Road Of Advancement

Theodore narrated his theory to Redford as he focused on the movement of the troops that were displayed in the projection.

"Your train of thought is very narrow. You completely missed the psychological battle that happens during their choices. They don't just choose what would be optimal for the environment or for the mission objective. In order to be well prepared, they will guess their opponents' strategy and tweak their own to make use of apparent weaknesses."

"Since both sides know each other, they expect them to adapt their tactic and roster. In the end, this makes sure that both commandants weigh their options carefully, not wanting to fall in a disadvantage due to his opponents' tactics."

"In this case, it has made it so both don't dare to make extreme choices. With unlimited resources, they could've easily created a purely defensive or offensive lineup. But both chose to have a lineup consisting of light medium and heavy mechs that will aid them in being more flexible with their strategies."

"For now, your judgement is barely acceptable. You must adopt a wider field of view. Even in the oldest records written about warfare, there are theories on how to prepare for war, how to judge a battle, how to execute a plan. You must read up on some classics if you want to have a proper foundation in war-analysis."

"No to mention, the skill to determine the most suitable course of action is a requisite to become an enlisted officer."

"The environment is a big factor in making the correct choices. For example, a heavy mech will hardly function on a 6G- or higher environment, as his own weight literally becomes its downfall."

"But the geographical environment is just a small part of what makes up an environmental analysis. Even a kid can deduce what difference it makes to fight in a dessert of in a forest, in mountainous terrain or flat land."

"The environment is also classified in hostile or friendly. It makes a big difference in what kind of soil you're employed and where specifically you are compared to your enemies. A regiment in enemy territory will naturally be more alert, dutifull and motivated to fight to death"

"Are you in new territory? Are you on contentious ground or on strategically essential territory? The open ground of accessible territory? Are there any intersecting supply routes?"

"And then there are psychological effects that affect a certain environment. Was the terrain won with high casualties? Then the defenders are more stressed to defend it, as losing the ground will strike their moral."

"If the environment itself does not favour the attacker, then this will also affect moral. If you cannot extract yourself from certain grounds, this will also affect moral. Not being able to retreat will make your forces more ferocious in fighting, but if they're under stress for a long time, they will lose morale and eventually become distressed."

"In true warfare, there's also the chance of extreme methods that will disrupt a campaign. Like meteors launched from orbit to crush your forces. Though these means are despised and the G.C.D. will punish any offenders, when truly distressed, anything can happen in war."

"Lastly there is intelligence gathering. Knowing every nook and cranny will help a regiment make use of the environment better than the invading party. But under intelligence gathering also fall the use of spies and being spied upon."

"Next to all these factors, you must never forget the locals. The locals can become your greatest enemy as you are likely threatening their life, their identity and they are likely to oppose you in every way possible."

"It is up to a commandant and his officers to fill in all the blanks, gather all necessary information and produce a plan that will ensure victory."

"In the army, we usually use a very structured way of performing these analyses. We accept a mission. We analyse the mission and all the objectives that are set to ensure victory. We will then start with Course of Action development. We do in-depth analysis of various scenarios that can happen during the deployment. Senior staff sometimes refer to this as wargaming."

"We will then compare all mission plans and suggestions and test their suitability by putting them up for trial. The most important factors are that the plan is feasible and acceptable."

"This means that the suggested plan will accomplish the mission within an established timeframe with a proper grasp on all the imposed limitations like space and resources. Secondly, the costs, the risk and the gained advantages must be properly balanced."

"The most suitable plan will be accepted, modified with the newfound knowledge from wargaming and other plan-submissions. Once accepted, orders are made and disseminated among rank and file. Once properly briefed to all key-personnel, mobilisation is started."

"There will always be a certain amount of room for improvisation. A plan will never be perfect, there is always room for improvement. A situation can always change. Therefore, during execution, the battle-plan keeps getting perfected as new information is unearthed. But unlike before, the decisions are made by the officer on duty."

"I hope you can learn from this. I'm not asking you to become the perfect example of an officer. But if you want to enter the academy and enter the elite-officers track you will need to improve by a fair margin. This system can help you with making a proper analysis."

"Right, let's focus on the match. I won't be narrating much, you'll have to soak everything in yourself and try and learn from both commandants. We'll discuss afterwards as the next match is prepared." \

Theodore's impression of Redford improved with leap and bounds after the explanation. As much as he was a stickler for the rules, he was taking his role as teacher very seriously and Theodore knew he could learn a lot by listening to the second-lieutenant.

'Oh boy, grandpa really arranged a high-quality education. It's almost a shame it's only for three-and-a-half months. It's not like I can keep this schedule up indefinitely anyways. With my optimized genes and the help of Summit, I can barely scr.a.p.e by. Even if they offer me all they know, it would take years and years of their tutelage.'

'At least I can soak up most of the basis and gain a sturdy foundation. Presumably, most of the gains will come later, as I digest all their teachings.'

"Both parties chose the same standard procedure after touching down on foreign ground. They'll scout their surroundings, establish a perimeter and adjust their plans to the actual situation. It shows that both commandants have a military background." Redford commented as the two hundred mechs started to move on the terrain.

The light mechs spread out in a circular motion as both parties mapped their immediate surroundings. Even if the map had been provided, the real deal would always differ a bit from the shallow understanding the map could give.

The medium mechs strategically manoeuvred themselves around the map as they sought to establish a defensive perimeter.

The screens showed the incredible might of these war-machines as they moved at high-speeds, not even caring for the terrain as they deftly moved around showcasing the pilots' expertise.

The defensive camp had much less ligh-mechs but they too started to map their immediate surrounding. However, different than the attacking camp, after establishing their current situation the medium and heavy mechs started to alter the environment.

They used their mech's inbuild shovels to dig trenches, as they sought to make the environment less hospitable to the inevitable invasion. In order not to give away their position to much, they did not use the heavy mechs artillery cannons to greate holes in the surroundings.

As the defenders could not accurately determine where the attackers might come from, they spread out evenly along with the camps defensive structures.

The attackers had by now established their location on the mech, using various instruments that came with their mechs, like little flying drones that could scout from a height.

Even if their position would be discovered, with the objective being to occupy the defensive camp they couldn't take to many precautions. Speed was of the essence. Time was definitely favouring the defenders.

After establishing their position on the map they immediately took action and started to mobilise towards the defence camp.

Unlike what Theodore had thought, the attackers actually split their forces in two. One force was moving to the east side of the camp and one was moving to the west side of the camp.

Theodore had thought they would surely focus al their assets on breaking through on one point. It seemed logical. His questioning look was caught by Redford who answered his questioning look.

"Though focusing on one point seems logical, it also enables the defending camp to only defend a small stretch of their defensive structures. It also means that they can focus their fire with more ranged mechs at a time. By splitting his forces, he makes sure that each mech will have more room to manoeuvre as they charge as well as make sure they won't be targetted by a high amount of ranged mechs at a time. In the end, even if it means not having as much offensive power as a full regiment, dividing the regiment will ensure a lower-risk approach without sacrificing the mission objective."

"The defenders will have to choose how to deal with the forces attacking from both sides. Without any knowledge of where the attackers come from, they're already split along the defensive line. They'll have to regroup as the attackers come withing sensor-range. The split also sees both parts split in different line-ups. This means the commandant will probably try different strategies."

"Preference also plays a part in here. I can imagine there are also commandants who would go for a frontal assault. Both strategies have their own supporting arguments. However, a two-pronged attack is usually planned as a surprise attack, which heightens the success rate. I wonder if the commandant has some surprises in store for us."