I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy Chapter 60

EP.60

Imperial Staff College.

This graduate school, which is like a gateway for officers who graduated from the academy and gained practical experience, must go through to earn stars, is, in a word, a place of chaos.

Well, like in a real hell or a place where Asura lives, there are of course no cases where students fight with swords or kill someone.

It is a place where there is comparatively tremendous academic competition, and it is also a place where many people’s dreams and talents are frustrated.

This means that they are excellent enough to be in the top 5% of officers who graduated from the academy if they come here.

Every year, about 10 to 20 percent of students drop out or complete the program because they are unable to acquire all the military knowledge required for graduation.

On the other hand, since this is a place where only geniuses gather, professors with limited knowledge or ability often refute theories presented by students.

Of course, the professors at the Staff College are elite, worth a million dollars, so something like that only happens once every 10 years.

It’s such a scary school.

As I was wandering around, lost in such random thoughts, I found myself standing in front of the door of the classroom where the students were waiting.

In the past, when I was in high school or when I gave a presentation at an academy, my heart trembled, but this time, I thought I would have to teach at least dozens of students.

I guess I’m nervous.

Still, the class I have prepared will work well because it is a summary of what I have proven through practice.

“Now then, let’s go into the real classroom.”

As I opened the door to the classroom and entered, the students’ eyes were immediately focused on me.

However, their interest was closer to analysis of competitors rather than feelings of respect for their professor.

“You look very young. How old are you? “Is it about 23 or 24 years old?”

“Ha… I also passed the promotion screening in the first round in our team and came here. After all, it’s a staff college. “All kinds of people are coming.”

“I can’t be pushed around by a young guy like that.”

This is natural, considering that the minimum age of students in this class is 25, and in some cases, there are majors over 35 years old.

In this era, there are newspapers and textbooks made using metal type, but printing technology has not advanced to the point where it can even include pictures of people’s faces, so it is inevitable that they will be unrecognizable.

However, their expressions changed significantly after seeing the various medals and epaulettes symbolizing rank attached to my clothes.

My reaction until now had been towards my competitor, but now I felt astonished, as if I was seeing a monster.

“My father, who works as a chief of the General Staff, told me that Lieutenant Colonel Yeager was coming as a professor and encouraged me to watch and learn. Was that the class?”

“It’s crazy. “It’s a double award with the Silver Knight’s Sword Medal.”

“At an age when I had just been promoted from a mandarin to a lieutenant, the person who earned the rank of lieutenant colonel and baron was our professor… What kind of class should we teach?”

They might think I didn’t hear them because I deliberately didn’t pay attention to them whispering in a low voice. That’s not it. It sounded really good.

Still, they did not ignore me, a professor younger than them, but were impressed by the surprising fact that I was the youngest professor at the General Staff College in the history of the empire, as well as the medals and experience that supported him.

In the past, there was a time when there were only people who tried to ignore me and put me down before I could do anything, but as I continued to build merit and moved up, only praise and admiration came out.

It’s so ecstatic and sweet.

As I stood up on the podium, naturally receiving their attention, I spoke in a stern voice as if I were dealing with rookie officers.

“I think you’ve probably heard rumors about me. This is Baron Peter Jaeger, a lieutenant colonel who has been appointed as a professor starting this semester by order of His Majesty the Emperor. Starting today, we will teach a subject called ‘What is War?’ and in this class, you will write and be evaluated on a total of three mock war situation strategy papers, including exams and assignments.”

There was no professor in Korea who spoke in this way, but since this is the military, it would be better to proceed this way.

However, most classes are taught through cramming, with the professor having an upper hand over the students, but I don’t want to do that.

I wrote on the board, ‘What is war?’ and asked students to respond.

“It’s about winning the battle against the enemy and being victorious.”

“The goal is to kill as many enemy soldiers as possible and preserve our own soldiers.”

“Blood is shed to defeat His Majesty’s enemies and gain glory.”

What they said is not wrong.

War is an act of winning a battle and forcing the enemy to make diplomatic concessions in terms of territorial compensation, like a bully extorting money.

As they say, defeating the enemy is an important part of war, but isn’t there something lacking in defining strategy and tactics/politics as one?

In my case, when I was a student at the academy, I skipped all subjects related to dignity, etiquette, and martial arts because I was not allowed to do them, and I focused on securing grades in strategy and military studies to avoid failing.

I was able to see the limits of what they said and how inadequate it was.

“Not a single word you said was wrong. But what I think is a bit different.”

At those words, the students of the General Staff College, who had been studying without putting down their books whenever they had the slightest spare time even after going to the battlefield, looked puzzled.

What they said was all different from person to person, but the essence was like the essence of a theory created by the faculty of the academy and the staff college.

But since you deny it, it must be absurd.

However, Laura, who was listening to the lecture at the front of the classroom, always presented a theory that was quite different from what she had learned from military science textbooks during her academy days whenever I talked about strategy and tactics, and she proved that it was correct. So what will happen this time? He looked at me with eyes full of anticipation, wondering if I would present something new and different.

“That is the perspective you see when commanding a company as a junior officer and receiving instructions from your superiors, and as a senior officer or commander, your perspective on war should be broader than that. “You cannot win a war simply by fighting and winning.”

I took a breath and spoke as if making a declaration.

“War means destroying the enemy’s fighting ability, occupying territory that is the basis of fighting power, and depriving the enemy of the will to fight. “If you develop a strategy with these three principles in mind, you can achieve a worthwhile victory.”

Currently, the war between the Reich Empire, which I belong to, and other countries is developing a strategy that focuses on consuming enemy soldiers and occupying territory.

We are not researching tactics that deprive people of their will to fight so that they cannot even think about fighting.

That’s why I came forward and said, ‘Well then, let’s start by massacring the enemy’s civilians first.’ I do not intend to advocate the same Hitler-like genocide theory.

This is because massacre not only violates human morality, but also helps strengthen the enemy’s will to fight.

This is because in most cases, it is nothing more than a crazy act that creates enemies that do not exist.

I wrote this on the blackboard this time:

‘What is the purpose of the war?’

“Simple. It is to force unwanted actions on enemies who fought against us and were defeated. For example, this would include ceding territory to the enemy or paying a large amount of compensation. In addition, there are things like making a treaty that is economically very unfavorable to an enemy country.”

Of course, if this goes too far, it could lead to World War II.

To be precise, countries such as France, Britain, Italy, and the United States, which lost numerous soldiers and citizens during World War I, robbed the defeated Germany of its territory and colonies.

Furthermore, by demanding a huge war reparation of 132 billion marks, they provided a stage for a crazy man named ‘Adolf Hitler’ to run amok in Germany, which was already suffering from severe inflation and the Great Depression.

“Therefore, war is one of the means of diplomatic politics, and the blood of soldiers is shed in return for executing it. Staff officers and commanders are responsible for deciding how to use and execute this tool effectively. And what was decided here was the ‘strategy’ of the war plan.”

This includes improving the efficiency of supply, supplying new weapons to train useful soldiers more quickly, and tactics to win battles.

So I continued writing down everything I said on the blackboard.

“Okay then, let’s take a 10 minute break and then move on to the next class.”

A word from the author (author review)

PS. If you receive a medal twice, about 0.5 tiers will be added to the medal you received.

In the case of the protagonist, there is no record of him serving as commander-in-chief in the war yet, so he was unable to receive the Golden Cross (the tier above the Silver Cross), so it was given to him.

PS 2. Since the Staff College is also a ‘university’, there are class options available.

About half of the courses are required, and the rest are elective courses, such as war history or general history studies needed to live as a high-ranking officer.

I wrote down the lecture part. How do you think it is?

See next episode