I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy

EP.304

Conference room at the headquarters of the 7th Guards Division of the Farosian Army.

When I entered, everyone stood up, led by Laura, who had now become the deputy division commander of the 7th Guards Division.

Regardless of age, the faces of the officers were all full of anticipation, like children about to go on a picnic.

I thought that the 7th Guards Division would have a very high level of trust in me since they were the guys who went through the hellish battlefields in Austria, Switzerland and Austria together with me.

Even though almost all of the officers here who are majors or higher are older than me, I am deeply moved to see them greeting me with such selfless and bright faces.

As I was taking a moment to gather my emotions from such sentiments, Laura stood in an unmoving posture on behalf of everyone and raised her hand to salute.

“All at attention! Salute to Captain Jaeger!”

When the sound of loyalty rang out so loudly that it hurt my ears, I also accepted the salute with the right attitude.

“Everyone please sit down.”

As everyone sat down according to my orders, some of the officers who had fought with me spoke to me in a friendly way.

“I thought that if you were a lieutenant general, you would definitely be promoted to captain within a few years. I never thought I would get 4 stars before I turn 30. “You are truly amazing.”

“I heard that Her Highness Louise and Master Friedrich are also here! I would like to see. “Can I come visit you in person after training?”

“Thanks to the commander’s letter of recommendation, I successfully graduated from the General Staff College and came back with my official Staff insignia!”

“Charlotte, who is equivalent to an honorary soldier of the 7th Guards Division, isn’t here?”

When Laura saw this scene, she didn’t say anything, but she puffed out her chest and looked very proud.

I’m sure she’s not saying it right now, but she probably feels like bragging to the neighborhood about how great her husband is.

If you brag so widely, many troublesome things will happen, so Laura’s bragging will probably be focused on Anya.

‘No, I decided to work together with the captain in a mock battle this time.’

It wasn’t a very long time, but the senior members of the 7th Guards Division and I continued to ask each other how we were doing after meeting for the first time in a long time, and when the conversation made some progress.

I pointed with my baton at the map depicting the terrain we would be fighting in this time.

“After today’s strategy meeting, there’s a good bar near here, so I’ll rent the whole place and treat you to something. So, let’s put off solving the problem for a bit and focus on this mock battle from now on.”

All the officers unanimously agreed with me.

“Yes, I understand!”

The atmosphere that had been friendly until just now suddenly turned into a sharpened blade, as if it was about to go to war.

“As you all know, this mock battle starts with both armies being completely equal in size. The enemy’s troops are one division with about 8,000 men, and our troops are also one division with about 8,000 men. The organization consists of three infantry regiments, 500 knights, and 500 archers.”

In real battles, fighting with the same organization and the same numbers never happens.

However, in a mock battle, the numbers of both armies must be equal to prevent excuses that they lost due to the difference in numbers.

In the absence of such extenuating circumstances, proper lessons could only be learned by analyzing mock battles, so in a way, the army was organized with the most ideal number.

“In two weeks, our 7th Guards Division will begin its march from the village of Oppenheim and move to the Manfell Plain, where a full-scale battle will take place. “This training will be conducted as closely as possible to actual combat, so during the movement, we will be supplied by rear support units or actually purchase food from villages along the route.”

All the officers nodded and spoke as if they were deeply impressed by those words.

“They said it was a mock battle based on the phrase ‘training like a real battle and a battle like a real battle.’ “Have you even implemented the supply that hurts our heads the most?”

“I think an officer who has received this kind of training will do his job properly even if he is sent directly into an actual war.”

“I think it’s just training, but at this level it’s actually the same as war.”

The officers expressed their admiration for replicating the same format of supply in training as in actual combat, and this is bound to happen.

Even if the supply is very well maintained, there is no guarantee that the war will be won, but an army without food and weapons is sure to be defeated, no matter what great general it is commanded.

Among the things taught at the Imperial Academy Staff College, the importance of moving and maintaining supplies is taught to the point where nails are hard to hear.

If the supply date is delayed without any special reason, it is taken seriously enough to be subject to military court.

However, in this world where there are no such things as trucks, rails, and transport ships, supply is a problem with numerous variables that, without exaggeration, can drive people crazy.

However, it is impossible to realize this difficulty through training alone, but through this mock battle, you can directly experience the problems that come with it, so you will enjoy it.

“Also, since this training is in an actual combat format, blocking and plundering the other party’s supply routes is naturally allowed as soon as the training begins. There is one cost issue, so if supplies are looted, this paper made by wizards will have to indicate that it cannot be used by the enemy. In addition, surprise raids are of course permitted. “Then, from now on, we will begin the full-fledged announcement of the operation.”

Those words focused everyone’s attention on me.

“As soon as the war begins, we will dispatch 30 archers into 6 groups of 5 each. So, we will search all the routes shown on the map to find the enemy’s location, the location of the supply unit, and the supply route.”

If you know the enemy’s location, you can send a surprise attack unit at any time, and if you figure out the supply route and chase them down and wipe them out, no matter how much training you have, you have to go to war while the enemy is hungry.

Just as a hungry army cannot fight properly, when a full-fledged fight breaks out in a mock battle, as soon as the enemy grabs his spear, he will stumble from hunger and weakness.

In the past, when fighting the Archduke of Czechoslovakia in the Visochia region, I played a trick and reduced supplies, but the fight continued and the Czech soldiers were half-stretched.

If supplies are completely cut off in a mock battle and you starve, will you be able to even properly hold a spear?

However, even though it is not a real war, if soldiers die or become exhausted from fatigue, non-combat losses will occur.

If something like that happens, it would naturally be a huge loss from the imperial military’s perspective, so when food runs out, they will supply the minimum amount of food.

The plan is to minimize the number of people who die or suffer aftereffects by having the controllers dispatched to both armies’ units immediately send them to the rear for treatment if they seem to be unable to survive.

“Once we understand the location of the enemy troops, we form light cavalry and a surprise attack force and march as quickly as possible to prevent the enemy from coming easily. In addition, supply units will be raided as often as possible to prevent them from receiving supplies.”

If there is a surprise attack even once, the morale of the unit drops drastically and the number of soldiers often decreases exponentially.

If both allies and enemies experience this situation simultaneously in a mock battle, it will remain as a basis for good information and operations.

A unit that actually undergoes an operation like this must be very terrible.

“Captain, then how do you plan to protect our supply unit?”

“As the vice division commander said, protecting the supply unit is very important. Therefore, our forces will deploy 1 infantry battalion, 1 knight battalion (48 men), and 100 archers so that we can maintain supplies no matter what happens.”

The soldiers belonging to the supply unit are all trained just like regular soldiers, so they are fully capable of fighting in an emergency.

Even if troops are mobilized to attack the rear, it is virtually impossible to mobilize more than one infantry battalion in a battle at the division level.

So, if you prepare like this, you should be fine.

“All remaining issues can be handled at the level of each unit, so I will leave them to each unit. This concludes the meeting. “Everyone, please prepare thoroughly for the mock battle that will take place in two weeks.”

The officers puffed out their chests and spoke as if they believed my encouragement.

“We will show once again that the 7th Guards Division is the most elite division in the Reich Empire.”

“I will do my best to avoid holding anything back from you, Captain. Please trust us and leave it to us.”

“We will show you that we are better than our best.”

And we moved to another location that evening and enjoyed our second drink at a bar I rented until late at night.

After that, the appointed time came so quickly that it became the day of the long-awaited mock battle, and the mock battle finally began.

And when the mock battle began on the fourth day, a report was posted.

“We have discovered the location of enemy troops and supply units.”

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