Dream Life Vol II Chapter 78.1: “Introduction to Strategy and Tactics”

　I took a class on the subject of the retinue mages and decided to study the collective tactics of magic. So, as a prerequisite for that, I looked into the wars in this world.

　There are two major types of wars in this world.

　One is a war between countries. The other is the war against the demon folks.

　Demon folks may also form countries, but there is too little information about them at the moment. Therefore, I decided to divide the war into two parts.

　First, the battle between countries, the basic types of soldiers are almost the same. However, the composition differs greatly from country to country.

　In the case of the Caelum Empire, the largest country on the Tria continent, the main fighting force is cavalry. Mounted on superior warhorses and equipped with cavalry lances and heavy armor, the Caelum cavalry’s charging power is extremely powerful. In addition, the steppe region in the center of the empire is home to many centaurs. They are excellent bow cavalrymen and lightly armor spear cavalrymen. They are, so to speak, the same as the Mongolian horsemen who swept the world. When they are in a joint operation with heavily armed spear cavalry, they have no equal on the plains, where they can make the most of their mobility.

　In Caelum, the ratio of cavalry to infantry, including archers on foot, is one to one. Since the ratio of cavalry in other countries is said to be 20-30%, Caelum’s emphasis on cavalry is very clear.

　Furthermore, the Caelum Empire has an air force, the wyvern unit. Specialized knights called “dragon knights” ride the flying dragon, wyverns, and use their mobility and offensive power to fly across the battlefield in any direction. Of course, they can also be used for reconnaissance, but by using powerful monsters called wyverns, they are an excellent aerial fighter that can be used in a variety of situations, such as surprise attacks and pursuits.

　Cavalry and wyverns are not the only strengths of the empire.

　Although overshadowed by them, other types of soldiers are not inferior in any way. The magician units are comparable to those of the Saltus Kingdoms to the north in terms of both numbers and quality. The infantry units, mainly composed of demihumans, are also powerful, and no one of them is inferior to the others.

　The reason why Caelum, with such a large military force, has not been able to unify the continent is the low quality of their senior commanders. The post of senior commander is monopolized by the nobility, and the second and third sons of senior nobles become senior commanders regardless of their ability.

(A hundred sheep led by one lion is better than a hundred lions led by one sheep, right? Regardless, Caelum’s military power is not to be underestimated…) (Zack)

　And there is one more country that concerns me. It’s a country I don’t really want to get involved with, the Lux Holy Kingdom.

　It is generally said that the hallmark of the Lux’s army is the Holy Knight Order.

　The Holy Knights have both the character of a mobile magician unit and that of a lancer cavalryman. In my mind, they are similar to the French Cavalry of the 18th century. The French Cavalry would attack at long range with rifles followed by a spear charge, while the Holy Knights would attack with light magic followed by a charge with their lances. For the scattered infantry, this is nothing but a disaster.

　In reality, however, they are not as powerful as they are advertised to be, and the publicity effect by the clergy of the Light God Church is said to be significant. It is said that the Holy Knights were active more than a hundred years ago, and nowadays their level as magicians is low, and many of them cannot use magic properly. Furthermore, their Riding and Spear Arts level is also low, so they are said to be capable of shooting a few light arrows from a long distance. And because they are like a mass of people with a sense of privilege, they are few in number and not strong enough to be counted as a military force fighting on the front lines.

　At present, the military strength of the Lux Holy Kingdom is supported by a vast number of infantrymen under the universal conscription system. Infantrymen are given only crude spears and, as far as they are concerned, are poorly trained. However, Lux always gathers several times the number of forces in battle against the Caelum Empire. In other words, they overwhelm the enemy with their numbers, using quantity over quality tactics.

　This is supposedly due to the overwhelming number of infantrymen by peasant soldiers, but I don’t think so. It should be difficult to concentrate forces just by sheer numbers.

　It takes time to move a large army. In particular, the mobility of poorly trained infantry is low. With this infantry as the main force, information, transportation, and supply are important to move the army efficiently. Lux’s military bureaucracy is probably superior in this regard.

　The percentage of infantry in Lux is said to be close to 90%. This is not because the absolute number of archers and cavalrymen is small, but because the absolute number of infantrymen is large.

　Furthermore, although it is said that eyebrows are raised, we must not forget the success of the beast folk troops. Their existence has been confirmed because my grandfather fought in the war, and their skills are such that that grandfather was prepared to die when he was in service. It is highly likely that he utilizes them in various situations and tactically leads them to victory.

　The image of the Lux is that of a group of fanatics, but if you get too caught up in that, you might get your foot in the door. In fact, the fact that Lux are fighting on equal terms with the Caelum Empire, which is several times larger than the Lux in terms of national power, seems to prove this.

　The other countries have their own characteristics.

　The Kingdom of Saltus, with its large population of elves, is characterized by its excellent Magician units and long-range attacks by archers.

　The Kingdom of Lacus has a good balance of cavalry by the Guardian Knights, infantry and archers who are mainly mercenaries, and magic by the court magicians. This is probably the result of constant battles with the demon tribe to the east and the Caelum to the south.

　The Kingdom of Caum has traditionally been good at defending its strongholds, with infantry and archers. Tenacious battles using defensive facilities have stopped the invasion of the demon folk.

　Although those countries had their own characteristics, the basic structure was a combination of cavalry and infantry, archers and magicians, with the addition of special forces.

　Another hypothetical enemy, the demons, proved to be more of a mystery the more I looked into them.

　It seems that the Demon Folks are roughly divided into the Oni and the Winged Demon Folk. Basically, it is the onis that invade beyond the great eastern mountain range, the Aquila Mountains, and it seems that the winged demon folk rarely cross over Aquila.

　The Oni are like a monster version of the beastmen, demihumans with the characteristics of large ogres, medium orcs, and small goblins. There are rumors that there are also demon folk with the characteristics of minotaurs and trolls, but this has not been confirmed.

　The Winged Demon Folk, as their name suggests, are said to have the appearance of winged demons, but the number of sightings is extremely small and not well understood.

　The army is basically composed of ogres, orcs, goblins, and other similar species, with the rare exception of winged lesser demons and imps providing long-range support.

　Basically, their main tactic is a physical battle using ogres with strong physical strength. In this respect, the Old General’s story is not necessarily useless.

　However, demon folk invasions have been frequent in the past decade or so, and it is said that winged demon folks are often seen fighting together with Onis.

　Of those we have seen so far, the only special ones are Caelum’s wyvern unit and the demon folk’s ogres; the others are not significantly different in that they are in close combat with infantry and cavalry, with long-range support from archers and magicians.

　In other words, it is a matter of the ratio of the types of troops, and there is no significant difference in the basic tactics.

　So I thought about the strategic and tactical theories.

　I say thinking, but all I can do is recall the military books I read in my previous life.

　I don’t know about these days, but many boys in the past were interested in war and weapons. I remember when I was in elementary school, I liked warships, tanks, and fighter planes during World War II, and I read a lot of books about them.

　Usually, this would be the end of the story, but in my case, it was a little different.

　In junior high school, I became more interested in tactics than in the weapons themselves. In high school, I read the Chinese classics about military strategy, and I also read the famous Clausewitz’s theory of war. [T/N: Clausewitz is a Prussian military leader and theorist.]

　I remembered that and decided to put it all together in a form that would fit this world.

　My thesis was structured as follows.

　In the introduction, I analyze the war potential of the major nations of the Tria continent. The first chapter is entitled Intelligence, followed by Command, Maneuver, Attack, Defense, Supply, and Policy.

　The importance of intelligence in strategy and reconnaissance in tactics, as well as the speed of its transmission, are discussed. It seems that even the common sense of the military in this world feels the need for reconnaissance, and before a battle, reconnaissance units are formed using mercenaries. However, there is no specialized reconnaissance training, and the information lacks accuracy.

　Therefore, in tactics, I advocated the establishment of a reconnaissance unit with light cavalry and specialized scouts. I also proposed that the flying units specialize in reconnaissance.

　In strategy, I proposed the creation of an intelligence department to collect and analyze information on the enemy’s situation. I stressed the need for the intelligence unit to include not only military and political specialists, but also experts in commerce, agriculture, and manufacturing, and to analyze the situation from multiple perspectives.

　As for the next, Command, it is conventional.

　First, on the battlefield, authority should be concentrated in the General. I stressed that even royal orders are recommended to be ignored if they do not meet strategic objectives.

　Generals need to be trained to make accurate judgments with little information. Information on the battlefield is less than a quarter of the total. To judge a situation from such little information, one needs not only wisdom and cunning, but also courage. Of course, experience plays a major role, but it is also important to fully understand the strategic objectives and to listen carefully to the opinions of subordinates. It is also important not to be driven by personal heroism.

　In this way, we will discuss Maneuver and Attack.

　In terms of content, this is an imitation of various military theories, and I have no original theories of my own.

　I don’t have the experience to develop my own theory, so there is no way for me to construct one.

　But I do make a strong argument for Supply.

　One of the weaknesses of the military in this world is the neglect of information and supply. Regarding information, field commanders seem to feel the importance of it firsthand, but not much importance is placed on Supply.

　Why is Supply neglected? It is because this world is rich.

　From the Kingdom of Saltus in the northern part of the Tria continent to the Caelum Empire in the south, there are few harsh places like deserts and wastelands. Marches are basically conducted in forests or plains, and water and, to some extent, food can be secured from neighboring villages.

　It is similar to China in the time of Sun Tzu.

　As Sun Tzu says, “Food is to be obtained from the enemy,” the idea is to procure food from the enemy. In other words, this concept is only possible if the country is rich enough to procure food.

　As one might expect, an army of more than 10,000 cavalry could not be supplied with food and fodder requisitioned from the enemy, but an army of 1,000 cavalry would be easy enough to provide food and fodder. However, if food is procured from the enemy – or plundered from the perspective of the enemy’s people – it would have a major impact on the subsequent occupation policy. This is probably due to the fact that no politician thinks that far ahead.