Mark jogged along the way as he had just received news from one of the missionaries who had gone to explore the other kingdoms. Most were significantly unsuccessful. But one of these unsuccessful ones had gained a bit of knowledge, which seemed rather significant.
"Your Highness!" Mark knocked on the door to the throne room, and after getting the signal from the guard outside, he pushed open the door in hast and made his way to the king of Athens; Alexandros.
"What is it? Bishop Mark?"
"It's Argos, your highness. One of my missionaries came across news that Argos is preparing for war. It's likely they will attack us once they prepare enough supplies for their troops. I suspect the reason is the lack of food they the nation is currently suffering. Their kind is losing the support of the people, and needs to do something to be able to feed his people."
"…Is this news reliable?"
"Not entirely. It's just the rumours going around there. I do not wish to turn my missionaries into spies, so they do not actively search for information. But I would suggest we also prepare for a defence."
Alexandros turned to his trusted aide Bruce, who nodded before bowing, "I will get the soldiers to prepare. The new training techniques had improved their combat ability by a good amount. Now, 10 of our soldiers should be able to fight against 12 of Argos' soldiers since they are a nation almost equal to ours, which is up from the previous equal standing in combat ability."
"10 of our soldiers should also be able to defeat 15 soldiers of the larger but spread across mostly frozen tundra to the north, Thebes. Still, out current soldiers would be unable to stand up to the soldiers of the smaller but more resource-rich Olympia."
"How many soldiers do we have?"
"Around 600 soldiers."
King Alexandros frowned while speaking, "So we will only be able to handle 650 enemy soldiers. Any more and we will likely lose the battles."
"Your highness, if I may?"
"Go on."
"Since we are the defending forces, the Primordial Unity has graciously given some knowledge. It is knowledge about a war tactic to be used in cases of a numerically superior force attacking a numerically weaker force. It's called Guerrilla tactics."
"Oh? Pray tell, what does it include?"
Mark proceeded to explain how they should split up their entire army into groups of no more than 30, and have them rest in an alternative pattern. Meanwhile, those who are not resting can go and attack the enemy forces, before retreating as quickly as possible. They should pick off those who have separated from the main group and cause the most damage without losing any troops.
This would cause the enemies to travel in a large group rather than smaller groups or a long line. Then, all their soldiers needed to do was to conduct hourly raids on the enemies, throwing rocks or flaming balls of oil-soaked robe, preventing the enemy soldiers from resting.
Of course, the moment the enemy soldiers finally decided to rest from the extreme tiredness, all soldiers should come back together and launch a sneak attack on them, killing a large proportion of them before the battel even began. Then, the rest of the battle would be rather simple.
"That is an incredible plan!" Bruce's eyes widened in understanding, but a hint of fear crossed his face as well. He recognised how horrifying this method of battle could be, and he would definitely did not wish to be on the receiving end of such a ruthless tactic.
"You majesty, I pray the war efforts will go well. But I also have other matters to discuss."
Alexandros just waved his hand and Mark continued, "I have recently discovered some iron veins, and would like your permission to purchase the mining rights of those veins in order to make necessities for the churches, and make armour for our guardsmen. Please do not worry, we will only require around 2 able-bodies men per church for its own safety as of now. After all, the population of the nation is very low, and we cannot be leeching off the able-bodied men."
King Alexandros thought for a moment, before agreeing, "Alright, but you will have to pay an equivalent amount of gold or silver for however much you extract at half the market value, since you will be mining them and that causes expenses. It will be handed over directly to the royal family."
"I accept. But your highness, in the future, once we settle all such situations, instead of forcing anyone to effectively purchase their own mined materials, you should instead tax them on the extraction. And then tax them on the sale of such goods. It would encourage the mining of metals like iron and bronze, and make it not only more abundant in the nation, but also cheaper. Taxation of productivity rather than forcing them to pay the price directly is more efficient and leads to better outcomes."
"…An interesting idea. I will give it some thought."
"Other than that, I would also like to begin holding fortnightly sermons to bring everyone closer to God. However, these are not compulsory as I do not wish to disrupt the working schedules of people. That's why we will be conducting the sermons twice a week for the convenience of those who cannot make it to one of them."
"I'm fairly certain I had given the permission to your High Priest."
"Yes, but I wanted to take permission once again before putting it into effect. After all, I am not the high priest who, with the blessings of the Primordial Unity can kill monsters with the flick of a hand…"
Bruce, behind the king, nodded silently, while the king had a confused expression on his face and motioned Mark to explain.
"Well, there was this monstrous beast almost as tall as a village house that was attacking our village. The able bodies men of our village had left to hunt it down after it killed 5 of our villagers, but it had somehow missed us and reached the village while we were hunting for it. I was not there, but the villagers told me that the high-priest, in his dirty grey robe appeared in front of the beat, and stopped its maddening charge with one hand, then, without doing anything, the creature just fell to the ground, dead."
"But what was more incredible was this other monster for which I was present. A gigantic ape twice the size of the boar had attacked a village I was preaching to as a missionary, and I asked the Primordial Unity for help. In mere moment, the High Priest reached my location through a strange doorway, and forced the beast to bow before him in seconds, without ever touching it! And then, he rode it like a steed into the forest. I saw it with my own eyes."
"Unbelievable!" both King Alexandros and his aide, Bruce were utterly shocked at this revelation.
"Anyway, your highness, I also wish to help the war effort. Please let me join you to the battlefield. I'm sure I can be of some use."
"Acceptable." King Alexandros waved his hand and Mark left the throne room in stifling silence.