Iron Harvest: When Farming Becomes Conquest
Chapter 406 - 10: Expel Them All, Without Exception!

Chapter 406: Chapter 10: Expel Them All, Without Exception!

War, in essence, is a series of exchanges.

For example, the enemy uses conscripted soldiers to exhaust their strength until they are weary, then press on with extraordinary units; even if they don’t break through the enemy’s lines, they are bound to inflict damage. That’s how the soldiers on the Heavenly Pegasus Plain were gradually diminished.

The conscripted soldiers of Black Iron Land are endless, yet each River Valley warrior is precious and limited in number.

Efficient mobility and organization must be employed.

With less force and smaller losses, one needs to crush more enemies, creating greater military achievements.

The two armies confronted each other, flags fluttering in the wind.

Makor had over fifty thousand troops in his main force. The overall quality was better than that of the conscript army.

Tents stretched for ten miles, the formation was set, with large flags swaying on long poles, divided into the right army, central army, and left army, each of a grand scale, stretching miles away. They were not neatly arranged as they simply could not be organized so, spread across several combat units, some stationed on hillslopes, others on hillocks, and some in the wilderness and plains, presenting a scattered pattern.

Excluding logistics and miscellaneous services, the surface ratio was five to one.

Roman had once defeated thirty thousand of the Holy War Army in a sweeping battle, yet those forces were essentially impoverished believers with very low combat literacy, so one could press them all at once since any hit would do.

But not anymore.

To continue such tactics would mean even if winning head-on, the self-harm would be considerable.

There was no need to fight such a tough battle.

From a broad perspective, the strategic deployment of Makor’s main force was sound, leaning towards a defensive formation.

For his strategic goal was to hold his position and stall for time with the Blasphemers.

The latter had neither time nor space, and stalling equaled winning.

Roman said, "Let the first, second, and third Guard Brigades, and the second and fifth Heavy Equipment Brigades take the flanks and invite the battle."

Five infantry squares, marching forward, directly targeted the enemy’s right army—a common move, a probing attack. Soon enough, someone came out from the camp to engage in the battle, and both sides quickly clashed.

"Continue deploying troops."

From a bird’s-eye view, the forces sent by Roman attracted a large number of the enemy troops like a magnet.

Pulling and enticing the enemy away from their formation.

This caused the battle lines to gradually elongate.

Compared to the well-organized River Valley Army, the formation of the Black Iron Army appeared somewhat chaotic.

Their coordination was poor, synergy even worse, and the command system was overly complex because the relations between nobles and their vassals were forever a messy account.

"The fifth Guard Brigade! Cut them off!"

The battlefield was of limited width; the longer the battle line stretched, the more likely it was to lose control, causing various issues and command failures.

The field of vision for birds is limited, and so is that of humans; in a battlefield filled with cries of killing and people from all directions, being able to discern the direction was already commendable.

A talented general could grasp ins and outs through the slightest changes on the battlefield and estimate the overall situation.

Those with higher insight, stronger judgment had greater chances of winning.

To achieve this required either experience or talent, and Roman possessed both.

He spotted a weak spot in the battle line, deployed the fifth Guard Brigade there in a V Formation with super long spears leading the way, tearing open a gap in the enemy’s right army forcefully.

"Block it quickly!" Makor’s heart shook; the army of the Blasphemers was indeed monstrous!

It was only half an hour into the battle, and problems had already arisen in the defensive line.

A retreat was out of the question.

Retreating now would likely lead to a complete collapse of the army.

The Right Army’s commander had no choice but to deploy the reinforcements, ensuring the wound did not expand.

"Send an order to Filin in the Central Army! Have his knights approach the Blasphemers, relieve the pressure on the Right Army!" Makor made the decision on the spot.

At the same time, he redirected the left-wing troops in an arc formation, encircling the River Valley Army.

With his thick golden beard, Earl Filin, upon hearing the command, glanced at the left-wing troops and proceeded to lead the Filin Family’s Conquest Knights into the battlefield.

Simultaneously, Nathan led the Vanguard to intercept the Conquest Knights who continuously emerged from the enemy ranks.

At this point, Roman had also distinguished who were the main forces and who were the disintegrating soldiers.

"Princess!" Roman pointed towards the approaching Left Army.

Tashina immediately understood, mounted her Divine Steed, and charged towards the left flank like an arrow loosed from a bow, as if tossing the fierce wind behind her.

A striking white figure suddenly appeared on the battlefield, capturing Makor’s attention.

"White Knight!?"

Makor hadn’t expected Tashina to be so restless.

Had she revealed her true identity so soon after the battle had begun?

Without a moment’s hesitation, dozens of Surging Wave Knights launched into action, like blue sharks surging forth, aiming to tear apart the isolated White Knight.

The Duke of Furious Tide and the Black Iron Prime Minister had ordered to attack Tashina with full force upon sighting her.

Of course, the same treatment applied to the Blasphemers.

After all, in Black Iron Land, aside from the unpredictable Dragon Clan pirates, Tashina and Roman posed the greatest threats to the Black Iron Throne, even more so than the Grand Duke of Oak.

Seeing the Surging Wave Knights charging, Tashina made no further motion but turned her steed as swift as the wind.

"Marshal Enya!"

Oak’s elite soldiers, upon receiving the order, immediately went to aid the White Knight, simultaneously drawing the attention of the left-wing line.

"Order the Guard Brigade! Push forward with full force! Split the battlefield!"

If one were to look down from the sky, the forty brigades truly resembled a single entity, each with a clear combat mission, engaging in multi-line operations without any disruption.

Some were responsible for elongating the battle line, some for splitting the battlefield, and others for taking control.

This was the flexibility of the River Valley Army, where each brigade could independently withstand.

Arrows flew across the sky, dense like rain.

Clad in plate armor and wielding a long sword, Kao fought with unmatched bravery, frenziedly slashing.

"For the Lord! For glory! Charge! Charge!"

Leading from the front, he and a group of Guard officers formed a wedge, forcefully cutting through the enemy’s front lines, deeply penetrating and splitting the battlefield.

"Quickly outflank them! Drive them all out without leaving any behind!"

The initially small wound instantly expanded into a lethal injury.

The frontline combatants, realizing the chaos behind them, saw the line that could still maintain formation collapse on the spot.

Hundreds drove thousands of disintegrating soldiers, charging into the Black Iron Central Army, even though Earl Filin had ordered to hold the line and kill the disintegrating soldiers, but the continuous assaults were unstoppable.

Because Filin’s lion banner was ahead, they recognized it as a friendly flag; where else could they run if not towards it?

Soon, the Central Army also collapsed, and its forces became disintegrating soldiers.

Though the tens of thousands strong army was vast, its organization was poor, and if it were to collapse, it happened in the blink of an eye, with its incapable command system further accelerating the collapse rate.

Engaged with Tashina, Makor, seeing an uncountable number of disintegrating soldiers swarm their way, unaware that merely three to five thousand pursuers were behind them, felt sorrow and despair, realizing the defeat was like a mountain falling. He could only lead his Personal Soldiers to retreat.