Vientiane Throne of Civilization

Chapter 1995 Harpy
The soldiers of Great Zhou, including Zhou Xu and Hilke, were full of confidence in this operation. From beginning to end, they never thought they would fail.

Following this line of thought, the relevant staff had already moved from the new district to the Elf Port to be on standby at the same time as they set off.

Upon receiving the order, he didn't hesitate at all and quickly boarded an airship to arrive at Dark Spirit Island.

Meanwhile, Zhou Xu, who was already on the island, was not idle either. With Ereda's cooperation, some related work was carried out smoothly.

During this time, Zhou Xu also learned about the origins of the harpies from Eredar.

"This island used to be a stronghold of harpies. After I took control of the island, they had nowhere to go and were no match for me, so they had no choice but to submit and serve me."

Harpies' physical abilities are only slightly below average. Once they leave Dark Spirit Island, given their limited physical capabilities, they have nowhere to go.

Given the situation at the time, submitting to the Eredar was the safest option.

Now that the Eredar have submitted to the Great Zhou, the harpies, as Eredar's subordinates, will naturally also submit to the Great Zhou.

There's no need for any complicated procedures. Just let the harpy leader in, have her bow briefly, and swear allegiance, and that's it.

During this time, Zhou Xu, as usual, used the Eye of Insight to make a simple confirmation of its attributes.

Compared to Eredar, the harpy leader's strength was quite ordinary, only a three-star valiant peak Hundred Refinement Realm cultivator.

However, as mentioned earlier, the harpy army does not rely on individual combat strength, but rather on sheer numbers to win.

With the addition of the harpies, the number of air units on the magical side of the Great Zhou has reached four: Pegasus Knights, Wyvern Riders, Giant Eagle Knights, and Harpies.

The Pegasus Knights have a completely different role from the other three air units that focus on agility, so there is no need to compare them.

Given this premise, as light cavalry units that also excel in 'flexibility', the roles of the remaining three overlap somewhat, but not completely.

Further subdivision reveals that the remaining three air forces each have their own unique characteristics.

The Pterosaur Riders are more agile in the air and have a greater advantage in aerial dogfights, while the Eagle Riders are swift and the fastest of the four aerial units.

The newly added harpies are more of a support or tactical unit than a combat unit.

Harpies are not particularly strong in combat, but considering their howling attacks and night vision, they can be very effective in tactical or support roles.

It's worth mentioning here that, with the production of dwarven gyroplanes, given the mass production rate of the technology-side air forces, their scale will soon surpass that of the magic-side.

After all, the production efficiency of military units is itself a major advantage of the technology sector.

However, it can be stated very clearly that, as things stand, the air forces on the technology side cannot replace the air forces on the fantasy side, and it is highly unlikely that they will be able to do so in the future.

Using dwarven gyroplanes for high-altitude bombing, combined with steam cannons or flamethrowers to wipe out enemy troops, is indeed highly efficient. From this perspective, its value is far superior to that of the air forces on the fantasy side.

But what if air forces were to clash with each other?
Compared to any of the magical flanking forces that the Great Zhou already had, the dwarven gyroplanes could only be described as clumsy and sluggish.

The advantage of the dwarf gyroplanes lies in air-to-ground combat, but it's impossible for all of their opponents to be without air power.

In an air-to-air situation, the dwarven gyroplanes could put up a fight against other technologically advanced air forces, but against magical forces, they would most likely be wiped out.

At the same time, air units like these, which are based on magic, have a major advantage over those based on technology: they are cheaper!
That's right, it's about saving money!
Building a dwarf gyroplane requires research and development, building factories and production lines, and paying workers' wages; the production costs alone are already very high.

The training and development of pilots also incurs significant expenses. Once deployed to the battlefield, the consumption of ammunition and fuel becomes the major expense.

It's no exaggeration to say that the air force on the technology side was built by throwing money at it.

But the fantasy side is different. In the fantasy side, the air force can be managed in different ways depending on whether you have a lot of money or a little money.

Take the harpies for example. If you're on a tight budget, all you need to do is provide food, and maybe add some daily training.

If we're going to do this, besides increasing their training facilities, we'll also provide them with better equipment. At this stage, given the conditions of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the best we can do is equip everyone with excellent-level enchanted equipment.

Even so, there is no need to burn money on the technology side of air forces.

Therefore, saving money is an advantage of magical air units, and even most magical units.

Their disadvantage is also obvious: unlike the technology sector, they cannot mass-produce related equipment on an assembly line.

Harpies, giant eagles, pterosaurs, and Pegasus all have to be born one litter at a time and raised to adulthood, a process that takes anywhere from one to three years, plus subsequent training.

At this point, the weakness of the magic side units is already quite obvious: the training period is long.

Once the troops suffer heavy casualties, they cannot recover in a short period of time.

Both sides have their own strengths and weaknesses, and only they can weigh the pros and cons themselves.

Considering the tactical value of the harpies, Zhou Xu was in a great mood as he not only absorbed the dark elves but also gained a harpy army for free.

The only problem is that due to the attrition tactics employed by the Eredar, the harpies suffered heavy casualties and their numbers are now quite small.

This made Zhou Xu concerned about their fertility issues.

At the same time, he had a question that had been bothering him since the beginning: since harpies are only female, how do they reproduce?
This question was quickly answered.

Simply put, it's asexual reproduction.

According to Eredar, harpies lay eggs every spring, and these eggs hatch in about three months.

Under this premise, harpies can generally fly independently three months after hatching, but at this stage, harpies are still in their infancy, are very fragile, and fly slowly.

They have some fighting ability by the age of one, but it is very limited. They are not considered fully adults until the age of three.

From Eredar's perspective, this is already very fast, considering that their elven children don't reach adulthood until they are three hundred years old.

The harpy's efficiency seemed incredibly fast to him.

This is also why he dared to use the harpy army to wage a war of attrition.

In his view, even if there is damage, it can be recovered quickly.

But you know what, this speed is indeed considered fast even from Zhou Xu's perspective, especially considering it's within the magical side of the army.

(End of this chapter)