337: Chapter 20, Face Card_1 337: Chapter 20, Face Card_1 “Cow Cavalry,” the biggest challenge is still the cost.
In the Farming Era, cows were a critical economic resource.
For the majority of the time, the value of a cow exceeded that of a human.
In order to reclaim the land for agriculture, Hudson started developing animal husbandry vigorously since taking over the Mountain Domain, buying hundreds of breeding cows.
Now, the Mountain Domain has developed a herd of over a thousand cows, albeit with a large proportion being calves.
Given the need for development in the domain, not all could be drawn away.
Besides, ordinary work cattle are not suitable for war.
The ones that really meet the requirements are those descendants of mutated oxen which are stronger, endurant, and more powerful.
Time, after all, is scarce.
Those descendants of mutated oxen are all in the growth phase and, apart from the breeding cattle, the rest are immature.
Even if we lower standards, including the ones over one and a half years old, it only amounts to over two hundred.
This small amount obviously can’t meet the demand.
Considered as the core platform for an army, heavy infantry seems unimpressive but is the most crucial military unit in large-scale field warfare.
According to the plan, Hudson was preparing to prepare one thousand heavy infantry, making up one fifteenth of the total military force.
As for the heavy infantry within the private armies of other nobles, that’s their own business; he does not have that much influence.
Noble lords have the duty to perform military service, but the autonomy of military unit allocation is very high.
Hudson neither has the right to interfere nor the necessity to.
When it comes to matters affecting their own lives, noble lords never act rashly.
Even if the allocation is not ideal, it isn’t likely to be too unbalanced.
Preparing so many heavy infantry, apart from increasing battlefield capability, is primarily for them to take hits and have a high survival rate.
With armor and shield protection, they can block most of the enemy’s attacks.
Often, after a war, the casualty rate of heavy infantry doesn’t match a tenth of that of other soldiers.
Elites are not easy to cultivate, and losses are hard for Hudson to bear.
Although he is prepared for a possible “strategic shift” at any time, that is only in situations when all efforts have failed.
No one would want to run away in a hurry if there is a chance of victory.
Winning battles and increasing the strength of troops is undoubtedly a crucial factor.
Apart from higher costs and somewhat slower mobilization speed, heavy infantry has barely any significant drawbacks.
If there aren’t enough cows, then other animals must be included.
“Horseback Cavalry,” “Mule Cavalry,” and “Donkey Cavalry” can all be considered.
After all, it’s not expected for them to face the Orc Cavalry head-on.
They’re merely responsible for pulling the heavy infantry forward, saving the soldiers’ energy and improving the marching speed.
Of course, if it’s a matter of bullying some orcs with only a power level of five, using them directly as cavalry isn’t out of the question.
The biggest issue with such a mixed-mount allocation is the logistics.
Comparatively, cows are the easiest to take care of.
A bundle of grass along with some fodder is enough.
Mules, donkeys, and nag horses are also easy to maintain.
It’s really the war horses that need most attention.
In normal times, they eat grass, but during war, they must eat grain.
For a balanced diet, they need beans, bran, cereals, even sometimes eggs must be added.
The partisan standard is no lesser than the noble lords’ and is much more expensive than that of ordinary soldiers.
The more livestock equipped, the greater the burden on logistics.
Luckily, in this kind of war, soldiers don’t need to bring their own provisions, or else Hudson would collapse on the spot.
Having put together the heavy infantry, archers also cannot be left out.
Against the unprotected orc army, archers often play an unexpectedly crucial role.
Five hundred archers, that’s almost all of Hudson’s assets.
They are all armed with strong bows from the Alpha Kingdom with a maximum range of 300 meters.
The bow is 1.5 meters long, the body made of premium wood, and the string of hemp fiber.
The significant difference from general bows and arrows is that, once these strong bows are made, they need to be soaked in a special magic potion for three days.
A well-equipped arrow naturally exudes extraordinary power.
An arrow shot by a qualified archer can easily penetrate leather armor, cloth armor, and even some iron armor.
Not only are they capable against small soldiers, but when encountering elite orcs, these strong bowmen can also play a significant role.
After all, heavy infantry always only count as a few.
The human side doesn’t have too many, while the orc army has even fewer.
Restricted by the level of productivity, the iron production of the Orc Empire has always been low and is far inferior to the humans in terms of weapons and equipment.
With a total army of five thousand, cavalry + heavy infantry + crossbowmen accounting for two fifths, the allocation of other military units naturally has to be reduced.
Luckily, there is still an army of ten thousand from the allied lords; otherwise, such an unreasonable allocation of troops would definitely scare the orcs once on the battlefield.
Before even going to scare the orcs, Hudson was scared first.
According to the plan, the five-thousand-strong army surprisingly has a thousand war horses plus over two thousand other animals.
Without a doubt, this ratio is very abnormal.
Cuts must be made; setting off with so many animals is virtually a logistics nightmare.
Cost is also a significant factor.
By moving so many animals all at once, the reclamation of land in the Mountain Domain would instantly suffer greatly.
The first to face cuts is the heavy infantry.
A person to an animal is just too extravagant.
Animals must be exchanged with ox carts, horse carts, or mule carts to reduce the number of animals.
On ordinary marches, the armor could be kept in the carts, and soldiers could walk.
Only in dangerous areas, where they may confront the orc army at any time, do they need to put on their armor and continue in carts.