Otherworld Advance Team
Chapter 428 - 421: Ancient States Fleet

Chapter 428: Chapter 421: Ancient States Fleet

The grand expedition finally set off. For this campaign, the Judgement Legion mobilized five hundred elite Judgement Knights, armed with the finest armor and cold weapons. Including various servants, the total number of the team reached over four thousand people.

Observing the dense crowd outside the vehicle, the advance team was somewhat speechless, but they understood. After all, these Temple Knights were all noblemen, it’s impossible for them to be without servants.

Moreover, as one of the Church Court’s strongest forces, these five hundred Judgement Knights are formidable enough to defeat most of this world’s armies, and even Earth’s armies might not be able to handle them. The enemies’ priority when facing these armored knights is to figure out a way to penetrate their armor.

Rune Armor has dominated the Otherworld due to its hardness. Some advanced Rune Armors are engraved not only with physical defense runes but also magic defense runes. This was mentioned before, as a kind of mixed defense rune, generally used in carriages and buildings.

Rune-enhanced armor, in terms of strength, isn’t lagging much behind the active bulletproof vests on Earth. In some aspects, such as magic defense, it is even better than the bulletproof vest.

Because of the excellent performance of these traditional gears, the Otherworld is still not fully embracing Earth’s weapon reform. As even Earth’s firearms and rocket launchers can’t penetrate the armor, it means these traditional equipment are still very useful.

The only weapons that Earthlings can use to threaten these armors are large-caliber firearms and some anti-tank equipment, but these weapons are too heavy. Moreover, anti-tank missiles essentially have no guidance capability in the Otherworld, they can only be aimed directly, greatly reducing their power.

However, for the past thirty years, Earthlings have been researching ways to deal with the traditional equipment of the Otherworld. There have been some breakthroughs now and Earthlings are finally not so inferior to the people of the Otherworld.

According to the plan, they will traverse south through the territory of Saint Basaya, an otherwise flat journey that should take about a month to complete. After crossing Saint Basaya, they will enter the territory of the Dwarf Kingdom of Baales. This part of the journey is mostly desert, so it might not be that cold.

As per the plan, they will arrive at the tri-border area in the southwest of Baales, follow the border of the Ancient States and Ilanadale to the seaside. Their ultimate destination is a coast in the Ancient States, which is where their "Creating God Plan" is located. The Magic Crystal will be transported there from the City of Stars.

While this journey seems easy, it’s expected to take at least two and a half months. After all, crossing the entire continent to reach the southernmost point isn’t a small distance to ignore.

There’s actually a better choice: traveling by ship along the coast. Though the sea does have Leviathans, they can’t approach the shallow sea, which would cut the journey down by a month. However, as good as it sounds, the reality is cruel.

The Judgement Legion did contemplate the sea route, but gave up due to the high risk. They could only sail the eastern coastline of the continent from the beaches downstream of Yazhi City, traverse the large part of the Ancient States’ coastline, and finally arrive at the capital city, City of Stars.

However, this route has two formidable obstacles apart from Leviathans. One is the pirates from Basargold Island, and the other is the naval fleets of the Ancient States.

There’s a general consensus on the Otherworld continent: the navy of the Ancient States can be considered unrivaled. Given the myriad of islands south of the Ancient States, ships are the only means of connecting them. Moreover, as these islands are mainly located in shallow seas, Leviathans have a hard time inhabiting these waters, providing the Ancient States with an ideal condition to develop its navy.

Even so, currently, the navy of the Ancient States, though strong, is still essentially a coastal force. Their warships are predominantly wooden sailing ships. Unless they vanquish the Leviathans in the deep sea, they can never dominate the oceans like Earth’s navy.

In thirty years of interaction between the two worlds, the Ancient States have gradually obtained ironclad ship technology from Earth, along with various large cannons. On the one hand, they’re researching their ironclad warships, and on the other hand, equipping their existing wooden warships with a great deal of artillery from Earth.

There are a few types of weapons popular on the warships of the Ancient States: One is the mobile artillery tower led by the 59 Tank, which involves removing the tracks and installing the entire vehicle on the bow as a mobile turret, a tactic previously used by the rabbits. Another is the dense rocket ammunition, primarily the 107 Rockets, used to compensate for the lack of accuracy.

Also, the 88mm anti-aircraft gun mounted on large warships. Given that they are wooden sail ships, the warships of the Ancient States cannot install large-caliber cannons due to the risk of capsizing or the gun being shaken out of the ship’s compartment from its recoil. The 88mm anti-aircraft gun balances firepower and recoil, a weapon that suits the Ancient States’ main warships quite well.

Although it is an anti-aircraft gun, the Ancient States mostly use it as a main gun to attack targets at sea.

With such a formidable fleet in place, even the most foolish among the Judgement Legion would not consider attacking the Ancient States from the sea. A Knight may be formidable, but sea battles are fought on a different paradigm, firepower. These armored knights are of less use on the sea compared to experienced sailors.

So, the sea route was closed, and the only option was to honestly proceed along the land route. This has been the main route for the Judgement Legion’s wars in the past. However, since the City of Stars is primarily located in the southwest of the Ancient States, a sudden naval attack from the western coast of the continent is actually a good pick. At least, it wouldn’t run into the Ancient States’ fleet easily.

Therefore, in the battle plan, there is an alternate plan like this. If the attack gets blocked, the Judgement Legion will switch its route to cross through Ilanadale, reaching the nearest port and wait for the northern ships to launch a surprise attack on the Ancient States from the sea.

Five people were sitting in the carriage. Because the shock absorber of the carriage was very good, they didn’t feel any bumps. Hu Daoke occasionally looked out the window, each time letting the cold wind blow in from outside, so Cheng Ziang who could bear no more stuck his head out of the window.

"Such a lot of people, it’s like an expedition!" Hu Daoke pulled his head back in and said after hitting Cheng Ziang with a punch.

"Of course, a lot of people. These are logistical personnel. Without them, the Judgement Legion couldn’t move long distances." Luo’er said.

"I finally understand where those armies of tens or hundreds of thousands in history textbooks come from. It seems they counted all the logistical personnel." Hu Daoke said, rubbing his neck.

"You don’t really think there are millions of people fighting at once, do you?" Cheng Ziang looked at him and said with a mocking tone.

"Generally speaking, a battle involving a few tens of thousands of people can already be regarded as a major war. Besides, in ancient times, the death toll in wars wasn’t that severe, most people died while fleeing. If both sides really fought head-on, perhaps a few dozen people might die from fighting from morning till night." Luo’er explained.

"Ah! People are that sturdy! I’ve seen on TV, ordinary soldiers basically die in one hit." Hu Daoke exclaimed.

"Watch less TV, and read more data," Cheng Ziang slapped his shoulder and said, "People aren’t made of paper. How could it be possible to die in one shot. The human body is very strong, and we have armor, it’s impossible to die from one hit."

"Isn’t it a bit exaggerated that they can’t kill a few people from morning to night?" Hu Daoke asked.

"It’s not. War is actually a large-scale and organized brawl," Luo’er explained, "those who like to fight often say that people are afraid of being stabbed but not being cut. It means that during a brawl, if you don’t want to kill, the best way is to cut each other. As cuts are just surface wounds, just a bit of bandaging and one can get up the second day. But if stabbed, basically it can disable one."

"Seems to make sense, is there some principle behind it?" Hu Daoke scratched his head and asked.

"If stabbed, just ten centimeters deep could reach most of the body’s organs, which are very fragile and can bleed to shock with just one stab. But if cut, unless a major artery is severed, it won’t be fatal immediately. Remember this, a large part of death from injury is due to blood loss." Cheng Ziang continued to explain.

"So, it seems that not many people would actually die in ancient wars?" Hu Daoke asked.

"Pretty much. The most serious decrease in the ancient army was not during the battle, but during the rout. Because those who flee have basically lost their will to fight and can only be slaughtered. You think there are many deaths in ancient wars, but in fact, the casualties in modern wars are even greater. In the battles of the Somme and Verdun, tens of thousands of soldiers fell under machine gunfire, and tens of thousands died in a day, they really died." Cheng Ziang said.

"It seems that you guys understand a lot, did you have frequent fights before?" Hu Daoke nodded and asked after looking at him.

"Cut it out, how could anyone cause trouble in Haiya Academy where armed guards are everywhere." Cheng Ziang rolled his eyes dismissively.

"Luo’er certainly doesn’t fight. He’s such a gentle person, no one would bully him!" Tangmo snuggled up to Luo’er contentedly and said.

"Ha," Cheng Ziang glanced at Luo’er and sneered, "This is a third-gen military family member. The principal is his grandfather, who dares to touch him."

Facing Cheng Ziang’s mockery, Luo’er coughed and did not deny it. Because he did indeed get protection in the academy, but it was not only from his grandfather but more importantly, the academy itself.

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