Lauri looked at the battle report from last night with a sore heart, noting that over half of the troops were injured due to the assault on the camp, and it was the first time since the First Army Group was deployed that there were casualties.
To be honest, if Doug saw these casualty numbers, he might faint from anger. After all, so many professionals launched the night raid, and yet they couldn’t even take down an outer camp, losing a lot of people in the process, which directly diminished Hammond’s troops’ combat capability.
Meanwhile, the enemy only injured some ordinary soldiers.
However, Lauri was still not very satisfied. If it weren’t for the advanced medical system in Graywhite Territory, there would have been even more casualties this time.
Lauri called Darsi over, and they discussed the battle from last night, preparing to write a report to send back to Graywhite Territory.
This time, the enemy finally did not collapse instantly, and they didn’t just fire a couple of shots into the air as if that would suffice to make up for not knowing whether they had military rations left.
The enemy displayed a measured retreat and advance, with a strong fighting spirit and a high level of combat quality. The exchanges between both sides over the past two days could be regarded as the first battle between modern armies and elite troops of the old era, which is very valuable for reference.
“Is the gap between ordinary people and professionals still too large?”
While writing the report, Lauri listened to Darsi’s opinions.
“If it’s mid to long-range, our troops still have the upper hand.”
As someone who personally experienced the raid last night and hit the enemy general, Darsi had a lot of say.
“However, once they get close to combat-type professionals, relying solely on the melting sword and enchanted cloth armor makes it difficult to withstand them.”
Then Darsi recalled and sighed, “No wonder those knights from Lars are so tough.”
Lauri nodded and replied, “Although the melting sword can allow a soldier to engage in close combat even under overheating conditions, in situations where our numbers have the advantage, the melting sword seems a bit redundant. This can be reported to the Lord Governor for future improvements from the technical department.”
“Change it to a spear,” Darsi suggested. “If it had been a spear last night, perhaps the sacrificed brothers wouldn’t have had to risk their lives to create opportunities and could have coordinated with others to limit the actions of the enemy professionals.”
“The melting sword can be modified into a weapon specifically for close-range armor-piercing, designated for certain soldiers.”
After Darsi finished speaking, Lauri agreed and wrote these suggestions into the report.
Initially, Lind intended to use the melting sword as a bayonet to save costs, even making it a disposable weapon.
Based on previous experiences, the opportunities for soldiers of both sides to engage in close combat would diminish in future wars; what would truly decide battles would still be the long-range firepower from both sides.
Moreover, when it came to the point of using bayonets, it generally meant it was the final moment; making the melting sword into a disposable weapon and emphasizing portability was indeed the right approach.
Therefore, not only the melting sword, but the enchanted cloth armor also followed this design philosophy, primarily aimed at resisting the enemy’s firearms and reducing long-range magical attacks, sacrificing a certain degree of close defense in exchange for greater mobility during fast maneuvers.
However, this time engaging in combat with elite troops from the old era resulted in multiple instances of close combat situations.
It can only be said that Lind made a very typical empirical mistake.
In Lind’s previous history, due to the emergence of automated weapons like machine guns and large-scale lethal weapons like artillery and mortars, cavalry had gradually begun to withdraw from the historical stage.
Although there were still quite a few cavalry units in battles, they were generally used as mobile infantry, and cavalry could no longer relive the glory of the feudal era.
However, in this world, thanks to the various magics of the professionals, as long as the knights maintained their formation, they could completely charge through a hail of bullets and even cannon fire.
And although Lind was frantically advancing technology, equipment iteration does not happen overnight. It was not until tanks and aircraft emerged that cavalry could be completely replaced, and the Graywhite Territory’s army still retained a significant number of cavalry.
The horses in this world were also far more resilient than those in Lind’s past. Under multiple influencing factors, Lind made some misjudgments, and the battlefield still had ample space for close combat.
Fortunately, the discovery wasn’t too late.
Just when Lauri and Darsi were discussing the current developments in the war, a guard suddenly came in to report that scouts had discovered a large number of troops from Silverwing City ahead.
“Aren’t their elites all in our prisoner camp?”
While donning his armor, Darsi hurried forward with Lauri to the front line.
“That’s right, so they must have brought the remaining troops over.”
Darsi scratched his head at Lauri’s response, puzzled. After the failed night raid and losing their elite forces, shouldn’t they be holed up in the city to set up defenses and wait for reinforcements?
“You wouldn’t understand unless you’ve memorized the knight’s code,” Lauri said. During his time in the flank army, he had encountered this type of person, so he could roughly guess what Hammond intended to do.
At this moment, the First Army Group had already formed their ranks, and unlike before with the machine gunners, they had returned to traditional plate-armored soldiers at the forefront.
Although the soldiers holding ray guns didn’t seem so traditional either.
A banner was raised by Lauri’s aide, who rode up to the front of the formation.
“Is the commander of Governor Lind here?”
Seeing Hammond, whose voice was thunderous, Darsi’s eyes widened. He had indeed hit the enemy general with that shot last night.
Although the high-explosive ray gun was still in the experimental stage, the one in Darsi’s hand had been specially calibrated, so it couldn’t have malfunctioned. Yet here was the opposing side acting as if nothing happened after being shot in the head.
The knights from Lars were truly tough.
Lauri took the trumpet from his aide and shouted, “I am the commander of this army. Are you the garrison of Silverwing City?”
“Dare you come out and fight me?”
Hammond rode out, pointing his lance directly at Lauri.
“Not daring!” Lauri answered boldly, “You’re at a higher level than me; why should I come out to duel with you?” Of course, if the professional levels of both sides were reversed, Lauri wouldn’t challenge him either.
Though he had already anticipated the other side would not dare to fight, Hammond didn’t expect such a direct response.
“I only have one request: after you take Silverwing City, do not commit rape and pillage, nor set fire to the city.”
Hammond gave up; after all, the other side was not from the Demon Clan, and there was no need for slaughter after surrender.
“Of course, the people of the Northern Border do not strike against each other; as long as you are willing to surrender, everyone can share the land!”
The latter part of this statement was automatically ignored by Hammond. After receiving the other side’s commander’s promise, Hammond waved his hand, and the remaining cavalry behind him mounted up, raising their lances.
Looking at the Silverwing City garrison assuming a battle stance, Darsi beside Lauri asked in confusion, “Didn’t they just surrender?”
“Silverwing City has surrendered, but they have not,” Lauri observed Hammond, who was preparing to charge with a death-defying effort, and sighed, “It’s just loyalty to the cause.”
Hammond donned his helmet and, with a clear voice, shouted, “Knights of Lars, charge with me!”
The front row of plate-armored soldiers in the First Army Group disengaged the safeties on their ray guns and pulled the triggers at the cavalry group.
