391 – Battle of the Palatinate (1)
Bastion Castle, Strategy Meeting Room.
As I entered the conference room, I first glanced at the faces of the generals sitting here.
“Since the hour is urgent, I will postpone the greeting until later. I hope you understand. However, before the full-scale meeting, we will take a moment to commemorate those who fought and died bravely at Bastion Castle. “Everyone pray in silence.”
Then everyone closed their eyes and bowed their heads.
I only remembered their sacrifice for a moment, but tears fell from my eyes as I remembered their desperate struggle and gruesome death.
“Power right away.”
Everyone raised their heads at the same time and looked at me.
“Bastion Castle, this place is truly hell. No, it was just hell. However, this incompetent and inadequate bastard chose this place as the battlefield to prevent someone who was not worthy of killing the Archduke of Warsaw by tearing his entire body apart. The 7th Guards Division that came with me here, the soldiers of the Reich Empire, and the residents of Bastion Castle believed in me and fought until the end, risking their lives. As a result, the Reich Empire can now overcome the crisis of ruin.”
Laura, who fought with me here, and other generals, began to get teary-eyed.
“Their sacrifice and honorable struggle must be forever commemorated until the last day of the empire’s existence. And for their sake, those of us who survived must make sure that not a single Allied bastard gets out of here alive. “Isn’t that right?”
My voice has always been filled with extreme, chilling anger.
When the generals, who must have been on the verge of death several times, encountered my anger, they felt as if they were standing in front of the cold wind of winter.
I trembled as if I was shaking.
Then he answered quickly, like a second lieutenant who had just joined the military.
“Yes, that’s right!”
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“Very good. Then, are you all ready to mobilize all the troops in the castle and rush out as soon as I give the order?”
“Captain Fritz von Heineken! A week ago, I already heard from Baron Andersen that there might be a case to mobilize all troops. Because we have been preparing since then, we have completed the preparations for the supplies and march to wage war over two months! “Please just give me an order right away.”
I had the pleasure of urging the Chief of Staff to store at least four months’ worth of food in each castle in preparation for the extended defense of the castle, even before the start of this war.
Otherwise, how could preparations for departure have been completed in just one week?
As expected, the Reich Imperial Army is truly great and wonderful.
Even if you have been invaded by over 1 million enemies and suffered enormous damage from them, if you launch a counterattack right now, you have the power to break their heads right away.
And Baron Andersen, he began to stand out after His Majesty the Crown Prince visited the North, so I kept a close eye on him.
It is impossible to believe that it would be a good idea to read my intention and prepare in this way at the optimal time, so I made a recommendation to the high-ranking people of each castle.
The attitude of risking one’s own life to make and execute judgments that are helpful to the empire, even though one knows that if one misreads my intentions even just a little bit, one’s head will be put on the line.
Should I tell His Majesty to appoint a special officer like Anya later and make him an administrator?
“What about other castles?”
Hearing those words, the generals pounded their hearts and said,
“No problem! Following Baron Andersen’s words, I prepared in advance for an expedition just in case. Just give me the order, Marshal. Even if you tell me to jump into a fire, I will jump in.”
“Preparations are already made! “If you give me an order now, I will immediately mobilize 60,000 troops and go to war.”
“Please issue an operation to kill all those scum that have invaded the territory of the Holy Empire!”
I nodded my head once to express my satisfaction with their confident answers.
I laid out a map on my desk from Bastion Castle to the eastern border of the empire.
“The operation is already in place. “This is a strategy to ensure that not a single one of them is sent away alive.”
Everyone looked at me expectantly after hearing those words.
“First of all, the Archduke of Warsaw was seriously wounded by Lieutenant Colonel Landel of the 7th Guards Division. In addition, the Allied forces that had surrounded Bastion Castle, which numbered 360,000, now only have about 120,000 to 150,000 remaining. And other than this castle, other places would have also suffered extensive damage. Considering this, it can be said that the Allied Forces have already suffered losses close to annihilation. Therefore, they have no choice but to fear a counterattack by the imperial army.”
Until now, it was possible for the Allied Forces to attack the Empire unilaterally, but now the situation has changed and they are now in a situation where they have to do nothing about the Reich Empire’s counterattack.
This is because an army on the verge of annihilation loses momentum and can do nothing other than scatter in disarray when it encounters an enemy.
Well, there are ‘dramatic exceptions’ like Lichen and the recent Battle of Bastion Castle.
“Therefore, the Allied forces must assume that their territory will be occupied and lost due to the failure of the expedition, and will flee to prevent this as much as possible. And they will lay out a very thick defensive line in the areas they think are best suited. “Just like we did.”
However, even if the army was on the verge of annihilation, if they somehow managed to take it back to their hometown and regroup, they would still have 700,000 troops left in their hands.
If we forcibly conscript the people of our own country and replenish our troops, we will be able to gather and defend a large army that our empire cannot easily overcome.
If that happens, our empire will actually only gain a painful victory.
I really cannot see such an ending even if I die.
“So, we must kill every single one of those who call themselves the damn Allied Forces, like we would kill a rat. Therefore, Marshal Bonn proposes this strategy.”
I lifted the Marshal’s baton and pointed to a river about 15 days away from Bastion Castle.
“For the Allies to return to their country with as many soldiers intact as possible, they must cross the Palatinate River. And as everyone knows, the combat power of an army that crosses a river is greatly weakened.”
The reason is simple.
To cross a river, you have to submerge your body in the water and move forward, but the force of the fast current makes it extremely difficult to move your body freely.
In addition, should you keep food and other valuable items from getting wet in the water? Should you worry about the river filling up, as it may flow down when the current gets stronger?
There are so many things to worry about.
Therefore, in the art of war, it is said that the ideal time for a surprise attack is to strike when the enemy is crossing the river bare-handed.
“So, our army will gather as many soldiers as possible and annihilate the enemy army when they cross the river. “What does everyone think?”
The strategy I copied this time is Eulji Mundeok’s Salsu Battle.
Sometimes, it is thought that the Battle of Salsu was when Eulji Mundeok built a dam-like wall in Salsu to trap the water and then burst it all at once, causing the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty to drift away and die.
In reality, Woo Jung-mun and his beggars received a lot of training from the Goguryeo soldiers, and when they were about to cross the Salsu and return home, they hit them hard on the back of the head.
Because of this, it was a battle in which the incompetent and weak soldiers of the Sui Dynasty were killed in droves by less than 10,000 soldiers of Eulji Mundeok.
The Allied Forces are also in a situation where they are unable to come to their senses after suffering significant losses in the second defense line, including Bastion Castle, so their condition will be similar to that of the Sui Dynasty soldiers.
We are trying to annihilate them by mobilizing at least hundreds of thousands of troops, so there is no reason why we cannot do what Eulji Mundeok did with only 10,000 men.
The generals seemed to actively agree with what I said, and they all expressed their approval with applause.
“Long live the Marshal! “The damn Allied bastards shouldn’t let a single person live!”
“It is time to personally enact the great revenge of the Reich Empire.”
“I will only trust Marshal Jaeger! “For the heroes who died on the second defense line!”
**
Two weeks later, we arrived at the Palatinate River with only enough food and weapons for three weeks.
When I climbed a mountain a little away from them and looked down, it was not difficult to see the million-strong Allied soldiers struggling to cross the river.
It was a truly majestic sight.
But soon, they will be thoroughly slaughtered according to my calculations and strategy.
Rotting corpses will soon be floating in that river, and the river water will be stained with blood.
Of course, I do not feel guilty for planning such a massacre.
These are the people who killed those who died honorably in Bastion Castle, including Randel, accusing them of being heretics who sold their souls to the devil.
My heart races as I think that I can now take revenge by killing every single one of them.
With that in mind, I grabbed the lance and climbed onto the horse.
“Brave soldiers of the Reich Empire, those bastards who trampled on the soil of our Empire will die here today. Not a single one will return to their land alive! Charge!”
It goes without saying, but if I had to say it, I am the leader.