(Lian Li POV)
There was only another day before the predicted Dong army would come rushing out of the mountains to invade us like the barbarians they are.
The scouts that have been posted near the caves could already hear the hammering of pick against rock if they prick their ears enough.
The fact that we do not know when they will decide to break through is the thing that is causing the most stress amongst us.
In the few days that we were here, we had evacuated the townsfolk and had builders convert the buildings into makeshift archery posts while using the others as military outposts.
Since the town hall for this place was questionably located on top of the mountain itself, we could not use that as the headquarters and instead, opted to use this nameless Sect building that we found that was suspiciously unoccupied.
Guiying had thought the Sect here had received news about the invasion and decided to run, we knew the truth of course but there was no need for her to know now.
Right now, the high rankers of the army alongside the Sect Leaders of the Sects who have joined us on this battle are gathered in the war room. The Princess had named herself as the Supreme Commander despite everyone else's protest.
She had claimed that since this battle involved the fate of the entire continent, there was no reason for her not to stand on the front lines as well.
Since she was the only remaining Royal around, no one else can deny her that.
"Princess, our labourers had dug the holes and traps as you had requested, but these would not hold if they decide to charge en masse."
"That is not an issue General Hui, we are only here to stall for time before our promised reinforcements arrive," Guiying reassured him.
The General slammed the table, "Princess! If I may be allowed to speak freely, your optimism should not be brought here! Depending on this… Apologies… Depending on Miss Lindulf alone to turn the tide of this battle is absolutely ridiculous!"
Guiying scowled at him, "In that case, do give us a way to counter this invasion without help then, General. And if you dare suggest to surrender, I will have you hanged right here."
The General gulped and said no more.
She unfurled a map of the town where lines have been drawn, specifically three groups of three lines each behind what is supposed to be the barricades right outside the mines.
Guiying pointed to said lines, "Two groups of spearmen each will reinforce the barricades to prevent them from charging, the last line of archers will standby behind them to shoot down any that tries."
She then looked towards the Sect Masters, "The Practitioners will spread out behind the archers and provide support against the Dong's Practitioners. As for Master Lin's followers… I trust Miss Lian Li will know how to best make use of them."
All eyes in the room turned to me, some grateful while others were clearly hostile.
There were a lot of questions and demands when these useless groups of nobodies found out about our little army.
Inane questions like 'Why does Master Lin need an army', 'What were you guys planning to do with this army had there not been a war' or even 'are you planning to rebel?' were thrown at us.
I gave them the simple choice of concentrating on the army crossing through the tunnels or risk facing them with the numbers they already have and we would just withdraw from here.
Even at this point in time, trash will always be trash.
At least the smaller trash amongst the officer ranks have been mostly taken cared of, so the soldiers will at least do their jobs properly.
Of course, we'll be having our followers spread the story that they were people who had been saved by Master before and answered his call to arms through us. This should get to all the trash's ears by the end of the day to shut them up.
Not that they will be living for long afterwards anyway.
I gave the princess a nod, "We will be positioned on the flanks in preparation to fill in any gaps that the enemy might be able to poke through. Since it will be a battle of attrition, our group can take the first rotation after the first engagement is underway if necessary."
"We will leave it to you then, Miss Lian Li."
I could tell that most people in the room became even more unhappy that we were granted autonomy, but no one could say anything since they did not commit as many people as we had.
The current plan was to present a strong front to the Dongs and give them an unfavourable position that they might not want to fight in.
With our labourers using the resources already present in the town to build traps and makeshift walls, the Dongs would need to suffer heavy casualties just to pass this hurdle which would be detrimental to their plan of conquering this continent.
We will then force them into negotiations and get them to retreat if possible. If not,we just need to stall for time to allow Elaria to reach us with her own cavalry.
If battle was unavoidable, we will have four rotating battle groups that will hold the barricade. Each group will hold the line for about half an hour each before rotating out with another group to take their place.
This will ensure the ones holding the barricades will always be well rested enough to fight efficiently. That is why we chose to fight in such a confined space in the first place.
The wall will not hold by itself and the traps can only do so much before they are rendered ineffective.
In the event that the wall collapses, we will have everyone regroup back in the town to force the Dongs to fight in the streets where we can use the buildings as cover. There, our archers will climb atop said buildings and continuously rain arrows on the Dongs as they approach us.
We had also left a few walls that we fashioned out of chairs, tables and any other furniture we could use to block off parts of the road to form another barricade and slow down their advance. It was not much but our main goal was to delay them.
That will be the place for our last stand as fighting anywhere else would allow the Dongs to surround us and wipe us out anyway.
The rest of the meeting was spent in discussing the terms of negotiation which were all bureaucratic things that I held little interest in. For these nobles and Sect Masters to start discussing payment and reward even before the battle had been mounted… They are simply the lowest of the low.
Still, I had no choice but to sit through all that as the representative of Master's Church, which they had begun to refer to as "Master Lin's Army".
Terrible name, if I do say so myself.
It was well into the late evening when the meeting finally dispersed, allowing me to start with the main reason of why I am here.
"Senior sister, I will be in your care," Guiying bowed her head slightly.
I nodded, "I am most certainly not on Master's level… But in Master's absence, I shall teach you all that I know that He had taught me. You shall not be helpless in the coming battle."
Yes, in Master's absence, I have taken it upon myself to instruct Guiying in her Practitioner studies. I do not dare claim to be able to teach on Master's level, but she should at least be able to use her Lightning during the battle to protect herself.
She smiled, "Then when the battle starts, let us rain divine judgement in Master's name."
"Agreed. All for Master."
"All for Master."
