Chapter 174: Rules and Regulations [1]
All the 300 students of the gold section were standing in front of a medium-sized fortress, which was 3 stories tall in terms of height, and a reinforced Iron gate was at its front, which was unbreakable beneath the power of anyone below the late 2nd phase Seeker. The walls are also very thick and robust, pretty much unbreakable even by the strongest one among them.
You can’t break down the iron door or the walls in any way, and the walls are high enough that you can’t jump through on that. Well, even if you could, there would be a large number of enemies on the walls or shooters there, and that’s a recipe to get killed.
Not only that, surrounding the fortress itself is a circular waterway, and there are some dangerous 2nd tier water beasts in high numbers, so dropping into the water is also a bad idea.
The waterway is wide enough that you can’t jump onto the side of the fortress, but again, even if you can do that, you’d be alone on that side, teeming with enemy soldiers, also killed in that scenario.
There is only one bridge, and not too wide, only 15 people could probably walk on the bridge side by side at once. And it’s a hanging bridge, so the defending side could likely cut it down or destroy it so that the enemy side can’t cross there. But the professor explained that it’s not easy to destroy, and destroying it would also cut many points, because in a real situation, if you cut down the bridge, everyone is isolated in the fortress, and there is a limited supply in there.
The fortress being surrounded by water and the enemy all around, you either die of hunger or jump into the water. Assuming the escapees don’t get killed by the 2nd tier creatures in the water, even if they can climb to the ground, they will get killed by enemy soldiers. So, the only practical option later on is to surrender to your enemy. It’s a guaranteed loss in a way.
But here in this competition, it’s not a loss, but a heavy point deduction for the section which does cut down the bridge, and this also cuts down points from everyone’s personal evaluation for that section.
But the catch here is that, let’s say the defending does cut down the bridge, seeing no way to win, they would have to remain in there for 4 days isolated. Of course, the defending team will have 2 days of supplies in there for everyone. So, they would have to endure 2 more days of hunger, the defending section.
After 4 days, another bridge will appear, or be built. Then the attacking section can attack again. In these 4 days, the attacking section could prepare or strategize as much as necessary, but the defending team, on the other hand, would remain trapped. They would have to deal with hunger, points deduction, internal disputes, and countless other problems.
The first two of the 4 sections will have this face off, then the other 2 will do the same. The winners of both matches will fight to determine the winner, the loser section of the 2 matches will fight to determine the 3rd and 4th ranking of the sections.
For example, Axel’s own Gold section would fight one of the other three sections; they would once defend and once attack. Usually, in this contest, it would be hard to get an actual win, since there is a time limit for the siege, which is half a day. If the attacking section cannot capture the fortress, or the defending section cannot defeat at least 60% of the attacking forces within that time limit, then the winner and loser will be decided on each section’s evaluation points.
So, how well you perform in certain situations and setbacks as a team and as an individual will be judged heavily, and most of the time, this is not just a simple game of power or coordination but of strategy and control. There are so many things in this evaluation that could go wrong; any simple mistake could become the source of defeat in a game.
All 300 need to work together as a whole machine while doing their own individual jobs perfectly; everyone needs to be assigned a role that is perfect for their ability. There are so many things to consider that they did not reveal. And it was for the students to figure it out on their own.
There will be many things to consider, there will be dedicated supplies for both teams, and weaponry for both sides. For both the attackers and Defenders, there will be 3 divisions.
Fortifiers, Sharpshooters and Shock Troops.
For example, when a certain section is defending, Sharpshooters will remain on top of the high wall, raining down arrows with machines or bows of their own, then trying to fend off against any troops trying to climb up the walls.
Shock troops will basically remain outside of the fortress gate, right at the mouth of the hanging bridge, fending off against the enemy soldiers. Last but not least the fortifiers, those who will remain on the ground inside, holding back the iron gate making sure it doesn’t fall and maintain perfect coordination with both sharpshooters and shock troops, supplying them whatever they need, while keeping the whole army ongoing, they are reserved troops that can be exchanged for those who are tired.
Most of the utility-type aspect holders will be in the division of the Fortifiers. The reason the defending section is called ‘defenders’ is that, before the attackers cross the bridge and attack, they cannot step onto the bridge. Even after the initial clash, not more than 20% of the defending army can cross over to the other side using the bridge.
As for the attackers, at least 20% of them must remain on the bridge fighting or on the other side. But it’s a very limiting factor, unlike the defending party, which makes sense, that is the condition that stops the defending section from going all out on attacking and simply abandoning the fortress.
There will be two long-distance shooting siege machines of the attacking side, and a flag pinned to the ground right between the two siege machines. These machines are basically used to attack the steel gate of the fortress. Fortifiers are in charge of operating and defending it. Sharpshooters are basically those who stand at the back of the shock troops, doing long-range attacks on the enemy soldiers.
Shock troops are finally the frontal assault team that crosses the bridge immediately and clashes with the shock troops of the enemy, who are right after the crossing of the bridge, not willing to let even a single enemy soldier cross into their fortress, defending with all their might.
Now, the easiest way to win for the defenders is to simply break the flag pole that is standing between the two siege machines, but regardless of that, just being able to defend against the attacking party while suffering less losses than the enemy would grant the defending party a win, so they don’t actually need to get the flag and secure a full win.
Thank you all for your continuous support.