Chapter 98: Establishing The Francois Invasion Strategy (1)

Chapter 98: Establishing The Francois Invasion Strategy (1)

After being notified of my promotion, I spent an intense night with Laura, understanding what it feels like to be wrung out like a dry cloth.

For a week, I drank so much celebrating my promotion and responding to the strong implicit request from regiment officers for a party to celebrate the Major General’s marriage, I thought I might die from it.

A month later, immediately after the official wedding ceremony, without a honeymoon, I had to move to my new station.

In the Korean military, headquarters often gets treated like a different world compared to other units, and there was usually a good reason for that.

In other units, even a lieutenant colonel doesn’t have to empty trash bins or refill printer paper themselves.

But in the headquarters, a lieutenant colonel might have to clean, including emptying trash bins, and a colonel serving coffee to everyone.

Before you get a star, even getting saluted within the unit makes you conscious of higher-ups, so new recruits straight from basic training might be told to salute less formally or not at all.

It seemed even the Reich Empire’s General Staff couldn’t escape these military quirks.

“Captain Cheplin, clean that spot more thoroughly. Major General Zekt is sensitive after failing the promotion evaluation.”

“Make the coffee stronger for the head of department 3.”

“Generals will be arriving in 10 minutes. Hurry up! There might be nitpicking because some missed their promotions this time.”

Even in the General Staff, where the nobility system and status-based discrimination were largely tolerated and various privileges followed, the top 1% of officers did menial tasks themselves.

It was surprising to see these nobles, who seemed like they wouldn’t even fetch a cup themselves at home, doing such tasks.

For reference, in the General Staff, a lieutenant colonel was like a low-level employee in a company, and a colonel was necessary to have the status of a late-stage assistant manager to department head.

This was because even a seemingly trivial document could contain second-class confidential information or higher that could cause significant harm to the empire and its military, hence, servants, slaves, soldiers, and officers below lieutenant colonel were barred from entry.Ñøv€lRapture marked the initial hosting of this chapter on Ñôv€lß¡n.

In some ways, it was more secure than the Imperial Palace where the Emperor resided.

So, I was witnessing the sight of real nobles, rarely seen throughout the empire, seriously doing tasks typically done by servants.

“You’re quite young, having reached lieutenant colonel in your early thirties, you might think the world revolves around you. What are you doing? Grab a broom and start sweeping...”

The colonel, who was about to order me to mop, saw the star on my epaulette and the Golden Knight Sword Medal and his pupils shook wildly.

At the same time, his neck muscles tensed, and the veins around his neck became visibly pronounced.

“I am Peter Yaeger, appointed as the third chief of the General Staff’s Operations Department. I came here because Minister Otto Moritz summoned me, but where is the minister’s office?”

Even the colonel in front of me tightened his face upon hearing my position.

It seemed customary here for a major general to head each department, and a deputy chief of a department would be a lieutenant general or a major general likely to be promoted.

It seemed he was quite worried about making a bad impression on someone higher up on his first day.

After I brought the book, the Minister of Military Affairs opened it to show a map of the Francois Republic and said,

“This is top-secret information not even disclosed within the General Staff. Only the ministers, marshals, and His Imperial Majesty are aware of this plan.”

“Then why are you sharing this information with me?”

I genuinely don’t understand why he was entrusting me with such top-secret information.

After all, despite my achievements, how could a mere major general like me contribute to formulating such a daunting operational plan?

As I stood there with a blank expression, the Minister of Military Affairs showed me a notebook with the title of a lecture I had given in the past.

“This is a summary of the lecture you gave at the Staff College. Wow~ For a lecture given by a mere lieutenant colonel, it was revolutionary, innovative, and filled with ideas that should be immediately implemented in practice.”

“...”

“So, as a test, I set up supply warehouses every 20km as you suggested and used them when marching a regiment 100km. Compared to requisitioning, local purchasing, or moving supplies, the marching time was reduced by two days.”

Indeed, the slow pace of armies in pre-modern societies was not due to the infantry but to carts filled with various supplies, like food.

With supply warehouses, it became possible to operate with minimal carts and march without having to consider the rendezvous of requisitioned materials and troops.

“The standard training you introduced during your time as a student squad leader was also very impressive. When used in training recruits, their combat effectiveness improved significantly even with the same training duration.”

Of course, in an era where cold-weapon hand-to-hand combat was common, the fundamental combat effectiveness of a soldier lies in experience and orderly movements.

If you standardize that with formal training, efficiency greatly increases.

Even so, I thought these would only be implemented if I, at least as the head of logistics or operations in the General Staff, pushed for them.

Could it be that they’ve already tested all this and are trying to change the traditional military operation concepts?

The Reich Empire’s military was daunting.

Usually, changing something like this would take at least several years, if not a decade.

“Moreover, your ideas about combat will, capability to execute battles, and methods to gain an advantage in war considering political situations—I found all of them very appealing.”

“It’s an honor, Your Excellency.”

“So, I will place all the Francois-related documents in your office and give you access to top-secret information. Bring me a brilliant plan that will shake them up. As the third chief of the Operations Department, I won’t assign you any other tasks until you come up with the plan, so make sure it’s a good one.”

After saying that, the Minister of Military Affairs gave me an order to leave, as if dismissing me.

...I’d been incredibly active, but to think that upon my arrival, I was ordered to create a new ‘Francois Front War Execution Plan.’

How did I appear in the eyes of the Emperor, the Minister of Military Affairs, and others?