Kingdombuilding: All My Inventions Are Novelty

The cold northern wind howled atop the Dunmere city walls, a sign that another harsh winter was coming soon.

Simon had chosen this time on purpose, right when the reavers were between harvests and supplies were tight. A perfect opportunity to strike at their logistics.

With the plan to harass the reavers finalised, Benjamin and Lancelot each led a thousand cavalry, splitting up to carry out deep raids across the grasslands. Meanwhile, Liam remained behind in Dunmere, tasked with defending the city from any retaliatory attacks and ensuring the new city wall could be completed without disruption.

Watching Benjamin and the riders disappear into the horizon, Simon stood silent for a long moment. This was the true test, not only of Benjamin and Lancelot, but also of the soldiers under them. Whether they would return at all was a question only time could answer.

”Aiden, start digging the trench,” Simon ordered.

His entire plan had two parts. Part one was to use cavalry to wage guerrilla warfare, harassing the reaver forces and keeping them too busy to interfere with the city.

Part two was to dig a deep trench outside the planned wall line and install catapults armed with gunpowder bombs, ready to blast apart any attackers.

Aidan had brought over ten thousand trained slave labourers for the construction, and now Simon had also invested a large sum of silver to hire local peasants. In total, more than 30,000 workers were now participating in the construction of the new city wall.

The trained slaves would build the wall itself, while the peasants were assigned to tasks like material transport and digging trenches, jobs that didn’t require specialised skills. Once the orders were given, Aiden immediately organised the work crews. They began digging a continuous trench roughly 500 meters out from the wall.

The Dunmere army had also prepared 200 catapults, placing them on pre-built platforms along the trench. When the time came, these would launch gunpowder bombs into the trench at enemy troops who tried to storm the wall.

Powder bombs were stockpiled in abundance. With catapults, cannons, and the natural moat created by the trench, any raider attack would come at a steep cost.

The citizens, carrying shovels and pickaxes, marched out of the city. Aiden oversaw the trench project, while Simon led the engineers in laying the foundation of the new fortress wall.

Like the old wall, the new one would span 500 meters. Over ten thousand workers were assigned to cover it, about 20 men for every single meter.

Without modern machines, manpower was Simon’s only resource.

The wall would stand 20 meters tall, 8 meters thick, and every 10 meters there would be a forward-facing bastion protruding 6 meters. Each bastion could hold six cannons, able to fire not only outward but also down the wall at enemies trying to scale it.

Just the bastions alone would hold 300 cannons, not counting the ones between battlements or those inside the wall’s structure.

Once complete, the wall would be like a massive warship, a fortress stretched across the plains like an immovable mountain.

”Start digging!”

At the call, each group of 20 workers got to work. The wall’s foundation alone needed to be 5 meters deep; if the reavers wanted to blow it up, they’d need to dig deep just to reach it.

Tens of thousands of men laboured across the site. Simon didn’t rest either. He moved between the work groups, inspecting the progress of the digging.

Unlike a modern excavator that could dig 5 meters deep in half an hour, here it took a full day of effort from 20 men to dig just one meter wide, 8 meters long, and 5 meters deep.

By the time the sunset bathed the sky in gold, the workers were called back to the city. The trench had also been completed.

Simon couldn’t help but sigh. Without modern machinery, ancient people truly relied on numbers. Human labour was the greatest resource of all.

”My Lord, from my experience,” Aiden said, climbing the wall. ”Reaver scouts usually arrive by the third day.”

The constant harassment had severely disrupted his construction plans, leaving him frustrated.

That was why Simon had come to Dunmere personally. Even if it meant war, he had resolved to press forward with the wall.

As night fell over the grasslands, Simon looked into the darkness and muttered. ”Let’s hope Benjamin and Lancelot don’t disappoint me.”

Aiden nodded. This strike team had been sent to catch the reavers off guard, to throw their raiding plans into chaos.

On the vast, moonless grasslands, only a few cold stars dotted the sky. After splitting from Benjamin, Lancelot led his cavalry in search of reaver settlements.

And finally, just as night descended, he spotted campfires in the distance through his telescope.

”You, you, and you, come with me. Let’s see how many are in that camp.” Lancelot ordered.

The chosen soldiers silently followed him toward the firelight, creeping through the darkness.

Though the Sunderlanders had claimed this region, it was made up of many smaller tribes. These sub-groups were given grazing grounds for their flocks.

The area was pitch black. Beyond the firelight, nothing could be seen.

Lancelot and his scouts crept up on the camp without being spotted.

Around the fire, a group of reavers laughed and drank, roasting meat over open flames.

”Damn, these guys live well, meat and booze every night. They’re having a better time than I am.” Lancelot muttered, licking his lips at the smell.

”Commander, look at those tents, only about 500. Probably just a small tribe. Maybe a thousand people in total. What are we waiting for? Let’s raid the place and take their meat.” One soldier whispered.

That soldier was Francis West, the young man from West Ham who had asked Simon about the legendary Squad Divincox during the last battle. Since then, he had been recruited into the cavalry. All the soldiers with Lancelot now were locals of West Ham, handpicked to become the new Squad Divincox.

Lancelot grinned. ”You’re speaking my language. Alright, let’s go back and prep. Since His Highness wants guerrilla warfare, we’ll give him a proper night raid.”

Francis nodded eagerly. This was their homeland, now occupied by foreign invaders. Their hatred for the reavers ran deeper than anyone else’s.

After scouting the camp, Lancelot and his men quietly withdrew.

”Commander, are we going in now?” Someone asked.

”Are you stupid? Of course not. We wait until midnight when they’re all asleep. And don’t take your horses. We’re going in on foot. Once you’re in their tents, kill everyone. Leave no one alive.” Lancelot’s voice was low and cold.

”Yes, sir.” The soldiers replied in hushed voices.

Lancelot glanced again at the distant firelight, then gently touched the telescope hanging at his side.

Thanks to this tool, they had found the reaver camp and remained completely unseen.