Pioneer Lord: Starting From Daily Intelligence

Chapter 418: Chapter 174: Divine Chosen Level Caster · Descending Like the Heavens, Departing Like Lightning

The greatest characteristic of war lies in its unpredictability; it never unfolds entirely according to anyone’s expectations.

Even the followers of the Sun Goddess, with their extremely advanced military theories and well-considered tactical deployments, did not anticipate the war would reach such intensity from the start.

Hundreds of towering River Giants roared as they launched a fierce assault on the elite human cavalry. The churned-up mud, awash with waves, was perfect for these River Giants’ movement. If the elite human cavalry couldn’t shake off their pursuit, this battle could almost determine the war’s outcome.

Losing the elite mobile cavalry would leave the remaining human and Green Dragon forces only to consume flesh and blood, an extremely unfavorable situation for humans.

Sometimes Su Li had to marvel at the advanced nature of Eastern military theories; surely, numerical superiority is the righteous path of warfare.

A massive army indeed has unparalleled advantages; he could lose many times but still maintain the power to threaten the enemy, and as long as he wins once, the weak enemy would be directly severely defeated and destroyed.

So Su Li’s gaze was fixed tightly on both sides’ actions on the battlefield, although unclear what Hilude was up to, the situation was turning favorable for the Hesse Territory.

Many may not necessarily defeat few, but the strong will inevitably defeat the weak.

The force of more than eleven hundred elite knights under Hilude’s command far exceeded these River Giants in absolute combat strength.

Especially as the battlefield was dragged backward, numerous foolish River Giants couldn’t manage to concentrate on a ten-mile pursuit.

In their pursuit, some dimwits stood idle, drooling where they were.

Even more were distracted by the battlefield littered with corpses, bending down to consume the fallen monsters that hadn’t yet died.

Hundreds of Ogres had become scattered after only pursuing less than five miles, and by the time they reached ten miles, they had formed a dispersed curve, incapable of forming an effective scale.

Of course, this didn’t mean the Knights could easily slay them; after all, they were members of the same War Gang. If they saw their brethren being attacked by human knights within sight, they would still swing their weapons and giant claws to launch an attack.

When Hilude led the knights to stop and ordered a counterattack, Rong’en still didn’t understand the meaning behind Hilude’s deployment.

”Your Excellency Chief Steward, aren’t we launching a raid to the rear now, entering the muddy terrain again?”

Rong’en frowned deeply, as entering churned-up ground with ironclad is a taboo of military tactics.

He still felt that the forces should scatter and capitalize on the Imperial Cavalry’s strengths. Imperial military theorists are well aware that whenever the cavalry corps encounters the enemy formation, they should engage using the Raven Formation, scattering unit by unit, never clustering to be encircled by the enemy.

In other words, infantry should remain organized, while cavalry should spread out. If the enemy divides, you divide; if the enemy converges, you converge. Thus, the cavalry’s advance is either distant or close, either numerous or sparse, either gathering or dispersing, either appearing or disappearing. They arrive like a heavenly downfall and retreat like a thunderous departure!

With so many champion-level warriors in the Hesse Cavalry Corps and so many excellent knight orders, they could completely toy with the River Giants at their mercy.

Most of the River Giants could only watch helplessly as the cavalry besieged isolated brothers, unable to swiftly close in for support.

The River Giants engaged in battle would have to face the ferocious assault of cavalry descending from all directions, their lances attacking their massive bodies from every angle.

At that point, even the strong River Giants would only be knocked flying by the unparalleled power of the cavalry’s charge.

However, Chief Steward Hilude was completely doing the opposite, like the followers of Yurik and Redema, doing nothing but leading heavy armored knights in a frontal assault.

Of course, Rong’en was not denying the effectiveness of such a tactic. Sometimes heavy cavalry advancing like a bulldozer indeed could display unparalleled combat power, especially led by a large number of Redema followers, awakening the soldiers’ inner resolve and loyalty, smashing through and defeating the enemy, even turning the tide through a fearless charge, under the protection of the Divine Spirit, giving this attack a legendary aura.

But the current situation hadn’t reached an absolute necessity for such an attack. The knights hadn’t fought bloodily, their loyalty and honor weren’t blessed substantially by the Divine Spirit.

At this moment, the charge relied entirely on the individual strength and martial arts of the knights, seemingly offering the River Giants an opportunity for victory.

Thus, Rong’en and some lower officers were considering whether to refuse such an absurd order.

Sun Goddess Violet laid out several tenets for her followers: always maintain your dignity and honor;

respect prisoners of war;

do not have mercy on humanity’s enemies;

follow your superior’s orders; unless necessary, do not disobey orders.

But Hilude firmly ordered, ”Everyone execute the command! I am the High-level Attendant Chief, I will take responsibility for the outcome of this battle!”

With that, Hilude led by example, launching the charge with the Sun of Vengeance Half-Lion Griffin Knight Order, the razor-sharp sword light directly cleaving a massive River Giant over three meters tall.

Seeing this, the other knights could only suppress their inner doubts and follow Hilude in a continuous charge.

To obey a ”glorious” order is a soldier’s duty, only if the order itself is ”glorious.” In this context, ”glorious” refers to compliance with other honorable war principles, such as minimizing casualties of our soldiers and ensuring the maximum efficiency in slaughtering the enemy. When a soldier believes there may be a better plan, he is entitled to voice out and even defy orders.