Chapter 79
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Translator: Wjin
Chapter: 79
Chapter Title: The Empire's Night (3)
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Whiiiiiiing─.
A sharp wind blew. I looked at the brightly rising moon beyond the cockpit, which was completely open to the outside.
It was a full moon. Considering that the Normandy landings also took place on a night with a full moon, the weather itself wasn't so bad.
‘Subdue the production facilities completely before dawn.’
I sketched the operation out in my head. In fact, while Hearts of General is a 'strategy and tactics' game, it doesn't deal much with the tactical side.
For example, you could decide where to deploy a battalion and how to unfold it, but you couldn't control individual soldiers to occupy a building or something like that.
Isn't reality just like that?
You don't even need to be a general; even a regimental commander operating a few battalions can't move every company under their command, let alone platoons, which are lower-level organizations, in detail.
Therefore, all events that occur within the Hearts of General game were depicted as being closer to Civilization or Crusader Kings rather than RTS games like StarCraft.
It was a form where a large chunk of a unit occupies a city or holds a region.
The problem, however, was that I wasn't a player viewing the entire situation from the sky, but had become a horse, the tip of that player's spear.
That is, for now, I had to view all operations from a tactical perspective rather than a strategic one.
Rimansk Arsenal, a facility of the Sovye Empire that I had seen in the game before.
Due to the rugged mountain terrain, where guerrilla forces are very active, it's not a major facility where technology or equipment is developed.
In other words, unless they were conducting secret research that would draw international condemnation if discovered.
I closed my eyes, called up a map of the terrain, and then sketched the operation over it.
'A night where only the moonlight exists. The 1st and 3rd platoons will drop first.'
The 1st and 3rd platoons, taking the vanguard, will eliminate all the guards at the North Gate in one fell swoop. Meanwhile, the 4th platoon will advance west, seize the armory, and then link up with the 2nd platoon, which will be deployed later.
'Combat breaks out but is suppressed quickly. The mobile battalion, waiting nearby, enters as the North Gate opens.'
'Soldiers awaken at the headquarters of the guard company upon hearing the gunshots, but are neutralized by a pincer attack from the infiltrating 3rd and 1st platoons.'
'After confirming the operational progress of the 2nd and 3rd companies, the gate closure and area control are left to the mobile battalion, and we enter the underground facilities together. We will retrieve the Omen Pearl and secure other intelligence assets.'
A series of simulations ended in an instant in my mind.
Since they probably aren't even properly supplied with semi-automatic rifles that can fire in succession, let alone automatic rifles like AKs, Close-Quarters Combat would be much easier than in modern times. Barracks, armories, guard posts, and checkpoints could also be subdued without much difficulty.
Now, the operational difficulty would skyrocket or drop depending on how complex the underground facilities were. It was one or the other.
‘It all comes down to pure luck.’
I opened my eyes. I could already feel the faint scent of blood and gunpowder tickling my nose.
This was a world of difference from the modern assaults that used military satellites and various advanced surveillance equipment, and fully utilized 100% of the secured intelligence assets.
I was no different from a blind man, unable to know the enemy's exact size, the facility's structure, or even the real-time situation, but the enemy was in the same boat.
They probably wouldn't even dream that we would drop right from the sky. There's no way they have anti-aircraft guns capable of shooting down an airship, and even if they were attacked, they wouldn't have a separate line to communicate quickly with the surrounding units.
At best, carrier pigeons or messengers. The most advanced form would be a type of blinker called a 'heliograph.'
It's a signal device that hasn't even been supplied to frontline units yet, so there's virtually no chance of it being installed in a backwater arsenal.
'This is a complete mess. The people of old must have had a real headache.'
Both attack and defense. It was genuinely pitiable that they were adopting tactics that were ignorant and primitive from a modern perspective.
After this operation is over, I should pass on various things, including communication equipment, to the technology research department.
I smacked my lips bitterly and turned my head to look at Roxana.
"Are you going to stay here, Roxana?"
"Yes, there's still time until we arrive. We have about an hour left, don't we?"
As if she's obsessed with airships. Roxana Elim had been waiting in the cockpit ever since she first boarded.
"Yes, we have about an hour left until arrival."
The pilot, with a thick beard, answered with a pleasant smile, and Roxana nodded in agreement.
"That's right. Since there's nothing to do anyway, you should get some rest too, Company Commander! I'll have everything ready before we arrive!"
It really feels like she's fallen in love with the airship.
What if she suddenly says she's transferring to the air force? I haven't spent as much time with Subordinate Roxana Elim as with the other squad members, but it would still feel a little disappointing.
Well, even if that happens, it's not a bad thing for the Duchy of Ukran.
At least, it will be a while before the 'air force' branch is established worldwide. The airship we're on now is far from enough to create an air force.
If she keeps training hard and continues to develop herself until then. Roxana Elim could become the precursor to the Duchy of Ukran's Army Air Corps.
Separate from her role as a pilot, her talent is immense as well.
I watched Roxana, whose eyes were still full of life as she moved around the cockpit, and thought.
1st Company, 1st Platoon. Rick Hanson moistened his parched mouth. His second real battle. Last time, the opponent was just a simple thief, but this time, they were real soldiers of the Sovye Empire.
He couldn't help but feel tense.
*Click*.
He tightened the rifle sling firmly and checked the bullets he was carrying.
'I need to get my act together. Last time was just pure luck.'
If he hadn't been shot in the butt, if it had been his heart or head, or even an artery, he would have died on the spot 100%.
There was no guarantee that such luck would follow him this time. Including up to now, Rick Hanson had completed dozens of checks even after boarding the airship.
As he was about to count the magazines supplied in his pocket for the last time.
"All personnel, stand up! Prepare for descent!!"
The company commander, dressed in descent gear, passed by and shouted through the long corridor. A voice that jolted everyone to their senses.
"Prepare for descent!"
"I will inspect your equipment from the back. Begin!"
"Number 30, Egil Sacorji, no issues!"
"Number 29, Eugene Lantz, no issues!"
From number 30 to Rick Hanson, number 6. The company members shouted at the top of their lungs. Are we really being deployed into a real battle now? Rick's hands, gripping his rifle, began to tremble.
It wasn't the descent he was afraid of. In fact, when he was flying through the sky, his mind was at ease.
Because he only had to look at the ground.
But the most terrifying thing begins once he lands on the ground. The boundary between life and death is drawn from that moment on.
"We are the vanguard. Focus on my orders."
Following that, Platoon Commander Claude Raine threw in a word. At that, his strangely trembling heart calmed down.
Claude Raine.
Enok Levandel.
Whenever he looked at those two, his trembling feelings would naturally calm down. He couldn't explain why, but how can you explain something that's inexplicable?
If he had to describe the most similar feeling, it was like looking at a father and mother. Even though Enok Levandel was around the same age as Rick Hanson.
People who made him feel reassured just by being with them.
"Rick, is it the other butt cheek's turn this time?"
"You should go for a clean left-right symmetry!"
"You bastards. If only you could talk as well as you joke."
Of course, the comrades making cheap jokes on the side also helped to ease the tension. Rick spat out a curse and let out a dry laugh.
A commander he could trust and follow.
Unit members who were now like family.
Rick had plenty of reasons to jump into the sky.
"Let's all meet again safely at the battalion, got it?"
"Yes, understood!"
"Also, try not to use red and yellow magic. The mages of each platoon must remember this clearly."
"We will keep it in mind."
He reminded them of the final precautions as well. Enok Levandel slowly moved his gaze, taking in the faces of each company member one by one.
Finally, he gave the order.
"1st Company. Descent!!"
At those words, Rick Hanson threw his body toward the vast sky. He properly shouldered his rifle and adjusted his posture in mid-air. In his vision, filled only with moonlight, he stared intently and looked down at the ground.
The distant ground quickly drew closer the moment he descended, but he didn't feel afraid.
He trusted his platoon commander and deputy platoon commander.
The firm belief that they would safely bring them down before they crashed into the ground and became a pulp.
As if to repay that trust, a strange sensation of being gently lifted enveloped Rick Hanson just before he hit the ground.
He landed softly on the ground, as if a feather was settling.
*Click*.
When he pulled the lever, a copper-colored blade pushed into the chamber. Rick Hanson, having finished loading, unconsciously raised his head and looked up at the sky.
Comrades, decorating the sky against the backdrop of the full moon.
Demons who had crossed the mountain range were dyeing the Empire's night.