216 – Osby Plain Grand Battle (1)
10 Days later, Osby Plain Reich Imperial Army Command Barracks.
When Captain Kaitel and I entered, the atmosphere in the barracks was not very good.
The expressions on the faces of the generals and rank-and-file officers who were supposed to be eagerly discussing the strategy inside the command barracks were lifeless, gloomy, and even despairing.
In the meantime, we were discussing how to survive even in a cornered situation, based on the training we received at the Staff College.
“It would have been better to fight if there were only mountains or hills around… This is a place where there are only forests and flat lands…”
“If you have 110,000 to 200,000, you have to deal with almost twice as many enemies. I don’t know what to do with this. Should we use the method of ambushing the soldiers in the forest?”
“Why not aim for each faction instead? Or, how about going on a night raid like Deputy Commander Jaeger did?”
“If you get hit by a night raid once, will you get hit twice? “Do you have any better ideas?”
When voices gradually became louder and even negative words began to be exchanged, the captain who was standing next to me cleared his throat once and then opened his mouth.
“The commander knows well, as does everyone here, that the current situation is not easy. Who would have thought that the Grand Duchy of Warsaw would send 50,000 reinforcements?”
As the commander said, who would have imagined that the crazy Archduke of Warsaw would give up his own daughter to form an alliance with the Stockholm bastards?
Not only I, but also His Excellency the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been working as a diplomat for decades, would have never expected this.
So, as someone said, if one can make such predictions, it must be a person, a fortune teller or a prophet.
“But if we give up just because the situation is difficult, everything is over. Not only will our expeditionary force end, but the empire may also fall. Don’t you know? If the Northern Kingdom of Stockholm and Ishtaven are not punished here, the prestige of the empire will fall to the ground. In addition, if the empire loses its military advantage on the Europa continent, Switzerland and Austria will not miss the opportunity to push in from below. “Morencia and Belgium will be aiming for the empire in the west, and Warsaw and Czechia will be aiming for the empire in the east.”
In this era, all countries on the Europa continent basically do not trust each other.
They are just looking for an opportunity to get at least a piece of land by hitting the other person in the back of the head.
What if the great hegemony called the empire begins to shake?
If the owner of a huge piece of land that can be chewed, torn, tasted, and enjoyed shows even the slightest sign of losing energy and shaking before everyone’s eyes, all the surrounding countries will rush in to take over the land of the empire, no matter who is first. .
As a result, the Reich Empire will face a desperate all-out war on a scale it has never experienced before.
“You should know. If you get frustrated or collapse here, what awaits you afterwards is an abyss you can’t handle. “Okay then, let’s start the strategy meeting now.”
In response to Captain Keitel’s harsh criticism of reality, the officers made serious expressions and began to stare intently at the map again.
“For now, I will let the commander speak briefly to summarize the current situation. Our 110,000-strong Reich Imperial Army must compete head-to-head with the 150,000-strong Stockholm Kingdom Army and the 50,000-strong Grand Duchy of Warsaw. There is no need to say that my mouth hurts. “We cannot enter the castles in the areas we have occupied so far and wage a defensive war against them, so we will only assume rotations on the plains.”
Captain Kaitel and I, no, everyone here would like to stay in a nice castle nearby and engage in a defensive battle.
This is because, considering common sense, the best way for a force with fewer troops to defeat an army larger than itself is to fight inside the castle.
However, entering the castle and fighting is an effective strategy only when allies can always come to support you.
When fighting a defensive battle, we can easily deal with many enemy forces with a small number of troops. However, if the enemy holds out while besieging the castle we entered, our troops inside the castle will have no choice but to starve to death.
And the only strategy to get out of that situation is to bring support from nearby allies to fight, but the Reich Empire currently does not have the capacity to send reinforcements to the Kingdom of Stockholm.
Therefore, being confined within the castle should be left out of the question.
“Anyone who has a plan to present is welcome to speak up. As long as it’s not complete nonsense, I’ll listen to it until the end. “I will present my strategy last, so speak without hesitation.”
Hearing those words, the generals opened their mouths without hesitation.
“I think it would be a good idea to ambush our infantry near the forest and then attack the enemy infantry as they pass by.”
“I would like to say that it would be a good strategy to lure the enemies into the forest and set them on fire. Since the Stockholm Kingdom Army outnumbers our allies, the enemy commander must be caught off guard. So, if you use the right decoys, you can lure your enemy into a trap.”
“You cut down trees in the forest, make fences or stakes, and spread mud on them to build a temporary castle wall. I think it would be a good idea to use a makeshift wall to completely block enemy access and then attack with arrows and magic to reduce their numbers as much as possible.”
Tactics such as ambushing infantry in the forest or luring the enemy and burning them down are all the most specialized operations for dealing with a large number of enemies with a small number of troops.
In particular, setting fire is a method that, if successful just once, can wipe out tens of thousands of enemy soldiers at once.
In order to carry out chemical engineering, a large amount of oil and a huge amount of dry branches, wood, and oil-soaked wood are needed.
Currently, our troops have a certain amount of oil, but the quantity of dry wood suitable for fireworks is insufficient.
Therefore, it would be difficult to completely defeat the enemy force numbering 200,000 with 110,000 through these operations alone.
However, I couldn’t think of any useful or special operations yet, so I listened intently to not only the strategies of all the generals here, but also the suggestions made by the general-level officers.
At the same time, I kept taking notes on the paper on my desk about which parts of the strategy someone had suggested would be useful.
As I looked at the notes I had written and organized my thoughts by cutting out unnecessary things and finding useful things, I began to see a path for the imperial army to move forward.
Captain Kaitel glanced at me for not suggesting a strategy until the end and asked everyone.
“So, is there anyone who can suggest new operations anymore?”
Everyone who could give an opinion about the operation had already said something, so no one answered the question.
Captain Kaitel saw that and said with a sigh.
“Then Lieutenant General Jaeger, this time tell me what strategy you have in mind. How do you plan to defeat an enemy army of 200,000 with only 110,000 friendly troops?”
“It is inevitable that we will have to fight the enemy from the front. However, the terrain where we will be fighting is advantageous and not disadvantageous to our troops.”
After saying this, I placed wooden horses symbolizing 5,000 northern cavalry archers and 5,000 knights in the forest to the right of our corps.
Next, we deployed our troops according to a standard formation.
Crossbowmen, archers, and wizards were placed at the front, infantry including spearmen were placed right behind them, and archers and knights were placed next to the infantry.
The generals and officers, including the captain, who saw it, could not hide the thought that it was very unusual.
“According to convention, it would be correct to deploy infantry as an ambush, but in our situation, using cavalry rather than infantry would be best to lower the morale of enemy soldiers. So, the soldiers you ambush in the forest in the beginning must be cavalry.”
Then, I placed the four infantry horses representing one division in the forest next to them, and led the remaining horses back at once and said,
“Our imperial army fights head-on with the enemy, but at some point they retreat, pretending to be slowly being pushed back. While retreating, they steal away the infantry from the four divisions on the left and ambush them in a nearby forest. Four divisions, 5,000 knights, and 5,000 archers were placed in each ambush location, and when they retreated to an appropriate location, the main force turned in unison and pushed the enemy back. Then the enemy will be embarrassed, and at this time, the troops placed in ambush in the forest on the left will be sent out to attack the enemy’s right wing. In this way, we will completely destroy the main base.”
After hearing that, the captain thought it was plausible and asked me.
“Then how do you plan to deal with the enemy’s 20,000 knights?”
I said with confidence.
“There is a simple but surprisingly effective method.”