Chapter 49: The Hammer & Anvil (2)
In the evening, Colonel Hans delivered Lieutenant Yaeger’s operational plan to Count Benner.
And Count Benner, who was the deputy commander and essentially acted as the commander of the 40,000 Chekovia Expeditionary Force, was in mixed spirits.
Of course, nobody in their right mind would feel comfortable or joyful on the battlefield.
Especially commanders, unlike regular soldiers, who had countless lives depending on their orders, could never be at ease on the battlefield.
His complicated feelings today were not because our side was at a disadvantage or there were supply issues.
Rather, it was a great situation where the Yaeger battalion, which his daughter was part of, destroyed a knight and an infantry battalion, boosting the entire army’s morale with the feats his daughter achieved in her first battle.
Thus, the Count distributed beer to his subordinates and soldiers.
“Ah~ Lieutenant Yaeger, this guy. He suggested a strategy where a single battalion surprises an entire brigade on the Raintlant front, and now a tactic of semi-encirclement using a brigade as a hammer.”
Yes, his mixed feelings were because he was presented with a strategy that even he, Count Benner, who had proven his abilities up to being a Major General, had never thought of.
As he continued to read the report, he realized the strategy was just the start.
[However, even if a brigade strikes from the side, the marching distance is considerable, so the enemy would likely notice us in a normal combat situation. Therefore, for the strategy’s success, the 32,000 troops under the Crown Prince must pretend to retreat, provoking the enemy…]
Reading further, Count Benner couldn’t believe it and held his forehead, saying,
“Planning to create a semi-encirclement by attacking the flanks when the enemy is mindlessly attacking the Crown Prince’s main force… What kind of insane idea is this?”
Although it was unbelievable, sometimes insane ideas in military strategy became excellent tactics that made history.
On the contrary, even an excellent, standard strategy could sometimes result in trash-like battles.
Lieutenant Yaeger’s proposed strategy seemed insane to Count Benner, but it was the most suitable strategy considering the situation the Chekovia Expeditionary Force was in.
The Crown Prince, who was practically going to the front for the first time, wanted a noticeable, definite victory to strengthen his position.
Meanwhile, the Chekovia army hoped to capture the Crown Prince of the Reich Empire and flaunt their status on the continent.
So, if the Crown Prince would take the risk of acting as bait, the enemy would definitely chase him.
If this strategy succeeds and the Chekovia Expeditionary Force led by the Crown Prince wins, it would secure enormous stature for the victorious commander, along with the fame of risking his life to achieve victory, ensuring the Crown Prince’s stable accession to the throne.
In terms of politics, strategy, and circumstances, this strategy was a guaranteed success.
So, as a deputy commander, he wrote a recommendation for the Crown Prince to adopt this strategy.
Then Count Bener sighed, speaking in a voice mixed with complaints,
“As he becomes more active under the Crown Prince, my status also rises for supporting him by sending Laura as a lieutenant. But seeing Laura refuse my suggestion to go to the staff headquarters to build a career after this war…”
The Count mumbled but then shut his mouth.
Because if he spoke the next words, he thought Yaeger might even snatch his beloved only daughter.
He found consolation in the fact that Lieutenant Yaeger was a model student who only knew how to study, didn’t know how to fool around with women, and was only focused on military merits and territory management.
“‘I admire Lieutenant Yaeger. I highly value his excellent tactical and strategic abilities and the rapid development of the territory he received. So, I want to learn more and be of help under him,’ Laura said with sparkling eyes. It sounds nice to express admiration, but as she has never experienced love, she just doesn’t know her feelings are love. If the opportunity arises…”
Count Benner envisioned the future where Yaeger would bring Laura before him to ask for permission to marry her, a scene he, as a father, did not want to imagine.
However, deep down, he also thought,
‘Among everyone in my family, Lieutenant Yaeger is the best. Laura is a girl and can’t inherit my title anyway. My nephew is the successor, so there’s no concern about status.’
Eventually, he decided to put aside his future worries and began writing letters to the noble families he was in correspondence with.
The content was about the merits his daughter had gained today.
It might seem strange to write letters informing of such facts in the midst of a busy war situation, but informing about the merits of his family members in real-time was also a noble duty.
Late at night on the same day, the Crown Prince approved the plan proposed by Lieutenant Yaeger.
A week later, near Mount Kaines.
I, Peter Yaeger, along with our battalion members, were conducting constructions here to face an enemy army of 20,000, who were unlikely to come.
Though we called it construction, we didn’t dig trenches double or triple like the Korean army, or did any hard labor like piling up sandbags.
We were setting up stakes to prevent the enemy from coming carelessly, creating a solid wall-like structure with carts behind them, and digging shallow trenches.
“Ha, damn. What is this? I need to pass the sergeant examination to get married. Why am I shoveling here?”
“Sergeant Charles, don’t be too disappointed. Didn’t the battalion commander say that in one or two months, an army of over 20,000 would come? You can act then and be promoted.”
“You take responsibility for that. If it doesn’t, I will empty your wallet after the war.”
Soldiers were making jokes as they did a laborous work, successfully building a palisade that could be used for real defense in just a week.
However, according to the strategy I devised, this fortress built by the hard work of the soldiers would be abandoned in a few hours.
Knowing this or not, even my battalion commanders were on guard, with their sleeves rolled up, eagerly participating in the work, except one looking on from a distance.
Lieutenant, no, now Captain Laura, my subordinate, was watching the palisade with very interested eyes.
“I didn’t understand how to build it when you explained the newly devised fortress to the officers of the brigade. I didn’t expect much robustness when you said to replace the wall with carts behind the stakes. But seeing the finished product, it seems sturdy enough to block the knights’ charge several times.”
“I’m not sure without doing an experiment, but it should be able to block one or two spells or arrows with those carts. Then the soldiers’ consumption will reduce in defense, so it’s not impossible to intercept 20,000 with 8,000.”
Using cannons along with this defensive formation and carts as temporary block walls could block the knights’ charge.
But here, there were no cannons, so we could repel the knights, but we couldn’t expect a great effect.
Still, employing magicians might have a similar effect.
“Placing magicians behind the carts and attacking with magic when enemy heavy infantry approaches would be very effective.”
Listening to my words, Laura was probably imagining a scene of us intercepting the enemy with magicians placed behind the palisade made of carts, watching the fortress being erected by the soldiers with sparkling eyes.
Shortly after, signals came up that the meal preparations were completed much earlier than usual.
We were distributed nearly double the usual amount of meals.
“1st platoon, attention! Seeing the amount of food distributed, there must be hard work tomorrow. So eat quickly and just go to sleep!”
“3rd company! Be on your guard.”
The lower-ranking officers seemed to sense that something special was going to happen, even though they couldn’t deduce the details of the operation.
“Captain Laura, you should go and rest as soon as you finish your meal today. It seems we have a lot to do tomorrow.”
After finishing the meal and 6 hours of rest, a piece of news spread loudly along with the sound of trumpets.
“From now, our army will return to the battlefield where the Crown Prince is! Leave all heavy carts and huts here and move quickly to hit the enemy’s side!”
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