Swift and Decisive
Swift and Decisive
Daniel's head was beginning to ache, but now that he had discovered the enemy remnants, he could not simply ignore them.
Daniel, who had been examining the Republic soldiers disguised as civilians, drew a deep breath and spoke.
"Restrain them. Kill anyone who resists."
The battalion commander nearby bowed his head.
"Yes! Understood!"
Immediately afterward, the battalion commander turned to the troops and disseminated the order in detail.
"Third Platoon, forward! The rest of you, keep aiming at those suspicious persons! As the division commander said, if you see any sign of resistance, open fire immediately!"
The soldiers of Third Platoon nodded, lowered their rifles, took out ropes, and approached the Republic soldiers.
Some of the Republic soldiers tried to draw their pistols, but the platoon leader raised a hand and stopped them.
He knew that resisting now would only mean a dog's death.
The Republic soldiers, understanding their platoon leader's intention, ultimately surrendered.
"Stay still!"
"Don't move, you bastards!"
The Imperial soldiers began binding the hands of the Republic soldiers with ropes.
The platoon leader had no choice but to be bound as a soldier held him down.
"Sit down, you bastard!"
The soldier kicked the back of his knee, and the platoon leader groaned and knelt down.
The thought that his revenge had come to nothing made fury well up inside him.
'Damn it....'
As he clenched his teeth and felt humiliation, the sound of boots drew near.
When he looked up, what he saw was Daniel Steiner, sending a cold gaze his way.
"......Judging by the rank on your shoulder board, you must be the platoon leader who was commanding these soldiers. How ridiculous. You intended to oppose me with just a single platoon of troops."
The platoon leader narrowed his eyes and glared at Daniel Steiner.
Rage surged, but he soon regained his composure and reviewed Daniel Steiner's words.
'Seeing that he called it a single platoon's worth of troops, it seems the others haven't been discovered.'
He couldn't understand how Daniel Steiner had raided this place, but at least he could tell that the other platoon hadn't fallen into Daniel Steiner's hands.
'As expected. The company commander split the unit, anticipating such an incident.'
If they had been gathered in one place, they would have been wiped out all at once, but because they had dispersed, even if one platoon was captured, the other platoons could continue their mission.
Relieved by that fact, the platoon leader flashed a malicious smile.
"I am a soldier. Even if only a platoon remains, it is a soldier's duty to resist to the end. For the sake of the nation, no less. Isn't that so?"
"You talk a lot for someone who acted on his own authority. You were preparing an attack while disguised as civilians. That's a war crime. No matter how I look at it, you lot aren't acting on orders from above, are you?"
"Aren't you the same for not following orders from above? You abandoned the Filoena Highlands and invaded Lakedrapol! Your superiors couldn't have ordered you to abandon the highlands, so it must be your own decision!"
Hearing the platoon leader's words, Daniel inwardly marveled and turned to look at his liaison officer, Rimshel.
"You see? Even though he's an enemy, he knows that insubordination is wrong."
"Sir? Ah. Insubordination is certainly wrong, but you, Major General, haven't committed a war crime like these men, have you? And you've already been docked pay, so that matter is no longer......"
"No. The General Staff Headquarters definitely made a mistake. Platoon leader? Keep talking about my faults."
Thanks to Daniel Steiner, who spoke with a smile, the platoon leader's mind went blank.
"......You're telling me to keep talking about your faults?"
"Yeah. I'm fine with it, so hurry up."
Unable to discern the meaning, the platoon leader could not bring himself to speak.
As the platoon leader just blinked vacantly, Rimshel let out a dry cough.
"Can't the interrogation of prisoners wait? As the division commander, you must be busy with other matters."
Rimshel, unable to bear hearing an enemy soldier insult Daniel Steiner, had changed the subject.
"Other matters, huh......"
Thanks to that, Daniel fell into thought for a moment.
'If I wrap things up like this and return to my office, my reputation will only climb higher.'
So he needed another way to bring down his soaring reputation.
Daniel, stroking his chin in thought, came up with a brilliant idea.
'Come to think of it, I've been so busy lately that I haven't gone to see the mayor.'
It was obvious that securing the mayor's cooperation would make controlling the occupied territory much easier.
'But if I were to spectacularly ruin the negotiation with the mayor......'
It would allow Rimshel, who was watching, to judge that he was unfit as occupation zone commander.
Having finished his thought, Daniel lowered his hand from his chin and looked at Rimshel with a serious expression.
"Now, we're going to meet the mayor of Lakedrapol, who is confined in the mansion."
"......The mayor, you say?"
"Yes. I'd been meaning to visit sometime, and now seems like the right time."
The platoon leader, who had been listening to Daniel Steiner and Rimshel, opened his eyes wide.
'......What?'
By now, Second Platoon would have infiltrated the mansion to seek the mayor's help.
But Daniel Steiner said he was going to meet the mayor, as if he knew about it.
'No way......'
Had Daniel Steiner known all of their information from the very beginning?
If that was the case, why hadn't he said so from the start?
Why had he pretended not to know, calling it just a single platoon?
The platoon leader, who had been racking his brain, saw Daniel smile secretly and arrived at a quiet realization.
'Daniel Steiner just wanted to toy with me.'
But that was not the case.
Because Daniel had merely smiled slyly while devising a plan to ruin his reputation.
However, from the captured platoon leader's perspective, Daniel's smile could only look different.
Moreover, when he said he was going straight to the mayor's mansion where Second Platoon was, suspicion turned into certainty.
Thinking that everything was over, the platoon leader, overcome with despair, shouted in a fit of anger.
"Daniel Steiner! You demon bastard, worse than a dog! You torment us to the very end!"
Daniel, hearing the platoon leader's shout, slowly rolled his eyes and looked down at him.
The platoon leader, who was about to hurl more insults, paused at the look in his eyes.
Because the intent to blow his head off with a single further word was plain to see.
However, the reality was different.
'......Why had he suddenly started yelling?'
Because Daniel had simply been startled, nothing more.
*
Meanwhile, inside the mayor's office in the mansion.
"......Are you really soldiers of the Republic?"
Mayor Kendrapor asked with a bewildered expression.
Then the man and woman sitting opposite the mayor across the desk nodded.
"Yes. I am Sergeant Regulten, of 1st Company, 3rd Battalion, under the Republic's 7th Division."
"I am First Lieutenant Meromrat. If you wish, we can show you other information including our dog tags."
Kendrapor let out a hollow sigh.
He had allowed them in after hearing that some unscheduled maintenance workers had arrived, only for them to suddenly reveal themselves as Republic soldiers.
As he was racking his brain over what to do, Regulten placed his hand on the desk.
"Mr. Mayor. I'll be blunt. We have infiltrated Lakedrapol to kill Daniel Steiner, the worst general of the Empire."
"......Kill Daniel Steiner? That relentless general?"
"That's right. Because we know that unless Daniel Steiner is killed, the Republic cannot win. In that regard, we need your cooperation, Mr. Mayor."
There was no way he could simply nod to a request for cooperation out of the blue.
For Kendrapor, though his patriotism was second to none, the wall of reality was formidable.
"First, I need to know whose orders these are. Who is your superior?"
"It is Captain Daegen, our company commander."
"Ah, I seem to have misspoken. I'm asking who gave the orders to your unit."
After a brief silence, First Lieutenant Meromrat spoke.
"That, too, is Captain Daegen, our company commander."
That left Kendrapor dazed.
Because he could not understand how a company commander, belonging to a division, had independently devised a plan to assassinate Daniel Steiner.
"You all, don't tell me......"
At the mayor's question, the two nodded.
Only then, Kendrapor, roughly grasping the situation, pressed his forehead.
"Good heavens. God is testing me. How did things come to this?"
"......You can see that we are sincere."
"If sincerity alone accomplished goals, there would be no failures in this world!"
"That is why we need your help, Mr. Mayor."
Regulten leaned toward the mayor.
"We ask for nothing else. If you can support us with some supplies or money, we'll handle the rest. We earnestly request this, even for the sake of the Republic."
Kendrapor's heart weakened at Regulten's plea.
He could not refuse two promising young people who were willing to sacrifice their lives for their country.
However, Kendrapor had too much to protect.
While he was agonizing over what to do, the office door burst open.
It was the head steward, in charge of managing the mansion and the mayor's schedule.
"M-Mr. Mayor!"
Seeing the head steward, who was normally unflappable, so agitated, Kendrapor's face grew puzzled.
"What is it?"
"Well...... Didn't General Daniel lead his troops to the factory complex at noon today? According to rumors, he arrested all the troops there presumed to be Republic stragglers."
At the steward's words, not only Sergeant Regulten and First Lieutenant Meromrat but also Kendrapor could not hide their consternation.
Before they could even recover from the shock, the steward spoke with a terrified face.
"General Daniel is now heading to your mansion! Based on his route, he's expected to arrive in three minutes!"
Because of that, the faces of the mayor and the two Republic officers turned pale.
'No matter how you look at it......'
Because they were clearly being toyed with in Daniel Steiner's palm.