Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 273 - 9: Your casualties are irreparable, my soldiers are endless.jpg
Chapter 273: Chapter 9: Your casualties are irreparable, my soldiers are endless.jpg
The director of this play was Roman.
The main characters were 11 witches.
The supporting roles were 500 plate armor infantry.
The scene was set in a military training ground.
The props were cold weapons.
...
Exterior shot—morning.
Without any reason, the witches attacked the infantry formation and were met with a barrage of arrows.
Following behind Gwen, the witches advanced quickly and all escaped unscathed.
The heavy infantry dropped their longbows and engaged in close combat.
At a distance of ten meters, all the witches collectively unleashed a spiritual shock.
More than fifty front-row spearmen were mentally disrupted for a second or two.
Shasta did a roll on the ground, severing the ankles of the first row of five soldiers, creating an opening in the formation.
Mabel cast a fan-shaped flame which, blocked by the flesh wall, could only cover a three-meter radius, leaving more than ten soldiers incapacitated on the spot.
At this time, soldiers on both sides launched an attack.
Lucia cast dark magic, bringing about fifty meters’ diameter into nightfall.
The well-trained soldiers, relying on their senses, initiated an attack.
The witches released an energy impact spell that knocked down about forty to fifty soldiers, a quarter of whom died instantly.
The remaining soldiers got up and lunged with their spears. The witches had nowhere to hide.
Brenna, Zelda, and Lucia died on the spot. The night domain was lifted.
Edith and Lusa were injured. Lusa shared her life energy with them to maintain their mobility.
Utilizing the power of agate, Mabel created a ten-meter diameter fiery domain, causing heavy casualties among the soldiers within it.
The formation completely collapsed. Four hundred soldiers dispersed, surrounding the witches.
Shasta released black smoke and began a massacre, but Green stopped her, and Green was killed by the Nightmare Witch with a ghost dagger.
Shasta was attacked from behind by Jet, her arm pierced by a thin sword; Dick charged forward and was killed by Shasta after two rounds, then Jet stabbed Shasta in the Entrails. The Nightmare Witch released a thicker smoke and fled with severe injuries.
Monica’s power channelled from the void, hitting the unarmored Jet with an invisible heavy hammer, breaking his sternum and killing him.
Nathan, in heavy armor, attacked from the front, swinging his ax four times, killing the witch Saya.
Gwen charged at Nathan, knocked him down, and died amidst the chaos of stabbing.
The greatly drained Mabel, injured Edith and Lusa, and unharmed Monica, four witches surrounded, counter-killed about ten soldiers but ultimately died amidst the chaotic troops.
Shasta escaped the encirclement but died in the wilderness due to severe injuries.
...
The result of this war scenario was just a very unlikely possibility.
Because witches don’t charge at formations.
They have high initiative and once they penetrate deep forests, armies are helpless.
If they employed guerrilla warfare, they would certainly achieve greater success without being annihilated.
However, even if the witches could understand the concept of Guerrilla warfare, whether they could use it effectively is another matter, as everything still has to be implemented practically.
At present, 11 witches charging directly caused about 100 soldiers’ casualties.
The main reason for the army’s heavy casualties was the disruption of their formation, facing an unfamiliar enemy felt very foreign, and they were very unadapted to the combat style, but once adapted, at least half of the casualties could be reduced.
Killing plate armor infantry was troublesome for the witches, but they could still manage.
However, if faced with plate armor cavalry, they would be at a loss.
The mobility of the cavalry was too strong.
And Roman also realized the witches’ problem.
They...
severely lacked the capability for frontal combat!
...
The combat power of an extraordinary unit depended on various aspects.
Rank, equipment, and numbers were all decisive factors.
Roman used to believe that 100 First Rank Knights could replace one Ninth Rank Knight.
This theory, although somewhat too theoretical, considered only the difference in numbers without taking other factors into account.
But fundamentally, it made sense.
Extraordinary Units were special with considerable individual strength. But as long as they were creatures of the land, how extraordinary could they really be? frёeωebɳovel.com
A Holy Knight in Fine Gold Armor weighed three to five hundred kilograms, and a Fine Gold Greatsword could slice through iron like mud and split mountains,
Of course, the price of such armor was thousands of times that of regular plate armor.
How many First Rank Knights could be trained with the resources required to train a single Holy Knight?
The basic conditions for Beast Fighting were: both sides must have horses and plate armor, and various military weapons.
With this in mind, not to mention Holy Knights, even Ninth Rank Knights had no advantage.
Once the battle began, 100 First Rank Knights would disperse and form a circle of enclosure.
A Ninth Rank Knight would charge in, kill ten men with three punches and two kicks, and the remaining ninety would shoot him down from horseback.
The Ninth Rank Knight would charge again, kill another ten, and the remaining eighty would shoot him down from horseback...
Even in the end, the last ten would still hold their Cavalry Spears and charge at full speed.
What physique could withstand such an assault?
When you had killed all 100 First Rank Knights, how many arrows would be stuck in your body? How much energy would you have left?
You’d likely be totally exhausted.
The 101st First Rank Knight coming at you could easily chop off your head!
What use is the ability of a High Order Knight then?
It’s all about power when you come out to fight!
No matter how strong an individual’s ability is, facing thousands of professional soldiers in a war machine, how much could a High Order Knight accomplish?
If there really was a Ninth Rank Knight in full Fine Gold Armor,
Then Roman would choose to develop more destructive weapons, train more elite troops, and provide better equipment.
There would always be a countermeasure.
As a Ninth Rank Knight wearing hundreds of kilograms of high-grade armor charged across the battlefield, could I hold him off with five hundred lives? If not, then let’s make it a thousand "canned plate armor".
Your casualties would be irrevocable, my soldiers inexhaustible.jpg
...
The main issue with Witches was—when facing an army, they would charge ahead in cloth clothes...
Damn, that’s a huge problem!
The logic of warfare in the age of cold weapons: to increase defense, you must increase the load.
Hundreds of kilograms of armor worn on the body would make you virtually untouchable, a veritable human tank.
And Witches’ refusal to wear armor was to increase mobility.
Roman had to admit, it was a valid reason.
Witches clearly excelled in mobile warfare, surprise attacks, and blitzkrieg.
But once it came to siege warfare, positional warfare, and attritional warfare, they truly couldn’t fight at all.
Have them wear armor, and it would be like reducing their speed.
Imagine Witches wearing fifty kilograms of armor, not light as feathers but struggling to climb six or seven meter-high walls, maybe not even managing to climb up once caught in a pitched battle...
That scene was indeed unbearable to watch.
As for why they had ended up in such a state,
Roman felt it was entirely because they lacked an auxiliary army.
Conquest Knights all had auxiliary armies, whose true name was the Conscript Army.
Conquest Knights had the prestige of nobility among the citizens.
The Conscript Army and Conquest Knights complemented each other, both indispensable.
The only point Roman couldn’t understand about the battle of Spring Rain was that he had cut down more than half of the enemy’s auxiliary forces. Yet they still steadfastly believed they could win and launched a suicidal charge.
Thus, those remaining 3,000 Conscript Army stubbornly held on till the mid-stage of the battlefield.
Not until all the Conquest Knights had charged in, and none came out, all being entrapped, did they choose to surrender, their morale outrageously unbelievable.
But Witches lacked this condition, because they only had infamy.
