Based on actual history, those people also came along with them during the landfall. However, the most pressing issue right then was discussing how to attack the hill.
More than 20 men and women were present on the beach not far away. They were either sitting or standing, and some had worried faces while others had a look of excitement. They were the instructors and acting monitors of all twelve freshmen classes.
Cheng Ming was the last to arrive. He apologized repeatedly and explained that he was late because he had to deal with class affairs. In response, Xiao Lin could not resist saying, “You could’ve actually appointed an interim group leader and have them handle the minor stuff. Our combat strength is relatively high right now, so we should spend more time on fighting instead of being dragged down by other stuff.”
The several monitors who heard Xiao Lin’s say ‘we’ immediately had the urge to complain. Though it was a fact that all of them were talented individuals with stellar combat strength, they were peeved that Xiao Lin would include himself with the likes of them.
Not everyone noticed the situation on Xiao Lin’s side during the earlier battle. After all, the landing point some distance away was about halfway around the beach. Nevertheless, the monitors whom Xiao Lin had lent support earlier gave him a grateful glance.
“Interim group leader?” Cheng Ming was momentarily stunned.
Xiao Lin smiled bitterly and roughly explained that they had the authority to make such an appointment because they were the commanding officers of that operation.
He was clearly not the only person who thought of that. At least half the classes had already appointed a group leader to help coordinate management, while the remaining few had a look of realization on their faces.
The next step was to discuss the attack on the hill. Xiao Lin observed the terrain before arriving. The hill was not that high and the slope was very gentle, while the distance closer to the beach was basically an open area without any vegetation.
The terrain was rather simple, so even inexperienced rookie commanding officers like them knew that there were no tactics to be mentioned there. On the premise that their ultimate goal was seizing the supply depot on the hill, they could only think of one way to accomplish it, and that was by storming it.
“Based on the information, the defensive facilities on the hill are very simple. Even if there are a few archer towers, they were all completely flattened by our warship earlier.”
“I looked at it from a distance just now. I chose archery as my elective and my Eagle Eye skill is quite effective too. There’s a fortress around the supply depot on the hill, but it’s only about ten meters high.”
“Ten meters! That’s at least the height of a three-story building!”
“It’s actually very low. Our ancient city walls are higher than this.”
“Okay, okay, don’t go off topic. Let’s discuss how to attack the hill. Since there’s a fortress, do we have equipment for the siege?”
“Didn’t an architect come with us? They must have the necessary military supplies. That’s the reason they came, right?”
Everyone chimed in with their views, while Xiao Lin remained as low-key as ever and did not take the initiative to speak. Everyone had the same information anyway. When he heard that however, he could not help but add, “Military supplies? No, no, I don’t think the architects came with us for that.”
“Then why, pray tell, did they come along?” The monitor who had been refuted was obviously very upset with Xiao Lin.
“The resurrection tower! Lest we forget, what’s the most important thing if we capture this place? The resurrection tower, of course. That’s the key to guaranteeing survival,” Xiao Lin said calmly.
Other people were shocked not because they did not know what a resurrection tower was. In fact, they had known about it since their first history lesson. Instead, it was because their impression of the resurrection tower was limited to books only, and the only person who had actually seen it up close was Xiao Lin.
“Even if it is because of the resurrection tower, that’s something to think about for later. First things first, let’s discuss how to attack the hill,” an instructor said helplessly.
This problem with discussing something in a large group was that the discussion could easily be led astray. They still had no inkling of what the defensive force on the hill was, whether it was only the weak merfolk or whether the orcs were present too.
The only certainty was the absence of the previously anticipated appearance of those wolf cavalry units, otherwise they would have attacked immediately after they reached the shore. Such cavalry units were worthless in a fortress.
“If we storm in, I have only one question. Who should do it?” Xiao Lin spoke little, but his sentences left everyone speechless whenever he spoke up.
This question sent everyone into another round of silence. The vanguard had to test the enemy’s strength, which naturally meant that they would suffer more casualties. Who would want their own class to die in vain? What if the monitors’ assessment also included the survival rate of their classmates?
“I’ll go!” Cheng Ming volunteered first.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. The result was just as they expected, but although they were delighted, they could not help but shoot each other contemptuous glances, probably to mock each other for being too timid.
Xiao Lin sighed too. He was thinking about the question earlier, but his considerations were not about who rushed in first. Seeing as Cheng Ming had taken the initiative to take on that thankless task, Xiao Lin also said, “In that case, I’ll go with Cheng Ming.”
Qin Chuan, who has not said a single word yet, looked at Xiao Lin in a strange and somewhat dissatisfied manner. He was just about to open his mouth when Xiao Lin continued, “I’m actually confused. Don’t you think the landfall battle is a bit too easy?”
“Easy? Two-thirds of our class were injured!”
“My point exactly. The death rate is relatively low compared to the injuries. The merfolk’s attacks are really weak and they don’t seem like a regular army either. All they did was swarm us and disperse after we struck back.”
“You mean to say that the landfall battle is too easy and that the next tasks will be much harder?”
Xiao Lin smiled bitterly, “More or less, yes. I was thinking about this question when I saw the architects earlier. Our warship is actually quite powerful for long-range suppression, but if we capture the supply depot, how much preparation time will we have to rearrange our defense?”
Cheng Ming frowned and continued along Xiao Lin’s line of thought. He suddenly said, “You’re saying that the orc’s reinforcements will come very quickly so we must capture the supply depot as soon as possible!”
“Correct. Guys, I’m afraid we don’t have a lot of time. The difficulty of this task will not possibly be limited to just that. If the architects are really allowed to erect the resurrection tower here, the next defensive battle won’t be too easy!”
After a short pause, Xiao Lin came to the final conclusion. “For one class alone to be the vanguard is too small a number. In addition to increasing the casualty rate, it will only be a meaningless waste of time! In light of that, I’ll take on the main task of attacking the hill with Cheng Ming. Now’s not the time to be concerned about a loss. If we can’t capture the supply depot as soon as possible and re-build our defense, we stand to lose everything!”