I Became a Witch and Started an Industrial Revolution
Chapter 272 : Mechanized Armored FormationsWas Anna a butcher?
Without a doubt, she was when it came to traitors or those with impure ideology, because she was the quintessential Fanatical Believer—someone who would stop at absolutely nothing to achieve her objectives.
Imperial pillars, decorated veterans—anyone who threatened the Alliance's interests. Midia still had to show some consideration for old friendships, but Anna, who concurrently served as Director of the National Tax Bureau, Minister of Internal Affairs, and Director of the Central Bureau of Secret Investigation, dared to arrest them without the slightest hesitation.
This was because the National Tax Bureau and the Ministry of Internal Affairs happened to be the supreme coercive authorities in the fields of economics and political affairs respectively, while the Central Bureau of Secret Investigation possessed the legal authority to directly investigate even the highest-ranking officials of the Alliance.
In other words, while Midia remained in her mascot-like state, Anna was, in practical terms, the most powerful person in the Alliance.
A person like her?
Forget the second or third generation—even if someone's great-grandfather showed up in person, he would still calmly stand there and accept her scolding.
Because there was a rather amusing logic behind it.
The farther back one traced someone's seniority, the more likely it would eventually lead back to the era of the Astar Family. Many third- and fourth-generation honorary nobles of the Imperial Army could probably trace their ancestors back to the great founding veterans of that period.
Then they would discover something rather interesting.
Anna, whose appearance had remained at around thirty years old even to this day, had already been Midia's personal head maid back then.
Ever since ancient times, personal attendants had frequently risen to high office. It was an unwritten tradition for cultivating one's most trusted right-hand person. Many high-ranking officials had begun their careers as the chief secretary of an important figure.
In terms of seniority, Anna outranked even their elders. Many old meritorious officials already in their sixties or seventies, if they really insisted on discussing seniority, had to regard Anna as belonging to their grandmother's generation.
In other words, even if they drained every last drop of blood from their bodies, they still would not be "redder" than her.
Simply standing there naturally suppressed anyone who wished to play the seniority card.
It was not as though no one had subtly reminded Midia about the dangers of concentrating too much power in one person's hands.
She simply did not care.
After all, Anna held the power of life and death over both central and regional officials.
Of course they hated her.
Power...
It was a very interesting thing.
Those who obtained it always wanted more.
They wanted to stand at the very top.
Even if they could not, they still wanted as few organizations or individuals as possible capable of threatening their position.
Ideally, all powerful factions would become interconnected and restrain one another.
Only then could they better exchange benefits and eliminate political opponents.
Yet Midia did exactly the opposite.
Someone like Anna had to exist.
Ultimately, Anna's authority came entirely from Midia herself.
If the government was to maintain its ability to cleanse itself, there had to exist an additional system capable of ensuring that self-cleansing ability, preventing the entire structure from rotting beyond salvation.
Even if the entire first system truly rotted from top to bottom, it could simply be discarded and replaced by the second system, allowing the government to continue functioning temporarily.
For that reason, Midia granted Anna the authority to bypass procedures and deal with any person or matter requiring immediate action whenever circumstances demanded it.
Other than Midia herself, no organization or individual possessed the authority to stop her.
To support this arrangement, most honorary titles—such as honorary directors and honorary presidents of important institutions—which Midia herself had previously held were all transferred to Anna.
Those honorary positions were converted into positions with real executive power.
Authority that transcended the normal organizational structure forced the Alliance's governing system to meet one minimum prerequisite whenever handling problems:
Never give Anna a reason or an opportunity to intervene.
Once she set her sights on someone, even if the King of Heaven himself descended, she could still arrest them.
This, too, was a form of dictatorship.
The core of her authority came from Midia.
As long as Midia remained, Anna was the Sword of Judgment within the Alliance.
If Midia disappeared, Anna would lose the foundation supporting all of her authority.
Thus, whether in terms of personal friendship or shared interests, the two of them were perfectly aligned.
Midia had already passed the stage where she needed official positions or government departments to rule the Alliance.
Now, all she had to do was raise her arm, and every opponent would instantly find themselves unable to survive anywhere within the Alliance's social system.
Only together did the two of them form the complete Alliance.
That was why she could now delegate many powers and responsibilities to specific individuals, thoroughly institutionalizing the Alliance's operation while freeing herself from its daily administration.
Compared to nurturing a colossal institution that could one day become a threat despite remaining subject to her removal at any time, Midia still considered the collusion between central and regional officials revealed during the previous corruption scandal to be far more disgusting and infinitely more dangerous.
And that was precisely where Anna's unique role became apparent.
A secret network operating outside the internal supervisory system was extremely difficult to infiltrate from within that system, because the two belonged to entirely different circles of interest and naturally pursued different objectives.
It was simply that Midia currently had little spare energy to devote to such matters.
According to frontline battle reports and briefings from the General Staff Headquarters, after suffering devastating attacks from the Ceres Air Force, the Allied advance forces remained in place until the air forces accompanying the main armies in the rear finally caught up before resuming their advance.
Large numbers of aerial cavalry units and Allied fighter aircraft continuously patrolled the airspace surrounding the armies.
The concentration of troops had become so enormous that aerial bombardment had become vastly more difficult.
The Allied air forces might not match the Alliance in quality, but their numbers—well over a hundred thousand aircraft—were simply too overwhelming.
One careless mistake, and the Alliance's aircraft could easily find themselves surrounded from every direction.
At present, even if they accepted considerable casualties, breaking open another gap in the Allied vanguard appeared unlikely to achieve the desired results.
As a result, the General Staff revised its strategic objectives.
Their new target became the enormous Allied main forces, whose logistical consumption and cumbersome coordination made them far more vulnerable.
It was an extremely bold and unconventional strategic decision.
Yet after careful analysis, it genuinely possessed considerable operational potential.
Because the Allied forces were so numerous and had been assembled from different countries, even though they collectively constituted the main army, they did not march together in one massive formation.
Across Xiralorana State, Torveta State, Hosas State, and Mominde State, six million Allied soldiers were scattered throughout numerous different regions.
No country could possibly sustain the logistical burden of supplying an army of that size concentrated in one location.
Therefore, they adopted the theater marching method.
In other words, one army occupied each strategic point, with multiple armies spread throughout each operational region.
Positioned in different directions within the same theater, they could avoid interfering with one another's supply areas while still providing mutual reinforcement whenever necessary.
Together, they advanced toward Medanora State and Borregate State.
Both regions possessed rivers extending deep into the interior, allowing Allied transport ships to deliver supplies through maritime logistics.
Because the anticipated enemy strength was simply too enormous, the Alliance worried that if battlefield survival rates fell too low, the speed and quality of recruiting replacement soldiers would suffer greatly.
At the same time, adhering to the overall strategic doctrine of avoiding a war of manpower attrition against the Allied Nations, the overwhelming majority of reinforcements sent to the front consisted of mechanized armored divisions.
Their goal was to maximize the Alliance's advantages through armored warfare while minimizing losses in manpower.
To cope with the continent's deteriorating road conditions during the coming winter while also simplifying manufacturing, these new mechanized armored divisions were equipped with large numbers of medium and heavy wheeled assault guns.
The heavy assault gun mounted an 88 mm main cannon upon a 10×10 full-time all-wheel-drive chassis.
Variants were also modified for anti-aircraft warfare and protective barrier generation.
The medium assault gun, meanwhile, utilized a 6×6 chassis configuration, serving primarily as battlefield reconnaissance vehicles while directing the fire of Tiger heavy tanks and heavy assault guns with greater precision.
The Alliance completely eliminated medium and light tanks from its standard equipment.
Instead, it adopted a force composition consisting entirely of wheeled assault guns, Tiger heavy tanks, and tracked multiple rocket launchers.
This combination effectively provided strike capabilities at medium, long, and ultra-long ranges while simultaneously supplying battlefield target designation.
The mechanized armored forces transported to Bomawana Port and the Bas Region totaled approximately five armored army groups.
This massive deployment of highly mobile forces existed specifically to ensure that once the Allied Nations failed to break through at Gurlag, they would have no opportunity to launch breakthroughs from other directions.
Because if they dared disperse their forces,
The Alliance, with its overwhelming superiority in armored vehicles, would have every opportunity to penetrate their lines, divide their armies, and destroy them one by one.
Any commander with even a little common sense would never think about racing soldiers on foot against the Alliance's armored vehicles.
Visit and read more novel to help us update chapter quickly. Thank you so much!
Use arrow keys (or A / D) to PREV/NEXT chapter
