189 – Linz Plain Grand Slalom (1)
And the next day, Linz Plain.
The two armies, 110,000 of the Reich Empire and 180,000 of the Grand Duchy of Austria, are standing at a distance and facing each other.
The morale of both armies was at a very high level as the Crown Prince of the Reich Empire and the Archduke of the Grand Duchy of Austria personally participated and led the troops.
Both the commanders of both armies, the Crown Prince and the Grand Duke, are confident that they will win this war and continue to wait for the right time to attack.
The leadership of the Austrian army, which had relatively more troops, was more impatient.
“Your Highness, we have more troops. And according to the reports of Captain Martius and Lieutenant Benner, the quality of the soldiers is judged to be similar to that of our army and the Reich Imperial Army. Then, in the end, everything depends on the number of soldiers mobilized. We have the upper hand. So attack quickly.”
Under the premise that the quality of troops is similar, it is almost unconditional that the one with the largest number has the advantage.
So, the Austrian generals were not wrong in saying that they should hasten the attack.
And the Archduke of Austria also seemed to want to move his troops right away and face them head-on to see a victory, but…
There was only one thing that made him hesitate.
‘The bastard I have to deal with is that damned Lieutenant General Peter Yeager. That bastard is a cunning and evil bastard who can make the difference in troops of 110,000 to 180,000 not a big problem in battle. ‘
If Peter Yeager himself heard this, he would refute it by saying, “What general in the world would think that it is not a problem when the enemy troops are 60% more than our own?”
The Archduke’s thoughts have sufficient basis when looking at his record of active activities on the continent of Europa.
“Director Humphros, it’s not time yet. And the one we’re dealing with is damn Vice Admiral Jaeger, not the idiot crown prince who was tricked by a double agent and almost captured!”
Hearing those words, the major general called Humphros quietly lowered his head and spoke.
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“But if we continue like this, won’t the standoff just be unnecessarily prolonged?”
“Ha, that’s right. “But what can I do?”
“The four people who defected from the Reich Empire have petitioned His Highness the Archduke and are now on the front lines, but how about calling Lieutenant Benner and Captain Martius and asking them?”
For the Archduke, those two men who had achieved the rank of major in the Reich Empire were valuable spies who allowed him to see the Imperial Army in the palm of his hand.
If those two come and talk nonsense, they are the ones who have no problem responding by simply ignoring them at any time.
“Captain Martius, Lieutenant Benner. What do you guys think? “What should I do when dealing with the imperial army?”
To those words, Matthias briefly organized his thoughts and then responded based on his experience directing the imperial army until two years ago and the new skills he gained while commanding the soldiers of Austria.
“Push from the front. “The 7th Division, commanded by Lieutenant General Yeager, may take a while, but the other units are sloppy.”
“As you said, no matter how strong a unit is, it cannot exert much power if it stands alone. Since they’re not coming, we’ll let them go first. “What does everyone think?”
The other generals spoke again after considering the choice of attacking first.
“We have more troops, so if we engage in close combat from the front, we can definitely win.”
“The opponent is Lieutenant General Jaeger. Therefore, I think it would be best to push forward rather than trying to use a surprise attack or other diversionary operations to reduce troop losses.”
“Please place our division at the forefront. “For the glory of His Majesty the Archduke, the Steinhavn Division will fight at the vanguard and cut off the enemy’s head.”
Confirming that everyone’s opinion was consistent on a frontal attack, the Archduke waved his baton and gave an order.
“The entire army charges towards the Reich Imperial Army. In addition, the commanders of each division must not arbitrarily use diversionary or surprise tactics without my orders.”
And an order was given to the entire Austrian Grand Air Force to raise their spears and charge at the imperial army in front.
The magnificent sound of trumpets, the cheerful sound of drums, and the division, regiment, battalion, and company flags flying to indicate that the order had been confirmed.
Commanders at each level shouted loudly as they marched.
“They are only 110,000 and we are 180,000! “There are 70,000 of us!”
“If you lose here, your family will be murdered by the evil Reich bastards! This means that young women and children will be raped and killed!”
“Just listen to the company commander’s orders! Then you can return alive! Do you understand?!”
This is what officers always say every time they lead soldiers to war, and it’s something that anyone at the level of a sergeant will be completely sick of hearing.
So, you might think it would not be considered a big deal, but the reason it is used so often is because it is a line that always works well.
The soldiers were relieved to hear that their numbers were greater than that of the enemy, but they were angry as they thought about their families who would die while being trampled by the Reich Empire if they lost the war.
Furthermore, cowards are the company commander who always craves them, but when they hear that they can return alive if they listen to his words, their fear is lifted just a little.
“f*ck, man. This time we have 70,000 more people, so we will definitely win. Then, how about stealing some armor from the enemy knights?”
“You can take two cows back to your rural hometown just by secretly selling them as stolen goods, right?”
“That’s a damn good idea. But if I’m lucky and get armor from high-ranking people…”
“You idiot, you should give that to the higher-ups. “The rewards will be more than the cost of the armor.”
Soldiers who had participated in war at least once cleared away their fears by telling hopeful stories.
Bar, bar, bar, bar!
“f*ck, arrows will be flying soon! Everyone, don’t slow down and just look at the ground! “The helmet and armor will protect you!”
Then, tens of seconds later, arrows and magic from the Reich Imperial Army attacked the Austrian Army.
“Fire back! “Fire back, you idiots!”
“If you don’t want to be left behind, shoot! “Shoot even while dying from arrows!”
“Hold the window straight! If you don’t want to die, don’t even think about running while holding your spear straight! “If the formation is broken, we will all die.”
Full-scale hand-to-hand combat had not yet begun, but the Austrian army had soldiers running rampant throughout the company and battalion formations due to flying arrows and magic.
Commanders such as company commanders or battalion commanders attempted to control such soldiers by directly killing them or using non-commissioned officers to beat them or cut their throats.
The march continued by killing one person to bring order to 100 people.
On the other hand, arrows were also flying toward the Reich Imperial Army, but their response was a little different.
“Anyone who disturbs the formation just because arrows are flying will be punished according to military law! “Act like you did during mock battle training!”
“Bow your head and aim your spear at the enemy’s neck!”
“Order the commanders of each company and battalion to shoot arrows indiscriminately! “We need to reduce the numbers here at least a little!”
Despite being bombarded with countless arrows from the enemy, the Reich soldiers acted very naturally rather than panicking.
It felt like we were engaged in some kind of mock battle, unless there were soldiers who were unfortunate enough to die or be escorted out injured by enemy arrows from time to time.
Archers, crossbowmen, and wizards were scared even though arrows were flying, so they did not delay reloading or slow down their movements when chanting magic.
The soldiers holding spears maintained an unwavering readiness for battle, as if they were not afraid of death, and were considered to have been liberated from the issues of life and death.
However, it was not because I gave up the thought of not wanting to die and the desire to live.
“Aren’t you scared, Sergeant? “You don’t break a single drop of cold sweat.”
“Stop talking nonsense. I’m shaking terribly. Are you scared too? “But maybe it’s because you trained so hard, you’re shaking but don’t try to run away?”
“Don’t even talk. During mock battle training, if you ran away or got scared, didn’t you get 50 lashes? “I think it helped that I was told not to be scared at that time.”
As the saying goes, it was not because he gave up his fear of death and his wish for life, but because the control resulting from tremendous training and discipline overcame his instincts.
Because of such a process, unlike the Austrian army that came trembling, the soldiers of the Reich Empire were able to look at the enemy army with relatively clear reason and judgment.
The unit commanders, who knew this, shouted loudly to the soldiers with evil in their hearts.
“The reason we endured the hellish training given to us by those trainers from the 7th Guards Division wearing damn red hats was all for the sake of now! Hang in there! And let us be more active than those guys!”
“Move as ordered. “The first one who gets scared dies.”
“There will be an order to charge soon, take a deep breath and prepare.”