In ancient societies where transportation was underdeveloped, the logistical pressure of launching a large-scale expedition was quite heavy.

Emperor Sochar wanted to put a huge army of hundreds of thousands of people into a distant battlefield, so many soldiers, war horses, war elephants, and pterodactyls had to eat and drink along the way, and the expenses were naturally amazing, in order to avoid the death of this expedition in the middle of the way, the overjoyed Emperor Sochar did everything it took to loot countless wealth and materials from the broken and scorched earth that had just experienced the war, and recruited all the strong men and warriors he could pull from the territory he had just seized, throughout the history of the entire Falmatt continent, Rarely have there ever been military campaigns of this magnitude – as many men as sand, as much gold as sand, and as much grain as sand, all of which have been combined into an army that has never been seen before, fully demonstrating the majesty of the empire.

Millions of subjects of the Empire, busy like ants under the whip, patiently pieced together the expedition bit by bit.

But there are also technical problems that cannot be solved by wealth, violence and power alone.

Before the advent of railways, the cost of transporting any bulk cargo over long distances by land was very high. If an ox cart or carriage full of grain is walked hundreds of kilometers away, the coachman and the oxen and horses pulling the cart will eat all the grain on the cart, and as for the front-line troops who are looking forward to it, they will naturally not be blessed to consume the grain on the cart, and if they are lucky, they can chop the cart and eat it as a firewood stew, and if they are unlucky, they can only drink the northwest wind.

According to the discussion and analysis of experts on ancient military studies on Earth, during the long expeditions before the advent of railways, if there were no supplies along the way, no waterways to use, and only the soldiers carried their own food and grass, then they could maintain a maximum of nine days of march. Of course, the army could bring ox carts and horse-drawn carts, but the oxen and horses that pulled the carts also had to eat. No matter how many ox carts and wagons you bring to pull grain, you will only be able to get out of 12 to 15 days. Although this figure is not absolutely correct given the large differences in the world throughout the world, it is only indicative. But it is clear that relying on land transport to conquer a region with difficult supplies is very difficult, and sometimes completely unrealistic.

Well? And magic? This one...... If it is some high-magic plane that has invented the space bag, the ring of acceptance, and the shrinkage technique, as long as a magician can easily carry thousands of tons of materials, then the above-mentioned logistics and transportation problems naturally no longer exist. But the problem is that although there are some magicians on the continent of Farmatt, they are only a low-level magic plane, and the skills of magicians are limited to rubbing fireballs, releasing lightning and making some unreliable predictions, and they have not come up with "space equipment", which is a highly practical magic item necessary for home travel.

Therefore, in this way, compared with the expensive and limited transportation of carriages and horses, water transportation has become the best choice for the ancient army to maintain logistics transportation. The problem is that the Arnous Hills are not close to the sea, nor are there any large rivers that flow through them, and the nearest harbour is about 200 kilometres from the Arnoos Hills, and the trail is full of inaccessible wilderness – that is, it is not advisable to rely on water transport.

Under such circumstances, the only way for Sochar to keep his army fed and drunk before going into battle was to dry up and fish, to prepare food and grass on the spot near the battlefield, and to eat wherever they went...... As a result, the path of this army became a huge belt of destruction. Wherever the army passed, it was like locusts crossing the border, and the inhabitants along the way had their food eaten up, their houses requisitioned, and they themselves became coolies with the army. Even so, the food stored along any road is far from enough to consume hundreds of thousands of troops. In order for his army to have at least food to loot on the way, Sochar had to divide his army into several routes until he reached the nearby city of Itarica, where he could regroup.

Then, when Emperor Sochar's royal chariot came to the city of Itarica, although the citizens of the city did not dare to resist at all, they took the initiative to open the gates of the city with trepidation, and sent representatives to offer money to the emperor and kneel on the ground to beg for mercy. However, in order to meet the logistical needs of the army, Sochar brazenly ordered "punishment for the traitors of the city", and issued a massacre order against Itarica, where bloodthirsty warriors smirked and stormed the completely undefended city, blocking every gate, and then hunting birds to hunt the citizens down. Although the frightened citizens hid in their homes to minimize their presence and avoid getting into trouble. But the killers broke down the door and slaughtered the women amid the screams...... Every street and every mansion in the city was baptized in blood. All the men in the townspeople were slaughtered, not even the young boys. Women were sold into slavery, and the murderers of their relatives became their masters. The trees on the side of the street were quickly filled with all kinds of heads......

Although it looks barbaric, bloody, and inhumane, in fact, this is actually just a very ordinary scene in the war of ancient society, and it is also the convention and law of the ancient army. Until three or four hundred years ago, all the countries on the planet still did this.

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With a cloud of smoke, a terrible wail, and blood staining the stone streets, the city of Itarica descended into a purgatory of destruction

In the mansion of the lord of Itarica, Emperor Sochar of Saddle Horse is sipping a bottle of brandy from another world while playing with several exquisite and luxurious gifts—these were originally the money made up by the citizens of Itarican City, but they still couldn't buy their own lives back.

In fact, as a tyrant with a great joy and an impatient personality, Emperor Sochar originally planned to go straight to the Arnous Hills to settle accounts with the Otherworlders once he had gathered his troops and horses, and did not want to delay in Itarica City at all...... But the problem is, this kind of thing really can't be done!!

As mentioned earlier, the location of the Arnous Hills on the continent of Palmat is a "barren wilderness in the center of the civilized world", and on all sides of the hills are barren land that is inaccessible to people. Between the palace where Sochar had previously been stationed and the Arnus hills, there is also a Romanian mountain range. Although this mountain range is not steep, it is extremely wide, and it takes ordinary people half a month to walk from one side of the mountain range to the other.

Originally, there used to be a wide royal road between the imperial capital and the Arnous hills, but now it has been washed away by the monstrous flood gushing out of the "gate". The few remaining roads over the Romanian mountains have a far western exit from the Arnus hills, and the mountain road that leads from the hinterland of the empire at the eastern foot of the mountains to the city of Itarica is now the closest to the Arnus hills.

In other words, if Sochar's army were to make it to the Armnous Hills, they would have to make a spin in Itarica City first—the rest of the road would be farther and more difficult. Moreover, before entering the battlefield, it is necessary to camp and rest for a period of time, because carrying heavy equipment over mountains and mountains for so many days in a row will greatly drain the physical strength of soldiers, military horses, and war elephants.

(Just like many Chinese writers, once they need to conceive of another world, they always habitually refer to their own motherland to set it up, describing the otherworldly dynasty as an environment where "the north is the grassland, the east is the sea, the south is the tropical rainforest, and the west is the great desert"; American and British writers are also accustomed to writing about other worlds as if they were their hometowns. For example, the continent of Westeros in "A Song of Ice and Fire" is obviously an enlarged version of the island of Great Britain.

In the same way, the Falmatt continent set by the Japanese in "Fantasy Self-Defense Force" is actually a variant version of Honshu Island, the Arnus Hill is probably the location of Mt. Yoshino in the south of Yamato Province, the location of the imperial capital is equivalent to Nagoya, Rendell City is Gifu of Oda Nobunaga Tianbu Busu, Itarika City is equivalent to Nara, the Elbe Domain can be compared to the Kii Domain, and Kyoto and Lake Biwa are squeezed out by mountains and hills. The empire was essentially similar to the Tokugawa shogunate, with its direct domains in the southeast, headhunter grasslands in the northeast, and various "daimyo of foreign daimyos" in the southwest. ）

In short, the hundreds of thousands of troops that had crossed the Romanian mountains from the east had to rest for a while in Itarica before they could once again regain their attacking capability. The grain consumed during this period could not be transported over the mountains and mountains from the rear, except for ordering the western nobles to pay a part of the tribute, and they could only be looted from the city of Itarica...... Fortunately, after a massacre, he finally managed to find enough food from the city to feed his entire army for seven days. And the corpses of citizens do not need to be wasted, they can be directly fed to those filthy pig-headed people as cannon fodder.

“…… By the way, General Podavon, the Southern Route Army commanded by Duran has already returned to his home country last month, right? Where have we gone now? ”

Putting down the wine glass in his hand, Sochar looked at the rough map spread out on the table, and asked casually to a general.

“…… Your Majesty, the 30,000 troops led by the King of the Elbe have just passed through the Schulz Forest on the border of the Elbe and entered the Terilia Plain south of the Arnus hills. But because the area is deserted and there are few decent roads, the pace of progress is very slow. ”

The general Podavon, who was questioned by the emperor, hurriedly replied, "...... Based on the last letter sent by His Highness Duran, it would take at least eight days for them to reach the vicinity of the Armnous Hills and make contact with the Otherworldly army. ”

“…… Very good, let Duran's Elbe Domain army fight the people of the other world first, and see how capable those humans of the other world are! ”

Emperor Sochar raised his eyebrows and said calmly, "...... As for our side, let's hold our troops for the time being, and let the warriors relax in Itarica, I know that they have been walking the mountain road for half a month in a row, and now it is very hard! ”

“…… Yes, thank you for your generosity and kindness! "The generals present, including Po Davin, hurriedly bowed and thanked them.

“…… It's nothing, we still have a long way to go, and we can't let the soldiers get tired at the beginning......"

Emperor Sochar waved his hand reservedly, "...... This time, I'm determined to fight to the end of the earth! ”

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- In Sochar's view, in addition to punishing the people of the other world entrenched on the hills of Arnus, this mighty westward expedition also has a more magnificent blueprint, that is, to sweep away the western part of the Falmatt continent that is nominally subservient to the empire, but in fact it is unruly and basically independent separatist forces, re-establish the supreme authority of the empire on the continent, and let everyone in the entire continent understand that the hegemony of the empire has not been weakened by the civil war, and the territory of the empire is still connected to the sky. All the lands where the sun comes are subject to the Empire!

And Sochar thought he would be able to achieve this, after all, he now had such a huge army under his command, and countless soldiers and horses filled the roads and fields along the way, stretching all the way to the distant horizon, and the mere step could crush everything in its path. As long as the world's largest military machine is turned on at full speed, there will be no opponent on the continent of Farmatt that can fight against it!

As the first stop on the journey, in the eyes of the arrogant Emperor Sochar, those people from other worlds who don't know what to do on the hills of Arnus are just a small dessert at the front of a sumptuous feast, and the first chicken to be killed to Liwei...... However, judging from the current harvest, it seems that there are indeed a lot of good things to be coveted in the hands of the people from the other world who come from the other side of the "door", and they are not the kind of poor eggs who lack oil and water......

Thinking so, Thorchar raised the glass on the table and took another sip of the brandy that the merchants of Itarica City had brought from the Otherworldly - I have to admit that this novel spirit was indeed very much to Sochar's taste, and he was a little addicted to it.

Unfortunately, not many brandies were seized from the city, only a dozen bottles in total, and they should be drunk in a few days at most...... But it doesn't matter, when this battle is over, you can ask the Otherworlders on the hills of Arnus for a drink, no matter how much they want, they have to give as much as they want.

Of course, there are other good things that the Otherworlders possess that are also worth searching, such as luscious sweets that sparkle like gemstones, colorful silks that are indescribably beautiful, and mirrors, perfumes, and jewelry that women love—looking at the boxes full of extremely brilliant and gorgeous otherworldly jewelry looted from the city of Itarica, Sochar only felt that his original treasure trove was paled by comparison.

(Although they are all worthless zircon, crystal glass, and aluminum alloy jewelry, the natives of the fantasy world are not recognizable.) If only in terms of visual effects, those zircon hairpins of tens of yuan in modern society may be more gorgeous than the red gold hairpins in ancient society. ）

It can be seen that these guys from another world are really quite oily, and after defeating them, they have to blackmail them enough!

While Sochar pondered what he should ask the Otherworlders for as reparations and tribute after the victory in the crusade against the Arnous Hills, he also remembered a rumor that he had just discovered: it is said that some hateful headhunters also took advantage of the chaos of the Empire's civil war to somehow run to the Armnous Hills and hook up with the Otherworldlys...... Well, the army on this expedition is so strong and strong, it must be counted together with new hatreds and old hatreds, and while conquering the people of the other world, it is also necessary to let those female rabbits who refuse to be slave girls completely surrender to their crotch......

However, just when Emperor Sochar was so complacent and wanted to do something, he never imagined that he would never have the opportunity to see the Arnous Hills again, because, after verifying his whereabouts, some fellows hundreds of kilometers away sentenced him to death:

“…… Have you confirmed that Sochar's royal car has entered Itarica? Very good, let the floating fleet carry the whole army of the chengguan team! ”

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ps: I watched the movie "Pandora" in South Korea's response to the nuclear disaster, and I was deeply moved, but the ending was still too bright. It is grossly illogical that politicians can be moved in such irresponsible circumstances, so they conceive a short dark story, which may be written at the end of the book:

In order to develop its economy, a tropical island country built a nuclear power plant, but because of lack of money and technology, it had to let foreign companies build and operate it. As a result, in order to reduce costs, foreigners hired laymen and temporary workers to make do, deceive from top to bottom, embezzle and make false reports, and finally had an accident after a typhoon, and shirked each other's responsibilities. The government is bent on controlling the media and throwing the rescue mission to foreign companies, which do not want to be trapped, and sit idly by, just shouting in the air. In the end, in the midst of the noise and shouting, the nuclear disaster continued to escalate, the whole country became a radiation zone, government officials had already fled, most of the people listened to the government's lies and waited at home to die, only a few escaped, and the United Nations decided to drop a hydrogen bomb to eliminate the radiation by Russia after coordination.

Then, as soon as the few surviving refugees landed, they received a bill for the hydrogen bomb from Russia, and because the officials of the island countries had swallowed overseas assets and fled, the cost of the hydrogen bomb had to be spread over each refugee, and each person owed $10,000 in debt, and those who could not come up with the money were sent directly to Siberia for labor reform......