Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 311 - 17: Overwhelming from the Front

With a loud boom, the entire army halted all training.

The Black Iron King and Damian hoped the River Valley King would launch an offensive before autumn to crush the Holy War Army once and for all.

But Roman didn’t want to wait that long.

He wanted to conquer Kant Territory before the spring plowing began!

All soldiers drew their swords, spears, plate armor, helmets, longbows, and shields for inspection and maintenance, sharpening their edges. Box after box of military supplies were transported out.

This was a massive military operation, and all labor forces began preparing for the war.

Roman, following tradition, convened a high-level military meeting in Origin City.

Commander Jet spoke first, "How shall we fight this battle?"

Dick said, "We don’t know the exact number of the Holy War Army. There are too many of them, and even sending scouts wouldn’t help us estimate."

Nathan said, "At least thirty thousand combatants."

Kao added, "They have Judgement Knights, Demon Hunting Knights, Conquest Knights, Sword Masters, Javelin throwers, Bow Cavalry, priests and nuns proficient in Divine Arts, and a host of fervent believers."

Aaron agreed, "Exactly."

"Roman, say something."

Green looked discontentedly at Roman, who had remained silent since the beginning.

Roman’s posture was lazy, resting his chin in his hand and staring into the void, showing no sense of crisis or tension.

Roman glanced at Green, "What do you want me to say? Haven’t I called you all here?"

"Ah? So you’re leaving everything to us?" Green pointed incredulously at himself.

Roman retorted, "What else?"

Green said, "But they have thirty thousand troops, and we have only seven thousand!"

Jet added, "And they have elite forces. The Holy War Army of this scale will have at least two thousand who can wield Holy Light Swordsmanship."

"Are they really that elite?"

Jet replied solemnly, "Very elite!"

He had once been a Sword Master in Divine Mysterious, fully aware of the formidable combat power of a Sword Master.

People in Divine Mysterious practiced swordsmanship from childhood; once they mastered it, they enjoyed certain privileges like tax reduction and special subsidies, allowing them to devote more time to perfecting their art.

This was the Church Court’s first expeditionary force, and Jet had reason to believe this army consisted of specially selected members with strong combat capabilities.

They came well-prepared, virtually unequalled in the Earth Countries.

"So what do you think we should do?"

"Bring out that explode-able thing..." Jet said, "I mean, bring out that explosive material you use in mining."

Roman understood their concerns; after all, war was something every battlefield commander feared.

In the battle against the nobles’ alliance, nearly half were killed or wounded.

In the war against the rebel army, over half were dead or injured.

Now, facing the more challenging Holy War Army, no one was happy.

What Jet feared was not merely death, but mass casualties, pointless losses; Origin City would need a long recovery, and in the end, it might still be impossible to break through.

"I will prepare a batch of black gunpowder. If the situation turns unfavorable, I will intervene," said Roman.

Jet needn’t remind him; Roman was ready for anything.

Though he did not think his army would be pushed to such extremes, they did not seem confident.

Roman looked around.

He stood up, his movement graceful, and gestured with his hands as he spoke, "I understand your concerns, but you must also understand, there are no enemies before you. You think the Holy War Army is strong, but I’ve never considered them a threat. Numbers aren’t important, thirty thousand, fifty thousand, a hundred thousand... Does that sound powerful? Ah, the bigger they appear, the more fragile they are!"

The largest war in Origin City’s history, to this date, involved only tens of thousands in a major battle.

"Now the number of enemies has suddenly tripled. Anyone would be alarmed.

This isn’t just a simple triple.

As soon as their numbers exceeded ten thousand, they became overwhelming, and the last time Roman used a clever strategy, he shattered the opposition before the battle even began.

Thus, during the final battle, the numbers on both sides were almost even, not exceeding ten thousand. If one were to view it from a higher position, one could barely oversee the entire battlefield, but with more people, it’s different.

Both Jet and Dick have some distortions in their understanding of larger-scale wars.

After all, their limit was managing a few thousand people; they couldn’t imagine what it would be like to fight a war against thirty thousand people, used as they were to thinking in terms of older war tactics.

The army of Origin City was undoubtedly fully elite.

But the Holy War Army wasn’t vegetarian either.

Jet alone calculated that there were two thousand sword masters— not all of them were at his level, but those who had undergone swordsmanship training and were dispatched to the battlefield had at least the physical quality of a nearly First Rank Knight, definitely stronger than ordinary civilians.

And they were masters in close combat, especially fatal to units without armor, their kill efficiency was terrifyingly high!

Not to mention, the Holy War Army definitely had other types of troops.

Javelin throwers, Bow Cavalry— these were the standard military forces of Divine Mysterious, definitely mixed in with the Holy War Army.

Judgement Knights, Demon Hunting Knights, the former notably efficient during the Spring Rain Battle, and now they were here again.

The veterans who had participated in the Spring Rain Battle; who wouldn’t tremble?

However, Roman wasn’t trembling at all; he was itching to punch them twice.

Wars have never been won merely by having a numerical advantage.

What does the enemy have?

A bunch of rotten fish and shrimp raised from a mud pit!

What do we have?

Military professionalism developed through rigorous training, brilliantly manufactured military equipment from advanced productivity, extremely durable plate armor defense, long-range firepower of standard military bows, and high levels of obedience and organization.

Having an army of such comprehensive quality.

Thirty thousand men of the Holy War Army, or even fifty thousand, what difference does it make? It’s not worth care!

Roman, skilled in analysis, was well aware of the reasons for the losses in the first two battles.

The Battle of the Valley, nearly a thousand dead or wounded, of which five hundred were directly or indirectly caused by the Conquest Knights, half of them recruits who had only trained for two or three months.

The Spring Rain Battle, two thousand four hundred dead or wounded, lacking armor, one thousand seven hundred were casualties caused by the Conquest Knights— this was just a low probability event.

Among these casualties, the rate of loss in the Heavy Equipment troops was extremely low; even the Conquest Knights found it difficult to kill one wearing a Large Shield.

Now, after half a year of development in Origin City, the forges in the blacksmith sheds burned day and night, forcefully hammering out seven thousand sets of plate armor.

The latest recruits had been training for four months, others for half a year, and the latest batch of veterans had two to three years of military experience— nearly all the squadron leaders were selected from these veterans, with them leading, there could be no issue.

Lose? Tell me how to lose?

"You don’t even know your own strength!" Roman said, frustrated as if dealing with a stubborn metal.

Roman’s words carried weight with everyone; seeing his conviction, they dispelled their doubts, relayed his words, and this confident attitude to all the squadron leaders and squad leaders, who then inspired the grassroots soldiers.

Five days later, the entire army was fully prepared, totaling seven thousand troops and five thousand military servants.

Roman sent the Beast Witch’s birds and the returning seven hundred veterans to communicate and coordinate.

Two more days passed, and the veterans returning from Sea Castle finally approached this land.

At the same time, Roman began to massively transport troops downstream.

The Holy War Army had sealed off the area thoroughly, even deploying heavy soldiers downstream, periodically transporting supplies.

Upon sighting foreign vessels, they would start firing arrows frantically, making landing extremely difficult.

Roman’s war plan was very simple.

First, unite with the Sea Castle veterans for a pincer attack, take out the downstream outpost, land all the troops, meet in the open fields, and then...

Roll straight over them!"