The Commander Wants a Midnight Sn○○k (2)
The Commander Wants a Midnight Sn○○k (2)
Tchiiiiiiing-!
A sharp ringing echoed in the ears.
The elf, who had staggered for a moment, collapsed onto the crown of the rock giant she had climbed atop.
As her composure was disrupted, the golem legion halted.
Grinding her teeth, the elf forced the golem legion to advance again.
Tchiiiiiiing-!
The ringing continued to echo.
The dying scream of the world tree stump, perishing within the massive flames, had left its mark on the elf's psyche.
It kept echoing in her head.
The elf clenched her teeth and reinforced her magic.
Ku-kung! Ku-gu-kung! Kung! Kung!
The golem legion continued its advance toward the barracks.
At that moment, a series of faint explosive sounds rose from the direction of the barracks.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Even in the pitch-black darkness, the elf could see it.
Eighty projectiles soaring high into the sky.
As the projectiles reached a certain altitude and slowly began to descend, they simultaneously erupted in brilliant light.
As if small suns had been suspended close to the ground, the surroundings lit up.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Projectiles were launched again.
Ku-gu-kung! Kwa-reu-reung!
The projectiles that were raining down upon the golem legion simultaneously airburst right above their heads.
Shockwaves and metal fragments poured down, sweeping through the golem legion.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Ku-reu-reung! Kwa-kwa-kwang!
The bombardment poured down without pause.
Before long, a third of the smaller golems' strength had been blown away.
However, a smile lingered on the elf's lips.
That was because the rock giant she stood upon was enduring the repeated airbursts.
Every time it was hit by the shells, the surface rock shattered and scattered in all directions, but the power of magic reattached the stone fragments even faster.
In the repeated struggle between destruction and restoration, the rock giant showed a clear superiority.
The surviving small golem legion moved behind the rock giant.
This was it at last.
This was the correct answer.
Just as the elf was about to smile and turn her body.
"...!"
A sharp light flashed from the front.
The elf instinctively leaped high into the air.
A projectile that flew faster than sound accurately struck the rock giant's head, causing an incomparably massive explosion.
"...!"
The belated sound of the shot only reached her ears now.
Just as the staggering rock giant advanced again, the light flashed once more.
The projectile, barely captured even by the elf's dynamic vision, pummeled the rock giant's head repeatedly, causing huge explosions.
Amid the ear-splitting roar, the elf floated in the air and helplessly watched the rock giant's head be completely blown away.
***
I fed Hildea-nim thirty high-calorie burgers and continued to sleep, but the door burst open again.
"Commander Hildea-nim?"
Did this mean that thirty late-night snack burgers weren't enough to take down the Commander-in-Chief?
"Piel! It's a night raid by the Elf Legion!"
"A night raid?"
"That's right. Change your clothes quickly and come out."
It must be my imagination that she seemed excited, right?
She looks just as thrilled as when she eats burgers.
I hurriedly changed my clothes and stepped outside the official residence to find the entire barracks awake.
The Mortar Knight Order each held their 60mm mortars.
Rebecca was also waiting, holding a heavy machine gun with night vision goggles.
And with Hildea here, carrying a 4.4-meter cannon barrel on her shoulder....
'The elf bastards have a death wish.'
Rebecca spoke quickly.
"Piel, the clouds have completely covered the moon. And it's a massive golem legion."
"A golem legion?"
"Yeah. Most are about 3 or 4 meters in size, but the boss seems to be around 20 meters in length. I was able to notice them early thanks to these night vision goggles."
"Major Piel, can you feel this vibration?"
"I'm not sure."
It seemed like everyone except me could feel the tremor in the ground.
We hurriedly went outside the defensive wall.
Even without me ordering them, the knights had already taken their positions and deployed the mortars.
I received a supply of illumination shells and explosive shells and had the soldiers distribute them to each of the mortar knights.
"Fire the illumination shells first!"
"Fire!"
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Dozens of illumination shells that rose into the air shone brightly, revealing the forms of the golem legion.
I almost clapped my hands.
'Wow, this really feels like I'm inside a Lord of the Rings movie.'
"One salvo of explosive shells! Induce airburst!"
"One salvo firing!"
Rebecca, aiming the heavy machine gun forward, smiled playfully and repeated the order.
"Induce airburst!"
Eighty explosive shells simultaneously airburst above the golem legion.
As the Bow Master wildly blasted away with the heavy machine gun, not a single shell failed to airburst.
Of course, more than half the machine gun bullets probably missed.
【Spent casings are being collected.】
【Spent casings are being collected....】
Hildea poked my side repeatedly.
"Major Piel, when is my turn?"
"Please wait a moment."
I raised my binoculars to check the golem legion.
Thanks to the continuous illumination shells being launched, I could clearly see the small golems getting knocked down one after another.
'That big one is the problem.'
The shelling wasn't entirely ineffective.
But its body was so thick that the shells were only chipping away at the surface.
It even kept restoring its shell-damaged surface by gathering up the stone fragments that had fallen to the ground.
'Can't I just somehow detach and supply only the Abrams tank cannon?'
Seeing that sight suddenly makes me really want a tank.
I don't even wish for the full unit, but how great would it be if I could just detach the tank cannon and get it supplied?
Actually, that would likely be overwhelmingly more efficient in terms of budget management too.
'If I could put that tank cannon in Hildea's hands... Whew. Just imagining it makes my heart race.'
Even if I fired a howitzer's explosive shell in a full-charge direct shot, it wouldn't compare to the penetrating power of a tank's metal kinetic energy round.
But that thing was a mass of 'soft rock' that was being scraped away even by a 60mm mortar shell.
'Come to think of it, a tank penetrating round might actually be inefficient.'
What if I fired a tank smoothbore round at that thing—a round designed to destroy tank armor layered thickly with rolled homogeneous steel, ceramic tiles, and uranium-reinforced metal?
It might just bore a very neat little hole right through and cause no damage at all.
An explosive shell packed full of an RDX and TNT mixture might be more efficient.
It's time to test that.
"105mm Magical Cannon, prepare to fire."
"Prepare to fire!"
Hildea sharply repeated my order back to me....
I'll set aside my thoughts on where our 3rd Army's discipline was going for a moment.
Let's focus, since it's a combat situation right now.
"Target is the boss entity. Fire at will as soon as you're ready. Aim for the head if possible."
"Boss entity, fire at will, aim for the head."
With the 4.4-meter steel cannon barrel tucked under her arm, Hildea quickly assembled the shell and charge and completed the loading.
If the USFK artillery commander had seen this, his jaw would have dropped and he'd have drooled endlessly.
The mortar knights had already ceased firing and were staring intently at Hildea.
Rebecca also lowered her heavy machine gun for a moment and was looking at Hildea.
As everyone's eyes were focused.
Hildea braced the rear of the cannon barrel against her abdomen and aimed the muzzle straight ahead in direct fire.
The Aura Armor enveloping her entire body radiated a dazzling white light.
"That is Aura Armor...!"
"Keuk, a Magical Device exclusively for a Sword Master, they say...."
"But seeing how 'howitzer' is in the name, it's clearly a Magical Device originally used like the 60mm Mortar, so why is she firing it like that?"
"You don't even know that? Because firing it like that also adds propulsive force, so it can inflict greater damage on a large single target like that."
Lord Deville was pretty sharp. I could put him in charge of an artillery division later.
I covered my ears, and Hildea, supporting the 4.4-meter cannon barrel with one hand, fired with the other.
Kwaaaang!
As soon as the roar of the cannon sounded, the Giant Rock Golem was thrown backward.
Through my binoculars, I could clearly see its head area significantly caved in.
The fragments that had fallen to the ground began floating up as if defying gravity, trying to fill the caved-in area.
Kwaaaang!
Hildea fired the cannon again.
The shell exploded additionally in the caved-in area, making the hole even larger.
Far more fragments were scattering in all directions than gathering for regeneration.
Kwaaaang!
Hildea fired the cannon again.
Now more than a third of the Giant Rock Golem's head had been blown away.
The creature roughly fell to its knees on the spot, as if losing control.
Kwaaaang!
Hildea kept firing the cannon.
The body of the Giant Rock Golem, having completely lost its head, collapsed forward with a thud.
Vice-commander Basel urgently asked me.
"Major Piel! What is the price of that 105mm Magical Cannon shell?"
"About one ton of flour."
"Then leave it to us from now on! We must conserve flour!"
Somewhere along the line, a custom had developed in Hildea's army of converting my supplies into flour equivalents.
This is how many kg of flour, this is how many tons of flour.
Like that.
'I wonder if someday they'll be converting explosive destruction power not into TNT but into flour.'
"Absolutely no casualties must occur."
"Don't worry! We are confident we can return safely without anyone getting injured!"
Hildea also handed the cannon barrel to the soldiers and swiftly drew her machete.
"Indeed, Major Piel! There is no need to throw any more flour now!"
"We've already poured enough flour in! We'll clean up the rest with our own hands!"
The knights too had set down their mortars at some point and drawn their machetes.
I examined the front with my binoculars.
The Giant Rock Golem had completely collapsed, and the smaller golems were now milling about in confusion like suddenly conscripted recruits.
'Soft bastards. Rock can only be so hard.'
"Good. I think we can charge."
"Charge!"
Hwarreureuk!
From Hildea's machete, raised high, a bright Aura Blade blazed with radiance.
"Not one of you die! I will not forgive dying pointlessly! Let's go!"
"Charge! Charge!"
"Major Piel! Prepare plenty of Chil-do Jumbo Cup Ramen or noodle dishes!"
"Can't you boil the water any faster! Uhahaha!"
Hildea stood at the front, and all the knights followed behind her.
Actually, looking again, not all of them.
"Why did you not go, Lord Deville?"
I had a hunch, but I asked to probe, just in case.
Since he might become my future artillery division commander.
Lord Deville shrugged his shoulders.
"The clouds have retreated and the moon has appeared, but we never know. A few people should stay behind to provide illumination shell support."
"Oh, I hadn't even thought of that."
When I subtly praised Dvil like that, he grinned ear to ear, absolutely thrilled.
Rebecca approached my side.
"It's called the 105mm Magical Cannon, right? Its power is incredible."
"It's even more so because kinetic energy, no, the muzzle velocity is added. It's faster than sound."
"It looked that way. How far does it fly?"
"The range is adjustable, but Commander Hildea fires it with a charge for a 17.5km range. That's to maximize its destructive power."
"Somehow my heavy machine gun feels a bit lacking. Regretful."
"Commander Rebecca's heavy machine gun has value in guiding the simultaneous airbursts of the 120th Gun Unit. The purpose is different from the start."
"Still, it's a shame. I'm not as strong as the Commander-in-Chief, but I can definitely lift heavy things too."
I imagined what it would be like to hand her an Aegis ship CIWS Vulcan cannon.
No, would that be too big?
'What if I just ripped a 30mm autocannon off a special forces tactical vehicle and handed it to Rebecca.... No, it's still too big and heavy.'
"When the new Magical Device development is completed at my main family later, I'll replace it with a more powerful machine gun for you."
"Oh my, I'm already so excited. I absolutely won't disappoint you, Piel."
Even if I became a lieutenant colonel, a 30mm autocannon still seemed out of reach, though.
But somehow, I felt I might be able to request something like a minigun by the time I was a lieutenant colonel.
"Our Piel's lieutenant colonel rank insignia needs to arrive from the capital soon."
"I also hope that day comes quickly."
After that, there were no unexpected variables.
The knights commanded by Hildea thoroughly trampled the golems, swinging their machetes and slicing them up.
I murmured with my arms crossed.
"Commander Rebecca, it might be because I have a somewhat suspicious personality, but."
"Uh-uh? Why all of a sudden?"
"This night raid somehow...."
"Right? I thought that too. The Commander-in-Chief was practically radiating the vibe that she was waiting for a night raid because she wanted to try out the 105mm Magical Cannon quickly."
No, that's not what I meant.
"...I get the feeling it was a reconnaissance unit sent by the Elf command to assess our strength. Especially given that it was a Rock Golem Legion, not a Plant Legion."
"Hmm... We've never really had an impression until now that the Elves operate with serious consideration of tactics or strategy."
"Is that so?"
"But as Piel said, considering all variables is a good attitude. On the battlefield, one must be suspicious to become a good commander."
Before I knew it, Hildea and the knights returned, triumphant, having finished suppressing the enemy.
Not a single injured person. That was a relief.
Rebecca placed her hand on my shoulder and asked, practically whispering into my ear.
"So, Piel, how much flour did you use today?"
"... I think it'll be about 200 tons."
"Ah, I feel so bad about it. And Piel always calculates it only at the highest-grade flour quality, right? How much would that be in rye?"
Suddenly, an amusing thought came to me.
If one day, far in the future, the day comes when I receive a large and beautiful strategic nuclear missile in the supply grants...
「Major Piel, what's the destructive power of this?」
「1 megaton of TNT... No, it's 30 million tons of flour grade.」
I suddenly understood how the imperial system of units came to be born.
'Actually, come to think of it, the metric system was also redefined based on light for our convenience, wasn't it? It wasn't something to just call primitive.'
That sentiment of the US military—reorganizing everything into a single system but stubbornly keeping the gallon for ice cream—suddenly seemed understandable.
<Commander Hildea's baby days>
A young Hildea in her Water Sword Master days, freshly appointed to the Ainshuvan Front five years ago.