EP.37
And the one and a half years of preparation passed by in an instant, and before we knew it, July 30, 222, Imperial Calendar, the day when the war with Czechvia began, arrived.
As planned, the Crown Prince personally led a force of 40,000 men in 5 divisions and entered Bruno’s territory to occupy the Visochia region.
Accordingly, I and the officials of the estate treated the crown prince and nobles as politely as possible and succeeded in pleasing the dignitaries without any problems.
Now that the banquet to pray for victory in the war is over and the nobles are all resting, the crown prince has ordered me to come to the room he is staying in.
As quickly as possible, I went to the door where the crown prince was waiting, knocked on the door, and said,
“This is Major Peter Jaeger, His Royal Highness. “Can I come in?”
“Please come in.”
After receiving the crown prince’s permission, I carefully opened the door and spoke as quietly as possible.
“Then please excuse me, Your Highness.”
As soon as I entered the room, I knelt on one knee and bowed my head in accordance with imperial etiquette and spoke.
“Major Peter Yeager meets His Royal Highness the Crown Prince.”
“We have a lot to talk about, so just stand up and raise your head.”
“I understand, Your Majesty.”
When I raised my head and looked at the crown prince, I could see various emotions on his face.
Unlike the last meeting where he only showed kindness towards me, now he felt the pressure of personally commanding 40,000 soldiers, anxiety about defeat, and expectation of victory.
This is an emotion that all commanders going to war must experience, regardless of whether their rank is high or low.
“Major Yeager, before we talk about the war. “I’m asking this because Count Benner is curious. Is Ensign Laura doing a good job as an adjutant?”
In fact, Count Venner must be meeting Laura by now and resolving the sorrow that had built up after the father and daughter met for the first time in a year.
Through Laura, Count Benner will hear about whether we are building a friendly relationship with each other and whether we are doing well in our duties as adjutants, and he will later report the information to the Crown Prince at any time, without disclosing private details.
Even before that, I would have received word from the Count or others whether or not our relationship would be helpful to each other.
So there would be no need for the crown prince to ask me this question.
Asking this question out of the blue means that you want to start off on a good note before starting a full-fledged conversation.
“As he is a talented person who graduated from the academy at the top of his class, he has been performing his duties well with almost no mistakes since the first day he was appointed as deputy. In particular, even though I had no experience leading a platoon, I was once in charge of training at a company level, and even then, I conducted the training so perfectly that other company commanders were impressed.”
“In the past, whenever Count Venner started talking about his daughter, he would boast about it to the point that saliva would come out of his mouth, but I never thought that she would be that capable even in the military, not just at the academy.”
“I am just interested in the strategic, tactical, and military theories that I have. Sometimes, when I have some free time, they ask me about military history, which can be a bit difficult. At times like that, I feel like I’m not her superior but rather a professor of military studies at an academy.”
Upon hearing such a non-complaint, the crown prince tapped my shoulder and said,
“I have a capable lieutenant in charge, so take that risk.”
So we talked for a while about Laura, who had joined my adjutant.
When the conversation reached a certain level, the crown prince changed his expression and looked at me with serious eyes and asked.
“I really want to hear more, but let’s move on to a full-blown conversation now. The first thing to ask is that when I gave you this territory, I told you to prepare to invade Czechvia. “How are you prepared?”
In Korea, this is a question from the Crown Prince, who has more power than a four-star general or the Minister of National Defense.
An ordinary commander might not be able to answer properly because he is nervous, but I have thoroughly prepared everything.
So, I answered with a confident voice.
“We secured enough biscuits made from a mixture of salted turnips, beans, wheat, and barley to feed 40,000 people for three months, and we also secured enough favorite foods such as salted meat and cheese to last the entire army for about a month. In addition, we have completely maintained the lodgings and roads of the inn territory so that military merchants passing through here do not experience any inconvenience.”
The crown prince said with a shocked expression upon hearing those words.
“It’s beyond my expectations. How could such a large amount of preserved food be prepared in an estate with only about 3,000 serfs? Even Deus would be surprised. So, in the worst case scenario, have you prepared for the military merchants not being able to come?”
“In that case, I am prepared to pay the serfs on my estate a reasonable allowance and have them bring whatever food they have.”
“You prepared more thoroughly than I thought. good. Then, I will immediately hand you the first mission of this operation.”
When I heard that, I was incredibly embarrassed.
Because I thought that what I had to do now was to move to Czechvia with the army led by the Crown Prince tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.
However, since this is the prince who is higher than 4 stars, there can be no objection except for an outright order to die.
So, according to etiquette, I lowered my posture and prepared to receive orders.
“As Commander-in-Chief of this war and Crown Prince of the Empire, I command Major Peter Yeager. Currently, our forces will be fighting against Czechoslovakia’s army in the Visocia region, but they have not properly secured topographical information on Visocia, which is the enemy’s territory. Therefore, Major Yeager, immediately lead the battalion and carry out a reconnaissance mission three days ahead of the main unit so that we can obtain detailed information and report regularly.”
In normal times, leading a single battalion into enemy territory would be the same as openly protesting to kill me.
In the current situation, leading a battalion to scout around the area that will become the battlefield is not a very dangerous mission.
This is because the Reich Empire’s army of over 40,000 troops is advancing about 3 days away from the Jaeger Battalion.
To prepare for this, the enemy army will also be gathering soldiers from all over Czechia, including the Visocia region, and preparing for the battle that will take place here.
If that happens, it will be difficult to station soldiers capable of dealing with our battalion of more than 500 anywhere nearby.
This is because, as long as we do not reveal our location by openly attacking the enemy or moving too slowly, we will not be in great danger as long as we move at a certain distance from the main base.
So, assuming you keep your mind straight, the role of the advance reconnaissance battalion can be said to be a good mission that allows you to achieve achievements relatively safely.
Still, since we are going to war, it is natural to seize as much as possible when the opportunity to accumulate merit arises.
“I will follow your orders, Your Majesty. However, I would like to know how much discretion is given regarding the operation of the unit.”
The crown prince probably expected me to ask this question, but he answered with a smile.
“Combat at the battalion level is prohibited, except when attacked first. Massacre or murder of civilians is also prohibited. Instead, if deemed necessary, small-scale combat, looting disruption, and sabotage operations may proceed at the discretion of the field commander. However, since this was an action taken at your own discretion, you will have to take responsibility alone.”
This is a very reasonable instruction.
Because what if the battalion that went on reconnaissance ahead of time fights the enemy battalion and the time goes by and their location is discovered?
If the allies do not come, they may be annihilated due to concentrated attacks from surrounding military units, or even if they do not, if they receive help from the crown prince’s main army that comes later.
This is because there may be a loss of soldiers and the arrival of the main unit to the battlefield may be delayed, resulting in a situation where the army has to set up camp in an unfavorable location and fight.
“I understand, Your Majesty. “Then when can we go out?”
“Be prepared to go out as soon as we finish breakfast tomorrow. “I wish you luck.”
“Thank you, Your Majesty.”
After saying that, I quietly bowed and left the room where the crown prince was staying.
There are many ways to harass the Czechoslovak military while avoiding massacres of civilians or war crimes at the battalion level.
How can I get my Czech friends to praise me with profanity when they receive my cute gift?
Then I went to the Expeditionary Force’s Supply Department and borrowed about 20 uniforms from the Czechavian Army, muttering to myself.
“I will teach you that this is how war is fought.”
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