The Mech Touch novel Chapter 875

If a random mech pilot came to this conclusion, then so could the rest of the Flagrant Swordmaidens.

No one looked forward to a decisive battle against the Vesians. With the Hostland Warriors as the mainstay and the Meandering Monkeys assaulting the flanks, the Flagrant Swordmaidens did not possess any inherent advantages.

Very likely, the Meandering Monkeys probed the Vandals so aggressively not just to play some games. Each time they appeared, they attempted to probe deeper into the defensive envelope of the Flagrant Swordmaidens.

The Vesians wanted to gather intelligence on their opponent’s strength. More specifically, they sought to obtain a solid count of mechs they had to face.

"The Vesians aren’t as stupid as the Caged Tongs. There’s no way they’ll commit to an attack if we outnumber them by a hundred mechs or more." Ves stated during a brief moment of off-time at the mess hall.

Chief Dakkon efficiently shoveled down his chow into his mouth. None of the Vandals wasted any time on their food these days. They had too much work to do!

"Do you reckon the Vesians outnumber us, Ves? We did spot them with a huge fleet in the last star system."

"Yeah, but then they got whacked by the Church of Haatumak. If not for that, the Vesians would have been able to eliminate us in space before we reached the Aeon Corona System."

Yet no matter what happened, the conflict between the two could no longer be postponed. Sooner or later, old hatreds along with some new ones needed to be reconciled.

The Bright Republic and the Vesia Kingdom may be waging a war many light-years away from the Aeon Corona System, yet no matter how far they traveled, they still couldn’t escape the war!

Even if the Vesians lost several starships and incurred a lot of battle damage from the foiled ambush attack by the frontier cultists, they still retained much of their strength.

The Vandals tried to estimate the number of enemy mechs they might face from studying the long-distance sensor readings of the Vesian fleet. The fleet in orbit also caught some more glimpses of the Vesian fleet, but they generally played cat-and-mouse for months.

It was well-known that the Flagrant Vandals placed more emphasis on spaceborn battles. For now, the Vesians prudently placed their hopes on winning the battle on land. No matter if the Vesians gained the upper hand on land or in space, a victory in either sphere instantly ended any hopes for the Vandals to complete the mission!

The Vesians knew exactly what they were doing. The Flagrant Vandals stood a better chance in space than on land, which they never really excelled in fighting at unless they wanted to perform a quick raiding action.

Still, even if the Flagrant Vandals lacked both expertise and experience in this area, they were not vegetables! Recent landbound operations not only forced them to brush up their playbook, they also disciplined them into a smaller but more efficient fighting force.

The casualties suffered by the Vandals since the war reduced their numbers substantially, but those who survived all grew stronger from the harrowing experiences. Many mech pilots experienced drastic growth as the frequent intensive battles pushed them to exceed their old limits.

If the Flagrant Vandals enjoyed some time to digest their gains and replenish their losses, then they would have emerged at least twenty percent stronger than their old selves.

Yet the lengthy mission and their Vesian rivals didn’t allow them to do so!

A decisive battle between a mixed raiding regiment and a combination of professional scouts and versatile warriors should have ended in disaster for the former.

The only saving grace was that the Vandals weren’t alone. Lydia’s Swordmaidens got caught in their old rivalry, and for better or worse, they needed to overcome this hurdle as well if they wanted to make off with any gains from the Starlight Megalodon.

Ketis paid a visit to the Vandal workshops later in the day. She dropped by Ves’ workplace in order to discuss the upcoming battle.

"You Vandals always make the Vesians out as horrible boogeymen." She began. "Are the Vesians truly different from the enemies we’ve fought before? We beat everyone who stood in the way. Why are you so unconfident all of a sudden?"

Ves glanced at Ketis with a grim expression. "You Swordmaidens are taking the threat of military mech regiments too lightly. They’re nothing like the mercenary corps or pirate gangs you mix up with in the frontier. They don’t face the same constraints in funding, training, resources and manpower. They are on a completely different level than civilian outfits."

"Yet the briefings say that even if the mech regiments are better funded and trained, they’re not all that better than us in those aspects! We can still beat them in a fight!"

"You’re forgetting the most crucial difference." Ves shook his head. "Haven’t you seen the way the Flagrant Vandals fight? Any mech military is extremely good at training and drilling their mech pilots to fight in a certain fashion. What do they excel at the most? Coordination and formation fighting! The difference isn’t that big when it comes to skirmishes between single squads of mechs. However, a major battle involving hundreds of mechs allows the Vesians to play out their immense advantages in this aspect alone!"

Ketis still possessed the same flaw that afflicted the rest of the Swordmaidens. Without seeing a true frontline mech regiment in battle, they wouldn’t know how much of a force multiplier those advantages wrought.

Mechs fought best when they fought in unison! Clever formations amplified the inherent advantages of different mech models while covering up their weaknesses.