EP.216
10 days later, Reich Imperial Army command barracks on Osby Plain.
When Captain Keitel and I entered, the atmosphere in the barracks was not very good.
The expressions on the faces of the generals and field officers who were supposed to be discussing the operation diligently 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 plains…”
“With 110,000 out of 200,000, you have to deal with enemies that are almost twice as large. 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?”
As 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 daughter to form an alliance with the Stockholm bastards?
Not only I, but even the Minister of Foreign Affairs, who has been working as a diplomat for decades, would have never expected this.
Therefore, 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. Morenzia and Belgium will be aiming for the empire in the west, and Warsaw and Czechoslovakia 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 waiting for an opportunity to get a piece of land by hitting the other person in the back.
In the meantime, what if the huge 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 the first.
As a result, the Reich Empire will face a desperate all-out war on a scale it has never experienced before.
“You guys should know. If you get frustrated or collapse here, what awaits you afterwards is an abyss you can’t handle. “Now then, let’s start the strategy meeting.”
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-on 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 must assume only rotation on the plains.”
Captain Kaitel, I, and everyone here probably want to stay in a nice castle nearby and engage in a defensive battle.
This is because, based on 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.
This means that when fighting a defensive battle, we can easily deal with a large number of enemy troops with a small number of troops, but 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 tell me without hesitation.”
At 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 must be caught off guard. So, if you use the right decoys, you can lure your enemy into a trap.”
“Cut down trees in the forest to make fences or stakes and spread mud on them to build a temporary fortress 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 twigs and wood pickled in oil are needed.
Although our troops currently have a certain amount of oil, there is a shortage of dry wood suitable for fireworks.
Therefore, it would be difficult to completely defeat the enemy force numbering 200,000 with 110,000 through these operations alone.
However, since I had not yet come up with a useful or special strategy, I listened intently to the strategies of all the generals here as well as the suggestions made by the field officers.
Meanwhile, 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 Keitel glanced at me for not suggesting a strategy until the end and asked everyone.
“So, is there anyone who can suggest any new operations now?”
Perhaps because everyone who could give an opinion about the operation had already said something, no one answered the question.
After seeing that, Captain Kaitel sighed and said.
“Then, Vice Admiral Yeager, 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 head on. 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 general 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. Therefore, the soldiers you ambush in the forest in the beginning must be cavalry.”
Then I brought the four infantry horses representing one division to the forest next to them and pulled 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. In this way, 4 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 from the right. 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.”
A word from the author (author review)
Thank you, reader.
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