Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 367 - 7: For My King!

The Holy War Army launched repeated charges against the River Valley side, suffering six thousand casualties before ultimately being forced to retreat due to the overwhelming losses and lack of visible effect.

Sacrificing disposable troops to wear down the enemy’s physical strength and morale is a very common strategy.

After all, if tens of thousands of people surround you, ready for you to kill them until your blade blunts, who wouldn’t be afraid?

Yet, the Blasphemers’ army didn’t give them any chance at all, with a very high margin for error in their defense, blocking every attempt.

Jet breathed a sigh of relief.

Although his own side had suffered very few casualties, the pressure of facing a dark mass of enemies, seemingly endless in sight, was truly immense.

They chose a forest to establish their camp.

They dug pits to trap horses and felled trees to make antler-like barricades.

Night fell.

Jet contacted the White Steel Princess at Black Castle via the Beast Witch.

They had come to aid the king, but facing the Holy War Army encamped outside the city numbering in the hundreds of thousands, they were truly out of options.

"So you’ve violated the heavenly laws, huh? So many people hate you... oh, they hate us too? Well, that settles it."

In any case, there was no way to break the siege.

Jet and Dick were self-aware enough to recognize that against an ordinary army of believer troops, even if there were hundreds of thousands, they would still push through without a problem.

The battlefield front can only be so wide; how would a million people matter? Any mortal flesh cannot withstand the piercing of sharp arrowheads.

But unfortunately, not all the enemy troops were weak.

In the attack-defense battle that had just taken place, the Church Court’s main force hadn’t moved at all, purely spectating the show.

Arrows are precious, so let the conscripted soldiers go up first.JPG

Ordinary Conscript Army troops are just fodder for the front line, meant only to wear down the River Valley Army’s morale, waiting for any sign of collapse to strike.

This is the standard tactic of the era.

"What did Her Highness the Princess say?" Dick asked. Jet handed the note to him, saying, "She asked us to wait for other allies quietly."

Green asked with a hint of skepticism, "Are there really any?"

The Commander’s face was indifferent, "There will be."

Their arrival was not in vain; it applied enough pressure on the Holy War Army to prevent them from initiating an attack on the city.

Otherwise, it wouldn’t be pleasant to have their rear attacked by the River Valley Army while storming the walls.

Therefore, the Church Court’s higher-ups hoped to remove the thorn that was the River Valley Army as soon as possible.

Come the next day,

They marshaled their forces to attack again.

This time with an even greater scale; the entire landscape swarmed with troops beyond counting, and they even brought along equipment like catapults.

It was very clear to the Church Court: You like to defend? I’ll play along with a siege’s intensity.

Green couldn’t help but mock, "These people can’t handle a real fight, can they?"

Catapults are slow to fire, laughably imprecise, and not particularly powerful; killing even two men with one shot would be a stretch.

But the impact of such machines on morale was massive, and with a range of two hundred or so meters, they can lob rocks all day, far beyond the archers’ reach.

"Commander, let’s strike!" Kao said darkly.

Yesterday was just a small skirmish; if we don’t punch back today, do you really think the River Valley King’s army is that easy to bully?

Guards at the vanguard, auxiliary troops in the Central Army, Snipers to the sides, Heavy Equipment to protect both flanks, and a Casting Group accompanying the army, ensuring a high margin for error. A formation sharp as an arrowhead thus formed.

"Prepare for battle!" cried the Church Court elites.

Once again, it was the expendable troops leading the charge.

Not to mention Knights from the three major Knight Orders, even ordinary Conquest Knights were expensive to train, and sending them to charge was out of the question, especially against formations lined with Heavy Shields on both flanks.

Knight-class units were not disposable.

The difference in combat capabilities and disciplines of the fodder was blatantly apparent.

The River Valley Army, with auxiliary troops in the Central Army and sniper squads at both sides, was solidly protected by the heavily armored, free from threats of close combat, and thus capable of unleashing fierce firepower on the flanks.

Believers were shot down in droves before even engaging, enduring a terrible hail of arrows; upon approaching, they had to face a phalanx of long spears. In a moment, the battlefield was filled with lament, and blood nourished the earth.

High-ranking officials of the Holy War Army couldn’t sit idly by anymore. A group of Conquest Knights came around to the rear, pressing the formation, attempting to shave off the edges.

The essence of corner-cutting tactics is intimidation. Seeing the Knights surge forward, most infantry would panic, instinctively retreating inwards—but as soon as they retreat, corner-cutting succeeds.

Once the stability and structure of an infantry square are broken, the army loses ninety percent of its fighting power.

But these Conquest Knights faced not a common army, but Roman’s meticulously crafted Heavy Equipment troops, who underwent intense everyday Military Training. They faced the charging warhorses emotionlessly, working to raise their psychological threshold—a common occurrence.

Steeled mentally and experienced in battle, they were cavalry themselves...

Corner-cutting? Cut the bullshit.

You’re dead meat if you dare come close!

Don’t think we won’t hit you just because you’re a Conquest Knight!

"Shield Guard Army!" At this moment, a panicked voice spread through the ranks.

That was the legendary army.

Ao Steel Shields as broad as cauldrons, Mountain Copper Armor weighing hundreds of pounds, and every one of the Forbidden Army was at least a Third Rank foot combat Knight.

They too pressed forward, trying to disrupt the River Valley Army’s formation.

"Throw the explosives!" declared Jet.

Auxiliary troops from the Central Army threw out ignited packets of explosives one after another.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!"

Black powder unleashed its explosive force, and thick smoke suddenly enveloped the battlefield.

Such a sudden turn of events shocked everyone.

However, Captain of the Imperial Guard Audis believed it wasn’t Evil Magic, or at least not purely Evil Magic.

Odis Round Shields had taken effect, resisting the explosion without reducing the impact, indicating it was unrelated to Spells, yet the device was equally insidious.