38: Chapter 38 Crushing Defeat

Gu Han directly gave the order to charge.

Receiving the command, the three hundred Black-Armored Ant-men sprinted wildly, kicking up sand and stones on the Gobi desert, needing to close the distance with the opposing legion as quickly as possible.

Teacher Qin Lin stood behind the Orc legion, calm and unhurried.

"Fire!"

Fifty Orc Archers released their bowstrings in unison.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Arrows sliced through the air, carrying a sharp whistling sound, raining down from the sky upon the charging ant swarm.

The Black-Armored Ant-men rushing at the very front had never seen such a method of attack; before they could react, the black shells on their heads were pierced straight through by the sharp arrows.

The powerful attacking force of Tier 1 creatures was fully demonstrated at this moment.

The hit Ant-men stumbled to a halt, and some were even sent flying by the immense force of the arrows, crashing heavily into their companions behind them. Green bodily fluids instantly stained the sandy ground.

With a single volley, the momentum of the charge was forcefully halted.

Gu Han stood in place, his brow furrowed.

The shells of the Black-Armored Ant-men were still not enough to withstand these specially-made arrows.

However, the Ant-men did not shrink back.

The Black-Armored Ant-men in the rear quickly stepped forward, opened their mandibles, bit onto the corpses of their fallen companions, and held them directly in front of themselves, braving the second wave of falling arrows as they continued to charge forward.

Arrows thudded into the corpses, making dull sounds.

The distance between the two sides quickly closed.

"Form ranks, defend against the enemy!" Teacher Qin Lin's voice rang out again.

The fifty Orc Tower Shield Soldiers at the very front slammed their half-man-high heavy shields onto the ground in unison, closing ranks to form a seamless wall of shields.

Bang!

The first wave of Black-Armored Ant-men slammed heavily into the shield wall. The immense recoil left the Ant-men dazed, yet the shield wall did not budge an inch.

"Thrust!"

The Spearmen shouted in unison as the shields pivoted and contracted, revealing gaps through which a hundred spears suddenly thrust out.

The sharp spearheads accurately pierced the vital points of the Black-Armored Ant-men.

"Retract!"

The spears were instantly pulled back.

Immediately after, the shield soldiers, who had long been building up their strength, raised their Tower Shields and slammed them forward.

The dozen or so Black-Armored Ant-men closest to the front were smashed backward, collapsing limply to the ground.

Retracting shields, thrusting spears, pulling back spears, slamming shields.

The movements of the Orc legion were uniform, coordinating seamlessly.

The three hundred Black-Armored Ant-men that Gu Han was so proud of suffered casualties of nearly half their number upon the very first clash.

They couldn't break through the front at all.

The surviving Ant-men let out a series of rapid, sharp hisses and quickly scattered, attempting to flank from both sides to encircle the enemy.

Teacher Qin Lin sneered and gave another command: "Change formation!"

The Orc army quickly moved into action.

The shield soldiers on the perimeter moved rapidly, connecting end to end to form a massive circle, tightening the formation to firmly protect the Spearmen and Archers in the center.

Immediately after, the Spearmen in the inner ring worked in pairs to lift the Archers high into the air.

From their elevated position, the Archers' field of vision instantly widened as they continued to rain arrows down on the flanking Ant-men.

The remaining Spearmen guarded behind the shield soldiers, continuously thrusting outward through the gaps.

Whenever a Black-Armored Ant-Man tried to climb over the shield wall by stepping on the corpses of its companions, it would be ruthlessly impaled by a spear.

In an instant, the entire Orc legion turned into a spiked iron barrel.

Not only that, but this Iron-barrel formation was also slowly moving.

Teacher Qin Lin was commanding her army to avoid the Ant-men corpses on the ground, preventing them from piling up too high and providing the Ant-men with a stepping stone to scale the shield wall.

Watching the battle unfold, Gu Han's heart sank halfway.

In no time, over half of the three hundred Black-Armored Ant-men were dead or injured. The survivors could only circle the perimeter anxiously, unable to find any breakthrough point. If this continued, they would be wiped out sooner or later.

This was real warfare.

The believers of those wealthy geniuses who possessed abundant resources probably had this level of strength as well.

The Black-Armored Ant-men had never learned battle formations and did not know how to break them; they only knew how to fight relying on the instincts accumulated from hunting.

Thinking to use their companions' corpses to block arrows was already the limit of their intelligence.

Faced with such a fully-equipped, well-coordinated regular army, a simple numerical advantage was completely useless.

What was even more devastating was that, up until now, Teacher Qin Lin hadn't even used a single skill.

It was a complete crush based solely on unit coordination and tactical superiority.

Gu Han raised his right hand and shouted loudly, "Teacher Qin, I admit defeat!"

If they kept fighting, the remaining Ant-men would only lose their lives in vain.

Even if he had deployed those humanoid ant soldiers from the start, the outcome would not have changed at all. The Ant-men's unit types and combat methods were far too one-dimensional.

Although this battle was a crushing defeat, he had already achieved his purpose.

Weapons, battle formations, and the diverse coordination of unit types—these were what he needed to focus on researching next.

Teacher Qin Lin waved her hand, and the Orc legion immediately ceased their attack and reformed their ranks.

She walked up to Gu Han, her tone carrying a hint of pride: "See that? This is the gap between us."

Gu Han nodded, humbly accepting the lesson.

"Even if what I sent out just now wasn't a Tier 1 legion, as long as they are well-trained veterans equipped with suitable gear and battle formations, they could still rub your ant swarm into the dirt," Teacher Qin Lin continued.

"This student has learned much," Gu Han said with a sincere attitude. "Teacher, could I copy the recording of this battle to take back with me?"

Teacher Qin Lin was taken aback for a moment, then showed an appreciative expression.

To immediately think of reviewing the match after a crushing defeat, this kid's mindset was indeed excellent.

"Sure, I'll send it to you in a bit. Go back and study it well. Your ant swarm has quite a bit of potential, but if you want to go further in the League, relying on brute force alone won't cut it."

"Understood. Thank you, Teacher."

Gu Han exited the Divine Kingdom connection cabin, put away his handheld console, and left the comprehensive training room.

In the afternoon.

Gu Han returned home, locked himself in his bedroom, and played the battle recording over and over again.

He examined every single change of formation by the Orc legion, the angles at which the Spearmen thrust their spears, and the timing of the shield soldiers raising their shields in minute detail.

The weaknesses of the Black-Armored Ant-men were too obvious.

Without any ranged attack methods or defensive measures, they were complete sitting ducks when facing an Iron-barrel formation like this.

To break through this, he had to make the Ant-men learn as well.

For example, equipping the Ant-men with weapons, breeding special ant species capable of spitting venom from a distance, or even selecting humanoids for specialized training.

Currently, the Ant-men's civilization had progressed very rapidly. With the help of that Disabled Wise-man, they had learned to herd Iron-Shell Insect Pupa and Six-Winged Chickens, and they even collected nectar to store in their underground nests.

Training specialized units might be out of reach for now, but he could consider starting with natural predators and their living environment.

Theoretical knowledge was indeed useful at this moment; when the living environment was harsh and various natural predators emerged endlessly, it would force a species to grow and evolve rapidly.

This would undoubtedly require a greater investment.

Just then, the handheld console on the desk vibrated.

The screen lit up; it was a message from the purchasing manager of Yunding Restaurant.

"Boss, are you there? Do you have a hundred available for delivery today?"