Chapter 35: Preparation For War (1)
The day after the mock battle, I, Peter Yaeger, left for my domain with 500 soldiers under my command. The return journey on foot with 500 troops took a month, but we safely reached the domain. And after another two months, three good things happened to me.
First, with the announcement of the year-end regular personnel changes, my status officially changed to major, as expected. Upon receiving this order, 12 mages from the mage company and 12 knights from the knight company came under my command. Simultaneously, my command baton and scabbard received gold decorations, and as a special privilege of a battalion commander, I received a warhorse similar to what the knights rode.
Secondly, the people of the Bruno territory, following my agricultural instructions, saw a dramatic increase in harvest. Even after paying the predetermined tax in grain, there was sufficient food left for the next year, and I received reports of widespread praise for the new lord.
The third… as I was thinking, a knock sounded on the door, and then a voice came from beyond.
“Lord, Sub-Lieutenant Laura von Bener is here.”
Sub-Lieutenant Laura von Benner, the third good thing that happened to me, arrived.
“Let her in.”
As my words ended, the door to my office opened, and Laura, wearing the Empire’s black military uniform, saluted at a precisely correct angle.
“Loyalty! From today, I, Sub-Lieutenant Laura von Benner, am officially assigned under Major Peter Yaeger. I look forward to your guidance.”
Personally, her assignment was an unexpected fortune. Laura von Benner was a talent I wanted to secure by any means possible. However, being the ‘valedictorian in all grades in the academy,’ she was eyed by higher-ranking officers. I thought I could only have her as my deputy when I became at least a lieutenant colonel or colonel.
I never imagined she would volunteer to come under me through Count Benner.
Due to this situation, I couldn’t suppress the smile rising from the joy within me. And my lips naturally curled up to the ceiling.
“Loyalty! Welcome to the assignment, Sub-Lieutenant Benner. It seems we have a lot to talk about, so please sit down.”
“Yes, Major.”
She handed over a box made out of luxurious wood decorated with gold before sitting on the chair I pointed to. As I expected, it contained my academy diploma, given for successfully completing the mock battle.
The diploma detailed everything from my time as a student platoon leader to leading the front lines of Raintlant to victory, bestowing on me the honor of a distinguished valedictorian. Yet such privileges were not much of a help to me, who had been promoted to major before graduating from the academy.
However, Laura seemed to take it differently and congratulated me with excitement in her eyes.
“Congratulations on your distinguished valedictorian graduation from the academy, Major.”
“Thank you for the congratulations, Sub-Lieutenant Benner. Now, let’s start the real talk.”
Laura, with sparkling eyes, readied her small notebook and pen from her pocket. Seeing that, I thought,
‘To be a valedictorian in an academy full of prodigies, she needs to be this meticulous, huh?’
I put that thought aside for a moment and explained in detail what she would have to do as a deputy. If summarized briefly, except for personal matters like sleeping, going to the bathroom, taking a bath, and spending time with family, a deputy supports the commander in everything.
Since a single commander or lord like me didn’t have many personal matters, there were many times when it was necessary for us to do the tasks closely. So, while explaining the job description, I was concerned about being together with a beauty of the same age for almost 24 hours.
Usually, even if men and women meet in such a relationship, a major who could have a deputy was over 40, and the deputy, a sub-lieutenant, was 20-23 years old, so there was no problem.
This problem arose because I was promoted too fast. But of course, spending 24 hours with a silver-haired beauty of my taste was good for me.
Laura, sitting in front of me, answered without a moment’s hesitation with sparkling eyes.
“I was educated about the duties of a deputy when learning the positions of officers at the academy. My father, Count Benner, also said, ‘Follow a great commander during your inexperienced new officer days, and learn thoroughly, not missing a blink.’ I think spending more time serving you, Major, provides me with more opportunity to learn.”
It was a model answer, exactly in line with what was taught during the academy lessons on each position’s characteristics, advantages, and disadvantages.
At her words, I stopped thinking about miscellaneous things outside of work.
At this moment, Laura spoke with a slight smile.
“I don’t know how long I will serve as a deputy, but unless my position changes due to a promotion or other reasons, I will continue to serve you, Major. So, please call me Laura and treat me comfortably. I look forward to working with you.”
After hearing this, I extended my hand for a handshake, and she held my hand in response.
“I look forward to working with you, Sub-Lieutenant Laura. It’s time for the mansion’s chef to bring the food, so why don’t we continue talking over a meal?”
“Let’s do that. May I still ask you some questions in the meantime?”
“As long as it’s not too personal, ask anything.”
Laura and I continued to discuss the current situation of the Bruno territory and its army, how we are preparing for the Chekovia expedition, and the training of the soldiers.
In the meantime, the chef came and placed the food for Laura and me on the table. The menu of bread, cream stew, steak, and a glass of milk in butter seemed like a typical meal in a fantasy world.
As I dined with Laura with minimum manners, she elegantly cut the meat with her knife and asked.
“When you were at the Raintlant front, didn’t you lead a company and about ten mages into the enemy headquarters when Colonel Stefan was cornered by the army of the Francois Republic?”
“True. I was reckless then.”
“My father said that the surprise attack changed the course of the war. What were you thinking when you attacked? Were you confident it would succeed?”
At that, I nodded and said,
“Of course. I was certain that the surprise attack would work. Otherwise, a mere acting company commander, who was a lieutenant at the time, couldn’t have suggested a strategy to a high-ranking officer like the Colonel.”
Laura looked at me with admiration-filled, sparkling eyes, discarding her usually somewhat cold, expressionless face. To her, who had applied for this position admiring my accomplishments, this must have been the most attractive story.
“To explain the reason, wars are mostly based on logical judgments. If the number of soldiers is small, they tend to use defensive tactics. Additionally, the atmosphere in Colonel Stefan’s division was so bad that most of the men’s opinion was to retreat to Weinburg Castle. The enemy would know this information through spies, and they’d never think they would be preemptively attacked.”
“Indeed, if the force is small, minimizing losses and commanding the soldiers creates a chance of victory.”
“Then, naturally, the enemy will let their guard down according to logical judgment, and if they receive a rain of over a hundred arrows and a barrage of magic in the middle of the night when their guard is the weakest, they mistakenly think they are being attacked by a battalion or more. Because to mobilize such firepower, it has to be at least a battalion.”
Upon hearing my story up to this point, Laura, who was cutting her steak, stopped and blankly stared at my face.
Seeing the usually cold and flawless Laura show such an opening was quite likable.
“So, to repel our unit that appeared like a battalion, the army of the Francois Republic strived to organize their formation. Then the division under Colonel Stefan attacked the enemy’s left due to this delay. So it was possible to win.”
I had finished my share of the meal while telling my war story, but Laura was so absorbed in listening that she didn’t eat and just listened.
Such openings she showed were quite cute, but since one of the essential virtues of a deputy was to match the eating pace with their superior,
“Sub-Lieutenant Laura, eat your meal first. We can continue our talk once our duties are over.”
I pointed that out a little.
At this, her face reddened slightly, and I thought that life as a commander with Laura von Benner would not only make my job easier with a good subordinate but also bring such interesting occurrences.
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