CHAPTER 509 THE TRANSPORT DILEMMA
"Lance's troops were spread out, making it difficult for the logistics camp to move. Now, speeding up
the front line transportation will be difficult. Even if transporting via Hippo Land will be easier, it can't be
moved to just anywhere since it's carried by water. Especially considering the ships full of provisions,
the weather will have a great influence. As soon as the wind and the waves pick up, it'll be impossible
to navigate and the provisions will go bad due to the moisture…" Rocky shook his head and sighed.
In short, the Crimson Dragon Army's main problem was its front lines. Because they were scattered in
all directions, this weakened the transportation rate of the logistics camp's escort forces. Without
support from the front line, the logistics camp couldn't find a way to accelerate transportation.
"Tricky indeed…" Rocky pondered. If only he had known better, he would've never agreed to Louis. He
was asking for trouble.
Just when Rocky was observing the map, Sabina breezed in. Her willowy body and aloof face made for
an irresistible combination that would lure in any man on the planet. In fact, numerous soldiers and
generals of the logistics camp couldn't stop dreaming about her in their dreams ever since her arrival.
Noticing the deep furrow in Rocky's brows, Sabina asked, "What's gotten you so troubled?"
"Perfect timing Sabina! I need your help in figuring out how to accelerate the front-line transport."
Rocky waved his hand, urging her to come over.
"You're smart, aren't you? Then this will certainly be a piece of cake." Sabina's brows wrinkled.
"Cleverness makes no pottage these years. Clever ones may get bald. Better not be too clever!" Rocky
mocked himself. All Rocky wanted was some solid advice. After all, he was still a rookie in numerous
aspects whereas Sabina was much more experienced. Her excellent command skills during the battle
on Hippo Land was proof enough.
Upon hearing this, the faintest smile appeared on her face.
"What I really need is some reliable advice…" Rocky glanced back at Sabina with sincere eyes.
After a moment's hesitation, Sabina relented and walked towards Rocky and the map. After glancing
over it, she said, "The Crimson Dragon Army's forces are too far apart. It'll be difficult to speed up
transportation to the frontline."
"I thought the same." Rocky nodded his head in agreement.
"At the moment, both the Crimson Dragon Army and the Timber Deity Empire are in combat at the
Deity Unicorn Valley. I suspect that they must be consuming the provisions and fodders quickly. The
logistics camp will need at least half of the forces to focus on transporting to ensure they have ample
provisions to win back the Deity Unicorn Valley. The remaining ordinary troops will have to cope with
the scarce supplies flow. At this point, it seems hopeless!" Sabina continued.
"If they want to speed up the transportation of provisions, the Crimson Dragon Army's major challenge
will be to invest a large number of their forces and resources." After several years of experience in the
military field, she knew that an overstretched set of forces would experience difficulty in obtaining a
stable food and materials supply. This was a common problem that all the national armies experienced
at least once. Not only did the grains and materials need to be safe during transportation, but they had
to do so at a speedy pace as well. But since most of the forces assigned to transport were ordinary
soldiers, they stood no chance against the spirit manipulators. That was another problem they would
have to encounter along the way.
After the Timber Deity Empire got the Nine Grottoes, the ships filled with the food and materials were
burned at the ferry crossing of the Hippo Land. This left them with no choice but to stop attacking the
main camp of the Crimson Dragon Army.
"If we don't figure out a way to increase our troops and goods, the supplies will inevitably continue to
dwindle!" Upon Sabina finishing her analysis, Rocky shook his head, for it was exact what he was
thinking.
"We're not at a dead end!" Suddenly, Sabina's eyes lit up.
"You've thought of something?" Rocky asked.
Sabina pondered over it before continuing, "If we can double the amount of grain and materials
transporter per trip, we can cut down the number of trips in half. However, the equipment necessary to
transport all of this is quite taxing on the animals. If we have to transport more, it'll be nearly Content held by .
impossible."
"Animals for transportation?" A flash of inspiration flashed before Rocky's eyes.
"Although these are specially raised animals, their strength is limited. They're likely to collapse and die
when their strength runs out. That's why we need to increase the number of animals we can use for
transportation. Although gathering more animals isn't a problem, what we don't have more is time—and
our army doesn't have that luxury," Sabina concluded.
"Forget the animals. What if we changed them to spirit-manipulated beasts instead?" Rocky voiced out
his brainstorm.
"Replace them with… No, it'll be too impossible and risky. Spirit-manipulates beasts need to be
controlled by a spirit manipulator—which we only have around 20 to 30 in the logistics camp. Do you
want all these spirit-manipulated beasts to pull cars?" Hearing his idea, Sabina thought he was just
joking. Even if it could work, no spirit manipulator would allow his beast to become a cart pulling
animal. What's more, the spirit-manipulated beast's powers would be dulled down.
"We won't know until we try. As long as we can capture some spirit-manipulated beasts and paralyze
parts of their lobes, even an ordinary man could rein them easily since they can't think on their own. Of
course, it comes with a price. Losing their powers and thought means that they'll become as harmless
as ordinary livestock," Rocky warned. In the modern world, his experiments often resulted in abnormal
genetic beasts with odd behavior and a fierce temper. To avoid being hurt, he would cut off portions of
the lobes so that they would think less, kill less, and better suit for anyone's disposal.