I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy Chapter 43

EP.43

After hearing my answer, the reactions of the dignitaries in the barracks were largely divided into two.

Some people, including the general who asked me a question first, stared at me with meaningful smiles as if this was an opportunity.

Those who supported me, such as the Crown Prince and Count Vener, gave me signals by looking at my face with shocked expressions, as if they had seen the devil.

I don’t know the exact meaning because I didn’t say it out loud, but it probably means something like this.

‘You crazy bastard, why would a bastard who was in charge of the advance scout battalion do something that could be a violation of his authority?’

In that situation, the crown prince spoke in a solemn voice with the intention of punishing him if necessary.

“It is true that I gave Major Yeager discretion. Still, I think a detailed explanation is needed. “If anyone here is curious about the operation he carried out, they are free to ask questions.”

Here, the highest prince gives permission, like tacit approval, to bite as much as he wants.

The major general with white hair and beard asked me a question.

“You have probably forgotten what the role of the advance scouting corps is, right? Even if discretion is granted, engaging in combat from the front is a clear violation of military orders and is a crime punishable by death.”

It is true that I felt embarrassed and scared when I heard that I could be executed.

At times like this, if I showed that I was scared, the other person’s attack would only become more fierce, so I answered confidently, hiding my emotions deep inside.

“I led 20 members of the detachment to find a place where the enemy troops were staying, and based on the map I obtained from the three enemy soldiers who were scouting, I found the main force and figured out the size of the enemy troops and the morale and food distribution situation. “While assessing the enemy’s situation, I learned that a significant portion of the enemy’s food supply depended on conscription.”

In intelligence, information such as the enemy’s food fraud is important information, but it is difficult to determine its true nature.

Because the most basic thing to know is the size of the enemy army, you can check it by watching from a high mountain or hill when the enemy army marches or stops for a meal.

High-ranking people openly wear their family’s emblem on their flags and their movements are made public to those around them, so it is not difficult to guess their weaknesses and strengths.

However, food situation and morale are information that is not disclosed even to our soldiers unless there is a special reason, except for the military leadership and high-ranking officers.

This is because if the other party knows both their food situation and morale, it becomes a hint that can easily predict what strategy they will come up with.

For example, if the food situation is good, you can choose both a long-term war and a short-term war, but if the food situation is bad, you must decide on a short-term decisive battle.

The general who was arguing with me snorted when he heard that and said,

“Is there any army like that? This time, your Bruno estate has stocked up on biscuits and food, so only about 20% of the food was prepared through requisition. Normally, the default is 30-40%! Regardless of what the rest of the report says, I can say that the intelligence on food is of little help. “Unless you attack a supply unit moving in units of hundreds with a detachment of about 20 people.”

Except for him, several other generals also began nodding as if they agreed with what he said.

The crown prince had a serious expression on his face, as if he was worried that I would be pushed into a corner for using my discretion.

I said, showing me several completely forged documents, following the Czech Republic’s official document format so that it was impossible to tell whether they were genuine or not.

“As soon as we found out that fact, the detachment I led quickly headed to the village along the path of the Czechavian army’s forward movement. Then, by showing this forged document, he pretended to be a Czech supply officer and requisitioned food from the village. He then moved it to a deserted place and burned it in a cart, repeating this nine times. “If you guess from the size of the army and the amount of conscripts, our detachment succeeded in plundering approximately 8 days’ worth of food from them.”

When the generals heard this, they began to whisper in embarrassed voices.

“It must be truly terrible to be in that situation. That’s 8 days’ worth of food, so even if one day’s worth of food is gone, we have to reduce the ration over 3 days…” ”

They were caught in an unexpected situation. Since food rations were reduced during the march, the number of deserters must have increased.”

“It is said that it is no longer true to say that war should be fought fairly like 100 years ago, but isn’t this too harsh? “The young fellow is very clever.”

On the other hand, when the Crown Prince heard the news that I delivered that the enemy had weakened during the already burdensome first expedition, he urged me with a smile on his face.

“Hurry up and continue reporting. “Isn’t there still more to report?”

To those words, I bowed my head in respect and then continued speaking.

“We succeeded in seizing and destroying the enemy’s food, but that was still a disappointment. So, I led a detachment and carried out a surprise attack by throwing oil cans and firing fire at the advance reconnaissance company of the Czechavian army. They will be very worried as they are faced with a situation where they do not know when and where their allies will appear. Therefore, as we march with expanded security and increased reconnaissance, our morale and stamina will drop.”

Reducing the enemy’s stamina in this way is not clearly visible damage because it is not revealed in numbers.

However, assuming that a soldier who can fight for 3 hours when healthy can only fight for about 2 hours when he is exhausted.

If your troops are healthy and the enemy’s troops are exhausted, if you fight for 3 hours a day, even if you engage in close combat for 2 hours, your troops will have an overwhelming physical advantage and will be able to push the enemy for the remaining hour. .

Since wars of this era rely heavily on hand-to-hand combat, considering the importance of walking, running, and using one’s body, it can be said that just reducing their stamina increases the likelihood of victory.

And in order to complete the report perfectly, I bowed to the crown prince and said,

“The reason I was able to carry out this operation was because His Majesty the Crown Prince trusted a single officer named Peter Jaeger and gave him maximum discretion.”

When I expressed my gratitude, the crown prince looked at me with eyes full of emotion, and the nobles around me who were blaming me clicked their tongues as if they had no choice.

The general, who was pushing me and trying to find fault in some way, continued to look at me with a suspicious look in his eyes and was about to say more when Count Venner, who was in charge of second-in-command, spoke.

“Brigadier Chariot, take care of yourself. Any further questioning is beyond the authority of His Highness the Crown Prince. As I was quietly listening, if you read the report properly, you would be able to see that there was no overstepping of authority in his achievements. They didn’t even read the report and just reprimanded me. “You graduated from Staff College, right?”

A staff college that one must attend in order to become a general who is given the authority to command proper troops, rather than a star given to the royal family in the empire to show off.

This is because it is the equivalent of a promotion to general, which only about 5% of officers who graduated from the academy can enter.

Unlike academies where things like title and family status are factored into the evaluation of grades, this is a place where only a person’s pure major and ability are evaluated.

That is why, for officers with the rank of captain to major, entering the General Staff College is considered an achievement they can be proud of, even in their lifetime or even after death.

To a person who graduated from such a university, the question, ‘Are you sure you graduated from the General Staff College?’ is like the worst insult a general can hear.

In addition, the record I posted was so large and clear that in the personnel evaluation of the current Brigadier General Chariot, I said, ‘He is an idiot who evaluates his subordinate’s outstanding achievements without even reading the report. You will feel like you have failed as a general, so it will be difficult to get promoted in the future.

Perhaps that was why Brigadier General Chariot’s face turned pale and he looked like an idiot with his mouth wide open and his soul drained out.

When the guy who tried to rob me was robbed, the crown prince said with a satisfied expression.

“Major Yeager, then you can go back to your seat.”

As I was returning to my seat as instructed by the crown prince, the majors sitting around me were looking at my face and the medals on my chest in turns.

They must be thinking that in order to receive the Silver Knight’s Sword medal, they must achieve that level of achievement and have the guts to even start an argument with the general if they make a mistake.

I accepted his gaze and sat quietly in my seat.

On the other hand, the Crown Prince read all the information, including the information I provided, and spoke in a confident voice.

“If the information from the reconnaissance unit is accurate, the best place for our troops to fight against the enemy would be the Vranov Plain, 30 km away from here. Therefore, the Czechavian Expeditionary Force under my command will move with me to the Vranov Plain the day after tomorrow.”

When we passed through the Vranov Plain for reconnaissance as a detachment, we could see that it was truly a plain with nothing in it.

If you look closely, you will see that there is a small stream that provides drinking water, but although the stream is long, it is less than 20cm deep.

In fact, it cannot have any effect during battle, and the surrounding area is a complete plain without even the usual forests.

So, if a battle were to take place here, it would be difficult to even attempt an operation such as a surprise attack because there would be no place for both the Czechavian and Reich Imperial forces to ambush.

This may be the best tactic when fighting soldiers who are hungry due to lack of food and tired from increased guard duty.

“On the Vranov Plain, our forces engage in combat with Czechoslovakia. “We will adopt the most traditional fighting method, with knights directly dealing with knights and infantry directly dealing with infantry.”

Sometimes in dramas or games, there are scenes where spearmen are used to fight knights and knights are used to attack the enemy’s infantry formation.

Even if he is assisted by other generals, it is difficult for the crown prince, who is commanding such a large army for the first time, to use ingenious strategies.

So, they’re probably trying to win with a relatively simple all-out war.

The other generals also seemed satisfied that the crown prince, who was new to war, had drawn up a simple plan for an all-out war without resorting to advanced strategies such as repeated ambushes and attacks.

I nodded and continued to listen to the prince’s explanation.

“That’s all for today. There are no more strategy meetings. Commanders of colonel or higher are now to check the units under their command and begin checking their organization. “The rest can just leave.”

After hearing the prince’s words, I left the huge barracks built for meetings.

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