Chapter 7
Chapter 7
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 7
Chapter Title: First Battle (1)
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“Cadet Platoon Leader Peter Jaeger! As of June 8th, Imperial Year 220, I have been ordered to transfer to 3rd Battalion, 4th Company. Loyalty!”
As I saluted like that, the company commander, who looked to be in his forties, stared at me with a face full of irritation.
Anyone who graduated from the Academy would pin on captain by their early thirties at the latest, and by their forties, they'd either get promoted to major or get pushed out and become mid-level administrators upon discharge...
So, he's a warrant officer graduate turned company commander.
“I'm Captain Simon Werner, commander of 4th Company. Welcome to the unit. Since I'm a warrant officer myself, all our company's officers except you are warrant officer grads too.”
His expression made it clear to anyone that he wasn't welcoming the transfer at all, but I could fully understand why he looked that way.
Because deploying a cadet platoon to the front lines was like being told to handle a mountain of overtime during a hellishly busy period at a company—on top of training new hires.
Usually, cadet platoons got sent to supply units or, if lucky, second-line forces to get a taste of combat before hitting the front lines proper. That was common sense.
But following the novel's flow, Major General Stefan von Bolton, who commanded the 8th Division overseeing the Rhineland Front, wanted to impress His Highness the Crown Prince.
So he'd dragged a bunch of student platoons right to the front lines and ordered the already overwhelmed company commanders to train the rookies while fighting alongside them.
Even I, a green platoon leader with zero real army experience, would lose my mind at the thought of merging with a unit that could barely march in step and relied solely on individual spearwork to hold together—then fighting the enemy with them.
Bringing raw recruits trained for just a month to a battlefield where lives hung by a thread? No way they'd see that in a good light.
If a company commander welcomed guys like that with open arms, he'd have to be an irredeemable unit leader on the level of the Dark Independence Army.
Because his own troops were already trash, so a newbie failing at their job wouldn't make much difference.
Still, I felt lucky that my direct company commander wasn't some Academy noble but a warrant officer grad.
He was a commoner himself, so he wouldn't nitpick my background, and with plenty of combat experience, that was even better.
On the other hand, the company commander sighed, clearly seeing me as another burden, and spoke.
“If we'd met in a rear unit, or if this were peacetime, I'd teach you how to lead a platoon and handle troops as your commander. But this is different. We're fighting the Franco Republic forces starting tomorrow. No time for that—we'll jump straight into the ops meeting with the platoon leaders. You ready?”
In novels or movies, the protagonist's usual cliché line was something peppy like, “Yes, sir, ready!” and the commander types would eat it up.
But war wasn't a place that gave rookies like me time to learn calmly, nor did it cut slack for inexperience.
At a place like that, if a green student platoon leader strutted in with overconfident pep...?
Sure, he'd get surface praise for enthusiasm, but to commanders like the company CO, it'd brand him as a loose cannon driven by hero syndrome, liable to screw everything up.
Because in war, the scariest thing wasn't a strong enemy, poor supplies, or numerical inferiority—it was an ally commander drunk on heroism and charging off-script.
So I replied in a calm voice, excitement fully tamped down.
“Yes, sir.”
That seemed to sit well with him, as his expression softened a bit from before.
“Good. I'll be expecting great things. Head to the company HQ tent now—the other platoon leaders are waiting. I'll be along shortly.”
**
Following the company commander's orders, I entered the company HQ tent and saw the platoon leaders from each unit deep in heated discussion.
“Deputy CO, sir, my platoon's not in great shape. Hate to say it, but they've been in nonstop combat lately. Can't send 'em on leave to the rear, but we gotta pass around some booze at least, right?”
“1st Platoon Leader, we've got booze in stock, but aren't you on watch tonight? You know if we hand it out once, it'll have to go to the whole company.”
“Lieutenant Parker, it's not just 2nd Platoon's guys—morale's in the toilet across the board. Let's petition the CO to let us blow off steam after the fight when things quiet down. We've got the funds, don't we?”
“Magic Squad Leader, how're the three mages under you holding up? Got a new girl in there—bet the teamwork's off.”
Back in medieval or early modern times, sutlers followed armies peddling meat, booze, and whores as a matter of course.
But seeing officers openly discuss it like this? Shocking.
Especially since at the Academy, I'd thought women in the army were mostly officers trained there...
Turns out women joined as mages too, since that didn't demand brute strength.
Still reeling from these eye-openers, I glanced at the other officers when the man called Deputy Company Commander approached me.
“I'm Deputy CO Wagner. So, you're the new kid?”
“Yes, sir! Cadet Platoon Leader Peter Jaeger reporting!”
“Got it. Welcome to 4th Company, rookie. Now that you're here, memorize all the other officers' names.”
Unlike the company commander, who'd treated me like an irritating burden, the deputy CO had this insider vibe like the popular guys back in Korea. Felt weird, but welcome.
If even the deputy had been cold, I'd have been in real trouble.
I let out a quiet sigh of relief and memorized the names of the officers around me. Just then, the company commander entered and asked me,
“Got all the officers' names down?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Good. Now we'll discuss how to execute the battalion commander's orders. Deputy CO, fetch the map.”
With that, Deputy CO Wagner placed a map and some wooden horse markers on the table.
The company commander started moving the pieces on the map as he explained.
“Imperial forces march out tomorrow at 0700, hitting the Franco Republic's position at Wellos Plain. 4th Battalion's on the division's right flank extreme, and we're the battalion vanguard.”
Hearing we'd be at the tip of the spear, two conflicting emotions hit me.
One was excitement: how far would the platoon I'd sweated over for a month hold up in real combat, and what merits could we rack up?
The other was tension at facing a war grimmer than any drill—as vanguards, no less—plus fear of killing for the first time.
Meanwhile, the deputy CO and other platoon leaders grumbled complaints like the assignment pissed them off.
“Even if it's battalion commander's orders, this is too much, right? Sure, we got Jaeger’s platoon, so we're stronger than a standard company manpower-wise. But he's got zero combat experience!”
“Frankly, we can't fight a war babysitting some kid.”
“CO, sir, we're not some rear-echelon training cadre for fresh-grad officers and conscripts straight out of school.”
At the Academy, I'd caught flak for being a commoner orphan. Here, it was for lacking combat experience. Was this an improvement?
Or should I pity myself for still getting called out on inexperience?
Either way, I couldn't claim to the other platoon leaders that Jaeger Platoon could fight on their level.
No matter how good I was at platoon leadership in theory—and the little practice from training and drills—no one knew how it'd translate to real combat.
The company commander pulled a letter from his pocket, set it on the table, and addressed the protesting officers.
“I protested too. But Lieutenant Colonel Hans Weber, the Academy's cadet platoon selection officer, evaluated Peter Jaeger like this. Let's see...”
Hearing that, my mind went blank.
Because when the Academy picked students for the Rhineland Front, they never mentioned using midterms or drill evals for assignments.
“In just one month, he trained his troops to bring the platoon's combat capability near active frontline levels. Scored a crushing mock battle victory without a single casualty. As evaluator, I judge this unit capable of frontline deployment immediately. Oh, and he's a commoner, not a noble. A noble evaluator had no reason to give an unfounded glowing review to a commoner cadet, so it's credible.”
With that, the officers' looks toward me shifted a bit.
From “dead weight who'd drag us down up front” to “maybe worth a shot.”
These platoon leaders knew Academy evaluators' classist mindset well. No high-ranking noble evaluator would lie to push a commoner platoon forward.
Never expected that surprise midterm eval to bail me out like this.
“Still, first battlefield for Jaeger Platoon Leader—might be tough pulling his weight. So I'll have 1st Platoon Leader back him up, taking over 4th Platoon after their leader died last fight. Sound good?”
The other officers had no more arguments; they grumbled but agreed.
“Division commander's playing it slow, pushing this front gradually till His Highness arrives, then going all-in. So tomorrow's fight will be minor and tedious.”
We tend to think plain battles wrap up in a day or days.
But clashes of thousands often dragged weeks or months.
And per Academy doctrine, at division level without aggressive pushes, no need for fancy ops plans.
First time out, vanguard position, but not a division-deciding showdown? Small mercy.
“Meeting adjourned.”
As everyone started to rise, I thought of a newbie move to score extra points and spoke up.
“Company Commander, sir, sorry, but I don't know the local terrain around our position yet. Could you assign a guide to show me the ropes tonight? My platoon and I will take night watch and sentry duty.”
At that, the platoon leaders who'd eyed me warily shifted to “Huh, what's with this guy?”
Sure, it'd add work for whoever got tapped as guide, but if I covered their night shift...?
They could give their morale-crushed troops booze and girls tonight and kick back.
A proactive newbie helping the unit? Great way to win over the vets.
And sure enough...?
The company commander gave me an “Huh, this kid's got guts” look, visibly pleased, and said,
“Heading into first fight tomorrow, and you volunteer for night watch? Not many like you. Fine. Tonight, I'll personally show you—so learn well. But pull an all-nighter and you'll crash tomorrow. Get some rest and be back on time.”
“Yes, sir!”
And so, I ended up on night watch with the company commander that day.
Thanks to volunteering, the rest of the company—minus my platoon—got to unwind without heavy drinking.
The CO appreciated my thoughtfulness enough that, during watch, he spent till dawn schooling me on proper platoon leader conduct and his battle stories.
And as dawn broke at 0700, a grand trumpet blast echoed, signaling the whole army to march out.
My first real combat since reincarnating in this world.