which cost about a hundred units of silver.
Ships weren't a big problem, as the shipyard could build them with enough money and timber. The main problem was the shortage was sailors.
After Xia Town expanded and the population increased, only then could Chu Tian recruit more local soldiers and make them sailors and soldiers of the navy.
"Seize all the wooden boxes and load them into the boats. You people, stay behind and safeguard this water village."
Chu Tian arranged for a small squad of soldiers to look after the water village. In the future, this would become the stronghold of the sailors of Xia Town.
The water village was only a makeshift stronghold to station the soldiers in. Chu Tian had no plans of making it his client village.
Once Xia Town upgraded to a city, he would be able to take control of all the towns, villages, and strongholds of stationed troops within his area of influence.
With their heads hung low, the 37 water bandits had their hands bound by ropes and went to Xia Town. From Xia Town, they were then dispatched to Shangbi Village for mining.
After exterminating this gang of water bandits, Chu Tian conquered a nearby Level 3 village along the way.
This battle had sacrificed a dozen archers and sailors, with even Hua Mulan wounded. Fortunately, Chu Tian had brought along anti-bleeding medication, which stopped the soldiers' injuries from deteriorating.
The wounded soldiers were then sent back to Xia Town, with only Hua Mulan continuing with the conquest.
Putting aside the soldiers who were left behind to guard the water village, and those who went to escort the war profits, Chu Tian only had 40 cavalrymen, 30 Xu archers, 80 elite infantrymen, and 100 local soldiers with him, making for a troop of 250 soldiers.
However, that was enough to conquer a Level 3 village with just slightly more than a thousand people.
When Chu Tian appeared at the entrance of a nearby Level 3 village named "Yunlai Village" with his soldiers and horses, the chief of the village was dumbfounded.
A well-equipped troop was blocking the entrance of Yunlai Village. This troop consisted of infantrymen, archers, and also cavalrymen, who terrified countless feudal lords during the early stages of the game.
Behind the cavalry of a feudal lord were soft capacities such as a large population, prosperous agriculture and economy, and so on.
"Who- who are you?"
The chief of Yunlai Village considered the several hundred local soldiers and fifty Level 1 light infantrymen of his village and compared them to the apparently elite soldiers and horses beyond the village, becoming timid all of a sudden.
The commander of Xia Town had blood all over her, seemingly having just undergone an intense battle. He wondered which village had stumbled upon such bad luck.
"I am the mayor of Xia Town, "I Just Want to Farm." You have two choices now: surrender, or fight back."
Chu Tian stood beyond the range of flightshot of the opponent's archers and had a soldier shout his words.
There were two wooden arrow towers at the entrance of Yunlai Village. Chu Tian surmised that if the chief of Yunlai Village decided to safeguard his village at all costs, he would lose at least one-third of the soldiers he sent to attack Yunlai Village, or potentially more. After all, Yunlai Village had more than a thousand people.
Chu Tian was even considering gathering all the local soldiers of Xia Town, Xiaozhu Village, and Shangbi Village to come besiege Yunlai Village.
Regardless, Chu Tian would only choose a Level 3 village with a population of at least a thousand people to become his client village. That way, there would be no need for him to re-develop the village.
"I Just Want to Farm", who was ranked number one in the event last time?! Your territory is just around this area?!"
Clearly, the Yunlai Village chief was very familiar with Chu Tian's game ID, since he couldn't help but exclaim in awe.
It turned out that he was famous now.
Chu Tian felt as if he was bullying the weak with his strength, although that was the simple truth. Fights among feudal lords was a game of big fish eating up the small ones, while the small fish ate up shrimps. Only when the areas of influence of big feudal lords rivaled each other would there be well-matched competitions.
"I know you are the top-ranking feudal lord of Langya Nation, and my Yunlai Village is no opponent of yours. If there's a problem, we can discuss it with goodwill without using brutal means. No one's living an easy life, after all."
The Yunlai Village chief had the local soldiers open up the village gates.
Chu Tian hadn't expected his fame to be able to force small feudal lords into surrendering themselves. This was most likely the domineering aura kings had in the myths he heard.
Although that was what he thought, Chu Tian was still well aware of his capacity. The opponent had only chosen to surrender because he was powerless in fighting back.