Chapter 41: Before The War: Inner Reflection (5)
Upon hearing that report, I shouted in excitement and said,
“Great! Then, from now on, we will prepare the final prank to drain those guys’ spirits! Is everyone ready?”
Then all members of the special task force responded loudly to my words,
“Yes, we are ready!”
“Just give the order! We will burn everything to the ground!”
“We will only follow and trust the Battalion Commander.”
The faces of those speaking were already filled with the expectation of one-sidedly toying with the enemy.
As their leader, I opened my mouth to meet that expectation.
“Then I will explain our strategy. This time, we will not undertake any complicated tactical actions. We will just spill some oil in the forest near the place where they are expected to arrive and ambush them with oil drums. When the enemy vanguard approaches, we will roll the oil drums and fire explosion magic and flaming arrows to give the enemy a taste of fire, then immediately retreat and join the advance scout Yaeger Battalion.”
It was a much simpler operation than the mock battles we had gone through.
The operation was simply to ‘spill oil in the forest near the anticipated enemy route, ambush them, and when they appear, roll the oil drums, cause an explosion, set them on fire, and flee’.
It might make sense for them to complain if a reason wasn’t properly explained since our special task force, comprised of advanced military personnel, suggested such a simple operation against a numerically superior enemy.
Thinking I needed to explain the proper reason to them, Laura, who always had many questions and curiosities, asked on behalf of everyone.
“I have a question, Battalion Commander.”
“Alright, permission granted.”
“If the enemy vanguard doesn’t notice us, wouldn’t it be better to use this opportunity to attack them using some chemicals and surprise attacks?”
If we would take risks, we could launch a surprise attack on them, as Laura said.
If successful, we could be renowned for showing bravery by attacking the enemy’s vanguard with just 20 people.
A commander who doesn’t shy away from daring operations prepared for sacrifices could try, but…
“It’s a good suggestion, but our special task force has already succeeded in stealing the food the enemy would conscript, making them unusable. Thus, the ration distribution of the Empire’s army, which largely depends on conscription, will significantly decrease, and their soldiers will go hungry. It would inevitably lower their morale and combat power. In other words, we have already succeeded in weakening the enemy’s combat power.”
“As the Battalion Commander says.”
“Moreover, we also have valuable information like the size, morale, and distribution status of the enemy army that other scout teams didn’t secure. If we get greedy and attack the enemy directly and get killed, wouldn’t we waste this precious information?”
Hearing this, Laura began to nod as if she had realized something.
Moreover, the other officers belonging to the special task force, possibly having the same doubts, started muttering and nodding in agreement.
“If we engage in battle, in the worst case, we could all die here, and we won’t be able to report the hard-earned information we obtained and only face an utterly futile death.”
“In other cases, they might chase after us, and we will be overwhelmed by the cavalry behind them.”
What they said was correct, but there was another reason I didn’t want to launch a direct attack against the enemy’s vanguard.
“To be honest, it doesn’t matter if we don’t kill a single enemy in this operation. What we need to do is instill fear in them, making them unaware of when and where we will attack them.”
When I said this, all the officers made a shocked face, but I continued speaking without caring.
“The enemy commanders, thinking they are marching safely within the territory of Chekovia, will keep their guard minimal to conserve the soldiers’ energy for battles.”
It was logical to do so even in Europe, where, thanks to internationalization and European Union policies, one could cross borders in a minute just by showing a passport, just like having a bus ticket checked. Most people living within the French border were French, and most people within the German border were Germans.
In a fantasy world where even the concept of open borders was unthinkable, any invader in a war against another country must move in groups as a common sense to anticipate danger. Even a subunit of the enemy roaming around was usually at least at the battalion level. If a large, friendly force was nearby, they should retreat to avoid being isolated and destroyed.
Not doing so could mean risking being ambushed in some way. With the experience and wisdom left by ancestors, all armies reduce the number of guards to preserve the soldiers’ energy within friendly territory. It was a given truth, like water flowing from high to low.
“However, once attacked, the enemy commanders, including the leaders, will panic at the unexpected situation and will become more cautious. They have to, or they will be attacked by us again.”
People normally experience a mental shock and a temporary decline in judgment and intellectual abilities when facing unexpected situations. For instance, a man dumped by their girlfriend the day before a major exam could not answer questions that would have normally been easy, thus failing the test. Let alone here, where thousands or tens of thousands of lives depended on a single misjudgment on the battlefield. Although we weren’t engaging in direct combat, we could still inflict considerable distress with one wrong judgment.
“And then, the soldiers will have to stay up at night and rotate guard duties, exhausting their energy searching for non-existent enemies. Simultaneously, complaints against the commanders will increase with the increased hardships, leading to a simultaneous decline in morale and stamina.”
“Do you understand it now?”
Upon hearing this, the officers of the special task force nodded and shot me a look that said,
‘As expected of our Captain.’
“Then, we shall prepare as instructed. It’s time to open the gates of hell for them.”
An hour after the strategy meeting of our special task force.
The Chekovia Kingdom’s vanguard was responsible for identifying any potential threats while moving approximately 4 hours ahead of their main forces on foot.
However, Lieutenant Alex, the leader of this unit, wasn’t carefully scanning his surroundings.
Higher-ups could’ve reprimanded such an attitude, but he had his excuse.
‘They usually send a battalion commander or above as advance scouts when heading to enemy lines or dangerous places. Since they sent me, a mere captain, it seems they only want to confirm it’s safe for formality’s sake.’
Typically, subordinates misjudge situations when they think this way, but given the current circumstances, his thoughts were reasonably correct.
“Damn it. Because I had to play the role of an advanced scout, I had to wake up 3 hours earlier than others. What the hell is this?”
As he yawned and looked around, he heard the sound of something heavy rolling.
“A rockslide? Damn it! Each squad leader, move as far away as possible from the sound! If we get caught under the rocks, we’re dead!”
Upon hearing this, the chick squad leaders, with the help of NCOs, managed to move the soldiers back to minimize casualties.
But what rolled down to crush them was not a rock but a large barrel filled with oil.
And everyone there quickly realized that this was done by the enemy.
However, it was already too late by the time they noticed the surprise attack.
Before they could even shout to alert about the ambush, fire arrows and explosion magic from the forest hit the oil barrels. Then the resulting explosion sent burning fragments flying, setting the surroundings ablaze.
“Save me!!”
“Damn, damn! It hurts!! Water! Water!!”
Some soldiers were already on fire, burning alive from the flaming fragments.
Alex, having served in the army for several years, heard the sound of a squad-sized enemy fleeing on horses, so he decided there would be no additional attacks.
“Shoot water balls to put out the people on fire, and we need to return to the main unit as quickly as possible to report the possibility of enemy ambushes! Get ready to withdraw the troops immediately!”
It was the wisest decision he could make in this situation, but Alex and the soldiers, terrified by the unexpected attack, could barely even move.
Especially the rookies who were vomiting at the horrendous sight and smell of burning flesh and clothes.
The inexperienced squad leaders didn’t know how to control the situation and were hardly any help.
Some veteran soldiers even deserted in the midst of this chaos.
However, fitting his rank as a lieutenant, Alex managed to safely recover about 90 out of 100 soldiers with the experience he had gained over several years in military service and shouted,
“Damn, bastards! How do you like fighting this shitty war?”
Meanwhile, the Chekovia Kingdom’s leaders, upon receiving the news from the vanguard, issued new instructions to all units because they couldn’t predict when such an event might repeat, despite the minimal damage from the ambush.
“Double the number of people standing guard at night for each company, and increase the number and time of the reconnaissance units.”
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