Ming Dynasty and New Rome and Infinite Magic Machine

Chapter 1753: Royal Division
They encountered enormous difficulties below. However, the soldiers were still delivered on schedule.

Fifty members of the Herian Storm Commando stood in line before Shangluo, awaiting his orders.

Ao Zang had already taught them all the Mandarin. With a massive supply of phlogiston, they were able to synchronize their speed with Shangluo and communicate with him.

“You can go and attend to your own matters first,” Shang Luo said. “I’ve heard there’s been a huge upheaval happening down here. Anyway, why don’t you go grab a bite to eat?”

"Reporting to the Heavenly Lord! We, the Herian Storm Assault Team, have been ordered to serve the Heavenly Court. We—"

"I'm not eating!"

They all seemed quite energetic.

"They're so energetic!"

They truly don't eat and can't eat; they can't open their masks to enter a normal temperature and pressure environment, otherwise it would explode.

That's a problem. The current environment is extremely harsh for them. It's like deep-sea anglerfish wearing spacesuits performing special operations. If the spacesuit malfunctions even slightly, they'll explode instantly.

In this situation, even drinking water or eating becomes difficult for them.

In fact, it would be difficult for Shangluo to provide them with a high-pressure environment to allow them to remove their armor and rest for a while. This is because the armor is extremely airtight, and one person cannot put it on or take it off alone. Even if 50 people checked each other, they could not guarantee that the airtightness would remain after putting it on and taking it off.

It would be crazy to risk an explosion just to take off your helmet for a short while to catch your breath.

The simplest and safest option is to go and return as soon as possible. Shangluo has tasks for them to complete, so it's best to finish them before they become too hungry to move.

"Then, go ahead and do it. Aozang should have also distributed information terminals to you—act according to plan."

"Understood! Mission objective: Eliminate the Fallen Immortals!"

The fallen immortals—that was the information they had gathered. The rebellious Romans were the fallen immortals who needed to be eliminated.

The Embroidered Uniform Guard had already taken action, as had the royal army's infantry. Although the Embroidered Uniform Guard's actions were swift as lightning and the royal army's firepower was like a torrential downpour, Shang Luo had no way to directly command them.

This is mainly because Zhu Xianxi set Shangluo's status too high.

The royal army's command chain was mature and well-established. Shang Luo could indeed direct the overall direction of the royal army, but he couldn't bypass his superiors to command infantry at the company or platoon level. This was because the higher-level command units at the company and platoon levels clearly knew the location of their soldiers and had plans in place for them. Skipping these intermediate links to directly command at the front would disrupt the royal army's deployment and cause significant trouble for the front lines.

As for the agents of the Embroidered Uniform Guard, they have already returned. Only the Armed Embroidered Uniform Guard remains here. The Armed Embroidered Uniform Guard is a unit within the Imperial Guard. Although Shang Luo can directly issue orders to their command post, he still feels it's best not to interfere with professionals handling professional matters, just like before.

Those Imperial Guards who returned still had work to do with Zhu Xianxi. Zhu Xianxi didn't have many people at his disposal—after all, such super-powered spies weren't everywhere, and they couldn't be stationed on the front lines indefinitely. Zhu Xianxi would only send them out to handle some emergencies during the initial period of the war. Once things stabilized and the enemy-friendly situation became clear, things like the previous ones wouldn't happen again.

In this situation, Shangluo can then send its own people to solve some of the problems.

After communicating with Wang Shi, Wang Shi designated some key targets behind the local front lines. These were targets that Wang Shi would not typically strike directly in military operations.

Because the royal army's tactics are based on the battle line, that is: draw a line and then deploy everyone on the battle line. When everyone is moving, if there is no special tactical objective, they cannot run too fast or too slow, because both will create gaps in the battle line and affect the deployment of the firepower tiers behind.

For the royal army, firepower is the most important asset, and frontline contact should, in principle, be avoided as much as possible. This is because the cost of training a soldier for the royal army is extremely high. All elite combat personnel are either selected from the best among civilian households or recruited from hereditary military households who have received military education since childhood.

Even ordinary privates possess at least the qualities of sergeants or even officers.

In this situation, the Wang army has a very low tolerance for combat casualties and often needs to achieve an extremely high kill ratio to give an account to the rear.

However, there is one type of behavior that is permitted even if it is a military adventure: fire reconnaissance.

"Now, let me explain the core principles of the Royal Army, which may be different from the military education you have received before."

"Yes, please speak. We will learn the fighting style of the angelic army."

"In short, the most crucial point is this: we acknowledge the existence of the fog of war—this statement is very simple, just one sentence. But as long as you remember this one sentence, you will understand how the royal army operates."

The very first sentence of "The Art of War" is: "War is a matter of vital importance to the State; a matter of life and death, a road either to safety or to ruin. Hence it is mandatory to examine it carefully."

Observation is the key to everything here.

Sun Tzu's Art of War argues that the first priority in winning is to acquire information, which in turn means "acknowledging the existence of the unknown."

This is very important. While Wang's army's campaign tactics were indeed meticulously planned, they also believed that planning couldn't solve all problems, because the command's understanding of reality was always uncertain. It was precisely for this reason that Wang's army demanded that frontline personnel take initiative and be proactive.

Any unit deployed by the royal army at the front possesses a considerable degree of tactical autonomy, but the overall strategy must be offensive. Offense must be launched whenever there is an information advantage and numerical superiority, and offensive offense must also be launched when numerically inferior, because only proactive engagement can maintain a continuous stream of updated information.

In other words, the royal army did not actually place its hopes for victory on the front lines. The most important role of the front lines was to acquire and keep that information up-to-date. Once they had the information, the artillery and air force in the rear could complete their tactical missions, and the battle would be over.

Therefore, what the royal army soldiers on the front lines need to do is maintain sticky contact. When the enemy is on a passive defensive posture, they should actively maintain fire contact; when the enemy enters an active posture, they should also maintain contact. The royal army will not punish actions of advancing or retreating; the royal army will only reward or punish actions based on whether information has been obtained.

(End of this chapter)