Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest-Chapter 398 - 2: The Civilization of the New Era

Hundreds of thousands of troops pouring in at once was impossible; it would take at least several months of preparation. Even if they had started preparing in winter, they couldn’t just leave as soon as spring arrived.

Because it would delay the spring plowing, the logistics consumption was too horrifying.

They could only divide their forces across multiple routes to share the burden of transporting supplies.

And most likely, the troops would be split into four divisions.

One route would be the Bro River waterway, one through Lion Territory, one via Black Iron Avenue, and the last, a secondary route of Black Iron.

This wasn’t because they were far-sighted or excellent at strategic planning.

Mainly, there were only four roads suitable for large-scale troop movements; the rest were winding, rugged paths. Anyone with a slight strategic insight could see that splitting forces for a combined attack was the only solution.

Otherwise, if hundreds of thousands of troops took one road, forming a long serpent formation, just the line of troops could stretch for dozens of miles. Any incident would cause a bottleneck, ruining the whole battle.

In private, Roman wouldn’t mention this, but in official settings, he was usually calm and composed, possessing a strangely powerful charisma.

He appeared confident, relaxed, and unconcerned, treating every difficulty as if it were a mere hillock to step over with ease.

Those influenced by him felt a strong sense of reassurance from his presence.

Roman sat in the chief seat, his back straight, and said, "Next, proceed with training as usual. Don’t stress yourselves; leave the stress for our enemies. We are an invincible army—if they seek death, we shall oblige them."

"Yes!" All the officers stood up and saluted in unison.

Roman also raised his arm, returning a standard military salute.

After the meal, everyone turned and left; Roman then said to Tashina, "Your Highness, our future relies on you."

His relationship with Tashina was delicate; they admired each other, but differences in personalities and political views prevented a close friendship.

The Princess said, "Hmph, rare for you to speak like a human for once."

Roman didn’t take it personally; saying a few nice words during special times was appropriate.

After all, she was here to save the situation, not to be aggravated.

He didn’t really want to provoke Tashina; as long as she didn’t covet his body, he respected the downcast Princess very much. "As long as you follow my laws, you are my most honored guest—at least for now," as offending Tashina currently had no benefits for him.

Would it not be good to farm and develop quietly?

But the White Steel Princess was only thinking about rising to the top swiftly.

In such a case, one could not give the other any hope! freeweɓnøvel.com

It was necessary to make one’s stance clear swiftly and decisively.

On the other hand, Tashina was a very reasonable person and did not intend to exploit the situation.

For instance, she wouldn’t use bargaining tactics like, "Lord Roman, you wouldn’t want me to withdraw my troops, would you?"

Everyone harbors unkind thoughts, especially those in power who often entertain arrogant notions like, "How dare you defy my orders."

This has nothing to do with gender; when one has the power to determine the fates of others, most lose their capacity for empathy.

Especially so for those with wealth, power, and exceptional martial prowess.

Just the five hundred elite units Tashina brought could match ten thousand conscripted soldiers; in a straight fight to the death, the former could easily annihilate the latter.

There was absolutely no exaggeration.

Concentrating resources on a few to achieve explosive effects was extremely cost-effective.

That was the true essence of a Conquest Knight!

Roman felt that this total mobilization of the Black Iron might likely yield six or seven thousand Conquest Knights.

...

Duke families’ Conquest Knights usually numbered from a few hundred to a thousand. Due to their long lifespan, Mid-level Knights could still fight well into their seventies or eighties, although they were prone to energy losses and severe physical deterioration.

Lower nobility couldn’t afford to maintain that many; a Baron might have only three to five, perhaps seven or eight higher-level ones, and the Knights had their own territories—Conquest Knights were in themselves the lowest nobility.

Depending on different families, there also emerged special knights like the Black Iron, White Knights, Surging Wave Knights, and Shattered Archers.

They also occupied the ecological niche of Conquest Knights.

Roman’s Angel Envoy was the same, varying strengths, generally up to a third-tier Knight.

Because at this stage they couldn’t afford to maintain groups of fourth-tier Knights.

Promoting a third-tier Knight to a fourth-tier Knight required resources equivalent to elevating ten ordinary people to a First Rank Knight.

In other words, Roman could sacrifice one third-tier Knight and ten first-tier Knights to obtain one fourth-tier Knight.

That was definitely a huge loss.

It was better to gather hundreds, if not thousands, of low-level knights and overwhelm the battlefield with their strong military prowess.

They were physically strong and had great endurance, capable of moving swiftly even while wearing armor that weighed dozens of pounds.

The terrifying nature of the Heavy Infantry was fully demonstrated on the Heavenly Pegasus Plain.

However, up to now, the River Valley Army had not fully equipped their armor.

Because priority was given first to professional squads, team leaders, and the think-tank, such as the Guards and Heavy Equipment team—their bodies grew taller, their physique became stronger, and their limbs developed, none of their previous gear fit, all had to be replaced.

There were still about four to five thousand auxiliary troops who were not equipped with plate armor—they usually handled logistics and had fewer combat duties; armor would only impede their mobility.

Now, these auxiliary troops were to be fully equipped with armor, filling in the ranks on the battlefield.

Their original jobs were handed over to the real menial workers.

Roman had already drained the labor force of the younger generation, now thousands of strong adult peasants had to take over as logistics menials, greatly hindering productive construction.

But he had no choice.

In fact, not only did he need to deploy a batch of menials, but he also had to send a group of Civilian Crossbowmen from Origin City to ensure the safety of Fertile City.

Origin City was fine, with a stable foundation, virtually invulnerable except from attacks from the sky, but he couldn’t possibly give up on Fertile City, having invested too much in the past.

Winter had just passed, and everyone became very busy in a rushed manner.

...

In early spring, January.

Roman asked the construction team, "How’s the military fortress construction going?"

"It’s almost finished."

"There’s still time, reinforce it more, it absolutely cannot be shoddy."

"Yes." The person replied timidly, not eloquent, but could guarantee the quality of the fortress.

This time, cost was truly no object in the investment.

Roman was to construct four fortresses outside, one location lacked stone materials, which were transported by human and animal power, built to a very high standard, in preparation for future wars.

He then visited the Wood Factory, under the big shelter for military gear, and saw rows of standardized crossbows, neatly aligned as if carved from the same mold.

Yet, there were several different styles; including Bed Crossbow, Light Crossbow, Crossbow, and Compound Crossbow, while boxes of Crossbow Arrows were placed beside them.

These were the labor achievements produced by the Wood Factory last year.

In February.

While there was still time, Roman took a large batch of military gear back to Fertile City and focused on the spring farming matters.

Rushing to do all that could be done.

There would be war, but crops also needed to be planted.

Without planting crops, where would the resources come from to wage war?

As long as logistics were in place, Roman could fight the Black Iron Kingdom for an entire year!

Pounding with both fists!

Let them witness what is called the civilization of the new era!