Steel, Explosives, and Spellcasters

Chapter 802 802 73 Weakening

?Chapter 802: Chapter 73: Weakening Chapter 802: Chapter 73: Weakening Twenty-six years ago, on a sweltering summer afternoon.

In the grand auditorium of the Army Officer Academy, an old soldier was lecturing.

The auditorium, theoretically able to accommodate all the cadets and faculty, was packed to the brim. It wasn’t just the entire Land Academy that had gathered together; many commissioned officers had also rushed to attend the lecture.

The identity of the old soldier was self-evident. It was Ned Smith—the Marshal of the Allied Army, the creator of the Allied Army, and the principal of the Army Officer Academy.

“…People today think that decimation is a barbaric military law. But in the Ancient Empire, decimation was just severe, not barbaric.” Principal Ned paused for a moment, “In different eras and societies, the moral standards of war vary. We cannot judge the past by today’s standards, nor can we use the moral standards of the past to excuse today’s actions.”

Perhaps to the disappointment of some who met him for the first time, Ned Smith did not possess the so-called “bearing of a famous general.”

On the contrary, he looked more like an old blacksmith in a dimly lit small shop: with large knuckles, rough, dark hands, and a bit of a hunchback, because his eyes were a bit blurry, so he always unconsciously leaned back slightly.

Principal Ned looked at the young faces, “War is moral, and war is unfair. It seeks to overpower the weak with strength, overcome the few with numbers, to win with more against less…”

In the silent grand auditorium, a young man suddenly stood up, his eyes filled with the rebelliousness and stubbornness typical of his age, and asked loudly and defiantly, “What if we cannot overpower with strength?”

The faculty sitting in the front row turned to look and see which incredibly bold person had asked the question.

The questioner’s friend—a handsome young man—was pulling him hard, trying to get him to sit down.

But he refused to sit, standing stiff-necked, staring intently at the Marshal of the Alliance on the stage.

“If the enemy is strong and we are weak,” Principal Ned signaled the faculty not to worry and answered sincerely, “it’s best not to fight.

Years later, some people still remembered this scene in the auditorium, some had forgotten it, and others mistook the questioner for someone else.

We mention this because, twenty-six years later, that young man’s son happens to be facing a perilous situation where “the enemy is strong and I am weak, yet I must fight.”

…

What strategy should be adopted when the enemy is strong and we are weak? Winters didn’t know, because the Army Officer Academy didn’t teach strategy.

When Marshal Ned designed the curriculum for the Army Officer Academy, he divided all courses into two categories: “Military Studies” and “General Studies.”

If the time allocated for general education subjects such as mathematics and grammar is [ten], tactical courses are [six], content on war history is only [one], and courses related to strategy are [zero].

To be precise, as the scale of wars has been limited, nobody has been able to clearly define the differences between “strategy,” “tactics,” and “grand tactics” to date.

When a single battle can determine the outcome of a war, it is very difficult to distinguish between the subtle differences of strategy, tactics, and grand tactics.

Winters had an imperfect understanding of strategy and naturally had no strategy to speak of.

However, facing the entirely cavalry-based Terdun Tribe, Winters developed basic combat principles.

Winters distilled this into three words: [weaken, limit, annihilate]—symbolized as “Storm.”

Turning back the hands of time, let’s return to when Winters first learned that the Terdun Tribe was coming to raid the grass valley.

“I recalled all the battles I knew of,” he explained the Storm operation to his subordinates, “When fighting with fewer against more, with less to win against many, they all relied on terrain.”

“Our side also has the advantage of terrain. Big Horn River is a natural city wall, and the river channels in the lower Iron Peak County are like a sieve. Big Horn River, Wolf Town River, Blackwater River, Whitewater River, Panto River—every river we cross, the Terdun Tribe’s combat power will be weakened once. For every kilometer they travel, the Terdun Tribe must detach troops to raid the land.”

“Whether we can defend Iron Peak County, even annihilate the Terdun Tribe’s main force, success or failure depends on whether we can force the Terdun people to change their direction of attack, force the Terdun people to take the route we have set for them, force the Terdun people to enter the battlefield we have chosen for them.”

“Weaken, limit, annihilate; this is the Storm operation.”

…

The hourglass was turned over for the twenty-sixth time, and Xial woke Winters beside the campfire.

“The seventh company has also arrived,” Xial said softly.

“Time.”

“One-fifteen in the morning.”

…

Time, time, every second is incredibly precious.

Under favorable road conditions, infantry can cover 24 kilometers a day, and by forcing a march without any heavy baggage, this distance can be doubled.

At first glance, 24 kilometers seems close, and 48 kilometers not far.

However, it is unknown how many undefeated generals have died within this short day’s journey, leading to the loss of their troops and country, disgrace, and a ruined reputation.

The battle that took place in the central Iron Peak County was fundamentally a struggle for time.

The Terdun Tribe’s grand flanking strategy was to take advantage of the defending forces being drawn along the Big Horn River, to circle around to Winters’ rear and attack from both sides.

Herein lay the opportunity.

Seizing the time difference, Winters struck a piercing blow towards the opponent’s chest as the fire-warming opponent threw a right hook, repelling the dispersed Terdun fighters, possibly numbering around twenty hundred-man cavalry units.

Though it was not a rout, and certainly not an annihilation, it temporarily lifted the threat from the western flank and gave the troops a chance to regroup into a unified force.

The day after Winters repelled the restraining enemies, the Terdun vanguard attacked the fording site for the first time at noon.

At that point in time, nine of the Iron Peak County Infantry Regiment’s twelve companies were deployed along the Big Horn River; these nine companies were generally understaffed and exhausted, in the process of regrouping.

One company was stationed at Shizhen town, and its combat strength was relatively intact.

The remaining three companies, as a general reserve, were originally stationed at Saint Town and were hurrying to Shizhen town and the fording site.

The Terdun Tribe, like an arrow, already had its tip pressed against the heart of central Iron Peak County, with the rest of their forces rushing in at full speed.

If the fording site were to be breached, then Winters’ efforts in crossing the Big Horn River twice would all be in vain.

His scattered companies would be defeated one by one by the Terdun forces, just as he had repelled their dispersed forces.

The difference was that the Terdun could escape on horseback, while Winters’ men wouldn’t even have the chance to flee.

It was Bard leading the refugee camps that held off the enemy’s first and second attacks, securing yet another day for Winters.

Within that day, Winters had constructed a second line of defense behind the crossing field.

At the same time, the twelve companies of Iron Peak County Regiment as well as all of the militia from Niutigu Valley, Shizhen, and Saint Town were converging on the crossing field.

Thus, Tie Chi had actually wronged his Green Plumed Feathers, because Winters indeed had “built a wall overnight.”

As for how bipeds could build a wall more than ten kilometers long overnight, Tie Chi still had no idea.

What Tie Chi knew even less was that Winters was also building a third wall.

…

The warriors of the fifth company marched in silence, in single file, without drums or slogans, even the military flag was rolled up.

Riding at the very front was the commander of the fifth company, Lannis.

Tonight the moon was full, a good night for both sides to engage in combat.

Hoofbeats could faintly be heard in the distance, as if cavalry was approaching the column of the fifth company.

Lannis raised his hand to signal, the flag bearer unfurled the banner, and the provost marshal immediately took out an arrow, turned around, and handed it to the warrior behind him.

Each soldier who received an arrow would immediately pass it on to the person behind, while dropping all excess items and gathering toward the flag with only their weapons and armor.

Without any commands, the fifth company formed a square formation in silence.

Lannis listened carefully, the sound of hoofbeats grew closer, confirming that they were indeed heading toward the fifth company.

“Beat the drums!” Lannis broke the silence.

The rapid sound of the snare drum rose up, signaling to the warriors of the fifth company that their position had been exposed and to prepare for battle immediately.

The newcomers halted their horses in front of the square formation, just a dozen or so riders.

“Who goes there?” Lannis demanded.

“It’s me,” Winters replied.

Lannis rode out of the formation and solemnly saluted Winters.

“Are you still fit to fight?” Winters asked.

“It would be best to rest for two hours,” Lannis answered truthfully.

“Change direction to Niutigu Valley,” Winters was not one for courtesy with his old troops: “Tamas is building a third line of defense there, you will temporarily be under his command.”

“Yes, sir,” Lannis saluted again.

Winters assigned a guide to Lannis, took one last look at his old subordinate, and rode off.

The fifth company returned to marching formation, heading now in a southwest direction.

…

If it were a head-on confrontation in formation, a five by five-kilometer open space would be enough to accommodate a grand battle of a hundred thousand people.

The tricky part about the Terdon Tribe and all nomadic tribes was that with their mobility, they could stretch five kilometers into fifty, or even a hundred and fifty.

Advance when it’s advantageous, retreat when it’s not, not ashamed to flee, strike only when certain of victory; this was the great tactical advantage brought by high mobility.

For instance, the Terdon Tribe’s grand detour this time, just the straight-line distance on the map was already over a hundred and fifty kilometers.

Humans might compete with horses in endurance over two thousand kilometers; but if it were a two hundred kilometer race, they could never be faster than horses no matter what.

Winters had chosen the central Iron Peak County as the battlefield from the beginning, simply because central Iron Peak County was small enough.

The Terdon Tribe needed to detour a hundred and fifty kilometers, while the Iron Peak County troops fighting on the inside needed to travel only fifty kilometers, using the advantage in distance to compensate for the disadvantage in speed.

For this reason, Winters abandoned Wolf Town, Blackwater Town, and Wugou Town.

The decision sounded easy but was heavier than a mountain of millions of tons of rocks.

Now, as the Terdon Tribe made a hundred and fifty-kilometer detour, crossing five rivers, they arrived in central Iron Peak County after a difficult journey.

The first step of combat in a storm, “weakening,” had been achieved.

…

Unlike the previous battles where the Herders avoided war and the Paratu People sought it out, at this moment, the Terdon Tribe was the one most eager to have a proper fight.

Tie Chi was crazed with the desire to fight the bipeds with sword against sword, spear against spear.

A wall stood in their way—more precisely, two walls.

One wall was shorter, standing on the mountain road between the crossing field and Shizhen.

The other wall was long, blocking the Terdon Tribe from entering Niutigu Valley.

Both walls were rather short, about the height of a man, and an adult male could climb over with little effort.

The problem was, if people could climb over, what about the horses?

The people of Iron Peak County called the long wall the “Shield Wall” and the short wall the “Dagger Wall.”

The Terdon Tribe simply called both obstructive walls as horse-blocking walls, for those walls were never meant to block people, but to block horses.

The chiefs of the Terdon Tribe gathered in a military council, determining there were only three methods: breach the wall, pile up soil, or take a detour.

Taking a detour was immediately ruled out, as another detour would only lead further south, passing through Shizhen to cross the river.

Not to mention the delay in time, the bridge of Shizhen had already been demolished. Were they supposed to build another bridge upon arrival?

“Stop hiding your treasures, hand over all the armors and sheepskin bags,” spat out Tie Chi viciously: “Without gnawing on bones, there’s no marrow to eat.”