Chapter 52: The Hammer & Anvil (5)
The case where a battalion commander or a higher-ranking commander would stand at the forefront could generally be divided into two scenarios.
Firstly, if our army was significantly disadvantaged, and a senior commander, such as I, as the Battalion Commander, had to risk my life to reverse the situation.
Secondly, it was when our army would think that we had an overwhelming advantage over the enemy, where there was hardly any risk, solidifying our superior position as a measure.
The enemy would be joyous in the former case, thinking they have won. However, in the latter case, they would realize they were in grave danger and fall into despair.
So now, the soldiers of the unit we were facing must have profoundly felt that they had fallen into an inescapable mire with my appearance as the Battalion Commander.
“Why is their battalion commander leading them at the forefront? Have we already lost? Are we all going to die?”
“Damn, save me! You crazy bastards!”
“What is our battalion commander doing? The battalion commander of the Reich army is leading them at the forefront!”
In a war where we were killing each other, our enemy’s lamentation and misfortune caused us great joy.
Including me, everyone in the Yaeger battalion felt joyful and relieved seeing our enemies trembling in fear.
In everyday life, feeling such emotions and seeing others tremble in fear would make one a mad criminal, but in war, it was strange if one wouldn’t rejoice at the sight of the enemy consumed by fear.
Then I commanded the spear soldiers.
“Break at least two enemy heads per person. Anyone who breaks more than five, I will arrange them for a faster discharge.”
Was it due to this remark that had an almost 100% effective rate from the late-term privates to the new recruits, saying they would be excluded from all tasks in military life…
“Long live Battalion Commander Yaeger!”
“For hefty rewards and early discharge!”
“Let’s go break some heads!”
The morale of the enemy soldiers started to rise to the sky, and I quickly moved towards the enemy, passing through our spear soldiers with my spear in hand.
Then, I found the enemy soldier who came out without even wearing a helmet first and fiercely struck him with the infantry spear in my hand.
“Commanders hiding and leaving your subordinates to die, come out! Let’s have a noble fight!”
If a commander of battalion level or higher reacted to such provocation, it was like the generals in the Three Kingdoms who got provoked and surrendered their castles.
So, a proper commander would still continue commanding, ignoring all the insults about his family and his shortcomings here.
However, as all provocations in this world were made to be either responded to or ignored, I kept swinging my spear, killing the soldiers in sight, and shouting.
“The commanders of Chekovia are as frail as women! How scared must you be not to come out while your soldiers are dying? Fine! I’ll send you loads of dresses that women wear. Change into dresses and come out wearing them tomorrow.”
While uttering such reckless, childish taunts, I naturally knocked out the enemy soldier wearing armor in sight with the head of the spear and inserted the blade attached to its handle into the gap in the armor, from where blood flowed.
Given his proper armor, it seemed like he was a commander or a high-ranking sergeant, whoever he was.
“Follow the Battalion Commander! Let’s go break some heads with spears!”
“Kill the pigs of Chekovia with your long, thick spears!”
“Deus has guaranteed our victory!”
As such shouts were heard, I saw the soldiers of the Yaeger Battalion following me and slaughtering the enemies.
In the front, the soldiers with spears were killing enemies by striking their heads and bodies like me, and behind them, the ones with long spears were stabbing the vital parts of the enemies.
Those who were withstanding our attack decently until a few minutes ago were now rapidly crumbling and losing their will to fight, which was pitiful.
“Where is our battalion commander? He said we could survive if we followed his commands!”
“Did the commander abandon us?”
“The bastard cares for his life, too. In the end, we, the insignificant ones, are the only ones to die in this battle.”
No matter how much the soldiers of Chekovia searched for their commander like lost children searching for their parents, he would never appear.
It was a pity for us as the chances of building merits decreased, and for those dying out there, it was an unspeakably miserable event.
A battalion commander appearing where his unit was completely broken and irreparable wouldn’t change the tide of war. It was only evident that he would meet a dog’s death.
Yet, I couldn’t blame him, as in the heat of war, the loss of a higher-up would affect the morale of the entire army more than the death of a few thousand soldiers.
Trying to save the unsavable soldiers and jumping into death itself were impossible on the battlefield.
To increase the probability of winning by killing more enemies, as a commander, one had to make the choice of abandoning human decency in such cases.
Of course, it was circumstantial, but I think it wasn’t humane for a commander to hide while his subordinates were dying on the field.
“Pigs of Chekovia, hear me! Your battalion commander has abandoned you! If you lay down your weapons and kneel now, we will spare your lives! Surrender!”
As I spoke, the Chekovia men in front of me unanimously laid down their weapons and knelt as instructed.
“Leave those who knelt! The Division Commander will take them as prisoners! Do not worry about them! Kill the ones still holding weapons!”
Upon hearing that, my soldiers ignored those who surrendered and continued to advance.
A part of me thought about how much merit would be accumulated if we took all those prisoners, feeling a bit sympathetic.
However, our current goal was to reach the enemy headquarters as soon as possible and take the commander’s head.
“Battalion Commander, enemy reinforcements are approaching! I do not know the exact number, but they seem to be more than us!”
Rationally thinking, there would be more than just one unit of obstacles on the way to where the enemy commander was, right?
If we wasted time in fighting the enemy who had lost the will to fight or take prisoners…
The enemy soldiers, who had lost all hope, would regroup with the reinforcements and hinder us, regaining their morale.
Rather than that, leaving all the prisoners behind and quickly dealing with the incoming enemy was much more advantageous.
As we were advancing, Marco, who was acting as the unit commander, approached me and asked,
“Should we reorganize our formation, Lieutenant? Perhaps…”
Under normal circumstances, I would have chosen to reorganize and face the enemy now.
However, the enemy reinforcements were hastily coming without a proper formation, and we also lost our formation in the melee.
And we had spears, which were the most advantageous weapon in a chaotic fight in our battalion.
“We are going to clash with our enemies. Without reorganization, both sides can only enter into a brawl, so we can’t use our spears. But our side has been trained to fight in different situations, so we have the advantage! Thus, prepare for a brawl!”
“Understood! Abandon all battalion weapons! We are going in as we are!”
As soon as those words were uttered, the sound of spears, which were indispensable to an infantry, falling to the ground was heard.
I didn’t turn around as there was no time, but I was profoundly moved.
That was because abandoning the weapon they were most familiar with, the spear, which was no different from their lifeline on the battlefield, where they could die at any moment, required immense courage, all at my single command.
No, in this case, it should be seen as proof of their faith in their commander, Lieutenant Peter Yaeger.
As evidence, this enemy, who wore armor like that of a company commander running from the front, was unable to hide his astonished expression.
“Do what we always do before entering a melee! Crossbowmen and magicians with energy left in them, shoot all the visible enemies! Throw your spears if they can’t be used when we clash with them!”
The sourc𝗲 of this content is free(w)ebnov(𝒆)l