251 – Splitting (2)
A week later, a report was received that a large army sent by the Archduke of Warsaw had been discovered.
As soon as the scouts’ reports came in, I immediately summoned the officers who had been relaxing in the castle until the enemy arrived and started a strategy meeting.
“The commander of the Red Army is Captain Tateusz von Gryanidav, and he has about 150,000 troops under his command.”
“Where is the estimated current location of the Warsaw Army?”
“According to the scout’s report, they were passing through Kaliniv Castle two days ago, so they must have just passed Nowakov Castle. Considering the enemy’s marching speed, I believe it will take about seven days to reach where we are staying.”
One week is not enough time to prepare countermeasures against the enemy, but it is not a very short time either.
So, we need to make good use of the time we have and prepare tactics that can deal a critical blow to the enemy.
There are several good methods, which one should we use?
I would like to discuss in detail the method to be applied to cook 150,000 Warsaw idiots right now, but if we leave the reconnaissance information aside and discuss the application method first, it will be nothing more than idle talk.
“What are the results of reconnaissance of the battlefield candidate site I selected through the surrounding geographic information obtained through Baron Spiegelman? Which one seems to have the best chance of winning?”
“Those in the scouting party claim that the Glovino Plain, about a day’s walk away, is the best battlefield candidate.”
“Please bring me the map.”
When I asked for guidance, the scout leader in front of me clapped his hands and gave a signal.
As soon as the sound of applause was heard, an officer in the corner hung a huge map on the bulletin board.
“It’s a very ideal terrain. There are forests on both the left and right that are perfect for an ambush, and I can’t even see a small hill, let alone a hill. It’s the best place to use knights and archers. “You had a lot of trouble.”
“I just did my best in my mission.”
“If we win a victory later, I will not forget the hard work of the scouts.”
The place they found was the most ideal battlefield for the imperial army.
It is only about a day’s walk from Gryffino Castle, so the soldiers will be able to rest and prepare for battle for quite a long time even after moving.
I will supply plenty of food to our allies who arrived on the battlefield before the Warsaw guys so they can replenish their stamina.
Also, in some circumstances, you may fight when the enemy army has just arrived at the battlefield and is most exhausted.
If the prepared move goes wrong, it is also an excellent position where you can immediately retreat to the castle and aim for a comeback.
“Although there is a slight difference in military strength, at least it is worth fighting against those who are exhausted from several weeks of marching.”
“A war where you can rest comfortably in a castle and then camp out and wait until the enemy comes, it’s an ideal battle that you only see in textbooks.”
“It is truly an honor to fight under your command. “You are amazing.”
The officers praised me with sincere expressions, and I felt very good hearing that.
To the extent that we can understand what it means to say that praise makes even whales dance, and that high-ranking people are distracted by the praise of their subordinates.
However, getting distracted by praise and applause is the same as popping champagne and shouting “Hurray” Before the work is even finished… So come to your senses.
I will start by looking into the role of the most important part of the operation I conducted.
“How is the enemy’s morale?”
The scout leader answered with a twinkle in his eye, as if he had been waiting for me to ask this question.
“According to the spies who infiltrated the inside, will the soldiers really be able to win this battle? There is talk going around that it would be better to just desert. In particular, the frequency with which new second lieutenants use war merchants has increased significantly, making it difficult for soldiers to visit young ladies.”
“We didn’t cause any direct damage, but it seems like we had a great effect in splitting up the enemy’s high-ranking people. “The enemy commander must have tried to hide it as much as possible, but the captain’s anxiety was bound to quickly spread to his allies, so his morale must have been so low.”
The fact that the soldiers muttered that it would be better to desert is a dramatic example of how the enemy’s morale was sinking.
However, the fact that new second lieutenants often visit military merchants may seem like a strange phenomenon on the surface, and not a situation directly related to the morale of the military.
According to my experience of serving many new second lieutenants while serving in the military for over 10 years, one of the phenomena that can only be seen when morale has plummeted to the bottom of hell is the girl that the new second lieutenants’ war merchants bring with them. The number of uses is increasing.
Most of those who enlisted as officers in this era were promoted to lieutenants and got married, so most second lieutenants were virgins.
Inexperienced guys think it’s okay to hang out here and there after getting married, but they have a strong tendency to try to follow Deus’s teachings that one must be chaste before marriage as much as possible.
If we talk about Korea, the idiot officers who like to show off by taking all their subordinates for a second time, and trying to take them back by force would not even recommend it to a ‘new second lieutenant’.
If we interpret the fact that he broke that reluctance and visited the young lady owned by the war merchants…
This is because it is evidence of extreme desperation, saying, ‘f*ck, I feel like I’m going to get lost here, so I should at least take my virginity and search.’
They are like idiots, weaklings, and bastards.
They only made one Baron Spiegelman surrender and ruined their morale by distributing fake surrender documents, so these so-called officers are in despair…
The other officers seemed to have similar thoughts as me, except for a very small number of female officers, including my wife, who laughed and liked it.
“Yes, that’s right. You idiots, no man should die without even being able to get off the label of a bachelor. But ah…”
“Stop laughing, Director Falkenheim. “No matter how much of an enemy he is, he is prepared to die like a knight and enjoys a little deviation…”
“I can see the corners of your mouth turning up, Director.”
“The number of soldiers deserting doesn’t seem like a joke. Well, if things continue like this, I might start to tremble if you even say, ‘The enemy commander you will be dealing with is Captain Jaeger.'”
We are laughing and having fun like this, but Captain Warsaw’s heart must be burning with anxiety right now.
So, I let them laugh and chat like this for about 10 minutes, then I gestured with my hand to calm down the excitement and asked.
“I think there are quite a few people who desert. “How much?”
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“It is difficult to determine the number, but approximately one person per platoon deserts.”
“There is nothing like this. “There’s still a week left until you meet us, and if this continues, about 5% of the entire force will desert.”
For reference, if you are caught while deserting, you will be executed immediately, and even if you succeed, you will have to hide well for at least a few months to be able to launder your identity by saying that you ‘accidentally saved your life while fighting on the battlefield.’
If the number of idiots willing to endure the difficult path exceeds 5%, the enemy army will shatter like a raw egg when it collides with the Reich Army.
However, the key is how to destroy the enemy, who is as weak as an eggshell.
“I will hand over the operation. The night before the friendly forces confront the enemy head-on, they will distribute a large number of letters recommending surrender to the enemy camp for the last time. “The enemy’s morale will drop further when they see that, and we will face them head-on.”
In a situation where we have fewer troops compared to the enemy and the enemy’s morale is extremely low, the most important thing is to win in a head-on battle.
Because morale ultimately goes up when you think you’ll win in a war, so when the Warsaw guys are in despair, you have to convince them that they’re going to fail in order to win with minimal damage.
“If it seems like the battle is going on at the front, send the reserve unit back to hit the enemy’s rear and keep both flanks empty. So, instead of making the enemy soldiers fight with the determination to die, we will make them desperately seek a way to survive between the left and the right.”
If you are in a situation where you will die one way or another, you will struggle to survive in any way possible, but if you see a way to survive, it is human instinct to focus your eyes on it.
If the attention is focused on escaping alive, as I said, the will to fight disappears, and allies can slaughter the enemy while minimizing damage.
In other words, it becomes much easier to achieve an overwhelming victory.
“The remaining details will be decided upon arrival at the battlefield. And from today onwards, we will judge the idiots who broke the minimum standards and came in to ruin other people’s wars. So, do not have the slightest sympathy towards the enemy.”