Academy Genius Commander

376 – Wizards can be used like artillery (2)

When I said these meaningful words, the wizard leader looked at me with an expression that said, “What kind of nonsense is this?”

“The range of a fireball is at most 400 meters. It doesn’t fly any further than that.”

Of course, as the wizard leader said, it is a known fact that the limit when firing a fireball on the battlefield is 400 meters.

There is a wrong premise here.

When wizards on the Europa continent shoot fireballs, most of them try to shoot only in a straight line like a direct fire cannon, and do not try to introduce a method called howitzer like a howitzer.

“Change your thoughts. “In what direction do you fire your magic?”

“That’s why I use the method of firing in a straight line because it consumes the least mana and increases accuracy. When aiming, the surest way is to look directly and shoot.”

The other officers nodded and agreed with the wizard leader’s words, but I asked while holding a round stone in my hand and pretending to throw it.

“Then what should I do to throw this stone far away? Do you throw it straight, or do you throw it slightly upward and in a semi-circular trajectory? “Wizard leader, answer me.”

The head of the Magic Corps looked at me with an expression that asked why I was asking such an obvious question.

“Of course, why not throw it with a slight upward tilt? Then it flies far away….”

While answering, the wizard leader looked at me with a shocked expression, unable to continue speaking as if he had realized something.

“If magic such as fireball or waterball travels farther than 400 meters, doesn’t that mean the magic disappears? What if we launch a launch that traces a semicircle-shaped orbit as you said?”

“That’s right, you can fire the fireball a much longer distance. Moreover, if you use the height above the castle wall, you will be able to fly it much farther.”

“…… I can’t believe it. “Why on earth have we magic officers not even thought of something so simple for hundreds of years?”

It’s very simple once you know it, but actually coming up with this kind of new idea is very difficult.

Cannons began to be used in war in earnest in the West in the 14th century, when the Hundred Years’ War broke out, and the concept of ‘howling fire’ by adjusting the angle of the cannon actually first appeared.

Four centuries later, during the Seven Years’ War in the late 18th century, the Russian army was the first to attempt to shoot a cannon over the forest.

So, it can be said that it is only natural that wizards did not come up with this.

“No matter what, the accuracy will be lower than seeing and shooting directly.”

At those words, I laughed and pointed to the map around the castle.

There, a huge Allied formation was drawn surrounding Bastion Castle in a circle.

“Look at the wizard leader, no, leader Halbert. What’s wrong with low accuracy? Wouldn’t it be okay to just go over 600 meters and shoot? Then it would fall somewhere behind enemy lines.”

“If you say that all you have to do is drop fireballs on enemy lines like you said, then yes. All we have to do is shoot a fireball from the castle wall to where they are and we will be successful.”

When the leader of the magicians who commanded the magicians acknowledged this, the other staff and officers finally got over their shock and began to open their mouths.

“Of course, when we shoot bows or crossbows, we order our soldiers to shoot at an angle in order to fly far, so why didn’t we think of that when it comes to magic?”

“Marshal Jaeger has always been amazing, but he also created miracles by breaking simple ideas like this. “At the Battle of Griffino last time…”

“Huh, I was most surprised when they surrounded the Stockholm Castle. Surrounding the castle without food or reinforcements and making them open the gates of the castle is something a person can do?”

When the meeting atmosphere was getting more friendly, Laura came forward, pointed at the map, and spoke.

“As the Marshal said, even if we assume that magic such as fireball can be fired over 600 meters, the magic power of magicians is limited.”

“As Director Laura said, if you attack anywhere, you won’t be able to cause significant damage to the enemy… but I don’t think you need to worry about that.”

I laid out on my desk a map depicting the ‘internal shape of the enemy camp’ created by gathering information from spies dispatched to the Allied Forces over the past week.

When the officers saw that, their eyes widened and they looked at me.

“The area marked with an asterisk here is a warehouse where food and weapons are stored, and the area drawn in a square shape is where the barracks of soldiers for each division are grouped together. In addition, the place with the asterisk is the barracks where His Highness the Grand Duke stays.”

It must be one of the most difficult tasks to understand the information on major facilities in a large army of 360,000 people.

Now, the Allied Forces had been fighting with us for a week, but there were so many people who thought they couldn’t do anything and deserted.

Accordingly, our empire’s intelligence unit kills or tortures Allied soldiers who have just succeeded in deserting to find out secret codes and infiltrate them. Sometimes, they pretend to be ‘Allied Forces’ and even engage in combat with our own troops.

As a result, we were able to identify the locations of key facilities that are very important but surprisingly easy to find.

And all of this information is at my disposal.

“No matter how far you shoot the fireball, you won’t be able to reach the Archduke’s barracks, so I’ll make an exception. Then, Commander Hulbert, where do you think we should use magic to attack?”

The leader responded with an evil smile.

“Isn’t it a warehouse and a barracks? “If the warehouse containing weapons or food burns, they will no longer have the strength to fight, and if the barracks burns down, they will easily be roasted to death in their sleep.”

“That’s right. Besides, they are idiots who set up the barracks without even calculating that we would attack them. Therefore, there is a high probability that there will be no thought or countermeasures that there will be a fire or surprise attack by the enemy.”

Originally, when the military sets up a military camp, guards are set up in case a fire breaks out or an enemy invades, and sometimes even a makeshift watchtower is built to keep watch.

This is to respond in case you are attacked by an enemy.

So, the Archduke of Warsaw may seem like a fool, but all armies operate based on ‘common sense.’

Fortress Bastion is now completely surrounded by those damn bastards to the point where there is no water leak, so it is difficult for even a single soldier to get out.

They are at least 7 times more numerous than us, and Sang Sang-seon thinks that in this situation, who would be crazy enough to attempt a ‘surprise attack’?

So, they are doing a very good job of building and operating a camp based on common sense.

However, all the imperial army officers applauded and expressed their active approval when I came up with a surprise attack plan that went beyond common sense.

“That’s right, if you look at it based on common sense, it doesn’t make sense. Who would think of shooting a fireball over 600 meters? Even a catapult only flies half as fast.”

“The enemy will have no idea that 50,000 men will surprise an area with over 360,000 enemy troops, so they will be pinned down.”

“Thanks to the Marshal, a new textbook on military studies on the Europa continent must be written.”

After receiving praise for a moment, I looked at the wizard leader and asked.

“How many fireballs can each wizard shoot?”

“One person will be able to fire about 20 rounds. If you fire more than that in one spot, you may die from magical exhaustion.”

There are quite a few fireballs available, but there aren’t too many, so I’ll have to shoot each one very carefully.

What should I do? If you ask those who have only shot magic in a straight line to shoot it in a curved line, they will stutter at first.

As I thought about it for a moment, I remembered the observer I had seen in a promotional video for the Korean military before.

Although the Reich Imperial Army does not have telescopes, it does have elite archers who can see hundreds of meters away.

In addition, since they would already have experience with howitzers, the wizards could be of great help in setting the launch angle.

“Then I guess I’ll have to fire each shot carefully. Then I will do it like this. “Tomorrow night, have the wizards climb up the castle walls and cast spells at them.”

“Yes, Marshal.”

“If you shoot magic, wouldn’t it be easy to miss the target? At that time, a skilled archer would look at the point where the magic flew and look at things like the angle at which the fireball was fired. Archers have experience firing howitzers, so they will definitely be helpful. If we minimize the error in that way, wouldn’t it be usable enough?”

This is an idea of the process of correcting the Korean artillery’s firing position when it is misaligned, in line with the current situation.

This alone, I think, is enough to give a sh*t to those who relax without thinking.

From noble mtl dot com

“Okay then, let’s enjoy a cozy fireworks display on a moonlit night with the wizards tomorrow night. Everyone disperses.”