Looking at the entire world of Rigal, I can probably count the number of armies that can compete head-on with the elite heavy infantry of the Otolo Empire in a head-on conflict with the same legion size without falling behind.
When it comes to individual individuals, they are actually not too outstanding. If fighting alone, an Otolo elite heavy infantry is not even as good as an intermediate mercenary who knows more tricks and has more experience in small-scale combat. Their advantages mainly lie in standard weapons and equipment as well as strict discipline and cooperation - two Otolo heavy infantry may not be able to defeat two blue or orange mercenaries, and ten may still be the same, but when this number exceeds When they reach fifty, they will become evenly matched, and when the number of both sides reaches one hundred versus one hundred, the mercenaries who are good at flexible fighting in small groups will in turn be constrained by their own numbers and become more comfortable. They were in disarray and suffered a complete defeat in the face of a well-trained and well-coordinated professional army.
There are specialties in the arts, and the professional army has extremely high requirements for the selection of soldiers. Mercenaries are only loyal to money, while soldiers must be carefully selected from birth, and then use large-scale collective education to ensure that they can sharpen their edges and be courageous in dedication. The population and influence scope required by this is an extremely difficult task. The prerequisites, coupled with the venues, equipment, and logistical supplies required for training, make even the imagination of a less wealthy country a luxury.
And this series of things are just daily expenses. The so-called raising troops for a thousand days and using them for a short period of time, the materials and money that a professional army consumes are really not something ordinary people can afford.
This is also one of the main reasons why the kingdoms on the west coast use a fighting method that mainly relies on noble cavalry and military forces, supplemented by a small number of civilian defense troops, and only recruits a large number of militia during large-scale battles.
Unlike highly centralized empires, the kings of these kingdoms, including Avenella, did not have enough influence or funds to form standing armies. This is also the reason why lower-level mercenaries who prefer to do chores and take care of war are so popular here. A more stable and prosperous empire with its own standing garrison will of course have no job opportunities for war mercenaries, even if it is structured as a city-state. The southern border also does not have its own standing army, and we also know that the locals there are more willing to become hunting mercenaries.
"Mercenaries are like sharks that smell blood. Wherever there is war and wherever there is enough chaos, they are there." - Such a slightly ironic summary shows the nature of these guys, who pursue profit without discipline. Okay, it's no wonder that even 30,000 to 40,000 mercenaries can't compete head-on with only 10,000 well-trained professional infantry.
Individual power is weak in war, and those things that can change the situation by oneself are coveted by people precisely because they are rare. But no matter what, after experiencing a 150,000-strong army being beaten to a bloody pulp by the Confederate cavalry and the Otolo people, anyone with a little bit of brains will understand that they cannot continue like this. .
In a head-on confrontation, all armies were deployed on a vast terrain for a confrontation between the two armies. Facing the meticulous and cold-blooded Otolo heavy infantry with almost all-round combat capabilities, the militiamen of the Northern Army could not have any chance from the beginning. odds of winning. Coupled with the militia that the Southern Army also had and the cavalry that was stronger than here before Charles and the others separated, if they continued to follow the previous path, they would only die.
It is true that the northern coalition under Edward was an unprecedented army in Avenella. The grassroots officers assigned to various units and the generals who had been enemies with Otolo and had experience in commanding the strategic scale of the legion maintained order and kept them in line with the southern army. The disorganized militia has a world of difference. With professional logistics supply personnel and various deployments and arrangements during the march, the entire team moved forward more neatly and orderly than a thousand ordinary mercenaries. However, regardless of the personal emotions of these members of the Northern Army, How proud of all this, the fact is that they compare to the Otolo people.
Still, just.
A complete amateur.
"Pa!" Edward slapped the conference table made of a huge piece of wood. His anxiety could not be more obvious through this move, and the reason was obviously related to the difficulty of delaying until now in the chaos and evacuation. The completed military statistics showed that the number of casualties exceeded 60,000. In addition to about 50,000 casualties, there were more than 10,000 people who got lost while escaping into the dense forest. The supplies, spare equipment, livestock and other baggage were even more serious. More than 80% of all kinds of things had to be left behind in the chaotic evacuation. The first half of the vast flat ground was covered with dead bodies, and the second half was pulled out. The long distance was filled with all kinds of scattered oxen, horses and wooden carts.
The militiamen who had marched with the army since the plains of Ecasta and experienced two consecutive victories were now able to maintain a certain order. However, the logistics support personnel and new militiamen recruited by Dordogne were completely shaken. They got up - they had not heard of Prince Edward's exciting March Declaration, nor had they experienced the training during the march and the exhilaration of fighting side by side and finally winning. Many people just took advantage of the situation and shouted as soon as they got hot-headed. After joining in, I encountered a cruel death and a one-sided defeat. It was like a bucket of cold water was poured on my head, and I immediately wanted to retreat.
Among the 10,000 people whose whereabouts were unknown, in addition to those who were lost, a considerable number probably chose to flee back to the Dordogne during the large-scale retreat.
This cannot be blamed on them. After all, in the final analysis, they are not particularly loyal to Edward - the people are real, and slogans and temporary enthusiasm cannot continue to boost morale, and there is no way to give them a real victory in return. , the result will be like this.
The hard-earned supplies may now fall into the hands of the Southern Army and the Otolo people. Due to the rush of retreat, they did not even have time to burn them to avoid being used by the enemy. The captured materials and the experience of the Otolo people must have been able to increase the combat effectiveness of the militiamen recruited by the Southern Allied Forces. On the contrary, only the remaining 90,000 people of the lightly-armed Northern Army were left. It took several days to direct these numbers so that no one fell behind and escaped the pursuit of the Otolo people, and then to solve the problem of housing.
It is basically impossible for an army of this size to completely disappear. The traces left by a hundred people walking through the same area will take at least a week to disappear. However, under the leadership of the experienced Otolo people, the Southern Allied Forces Will not pursue rashly. The vastness of the Nella Forest Corridor can only cover a small area if a hundred thousand troops are invested. Once deep into the dense forest, more variables exist and the advantage they created by defeating the Northern Army will become less obvious.
If Ashbern II was led by himself, the Southern Allied Forces would not have such calmness and calmness. The Otolo people's experience in large-scale wars far exceeds that of the Avenella people, so they will never act rashly before they are fully prepared. This mentality is exactly the same as the national affairs of the Otolo Empire - if something can be done in person Intervening to ensure that it develops as expected, then regardless of whether it is regarded as the internal affairs of other countries, they will intervene to do so - this kind of big power mentality will more or less cause dissatisfaction among the local nobles of Avenella, and this This is why it took so long for Ashberon II to convince the southern nobles to form a coalition.
The news that Edward and his companions had successively captured Dorwolfburg and Dordogne promoted all this to some extent. After all, these two places were territorial provinces with a large population, among which were loyal to Ashberon II. There could not be no people, so the news was naturally conveyed quickly. In the face of the actual threat, these lords and nobles in the south gave up their dissatisfaction and went to work to protect their own interests. They gathered in groups and dispatched the coalition forces.
——We can hardly count how many times something like this has happened. Whenever a country undergoes some changes that will affect the entire country, those who are most resistant are often those who enjoy the prosperity and wealth of a stable life. Vested interests. After all, people are selfish. When the country is stable and nothing happens, they can maintain their current status and life. But once changes occur, everything will be difficult to say.
The nobles of the south watched the plains of Ecasta become prosperous under Edward's rule, but they still closed the border conservatively after a year. It was for this reason. Of course they know that if the border is opened to allow merchants and mercenaries to flow in, their living standards will rise as the territory becomes more prosperous, but by giving status to despicable merchants and farmers, who can guarantee that they will not come back to bite them one day? With one mouthful, he can still live a prosperous life as he is now, and suppress them as a noble. If anyone disobeys, they will directly become slaves. The dullness and peaceful paralysis brought about by this sense of stable life and control are the biggest difference between the southern nobles and the northern nobles who have experienced the flames of war - and it is this mentality that determines that the Northern Army still has a chance to turn defeat into victory.
They lost their heavy baggage supplies and were unable to maintain the excellent ability to fight independently like a regular army, but this may not be entirely a bad thing, because at this moment they are definitely not on par with the Otolo people in terms of professionalism. Shoulders, if they form a frontal army to fight, a hundred thousand troops will only be defeated if they press forward - even if they can cause casualties to the Otolo people, the enemy they face is not just this heavy infantry of ten thousand people. The result of betting all the weight in a battle is that everything will be lost.
The supplies and equipment that come with them may provide excellent continuous combat effectiveness, but in order to protect them, the entire army will inevitably become bloated and difficult to move. It is composed of a lot of amateurs without professional training. They conduct coordinated operations, and as the number of people increases, the difficulty of overall deployment also increases exponentially.
This cannot be blamed on our Mr. Sage or Prince Edward and Archduke Leschi. In fact, the three of them are not short-sighted but see further - Avenella needs an army that is strong enough and professional enough. , and they were cultivated in a short enough time, and the best way to cultivate a professional army is naturally actual combat, so that these people can quickly grow up in successive battles and become the backbone elite of the future regular army of Avenella. The veterans were something they had planned for a long time, and if the enemy they encountered this time was not the top-notch Otolo elite regiment that even had their equipment smuggled over, I'm afraid they wouldn't be in such a situation.
No matter what, something happened that no one wanted to see happen, and as a few people in the leadership, it is impossible for them to act like incompetent losers and just lose their temper at everyone and then be unable to provide any solution. method. Edward's irritability only lasted for a while, and it was mainly caused by the pain of personal injury-they had to solve this problem. If they could not overcome it, then all the previous rhetoric and vision would be nothing more than no one believed it. Empty talk.
Like a bucket of cold water poured down, this failure was a wake-up call for them. The army with unlimited recruitment and expansion is too bloated. Although abundant material supplies can provide high morale and combat effectiveness, it will also make the army vulnerable to professional enemy forces. Ambush - this is what the opponent is good at, but the Otoro people are just outsiders after all. Just like the Sivalier people don't understand the wind of Ecasta, the Otoro people also know nothing about the Nella Forest. Know.
The farmers of Avenella are simple and strong. They endure hardships and stand hard work. While the lords huddle in their own stone castles and enjoy the service of servants, they run through such forests every day to obtain prey and pick wild fruits and vegetables. and fungi to satisfy their hunger. They are familiar with the stones, flowers, trees and trees here. They are familiar with the terrain and the air here. They grew up here.
They can walk through the jungle at night without even needing torches, relying only on weak starlight and moonlight. This is the nature of the mountain people. This is a trait that the Otolo and the nobles in the south will never learn in their lifetime.
Abandoning the materials, various shields and equipment of legion war, and the battle line command, they scattered into the forest, like leaves, light and imperceptible.
——Henry dispersed the entire Northern army.
He broke them into pieces and divided them into countless groups, walking through the jungles familiar to these Avenella people.
They ate wild fruits, hunted wild animals, and imitated bird calls to communicate messages to each other over a wide range. They scattered into the entire Nella Forest and surrounding territorial systems.
They recognize the territory that gave birth to and raised them, but more importantly than this, they speak a common language with the local farmers in the south.
——Perhaps it was a wrong decision to carry a large amount of supplies from the beginning. Everyone's vision, including our Mr. Sage, is limited to obtaining enough supplies to support the entire army directly from the rich and large territories at one time, while ignoring the small villages and towns that are widely distributed throughout Avenella. .
There are no annoying southern nobles, but villages composed of equally simple farmers.
This is our country.
This is our Avenella.
This is our home ground.
The counterattack began.
