Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 50 - 50 41 Tactics 8

50: Chapter 41 Tactics 8 50: Chapter 41 Tactics 8 “True war is indiscriminate,” Aske, resting his hand on his sword, solemnly said to the young women, “It cares not whether you are a princess, a noble, or a civilian; a woman with the strength of a chicken or a child, or a swordsman, a spearmen, or a mage.”

“When you truly face war, at a narrow path where adversaries meet, only the strong survive.

If not strong enough, you’re simply killed; it’s that straightforward.”

“Medea and Nora, your roles in the team are not close combat, but the enemy will not ignore you because of that, and you must still undergo training.”

“I don’t expect you to master the art of swordsmanship, swordsmanship techniques, spear skill, or shield use, but you must know how to counter, defend, or evade various attacks, and etch it into your bones.”

“Do you all understand?

Any objections?” he loudly asked at last.

“No more,” the girls responded, somewhat scattered.

“Good.” Aske clapped his hands, and on the other side, Peggy brought over a bundle of iron swords, tossing them onto the ground for everyone to pick up.

“There are many kinds of weapons in this world.

Taking close-range cold weapons as an example, common ones include swords, knives, long spears, battle axes, nail hammers, daggers, etc.

Among them, knives, battle axes, and nail hammers are good for chopping and smashing, while long spears and daggers are good for straight stabs.”

“Only the longsword can both stab and chop; it can be considered a versatile weapon, so we’ll start by familiarizing ourselves with the longsword.”

Aske picked up a longsword, knowledge from Sharp Weapon I immediately flooding his mind.

He casually swung it a few times, and remarked, “This is a spatha longsword popular during the early Fourth Epoch, quite primitive in design, lacking a crossguard, blood groove, or pommel for balance, but it is already enough for killing.

Now, I will use this to demonstrate and explain.”

“First is the attack.

Just taking the longsword as an example, there are distinctions between swordsmanship, sword moves, and sword styles.

What differs between them?

Swordsmanship comprises many sword moves, and a sword move consists of two or three sword styles; sword style is the smallest component of an attack and cannot be further divided.”

“In the present continent, different countries have developed distinct swordsmanship systems.”

“Generally speaking, the Solomon people’s swordsmanship is the most exquisite and complicated, advocating resolving adversaries without injury; Frankish swordsmanship emphasizes simplicity and practicality, aiming to end the fight as quickly as possible.

As for the North, there’s not much to say about their swordsmanship—it mostly relies on brute force, blood, and head-to-head assaults.”

“Hey!” Sigrdrifa called out, dissatisfied.

“Although the Solomon Empire’s military strength has fallen to the bottom ranks, I will still start teaching everyone from Solomon swordsmanship.

The reason is simple: Franks and Northerners’ swordsmanship relies, more or less, on physical fitness, which is very unprofessional tactical thinking.”

“Remember, there will always be enemies with better physical qualities than you.

We must not only learn how to overwhelm the weak but also how to defeat the strong with weakness; this is the very purpose for which swordsmanship was invented.”

Thus, Sigrdrifa shut her mouth.

Her long experience in the Duel Arena made her reluctantly admit that Aske was right.

The North’s swordsmanship was quite crude; as long as one’s physical strength and agility exceeded the adversary’s, you would mostly win in gladiator duels.

On the other hand, Solomon gladiators, seemingly frail and thin, could sometimes turn the tables in strange ways.

“More than 100 years ago, Emperor Leo VI of the Solomon Empire was a war scholar who spent years studying combat skills popular among commoners and Transcendents, and he summarized 8 basic sword styles known as the Tactical Eight Forms, namely, Lion’s Fang, Left Lion’s Fang, Right Lion’s Fang, Eagle Cut, Tiger Slash, Dragon Slash, Vibrating Wings, and Rapid Thrust.”

Aske paused here, “I now need a sparring assistant, who wants to volunteer?”

“Me me me!” Eleanor and Sigrdrifa hastily raised their hands.

The former to learn, the latter wishing to fight.

“Eleanor, come here,” Aske easily saw through the latter’s ill intentions and beckoned Eleanor forward, “Now, I will demonstrate the attack and you will be responsible for the block.”

“Okay,” said Eleanor as she held her sword horizontally in front of her, assuming a defensive stance.

“The first form, Lion’s Fang.” Aske held his sword with both hands aloft, then swiftly chopped down towards Eleanor’s head.

With a clang, Eleanor blocked the strike.

Aske’s longsword pressing down on hers, he explained simultaneously:

“Lion’s Fang, from above downwards, a cleave to the head.

Since the human skull is rather hard, it’s easy to end up with a blade stuck and unable to withdraw, thus Lion’s Fang isn’t typically used to wound but to force the opponent to move and evade.”

“If facing an enemy’s Lion’s Fang, I generally recommend evasion, not blocking, because the sword’s path is from above, and the weapon’s own weight adds extra force to the downward chop, making it harder to block than ordinary attacks.”

“For example, the Franks have evolved their military swordsmanship from Lion’s Fang—Divine Luo’s Mountain Crashing Strike.

Utilizing heavier two-handed greatswords and leveraging the power of the waist and abdomen during the chop, everyone watch my motion.”

Aske said this as he once again raised his longsword high, stretching his spine and straightening his back, then forcefully brought the longsword down, his upper body lunging forward with the strike.

The longsword heavily struck upon Ellie’s blade, the enormous force making her stagger backwards several steps before she could barely stabilize her stance.

“Facing the Mountain Crashing Strike, blocking is quite a dangerous move,” Aske said earnestly, “because the slashing force is very great, and it’s likely that even though you managed to block, the weapon would be directly chopped in half, resulting in a grievous split-head death.”

“On the foundation of the Mountain Crashing Strike, the people of the North invented the Jump Slash Swordsmanship, which is to leap into the air and, during the descent, use the Mountain Crashing Strike,” he continued.

“This way, the slashing force gains the addition of the full body’s weight, almost reaching the limits of its lethality.”

“I’ll stress it once more, if you’re not certain of your defense against such an attack, do not try to block.”

“Mmmhmm,” the girls nodded, imagining the Northlanders’ generally burly physique, and couldn’t help but feel a hint of fear.

“The second and third moves are respectively Left Lion’s Fang and Right Lion’s Fang, which are used more commonly compared to Lion’s Fang,” Aske made a few symbolic slashes at Ellie’s block with his longsword.

“The difference from Lion’s Fang is that, Lion’s Fang cuts straight down towards the head, while Left Lion’s Fang slashes from the upper left to the lower right, diagonally towards the enemy’s right shoulder.

Similarly, Right Lion’s Fang slashes diagonally towards the enemy’s left shoulder.”

“The purpose of slashing the shoulder is to disable the enemy’s arm.

If the enemy is unarmored, then you could slash all the way from the shoulder to the waist, opening a massive wound on the enemy’s torso.”

“Ask,” Ellie, maintaining her blocking stance, inquired, “is there a tactical difference between Left Lion’s Fang and Right Lion’s Fang, aside from the directions being different?”

“That’s a good question,” Aske said.

“The difference between left and right relates to the issue of the preferred hand.

For example, if the enemy is right-handed, the longsword is usually carried on the left waist side, or slung over the right shoulder.

If you attack with Right Lion’s Fang, the opponent could draw their sword and block easily; but with Left Lion’s Fang, the block wouldn’t be as easy.”

The girls took up their longswords and practiced against each other, finding that it was indeed the case.

“The fourth, fifth, and sixth moves, are respectively Eagle Cut, Tiger Slash, and Dragon Slash,” Aska demonstrated with a horizontal swing of his sword while Eleanor calmly raised her sword to block, “The difference is that Eagle Cut targets the eyes, Tiger Slash cuts from the throat to the chest, and Dragon Slash cuts at the waist.”

“In terms of lethality, Tiger Slash is greater than Dragon Slash, which is greater than Eagle Cut.

The throat is the most fatal spot, a cut there will inevitably be a severe injury.

Because of this, the enemy will often defend their throat conscientiously, perhaps wearing steel neck protection or something similar.”

“Dragon Slash’s target is lower, intended to slice open the abdomen, possibly even causing the intestines to spill out, but it won’t cause sudden asphyxiation and immediate death like a cut from Tiger Slash would.”

“Eagle Cut aims for the eyes, the intimidation factor is greater than its lethal effect, the usual purpose is to confuse the enemy’s line of sight and judgment.

Of course, if it does hit, the enemy would be blinded, which on the battlefield is no different from being dead.”

Nora raised her hand, curiously posing a question unrelated to swordsmanship: “Eagle Cut, Tiger Slash, Dragon Slash, each of these sword styles are named after animals, is there any special story behind this?”

“There’s no special story,” Aske replied.

“The claws of an eagle are small, so it can only grab a person’s eyes.

A tiger usually bites at the throat of its prey.

A dragon has the largest mouth, so it can only bite a person in half at the waist, that’s the idea.”

“The seventh move, Vibrating Wings, is an upward flick of the longsword,” Aske dropped his arms, pointing the sword straight to the ground without launching an attack, merely explaining, “Unlike the path of the Lion’s Fang, Vibrating Wings isn’t very lethal.”

“Its primary function is to surprise attack—because your sword tip is pointing towards the ground, the opponent won’t know if you’ll attack,” he went on.

“Vibrating Wings is often used as a starting move for sneak attacks, hitting the enemy’s lower body which are harder to defend, like following up Vibrating Wings with a Straight Stab at the enemy’s ankle or calf.”

“Is the lower body harder to defend?” Peggy asked thoughtfully.

“Of course, the farther from the eyes, the harder it is for you to see the fine details and intentions of an enemy’s attack,” Aske answered.

“And attacks aimed at your lower body are naturally the farthest from your eyes.”

“The final eighth move, Rapid Thrust, is actually just a straight stab,” Aske sheathed his longsword, “This needs a detailed explanation.

If facing an enemy with light armor or no armor, the lethality of Rapid Thrust is the greatest among the Eight Forms, much stronger than Lion’s Fang.”

“The reason is that first, the path of a thrust is very short, which means the attack is fast; and second, it creates a deep wound.”

“Of course, there is no omnipotent tactic, heavily armored enemies are almost impervious to thrusts; only armor-breaking weapons such as battle axes or Nail Hammers are effective for smashing.

There is one exception, and that is the Long Spear.”

“The Long Spear rarely has slashing movements; its only lethal action is thrusting, whether a straight stab or an angled one, following the shortest and fastest trajectory.

Coupled with a knight’s high-speed charge, the Long Spear can also have a terrifying armor-piercing effect,” Aske turned to Eleanor and nodded, “Regarding Spear Technique, I will train you separately later on.”

“Okay,” Eleanor nodded.

“So that’s all of the Tactical Eight Forms,” Aske concluded, revealing his ‘Squad Leader’ snarl, “Now, I want everyone to practice each of the Tactical Eight Forms a thousand times.

Anybody with improper movements, I’ll come over and spar personally.”

“No way!” all the girls cried out in dismay.

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