Let's Hear Your Opinion
Let's Hear Your Opinion
Daniel, having led the prisoners to the division headquarters at the forward base, sent the wounded soldiers to the medical unit and unpacked his belongings.
After catching his breath, Daniel had wanted a glass of the officers' rationed whiskey to ease his fatigue, but the timing was not right.
"Captain Daniel Steiner? The division commander has summoned you."
With no chance to rest, Daniel nodded and followed the division commander's adjutant to the temporary operations headquarters.
The exterior was intact, but once inside, stone debris and wood splinters littered the corridors.
It was utterly different from the lavish and tidy corridors of the General Headquarters, which faintly reminded one of a hotel.
'Well, they occupied this building after driving out the kingdom troops that were originally here....'
One could hardly complain about the unfinished cleaning.
In the first place, demanding cleanliness on a battlefield where bullets were raining down was the mark of a madman.
Leaving behind such impressions of the temporary operations headquarters, Daniel arrived at the operations command center on the third floor.
As the adjutant knocked and announced Daniel's arrival, a voice from inside told them to come in.
The adjutant nodded once and opened the door. Beyond it, Daniel saw Major General Pelderham seated at the head of the command table.
Pelderham, whose bulk was so large that the wide command table seemed small, was looking at Daniel with his thick eyebrows raised.
It already felt oppressive on its own, but besides Pelderham, numerous other high-ranking officers sat around the command table.
The lowest-ranked officer present was a major.
It was no exaggeration to say that all the division headquarters' illustrious figures were assembled.
It felt as if his breath was being stifled for no good reason.
Heinrich, meeting his eyes, discreetly raised a hand in acknowledgment, but for Daniel, it was only awkward.
Letting out an internal sigh, Daniel stepped into the command center and rendered a crisp salute.
"Your Excellency, the Division Commander! I was told you had called for me!"
Pelderham, letting out a low laugh, returned the salute.
"Indeed. I called you to cross-verify whether the radio operator's report was accurate. According to the report, you attacked an enemy supply battalion, killing 135 and capturing 192. Is that true?"
Shifting to an at-ease stance, Daniel looked straight ahead and spoke.
"It was simply luck."
"Spare me the modesty. Too much of this cannot be explained by luck alone. More importantly, Captain Daniel Steiner. Did you ascertain the enemy's supply route?"
A supply route? He had simply intercepted the supply battalion midway; he did not know the route itself.
"My apologies, Your Excellency. I do not know the route itself."
"What are the chances of finding out by interrogating the commander of the supply battalion you captured?"
"From our conversation, he is a man of strong resolve. Even under intense torture, the likelihood of him divulging information seems low."
At Daniel's answer, murmurs arose from around the room.
The division was obsessed with discovering the enemy supply route, and Daniel's answer was bound to disappoint.
However, no one present dared to criticize Daniel.
For the meritorious deeds he had accomplished shone too brightly to be overshadowed by a few disappointing words.
"I like your honesty. Far better than other staff officers who are all talk."
Pelderham, having glanced once around the officers at the command table, looked at Daniel again.
"In that case, Captain Daniel. If you have any predictions about the enemy's supply route, share them. Speculation is fine. I wish to keep possibilities open from all directions."
All eyes in the room focused on Daniel.
In that heavy silence, Daniel thought.
'Wait. If I spout nonsense here....'
He could leave a bad impression not just on the division commander, but on all the field-grade officers gathered here.
Wasn't this a golden opportunity to drive his performance evaluation into the gutter?
There wouldn't be another opportunity like this. Taking a deep breath, Daniel blurted out whatever came to mind.
"An underground tunnel... in other words, a burrow."
The command center stirred at the suggestion that the enemy supply route was an underground tunnel.
Among them, a colonel who appeared to be a regimental commander raised an eyebrow and spoke.
"Look here, Captain Daniel. Isn't this joke a bit much? The distance from the point where you attacked the supply battalion to Nordia is approximately 58 kilometers. Are you trying to say that a tunnel that long exists?"
Even if an underground tunnel could exist, they did not seem to believe a tunnel that long could exist.
Daniel suspected that if they knew Vietnamese soldiers had built an underground tunnel stretching 250 kilometers, they might just faint.
But to those who had never experienced the Vietnam War, an ultra-long-distance underground tunnel was an unimaginable concept.
"Common sense dictates it is hard to believe a 58-kilometer underground tunnel exists!"
"But the enemy is replenishing supplies without any naval or air support. Penetrating our solid encirclement net! An underground tunnel would explain everything!"
"No matter how solid the encirclement, there are bound to be gaps. It is more realistic that they are traveling through those."
The officers around the command table began to debate.
Daniel, who had unintentionally incited the argument, remained silent, wearing an awkward expression.
As voices gradually grew louder, Pelderham raised a hand to restrain them.
"Enough. Let us hear more from Captain Daniel. Do you have a reason for asserting that the enemy's supply route is an underground tunnel?"
He didn't. But if he had to fabricate one, he could fabricate one all day.
"The enemies were all lightly armed. It was as if they thought they would never encounter an enemy. If they were conducting supply by penetrating our encirclement, there should have been heavily armed soldiers."
"That does not constitute a reason."
"You are correct. But every single lightly armed enemy soldier was carrying a portable flashlight. As if they wanted to pass through a dark place more quickly."
A flashlight? It wasn't unusual for a soldier to carry one, but the standard kit of the Kingdom Army's supply units did not include portable flashlights.
"Hmm."
Pelderham, feeling a sense of puzzlement, tapped the command table, and Daniel spoke.
"If it is true that the enemy used an underground tunnel for supply, then you must order a search operation immediately. This is a clear opportunity."
"Why do you think so?"
"After subduing the supply battalion, I examined the unit and found they had radios, but all the batteries had been removed. It appears to be an action taken to avoid interception."
Everyone present knew that the Imperial Intelligence Department had seized control of the Kingdom Army's communications.
Since they had also succeeded in perfectly deciphering the Kingdom Army's ciphers, the Kingdom Army was currently extremely reluctant to use communications.
So why was this an opportunity? Pelderham pondered for a moment and arrived at a quiet realization.
'The enemy's supply route... can become our invasion route!'
Because all manner of variables existed on the battlefield, it was normal for supplies to be delayed by a day or two, and often delays stretched up to a week.
Since the supply battalion had refrained from using communications, the Ironclad Division in Nordia would probably know nothing from the logistics headquarters beyond the simple message that 'a supply support unit had departed.'
That meant they would also be unaware that the supply battalion had been attacked by the enemy.
If they exploited this gap, found the underground tunnel, sent a Magitek Armored Brigade through it, and marched the remaining full strength of the division toward Nordia?
'...It falls!'
The scene of that impregnable Nordia falling so easily seemed to unfold before his very eyes.
It was clear that Nordia's Ironclad Division, exposed to enemy attack from inside and out, would wave the white flag without being able to mount a proper resistance.
Pelderham shuddered at the truly devilish tactic.
Pelderham, whose hands trembled with excitement, soon regained his calm.
'The tactic is perfect. But it is a matter of probability.'
This meant it was a tactic that could only be realized if everything Captain Daniel Steiner said turned out to be correct.
Frankly, he could not believe everything a staff officer who was merely a captain said.
'However....'
It was an issue worth placing a bet on.
"...Very well. Captain Daniel Steiner. I shall place my trust in what you say. I will order all available personnel, including the search battalion, to conduct a thorough search of the vicinity where the enemy supply battalion was located."
"I am honored to gain your trust, sir."
While Daniel spoke seriously, he was smiling inside.
'An underground tunnel? That's ridiculous.'
To be honest, Daniel's opinion was similar to that of most of the officers at the command table.
Supplying via an ultra-long-distance underground tunnel defied all common sense. It was clearly contrary to common sense.
It was more realistic that there was a hole somewhere in the encirclement net and the enemy was using it for overland supply.
'Even if, by some remote chance, an underground tunnel exists....'
Unless the Kingdom Army were idiots, they would have hidden it thoroughly, so it wouldn't be easy to find.
'Ultimately, I'll become the main culprit behind the confusion within the Imperial Army....'
His performance rating would plummet to the depths, and he'd easily earn the division commander's ire.
If so, he could overwrite the 'competence' he'd lucked into so far with 'incompetence.'
With luck, he might even be able to take off the military uniform, Daniel thought, a faint smile creeping onto his face.
Seeing that, Pelderham drew a sharp breath.
'He's smiling? Is his confidence in his own proposed operation that high?'
Normally, even competent staff officers fretted over the possibility that their speculations might be off the mark, but Daniel was actually smiling.
And he was smiling while discussing the slaughter that would unfold upon the operation's success.
Thanks to that, Pelderham felt his impression of Daniel had completely changed.
'An elite staff officer from headquarters? A hero of the capital?'
What a laughable epithet.
Gazing at Daniel, Pelderham grinned ferociously.
As Pelderham saw it, Daniel Steiner was a superb warrior, thirsting for blood.
*
Late at night.
Search Battalion, under the Division Headquarters.
"Is it true there's an underground tunnel nearby?"
"I don't know. We just do it because we're told to. Honestly, I don't believe it, but...."
The search battalion soldiers grumbled as they trudged along.
They had already been roaming the area for six hours because the headquarters had suddenly ordered them to search the area where the enemy supply battalion had been caught.
However, let alone an underground tunnel, it was hard to find even an animal's burrow.
It was just about when they were wondering how much longer they'd have to keep up this pointless task.
Kung....
A sound that could only have come from stepping on metal, not earth, caught their attention.
Wondering what it was, they looked down, but it was covered with branches and a thick layer of leaves, so they couldn't tell what they had stepped on.
"What? Why'd you stop?"
"No. Didn't you just hear that? I think I stepped on something. It's not a mine, is it?"
"What? Fuck! Wait a second. Don't take your foot off!"
The soldier who had slung his rifle behind his back knelt down and cleared away the twigs and leaves around his comrade's foot.
What was revealed was not a mine, but a massive iron door.
The soldiers, briefly standing in a daze, exchanged glances and then stepped back.
"Could this be...."
Having reached a silent consensus, the two grabbed the handle protruding from the iron door and pulled it open.
Then, a pitch-black interior unfolded before them.
"Flashlight. Turn on the flashlight."
The soldier nodded, raised the flashlight, and pressed the power button.
Dalkak─
The light fanned out, illuminating the stairs leading underground.
At the same time, the soldiers froze in surprise.
There was no room for doubt.
"This is...."
It was the Kingdom Army's underground tunnel, the very thing the division headquarters had ordered them to find.