Meng Chao cast a glance at the clock hanging above Takano's head.
Time was on his side.
"I'm getting more and more confused," he said. "What do these old things have to do with Dragon City's future?"
"History is like a mirror. It can show us our future."
The flames in Takano's lone eye grew brighter, but his expression became calmer. "As the scale and intensity of the colonization war continue growing, a lot of resources and war profits will be gathered on superhumans, especially the high-grade superhumans. They'll help them reach higher realms and gain greater fighting strength.
"Of course, these superhumans will naturally gain even more power. It's only by doing so that they can handle the needs of the colonization war.
"And as the occupied territories continue growing, the supply lines will become longer, and the normal human soldiers with the Red Dragon Army as their representative will become weaker. They won't be able to bring out the power of the steel army.
"At the end of the day, the seemingly unstoppable, invincible 'Iron Torrent' needs a smooth transportation network and powerful logistical support in order to carry out 100% of its combat ability.
"Hardened roads, railroads, a large number of airports, heavy-duty transport planes, sea routes protected by aircraft carrier fleets, and a stable and reliable heavy industrial system that won't be easily destroyed by the enemy. It's only when these conditions are in place that the steel army can turn from a slogan into reality.
"Unfortunately, you're not hoping for the Other World's civilization to have a lot of hardened roads and railroads, assuming that there's a civilization here, right?
"Even though Dragon City has developed a lot of automated and highly efficient construction equipment, it's impossible.
"But it's practically impossible for them to spread a dense transportation network all over the Other World without being destroyed by the Other World creatures.
"This means that it'll be very difficult for the Red Dragon Army to use the fighting methods of Earth to carry out the tactical maneuvers of large armies in the boundless Other World. Even if they manage to do so, the cost will be ten times or even one hundred times the cost on Earth. The astronomical military expenditure will be enough to bring down the entire financial system.
"In the end, Dragon City will have to choose to pour most of its resources into superhumans. They'll replace regular armies with superhumans who are agile, don't face any pressure from the logistical support system, and can fight against thousands of enemies.
"When the superhumans become the main characters of the war, the Red Dragon Army and the other normal human armed forces will sink into a vicious cycle because they won't be able to obtain resources. They will gradually be reduced to supporting roles and subordinates. They will no longer be able to attack cities and will only be existences like local security forces.
"Meng Chao, do you think what I said makes sense?"
Meng Chao opened his mouth.
He really wanted to say, "That makes too much f * cking sense."
It was not just logical. It was the truth in Meng Chao's previous life.
All in all, in a world with supernatural powers, the combat power of mortal soldiers was too weak, and there were too many restrictions to unleash 100% of combat power.
The key was logistics.
When the Red Dragon Army defended Dragon City and had their homes and fellow citizens behind them, they could display astonishing fighting strength. Regardless of whether they faced Apocalyptic Beasts, other supernatural creatures, or even the strongest magicians, they could not yield an inch. They faced death with equanimity and fought until only one soldier remained.
And the heavy industry system that was close to them could provide them with an endless stream of tanks, airships, or at least ammunition. They could use the steel army to drown their enemies' bodies.
However, once the Red Dragon Army left the areas controlled by Earthlings and needed to go on expeditions, the mountains, rivers, forests, and swamps of the Other World, along with the complicated and ever-changing extreme weather would cause the logistics forces of the Red Dragon Army to suffer.
And the targets they needed to conquer were clearly not the barbarians from Earth.
They were magicians who controlled powerful supernatural powers.
They were also elves who appeared and disappeared mysteriously and could control entire forests.
There were also the barbarians and orcs who were not afraid of death and could instantly go berserk.
There were also the dwarves who could destroy the underground world in just a few days and destroy the Red Dragon Army's railway lines, which were hundreds of kilometers long.
Those damn Other World locals always had a way to cut off the Red Dragon Army's supply lines.
A modern army that had lost its logistics was no different from an ancient army that had run out of ammunition and food.
What was worse was that the Red Dragon Army's large war machines used crystals as their energy source.
Compared to the gasoline and gunpowder from Earth, crystals were an incredibly unstable and dangerous energy source.
On the battlefield, there were often situations where the situation was clearly advantageous to Earth's army, but the Other World's natives, driven by their fervent beliefs, would sacrifice a few powerful fighters' lives to accurately lock onto Earth's ammunition depot and destroy all the crystal ammunition stored there.
This sort of tragedy happened again and again.
The higher ups of Dragon City and the normal citizens had to admit that it was just a fool's dream to think that they could rely on a steel army to sweep through the Other World and conquer it.
Hence, Gao Ye was right. Before Meng Chao returned to the past, all sorts of war resources were given to superhumans, and they relied on superhumans to fight against the powerful fighters of the Other World locals.
And the Red Dragon Army gradually split into three parts.
The first was a small but skilled rapid reaction force. The largest of them was no larger than a brigade.
The Ghost Tribe that Meng Chao had joined in his previous life might not have been a true fighting force, but they were the most common core fighting units at that time.
The second was the battlefield engineering force. They specialized in following behind the powerful fighters to provide firepower support, build roads, and build all sorts of trenches and fortresses.
The third was the public security force. After the Earth elites killed the Other World elites, the engineering force built the fortresses and stationed themselves in the fortresses to suppress the Other World locals nearby.
Among them, the public security force was the largest.
No matter how glorious an army's history was, how good their equipment was, and how high their morale was, once they turned into a public security force and treated the elusive guerrillas as their main opponents, their fighting strength would plummet. They would fall, and in the end, they would collapse.
The Red Dragon Army naturally did not want to end up as a side character in the colonization war. They were a public security force that had to run around between the elves' curses and dwarves' warhammers.
The military did everything they could to research heroic spirit technology and gathered thousands of soldiers' brainwaves to create powerful fighting soul technology. They were all trying to seize the dominant position in the war.
But these technologies could not completely change the difference between normal soldiers and high-grade superhumans.
The Red Dragon Army was destined to be unable to reach the status of any national army on Earth to Dragon City.
"I can tell from your expression that you agree with me," Gao Ye said happily.
"I didn't expect that our communication would go so smoothly. Usually, university students your age are rash, zealous, and blind. They think that victory is at hand, and there are very few who can think about the future calmly.
"In any case, in the decades to come, the superhumans' strength, wealth, and authority will increase, and the distance between them and normal people will widen.
"And as their cultivation realms continue increasing, Dragon City will use biochemical modification technology, runic symbol machine technology, and the most advanced superbrain technology to develop pseudo-artificial intelligence and automatized technology. The end result is that all sorts of fighting machines that normal people don't need to produce or control will replace normal soldiers. They might be drones, self-thinking fighting vehicles, or biochemical fighting beasts.
"To a peerless fighter, instead of bringing a normal human squad to attack the developing land of the Other World locals, it would be better for them to bring a large number of drones, self-thinking fighting vehicles, and biochemical pets. They might even not bring anything and sneak into the enemy's developing land to assassinate their core members.
"At the very least, the drones won't be afraid, the self-thinking fighting vehicles won't break down, and even if the biochemical pets die, they won't need to pay a single copper coin as compensation. Even if the war goes badly for them, the peerless fighter can rely on his outstanding abilities to leave the battlefield at any moment and flee far away. He won't need to save his comrades who are lost in the sea of the Other World locals.
"As time passes, you will notice that normal people won't even have the value of being cannon fodder.
"And to a peerless fighter who has a large number of drones, self-thinking fighting vehicles, and biochemical pets, as well as his own mega corporation, if he manages to conquer a few of the Other World towns far away from Dragon City and subjugate a large number of Other World locals, it will be a question mark as to how much loyalty he will have to Dragon City."
Meng Chao frowned a little. "What do you mean?"
"It's simple. Think about it. You're a peerless fighter who is above Deity Realm, and your fighting strength is equivalent to that of an army. You also have an incredibly developed brain, and your calculation and deduction abilities are equivalent to that of a supercomputer. You can control thousands of automated fighting machines at the same time, and you're also the controller of a mega corporation," Gao Ye said.
Gao Ye said. "With your current state, after you conquered a few towns belonging to the Other World's locals and even conquered a native kingdom, will you still be 100% loyal to Dragon City and the millions of normal citizens who are far inferior to you? Will you place their interests above your own?
"Dragon City isn't a normal country. The Survival Committee isn't a government that has great prestige and can control all superhumans. Even the seemingly powerful Supernatural Tower needs to continuously compromise with the high-grade superhumans and search for the greatest common denominator.
"The colonization war that lasts for a long time will only make the high-grade superhumans and the mega corporations they control continue growing. They will turn into monsters that are so big that they can't fall. In the end, the superhumans will control Dragon City, not the other way around.
"And the superhumans who have all sorts of resources and interests in the depths of the Other World and their own independent kingdoms will only have a connection with the normal Dragon Citizens that we're all Earthlings.
"Right now, Dragon City has only transmigrated half a century ago. There are still a lot of old people from Earth who are still alive. They can make us, the new generation born in the Other World, not forget our origins. They can also make the superhumans and normal people stay close to each other and work together.
"But I suspect that in another half a century, when all the old people born on Earth die and the new generation blends into the Other World, not many people will remember that we're all Earthlings."
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