Isekai Kenkokuki - Vol. 4 Ch. 26.2

[RhoninFire]

@welcome2atlantis - This is really late for me to respond. I'm really behind in my manga follows. But I hope you don't mind me responding to your question. I just really appreciate seeing this depiction. While I can't say this chapter elevates this manga that far up, I will give credit where credit is due. The battle seems to be replicating the Battle of Leuctra.

You're not wrong that it just two mass of infantry charging each up other the front. But that formation destroyed the Spartans. Traditionally, armies just line up infantry. Calvary will mass up the flanks. Infantry would just be a solid line of men. And each side would put their best men on their right. The winner is thus relys on numbers and collective endurance on who can grind it out longer as everyone proportionally battle it out. You might think that's a dumb tradition - why not more maneuvering of units or taking advantage of terrain or etc? Well, trying to coordinate and communicate orders to thousands of soldiers is really hard. Unlike a video game, you can't just direct a unit to move to flank or reinforce. You only communicate so much with banners and horns too. So many armies build up a formula and everyone know their role to play.

But I digressed, the strategy is they are essentially making a stacked side. The idea is by having one side overloaded with that much more men than the enemy, then it should act like a weighted sledgehammer - smashing through by the sheer concentration of men. Kinda like punching with all the weight with a strong left hook while the enemy expects a balanced attack. While the IRL Battle of Leuctra does makes this idea seem unstoppable. I will say it is also just as possible that weakened center and right flank can fail before the overloaded left flank can overwhelm.

So yeah, it doesn't look like a lot of strategy as it is just everyone charging up the front. But in this case, the innovation is not the maneuvering but in the formation. I don't know how it looks in the next chapter, but for this chapter, I do appreciate that it seems to be pulling from real tactics and in a grounded way. Tons of Isekai seems to rely on OP powers (and I know this probably will too). The slightly better ones actually using the premise which means the MC using modern knowledge or skill for an advantage, but far too many ignore that not just any modern person can know how to make gunpowder or getting soldiers to do some kind of super clever maneuver that IRL requires an army with a certain culture and training to pull it off. This chapter is actually fitting to the context of the setting. So I appreciate it.

Now onward for me to the next chapter where it probably going to return to the BS surprise cannon or OP strength or something.

 

[Huapollon]

@RhoninFire
The only problem I have with replicating that battle is that where is my sacred band of brotherly love?
Also, some strategies, like motivating the soldiers by cutting off their mental retreat (ie. in this case, the risk of starvation) is a version of the chinese military arts called "breaking the pots and sinking the boats", based on the concept of "leaping back from a state of death".

But yea, personally, I think its nice to have some variations, rather than having every anime battle be a rehash of cannae.

Edit: Do keep in mind that for most isekai, they are heavily influenced by asian military traditions, where soldiers deals with lesser numbers than the european battlefields thus are frequently less disciplined, so the personality and valor of a single commander holds a significantly larger weight (think https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Julu).

 

[trashdump]

FFS, at least give Ria some sort of armor please, poor girl marching to battle with attire that also suited for beach walking.

 

[Onsokumaru]

Giving Ria more armor would just hinder her. She has extra def since she was freed from slavery by Almus, so she follows him with extra zeal.

 

[Voideater]

Why do these stories never employ assassination tactics. They could basically bomb the commander using the birds.

 

[MidKnight077]

Why tf is ria not wearing armor? A stray arrow could kill her

 

[kite722]

Boros' expression on page 12, wtf.
For Almus and his friends, it's the battle of their lives, but for Boros, it's... well, it's Tuesday I guess.

 

[OwariDafuq6]

Maybe


Just hear me out


Maybe Ria doesn't WANT to wear armor? You know? Because not all girls feel comfortable moving around with 30 pounds of extra weight spread around their body.

She seems like a wild child to me, the kind that prefers to avoid getting hit instead of defending against them.

 

[Lukaskyboss]

I know this is meant to take inspiration from ancient greece but if you studied history at all, the battles and politics in that era were actually really freaking complex^^ the strength of the warriors weren't just a myth either. That civilization has given birth to so many important figures that defined the modern world (in philosophy, military, politics, culture, etc);
the world in the manga seems way more primitive than ancient greece or even ancient egypt for that matter.
My point was that the drawings suggest ancient greece influences (we know for a fact that it's a fictional world) but it's bait as nothing of it seem like ancient greece in any way or form.

 

[Opticalwinter]

My biggest gripe with this series is that the supposedly 20 year old isekai protag remembers way too much valuable knowledge. Who actually would remember how to make gunpowder after years of being in an isekai world, for example? It's not OP like the manga where the isekai is an engineer originally but still.

 

[BadHaremSchollar]

Where are the archers?

I know they are roman inspired, and thus suck at every fied except heavy infantry, but still.