Academy Genius Commander

14 – Opportunity to rise (1)

The situation the Reich Empire is facing is the worst, but the situation that is unfolding right in front of our company is also not so good.

Although the number of enemies to face in the front is a bit smaller than ours, the stamina of our allies is already very low.

Even I, the platoon commander responsible for leading the soldiers, wished I could put everything aside and go back to the barracks to take a deep breath and come out again.

However, in this battle, I am enduring with evil, thinking only of the reward I will receive if the strategy I have devised succeeds.

Even more so, ordinary soldiers, who could not expect great rewards even after fighting, must have been more tired because they had little motivation to go into battle.

And the company commander, who was well aware of this situation, stepped back with me and our platoon, snatched the spear of the soldier who was holding the long spear, and shouted loudly.

“You are all tired and that is why the company commander knows very well that it is difficult. I am very proud of all the soldiers just for enduring and following until now!”

Normally, when a difficult situation comes, it is correct to encourage you by saying that you can do more now.

Saying that we can do more here even though we are in a very exhausting and tiring situation makes us want to give up as it seems to push people endlessly into a corner.

“So, I, the company commander, will personally stand at the forefront to fulfill my responsibility to lead you. So just look at my back and follow me. Then we can return alive, as we have always been. Let’s make the war a victory and go back to our hometown where we have our wife and children.”

When the company commander mentioned his wife and children and said that he would stand in the vanguard, the soldiers might have realized that they could not return to their hometowns unless they fought and won.

There was a certain degree of fighting spirit in his eyes.

At the same time, friendly battalions and enemy battalions slowly began to move towards each other.

The company commander led his soldiers with dignity, like a man who was sure that the enemy’s arrows and magic would get out of his way.

The soldiers were impressed by the sight and, forgetting their fatigue, pointed their spears at the enemy and advanced slowly.

And when the spear of the company commander, which was slightly protruding from the front, and the long spear of the soldier of the Francois Republic met each other.

The company commander moved the spear of the enemy soldier to the left and stabbed him in the neck as quickly as lightning.

At the same time, he put down his spear and started digging into the enemy camp with a two-handed sword, no, a short sword with a blade about 50cm long, just like I did.

Seeing that, the deputy company commander also charged towards the enemy in a similar manner.

Normally, high-ranking people such as company commanders and deputy company commanders would curse at me, saying what the f*ck are you doing…

If you are prepared to risk your own life, the most effective countermeasure is to fight with a dagger that can be wielded without restrictions in the narrow space inside the spearhead when fighting dense spearmen.

Thanks to that, I, who has the highest status in the company other than those two, was implicitly in charge of general command of the company…

“Those in the 1st and 2nd rows near the company commander put down their windows and follow the company commander into the square with one-handed weapons! Don’t give them time to come to their senses, and it’s safer to go inside the window! Also, the crossbowmen assigned to the Jaeger Platoon, cover the company commander!”

This is the best command to support both of them in the current situation.

At the same time, he issued an order to the company’s rider to mobilize soldiers from the 1st and 2nd platoons to support the company commander.

I sent a flag signal to the battalion commander to end the battle in a short period of time and ordered him to attack as if encircling the enemy by extending the line to both sides.

When I gave the order to support the two of them, before I knew it, our company had come quite deep inside the enemy lines of the enemy soldiers.

Even I, who acted as company commander, reached a situation where I had to engage in direct combat with a spear.

Then the voice of the enemy’s astonishment came clearly to my ears.

“These crazy bastards. You must have run out of energy trying to save that bastard’s dying battalion, so why are you fighting so well?”

“Those bastards, the company commander is in the lead and killing them all!”

“Those who would not be enough even if I dug out their hearts and turned them into skewers. Do you really have to do this?”

Normally, I would have dismissed everything the enemy said as bullsh*t and passed it over.

I agree to a certain extent with the statement that this should be done.

Because, as a commander, the fact that a person who is not a platoon commander but a company commander is in the vanguard means that he is attacking with evil knowing that the war situation is unfavorable to that extent.

However, once you arrive at your destination, whether you go to the river or the sea, you are good.

A commander who leads his soldiers to fight is 90% successful if he wins unconditionally, so he must be good enough.

Also, if you look around, our company is in a situation where we are roughly breaking through 1/4 of the enemy ranks, so fighting with a spear is meaningless.

“Everyone in the company, put down the spears and switch to sub-weapons! All at once, prepare to charge!”

At my command, the soldiers unleashed short weapons that could be held with one hand, such as swords, maces, and one-handed hammers.

“charge!”

When he changed his weapon and charged, the enemy’s soldiers, who were slow to respond because they were holding long spears, died helplessly.

At the same time, among those whose morale fell to the ground, some gave up resistance and sat down to urinate on the ground, or even those who tried to run away appeared one after another.

At other times, I would have chased down these guys and tried to kill them one by one, but doing it now would be foolish.

“Do not pursue the fleeing soldier or officer! Those who enter in pursuit will be strictly governed regardless of rank! It’s enough to just kill the guy in front of you!”

At the same time, I, like the soldiers, drew my sword and cut down the enemies in front of me as quickly as possible.

Normally, if there was a good-looking person among the ones I killed, I would have tried to roughly confirm their rank or affiliation.

There is no room for that now.

Instead, even in the chaotic battlefield, he continued the battle, chasing the company commander and deputy company commander in order not to miss them.

As I was about to repulse all the enemy forces, I found two people who were wounded and fell with their armor on.

Thanks to the armor, neither of them appeared to be fatally wounded, but their complexions appeared white from wounds and heavy blood loss.

It was engaged once, but if those two died, the morale of the entire battalion as well as the company would be crushed.

I requested the battalion commander to escort those two to the rear as quickly as possible.

And a little later, the trumpet sounded to announce the retreat from both the Francois Republic Army and the Reich Imperial Army.

I didn’t know it during the frantic fighting, but it was noticeable that the number of Reich Imperial forces, including my platoon, had drastically decreased.

Seeing that, I felt a sense of despair, but I did not show that emotion in front of the soldiers.

Instead, I just thought of the best thing I could do in my position.

I thought that was the attitude and habit of commanders called great commanders or geniuses, so I did the same and tried to find a way for me and our army to survive.

**

Although the battalion I belonged to and the battalion next to which we supported at the right time did not suffer much loss of life.

The other units of our division that took part in this battle were severely damaged as I expected.

Of the approximately 8,000 soldiers of the division, 1,000 were killed and 500 were seriously injured and are being treated.

The commander of the 1st Regiment was seriously injured, and the battalion commanders of the 2nd and 12th Battalions were killed, and about 30 officers of the lower lieutenant or higher were killed or seriously injured, and the unit commander was replaced.

It is a sad reality that among them, our company commander and deputy company commander were seriously injured.

And according to rumors circulating in the unit, more than half of the casualties were caused by the Black Lion Mercenaries, which number only about 1,000 people.

I could feel how powerful it was.

Even in the midst of this, I was officially promoted to lieutenant thanks to the achievement of saving the three companies of the Francois Republic and the battalion that was about to be annihilated.

I am attending a meeting personally supervised by the division commander as a deputy company commander on behalf of the company commander, who has now been evacuated to the rear due to injury.

To be honest, since he was a lieutenant, instead of sitting at the long table used by the division commander, he was just standing in the corner of the barracks, resting intently.

“Damn it, anyone is welcome, so please give your opinion! Acting Commander of the 1st Regiment, Lieutenant Colonel Cornwell! What are you thinking?”

“Lieutenant Colonel Cornwell, Acting Regimental Commander! I’m not sure either.”

“Did you throw the concept in the middle of the day? Why is it so crazy that I don’t know what to do!”

The division commander continued to express the frustrating feeling that comes from battlefield situations where answers were not available by urging his subordinates to come up with countermeasures.

Even though he loudly urged the other battalion commanders to come up with an appropriate alternative in this situation, just as he did to Lieutenant Colonel Cornwell, no one could answer and just lowered their eyes.

It has no choice but to be in a situation where almost 20% of the troops of the division were blown away in a single battle and suffered close to annihilation.

In this situation, it is very difficult to come up with a plan to save the troops, and the division commander is extremely angry.

Even if there is a countermeasure that he thought of, if he said it carelessly, he could be caught and robbed, so who can say anything?

When no answer came out like that, the division commander sighed heavily as if he had noticed the atmosphere for some reason, loosened his stiff face, and asked again.

“Does anyone really have an opinion? ok then let’s do this I won’t curse at any strategy other than ridiculous tactics like shut up and charge. Does the regiment commander, battalion commander, or staff member have an opinion?”

This time, the division commander let go of his anger to some extent and asked, but everyone lost their spirit due to the crushing defeat in the previous battle.

There was no field officer higher than the battalion commander who confidently said there was a countermeasure.

Then the division commander sighed as if he couldn’t help it and turned his eyes to the company commanders.

The meaning of those eyes was so obvious.

A strategy set up by an inexperienced officer at the level of a company commander would, of course, be no better than a strategy set up by a veteran officer at the rank of field commander or higher.

It seems that we intend to change the mood and reassure them by listening to and praising the poor plan we announced…

And the division commander put on a friendly expression on his face and pointed at me with the baton.

“Oh, Ensign Peter Yeager. No, he was a lieutenant now. So, what’s your opinion? What do you think it will take to beat the damn Francois?”

In any case, even if you present only an average strategy at the level of a lieutenant officer, you will be praised by the division commander.

The reason why I have been applying here is not because I came only to be promoted to lieutenant.

I responded with courage by choosing sentences that could catch the other person’s interest.

“I think the best strategy is to surprise the enemy in a way they can’t predict.”