Harken had assigned 500 troops to reinforce and protect the palisades. Another 500 troops were scattered along the forest edge, no deeper than ten meters inside. Allowing the few human civilians to cut some trees into manageable sizes.
"My lord! The area is secure! Awaiting further orders!"
Harken yelled the moment Jack came into view, standing firmly in front of a thousand troops in five square formations, covering the immediate space between the root of the mountain and the forest edge.
"Let us not waste any more time Harken! Order three squads to secure a path from here and directly through the forest! Create an outpost on the other side! This is your mission today. You will take a squad and lead from the right flank, I will take the last squad and do the same on the left and northward flank!"
"You all heard the order! First squad, forward march! Second and third squad, follow 50 meters befind!"
"Ahrooo! Ahroo! Ahro!" The troops chanted to boost battle morale as they advanced to the forest.
"Wait a second Harken." Jack quickly went to him.
"I have a debt to pay those goblins from yesterday. If you find any of them. Track them. I want to find their lair."
"Certainly! I think all of your troops secretly wish for a rematch with them. This time we are twice as many! Count on me my lord!"
Harken bowed and went into the forest, surrounded by his squad on the right flank. Moving in at the same time as the second and third squad.
Jack went to his own squad and entered the forest on the left.
Ten minutes of walking through the silent forest was all it took, before the abnormal silence was suddenly changed. Distant shouts and battle clamour was heard in different locations that drastically changed the atmosphere.
Jack became focus and his senses became sharper as he strained to listen around him. Then the turn finally came to him.
Out of nowhere, even with his stronger hearing, a pack of black forest cats ambushed his front troops.
'Cats huh? Looks more like black tigers with 3 pairs of legs! Four meters long and ferocious! Cat my ass....'
[Black forest cat. Uncommon Rank]
[Fortitude: 48]
[Spirit Power: 17]
"Surround them and make a wall with your spears! Don't let them escape!"
Approximately 5 times stronger than Jacks trash troops, they killed easily. But they didn't have the wide swipes of the crazed black bears, and they had large bodies to aim for.
'Perfect for ambush, but direct confrontation... Not so much... Maybe not tigers after all.'
Jack smiled as his surrounding spear tactics worked, and soon 7 large forest cats lay dead. He claimed a trash spear from a dead troop and ordered 28 troops to carry the cats back to the palisades and send new troops back to replenish him.
"Let's continue! Forward! And be aware of ambushes!"
This went on for almost an hour and they reached the middle of the way through the forest, when a messenger appeared from another squad.
"My lord! Message from Harken!"
A normal trash troop, heavily breathing appeared before Jack.
"Report quickly."
Jack gave him a few seconds to catch his breath.
"Lord! Harken has stopped the center main army. He sends word that he has found a goblin lair!"
'Finally! The rare mission! That goblin leader better be there!'
"Thank you for coming with that message! All of you, we will join the center army at once!"
Unknowingly they had strayed a few hundred meters away from the main army, that went in a straight line throw the forest. Yet Between Jacks squad and the main army, not many threats of wild beasts existed, and they reach the center army quickly.
Harken was waiting for Jack in the center. 800 troops was gathered here, 200 or more were protecting the conquered forest road or carrying slayed beasts back to the palisades.
"Lord! The Goblins indeed have a lair! I saw it with my own eyes before sending word to you. They even have a leader! Which is why i stopped the march!"
"Good judgement Harken! I indeed want to relocate our efforts. First lets secure this area! A half-way point! I want full encirclement of palisades here and on both sides of the main road we made until this point! Harken, you are in charge of this. Mobilise the human civilians to this effort, spare only those who needs to focus on processing the meat."
Harken smiled, his lord seemed very sensible. Instead of charging directly into the goblins with full force, he chose to build a base here. Resupply and reorganize. Not wasting the ground they had worked hard for in the past hour or more.
Three hours later the road they had claimed had become see-through. Bushes and low branches had been cut and removed. Before it took them an hour to claim this distance, but now with scattered sharp wooden poles and guards on both sides, the troops and civilians could almost rush in a straight line. It took no more than 20 minutes to walk here.
The main base had become highly defendable. With the main load of hastily produced wooden stakes for palisades. The troops had helped sharpen the ends so the civilians could focus on hacking the poles themselves.
Jack had made minor adjustments with his ability. Forming defensive walls of stone between the extremely large trees. Careful and slow as to not exert too much mental energy.
It was at this point when Jack was sitting on a stone, next to a huge tree in the circle encampment with a thousand troops, that Gynda appeared.
"My lord!" She shouted happily.
"Gynda! What are you doing here?"
Jack was surprised by her. No civilians beside those cutting lumber was supposed to be here while they were fighting the wild beasts.
"I'm sorry my lord! But i just had to come!" She finally reached him, and again displayed a lack of proper behavior towards her lord.
Hugging Jack so he had not choice but to fully embrace her breasts heat and firmness on his arm, she began telling him why she had come.
"I have a nice surprise my lord! One of the dwarfs has made a wagon made of wood and wheels of stone! We decided to show it to you, and bring some food while at it!"
While Gynda was still hugging his arm, breasts ever close and her pregnant belly pushing his groin, he watched as two meter long, barely working, wagon came rolling into camp on four crude stone wheels.
'Giving the dwarfs some time off was surely the right idea!'
Jack was very satisfied as he sat with Harken and Gynda. They ordered a quick fire to be made and was enjoying a bowl of food. Similarly the most wounded and tired troops sat with their own fire and fire.
"Okay time is up. Gynda, head back with that wagon. Use it to transport the dead beasts in. And don't come here again Gynda, it isen't safe and I don't want to loose you" Jack said it with a smile, and Gynda flirtingly smiled back at him before some troops helped her back home.
"Pregnant women don't belong in the wild.." Harken commented as he watched them go.
"True. But she might be as wild as these woods herself" Jack replied.
"True that my lord. She is a feisty one. Imagine grabbing her lord like that..." Harken smiled, hinted that maybe she was more to Jack?
"Don't get it wrong Harken. I'm her lord and she's already pregnant. I have no intention of taking a woman just yet."
Jack quickly made it clear that she was not anything more to him than a valued citizen.
'Although that Nisha girl... If she came to my bed tonight I do not know if i would reject her...'
"Alright! We have rested enough. About 500 troops in the palisades around home. Another 500 here and a few hundred along the road."
Jack yelled to get every ones attention.
"The rest four squads of 200 each. 800 troops in total. Prepare to set out!"
Harken barked some orders and within minutes the new main army of 800 was ready to take the forest war into the goblins lair.