According to the information package sent back by Locust Jackal, the protagonist noticed that the tactics of the Northern Expeditionary Army had undergone great changes, or progress.
In the past, there was no difference between the tactics of the Big-headed Ant Kingdom Army and the Pavement Ant Barbarian Army. Squads and squads, legions and legions, formed straight and deep fronts to attack each other. The side with more ants can gain external advantages by extending the length of the front line, and the thickness determines the defensive power and long-lasting combat capability of the entire front line.
The formation of some legions will have the personality characteristics of the legion commander, but it will only make a fuss about the length or thickness of the battle line. Brave commanders prefer longer and thinner formations, hoping to establish an advantage as quickly as possible; cautious commanders will increase the thickness of the battle line to ensure that the legion is not prone to collapse.
Over thousands of years, the style of warfare seems to have remained unchanged.
Until the protagonist came to this era, in the first year of the Reconquest War, the protagonist was keenly aware of the rigidity and disadvantages of the ants' two-dimensional tactics, and gradually perfected the three-dimensional signature of the Angel King's Legion in actual combat. "Razor tactics".
Some other smart and sensitive kings were quickly inspired, such as the Public Security King and the Western King, who were on good terms with the protagonist at the time, and they adjusted the tactics of their own legions.
However, since these kings themselves did not understand the concept of three-dimensional space very well, the only result of their blind imitation was to learn to use the soldier ants in the legion together.
Although these kings cannot turn all their troops into soldier ants like the protagonist, the small adjustment of using the soldier ants together has brought great tactical advantages. This is a disguised diagonal tactic, which uses local advantages to achieve overall advantages.
Diagonal tactics, also known as diagonal formations and trapezoidal formations, are where generals fight in diagonal formations. There are right diagonal formations before leaning from left to right and left diagonal formations before leaning from right to left. Its essence is uneven distribution of forces and concentration of superior forces.
In the Battle of Leuctra commanded by Epaminondas, the famous general of Thebes in ancient Greece, the enemy Spartan troops had stronger combat effectiveness than the Theban army, were more numerous, and were able to form thicker formations.
In view of the characteristics of the heavy infantry phalanx in the Greek world at that time, which generally distributed troops evenly along the front line, Epaminondas gave up trying to arrange a formation of the same length as Sparta, but concentrated his troops on one wing, and instead increased the number of columns on the left wing. The traditional eight to twelve columns were changed to fifty columns in an effort to achieve a breakthrough.
But where there is strength, there is also weakness. If the side you strengthened wins and the side you weaken is broken through by the opponent, it is still meaningless. Therefore, in order to protect its weakened wing, it retracted it back and delayed the battle, trying to delay its contact with the enemy. Its strengthened left wing rushed towards the Spartan army at double speed, hoping to strengthen the wing. A decisive breakthrough can be achieved.
In this battle, he used diagonal tactics to defeat the Spartan elite troops, who were said to have "never been defeated in equal numbers", breaking the myth of the Spartans' invincibility and removing the Spartans from their position as the overlord of Greece. Rushed down.
Later, starting from King Gustav II of Sweden, European armies adopted horizontal formations (i.e. line tactics) in order to fully utilize their firepower. Although their power was greatly improved, they also had the disadvantage of using their forces dispersedly. In order to develop firepower, a horizontal formation is necessary, but how to maximize the concentration of power while maintaining a horizontal formation? So Frederick the Great of Prussia "re-invented" Epaminondas' diagonal formation, applied it to the battlefield, and achieved brilliant results in the Battle of Saul and the Battle of Rosbach, giving this formation its name. It spread all over the world, and other countries imitated it one after another.
The diagonal formation has been one of the basic formations of the Army until the 21st century. It is especially used in armored units, fighter aircraft, etc., which shows its excellence.
The variation of the diagonal array of the soldier ant concentration tactic imitated by the Public Security King and the others did not become popular in the Big-headed Ant Kingdom at first. Until the Northern Expeditionary Army was established and the entire Big-headed Ant Kingdom's elite troops were mobilized, no more than five legions had mastered this tactic.
During the entire Northern Expedition, the Big-Headed Ant Kingdom and the Pavement Ant Barbarian Kingdom were still engaged in a traditional duel. A mere five legions mastering new tactics were not enough to change the pattern of war.
But this time, in the information package, although due to the lack of troops of the Pavement Ant barbarian army and their inability to move out, decisive battles on the ground were rarely seen. But judging from the formation of the Northern Expedition Army when they assembled, their tactics have made great progress.
Most of the legions have already organized their soldier ants individually and placed them on one side of the front line of the entire legion to form an assault force. This is a typical feature of the soldier ant concentration tactics mastered by the police king and others.
Not only has this tactic become popular, but the protagonist also noticed that the proportion of soldier ants in individual legions has increased significantly. Although it has not reached the proportion of pure soldier ants like the Angel King's legion, it is still much higher than the traditional soldier ants only. The ratio is one-tenth, with the highest reaching one-third.
The protagonist feels that the Northern Expeditionary Army is trying to use the powerful God Envoy King's army as a template, and the easiest way to get it is to increase the proportion of soldier ants.
He didn't quite understand why the Northern Expeditionary Army began to rapidly innovate in just one winter and half of spring, completing changes in tactics and organization that had not been seen in the Big-headed Ant Kingdom's army for thousands of years.
But obviously, the combat effectiveness of the Divine Envoy King's Legion is superior, and traitors like Darong can pass on the organization, tactics and other information of the Divine Envoy King's Legion. It is not difficult for the Northern Expeditionary Army to imitate.
But the protagonist does not think that the Northern Expeditionary Army can learn the "razor tactics" that are the core of the Divine Envoy King's Army.
The core of mastering "razor tactics" is that the legion commander has three-dimensional thinking and can understand three-dimensional space, so that he can command the troops to make appropriate tactical actions.
Most male ants can only understand this concept before and after the nuptial flight, and gradually forget it as the nuptial flight ends and they lose their wings. Just like many students can no longer solve algebraic geometry problems within a few years after the college entrance examination.
Therefore, the commanders under the protagonist, from the first Guan to the later Mantis Tiger, are all relatively young. They took charge of the army not long after the wedding flight. They have to practice and consolidate this concept continuously so that they will not lose their ability to perceive three-dimensional space. , to be able to use this tactic correctly.
However, the commanders of the big-headed ant kingdom are generally based on seniority, and the commanders of the legions are often older male ants, who have long since degenerated into completely two-dimensional creatures. Such a commander, even if he has a complete set of tactical information packages for the Divine Envoy King's Legion, is unlikely to lead his troops to use "razor tactics."
Since the Northern Expeditionary Army is not a threat to itself, the protagonist doesn't care. They have popularized the tactic of concentrated use of soldier ants.
