Chapter 282
Chapter 282
-----------------------------------------------------------------
Translator: Vine
Chapter: 282
Chapter Title: Our Empire Knows No Militarism (4)
-----------------------------------------------------------------
General Staff Headquarters, Office of the Chief of the Operations Bureau.
"Loyalty! Major Zeke von Prime reporting. I have business with the Chief of the Operations Bureau, sir."
The owner of the office, Lieutenant General Walter von Manstein, set aside the documents he had been reading upon hearing those words.
"Come in."
With permission to enter granted by the Chief of the Operations Bureau, the door opened, and two young majors stepped inside, immediately snapping crisp salutes.
Lieutenant General Manstein returned a casual salute out of respect for fellow nobles of the empire, and Major Zeke looked quite moved by the gesture.
"What brings you here?"
"General Peter Jaeger has summoned all staff officers from lieutenant general and below in the General Staff Headquarters to the main auditorium."
"The general has? I figured he'd take it easy after wrapping up postwar matters, what with a long vacation of over a month already approved. Surely he's not preparing for another new war?"
It was the kind of talk that might have given General Peter Jaeger himself or Minister of Military Affairs Keitel a heart attack from sheer outrage, but the lieutenant general saying it was utterly serious.
The start of a new war meant a chance to rack up massive achievements, and serving under General Jaeger guaranteed promotion just for following orders properly.
Executing the missions Jaeger assigned was never easy, of course.
Still, 'You can climb to major just by doing exactly as you're told, but once you hit lieutenant colonel, you need results beyond what the higher-ups demand, or promotion's a pipe dream. That's why you have to bust your ass grinding out achievements, racking your brain and body to the limit.'
So in his mind, a 'new war led by Peter Jaeger' was the express route to those coveted four stars he'd been dreaming of.
"Tell me, Major Prime. What do you make of this?"
Major Prime hesitated, clamping his mouth shut instead of answering right away.
"Speak up. If it turns out he's preparing for a new war, I'll personally guarantee your promotion just for reporting it properly. Lieutenant colonel in five years, no less. I'll carve out a spot for you in my faction."
At the promise of assured promotion, the major's tightly sealed lips parted.
"Before coming here, the general asked Major Schmidt and me for our thoughts on the aggressive expansion policy you've newly advocated as the empire's military strategy. He listened intently to my opinion, then jotted down our names in his notebook with a pleased expression and ordered all staff from lieutenant general and below assembled. I'm not sure about new war preparations, but it seemed like he was positively evaluating your theory and giving you a chance to 'present' it..."
"The man called His Majesty's right arm and sword, standing at the pinnacle of power, has prepared the stage for me... Finally, I, Manstein..."
A flash of realization hit him—he shouldn't talk promotion in front of a mere major—so he swallowed the rest, but what he'd meant to say was this:
'General Jaeger will definitely pin on marshal's stars in the next four or five years, and I'll take his spot as general.'
Judging from all the circumstances relayed by the major, it seemed Peter Jaeger was giving him a chance to present his operations, but he still needed to tread carefully.
If he got his hopes up only to find it was something else, he'd be the one looking foolish.
"Nothing more concrete?"
"While relaying the general's orders, I heard from Operations Staff Officer Clipper that General Jaeger has been diligently seeking out and reading the papers and reports you've written. He even repeated several times, 'What an impressive operational plan,' and told the staff officer to attend the auditorium and hear it firsthand. They've already moved chairs and a blackboard into the auditorium, just like for war college graduation exams where you explain operations."
"......"
Major Prime figured since the conversation had gone this far, he might as well lay on the flattery to seal the promotion promise.
"The general's military service record is a bit short, so he couldn't summon the other generals, marshals, or the minister, but calling together every staff officer from lieutenant general down means the other bigwigs will show up too, right?"
Lieutenant General Manstein's lips curled into a grin that reached his ears at those words, as if announcing his chance to leap from chief of operations to general in a few years had finally arrived.
He was in his early fifties, grinning like a serf youth whose first love had just accepted his confession—over the top, maybe—but pinning on four stars was that big a deal.
The pay was one thing, but even without massive wartime feats, simply completing a general's term meant a retirement bonus of thousands of gold by tradition.
And during the term, chances arose multiple times to add fiefdoms housing tens of thousands to his house through war.
Sure, there was that anomaly Peter Jaeger, who multiplied fiefdoms like copying them in every war, but the General Staff had long concluded he was a genius beyond any ordinary staff officer's wildest dreams, so no one compared themselves to him anymore.
In any case, a general's seat offered such honor and vast wealth.
'No wonder a former prime minister once said with his own mouth that a general's post beats the chancellor's chair...'
The major who'd brought this good news looked mighty fine in the lieutenant general's eyes.
"So you're Major Prime, and your friend there's Major Schmidt, right?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Once I wrap up this strategy presentation successfully today, I'm thinking of gathering my faction's boys for drinks at the Butterfly's Wing. You two come along. If any brigadiers or major generals try to hold you with overtime talk, just say Lieutenant General Manstein summoned you. From now on, I'll look after you both."
And so Manstein made an offer that seemed to fling open the gates of success for the two majors, and Prime gratefully accepted his stroke of great fortune.
It was a bit excessive for just relaying good news, but since Jaeger had spoken positively of them, he expected them to more than earn their keep.
After that, he meticulously gathered materials for his strategy presentation, calmed his somewhat excited heart as much as possible to avoid any mistakes in this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, and headed to the main auditorium.
When Lieutenant General Manstein arrived at the main auditorium, the first things that caught his eye were two chairs placed in the most prominent spot.
One was already occupied by General Peter Jaeger, and the other was clearly for him to sit and present his views directly.
And below them sat everyone from warrant officers up to four stars, five stars, and even the Minister of Military Affairs. With all eyes on him, Lieutenant General Manstein felt like the star of some grand theatrical production.
This monumental, once-in-a-lifetime opportunity had truly come for him.
'I have to meet General Jaeger's standards no matter what. Fail, and it's over. Succeed, and four stars are mine.'
With such an enormous chance before him, he inwardly invoked Deus—whom he rarely thought of—and clenched his fists tight.
He cautiously made his way to his seat on the podium and locked eyes confidently with General Jaeger, who was already seated, delivering a salute.
After returning Lieutenant General Manstein's salute, Peter Jaeger looked out at all the staff officers below the podium and spoke.
"This gathering is to discuss the validity of the strategy advocated by Lieutenant General Manstein. Normally, a select group would review it first before such a meeting, but for this case, I thought it best timing-wise for all staff officers to hear and understand together, so I've arranged it this way."
I turned from facing below the podium to look at the lieutenant general and continued.
"Your strategic perspective impressed me. I thought every staff officer in the General Staff Headquarters needed to hear and learn from it, so I only summoned from lieutenant general down. I didn't expect the Minister of Military Affairs and the marshals to show up too. It might be a bit intimidating, but please explain your thoughts in as much detail as possible."
"The aggressive expansion policy I advocate is, as the name suggests, based on proactively leveraging the superior combat capabilities of the Imperial Army to engage Europan nations in active combat, acquiring as much territory as possible to diminish the potential strength of prospective enemies."
"Quite an aggressive strategy. Go on."
At those words, Manstein envisioned the Reich Empire soaring like a black eagle to seize hegemony and declared confidently.
"The military doctrine you completed during your time as a war college professor has maximized the Imperial Army's capabilities. In war games—simulated warfare—conducted based on military, combat, and warfare performance against other nations, the Reich Imperial Army showed a win rate of over 85%. With outstanding commanders like yourself leading us, if we don't miss this moment and keep pressing enemy nations, the empire will grow ever closer to hegemony."
A win rate of around 85% in war games meant there was hardly any worry of defeat against enemy nations under normal circumstances, and depending on command ability, it implied winning all hundred battles in a hundred wars.
Moreover, with the General Staff—gathering the continent's top strategists—certifying it, this was just common sense.
"Most crucially, looking back at past wars, aside from the Warsaw Grand Duchy intervening when the Stockholm Kingdom fought the empire, no third parties got involved. In other words, the empire can infinitely repeat one-on-one wars where it holds absolute superiority. Thus, the empire can keep winning. We must fully exploit this situation and continue wars for another four or five years."
Hearing that, Peter Jaeger thought:
He'd humiliate this bastard so thoroughly here that he'd voluntarily discharge himself, using the chance to purge every last one advocating aggressive offense.
'Put one gram of cyanide in a liter of pure water, and the whole thing turns poison. Just like that, if even a little rotten ideology exerts influence within the Imperial Army, the empire and its military will rot from the core.'