Chapter 1452: Divide and Conquer

Chapter 1452 -1361: Divide and Conquer

The night was like day, with seven or eight sun bombs taking turns rising into the sky, resembling a nocturnal sun.

Beneath the alternating sun bombs, fire tornadoes mixed with lightning and poison gases spread across the swamp.

Dust, smoke, and pungent Holy Water gas (particularly effective against vampires) filled the battlefield, igniting reed, tree branches, and houses…

The river surface reflected the blazing fire, as if it too was ignited.

And amidst the thick smoke shrouded in flames, the Flesh Titans continued to stride forward.

With nearly every step they took, their armor emitted a muffled clang.

Simultaneously, with each step, they had to pull their massive iron feet out of the damp mud.

The land of the White Bone Swamp was incredibly muddy; ordinary soldiers were fine, but the weight of the Flesh Titans made them leave footprints with every step.

In some areas, with cross-crossing ditches and pools, only small boats or wooden bridges connected the grounds.

Thus, it often happened that a Flesh Titans’ foot would break a wooden bridge or even fall into the swamp along with the entire bridge.

But soon, this wasteful behavior was discovered and stopped by Grigori.

Under the officers’ commands, Royal Court soldiers first acted as vanguards, only calling in Flesh Titans when a difficult obstacle needed to be overcome.

Despite this, one could still see the riverfront defense line constantly retreating from the position where the sun bomb rose.

“Cough cough cough—”

“It’s Flesh Titans, the Royal Court has sent in Flesh Titans!”

“Don’t shout, I know.” Lannes stood on a village tower, observing the battlefield situation with a telescope.

The Flesh Titans, like evil spirits in the smoke, cast silhouettes in the dark and light.

Although Lannes’ view could not cover the entire battlefield, his rangers and the fluent signaling (fluorite lamp + semaphore) could still convey battlefield information.

Through messages that sometimes confirmed or contradicted each other, Lannes had essentially pieced together the situation on the battlefield.

Although encountering setbacks in the White Bone Swamp area, the Royal Court displayed rare efficiency and determination, directly deploying Flesh Titans.

Flesh Titans were almost one less with each use, comparable to Prince Kongdai’s basic version.

Now, they had become the main force in breaking through, with Dass’s key points rapidly being removed.

It couldn’t even be described as rapid, but rather instantaneous!

Hardly any village stronghold could withstand a collective charge by dozens of Flesh Titans, and Lannes was sure they had deployed at least a hundred or more.

If it weren’t for the terrain restricting the Titans’ attack speed, the riverbank defense line might have already been flattened.

This ferocious offensive had also shocked and stunned several Holy Alliance officers.

Throwing the telescope to his deputy, Lannes, as Battle Commander, quickly descended the tower, where Senior Pastor Little Pierre was already waiting.

Lannes directly asked, “How’s the Seventh Corps doing?”

“Enemies are everywhere; our exploratory attack stirred up a large group of enemies and failed.” Little Pierre lowered his head bitterly.

“These enemies are more troublesome than expected.” Lannes scratched his head, shedding dandruff on one shoulder.

“After all, it’s the Royal Palace army and Flesh Titans.” Little Pierre brushed off the dandruff on Lannes’s shoulder. “We’re still winning too much, and have become complacent.”

Due to the battlefield smoke, the vampires who initially gained an intelligence advantage through night vision were also blinded.

But the Royal Palace army, with Konyaz’s intervention and cooperation from lower-ranking officers, began encircling the riverfront defenders like hunting prey.

Under normal circumstances, Lannes’ five-thousand-man battle group should have retreated to the central island of Mud Ditch River to continue holding their ground.

But under the pressure of Flesh Titans and the Royal Palace army’s maneuvering, Lannes’ Second Battle Group at Hot Spring Castle ended up surrounded.

All roads through which large forces could pass were intercepted, and even dirt paths that could allow a hundred men were firmly guarded.

Just now, the Seventh Corps attempted to open a path for the battle group to escape, but still failed.

If the central island lost this entire battle group… Little Pierre shuddered at the thought of the consequences.

Dass’s design for the southern line battle was already extremely critical, leaving no room for error.

If Lannes and his five thousand men were trapped here, it might require mobilizing ten thousand reserves from the Western Battle Army.

After that, the Holy Grail Heights campaign would likely be far more perilous than expected.

“We’re afraid we’ll need a breakout,” Lannes expressed what Little Pierre was thinking.

“How do you intend to break out?”

“Scatter.”

“What did you say?”

“Scatter, I said scatter.” Lannes, as Battle Commander, calmly stated, “Break the group into smaller units of fifty or thirty, and disperse through the forest swamp.”

“Are you crazy?” Little Pierre shouted after a few seconds of silence, “What about organization? That’s just a voluntary disorder!”

Lannes completely ignored him and continued to command, “On the breakout path, fight individually. When encountering an officer of higher rank or position, let them lead, automatically forming temporary combat units and continually moving towards allied forces!”

“No, I disagree,” Little Pierre yelled angrily.

“The enemy has only guarded the main paths, like small paths between trees, there’s no way they can guard them.”

“There’s no precedent to prove this is viable…”

“Smaller units of thirty or fifty can easily infiltrate through the forest. Although our soldiers may suffer some losses during the process, it’s better than losing them all here!”

Lannes stared into his eyes, his anger indescribable, “This is the only way, think for yourself, is there any other solutions?”

“Soldiers will definitely scatter!”

“Don’t guide by traditional military thinking now. Do you think our soldiers are the same type of soldiers as the Imperial ones?”

At this point, Little Pierre suddenly paused in thought.

Upon careful consideration, it was not entirely unfeasible.

The main reason Little Pierre and others felt it was not feasible was they thought—

Once scattered, advancing as skirmishers, there was insufficient force to suppress the enemy, and soldiers returning to the regiment might not follow high-ranking officers’ commands freely.

However, Holy Alliance soldiers were evidently different, with the prevalence of the First Army mindset leading to a clear surplus of officer resources.

Even after expansion, each fifty-man team captain had an average of one infantry science degree from military school.

Some ten-man team captains were even fresh military graduates, capable of reading maps and orienting in the field (passing the field orientation exam was necessary for obtaining a military school degree certificate).

As for common soldiers, they were regularly required to be literate and trained.

The Senior Pastor even hired specialized teachers for teaching reading, writing, calculation, with literacy rates having established targets.

If ordinary students didn’t meet targets, it meant corporal punishment; soldiers failing targets would be promoted by Captain Ten.

As for the connection between soldiers and high-ranking officers, if it involved a swap between two different Battle Commanders, smooth coordination could be challenging.

If it was within the group between Corps Commanders, it would be very simple.

Within the group, exchanges between Corps Commanders occurred regularly, with good corps commanders often sent to manage poor ones.

As for soldiers deserting, first ignoring the morale of Holy Alliance soldiers in this battle, the definition of deserting is disconnecting from the organization.

If they could rejoin the regiment during the battle, it wouldn’t count as deserting; even rejoining after the battle would only result in disciplinary action.

Only those completely detached from the organization were considered deserters, and in this White Bone Swamp, where could they possibly escape to?

Seeing Little Pierre lower his head, knowing his argument had touched him deeply, Lannes refrained from saying more and simply asked, “Do you agree?”

“…I agree not to be involved, but the lower-level officers must be able to execute and dare to execute!”

“With the rationale explained, the officers will agree!” Lannes held Little Pierre’s hand, “This will depend on our efforts.”