You were made to farm, and now you're the emperor of an empire?

Chapter 371 I Only Go One Way
The professional brigade is the elite fighting force that Princess White Steel mentioned. A high proportion of them are Apostles.

Last year, Roman had a total of 10,000 auxiliary soldiers and 7,000 professional battalions.

The professional team suffered heavy losses in the battle of Tianma Plain.

Because professional battalions have a much higher combat function than auxiliary soldiers, and their casualty rate is also higher.

Use it to the extreme as long as it doesn't kill you.

As a result, many of them died.

Later, Roman selected some outstanding auxiliary soldiers to fill the vacancies left by the reduction in the number of professional soldiers.

There are now approximately 6,000 auxiliary soldiers and 7,000 professions.

Of course, although they are called auxiliary soldiers, some of them are just as capable as the soldiers of the professional battalion.

Auxiliary soldiers are also professional soldiers; they just enlisted later.

Roman's stance was clear: soldiers who enlisted earlier had an obligation to take on greater risks.

……

Fengrao City has no natural defenses.

Roman could only forcibly build five high ground defense towers.

These are Coldwind Town, Leicester, Shane County, Blackbird Forest, and Apple Town.

To replenish the troops, Roman sent 2,500 soldiers to garrison the fortress.

Coldwind Town is the most remote, located in the north, and has no connection to any road. It has no strategic value, and the soldiers stationed there can only be considered a surprise force.

Leicester and Shane are geographically close, sandwiching the Black Iron Road, which is about three or four kilometers apart.

The minion waves in the Blackbird Forest and the jungle are very close together.

Apple Town is located between the bottom and middle lanes, making it extremely dangerous. Therefore, Apple Town is guarded not only by five hundred professional soldiers but also by a thousand militia crossbowmen.

Currently, the garrison in Fengrao City consists of only 11,000 professional soldiers.

Five thousand elite troops are almost equivalent to all professional soldiers.

Roman agreed to Tasina's strategic plan.

Strictly speaking, the top and mid lanes are where the pressure is greatest.

But he shared the same view as Tasina.

Firstly, because we need to focus all our efforts on dealing with the top and mid lanes, we need to cripple the bottom lane first to prevent them from stealing our base.

Secondly, prolonged defense will inevitably lead to defeat, so it is better to switch from defense to offense.

Finally, Roman possessed the wisdom of war from his previous life—"No matter how many routes you come from, I will only go one way"—turning defensive warfare into mobile warfare!

Even a Sword Saint cannot face an attack from four people at the same time, but a true Sword Saint can turn a 1v4 situation into a four-on-one situation.

It's better to do it sooner rather than later.

Following a brief military decision, the already war-torn city of Plenty immediately dispatched its troops.

Let's disrupt the enemy's strategic deployment first.

On Tashina's side are Black Iron, White Knight, First Oak Marshal Enya, and Oak Elite Soldiers.

On Roman's side, there are Deputy Commander and Sniper Team member Dick, Vanguard Team member Nathan, Heavy Team member Aaron, Guard Team member Kao, Special Forces Team member Green, and the spellcasting group, among others.

At Tashina's suggestion, all the heavily armored soldiers discarded their heavy shields and replaced them with light shields, thus switching to light armor for battle.

Aaron was somewhat confused.

He said, "Your Highness, without the shields, our advantage will be greatly diminished."

Tashina said meaningfully, "Sir Aaron, listen to me, this battle shouldn't be delayed too long, because they 'can see' it."

...around noon.

Down the road. The Bro River.

Carter and Provence Department.

They claimed to have an army of 200,000, but they themselves were not entirely sure of the exact number, and could only roughly estimate it to be more than 50,000—of which one-third were responsible for logistics and supplies, and the actual conscripted troops numbered only more than 30,000.

Provence is the king of lavender. He is tall, handsome, and has long, straight black hair that reaches his shoulders. He is always neatly combed and seems to exude a light and elegant fragrance from within, possessing a clear aristocratic air.

The image of the Carter family patriarch was the other extreme. He rode a black bear with all four limbs on the ground, and he himself was covered in thick hair with round, bushy ears, looking like an orc, even more like a bear than the black bear.

The Lord of Provence had no liking for the head of the Carter family, and the same went for his mount, a ferocious beast that ate people, its blood congealed on the coarse, stiff fur on its bear-like face, making people feel uneasy.

"My lords, the army of the blasphemers and Princess White Steel have arrived. They are not here with good intentions." The speaker was a bishop of the Papacy.

Someone asked, "How did Your Excellency know?"

The bishop said, "It is the gods who have spoken."

The King of Lavender smiled like a spring breeze and said, "Praise be to the gods."

The Beast Lord hated the gods as much as Provence hated him, but circumstances forced him to comply outwardly, and he said in a somber tone, "Praise the gods."

The beast's instincts were sharp, and it knew that these priests must have received some information from another world, the source of power for most prophets. With certain revelations, they could perform tricks like witches, and it was hard to say whether they were related to the gods.

"How much longer until they arrive?" asked the King of Lavender.

"At most half a day," the priest replied.

“Then let’s fight,” said the Beast Clan Head.

Half a day is enough time for them to change from a marching state to a war state.

At this moment, a minor nobleman suddenly said, "My lords, aren't we being too reckless? We are now closer to our enemy than to our comrades. Lord Macol said that we should advance side by side and support each other."

"What are your thoughts?" Provence asked with a smile.

"Refuse to engage in battle, focus all your strength on defense, and form an array where you are. Even Princess White Steel will be forced to retreat in defeat," the man advised.

He looked at the bishop, hoping that the elders from the Vatican would support his plan, but the bishop had only recently become a military bishop and had been obsessed with missionary work in the past. He knew little about military and political matters and could only see one thing.

We have a huge advantage! How can we lose when the dragons are charging in?
"We are powerful enough, what do we have to fear from Princess White Steel? Pass on my order: advance ten miles, find an open space, and everyone engage in battle!" the Beast Clan Chief roared. His voice was terrifying, like a beast's howl.

“Since Her Highness the Princess is going to send troops, why not play along with her?” said the Lord of Provence.

"what are you up to?"

“You will fight head-on, while I will lead a contingent of knights to flank from the side. I want to see if our princess is as tenacious as the legends say.”

……

In the afternoon.

The advancing river valley army.

A crow circled in the sky, flew in from afar, and landed on Princess White Steel's shoulder.

It squawked incoherently, "Your Highness, they've changed formation!"

“As expected, they noticed. They received the revelation, and our raid failed right from the start.” Tashina frowned slightly. “Moreover, this means that the Black Iron Road and Lion Territory will find out very quickly as well.”

"So, are we still going to fight?" Dick asked.

Commander Jet didn't come, but Dick, as the deputy commander, was also the supreme commander of the five thousand elite soldiers.

He was the only one on the scene qualified to discuss specific tactics with Tasina. However, he was easily influenced and lacked a firm will; he was by nature someone who went with the flow, and as a traditional knight, he held Tasina, the royal princess, in high esteem.

Dick typically doesn't openly oppose anything unless he makes a doomed, risky decision.

Iotashina said, "Fight! Why not fight? You fight on the main battlefield, and I'll lead a surprise attack to flank them!"

(End of this chapter)