On the battlefield of Eriadu, although it appeared to be one hundred million people fighting against Fourth Civilization's 1.3 million troops—a hundredfold disparity in military strength—the actual result was that Fourth Civilization, with just one percent of the manpower, battered Eriadu's defenders into steady retreat.
A battlefield had limited capacity. Packing too many soldiers into it did nothing but increase troop density along one's own lines, allowing units like Siege Tanks and Banshee Fighters to slaughter them more freely. It also created far more severe logistical difficulties. There was simply no benefit to it.
Thus, Wilhuff Tarkin could only feed that enormous army into the battle in waves against Fourth Civilization's elite ground forces.
But against the savage, bloodthirsty Indjori and the stealthy, cunning Caladanians, such piecemeal tactics were utterly tantamount to serving them food on a platter!
Even without facing the armies of those two races, neither the droid legions nor Fourth Civilization Army were forces that these hastily conscripted recruits—who had trained for no more than a month—could possibly contend with!
Perhaps the B-1 Battle Droid units, which had been utterly helpless before Clone Troopers on previous battlefields, had given people an undeserved misconception—that droid legions were actually easy to deal with. After all, they did not even know how to hide. They only knew how to form ranks and advance while firing. At most, they stood behind cover and fired without moving. That was the fullest extent of their ability to conceal themselves.
But only when one truly faced such an army on the battlefield did one realize just how horribly wrong that impression had been!
Why did ordinary soldiers fight in dispersed lines? Because they feared stray bullets, and feared artillery bombardment even more. But droids were not afraid of either. Sporadic fire merely made them