Chapter 195
Chapter 195
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 195
Chapter Title: Battle of the Linz Plains (7)
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About thirty minutes later, at the command post of the Reich Empire Army's 7th Guard Division deputy commander.
"Pull the 5th Division back from the right wing and send in the 12th Division instead! If we don't push hard right now, there's no chance of victory!"
At that order, sixteen thousand soldiers moved in unison, switching positions.
In the process, the Reich Empire Army slowly tightened the pincer attack from both the right and left wings, pressing the Ostrica infantry like an alligator clamping its jaws to tear apart its prey.
"Press those Ostrica bastards! Disarm any who surrender and send them packing—capture the officers! Otherwise, kill them all! Kill one more!"
"Enemy heads mean money! Fight to the death remembering that!"
"Remember His Highness the Crown Prince and the 7th Guard Division fighting with their lives on the line to protect our rear!"
Even with a force of 180,000, their momentum was shattered, leaving them severely weakened. Moreover, unlike the Reich Empire soldiers, the Ostrica troops hadn't received proper physical training.
No, it wasn't so much a lack of basic fitness—soldiers of this era all toiled in farming, which was grueling labor in itself.
Rather, when they hit their physical limits, they simply had no fight left and were getting one-sidedly slaughtered by the Reich Empire Army.
For example, by the time Reich Empire soldiers thrust their spears twice, Ostrica soldiers could barely manage one—their movements had slowed that much.
Exhausted, soldiers were collapsing one after another without even being touched.
"The spear... the spear's too heavy. The armor's too heavy. It's hopeless for me. If you spare me, I'll surrender."
"What the hell are those bastards eating? We're dying out here, but they're fine?"
"I don't care about victory or defeat anymore—just let me go home, damn it. This ain't right."
The physically drained Ostrica soldiers were being unilaterally massacred by the Reich Empire troops, who still had energy to spare.
Normally, a retreat order would have been issued in such a situation, but the Ostrica Grand Duke had lost his reason and was desperately searching only for a path to victory.
"We must win here somehow. If we lose, the Grand Duchy—the Ostrica Grand Duchy—will never rise again!"
But no matter how hard he searched, finding a proper solution was impossible. His shouts and bellows just grew louder and more vague, while any real countermeasures lagged behind.
The Grand Duke and his officers racked their brains for a way to turn the tide but couldn't devise a solid plan.
In the meantime, the officers on the front lines had no choice but to keep fighting, as no retreat order had come.
So they ignored the soldiers collapsing from exhaustion, unable to fight any longer, and issued commands.
"Fight to the end, even if it kills you here. His Highness the Grand Duke will provide a countermeasure soon!"
"If you fight with resolve to die, rewards will surely follow. Retreat here, and you and your family will suffer miserably."
"Don't die in vain! Keep your wits about you and fight to the last. Even if you die, take the bastard who kills you with you!"
If Major General Jaeger had heard, he would have given those officers a failing grade without hesitation.
Because in a situation where a unit's combat effectiveness had completely collapsed like this, each division commander should order "all units retreat and regroup," concentrating their assault on the thinnest point of the encirclement.
But these fools weren't even attempting it, prioritizing their own hides over everything else, just because the Grand Duke's next order was delayed.
Meanwhile, Max von Venner—who had killed his friend Matthias von Griffin and completed his double-agent mission—watched the scene and thought.
'The order from my brother-in-law was to sow as much confusion among the enemy as possible, if we could.'
So even while fleeing, he risked his life sneaking into the Ostrica Grand Duke's camp to spread false rumors, unwittingly playing the role of staff officer and contributing to the Ostrica army's downfall.
'With merits like this, after the battle ends, promotion to lieutenant colonel in the commendations shouldn't be an issue. I'll regain my honor too. But there's still more opportunity to rack up achievements... If my brother-in-law were in my shoes, what move would he make?'
As he pondered this, disguised as a communications officer and naturally fleeing along the front lines, a good idea struck him.
'The Ostrica Grand Duke's army is already cornered by my brother-in-law. But they're not retreating because the officers are issuing unreasonable orders to hold. If this drags on, our side will just take needless casualties.'
The current situation was as he thought: the Ostrica soldiers were maintaining some formation against the Reich Empire troops, preventing a full massacre for now.
But from a third-party view at a distance, anyone could see the Ostrica army was on the verge of instant collapse at the slightest touch.
Max von Venner, an officer of the Reich Empire Army, valued the life of even one Reich Empire soldier precious but considered the lives of tens of thousands of Ostrica soldiers worth less than ant droppings.
He raised high the flag symbolizing a staff officer courier he'd seized on the way and shouted.
"His Highness the Ostrica Grand Duke has withdrawn the main camp! The main camp has pulled back! All units, regroup. Regroup and then attack again!"
An order to regroup might sound advantageous to the Ostrica Grand Duke's army at first glance.
However, in this situation, regrouping gave the soldiers an excuse to break through the Reich Empire's encirclement and fall back.
Even though it wasn't an official command, given the circumstances, the soldiers—out of their minds—took the words of what seemed like a friendly staff officer as permission to retreat. As a result, the discipline holding the army together completely broke down.
Telling soldiers pushed to the brink to fall back turned them into desperate animals seeing a path to survival, making any control by superiors impossible.
This created the perfect "Ostrica army losing all control" scenario, allowing the Reich Empire Army to slaughter them unilaterally.
"Fuck, fuck! Finally, the retreat order! Get out of the way!"
"No, it's the retreat order—let's retreat! Let's go home!"
"Uwaaaah, this is insane."
As Venner predicted, the Ostrica soldiers lost all order and will to fight, charging haphazardly toward the rear.
The officers tried to control the fleeing men by slashing them with swords or bellowing at the top of their lungs.
Common sense dictated that following a single passing staff officer's shout about retreat would get you executed for violating military law.
But for the Ostrica soldiers right now, the Reich Empire Army was far more terrifying than the bad luck of summary execution by an officer.
Such harsh measures from the Ostrica officers did nothing to restore control.
And this situation soon reached Major General Jaeger.
"This is our golden opportunity! When the signal goes out, the 14th, 17th, and 19th Divisions—open a path for the Ostrica Grand Duchy soldiers to flee through. Then we'll use resupplied lancers and knights to sweep the escaping Ostrica infantry. Colonel Anya's horse archer regiment—kill as many fleeing soldiers and knights as you can!"
At that order, the three divisions massacred the Ostrica infantry, who were blindly fleeing without resistance, until the Reich Empire knights could strike their rear.
Then the arriving knights trampled the fleeing Ostrica infantry en masse. Any surviving knights and infantry were thoroughly cut down by the horse archers and knights.
When the Ostrica Grand Duke and his main camp staff judged the battle utterly irreversible,
they abandoned their troops and chose to flee as fast as possible.
The Reich Empire Army suffered 5,000 dead and 7,000 wounded—over 10% casualties.
In contrast, the Ostrica army took 45,000 dead, 27,000 wounded (many later died due to delayed recovery), and 23,000 captured—nearly 30% total losses, close to annihilation.
And as might be expected, Major Max von Venner—Peter Jaeger's brother-in-law, who safely returned to the Reich Empire camp—successfully restored his honor that day.
The one regrettable point was failing to capture the Ostrica Grand Duke and his command staff.
But that was unavoidable.