413: Chapter 400 The Importance of Logistics

When Sadou first heard the sound of explosions outside the camp, he knew the pursuing troops had fallen into an ambush.

With the enemy's meticulously laid traps, there was no doubt that the thousands of Soldiers sent by his side had likely been wiped out; even if there were lucky survivors, their numbers wouldn't be many.

Sadou didn't actually care much.

The Bauhinia Legion totaled fifty thousand men, and the elite Soldiers were under his direct control. Those the Vice Legion Commander could mobilize were all small fry; it didn't matter if they all died.

So he sat calmly in his tent, completely ignoring the commotion outside, until the enemy infiltrated the main camp.

As the dense explosions in the forest gradually became sporadic, Sadou thought he would wait until it was completely over before checking the situation. To his surprise, his Aunt suddenly entered the tent and informed him that an enemy force of thirty-five people, divided into five seven-man squads, had already reached the main camp.

Sadou was somewhat puzzled, wondering who could bypass his perception to sneak in, but he quickly remembered the seven-man squad from Lake he had faced not long ago and understood.

He knew his Aunt would definitely not take action. The reason wasn't just certain restrictions that only Lord Gods Blessing level individuals faced, but also her own personal considerations.

Therefore, he could only rely on himself.

He immediately pulled out his wand and led the guard regiment to search for the enemy's tracks. Although he knew it was futile, as the Legion Commander, he had to react when he knew the enemy was active and had even penetrated deep into the heart of the camp.

During the search, Sadou was extremely cautious, constantly paying attention to any unusual movements around him, wary of any "arrows" that might attack him.

Having fought the Special Operations Team, he had gained some understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of their combat style.

The advantage was a very high ceiling for burst damage, enough to break through a Saint-level shield. The disadvantage was the narrow attack range; a single attack usually only affected one enemy.

This highly specialized combat method, combined with the squad's terrifying invisibility, was undoubtedly best suited for assassinating high-level enemy officials.

Based on this, Sadou speculated that the squad's target was likely himself.

Sadou was full of confidence in his analysis, but after circling the main camp a few times, absolutely nothing happened around him.

He looked around blankly at the rows of tents. If they weren't here to assassinate him, then what were they here for? They couldn't be here for a tour, could they?

While he was thus confused, chaos suddenly broke out in the middle of the camp, and the Soldiers' cries of alarm and sporadic screams traveled through the air.

Sadou froze for a second and instantly locked onto the source of the sound—the area where the Divine Officials lived.

Their target was the Divine Officials?

What was the point?

While rushing to the site of the attack, Sadou's brain worked frantically, pondering the purpose of the Special Operations Team.

However, even after arriving at the scene and seeing the bodies of Divine Officials scattered everywhere for quite a while, he still couldn't make sense of it.

This was a cognitive limitation caused by the unique warfare environment of the Saul Continent.

On Blue Star, even someone who had completed nine years of compulsory education could immediately judge that the enemy was striking at their logistics capabilities.

Sadou certainly couldn't figure out the key point at that moment. He searched the vicinity, confirmed the enemy had retreated, and returned to his tent to continue his deep reflection.

His deep reflection still yielded no results until a Soldier arrived to report on the pursuit ambush: no one had died, but most of the Soldiers were severely injured. Then, he understood.

Back to the present.

Sadou's fingers tapped on the table, his eyes flickering: "So that's how it is... so... war can be waged like this..."

The Vice Legion Commander rubbed his hands: "Legion Commander, can you explain it more clearly?"

Looking up at him, Sadou said slowly: "Of the five thousand Soldiers sent out, nearly four thousand were severely injured, right?"

"Yes."

"Where were they injured?"

"Uh, they were all leg injuries. The difference was either the right leg or the left leg." This was his command error, and the Vice Legion Commander felt somewhat embarrassed, quickly forcing a smile to add, "These injuries aren't very serious. As long as a High-tier Divine Official releases a group light-attribute..."

The Vice Legion Commander froze, and the smile on his face instantly solidified.

Sadou sat up straight: "Do you understand now?"

"I... I understand." The Vice Legion Commander lowered his head awkwardly.

His Aunt, who had been silently watching from the side, spoke up: "A pity we cannot emulate this tactic against the Ganno Empire's formidable rivals."

The dazed Vice Legion Commander reflexively asked: "Why?"

"What, do you dare to attack the Divine Officials of the Kentia Empire?"

"True." After saying that, he tilted his head and thought for a moment, his eyes lighting up: "But Lake's Divine Officials have all withdrawn. Can we launch a sneak attack on the healing Professionals they are responsible for?"

"Theoretically possible, except according to my investigation, Lake doesn't rely on Professionals to heal their Soldiers," his Aunt said.

"Uh, then what do they do when their Soldiers get injured?"

"Well... who knows." After his Aunt finished speaking, she seemed to lose interest in the discussion and walked out of the tent with her hands behind her back.

The Vice Legion Commander watched her figure disappear behind the door curtain and turned to ask: "Lord Legion Commander, how should we respond now?"

"First, report the sacrifice of the Divine Officials back and request reinforcements of new Divine Officials. Then... stay put for now and see what other tricks Lake has."

Sadou's plan was perfect in his mind.

The reason Lake used these "tricks" to wear them down was clearly because they weren't strong enough for a frontal assault and planned to wait until his side's strength weakened to a certain point before launching a decisive battle.

Thus, as long as he remained stationary and waited for the reinforcing Divine Officials to arrive, the current predicament would resolve itself.

As for whether the sacrifice of too many Divine Officials in the legion would lead to accountability from the Church, there was no need to worry. The Church didn't send Divine Officials out of selfless help; it was an exchange of interests between the local branch, which kept it from the Holy Mountain Headquarters, and the Empire.

As long as the total number of casualties didn't reach a certain level, the local branch could quickly replenish the losses. After all, people eager to become Church Divine Officials were everywhere.

Unfortunately, once Lake—or rather, Domit—launched an offensive, he would never leave the opponent room to breathe, especially since Domit understood that with the Ganno Empire's overall national strength, they would soon send a batch of Divine Officials as support.

So that very night, the harassment from the First Army's vanguard arrived uninvited.

The harassment method hadn't been updated: hundreds of people launched long-range attacks on the main camp just like the previous night. When Soldiers left the camp to surround them, they would turn and flee regardless of their numbers. Once the pursuers returned to the camp, they would follow closely and open fire not far from the main camp.

In fact, this tactic didn't cause much damage to the Bauhinia Legion; sometimes, an entire round of bullets would miss completely.

Logically, the Soldiers of the Bauhinia Legion could completely ignore the harassment and deploy a few High-tier Professionals whose defenses couldn't be breached by bullets to patrol, ensuring Lake wouldn't invade the main camp.

They did exactly that. However, when the officer who issued the order smugly reported his brilliant decision to Sadou, he was met not with praise, but with a harsh scolding.

The officer didn't understand why the Legion Commander was so enraged and hurriedly rushed to the gate to withdraw the High-tier Professionals on guard.

But when he arrived at the gate and saw the headless corpses lying on the grass, all his doubts were resolved.

Lake was just waiting for you to withdraw the low-tier Professional Soldiers and send High-tier Professionals to guard the gate.

Damu had brought a total of five squads for this mission. After activating the magic circle, they could fire up to five bullets at once that could kill a High-tier Professional. If they targeted a group of High-tier Professionals, it would be very unrealistic and dangerous.

Even if they successfully killed five, if the remaining High-tier Professionals frantically released area-of-effect magic in all directions, they would have no way to escape and would surely die.

This was why Sadou strictly forbade the High-tier Professionals in the legion from acting alone and specifically warned the Vice Legion Commander, who went to check the situation, not to reveal his strength. Because once the enemy discovered a lone High-tier Professional, their head would be blown off the next second by a bullet fired from the shadows.

Sadou had a headache over this, and the officer who had suffered the loss couldn't think of an effective countermeasure either.

So what should they do?

Continue to be entangled by Lake.

At this moment, the officer suddenly understood why the Legion Commander was willing to endure the enemy's constant harassment; it was currently the only way to minimize losses.

From then on, the Soldiers and officers of the Bauhinia Legion behaved themselves, engaging in a tacit back-and-forth with the vanguard.

If you come, I'll chase; if you flee, I'll return.

It seemed both sides had entered a temporary stalemate, but after learning of this situation, Sadou felt a faint sense of unease in his heart.

After just one brief encounter, Sadou had already appreciated the military talent of Lake's commander. Would such a commander, well-versed in war, allow the offensive to stall when facing a mortal enemy?

He speculated that Lake must have planned the next offensive, but after days of deep thought, he couldn't even find a clue.

"I just feel... something's not right," Sadou muttered in his tent, sitting behind a low table.

The two Vice Legion Commanders standing in front of the table looked at each other, both with bitter faces.

They had never seen their Legion Commander Sadou so distressed. They wanted to comfort him but didn't know how to speak.

The source of Sadou's distress was clear: the enemy's intentions were unknown, and their side was very passive. They just needed to solve this. The problem was, how?

The two of them thought deeply.

What exactly did Lake want to do next?

They had already...

One Vice Legion Commander suddenly looked up: "Lord Legion Commander, Lake's first target was our Divine Officials. Could it be..."

Sadou seemed to have a realization: "Attacking the reinforcing Divine Officials?"

The other Vice Legion Commander said hesitantly: "This... is unlikely, right? How would they know the route the Divine Officials are taking?

Moreover, the Legion Commander specifically instructed that the Divine Officials coming this time must be disguised as ordinary Soldiers. How would Lake distinguish their identity and accurately find the Divine Officials mixed in with the Soldier ranks?"

"If they can't find them... what if they wipe out the whole army regardless of identity?"

Sadou shook his head, interrupting the argument between the two Vice Legion Commanders: "Impossible. The support team is equipped with at least twenty High-tier Professional Guards.

I also specifically emphasized that if they encounter a sneak attack where the enemy can't be found, they should use magic to cover from near to far..."

"Eh, why aren't you resting yet?" His Aunt lifted the door curtain and walked in.

"Lord Gods Blessing!" The two Vice Legion Commanders stood straight and saluted.

"Aunt." Sadou's attitude was much more casual. He stood up and said, "Lake's intentions are currently unclear. We'll go to rest after we discuss a result."

"Stupid." His Aunt walked behind the table and tapped Sadou's head. "With insufficient clues, can you discuss a result?"

Being treated like a child in front of his subordinates didn't annoy Sadou at all. Instead, he said excitedly: "Aunt, are you going to..."

"Don't count on me. You... you two go out first." Halfway through, his Aunt seemed to remember something and turned to dismiss the others.

"As you command!"

After the two Vice Legion Commanders left the tent, his Aunt continued: "You know, unless the Empire faces the crisis of extinction, it's impossible for a Gods Blessing to take action on the Saul Continent."

"I know that, but..." Sadou thought about the various battles he had personally experienced or witnessed over the past thousand years and had never seen a Gods Blessing participate. He asked in confusion, "Why is it that the maximum level deployed in all of the Ganno Empire's external wars is only Saint-level?"

"Well... it doesn't matter if I tell you." His Aunt took off her helmet, and her smooth, pale purple hair cascaded down. "This world is too fragile. If Gods Blessings were to take action whenever they pleased, over time, they would break the Saul Continent.

When that time comes... everyone will die."

Sadou's mouth hung open in shock: "Break it?"

"Yes."

"Then, what is the point of the Empire cultivating Gods Blessings?"

"As a trump card. After all, if the Empire is going to be destroyed, does the King still care if the world remains intact?"

"No wonder... no wonder even when wars break out between empires, the process is very restrained."

Ever since Sadou could remember, he had wondered why the Kentia Empire, clearly much stronger than Ganno and with one more Epic, could never destroy Ganno or even rarely invade its territory.

It turned out they were wary of Ganno dragging the entire Saul Continent down with them.

Sadou was silent for a moment: "Aunt, what do you think the Bauhinia Legion should do next?"

His Aunt held her helmet in her right arm and gently stroked it with her left hand: "Losing is inevitable. Now you need to consider how to make the loss look less ugly, so you can give the King an explanation."

"Is losing inevitable?" Sadou was somewhat unwilling.

"I won't take action. With that premise, can you deal with Lake's tactics?

With that squad's assassinations, you're forced to gather your High-tier Professionals together and use ordinary Soldiers to deal with them."

"Ordinary Soldiers are no match for them." Sadou had sent people to collect a lot of intelligence on Lake's military weapons and knew very well that in a frontal battle, Lake's weapons, similar to Magic Crystal Cannons, were enough to blow his ordinary Soldiers into a disorganized mess.

"Precisely."

Sadou forced himself to calm down and thought: "What about using a corps of High-tier Professionals to lead the way?

Don't they only dare to attack our lone High-tier Professionals?"

"There's a hope of success, but I think it's better not to do that."

"Why?"

"Lake's what-do-you-call-it, uh, I think it's called a howitzer?

You've seen the footage of a howitzer firing, right?"

"I've seen it; it's stored in the shadow recording crystals my subordinates sent back."

"The explosion is very powerful, much more so than our Magic Crystal Cannons, right?"

"Yes."

"Then do you think they might have even more powerful shells?"

Sadou froze.

The weapons Lake used clearly came from a complete system. Who could guarantee that what had been exposed so far was the top of that system?

Could it be just the middle, or even... the foundation?

Sadou felt a surge of palpitations, all because of his own speculation.

One must know that magic items could only be obtained from labyrinths. The most important thing was that it was rare to find magic items that could enhance each other's power through coordination; instead, most of them were in conflict.

But Lake's weapons...

Sadou couldn't sit still and suddenly stood up: "Guards!"