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

[TinyRedLeaf]

Or, more to the point, how do we rationalise the continued existence of the castrums following the loss of the XIV Legion's top leaders? Who or what is keeping the outposts from falling apart from the lack of supplies?

And while we know that one particular tribunus still lives, it's apparent that

he's currently travelling incognito, in an effort to infiltrate the Crystal Tower and steal its secrets.

So I doubt that he's actively giving commands to keep the occupying Imperial forces together. Anyone care to speculate?

[Wadoka]

I thought, if I recall the story correctly, the XIV Legion ceased to exist as a coherent unit, on the plains of Carteneau. Bahamut wiped them out (?)

Or was that the VII Legion?

[TinyRedLeaf]

I believe it was Nael van Darnus' VII Legion that was annihilated on Carteneau. The XIV Legion was lead by Gaius van Baelsar.

[Enkidoh]

Well, after taking note of the dialogue during the mission briefing for Operation Archon, plus the dialogue in the ending, it's clear the XIVth Legion still exists, albeit one without it's command structure. Only Castrum Medindaium and the Praetorium were destroyed in Operation Archon - the other Castra scattered around Eorzea were only blockaded to keep them from reinforcing CM (and thus allowing the player and their party to infiltrate it and destroy the Ultima Weapon, the true objective of the operation).

It's half the reason the Operation succeeded - to throw all their forces onto every Imperial Castrum in Eorzea would have been a senseless waste of life and resources, which probably would have ended in failure. This clearly explains why even post-Archon, those Castra still are full of Garlean troops and machina, they're remnant forces.

And of course, even Raubahn notes this in the ending scene, that "although the Black Wolf is slain, the rest of the pack remains," referring to the fact that even though the XIVth Legion is scattered and leaderless, they're still very much a real threat. Without the Ultima Weapon though, the citystates view them as far less of a worry than the more urgent and pressing matter of the Primals. Hence why the storyline has kind of ignored the Garleans now.

[Altimis]

At current state

Garlean's threats that was been extremely threats and influences before by VII's legion lead by Nael Van Darnus now completely "gone" for time period until XIV's legion take an action against Eorzea in the future

Garlean now serve no harm atm, kinda dragon sleeping, wait for the right time to strike again

As story now bend over to The Ascian's high threats now

[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.

[Linadae]

Well in 1.0 they had a much larger force and could control more land. After Carteneau a great deal of their military in Eorzea was wiped out, leaving them spread thin. And with Eorzea busy trying to recover from the calamity, they could hold on to all of those bases with their smaller force.

Basically the situation turned into a race, who could recover first and resume the war. Had Eorzea been able to recover first they could have pushed the remaining forces back to Ala Mhigo. But they missed their chance and now we're stuck with the XIV legion. Granted we managed to cut the head from the hydra but I'm sure it will grow a new one soon enough.

[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.

[Enkidoh]

Except it's stated that the actual size of the Garlean military isn't nearly as large as it would seem, nor would they have you believe - the official website actually states this:

Garlemald is unsurpassed in the field of magitek, a technology which it exploits with devastating effectiveness in warfare. Unperturbed by their lesser numbers, the Garleans went forth upon gigantic flying warships, bearing powerful weaponry the likes of which the world had never seen. One nation after the next fell before their relentless onslaught, first those of the northlands, followed by the sovereign states of the eastern continent, Othard. Employing suppression and conciliation in equal measure, Garlemald indoctrinated the peoples it conquered, thus integrating them into its ever-expanding territory. So it was that the Garlean Empire came into existence.

Not to mention the bulk of their military actually consists of drafted soldiers from nations they've conquered - pure-blooded Garleans usually take officer/command positions with the rank and file/grunt positions taken by non-Garleans (this is why Garlean soldiers below centurion rank don't use gunblades, but more mundane weapons like bows and arrows). Really, the 'massive' size of the Garlean army is mostly bluff, a common tactic in warfare where a smaller force can be made to look far larger than it really is to intimidate foes into submission. This is also a possible reason for their zealous (and not exactly baseless) hatred of the Primals - the Garleans are naturally poor at magic, and to be faced with powerful magical beings, it's little wonder they're intimidated.

After all, why else did Gaius sit on his hands as far as Eorzea was concerned for so long if the Garlean army was really as massive and powerful as it was made out to be? The Garleans tried to invade Eorzea three times now, and have failed to subdue Eorzea every time, although each victory for Eorzea seems to be getting increasingly Pyrrhic.