attack sword and defense shield

what real difference is there between normal attack and attack with lvl 13 sword? And defense and lvl 15 sheild? Just curious.

They raise your attack and defence, so they do help

level 13 sword gives 26 extra attribute points to attack and the armor gives 30 extra defense.
The Tutorial explains how each extra point aids your army.

Attribute Points: The general upon a title upgrade is awarded distributable attribute points for Speed, Attack, Defense, and Fortune points.

Speed: Troops' marching speed increases 1% for each more speed point.
Attack: Troops' attack increases 0.5% for each more attack point.
Defense: Troops' defense increases 0.5% for each more defense point.
Fortune: The more fortune points you have, the higher the possibility is to get good harvest in hunting and make lucky double attacks in battle.