What is the current status of the Imperial XIV Legion in Eorzea?

[TinyRedLeaf]

In real-life, I would wonder why the Empire established so many far-flung Eorzean outposts in the first place.

For one thing, it makes command and control very challenging. Secondly, the castra are all located inside hostile territory, and that means they would all have to be supplied via highly vulnerable supply lines.

Last, and most importantly, by maintaining a presence in so many bases, the XIV Legion has spread itself very thin, making it vulnerable to piecemeal attacks.

In short, the military situation as portrayed in FFXIV makes very little strategic sense from a real-world perspective.

But... yes, I understand that this is a fantasy world and real-life rules don't apply. Still, I wonder if anyone can craft a reasonably credible theory as to how the XIV Legion hasn't fallen apart by now, given that its top leadership has been wiped out. At the minimum, I would have expected individual castrum commanders to seize autonomous control, with some of the more practical ones attempting to negotiate some kind of truce with local forces to ensure the survival of their bases.

After all, they're trapped in Eorzea. Leaderless or not, the Imperials probably know full well that they can't return to Garlemald in their current state since they've effectively become disgraced and defeated troops.

[Skyhound]

Snip

Garleans used teleportation, trains, and air ships for their supply lines all of which would be relatively safe from attacks. The outposts aren't that far when you consider the fact that the Garleans still have full control of Ala Mhigo. Also, a chain of command rarely falls apart just because a number of leaders die. Command would just shift over to the next person on the food chain who would be Nero or whoever was just under the Tribuni.

Garlemald isn't like Ala Mhigo, there isn't any honor bound notion of the digrace of defeat. They're far more practical than that, like how they suffered a crushing defeat at the Battle of Silvertear Falls and those troops were able to retreat just fine. In fact, it would be in the new Commander(s)'s best interest to re-establish communication and logistical support with Ala Mhigo and tell them what happened.

[Melithea]

In real-life, I would wonder why the Empire established so many far-flung Eorzean outposts in the first place.
For one thing, it makes command and control very challenging. Secondly, the castra are all located inside hostile territory, and that means they would all have to be supplied via highly vulnerable supply lines.
Last, and most importantly, by maintaining a presence in so many bases, the XIV Legion has spread itself very thin, making it vulnerable to piecemeal attacks.
In short, the military situation as portrayed in FFXIV makes very little strategic sense from a real-world perspective.

What you've described here is almost exactly what the U.S. forces did in Iraq to finally suppress the insurgency there. It's (only) possible due to superior numbers and technology. The Grand Companies BARELY have enough warriors to hold the beastmen at bay; the Garleans are operating basically uncontested.

[Empressia]

.SNIP

Its called ARROGANCE especially facing barbaric Eorzean savages from Garlean's superior technology point of view