Scott Village looks no different from before, except for the addition of steam locomotives that emit white smoke and chug along every day. It seems that these trains shuttle between the steel factory, the docks, and the fields, mainly delivering food and water. When the door of the trailing carriage is opened, two or three strong men bring down the utensils and steaming hot food. After a while, they take them back to the village.

From a distance, the entire village is still peaceful and serene. The steel factory emits hot air, the shipyard clangs and clinks, and the budding fields are bustling with activity. There is not the slightest hint of preparation for bandit invasion.

At the top of the iron-smelting blast furnace, two boys are sitting on an iron frame, carrying red flags. They are bored, observing the entire Scott family's territory through a telescope.

"Hey, Sorall, do you think the Bandits will really come?"

The younger boy asks nervously, while the older boy picks a straw from the row of grass sticks beside him and holds it in his mouth.

"The Lord, the Young Master, and the Butler all said they will come, so they will definitely come."

The young boy nods in ignorance, then immediately asks another question.

"Oh, Sorall, do you think they will come during the day or at night?"

The older boy tilts his arm and shows slight impatience.

"At night. Isn't robbery always done at night? Who robs during the day? Especially in the afternoon when the sun is so hot, everyone takes a nap. Only the two of us are on guard here, really."

But the more the younger boy asks, the more enthusiastic he becomes.

"Oh, Sorall, do you think they will come on horseback or on foot?"

The older boy gradually loses his patience.

"They will definitely come on foot. Horses are expensive. The Lord's family can only afford a few horses. Where would the Bandits get so much money?"

"Oh, Sorall-"

"That's enough! Go play by yourself!"

The older boy says angrily and hands the telescope over to the younger boy, using his straw hat to cover his face, seeming ready to take a nap. To them, the novel telescope is just like an interesting toy that can see things far away. So when they were assigned this job, they fought over it. But now Sorall has already gotten tired of playing with it. He has been on the tower for three days, seen all the scenery he could, and now he just wants to take a nap. After lunch, he feels extremely tired. Besides, Bandits wouldn't rob during the day. That's what novels and plays say.

The young boy happily takes the telescope and starts looking around. Suddenly, a group of brown deer running in the distance catches his attention. He can't help but stare at them for a long time.

In the village, Norfy is inspecting the situation with Delizet Deli and five other villagers. To prepare for what might happen, every household reinforced their doors and windows. Although glass already exists in this world, it is not yet widely used to make windows. So most of the windows are just paper-covered and reinforced with wooden boards.

"Is this the newly built earthwork? Why does it feel like a toilet?"

Norfy points at the temporary fortification built with clay at the entrance of the village and asks. Rodney requested the construction of these temporary forts at various intersections of Scott Village to avoid direct confrontation in case the Bandits enter the village. Even if the peasants, who usually use hoes, train for three to five days, they still can't match the Bandits, who are skilled with swords. Not to mention decapitating someone with a knife requires courage, not everyone can do it. It's better to shoot them with a bow and crossbow, but those Bandits who kill without blinking have no psychological barriers. Although he emphasizes courage and morale, he understands that if you can shoot instead of cutting, if you can be sneaky instead of confronting directly, it would be better.

"This is because there were always scouts outside the village these past few days. We don't want them to notice, so the entrance of the village looks like a toilet, Young Master. Those guys think they are hiding so well that we can't find them, but we can see everything clearly with the telescope!"

Norfy nods.

"Oh, I see. That's good. What about the arrangement on the rooftops? There will inevitably be some Bandits sneaking into the village with their large numbers. We need the advantage of height."

"Master, you can rest assured. Every household is taking it seriously. There is no need to worry, they will take care of their own things. Those bandits will definitely meet their match!" Norfy observed the village's arrangements for a moment, feeling slightly relieved, and then said, "Let's go, come with me to my house, that's where the bandits will focus their attack."

After walking for a few minutes, the group arrived at the entrance of Scott's house. This yard, hanging alone in the south of the village, had become a fortress-like presence. The originally bare walls were now surrounded by layers of barbed wire, filled with spikes, giving it an intimidating appearance that couldn't be seen from afar.

Four earthworks were built on top of the rooftop of the three-story building, each equipped with a steel ballista to defend against enemies from all directions. Two were also constructed on the balcony of the second floor to counter frontal attacks. However, these arrangements were not visible from afar, at least not without binoculars, and the bandits didn't have binoculars either.

The yard had also been cleared. All flammable objects had been moved away, leaving only a fully armed steam locomotive. As soon as the alarm sounded, four brave men would rush into the locomotive, ready to fight, and coordinate with the people inside the small building to repel the bandits. For them, the tactics were simple, just shoot with the ballista. After all, it couldn't penetrate the iron shell, so they didn't have to worry about friendly fire. If the bandits ran away, they would chase after them on the locomotive and continue shooting.

Of course, because of the surrounding walls, all these arrangements were not visible from a distance.

Scott's small courtyard was still the same as always, with grain that had been dried on the roof during the day, and rabbits that had been smoked outside the courtyard at night, a scene of prosperity on the eve of spring, for those who paid close attention, it was like a fat lamb waiting to be slaughtered.

While Norfy was contemplating whether there were any defensive flaws, suddenly a man on the third floor shouted, "Bandits!! Bandits are here!!"

Everyone instantly became nervous. He quickly turned around and saw a cloud of dust rising less than a kilometer away from the southwest, vaguely able to see a row of horse heads. They were already so close! Why did they only discover it now? What were the lookouts on the top of the blast furnace doing? The approaching enemies were coming from the open plain, they should have noticed them when they were five kilometers away! He looked at the motionless red flag on top of the blast furnace, a sudden and uncontrollable anger surged in his chest. Why did they make such a fatal mistake? The steam patrol was still at the dock, the other boilers hadn't even been heated up yet, it would take some time for them to arrive! The villagers outside hadn't even had time to evacuate!! This could result in casualties!

"Sound the gong! Bring out all the ready steam engines, evacuate the villagers outside, and get ready for battle!" He shouted while rushing into his own courtyard.