Chapter 486: Big and Beautiful(1)
Chapter 486: Big and Beautiful(1)
The more I talked about South Korea, the deeper the misunderstandings became, so I eventually decided to bury the topic for the time being.
It was a bit funny that they mistook South Korea for a country straight out of a dystopian novel. If I described Somalia to them, they’d probably faint.
South Korea was one thing, but even the United States, the world's superpower, was riddled with problems—starting from racial discrimination to cities with a distinctly dystopian atmosphere.
While their respect for soldiers was unparalleled, a closer look revealed plenty of issues. If the treatment of their military had been as abysmal as Korea's, a literal rebellion would have broken out by now.
The U.S. frequently had to deploy troops to act as the world's police, and if war broke out there, lives were lost.
There was a reason they went as far as high schools to run recruitment ads. People enlisted because they could gain 'honor'—which is as vital as life itself to a soldier—and receive the treatment that matched it.
Even so, it was still much better than South Korea. After all, it was a country that poured 1,000 trillion won into its defense budget alone.
According to my father, the Minerva Empire was also pouring its budget into defense. Even though it was a time of peace, they allocated about 30% because of the Demon Worshippers.
And that was only because the Minerva Empire had a strong economy; apparently, other countries poured in up to 50%.
I recalled South Korea's defense budget being around 10% of the total budget, so this felt strangely high.
"Back in my active days, the supplies allocated to me alone were equivalent to the portions of ten adult men. Even now, don't you eat three servings per meal yourself?"
"Ah."
Part of it was the simple economic structure, but the profession of a Knight itself was the issue. Knights were soldiers who used mana, and mana didn't just appear out of thin air.
While one could accumulate mana through breathing techniques, the easiest and most convenient way was through food consumption. In other words, calories were mana.
Just as ancient humans on Earth evolved to accumulate calories to survive, it seemed the humans of this world had undergone a similar process.
Consequently, the amount a Knight ate in a day was enough to make an ordinary person's jaw drop. Even I ate three servings per meal.
If someone asked why I ate so much when I wasn't even a Knight, I could only answer that the 'night work' was just too exhausting.
"But ten portions a day? That's surprisingly similar to me."
"If you just brute-force mana into your body, the amount consumed is terrifying. The priority is to compress it so that no mana leaks out. That makes you stronger and more efficient."
"Can Adelia do that too?"
"No. I have to concentrate to do that. To do it as naturally as breathing, I’d probably need years of training," Adelia chimed in.
"Oh..."
I looked at my father with sparkling eyes. Perhaps embarrassed by my gaze, he simply cleared his throat in silence.
"That aside, the amount of food a Knight consumes is staggering. It would be a disaster if supply lines were cut during a war."
"If supply lines are cut, a commander has only two choices: retreat safely or charge in for a final strike. A wise man would choose the former. Even if a final strike succeeds, you'd have to withdraw eventually because of supplies."
Logistics are paramount, regardless of time or place. Even Napoleon fell to Russia's scorched-earth tactics, and Nazi Germany collapsed due to supply issues.
Most people fail to realize this because they are blinded by flashy battles, but the best way to ruin an army is to cut off its supplies.
People start swearing after missing just one meal; imagine starving for days. While tanks or automobiles just become empty cans without fuel, Knights are human—they die.
"Was there a general in your world who met a disastrous end because they neglected logistics?"
"Plenty. There are so many it's hard to name them all."
Cao Cao of the Romance of the Three Kingdoms was notorious for raiding supplies. Ma Su ignored orders and set up camp in a strange place, getting his supply lines cut, which led Zhuge Liang to personally execute him.
The reason Joseon won the Imjin War was also thanks to Yi Sun-sin's Battle of Myeongnyang. That single victory completely shattered the Japanese army's supply lines, securing the win.
As for World War II... it all boils down to our 'independence activist,' Mutaguchi Renya. The fact that he left behind such legendary quotes was a bonus.
And I recalled that right before I reincarnated, Russia was getting its ass kicked by Ukraine because they neglected logistics.
"Weren't there any for you, Father? I heard supplies were poor back in your active days compared to now."
"It wasn't that the supplies were poor, but that the supply lines were vulnerable. Those Barbarians would raid our supplies every chance they got. I've heard that whoever is in charge of logistics now is doing a very clean job. Thanks to them, new outposts are being built and there's plenty of hot water."
"That's a relief."
I knew that person was Marshall. We still exchange letters, and the reason Marquis Mathews treasures him is that he is simply too good at logistics.
Artillery was his dream and ideal, but his aptitude and talent lay in logistics. This was why Marquis Mathews covered for Marshall even when he was being rude.
I wondered what he would think if he saw George Marshall, who later supplied even ice cream to an army of a million men.
"Does the book you're writing now have cases of failure due to logistics? You said it was based on a real war."
As my father and I were talking, Adelia couldn't contain her curiosity and asked a question.
Since Blood and Iron was showing signs of an impending war, she must have been curious.
Adelia was more of a front-line Knight than a commander, but that didn't mean she was uneducated.
I heard that at the Academy, when they are given the mission to protect a supply line, they are taught to defend it with their lives.
Not only that, they conduct mock battles assuming supply lines have been cut. As expected of the elite-producing Halo Academy, they are taught various aspects of military science.
"Sister, there are all sorts of people in the world. It's no different where I came from."
I looked intently at Adelia's curiosity-filled face before chuckling and answering.
Her curiosity piqued even further, she glanced at me tentatively and spoke. Deep curiosity was etched into her sky-blue eyes.
"Hmm... hearing you say that makes me even more curious. Can you tell us a little?"
"I'm intrigued as well. There are countless instances here of losing due to botched logistics, but I'm curious how things went wrong in your world."
Even my father, his interest piqued, made the request. I pondered for a moment after hearing them.
There are countless cases of failure due to logistics. However, cases where the war was ruined because logistics were neglected from the start are surprisingly rare.
The Battle of Stalingrad happened because Nazi Germany's supply lines became too long, not because they ignored them from the beginning.
On the contrary, they struggled desperately to maintain supplies. It was a bit of an open secret that those supplies included condoms and toiletries.
The reason Operation Imphal is constantly talked about is that they didn't even account for logistics in the first place. So...
"There are so many cases of failure due to logistics. But there were also cases where logistics weren't even considered..."
"They didn't consider logistics? Are you saying they told the men to just graze on grass if they ran out of food?"
My father asked back, his voice full of disbelief. His expression showed he found it hard to credit.
"Yes."
"......?"
The catch was that his guess was exactly right. At my concise answer, not only my father but even Adelia tilted her head in confusion.
They looked like they were mentally replaying what they had just heard. Seeing that, I barely suppressed the urge to burst out laughing.
Meanwhile, my father, clearly flustered by my blunt answer, began to speak with a stutter.
"No... I mean... Isaac? I was just joking..."
"It's true. They were told to eat grass and keep marching."
"Well, if there's plenty of edible grass around... no, wait. Some people might get grass poisoning..."
My father scratched his temple, looking utterly bewildered. It seemed the story was so far beyond common sense that it was hard to believe.
However, the area they were trying to pass through during Operation Imphal wasn't a normal forest; it was a jungle. Despite being a treasure trove of biodiversity, it was a region referred to as a 'Green Desert.'
"Not only that, the place they had to pass through was a jungle."
"A jungle? If it's a jungle, they could just hunt even if there's no grass, couldn't they? I've heard all sorts of beasts live there. Though, of course, not accounting for logistics in the first place is wrong."
Surprisingly, my father reacted as if it might be okay. I was puzzled at first, but then I remembered he had served in the Northern Region and nodded.
He likely only knew the very basics about jungles. A person who knows nothing about them would think exactly like my father.
Just as I was about to explain, Adelia's jaw dropped in shock, and she asked urgently.
"A-A jungle? A jungle where everything around you is green?"
"Huh? Do you know something about it, Sister?"
"Of course. I took an exam there back when I was a student. But they marched through a jungle without any supplies? That's just telling everyone to go die."
At Adelia's exasperated explanation, my father turned to her and asked.
"Is a jungle really that treacherous? It should be fine for someone at the level of a Knight."
"For Knights like you or me, Baron, and in small numbers, it's a place where we can excel. But for ordinary soldiers, it's a different story. Everything you see is poisonous. There are plants that give you a rash just by brushing against them, and frogs that stop your breathing just by touch. Everything in sight is dangerous."
"It might be even more dangerous than the freezing North. To pass through such a place without even considering supplies..."
"The man was a lunatic. It's beyond pushing the soldiers into hell; it's like kicking them into it."
Having understood the gist, my father nodded. He then turned away from Adelia to look at me and spoke seriously.
"Did that commander not get his head chopped off by his subordinates? If it were me, I would have taken his head and retreated long ago."
"The hierarchy was so strict that he didn't. In fact, he acted shamelessly, claiming he did nothing wrong."
"What kind of moron is that?"
He's the great man(?) who even triggered the Second Sino-Japanese War, Father.
I looked back and forth between my father and Adelia, whose common sense was being systematically demolished, and leisurely sipped my tea.
Vroom—
Just then, a vibrating sound reached my ears. This vibration was very familiar.
It was the sound made when an object was teleported from the mansion to the dormitory. Up until now, I had received necessary items this way.
The same went for sending manuscripts. Since I was currently on a break, I hadn't had any manuscripts to send and had been leaving it alone.
"Wait. I'll go get it."
As soon as the item arrived, Adelia moved first. She then brightened up as she looked at the object she had received.
It was a square object, neatly packaged. It was likely a canvas sent by my personal drawing slave... no, my illustrator, Calz.
After receiving the canvas from Adelia, I began to carefully tear off the wrapping paper. As I did, my father and Adelia focused their attention on it.
"Wow... he really is a good artist."
"What is it?"
"Would you let me see it?"
When I marveled in earnest, the two of them asked to see it immediately. After admiring the painting for a while, I placed the canvas on the table.
"What is this? This person looks like Hitler, and this person is..."
"The people are one thing, but what on earth is this? It looks similar to what you told me about before..."
"That's right."
The subject of the painting was quite simple. Though Calz must have struggled a bit.
"This person is Hitler, and the one in the uniform is Heinz Guderian. And finally, these..."
Hitler and Guderian.
"These are the 'Tanks' being produced in the factory."
They were watching the big and beautiful tanks being produced in the factory.
‘Though they’ll all get wrecked by Poland too.’
It would be a long time before the Tiger, the monster among monsters, would make its appearance.