I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy

Chapter 50: The Hammer & Anvil (3)

At the time, all armies including the army of the Reich Empire, could travel an average of 12-14 km per day, and if the scale was reduced to move at the brigade level, they could travel about 1.4 times that 16-20 km.

People who had experienced marching training in Korea might question,

‘Why can they only walk that far?’

In South Korea, trucks and various vehicles, which could move faster than humans, were generally mobilized for marching.

However, the armies of this era relied on supplies carried by carts drawn by horses and oxen, hence they had to match their speed.

This naturally limited the distance that could be traveled in a day.

However, if they moved with a minimum of supplies and food, people of this era, who from a young age had resolved all movement by walking or running, and were accustomed to strenuous farm work, had the stamina to move about 40 km a day on foot.

I shouted loudly to the soldiers walking who were running with armor and weapons.

“If His Highness the Crown Prince and Count Benner are responding correctly, the enemy army, leaving only minimal troops behind, will be intensifying their offensive to annihilate the 32,000 troops led by His Highness. If we attack the enemy’s flank exploiting this opportunity, we can claim the heads of their high-ranking individuals, including their commander!”

Before the rapid march began, even the smallest clue about the strategy had to be hidden.

But now that over 8,000 soldiers had started moving, there was no need to hide or conceal the operation any longer.

Thus, it was necessary to simply explain the overview of the operation to the soldiers, impart a sense of purpose, and make them endure forcefully.

The human spirit often had the power to transcend the limits of the physical body.

“Rather than suffering like dogs on the battlefield for months, let’s fight and finish it today with the resolve to die spectacularly!”

“When we suddenly appear and strike from the flanks, they won’t be able to keep their wits about them! Let’s cut off their heads then!”

“I, the Battalion Commander, guarantee it. Whether a soldier or an officer, anyone who distinguishes themselves, I will personally ask His Highness the Crown Prince to grant their wishes! So endure!”

Other commanders, having heard my words, were encouraging their troops in a similar manner.

No matter how I think about it, unless they had a position in the Crown Prince’s faction like me, it was obvious that even battalion commanders would be refused wishes by the Crown Prince, and any above-average commander at the sub-commander line. But they were motivating the troops recklessly.

How were they going to take responsibility if the soldiers distinguished themselves?

However, such reckless encouragement without thinking about the consequences seemed to motivate the soldiers somehow. They were following, summoning strength they didn’t think they had, and enduring.

Calculating roughly, we were moving at a speed of about 8 km per hour, so I thought we had almost reached our destination.

Then the soldiers of Chekovia, who were huddled in a giant rectangular shape, came into view.

The distance was so great that I couldn’t hear what they were shouting or what orders they were giving.

From the loud trumpet and drum sounds, and the fast pace at which the enemy soldiers were pushing the front line, I could guess that His Highness and his troops were executing the feint operation well, and the enemy commander wanted to solidify his victory with this momentum.

Just then, a knight holding a flag symbolizing the Reich Empire’s Crown Prince appeared on horseback and shouted loudly.

“The piglets of Chekovia have their heads stuck in the feed trough! They have their heads stuck!”

The soldiers heard these words and looked at each other’s faces, wondering what that meant.

But for commanders, battalion commanders, and above, including me, the meaning of this coded message was precisely conveyed.

‘The Crown Prince and Count Benner will soon stop pretending to be defeated and counterattack.’

Was everything really going so smoothly?

The atmosphere in our brigade, to be exact, among the higher-ranking officers, lieutenant and above, brightened like villagers before a feast.

“Great! Let’s keep going!!”

“For the honor of my family! For the day when I can add a star!”

“This time, the Battalion Commander himself will be at the forefront. Just follow me!”

The soldiers, feeling a renewed spirit and seeing their commanders become lively, seemed to sense that the operation was going very successfully.

“Let’s win and go home!”

“Long live the Reich Empire! Long live His Highness the Crown Prince!”

Despite their fatigue, they were shouting cheers and responding to the orders of their superiors.

Then, the intelligence officers in the brigade ran around on horses and shouted.

“From now on, rest for one hour, and then go fight!”

“Drink all the water in your canteens and eat a handful of salt! If you think you’re hungry, don’t eat anything since it can cause cramps, and you could die!”

“Gather by battalion! Gather by battalion!”

Considering the order to rest by battalion, the brigade commander would have us assault sequentially by battalion, attacking diagonally.

By doing so, and adjusting the speed well, there would be no need to waste dozens of minutes to nearly an hour to form ranks to start rotation, allowing us to fully utilize our advantage in our surprise attack.

Meanwhile, the soldiers of our battalion, upon receiving the order to rest, huddled together and sat down on the ground to rest.

“Does it make sense to make us return in just six hours to a place it took a day to arrive at a week ago?”

“Exactly, why did we construct those damned trenches?”

“They must have done that to deceive the enemy. Honestly, who would have anticipated us to return this quickly, seeing us even building trenches?”

There was a saying that to deceive the enemy, you must first deceive your own allies. Although that was the plan, it also felt a bit uncomfortable.

Because, after all, it was true that they suffered needlessly because of me.

“Attention, Yaeger Battalion, start consuming water, salt, and sugar together from now on. It will help a bit.”

If it was just rehydration, they shouldn’t consume salt, but the soldiers who marched swiftly for six hours sweated profusely.

This meant that a considerable amount of salt and water had been expelled from their bodies, leaving them completely drained of energy.

Even without supplying nutrients through food, replenishing with water, salt, and sugar alone could recover some of their depleted stamina.

Thus, we took about an hour’s rest when the sound of drums and trumpets was heard.

Heading into a life-threatening battle, while playing upbeat rhythms seemed somewhat inappropriate.

“Our brigade will now penetrate the enemy’s vulnerability! Victory or defeat hinges on our actions, so fight without sparing your lives! His Highness the Crown Prince will reward your achievements generously.”

Usually, commanders would mix truth and lies in such a proclamation.

However, now that it was the first war led by the Crown Prince in true meaning, the soldiers also knew that, if they distinguished themselves, substantial rewards were certain.

Typically, generously acknowledging and rewarding the subordinates’ achievements was a useful method to improve one’s image.

If a soldier, without sparing himself, killed an enemy battalion or regiment commander or above, he would receive life-changing rewards and farmland.

So, what the Brigade Commander was saying was 120% true for now.

“The tactic is extremely simple! Just kill the enemy soldiers in front of you! Kill and kill! When the orders from your unit commanders come, follow them.”

Normally, even in such surprise attacks, more complicated operations would be included, but now it was an exceptional situation.

Probably for officers below the colonel, including me, there was only that much information.

Because if we failed here, the only thing we could do was retreat.

“13th Division, assault in formation!”

As the order was given, the soldiers in the division began to charge towards the enemy in sync.

Our distance from them was approximately 600m now, but it seemed that the enemy division commander and other commanders were blinded by their aim to kill the Crown Prince.

Only a few soldiers assigned to the enemy’s left wing were dealing with us right now.

Of course, ‘a few’ were still in the thousands, but it was nothing compared to fighting with over 50,000 soldiers.

No. Having numerical superiority was unbelievably favorable for us.

“Yaeger Battalion, we will collide with the enemy two steps ahead of our allies. Prepare accordingly.”