Chapter 61: What Is War? (2)
“Certainly, even if many enemy soldiers were killed in battle, there could still be strategic defeats. Could it really be interpreted in that manner?”
“While that may be true, it seemed there wasn’t a single mistake in what the Lieutenant Colonel said.”
“I thought the same. By applying the theory the Professor mentioned, the reasons for the wars that I couldn’t understand while reading papers in my academy days became crystal clear.”
Had this kind of material been lectured at the academy, students, with their still immature knowledge and lack of understanding of real-world principles, would have failed to grasp it.
But perhaps because they were the elites who had fiercely competed from the academy to the staff college, I felt a sense of accomplishment seeing them discuss and try to understand the basic stories I provided.
However, rather than displaying my pride, I stood at the podium and addressed them,
“Everyone, pay attention. Our 10-minute break has ended. Let’s start the next lesson.”
If an hour ago, the start of the lesson was more about the curiosity of the genius who, at 21, was given the title of Baron and promoted to Lieutenant Colonel, now everyone is completely engrossed in the lesson introducing new theories.
This commendable attitude as a professor was truly satisfying, and for a moment, I even thought of settling down as a full-time professor.
“We have about two hours left for this session. We’ll progress the lesson based on the battle that occurred in Bisochea. You’ve all read a brief report on this battle, haven’t you?”
Although the confidentiality of this report was classified as level 3 and academy students couldn’t access it casually, these students were the future stars here.
Naturally, they had the authority to read it, and to survive in the competition, they would have thoroughly gone through such a battle report.
“Today, I provided a good example of how strategic gains achieved from the pure willpower of the enemy commander in battle could evaporate. You were all aware that Nikolai, the Colonel of Chekovia, fled to the Bisochea Castle without any hesitation after facing defeat in battle, right?”
As expected, all the students in the classroom unanimously raised their hands, indicating they had read it.
“Good. Then, let’s officially start the lecture. Due to Chekovia’s Colonel Nikolai’s choices, our Reich Empire faced the crisis of achieving no results on the Chekovia Front. No, it almost entered a situation of mutual loss, a stalemate at a strategic level. This served as a good example of proving the magnitude of a commander’s will in war.”
Delving deeper into the situation, Nikolai, that bastard, was nothing more than a cowardly punk. When faced with potential defeat, instead of fighting to the end, he fled.
If that damned strategy of his had succeeded…
Ah, I should have discussed that during the lecture. Damn it. Just thinking about it infuriated me.
To think that Nikolai somehow made it to medical school but failed in his second year.
However, demonstrating what results could be achieved if a commander didn’t give up and persisted in the war served as a good example.
“When the Crown Prince lured Nikolai’s 50,000 troops, who were feigning that they were being pushed back, counter-attacked, Major General Ludwig simultaneously led an 8-division ambush on the enemy’s main force. The enemy had already lost more than 30% of their troops, either killed or missing, reaching a near-annihilation state. Their force had almost lost their combat capabilities to the point of being hard to control, so they had no option but to retreat.”
Thus, like a certain king of Joseon who quickly abandoned his subjects, Nikolai, the so-called Colonel, also abandoned his base and fled.
In normal circumstances, after that damned commander fled, our side would have been in a sweet situation, simply crushing the disordered enemy.
“But if you looked at it narrowly, our Imperial Army dealt significant damage to the enemy. In that situation, we only had to eliminate as many enemy soldiers, the foundation of their combat capability, as possible. However, if you looked at it more broadly…”
Having said that, I roughly sketched out a map of the battlefield and the surroundings of the Bisochea Castle.
“Typically, when we said that we’d annihilated the enemy army, it meant that 30% of the soldiers the enemy deployed had been killed or seriously injured. If we pursued further, we could have increased the damage so that almost half of their soldiers either died or deserted. However, due to the nature of the battlefield and our limits, we inevitably let some escape. Those enemy soldiers who got away headed to the Bisochea Castle, where their commander resided.”
Upon hearing this, the students’ expressions began to harden.
Because if a guy named Nikolai had lured us into a siege, the army led by the Crown Prince would have found itself forced into a siege despite having won decisively in open combat.
Even if the enemy’s morale had been shattered, capturing a fortress defended by 25,000 soldiers with only 40,000 was extremely difficult.
In military studies, it was taught that,
‘For a siege, you need a minimum of three times the troops. Either surround the enemy or abandon the attack. Otherwise, you will be defeated.’
This had been a principle in the Empire’s military textbooks, unchanged for generations.
Then, I sketched a rough map of the surrounding Empire and continued the lecture.
“As you can see, due to its geographical features, the Empire has many neighboring enemies. There is Francois, the Republic, Chekovia, Swichland, and the Warsaw Kingdom. If the war had dragged on, these countries would likely have taken advantage of any opening. They would have assumed that the longer the siege, the weaker the Empire would become, increasing their chances of victory.”
While the Empire held an advantage when facing these nations one-on-one, when it faced two or more simultaneously, the lengthened battle and supply issues made maintaining the upper hand challenging.
This meant a potential defeat, which, in turn, suggested that the Empire might suffer significant territorial losses.
“In the worst-case scenario, we might have lost some territories to other nations. Even after our major victories, we could have ended up negotiating with the enemy in Bisochea under less ideal conditions. Meaning, instead of getting the entire Bisochea regions, perhaps we could have gotten just half of them.”
If Chekovia’s monarch had been a master diplomat, he could have rallied two or three other nations to threaten us.
But let’s not dwell on that.
At this point, I also needed to commend our Crown Prince.
It was a vassal’s duty to give back what they had received.
“However, I noticed that the defense force at their home base wasn’t as desperate as expected. That was a hint that Nikolai had abandoned his base. When I informed the Crown Prince of this, despite my rank as a Lieutenant, he didn’t disregard my message. As a result, Nikolai was captured and died as a coward, and our Reich Empire’s army achieved an overwhelming victory.”
If Nikolai hadn’t been captured, including the Crown Prince, our entire faction might have faced grave danger.
“Given the considerable influence a single commander’s will can have on the course of a war, we must always strive to crush the enemy’s will when entering combat. With that, today’s lecture is concluded. If you want to learn more strategies to diminish the enemy’s combat capabilities, continue attending my classes.”
As I finished, an older-looking Lieutenant Colonel stood up and saluted, marking the end of my first lecture.
Whispers among many students reached my ears.
“Bring out the map again. Let’s analyze it one more time.”
“We can skip the next class since it’s course registration adjustment day.”
“Hey, there was Lieutenant Laura, who served under the Professor in the field. Let’s bring her here and hear her story.”
It was the same in Korea. Ambitious students reviewed right after the lesson, and it was no different in the staff college.
With that thought, I left the room.
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