I had version 1.6 installed, and after freeing two heroes, I simply recruited new troops in the main Castle, and the mission was completed.
P.S. I left all the troops in the Castle at the beginning of the game, except for the Ents and Dragons, and then, of course, I bought new troops every week.
P.S.S. By the way, the notification about preparing for defense popped up about 5 times during the mission.
P.S.S. This is one of the few missions where I "had" to lower the difficulty level (from 3 to 2).