Chapter 134 - Farewell and New Encounters (3)
Contrary to his worries, both Billim and Simon did a good job grasping the situation in their platoons and submitting their reports.
Granted, Billim was so nervous during his first report that he stumbled over his words a bit.
"This is Second Lieutenant Billim Madsen, just assigned as the 2nd Platoon Leader, and Second Lieutenant Simon Bergman, the new 3rd Platoon Leader. These are our Baltracher, Senior Captain Isaac, and Senior Captain Bruno, of the 2nd Company."
"It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Yes, nice to meet you."
Isaac and Bruno also greeted them in return.
Fortunately, Billim and Simon showed no bias against the Baltracher.
That included Bruno, who was a Fiders from Belliang.
More precisely, it would be accurate to say that they never even considered showing any prejudice.
After seeing things for themselves in the field, it was clear that whether someone was from Fiders or Belliang didn't matter in the slightest.
What mattered was being a Baltracher.
Just a single Baltracher could tip the scales of a battle.
There was a reason they were commissioned as Senior Captains right from the start.
"I won't tolerate any conflict of any kind among the company members. If you run into problems, report them. If they're not serious enough for a report, resolve them properly on your own. Of course, the same goes for any friction with other units."
"Yes, Company Commander."
Still, to prevent any possible trouble, Ernest made sure to issue a firm warning.
This wasn't peacetime; it was wartime, and allowing personal feelings to interfere with command was unforgivable.
Such behavior needed to be dealt with strictly under military law.
After a brief conversation, Ernest sent the other company officers back to their duties and left them to sort out the rest among themselves.
There was simply too much to do, not just preparing for tomorrow's battle as the 6th and 7th Divisions pushed out onto the plain, but also organizing the 13th Regiment's 1st Battalion training schedule.
Most likely, they would stand by in the morning, ready in case of battle, and conduct training exercises in the afternoon.
If no real fighting broke out during the morning standby, that would make for good training as well.
Not a bad situation.
Ernest quickly finished his report, and—thanks to Robert's talent with logistics and personnel matters—he actually managed to wrap everything up before lunch.
"Whew..."
With a little time to spare before lunch, Ernest let out a long sigh, reached into his coat, and took out Yurgen's cigarette box.
Click.
Using the handle of his dagger, Ernest pressed down on the lid until the cigarette box opened smoothly.
Sssst!
He pulled out one of the cigarettes he kept inside, lit it, and—without bringing it to his lips—sat quietly, holding it in his hand as he gazed outside the tent.
Ever since Yurgen and Jonas had fallen in battle, Ernest had often spent moments like this, lighting a cigarette.
He had never once actually smoked or inhaled the smoke.
He simply lit the cigarette, letting it burn out on its own like an hourglass, until the flame flickered out.
"Company Commander."
"Sergeant Gustav."
Gustav peeked cautiously into the tent from outside, gave Ernest a small nod of greeting, and stepped in.
Ernest, who had been rolling the cigarette between his fingers, casually held it out to Gustav.
"Ah, well. I won't refuse."
"You're free to say no. I don't actually smoke, so…"
"In that case, I definitely shouldn't refuse. It'd be a waste to throw away something this valuable."
Gustav took the cigarette from Ernest, put it to his lips, and drew in a deep breath of smoke.
He turned his head and slowly exhaled, then pressed his thumb firmly against the corner of his eye, as if feeling a little light-headed.
"How was it?"
"It's fine. Not as good as the former Platoon Leader, of course. Then again, no one would measure up if that's the standard."
He was talking about Billim. Simon could probably manage well enough on his own, but Billim was a bit of a worry. Still, since Gustav put it that way, things should be alright.
"The former Platoon Leader must have been an incredible person."
"Yes, he was as cunning as a fox."
"That's insubordination, you know."
"I meant it in a good way. As you know, having a commanding officer who's as sharp as a fox is a real blessing when you're the one out there shooting and fighting."
"Commanding officer? I'm a Company Commander now."
"Oh, pardon me. I'm still not used to it."
The two of them exchanged amused smiles.
"How's Ralf doing? I doubt his personality has changed much."
"He's not bad. He's got some complaints, but thanks to you, his mistrust of the new Military Academy graduate Platoon Leader seems to have eased a bit."
"That's good to hear. I was worried that if Ralf acted like he did before, it would be tough for Second Lieutenant Madsen to adjust."
"A new Platoon Leader can't handle things quite like the old one, so if Ralf pulls something like that again, we might have no choice but to demote him to soldier. I think he realizes that, too."
"A little demotion might do that attitude of his some good."
"He might not look it, but he was absolutely thrilled to make sergeant. If he got demoted, I'm sure he'd kick up a huge fuss and probably start bawling."
After some brief small talk, silence settled between them again.
Gustav, a cigarette between his lips, absentmindedly gazed out at the view beyond the tent alongside Ernest.
"Just a few days ago, we were out in those woods, soaking wet in the pouring rain, feeling like we were on the verge of death…"
Gustav's voice was a faint murmur.
"Now the sun's out, but it seems we'll be flirting with death again somewhere else before long…"
He took a drag from his cigarette and exhaled the smoke through his teeth.
Despite over twenty years in the army, Gustav—an experienced soldier—could never quite get used to this uncomfortable calm that came between battles.
"There probably won't be any major battles for a while, unless something unusual happens. Belliang is already spent."
Ernest spoke in a calm, measured voice.
Belliang had already reached its limit.
They had thrown tens of thousands of troops into the Bertagne Forest, and the supplies they committed were staggering.
On top of that, Belliang—a country whose vast plains depended on constant farming and herding—was always short on manpower.
Now, after losing so many people and with the Empire threatening to push out onto the plains, the situation had only grown worse.
Belliang was about to hit a wall, reaching its breaking point as a nation, and would soon collapse under its own weight.
"But it doesn't look like Konchanya in the south will just sit back and watch…"
Gustav spoke again, worry coloring his tone.
His concern was for the Kingdom of Konchanya, located south of Belliang.
The Kingdom of Konchanya lay in the southwest of the Empire, made up of countless peninsulas and islands.
In contrast to Belliang, the Kingdom of Kontanya, which bordered the Empire along the Bertebras Mountains, had always managed to hold off Imperial invasions thanks to that natural barrier.
The Bertebras Mountains stretch south all the way to the coastal region, then turn westward as they go north, eventually marking the border with Belliang.
Because of this, Konchanya only ever needed to defend the plains near the southern coast and the sea.
However, if Belliang falls under the Empire's control, everything changes drastically.
The Empire would then be able to push through Belliang's southwestern grasslands.
Until now, Konchanya thought all they had to do was guard the southern tip of the border and control the sea, indulging in easy money through maritime trade.
But now that Belliang is on the verge of being occupied by the Mihahil Empire, it's not just that their feet are to the fire—it's as if a crack has split the keel of a ship mid-voyage.
In other words, it was a situation where total disaster was just waiting to happen.
Even if Konchanya's navy is arguably the best on the continent, their army is such a hopeless ragtag bunch it's not even worth sighing over.
"Konchanya can't make a move so easily. If they'd acted as soon as the war broke out, maybe it'd be different, but at this point, by the time their army circles around the Bertebras Mountains to support Belliang, Belliang will have already surrendered."
"What if they had set out earlier?"
"If they had, don't you think the 1st Corps would have already broken through southern Konchanya by now?"
No matter how long the Kingdom of Konchanya has managed to hold off the Empire's attacks via the mountains, there's a limit. If they try to defend their southern plains and send reinforcements to Belliang at the same time? That's just not possible. The most Konchanya can realistically do to help Belliang is send some war supplies and naval support. Right now, Belliang is about to be overrun by land forces and, more than anything, they have no more soldiers left to fight on the ground. Which means any direct aid from the Kingdom of Konchanya to Belliang is ultimately meaningless.
"Realistically, the only way the Allied Forces—including Konchanya—can help Belliang is by launching an all-out attack on the Empire and draining the Empire's ability to wage war. I don't know how the battle situation is playing out elsewhere, but anyway, our 2nd Corps is just about to push out onto the plains of Belliang. In truth, the Alliance Army has failed to protect Belliang. A major factor in this was the sudden increase in supplies to the Balt Battery. Without that, the invasion of Belliang would already have stalled by now." "Hmmm…"
"It's true the Empire waged an overextended war and suffered heavy losses, but in the end, Belliang is going to fall into the Empire's hands. Dealing with the internal mess afterward isn't really our concern."
"…I see."
Gustav was once again struck by the realization that Ernest was an exceptional officer from the Imperial Military Academy.
He was only seventeen, yet he had a broad perspective and remarkable insight.
It had only been just over a month since he'd been deployed to the battlefield, and already he was wearing a Captain's insignia and serving as Company Commander.
And yet, Ernest handled everything that came his way smoothly.
No, if anything, it felt like keeping him just as a company commander was wasting his capabilities—he seemed able to do just about anything.
There must have been other outstanding young men like him among the many officers who died so meaninglessly.
Gustav chewed on that bitterness.
"Well then, I'll try to rest a little easier for now."
"Yes, though I wouldn't say we can completely relax, given the state of our battalion."
"…Is something wrong?"
"The new Battalion Commander Sir is apparently the Regimental Commander's senior. Things have gotten really tangled."
"Damn it!"
"As an experienced non-commissioned officer, what do you think?"
"We're doomed."
Gustav reacted exactly the same way as Andersen had after hearing about Levin and Bailey's relationship.
"Even commoners like us are very sensitive to things like this. Among non-commissioned officers, if something like this happens, it can end up in a fistfight. But officers can't do that, right?"
"They can't even duel. Not in wartime, and especially not when one is a superior and the other a subordinate."
"Exactly, so the awkwardness just lingers and the bad feelings fester until they're as bad as they can get. It's a huge problem."
"If the Battalion Commander Sir is just here to fill a gap and leaves for another unit soon…"
"That would be even worse for his pride. He only got dragged here to fill the vacancy left by his junior."
Ernest and Gustav let out a sigh at the same time. The unit is running just splendidly. Judging by the look of things, this isn't going to end well.
***
The day of the decisive battle had arrived.
That applied to the 6th and 7th Divisions, but not the 5th Division.
"Please, let this work. Do something about those damn bastards…"
From early morning, the 13th Regiment entered the forest and took up positions along the trench line created by the Belliang Army.
This was because there was a chance the Belliang Army would launch an attack in response to the Empire's planned breakthrough in the northern part of Bertagne Forest.
"She's not coming back again, right?"
"Who?"
"You know, her… 'Star of Summer.'"
"..."
The soldiers who had survived the last battle were all terrified at the thought that they might have to fight the 'Star of Summer' again.
Word about the 'Star of Summer' had already made it up the chain of command, so everyone was aware. But no one had a real solution. The Imperial Army could only counter her if at least three Baltrachers worked together, and even that wasn't guaranteed.
Training more Baltrachers, who excelled at individual combat, couldn't be done overnight. It would take at least a year before any new ones could be deployed to actual combat.
In reality, that meant the only thing the Imperial Army could do to deal with the 'Star of Summer' was to always create situations where their own side had a clear advantage over Belliang, so they could afford to deploy Baltrachers against her.
If the situation ever became nothing more than evenly matched, like the Battle of Bertagne Forest, the 'Star of Summer' would break through the Imperial ranks and unleash a massacre.
The official tally of casualties inflicted by the 'Star of Summer' was thirteen Baltrachers, nineteen officers, and about three hundred soldiers.
It was an unbelievable amount of destruction wrought by a single human being.
It was almost as if an entire regiment had been wiped out.
Currently, the Imperial Army's reward for killing the 'Star of Summer' amounted to a staggering 150,000 Deck, along with a medal, a special promotion, and countless other incentives.
Even a regular soldier who managed to kill the 'Star of Summer' could be made a hereditary noble for their accomplishment.
Because of this, many were desperate to kill the 'Star of Summer'—but only those who had never actually faced her.
Those who had come face-to-face with the 'Star of Summer' and survived were all terrified at the mere thought of encountering her again.
She just didn't seem like someone you could possibly kill.
"Try not to get too worked up. The Belliang Army won't attack us. In fact, they might already be pulling back."
Ernest tried to ignore the whispers about the 'Star of Summer' as he encouraged the new Platoon Leaders, Billim and Simon.
"As I'm sure you both learned at the Military Academy, if the 6th and 7th Divisions manage to break through the forest and seize control of the plain, we'll be able to cut off the supply lines for the Belliang Army in front of us. If the Belliang commanders have any sense, the moment they suspect what's happening, they'll retreat right away."
"That would be for the best, but…"
Billim, still unsettled by the lingering stench of rotting corpses and the stains of blood in the trenches, glanced around nervously, as if he wanted nothing more than to run away.
...
On the other hand, Simon didn't seem bothered at all.
He hadn't really looked tense from the beginning.
He was simply doing his best to walk among his squad of new recruits, who were shivering with nerves, quietly whispering a few words to try and reassure them.
The members of the 3rd Platoon seemed a little afraid of Simon.
He seemed to prefer controlling his subordinates through fear and authority rather than having them follow him out of trust and respect, and for the unruly 3rd Platoon, this approach was actually well-suited for the short term.
"Don't worry so much, Platoon Leader. If Captain Fox says so, we'll be fine."
"Sergeant Ralf, that's disrespectful to your superior."
"Heheh. I meant it as a compliment—Captain Fox in the best sense."
"You've learned all the wrong things from Sergeant Gustav."
"That wasn't my doing."
Meanwhile, the 2nd Platoon, with their experienced NCOs and soldiers who had been through a lot with Ernest, instead found themselves reassuring Billim, who was fretting over things.
Billim, who was a bit reserved but sociable, seemed like a perfect fit for the 2nd Platoon as they were now.
To put it another way, thanks to the strength of its NCOs, the 2nd Platoon didn't actually need a Platoon Leader all that badly, so Billim's hands-off leadership style was exactly what they needed.
At any rate, the 5th Division spent the morning simply waiting in the forest.
As Ernest had predicted, just experiencing this tense situation provided good training for the new recruits, and nothing like an enemy attack happened.
"The enemy's pulling back!"
"Yeah!"
And before it was even noon, the Belliang Army blocking the path of the 5th Division began to beat a hasty retreat.
"This is the perfect chance to hit the enemy from behind as they withdraw!"
"Yes! If we attack now, we can inflict more losses on those bastards!"
No real soldier could just sit by and watch such an opportunity go by.
They should have rushed in right away, grabbed the retreating enemy by the scruff of the neck, knocked them down, and crushed them to death.
There's no moment as vulnerable as during a retreat.
Anyone who knows anything about tactics would never let this pass them by.
"There's no reason to fight. Let them go."
But Levin, the 13th Regiment Commander, had no intention at all of attacking the retreating enemy. Even when the 14th and 15th Regiments sent couriers proposing a joint attack, Levin simply refused to meet with them. He pretended to be busy and ignored them completely. In the end, the 14th and 15th Regiments also gave up the attack, left with no choice but to watch the enemy retreat safely before their very eyes.
An order to attack finally came down from the 5th Division, but by then, the enemy had already completed their withdrawal. Judging by how quickly they moved, it seemed Belliang had made all necessary preparations and was just waiting for the right moment.
If they had attacked while the enemy was retreating, they might have fallen into a trap.
Still, even if there was a risk, the tempting sight of the enemy's exposed rear during their retreat was almost impossible to resist.
Above all, the Belliang artillerymen, struggling to move their deployed guns, looked like easy prey. Letting them go like that—it was so regretful, it made one's stomach churn.
"What a pitiful coward..."
Lieutenant Colonel Bailey Hoffman, the 1st Battalion Commander, was so furious that even his beard was trembling.
All he could think was that because his former junior, now his superior, Colonel Levin Ort, had held him back, they'd missed a golden opportunity.
The dizziness was so bad he could barely walk straight.
"To just let them slip away like that..."
Robert was just as angry.
It was all because of Jonas's death.
"Letting them go is the right thing to do."
But Ernest wasn't consumed by the desire for revenge.
He was reading the situation with cold, calm clarity.
"From here on, every battle is pointless. No matter how many times we fight and win, no matter how many of them we kill, it won't matter. The moment the Imperial Army marched out onto the plain, the war was already over."
"But! Those bastards killed Jonas!"
Despite Ernest's words, Robert's face burned red, his hands trembling with rage as revenge burned inside him. Ernest stared steadily at Robert and slowly spoke again.
"Really?"
"...."
"Robert, did they really kill Jonas?"
Robert was about to shout, "Yes!" but when he met his friend's sorrowful eyes, he found he couldn't say it.
Technically, it was the Belliang artillerymen who killed Jonas. But just like them, the Belliang artillerymen were only one of countless men dragged into this battlefield, fighting and dying.
At its core, the one who drove Jonas to the edge of the cliff was The Emperor, Walter Ulrich Mihahil, and it was the officers of the Empire who kicked him off.
The Belliang Army merely collided with Jonas as he was falling from the cliff.
"Well, that's true, but still, how could I just…."
Robert knew it too.
But he just couldn't draw the same cold, clear line that Ernest had.
"I'm not telling you to forgive them. That's not my place to say. I'm just telling you not to lose sight of what really matters, Robert."
"...."
"And besides, how dare you talk back to your all-mighty Company Commander? Stand at attention and listen closely to the seven reasons you must serve and worship your great Company Commander, Second Lieutenant Jitman."
"Damn it… Fine, you're right. You're right about everything…"
"Regardless of whether I'm right or not, you still need to hear this."
"Stop! Please! I'm about to cry!"
As thoughts of Yurgen came to mind after Jonas's death, Robert actually looked close to tears as he huffed and gave Ernest a rough shove.
"Assaulting a superior officer—honestly, you're really something else. I'll let it slide, but you're in charge of writing the training plan and the report."
"Ugh, my tears just dried up."
At Ernest's terrifying joke, Robert's tears vanished instantly.
Sniffling quietly, he shifted his focus back to watching for the enemy with the 1st Platoon.
"It's hard to believe the Company Commander is the same age as us."
Lowering his voice, Billim whispered this to Simon.
Just now, Ernest had seemed like a veteran officer who'd been through everything.
If you didn't know better, you'd think he was a seasoned Captain pushing thirty.
"Ranks and positions in the military aren't determined by age."
"No, I know that… Never mind."
Billim was about to reply to Simon's cold remark but decided to let it go.
Communicating smoothly with Simon was nearly impossible.
He was blunt, only said what he wanted, barely cared about those around him, and had no interest in social interaction.
If he wasn't so competent, people probably would've beaten him to tears out of sheer annoyance—and then hit him again just for good measure.
In any case, the Belliang Army had completely withdrawn, and the 5th Division finally crept out of the forest to occupy the artillery outpost Belliang had built.
"They definitely know what they're doing."
Looking over the artillery position, Ernest realized that Belliang had been training and developing their artillery for quite some time. Much of what he saw matched the artillery operation manuals he'd studied at the Imperial Military Academy.
"So… what happens now?"
Robert murmured, staring blankly across the vast Belliang plains Ernest also murmured as he gazed out at the open landscape.
"First, we need to make a road through the forest."
"Ugh. More labor?"
"That's the only way carts or cars can get through. Would you rather we walk across Belliang on foot when we have vehicles? And what about supplies?"
"Yeah, yeah. Dig the ground, chop down trees. Is this really what soldiers do?"
"For a while, we'll just be logging and training. At least training is what soldiers are supposed to do."
"Well… At least we won't have to wield the axes ourselves, so that's a relief."
"I wouldn't be so sure..."
As Robert said, it wasn't really the officers' job to go out and chop wood.
But training wouldn't be easy, either.
There was always a chance of combat breaking out in the morning, but Lieutenant Colonel Bailey Hoffman, the 1st Battalion Commander, had still scheduled training for the afternoon.
There was no point even talking about how brutal his training sessions could be.
Above all, now that the rainy season is over, summer will soon be here.
The hellish spring is finally coming to an end.
And the coming summer would be unbearably hot.