Chapter 375

EP.375

Bastion Castle command and control room.

“Honestly, if it weren’t for Marshal Jaeger, the castle would have already been breached. But don’t you feel a bit uneasy about a night raid when just focusing on keeping the door closed and secure isn’t enough?”

“That isn’t entirely wrong, but the problem is that if we just keep guarding the castle like this, the morale of the soldiers and civilians will drop to the ground. Then it’s all over.”

“We need to show that we can do something, whether it’s a night raid or something, but is there any way?”

When conducting a night raid on a typical battlefield, you lead your troops and use terrain features such as forests or mountains near the garrison where the enemy troops are stationed, hiding your body as much as possible.

This is because if concealment is not done properly, your head may be blown off during a surprise attack at night.

However, there were no forest hills to hide in between Bastion Castle and the Allied Garrison, and the Archduke, who had a fear of me, Peter Jaeger, set up his camp about 600 meters away from the castle walls, as if surrounding them on all sides.

Originally, in order to siege a castle, it was enough to have an appropriate number of troops, so the rule was to build the garrison somewhere a little further away... You crazy people.

“What do you guys think about the night raid proposal I mentioned? Are you for or against? “Feel free to express your opinion.”

Other officers, regardless of rank, said, ‘You tell me it won’t work.’ ‘Is that okay? The other person is the enemy.’ He recommended that he speak first in secret, in the same way as older brother first.

In the end, Lieutenant General Hautman, who could be said to be the most senior person besides me, sighed and answered.

“I strongly agree with your intention to study at night. But realistically, this is too difficult. The enemy is seven times more numerous than our allies, and in order to make a surprise attack, you have to get close to the enemy camp without being detected. “The distance between the enemy camp and the Bastion Castle where our troops are stationed is about 600 meters, and there is no cover at all.”

“So the lieutenant general is saying that a night attack is not appropriate under the current circumstances?”

“That’s right. Wouldn’t it be better to use other methods to raise the soldiers’ morale? Not only all the soldiers in this castle, but even the civilian women and girls are fighting with respect for the enemy who takes the lead and fights. “How about awarding the Iron Cross to all soldiers and civilians, ex officio?”

If you just listen to the name of the Iron Cross, it seems like something grandiose, but in reality, there is nothing that special about it.

It’s like an excellent soldier certificate that a company commander can give to a soldier who didn’t make a big contribution in the war, but only if he has a certain level of ability and fights hard.

In fact, although it is registered as a medal in the Imperial Army’s award regulations, in reality it does not have any benefits other than ‘additional points when applying for non-commissioned officer positions’ and is not reflected in personnel evaluations.

But are you showing off by spraying something like that on the soldiers who are risking their lives here?

“Lieutenant General Hautman, all of those here have been fighting for over a week on a terrible battlefield comparable to that hellish Lichen. “How would it help boost their morale if we just awarded them the Iron Cross, which only has meaning when being commissioned as a sergeant?”

“It is as you said. Then, wouldn’t it be possible to award a medal lower than the Knight’s Cross, which is a ‘title’ given ex officio by the Marshal? “How about awarding appropriate medals to non-commissioned officers and soldiers who have shown outstanding performance and saying, ‘His Majesty has not forgotten you and we will definitely win?’”

According to what I heard, before being dispatched to this front, I even heard that he graduated from the General Staff College with excellent grades, ranking 12th out of 40 fellow soldiers.

I never would have thought that in a situation where other officers were trying to persuade me to give up the night raid, I would come up with a plan that was reasonable, feasible, and had a very high probability of success.

Maybe that guy, like me, goes from being a serf with nothing to proving his ability and eventually becoming a titled nobleman?

However, I decided not to use this strategy.

This is because there are too many enemy forces and it was judged that it would be difficult to carry out operations such as destroying facilities with only a small number of soldiers.

“Colonel Landel, your operation appears to be very good. However, even if we try to make a surprise attack according to the plan you suggested, it will be difficult because the Archduke of Warsaw, the commander-in-chief of the Allied forces, is so afraid of us that he is on high alert.”

At those words, Randel looked regretful and tried to sit down.

“However, as a superior, I am very proud that you, who was a coward at Richen Hill, have shown such bravery and now have wise judgment. “After this battle, I will make sure to tell your story to His Majesty when we do business together.”

When Randel was told that he would directly convey his achievements and name to His Majesty in return for actively participating in the meeting and suggesting a reasonable strategy, Randel was so moved that he was almost on the verge of tears.

The other officers, even the highest ranking lieutenant general except me, looked at Lieutenant Colonel Randel with envious eyes.

The other officers, stimulated by Lieutenant Colonel Landel, tried to come up with a strategy to gain recognition from me and gain a foothold for great success after the war.

“Now, I would like to talk about a night attack, which is not what the enemy thinks. “Are you okay?”

Everyone nodded their heads in agreement with those words.

Well, who wouldn’t agree with what the Marshal says...

“Marshal Bon is planning to fire a fireball from the castle wall and hit their camp directly.”

“But isn’t the fireball’s range less than 400 meters?”

I said with a chuckle at those words.

Do you really think so? I don’t think so.

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