364 – Danger of the East (5)
At my words, the atmosphere in the throne room became cold, as if frozen.
In normal cases, when war is declared, it is customary to invade about two months later.
Therefore, a country that has been declared war has two months to prepare for war, and can use that period to strengthen its defenses, mobilize hundreds of thousands of troops, and take preliminary measures.
The loss of two months means that the expected preparations have become impossible, which means that the situation has become worse than what the Reich Empire assumed at the beginning of the war.
“Hey Marshal, why do you think that? You and we have not yet received any news that soldiers have invaded the front lines. But it doesn’t seem right to be certain that a war has started.”
What you should never do in war is to predict the situation in advance when you do not know what you have seen or heard with your own eyes and ears, or what you have been reported to.
For example, upon hearing that the enemy had invaded, the commander judged the situation on his own and marched out with an army of 100,000 troops.
What if the enemy army is 200,000 or 300,000 strong? Our troops, who are at a numerical disadvantage, will naturally be defeated, and one commander’s rash judgment will result in the loss of the lives of 100,000 soldiers.
So what I said may have seemed like a rash judgment.
So, I have no choice but to explain it step by step to help you understand.
“Mr. Minister of Military Affairs, didn’t I just ask the Ambassador in Warsaw this question? “Are you ready to move out?”
“At that time, I wondered why I was asking such an obvious question. “The removal of an ambassador from a country that declared war is something that a director-level official can roughly take charge of, and it is not something worthy of questioning in the presence of His Majesty and the ministers.”
“It’s simple. “By asking that question, I wanted to find out how thoroughly they had prepared.”
The eyes of His Majesty and other ministers were focused on me.
“If His Excellency Kaitel moves to another area for military duties, wouldn’t it take at least a few days just to prepare for the move? “It takes a day just to remove all the packed belongings from the house.”
Hearing those words, the ministers expected what I was going to say and looked at me with wide eyes and surprised expressions.
“Moreover, the author’s home is an embassy in Warsaw, where various confidential documents are piled up. Therefore, the Grand Duke of Warsaw should have started preparing for withdrawal a few days ago, destroyed some documents, gathered what he needed to take with him, and completed the withdrawal process. But when I asked him about withdrawal, he looked confused. He looked like a guy who was just getting ready to leave.”
“If I had been notified of this a few days ago, I would have answered with a look on my face as if I was asking such an obvious question.”
“There is only one possibility I can think of in that reaction. In order to give the Reich Empire no time to prepare for war, the four countries, including the Archduke of Warsaw, set a schedule to immediately begin the invasion of our Empire as soon as they declared war. Otherwise, there is no way a bureaucrat as high as an ambassador would show such lax behavior.”
His Majesty and other ministers sighed and stomped on the innocent floor.
“Damn you Warsaw bastards, if you’re going to go to war, you have to do it fair and square. Can he still call himself a knight? “You cowardly, petty cowards!”
“hehehe, after they die, Deus himself will send them all to hell. “How can people who believe in the same Deus religion do such a cowardly thing?”
“I have never seen bastards fighting so cowardly in my life.”
His Excellency Kaitel, the Minister of Military Affairs, was saying with an expression on his face, ‘Being cowardly in war is a compliment, you idiots.’
He realized that he was not in the mood to say something like that right now, so he just cleared his throat.
“Enemy, then what are your thoughts? Do you think the entire existing plan should be abolished?”
His Majesty sent me a signal that he wanted me to maintain the previously established operational plan, but the enemy would attack right away without two months of preparation period.
This means that the strategy of mobilizing hundreds of thousands of troops to defend the border as originally planned has become impossible.
As I thought about it, I felt my expression naturally wrinkle.
“Yes, Your Majesty. Let me be clear. You cannot use a strategy of pressuring the enemy around the border area. Therefore, we must stop them on the second line of defense, which connects Bastion Castle, Maginot Castle, and Noelstein Castle.”
The fact that the first line of defense that I had assumed was pushed back is the same as saying that the food and various resources in the first line of defense would fall into the hands of Allied soldiers, including Warsaw, and the area would be devastated thereafter.
I felt the same way as my heart burned, but the important thing now was to put out the fire in my feet so that the damage would not spread further.
“Your Majesty, the important thing now is to order the people in the first line of defense to burn all food and resources as quickly as possible and, if possible, to even defecate in the well. Additionally, we must evacuate the people. “Although we are in the middle of a strategy meeting, please send a dispatch containing these orders to the eastern border area as soon as possible.”
Hearing those words, His Majesty also came to his senses and spoke to me.
“That’s not all, I will order you to come to the base city of the second defense line with all the weapons you can on the way. “Is there a grand chief?”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
“Call all the knights in the palace right now and send dispatches to the cities and villages within the area marked as the first line of defense on this map. And tell them to prioritize the evacuation of the people, burn food and resources, drain the wells, and come fully armed to the castles that are the second line of defense. Give it to me quickly. “Every minute and every second is urgent.”
“I will follow your orders, Your Majesty.”
The Grand Chief, who could not be of much help to the war planning meeting, hurriedly moved to call the guards, and His Majesty looked at me and asked.
“How many soldiers can be conscripted by the time the enemy arrives at the second line of defense?”
“Approximately 540,000 people. The rest will be delayed further due to marching and supplies. “If you include all the soldiers within the second defense line, there are about 600,000.”
“…… Marshal Jaeger, no matter how you are, wouldn’t it be difficult to defeat 1 million with only 600,000? And then even if you lose.”
Winning with 150,000 or 200,000 or 120,000 against 200,000 or 600,000 against a million-strong army are completely different stories.
Besides, to put it bluntly, when it comes to expeditions, if I lose, other generals and soldiers will be able to do their best to clean up after me.
In this invasion, a single defeat could ruin the empire.
It is true that they conscripted 1 million people and invaded our Reich Empire, so it is true that they went too far.
What if the myth of the Reich Empire’s invincibility is broken here?
The Grand Dukes, the King of the Kingdom of Stockholm, and the people living in those countries, who are blinded by immediate profits, are excited to get rid of the empire that threatens their safety and may conscript additional troops.
If you try to persuade them that they are going through a hard time now and that they can live in peace in the future if they suffer a little more, everyone will agree and provide more supplies, and more people will respond to conscription.
Therefore, what we need now is to disperse their forces, somehow defeat them individually, reduce the size of the army, and hold out for a long time until reinforcements arrive.
“So, our empire must buy as much time as possible on the second line of defense. In theory, if you hold out for just a month to a month and a half, you can recruit 600,000 additional troops from other regions. Then there are 1.2 Million of us and 1 million of them. “Our team will have a much greater advantage.”
His Majesty and other ministers looked at him expectantly, as if they were about to applaud.
“So we only have to last one month on the second line of defense. Just one month, no more, no less. Then we can see the outcome.”
At those words, everyone, including His Excellency Kaitel, the Minister of Military Affairs, nodded in the affirmative.
“If we mobilize 600,000 troops to protect the second line of defense, wouldn’t we be able to last for about a month?”
“It’s a fight worth fighting. Huh, but as the Minister of Finance, I feel a little embarrassed. “It reminds me of my past when I tried to reject Marshal Jaeger’s defense plan because it would cost too much money.”
“Okay, I will dispose of the money and luxuries my family has stockpiled, excluding heirlooms, and put them into the national treasury. Please distribute it later to the soldiers and officers who achieved victory.”
The atmosphere was good, but there was actually one loophole in this tactic.
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According to the intelligence I heard from the Chief of Staff, they are very focused on hitting ‘Peter Yeager’s head.’
Therefore, there will definitely be a large army, numbering not only a few, but hundreds of thousands of people, coming to the castle I am guarding.
So, during the month I have to endure, I have to fight off those vicious zombie hordes with only a few tens of thousands of troops.
“Your Majesty, I will go to Bastion Castle. Please allow us to take the 7th Guards Division. “Even if it means losing my head, I will protect the empire from the enemy’s army.”