310 – Training is like actual combat, actual combat is like training (9)
The order to annihilate the infantry that serves as the anvil of the 18th Division was immediately given more attention by the adjutants and staff. It was delivered in a fleshed out state.
“500 Knights of the 7th Division charge towards the right wing of the enemy, and 500 cavalry archers charge towards the left wing of the enemy! “This is an order to charge with all your might!”
“If you are ready to charge, raise the unit flag and tell them that orders have been received!”
“Send a messenger to the knights and archers!”
The messengers waiting at the unit’s main camp moved quickly on horseback, and as if they thought that was not enough, the unit flag and assault flag symbolizing the archers and knights, respectively, were raised.
The knights, who took some time to prepare, received their lances and mounted their horses as soon as they saw the flag, and the commanders gave detailed and meticulous instructions in the process, like a wife scratching a bowl.
“I thought my joints were rusting from waiting for our turn to come! He should make sure everyone is wearing their armor properly and receive their lances.”
“This is the same thing that is used in real combat, so don’t get distracted and hit someone! “If you kill someone during training due to ridiculous negligence, you will be beheaded according to military law!”
“Wedge formation! Wedge large! “The 1st Battalion is ahead!”
The knights maintained the same formation and formation as when actually charging and began preparing to charge as soon as the messenger arrived.
Organization officers from other units moving with them went around to each platoon, company, and battalion level and continued to warn them.
“This battle is a mock battle, not a real battle! Therefore, each unit commander must stop 50 meters before charging! Otherwise, the soldiers of the 18th Division will be trampled to death by horses’ hooves!”
“If the charge is stopped at the correct distance, the 18th Division controllers will tell you how many people were killed. So don’t ever crash. If you drive the horses incorrectly, dozens of imperial troops will die even though it is just training. “Don’t forget.”
“Even if you get hit by an arrow or magic during the charge and are judged eliminated by the controller, just hold your lance at the right angle and continue the charge until the end! “If you try to escape by pretending to be dead, you will all die!”
When the soldiers and officers heard this sound again, which had pierced their ears even before training began, they once again recognized that this was not a real battle but a mock battle.
So, although the tension may have eased and the sense of urgency may have disappeared, everyone here maintained their fighting posture as if they were fighting on an actual battlefield.
It was an excellent training attitude befitting the elite unit of the Reich Imperial Army, and the controllers only made no comment, but were still holding their tongues, saying that it was indeed the 7th Guards Division.
‘…… Because it’s a unit like this, once you’re deployed, promotion is guaranteed. Ha, should I apply here for the next personnel transfer?’
When all preparations were completed, a messenger hurriedly raised the spear in his hand at a right angle to the knights.
The messenger, holding a spear like a flag, shouted in a loud voice to the soldiers forming a wedge formation.
“Dear knights of the 7th Guards Division, Captain Peter Jaeger has given the order to charge to the left wing! “Commander, if you have confirmed the order, please raise the unit flag!”
Colonel Beltra, the commander in charge of them, smiled and had the unit flag raised.
As soon as the unit flag was raised, the knights of the 7th Guards Division began to run towards the left wing of the 18th Division in unison, and the archers also ran towards the right wing at the same time.
Meanwhile, Colonel Al Mat, who commanded the archers, was running forward with the cavalry sword in his hand as his baton.
“Correct the formation of your horses! Match your speed! “Can it be that the 7th Guards Division’s archery cavalry unit is so bad at even this simple and basic task that it deserves to be judged by other units’ organizers as not being ‘recognizable’?”
Because it was a matter of his own promotion, Colonel Almat was considered elite enough by the standards of other units just by matching the speed, so he was giving a slightly unreasonable order to perfectly match the horse formation.
Those who called Peter Jaeger, the first commander of the 7th Guards Division and commander of the Reich Empire, with reverence ‘Khan’ when they were among themselves, responded with evil and cruelty.
Because they didn’t really care if they were criticized, but they were determined to do whatever it took to avoid a bad evaluation from their parents and Captain Jaeger, who gave them pride and honor.
As a result, the horses ridden by the archers moved gracefully and orderly, as if they were carved from marble.
An officer dispatched from another unit, called the formation officer, was frightened by the sight.
‘Why on earth does this happen?’
“I can see the enemy’s left wing 500 meters ahead!”
All of the archers, including Colonel Almat, were excited when they heard that an enemy unit was visible, but they moved calmly.
From noble mtl dot com
“When the distance to the enemy reaches 200 meters, increase the speed by shooting arrows, and increase the speed to the maximum at 150 meters. After that, stop when you fall 50 meters! “Repeat the command and spread it around!”
The colonel’s order was instantly spread throughout the entire army, and they began firing arrows at a rapid pace when the distance to the enemy reached 200 meters.
The soldiers on the left wing of the 18th Infantry Division were in great shock when they saw that.
This is because they were barely holding on, on the verge of collapse from exhaustion just fighting the 7th Division infantry, when an arrow suddenly flew and they were pronounced dead.
In particular, officers responsible for the lives of dozens, hundreds, and sometimes thousands of people felt as if their hair had been bleached white by the fact that they had been hit by an unexpected variable…
“f*ck, turn the window! Turn the window, you bastards!”
“If I can’t deal with that, my performance will be ruined! No, if you slip up in promotion to major this time, you’ll have nowhere to go!”
“Turn the window from the 3rd or 4th row! Right, right, right!”
In the meantime, accurate orders were given according to the manual, but if the officer gave the order in a state of confusion.
The soldiers who actually carry out the order do not feel confused, but shocked and scared.
If I were to express in words what the soldier felt, it would be the shock of seeing his house, which had been fine until yesterday, suddenly collapse into a huge hole.
No matter how ingrained the ritual is, even if it is engraved deep into your bones, you will never be able to respond correctly in a situation like this.
Even if this is a mock battle, the horses approaching are real, and the 7th Division infantry in front are running with such force that even if they are hit through their armor, it will hurt enough to kill them.
Even if I lost my mind, there was nothing too strange.
If Peter Yeager sees this situation, he will say this.
‘If the ritual is engraved deep into the soul, soldiers can silently walk into the battlefield amidst a hail of bullets, and officers can also remain calm in any situation. ‘Training is absolutely necessary when your blood is exploding and your stomach is exploding.’
“Ugh, you crazy bastards! Turn the window to the right!”
“This is a mock battle, you won’t die! “You won’t die!”
“Great cavalry formation! “Great cavalry formation!”
Hundreds of arrows were fired at the confused soldiers, and the controllers spoke while tapping the shoulders of the soldiers hit by the arrows.
“You are out of the loop! Hurry and walk! Move!”
“Can’t a soldier just adapt to this situation?”
And when Colonel Beltra had about 100 meters left, he ordered everyone to switch to cavalry.
“Take out the cavalry and charge! Afterwards, stop at my signal!”
The archer cavalrymen took out their sabers and made a loud noise as if they were making a real charge, or uttered threatening words.
“If you don’t want to die, lower your window and surrender right now!”
“If you surrender, I’ll spare your life!”
“I will send you to your mother and father! “If you want to leave later, surrender!”
If this kind of threat had been received in actual combat, it was a threat that could have caused some soldiers to throw down their spears and fall into confusion.
Because it was a mock battle, no one put down their spears and ran away.
Then the archer cavalry unit stopped exactly 50 meters away, and the controllers assigned to each unit shook their heads and sent a report.
The drivers also stopped at the 50-meter point, so there was no disaster in which the horse and man collided.
After seeing the simplified report, the 18th Division Infantry Brigade Controller sighed and said.
“18Th Division left wing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd columns killed and seriously injured. Right-wing 1st, 2nd, and 3rd columns killed and seriously injured. “Because we responded without forming a proper cavalry phalanx, there were bound to be many casualties.”
Then he looked away from the division commander, who was slightly distracted by this scene, and spoke.
“1,241 Infantry lost so far, 956 troops lost in this assault. A total of 2,197 people were lost, taking into account the lack of unit morale and control. In actual combat, if the same situation occurs, the division’s control is judged to be impossible. “I’m ending training.”
In response to the controller’s just judgment, the division commander only muttered, ‘No, no.’ The sound of a trumpet was heard in the ears of the soldiers of the 18th division, indicating that the war was over.
Then, of course, the 18th Division commander was called to Captain Peter Yeager’s barracks along with some of his staff.