The Annihilation of a Legion

Given the nature of this warfare, firearms were used even at distances of just a few dozen meters, and soldiers would even draw their blades for melee combat.

Hand grenades were non-existent.

Smoke grenades, however, were used from time to time.

At times, to protect their own forces, mortars would fire volleys of smoke grenades to shroud the battlefield.

Generally, these were only used when the Dawn Empire soldiers were retreating. During active combat, the swift Swarm was far more likely to exploit the smoke for concealment and sudden assaults, posing a massive threat to the Imperial soldiers.

...

After half a day of clashing on the front lines and numerous charges back and forth, one full-strength legion of the Dawn Empire had been completely shattered by the Swarm.

The other legions also suffered varying degrees of losses.

This was primarily because, once all their soldiers were in position, the Dawn Empire attempted to launch a large-scale offensive under the cover of their air force.

An assault centered on two primary legions directly pierced through the Swarm’s defensive lines.

However, facing a Swarm that held a clear advantage in information transmission, these two elite legions were hit by two thousand rockets from their flanks and rear before they could even begin to encircle the Zerg main force.

Eighty unicycles and five rocket launch vehicles opened fire on the enemy force of eighteen thousand.

Though their numbers were few, their rate of fire was incredibly high, coming in wave after wave. Additionally, two hundred magic crystal cannons from within the Kingdom of Clear were mobilized to provide support against a Dawn Empire unit.

This was followed by an assault of five thousand zerglings and two thousand hydralisks. Accompanied by over a hundred thousand locusts, the unit that had managed to penetrate the inner defensive lines was completely devoured.

Ultimately, with minimal losses to themselves, the Zerg killed over ten thousand soldiers and captured several thousand more.

Through inspecting captured equipment and interrogating ordinary soldiers, the true extent of the Dawn Empire’s elite status became clear.

The smallest unit of a standard legion was the standard squad, also known as a standard team.

Each squad consisted of twelve men, equipped with one short-range mortar launcher, one magic machine gun, and ten magic rifles. When deploying to the battlefield, a squad would utilize three vehicles: two carried the soldiers along with supplies like shells and food, while the third was known as an accompanying artillery vehicle, which was manned by an additional four-man team.

The specific configuration of this four-man team depended on the type of vehicle.

If it were a fortress vehicle, then upon reaching the battlefield, it might receive orders from the legion to regroup with other vehicle units. If no such orders arrived, it served as the squad’s accompanying vehicle, leading the twelve soldiers in breaching enemy positions.

The same applied if the vehicle was a mortar carriage, heavy artillery, or a rocket launcher vehicle. If ordered to assemble by superiors, it would leave the squad and report directly to the higher command. If no such orders were given, it acted as the squad’s fire support vehicle; while it maintained some distance from the infantry, it prioritized support requests from the squad leader.

It could be said that the Empire’s combat doctrine was built upon the foundation of advanced magical communications.

The accompanying vehicles within the squads were primarily intended to raise the baseline capability of the army, ensuring that every squad had access to heavy fire support.

Conversely, within each legion, there were elite units composed entirely of heavy equipment.

These included fortress vehicle battalions, long-range magic artillery battalions, and more.

Every battalion possessed its own banner, which was why battalion-level commanders were also known as banner captains.

However, that was not the point. The crucial issue was that even such a legion felt no sense of superiority when facing the Zerg.

The Zerg had realized this as well.

In terms of precision strikes and information transmission efficiency, the Zerg had achieved what could only be described as a total tactical outclassing of the Dawn Empire.

Once a target was identified, the Zerg immediately and simultaneously transmitted bombardment orders to the most appropriate long-range support units. On the Imperial side, the same process still required several minutes of protocol.

By the time the Zerg’s shells were landing, the Empire’s forces were only just beginning to prepare.

There was also a stark difference in accuracy between the two sides.

The Dawn Empire’s raw firepower was significantly higher than the Swarm’s. This force of a hundred thousand alone possessed over seven thousand cannons, most of which were equipped with magical tires that allowed them to be moved by manpower alone. Despite this, a full legion was devoured by a Swarm that relied mostly on unicycles across the front line.

When news of the battle’s conclusion reached the Dawn Empire, the entire nation was in an uproar.

This was a force capable of utterly overwhelming the demons, yet when they turned their attention to the Zerg, they couldn’t gain even the slightest advantage.

From the high command to the common citizenry, no one could believe that a full-strength legion had been annihilated.

Naturally, for the general populace, the war still felt somewhat abstract and lacked a sense of reality.

“What? We lost? Goddess of Dawn preserve us.”

And then...

“How could we lose?”

That was the general state of things.

Ultimately, it was just a single legion being wiped from the order of battle. In the grand scheme of a war of this scale, it was simply of little consequence.