Industrial Revolution of the Mage Lords

Chapter 489 Staff and Officers

After Harvey decided to launch a revenge operation against the neighboring border Duke Barclay, he immediately issued a war order to the territory's military.

The increasingly powerful military immediately began pre-war preparations, and all departments began to operate efficiently.

The ammunition resources produced by the Spark City Military Factory are continuously transported through the Ralph River to Silverpine City and Black Mountain Port, which are closest to the front line. These two cities are located in the south of Saint Valen and are the closest war fronts to the border fiefdom of the Principality of Barclay.

After the spring plowing, the new recruits who had undergone two rounds of expansion had basically completed their military training. Among them, those with outstanding performance were directly split up and dispersed, and mixed into the Northern Army's Ace First Battalion, which is still stationed in the royal capital. The rest were used as supplements for the flank forces and were assigned to the Second and Third Battalions stationed in Silver Pine City and Black Mountain Port.

As a result, the actual number of troops available for combat in the entire southern border quickly expanded to more than 5,000. Not to mention using them only to deal with a border duke of a neighboring country, as long as the logistical support can keep up, there will be no problem even if they march directly westward and march to the holy city of Goris.

Of course, such a large-scale war mobilization also aroused the ambitions of many senior officers in the Northern Army. They were not satisfied with just conquering an ordinary feudal noble. In the combat reports presented to Harvey like snowflakes, there were many more radical ideas and suggestions. They even vaguely regarded the neighboring country of Barclay and the Papal States adjacent to Daeus as the next target of attack.

Harvey naturally just laughed it off. Although these officers were indeed far superior to ordinary military nobles of the current era in terms of thinking and action, they were still a little short-sighted compared to himself, a time traveler who had experienced modern warfare in his previous life. Large-scale modern warfare relied on a strong military industry and logistical capabilities. With Spark City's current manufacturing level and transportation capacity, the further away from the North the foreign war was, the higher the corresponding cost of each war. Waging war recklessly would only gradually drag down Spark City, which had just begun to show signs of industrialization.

Although there were actually sufficient troops available, Harvey believed that the difficulty of this "debt collection operation" was not too great based on the intelligence information provided by the "Earth-loving Ones". After discussing with Pierce who was stationed in the old royal capital, he decided to set the final number of troops at 2,000, commanded by Pierce himself. The First Battalion commanded by Vaughan would be the main combat force, and the Second Battalion stationed in Silverpine City and the Third Battalion stationed in Black Mountain Port would each send an additional 500 people to provide assistance on the flanks.

Considering that Border Duke Barclay is loyal to the church, Vatican combat priests or high-level bloodline knights may appear in the battle. Some spellcasters from the Academy of Magic will also join the team, led by Prall and Sirius, who are also high-level spellcasters. They will carry a large number of controllable combat alchemical beasts and officially send alchemical creations into the southern battlefield.

With the nascent General Staff Headquarters taking the lead in planning and coordination, it took less than a week from Harvey issuing the order to completing the assembly and preparation. The staff members who rushed to the old royal capital in advance to meet with Commander Pierce repeatedly discussed various tactical details with the expeditionary officers to ensure that this overseas combat operation was foolproof.

As for the actual timing of the battle, the officers who were on the front line commanding the operations and the staff who had just been integrated into the military system and were still not used to the new environment, each had their own opinions and it was difficult to reach a final conclusion.

The commander of the first battalion, Vaughn, had always been a traditionalist adept at offensive warfare. He firmly believed that as long as the firepower was strong enough, they could simply push their way to the city walls. There was no problem that couldn't be solved by a salvo of twenty cannons combined with airship bombing. In his view, as long as logistical support was ensured and the expeditionary force could fully utilize its firepower advantage, the border grand duke's fiefdom capital could be captured in three days at the most. There was no need for any more convoluted tactics to lure the enemy.

The young staff officers who were personally trained by Harvey and Asdalen were more inclined to lure the enemy out of the fortified city and set the battle location in the wilderness where there was no strategic location to defend. This would avoid excessive consumption of ammunition and supplies during the siege and would also have the effect of destroying the enemy's manpower in one fell swoop.

According to intelligence, since Barclay expelled and disbanded a large number of church forces in the royal capital, many church personnel and devout believers have fled to Bluethorn City, which is governed by the Grand Duke of the Border. The entire border fiefdom has become the only remaining place of faith for the church in Barclay. Once a siege is launched... there is no guarantee that those believers will not be instigated by the church to actively participate in the city's defense, and even engage in direct combat with the Northern Army.

This kind of thing happened repeatedly during the conflict between Saint Valen and Daeus... The Federation had no way to deal with the Church's shameless actions, and could only retreat repeatedly, avoiding battle and retreating. No powerful figure in a high position wanted to bear the gruesome crime of slaughtering ordinary people. The consequences of losing public support were simply unbearable. "Siege warfare is indeed a simpler and more brutal method for you, but the ammunition and supplies consumed are also a bottomless pit. With the harvest approaching, logistics capacity is already strained. If you continue this reckless waste, even if we defeat the Border Duke... the spoils won't be enough to offset the losses we incur during our campaigns!"

The war was originally started under the pretext of debt collection and revenge, but in essence it was to recover the large amount of food and property that had been looted. If the final result was that the consumption was greater than the benefits, then this military action would become a complete loss-making business.

The military naturally expressed dissatisfaction with the General Staff's remarks, feeling that their words implicitly treated them as "spendthrifts" who were only interested in wasting supplies. The battalion commander, Dafu, even jumped in angrily and said, "After all, isn't it just a concern about excessive ammunition consumption during a siege? Humph, without artillery and air support, can't we take down the stone kennel of a bumpkin lord? My Third Battalion can shoulder the task of the assault and personally scale the city walls to seize the gates!"

Wayne was so angry at the words of this brute that he rolled his eyes. How could he increase his strength for no reason? It was simply a stupid act done out of anger... After Vaughn's repeated eye contact, he quickly kicked the other person hard under the table, telling him to shut up immediately.

The staff officers, however, were unfazed by the angry provocations of these ferocious officers. They patiently explained, "To save ammunition and supplies by risking the lives of soldiers in close combat, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?"

"It will take a lot of time to lure them out of the city they're defending and engage in battle, which will also prolong the battle... and the cost is no less than a siege!"

"Furthermore, the Border Grand Duke has several military noble forces under his command. It would be quite time-consuming to recruit and rally them all. It would be better to launch a quick raid directly on the Grand Duke's lair, denying him the opportunity and time to gather his forces and catching him off guard!"

"What if the enemy gets wind of this and retreats to their fiefdoms and castles, refusing to come out... We still need to clear them out one by one. Every battle is an offensive!"

"So, a direct raid on the border duke's fiefdom's capital is the most appropriate battle plan!"

Pierce listened calmly to the officers and staff arguing with each other. Seeing that everyone had expressed similar opinions, he took the initiative to step forward and make the final decision.

"Alright, I've heard everyone's opinions... There's no need to argue any further. For this operation, we'll split our forces into three groups. Two flanks will harass the border and disrupt their intelligence transmissions, while the main force will directly assault the Border Duke's fiefdom, Lanjing City. We'll strive to capture it completely within a day... Afterwards, we'll block any information and send out a fake call for assistance to attract reinforcements from the military nobles in his other fiefdoms."

The combat strategy originally used against the old royal capital, Jinhui City, is now being copied to overseas combat operations. Pierce believes that it will also have a good effect.

(End of this chapter)