Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 374 - 10: At this point, let’s start farming_2

The Black Iron Order vs. All Gods Order had ended, and with the betrayal of two Black Iron Dukes, the latter had won.

If that witch named Cassandra truly had capabilities...

Then next, it would be Dragon Clan Order vs. All Gods Order—Dragon Clan World warring against Gods World.

Of course, a few dragons were not enough for Cassandra, far from it.

But Roman, based on intelligence from the Heavenly Pegasus Plain and narrated by the Beast Witch’s crow recounting the situation at that time, suspected that Cassandra and Pirate King Alex had conspired together.

After all, Alex did say, "My army and the Dragon Clan shall preside over Black Castle."

From where would a mere witch have an army?

Besides the Yige people and the Pirate King, Roman could temporarily think of no other forces.

He pondered for a moment and decided to disregard those people.

With things as they were, it was time to focus on cultivating the land.

Pirates, Dragon Clan, witches, Church Court, dukes, kings—whichever faction was all the same.

Let those who come be stopped by soldiers, and let what water comes be stopped by earth.

The 12,000 troops that Roman had dispatched ultimately returned with 9,000 men, among whom over 2,000 were disabled and had to retire.

Neither the three great Knight Orders of the Church nor the Divine Mysterious Shield Guard Army had succumbed to them.

Roman most feared his troops being annihilated in a decisive battle.

A decisive battle meant the systematic destruction of the main force, equivalent to a squad leader, a squadron leader, and a team leader all dying in battle.

But the widespread use of plate armor greatly increased their survival rate. Systematic extermination became impossible.

The Divine Mysterious Shield Guard Army was strong, but when Jet threw black powder explosive packs at them, they just had to lift up Ao Steel shields, and at most they were thrown away, direct deaths were not possible.

A thousand jin of Mountain Copper Armor was described as immovable as a mountain, active as thunder.

But Roman’s Heavy Equipment Squad was no easier to deal with.

The Shield Guard Army wearing such heavy armor, how could they break through a shield weighing fifty to sixty jins, inlaid with fine steel?

What is a shield wall? It is like a mountain of people, like sardines in a can, shoulder to shoulder, unable to move. They can only keep pushing forward—opposite to tug-of-war, it’s a group of people pushing against each other.

But full-on resistance leads to fatigue, even the Shield Guard Army, being at least third-tier Knights, needed to rest.

Roman’s Heavy Equipment Squad had a thousand men, the Shield Guard Army at most two hundred. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓

The remainder of the squads were similar, the enemy did not have the ability to kill in one hit. Even through the most brutal and chaotic battlefields, maintaining formation and having minimal casualties were achievable.

Unless Jet and Dick and other senior officers intentionally sent a squad to the most dangerous places and then did not rotate them out, then complete annihiliation might be possible.

...

"Rest for ten days, then come back," Roman told Jet.

This expedition was too hard. Fighting against the Church’s main force, the lower soldiers might not know, but Jet and others really went with a do-or-die attitude.

Because there were too many variables.

Whether they could relieve the siege, whether there were reinforcements, what if they were trapped, what if the enemy was too strong?

Even Roman had some doubts.

When they returned, Roman immediately granted them a ten-day vacation—of course, it was done in shifts, soldiers who had not been deployed rested one day a month, they would rest ten days this month.

Other material rewards were also there, and there would be pensions.

One should never skimp on military pay!

"Yes," Jet, his face normally impassive, showed a rare smile, as he had been worn out these days and indeed needed a rest.

Something seemed to come to Roman’s mind as he said, "By the way, tell me again how the black powder performed on the battlefield."

"Against ordinary troops, it’s okay, works best against those without armor, but against Conquest Knights or the Shield Guard Army... the effect is not desirable," Jet shook his head as he said.

He saw the entire battlefield filled with thick white smoke, each time it was thrown, nearly always resulted in a loud explosion, the Church Army called this explosive ’Demon’s Breath,’ ’Hell’s Breath.’

Every time the army came under too much pressure, Roman threw out several hundred pounds of explosive packages to drive back the enemy and reduce the pressure.

But that was it.

Roman muttered, "Do original firearms have any effect on the Shield Guard Army?"

The answer was—no effect at all.

Unless with higher-grade firearms or directly using cannons. Yet, those special units were too fast!

The Shield Guard Army was manageable, moving at a slow pace not much better than the Heavy Equipment Squad, but the Surging Wave Knights were ridiculous, moving freely in their hundreds of pounds of deep blue armor, transforming from heavy cavalry to light cavalry on the battlefield and wreaking havoc.

Unless covered by fire, tens or hundreds of cannons bombarding at once...

But the cost of transporting these cannons and ammunition to the battlefield was equivalent to forging millions of farming tools, no joke.

It would be better to farm the land, really.

As Jet said, black gunpowder was astonishingly effective against units without armor, causing severe shrapnel injuries.

But the basis of the Conquest Knights was plate armor—they were the lowest rank of the Nobles.

As long as they kept away, it would be difficult for the shrapnel to harm the Conquest Knights, not to mention the damage caused by black gunpowder—too weak, a few pounds for this effect, if less than half a pound... Black gunpowder, the main ingredient of fireworks, could only be used to blast fish.

Formidable against miscellaneous troops... But, a structured plate armor squad standing here, held the same deterrent effect as the black gunpowder for ordinary armies.

So, even without black gunpowder, Roman could still annihilate the enemy!

...

After watching Jet and the other commanders leave, Roman returned to Fertile Castle to begin planning for the future.

His demands weren’t high, just to protect this plot of land.

"Ah."

"Why are you sighing?" Sanna popped out from behind Roman, her voice cheerful.

Roman, surprised, glanced at her, "Why didn’t you go back?"

Currently, his soldiers were mostly from Origin City, eager to reunite with their families upon returning, unmarried ones hurrying to find a wife. Of course, those who could reunite were not just wives, siblings were included, but Kao had also returned to Origin City.

"You said you’d give me a ten-day vacation." She stared at him, her expression like a small killer whale; Roman noticed she had small tiger teeth, slight and sharp, somewhat cute.

He monopolized power, dealt with endless affairs, and had no energy to care about those around him, let alone that Sanna had been sent into the army by him for two years, seldom meeting. She had worked hard for him; this time on the Black Castle battlefield, she and her sisters had been of great use.

Roman’s gaze softened, he sat at the office desk in the hall and said, "Then go do what you love."

She cheerfully squeezed over, sitting on Roman’s thigh, even through the clothes one could sense her wheat-colored, supple yet tight skin, taut, her buttocks springy with an aura of a wild girl.

"Roman, then I will stay with you."

She embraced the person she longed for day and night, gently sniffing, carefully and greedily inhaling the scent that haunted her dreams, her body seemingly heating up.

Roman felt she was too clingy, surprisingly an active girl, restless, but around him, she was like a sloth; he couldn’t get anything done.

"Did you say the White Steel Princess went to Duke Oak’s domain?" he chatted casually.

"Yeah, that princess is super charming!" Sanna leaned against his chest like a kitten, having witnessed the person’s valiant and fearless presence, sharp-eyed, crisper than the north wind.

"Duke Oak only acknowledges her as the next Black Iron King, while Duke Fury and Duke Riptide support Iota’s Second Prince to become the Black Iron King. Everyone knows the Second Prince is a puppet of the Church Court, yet the White Steel Princess claims Duke Oak is sincerely supportive of her."

Should one say loyal dogs never bark? Roman thought to himself. Duke Oak had the aura of a king, as did the King of Ice Island.

The King of Ice Island, knowing that he and the Black Iron Royal Family were allies, sent him trade worth tens of thousands of pounds of wool, openly declaring his stance.

But the Duke guarding the border could easily declare independence as he secured a crucial area of the Black Iron Land.

Duke Oak still supported Iota Hina with resolve, earning admiration.

At least, Roman couldn’t do it; having sent the Black Iron King away was him fulfilling his moral duty, don’t expect him to find himself a new leader.

Iota Hina knew his thoughts and knowing he was unwilling for a political marriage, she had to go to Duke Oak’s domain to be the Black Iron King.