Elden: Ring of Calamity

Chapter 324 War
What would a battlefield look like with more than 200,000 people fighting on both sides? Lucia Shanks had thought about this question countless times.

Will it be like what we saw in the dramas of the previous life, with the commander making plans and winning the battle thousands of miles away, the two armies in front of the battlefield in good order, all kinds of clever tricks being used one after another, and finally the winner being decided through a series of routines and counter-routines?
Or is it like in the book, where the army deployed their troops and generals faced each other, each following the tacit understanding that the strong would not attack ants, and fought until the balance of victory was completely tilted?

neither.

In other words, at least in this world that he saw, chaos and tragedy were the real themes of war.

No general could achieve precise control over a large army of more than 100,000 men. Priest Karen immediately occupied the high ground and built a general platform, commanding the three armies with the flag signals exclusive to the Ancient Dragon Dynasty. At the same time, his elite messengers numbering up to a thousand cooperated with the Storm Eagles to shuttle back and forth in the array, constantly transmitting back the latest military intelligence from the front and sending out the latest military orders - this was already the means for the commander of this era to control the battle situation to the maximum extent.

However, the time it takes to transmit military intelligence and orders has limited their timeliness and reliability from the very beginning, especially on a rapidly changing battlefield where no one can predict what will happen in the next second. Therefore, it is even more impossible to make any "anticipate the enemy's moves" or "strategize ahead of time" judgments and instructions at the specific tactical level.

Priest Karen could only issue orders to legion units ranging from thousands to tens of thousands of people, deciding at a macro level who would attack, who would defend, who would outflank, and who would be kept in reserve. Similarly, the dozen or so legion commanders below had to receive military intelligence from the thousand-man brigade at any time, and follow the commander's orders to subdivide the tasks of each team under his command.

The actual changes in tactical details are almost entirely based on the on-the-spot judgment of the squadron or even squad commanders. In the chaotic fighting with bloody swords and shouting and horse neighing, human voices cannot be heard more than a hundred steps away. Bugles and flag signals have a wider range of influence, but can only convey the simplest commands. Only middle and low-level officers at the level of hundreds of people can react to changes in the situation at the first moment, and at the same time command the group of soldiers they are most familiar with to make the most correct response.

This is why low- and middle-level officers are the core of an army. The commander can be replaced when necessary, but the role of these grassroots commanders is irreplaceable. Even if they are unfortunately killed on the battlefield, they are almost always replaced by the most prestigious and capable deputy or veteran from the team.

The most essential feature of a mature, powerful and loyal elite force is that orders are enforced from top to bottom, military intelligence and orders are unimpeded, commanders at all levels maintain a strong centripetal force towards their main general and even their lord, and at the same time have extremely high tactical qualities.

In addition, a series of factors such as equipment and logistics are important, but they are only auxiliary. Such troops on the battlefield will always be more sensitive, more accurate, and more deadly than the enemy, just like the nearly 120,000 elite troops of the dynasty in front of them.

Lucia stood on a high hill, observing the entire battlefield with the unparalleled eyesight and mental perception of a demigod.

Just one hour after he gave the order to assemble the troops for battle, the Ancient Dragon Dynasty army, which had been camping in scattered areas, all reacted and began to gather around the central camp. At the same time, they completed the deployment of cavalry, infantry, archers and flying dragon troops during the march.

The orc heavy armored infantry, who were already closest to the central camp, did not hesitate to launch a forced march and reached the front line before the star beast tide formed a scale. Two 8,000-man heavy armored infantry legions relied on giant shields and spears to build an indestructible iron wall defense line.

The mixed army composed of hybrid archers, subhuman crossbowmen and human light infantry occupied the large open space between the main camp and the front line, and most of them relied on hills to form formations, which was convenient for observation and had the longest striking distance.

On both wings of the battlefield, 5,000 Storm Knights led 10,000 hybrid warriors to the two highest plateaus in advance. The reason why Priest Karen chose to build the camp here was because of the surrounding terrain. In the early years, the Chilem River and the Falos River converged here, and the intertwined river network cut out several flat-topped and steep-surrounded wastelands. The cavalry corps only had two gentle slopes to pass on the side, rear and front, and the rest of the directions were steep cliffs like knife-cut cliffs. Naturally, they could easily deal with the threats on the left and right wings, and at critical moments, they could also use the terrain to rush into the battlefield from a high position and make the final decision.

In the main camp, among the five thousand flying dragon warriors, three thousand were led by ten elders and scattered throughout the army as a mobile force to deal with the enemy's heroic units. The remaining two thousand and five elders guarded the center and were also the final reserve.

As for the defensive battle that was prepared in advance, Lucia was sure that Priest Karen had made all the necessary arrangements, but when the war really started, he found that he had underestimated the cruelty of the war and misjudged the importance of life.

The first falling meteorite was like a black beehive. After it smashed into the ground, countless mad bees and insects immediately swarmed out. They were countless scaly and armored star creatures - among them were humanoid bodies resembling the Black King and the White King, all kinds of strange beasts with shapes between insects and beasts, and even more were weird creatures whose morphological characteristics could not be distinguished at all.

Then came the second and third, followed by a whole dense and spectacular meteor shower. Tens of thousands of star species came back to their senses from the dizziness of the impact and gathered like a swarm of locusts. A few of them scattered in all directions, while more let out sharp howls and rushed towards the defense line of the Ancient Dragon Dynasty like a tide.

A series of low buzzing sounds were heard, and hundreds of golden arcs tore through the sky, shooting towards the dark beast tide with terrifying whistling sounds. The overwhelming explosions mixed with the diffuse smoke and dust covered the entire battlefield.

They were explosive crossbow arrows with arrowheads made of high-potash gunpowder mixed with metal fragments. Deep pits as deep as a meter were blasted out where the arrows landed. The beasts within a ten-step radius were melted by the high temperature in the first instant, and then the red-hot metal fragments shot out with the shock wave, cutting out a storm of blood and flesh in the beast tide!

At the starting point of the arc, a human officer of Fam Azra put down his telescope and cursed with a smile: "It turns out that the blood of these beasts is not all red. The splashing of the juice makes people think it is a seafood barbecue party."

"Everyone listen up—" He raised his voice and ordered the dozens of giant crossbow shooting teams lurking behind him like tigers, "Load, string—three, two, one, fire!"

Another rain of arrows exuding the breath of death was shot out. The difference from the previous wave was that this time, dozens of powerful individuals that were far larger than their companions rushed out of the beast tide, leaped into the sky and blocked nearly half of the crossbow arrows.

After the dense explosions, most of the giant beasts that were blocking the arrows were blown into pieces of flesh and blood in mid-air and fell to the ground. As a result, the tide of beasts below rushed out hundreds of meters again. The fastest small beast in front of the line could already see the shield wall in the distance.

They all howled with excitement, like wild beasts meeting their prey, or like long-lost enemies reuniting on the battlefield.

(End of this chapter)