Chapter 157: Tactical Victory & Strategic Defeat (4)'
After sending off the Crown Prince and approximately 2,000 knights through Ticino Canton, our expeditionary force also began to retreat gradually over several days.
As expected, morale, which had been high thinking that everything was proceeding smoothly according to the Crown Princes predictions, plummeted.
Until yesterday, everyone was happy, thinking it was all going easily, damn it. Whats this? Are we all going to die?
Sergeant, if the military police hear you, youll lose your head. Dont you know that?
Screw the military law and all. I came all the way to Switzerland to earn a bit more before my discharge in 3 months But whats all this?
They thought no one could hear their conversation since they were stationed in a remote location on guard. However, in the quiet of the camp where everyone, except the sentries, was asleep, their voices carried well, even if not nearby.
So, looking around carefully, one could see conscripted military police or experienced non-commissioned officers in similar situations, listening intently.
Normally, they would be summarily executed or executed in front of everyone before the march started the next day.
However, in this dire situation where morale was at rock bottom, executing someone carelessly, unless they were spreading false information, would have a detrimental effect.
Of course, we couldnt let those guys continue acts that would further undermine the already low morale of the troops.
All I want is to return alive. Right? I have some money saved up. With that money, I want to marry Sylvia, whos waiting for me in my hometown, buy a house, buy a field, and have children who look like Sylvia.
.
Oh right, Private Milton. You said youve never held hands or danced with a girl at a village festival, right? Damn, Ive been making a fuss about having sex with Sylvia at least once, but I ended up walking into this mess without ever doing it.
As the sergeant was loudly complaining about not wanting to die without having sex, I quietly approached from behind, causing Private Milton to freeze in place, his mouth agape in shock.
Seeing that, the sergeant looked around, wondering what had happened to make the kid like this.
He encountered the authority of two stars and immediately realized he had been caught talking inappropriately, so instead of saluting, he kneeled on both knees and bowed his forehead to the ground without hesitation.
Lieutenant General Yeager, please spare my life. I will never speak recklessly again. So please, just spare my life. I have a fiance back home who Ive promised to marry. I dont want to die a virgin. Please spare me.
Hearing that, I fell into a dilemma.
Of course, I wasnt thinking about how to kill this man to maintain the armys morale in a cold and rational manner, but rather how to console him so that it would become a commendable story that would boost the armys morale.
While I was deep in thought, the sergeant kept bowing his head, begging for his life.
The private standing guard with him was trembling, thinking his seniors head was about to fly off.
I immediately wet my handkerchief with water from my canteen and handed it to the sergeant, saying,
First, get up and clean the wound on your forehead with this handkerchief. In principle, you would definitely be executed according to military law, but I will let it pass this time.
Thank you, thank you, Lieutenant General. This damned man will never speak out of turn again.
That would be wise.
Normally, turning a blind eye to a soldiers grave mistake would be considered a commendable act.
But now, completely isolated in enemy territory with morale at rock bottom, sparing his life might be appreciated for the moment.
But by the next day, rumors like this might circulate among the soldiers once my back was turned.
How dangerous must the higher-ups think this war is if they hear me say that we are likely to lose and we are all dead men, and yet they let it slide?
So, having shown goodwill, I must completely win over the hearts of these two here.
Instead, may I join you by the fire and talk for a bit? Somehow, I cant seem to fall asleep.
At those words, the sergeant and the private looked bewildered, but they could not dare to defy the orders of a Division Commander adorned with two stars.
I took the lead in the conversation with them by speaking first.
From now on, you may answer my questions honestly without fearing any repercussions. So, Sergeant, please answer honestly. I swear on my honor.
The honor of a noble was, without exaggeration, as important as life itself, sometimes even more so.
So, to swear on that meant a firm promise not to penalize the sergeant regardless of his answers.
Therefore, he would honestly answer whatever question I asked.
I heard you plan to marry a woman named Sylvia after your discharge. So, you said it would be terribly unfair if you were to die on this disadvantageous battlefield, didnt you?
Yes, thats right. If I die here, Sylvia will marry another man. You dont know how hard Ive worked to live to marry her. I endured while other soldiers went out to play, saving money. Thinking that all that effort might go to waste drives me insane.
I sympathize, too. If I had been consistently saving money to marry and start a happy family like you, resisting the temptation to enjoy myself, especially with discharge not far away, how unjust would it be to die here? I agree with your sentiment.
In the Reich Empire, nobles did not engage in personal conversations with commoners or serfs, except in very exceptional cases.
And 80-90% of these exceptional cases involved male nobles like me getting involved with commoner women as lovers.
Most nobles, excluding myself, did not acknowledge that they were biologically the same as commoners. They considered themselves noble beings of different blood, never using the term empathize with the position of commoners.
Thus, the sergeants face showed both surprise and emotion.
I say this because you might wonder how someone like a Lieutenant General could understand your feelings. I, too, am married, and now, after a few years, my wife is carrying my first child. But if I die here, I will die without ever holding my child, even once. Just the thought is too horrifying.
In fact, just thinking about it felt heart-wrenchingly painful and regrettable.
Indeed, since I became a Lieutenant General, Laura has been actively wanting us to have a child of our own, expressing her desire for my love.
Whenever she had the time, she would ask her nanny or others with child-rearing experience about their feelings and precautions during childbirth and child-rearing, genuinely envying them.
So, when the doctor announced her pregnancy, she cried tears of joy, and since then, she has been stroking her belly every day, smiling more happily than anyone in the world.
And that was Laura.
If, instead of me, notification of my death in battle reached her just as she was happily holding our newborn, feeling as if she had everything in the world
Thats why I want to return alive by any means necessary. That way, I can see and hold the child my wife will give birth to. You may not be married or have a child yet, but Sylvia, your fiance, is waiting for you, isnt she?
Yes, thats right.
In that sense, you and I are similar. Then let me ask again. What do you think my task is going forward?
Hearing that, the sergeant looked puzzled and said,
Isnt it to safely retreat the Crown Prince and the other soldiers from here?
Correct. My task is to somehow send the Crown Prince and all our expeditionary forces back home. Its my duty to safely return soldiers who have people waiting for them at home and in their hometown, like you.
In Korea, it wasnt considered special when a company commander, battalion commander, or occasionally a training center commander said that their duty was to safely return their men, but
For an officer of the Reich Empire, a mission meant achieving victory with the minimum casualties to accumulate personal honor and wealth.
Therefore, it must have been the first time the sergeant witnessed a general speaking like this.
However, due to my shortcomings, I have put you all in danger. Therefore, to send back even one more of you to your homeland, I will take the lead in this battle and fight with my life on the line. I believe that is my duty as a noble and what I should rightfully do as a general.
In fact, the reason I wanted to stand at the very front was obviously to reduce sacrifices, but rationally, if I didnt stand at the forefront and be prepared to fight to the death, there was a risk that the army might collapse.
This was because the entire army would fall into the enemys trap and would be completely isolated within enemy territory, facing a retreat battle where usually more than half of the troops would die.
The officers might endure somehow due to their noble pride, but the regular soldiers would be pushed to their mental limits.
To prevent that, as someone of high status, I must set an example by risking my life.
Upon hearing that I would fight alongside the soldiers, prepared to die, the Sergeant asked,
Are you really planning to do that? Are you truly willing to risk your life with us for our sake?
To that question, I quoted the words of a renowned general, who was warmer than anyone else, to his soldiers in an army made up of the lowest of the low, which seemed fitting for this situation.
If a beloved partner, wife, and child are in danger, a man must push through the driving snow, darkness, and perilous path to protect them. Every soldier here, including you, is like my own child. Thus, I will risk my life to protect even one more soldier.
So, dont give up and trust me and the generals of the Empires army until the end.
After saying that, I stood up.
If you return alive from here and get married to your fiance, make sure to contact the Yaeger Baron family. I will generously give my wedding gift.
Then, I walked back to the barracks without looking back, and the sound of the soldier I had just been talking to sobbing came from behind.
It seemed he was deeply moved by our conversation.
Ha, now it seems we can finally fight.
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