Chapter 161 - 149: Battle-Forged Elites
Chapter 161: Chapter 149: Battle-Forged Elites
Robson currently knew nothing of the situation in Devil City, nor was he aware of the many decisions being made from on high.
Ever since the elite Beastman forces withdrew, Robson had switched to a war of attrition. He stopped firing the Magic Crystal Cannons constantly. Instead, wherever the enemy tried to build a bridge, Robson would bombard that spot, giving the Beastmen no openings whatsoever.
To make transporting the Magic Crystal Cannons faster and more convenient, Robson requisitioned the mounts of the nobles in Qimo Fortress. To his surprise, Viscount Di Man even voluntarily offered up the mounts belonging to his cavalrymen.
It couldn’t be helped. Ever since the Beastmen were repelled on the first day, Robson’s Mages had quickly finished assembling the city walls. The top of the wall had basically become the exclusive stage for Robson’s elite troops.
Only when the enemy’s high-tier Extraordinaries charged the wall would Lord Robson’s soldiers encounter a situation they couldn’t handle. Only then was there a part for the noble lords to play.
This was a job they had to scramble for. If they weren’t paying attention, the opportunity would be gone, and the Beastman Extraordinaries who made it onto the wall would be taken out by one of their own comrades. After all, everyone wanted a share of the battle honors.
Under these circumstances, forget charging on horseback—they had to resort to chatting on the wall just to pass the time.
Viscount Di Man had complained to Robson on more than one occasion that this was the most boring war he had ever experienced; he had never imagined nobles could have it so easy in a conflict.
Of course, in truth, "easy" was relative. For the Frankish Nobles, standing on a wall all day and only getting to fight a few times couldn’t be called a war. It was just a brawl, essentially no different from armed tourism.
Around the Southern Pope Kingdom, nobles who had long enjoyed peace wouldn’t even stand on a wall for a whole day. In the wars of those small nations, battles would start in the morning and pause at noon.
Not because the war was over, but because it was time for the noble lords to have lunch. The Duchy of Florence even had a saying: "The growl of a stomach is more terrifying than the roar of a Magic Crystal Cannon."
The Beastmen tried a few times but found no way to break his strategy. They could only continue to throw themselves against this section of the wall, and Robson simply used the opportunity for troop training.
It was worth noting that on the afternoon the Beastmen breached the first wall only to discover another one behind it, the Beastman Camp organized another wave of Extraordinaries for an assault.
Of course, since the previous offensive had been completely repelled by Robson, this new wave of Beastman Extraordinaries failed to make any headway. "Educated" by the Magic Crystal Cannons, the Beastmen could only retreat meekly to the opposite bank.
After that, it was as if the Beastmen had decided to just phone it in. They only used hordes of goblins and Kobolds for attrition. Some days, only a few Extraordinaries would appear—third- and second-tier ones at that—and they were swiftly dealt with by Robson’s patrols.
Of course, the tactic of using hordes of goblins and Kobolds for attrition was, in itself, sound. The enemy was also getting better at timing their attacks, specifically choosing to strike when Robson’s army was changing the guard.
Furthermore, the relentless, round-the-clock attacks truly exhausted Robson’s Soldiers. Humans were not killing machines, after all. No one could remain perpetually vigilant through a full day of high-intensity warfare.
The morale of Robson’s Soldiers had dropped from an initial 90 down to the current 70.
Fortunately, however, Robson distributed the weekly bonuses on time and even gave all the Soldiers an additional 50 Copper Coins as a reward.
Despite this, the line of walls was still constantly being pushed back. Fortunately, under Falan’s leadership, the Mages’ casting efficiency was getting higher and higher, giving Robson a glimpse of what looked like modern infrastructure projects.
They lost many walls, but they built many more. When the Beastmen broke through one wall only to find another behind it, one can imagine the blow to their morale.
As the defensive line was pushed further back, the entire wall face gradually formed a U-shape. Robson had previously lamented that the wall was too narrow to station enough men. Now, not only was the top of the wall much wider, but the attack frontage had expanded as well. As for the previous walls...
...just before they were about to fall, they were usually destroyed by the Mages using an Explosive Technique.
The scene suddenly reminded Robson of his past life, of using gunpowder to blast through mountains. It further cemented his resolve to cultivate a corps of Earth and Wood Mages.
During this period, the green notifications on Lord Robson’s interface never ceased. The army’s level of experience was changing daily, and the percentage of third-tier soldiers was skyrocketing at a rate visible to the naked eye.
The 2nd and 3rd Regiments both soared to around eighty percent. While the 4th and 5th Regiments didn’t manage to surpass them, they also reached about sixty percent.
After the 1st Regiment’s casualties were replenished, its strength was maintained at around eight hundred men. Of those, Frankish Watchers and Frank Border Guards combined accounted for nearly four hundred!
The remaining three hundred were Frankish Elite Infantry and Frankish Elite Shooters. Robson did not bother replacing the few remaining Tier Four Soldiers among them.
If it were peacetime, Robson might have considered it, even if peace only lasted for a day or two.
’But the 1st Regiment needs to be ready for battle at a moment’s notice. If I make large-scale personnel changes to the lower ranks now, it will cause disharmony and poor coordination. That could be fatal!’
Besides, if he moved all his elite troops into the 1st Regiment, even if the 1st became incredibly elite, he would still only have *one* "1st Regiment." The current approach, however, could potentially create *countless* "1st Regiments."
’Transferring all the elite soldiers from the other regiments into the 1st seems like it would concentrate all my elite power, but in reality, the 1st is already elite enough to handle the vast majority of situations.’
’If all the elite troops are funneled into the 1st Regiment, the other regiments will easily lose their spirit.’
’If the greatest reward for a soldier is to get transferred to another unit, you can be sure his original unit will never develop its own esprit de corps.’
’A significant part of a unit’s conviction comes from being hyped up by others. Amidst constant praise, they come to believe in their own elite status, which in turn inspires pride and dedication.’
’Then, when a true crisis hits during a war, the entire unit will fight as one to protect that belief. They will complete their transformation and become truly elite soldiers.’
’This concept of an "esprit de corps" might sound rather metaphysical, but to completely ignore the role of willpower in a material world would be, ironically, quite un-materialistic.’
The 1st Regiment was already trending in this direction. Everyone called them elites, and gradually, they had truly fought and become elites. If Robson wanted to cultivate more elite units like the 1st, he couldn’t let it get so far ahead that the other regiments were left completely in its dust.
Of course, this distinction was only to be cultivated at the regimental level. Robson had no intention of letting lower-level units like battalions and companies develop the same kind of consciousness.
There was a fundamental difference. Robson could directly supervise at the regimental level and prevent any major disasters, but it was much harder to maintain that same level of oversight for the units below them.
A sense of competition can sometimes be counterproductive; units below the regimental level still needed to prioritize cooperation.
What Robson had to do now was build up the other regiments. He had considered many methods, but in the end, he decided that money was the most effective tool.
When battle honors were last calculated, Robson made a point of singling out the award-winning 2nd and 3rd Regiments for praise several times. He even gave their commanders some material rewards and made sure to publicize the event widely.
The effect was remarkable. The clamor among the soldiers to get into the 1st Regiment for the sake of Gold Coins died down considerably. They began to focus more on their own battle honors and martial prowess.
Of course, they still had a long way to go to catch up. After all, the 1st Regiment was now at a level where one could discuss its percentage of sixth-tier soldiers. Even a single regiment pulled from the King’s Royal Guard might not be able to defeat the 1st.