Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: Faster Than the Enemy (3)
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The 12th Corps was far more lax in discipline than I had imagined.
Even though they were facing the Hessen Republic, a potential enemy nation, everyone except for the minimal sentries seemed to be going about their duties half-heartedly.
If they weren't the forward unit, this might be acceptable...
But if the frontline troops were like this, they'd collapse like dominoes if the Hessen Republic launched a local skirmish.
"Captain Schumacher, the soldiers' discipline seems pretty poor."
"I agree."
"As staff officer, shouldn't we report this directly to the 12th Corps Commander?"
"Lieutenant Chaplin, I'm just a captain. I could speak up as staff officer, but the corps commander must have his reasons too."
A staff officer is basically a general candidate—or more precisely, someone whose promotion to general is all but guaranteed. An elite of elites.
That means a major staff officer can issue orders in the name of a higher unit during emergencies, even to divisions or corps without their generals present.
Of course, that authority is almost never exercised in practice...
But if I wanted to, I could at least issue a direct warning to the corps commander.
And if I phrased it politely, he probably wouldn't take offense.
"If that's how you see it, Captain, then I'll follow your lead."
"Thanks for understanding."
"You're more flexible in your thinking than other staff officers, sir. I've met a few before, and they all seemed to believe their own views were absolutely correct."
In the Imperial Army, treatment depends less on rank and more on ability—or specifically, whether you're a staff officer or not.
When a staff officer major presents an opinion to a general, they'll almost always hear him out fully.
But if a non-staff colonel offers advice to a general, he'll often get dismissed as someone who didn't graduate from the staff college.
The higher-ups probably shoved me into staff headquarters and slapped the staff officer title on me partly because of that dynamic.
"No one's perfect. And to win wars, you have to listen to the troops and care about them too."
Admiral Yi Sun-sin's victory at the Battle of Myeongnyang was due in large part to his brilliant strategy...
But analyzing the historical records, what played an even bigger role was his character.
His men willingly followed him into an utterly hopeless fight, unable to bear the thought of their admiral dying. That's a miracle in itself.
I may never measure up to him, but as an officer, I believe we have to at least try to emulate that.
"You think differently from most people, sir."
"Does that bother you?"
"Not at all. And please, call me Lina instead of Chaplin. Feel free to drop the formalities too."
When they told me I'd get an aide, I figured it'd be a guy my age.
But the one assigned to me turned out to be a woman.
She's got a good personality and follows my lead well, so that's nice...
But my feelings are a bit mixed.
"If that's what you want, Lieutenant Lina."
"Thank you, sir."
Black eyes and long red hair.
She's so stunningly beautiful, it makes you wonder if women like her are even allowed in the army.
For a guy like me—who's never even held a woman's hand in his past or present life—it's a little overwhelming.
"The corps commander told us to head straight to the 159th Regiment as soon as we arrived."
"The map shows it's right around here. And look, there are soldiers in uniform over there. Must be close..."
The soldiers' state is worth a look.
Drinking out here at this hour? Looks like they're on leave or pass.
Wearing uniforms and chugging booze in broad daylight.
According to Imperial Army regulations, you're not supposed to drink off-base in uniform.
"Lieutenant Lina, even if I don't warn them directly myself, I think we should at least inform the corps commander about the high likelihood of a local skirmish."
Unless the corps commander is some lunatic forcing special forces duty on the wounded.
Once he knows a skirmish is likely, he'll tighten discipline starting from alert postures.
You loosen up when it's time to loosen up, sure.
But he knows full well that if you let the wrong things slack off bit by bit, the whole army crumbles like dominoes.
"Yes, sir."
"Let's go report to the regimental commander first and get to work."
The situation here doesn't look as good as I'd hoped.
"Captain Michael Schumacher reporting for transfer as of today."
The regimental commander eyed me with a look that said the whole world exhausted him.
"This is the frontline, sure, but the 159th is just a regiment staring down the lowlands at the Hessen Republic. And now a staff officer—a Golden Eagle Medal hero, no less—shows up here. You see all kinds in this world."
"Staff HQ assesses a very high chance of local provocations from the Hessen Republic."
"Is that so."
"Yes, sir."
"Nothing more annoying than local skirmishes. Unlike full-scale wars, you can't even predict when or where the enemy might poke you. I was aiming to coast to retirement without promotion anyway, but now things just got complicated."
In armies everywhere, there's nothing harder to handle than a colonel who's given up on generalship.
He's got more seniority than most generals but zero motivation, so even they struggle to figure out how to manage him.
That's just in peacetime or routine duties, though...
'When push comes to shove on something critical, he handles it well.'
Because even if he's desperate to slack off toward the end with no promotion in sight, he'll bust his ass to protect his pride in his military career.
Setting aside the total wrecks, anyway.
"You're a staff officer, right?"
"Yes, sir."
"What does Staff HQ predict for the scale of Hessen provocations?"
"Can't say precisely. But those agitators preaching full independence from the Empire will see us as a toothless tiger after this defeat..."
Anywhere in this world, getting seen as an easy mark means death—or close to it.
In a company, if your subordinates view you as soft, corporate politics will get you pushed out with a "resignation recommendation."
No different from the wild.
And in war? No need to elaborate.
"It won't end at some pathetic potshots with them yelling they'll fight on. At minimum, expect company-scale enemy ambushes—regiment if it's bad."
"This doesn't look good."
The regimental commander's eyes began to burn with fire.
"I barely missed the staff college entrance exam by one point as a major, dooming my generalship... And now these bastards provoke some old timer trying to coast out peacefully? Does that make any sense?"
"Those republican pigs just spout propaganda about freedom and lowland folk's happiness. In reality, they're liars stirring things up to line their own pockets, right?"
The lowlanders did indeed spill blood for independence from the Empire because they wanted it.
The problem is their quality of life plummeted afterward.
In GDP terms, per capita income dropped from $20,000 to $10,000.
"The scum of the earth. Still, we need to scout their exact status."
"Infiltrate their military?"
"Not expecting that."
The late-career colonel pondered briefly before speaking.
"Go check out their situation across the river. Visit their frontline city and see for yourself. We're not at war with Hessen yet, so it shouldn't be too risky."
"Understood, sir."
"If needed during reconnaissance, pretend to support those idiots cheering Hessen's 'true independence.' Do whatever—just gauge the public sentiment and bring back an Imperial officer's solution to this mess."
Solo action approved.
That means I can pull off a little mischief if I want.
The colonel permitted it, and I'd just be taking necessary actions to complete the mission.
Now to think up some harmless prank...
"Yes, sir."
"Autonomous operations authorized."
"I'll do my utmost not to disappoint!"
If someone places expectations on me, I have to deliver.
And he said I could do whatever I wanted during recon...
Spreading false intel to the enemy? My call. Inciting them to move as I wish? Also my call.
Staff HQ wants to inflate a local skirmish into battalion-vs-battalion headlines for big merits...
As an Imperial soldier, time to serve the Empire's interests, right?