chapter_0036

35 – Let’s Hear Your Opinion

35 – Let’s Hear Your Opinion

Having led the prisoners to the division headquarters at the outpost, Daniel sent the wounded soldiers to the medical unit and unpacked his belongings.

After catching his breath, Daniel wanted to have a shot of whiskey, an officer’s ration, to relieve the fatigue accumulated in his body, but the timing wasn’t right.

“Captain Daniel Steiner? The division commander is calling for you.”

Without a moment to rest, Daniel nodded and followed the division commander’s adjutant to the temporary operations headquarters.

The exterior was intact, but inside, stone debris and wood fragments were scattered along the hallway.

It was a far cry from the splendid and tidy corridors of the staff headquarters, which resembled a hotel.

‘Well, we did drive out the kingdom’s forces that were originally here and occupied the building…’

He couldn’t complain about the lack of cleaning.

Demanding cleanliness on a battlefield where bullets were raining down was insane.

As Daniel walked through the temporary operations headquarters, making a few mental notes, he arrived at the operations command post on the third floor.

The adjutant knocked to announce Daniel’s arrival, and a voice from inside told them to enter.

The adjutant nodded once and opened the door, and Daniel could see Major General Feldeham sitting at the head of the table beyond the door.

Feldeham, whose large frame made the wide table look small, was looking at Daniel with his thick eyebrows raised.

He was intimidating in himself, and besides Feldeham, numerous high-ranking officers were lined up at the table.

The lowest-ranking officer among them was a major.

It was no exaggeration to say that all the leading figures within the division headquarters were gathered there.

Daniel felt a sense of suffocation.

Heinrich, who caught his eye, subtly raised his hand in greeting, but Daniel found it uncomfortable.

Daniel sighed inwardly, stepped into the command post, and gave a sharp salute.

“Sir! I heard you summoned me!”

Feldeham chuckled softly and returned the salute.

“Yes. I called you in to cross-verify whether the radioman’s report was accurate. According to the report, you attacked an enemy supply battalion, killing 135 and capturing 192. Is that correct?”

Daniel changed to a parade rest stance, looking straight ahead.

“It was just luck.”

“Spare me the modesty. There are many aspects that cannot be explained by luck. More importantly, Captain Daniel Steiner, have you discovered anything about the enemy’s supply route?”

Supply route? He had simply intercepted the supply battalion in the middle, but he didn’t know the route itself.

“I’m sorry, sir. I don’t know the route.”

“What is the possibility of finding out by interrogating the battalion commander of the supply battalion you captured?”

“After talking to him, he seems to be a man of strong will. I doubt he would divulge any information even under intense torture.”

Mutterings were heard from various places in response to Daniel’s answer.

In a situation where everyone was desperate to find out the enemy’s supply route, Daniel’s answer was disappointing.

However, no one there dared to criticize Daniel.

His achievements were so brilliant that they could not be overshadowed by a few disappointing words.

“I like your honesty. You’re much better than the other staff officers who are all talk.”

Feldeham looked around the people at the table and then looked back at Daniel.

“Then, Captain Daniel, tell me what you think the enemy’s supply route is. It doesn’t matter if it’s just a guess. I want to keep all possibilities open.”

All eyes in the room were focused on Daniel.

In that heavy silence, Daniel thought.

‘Wait a minute. If I say something stupid here…’

He could not only disappoint the division commander but also make a bad impression on all the field grade officers present.

Wasn’t this a golden opportunity to send his performance evaluation plummeting?

There wouldn’t be a better opportunity than this. Daniel took a deep breath and blurted out.

“Underground tunnels… that is, tunnels.”

The command post buzzed with murmurs at the mention of underground tunnels as the enemy’s supply route.

A colonel, who appeared to be a regimental commander, frowned and said.

“Listen, Captain Daniel. Isn’t that a bit of an exaggeration? The distance from the point where you attacked the supply battalion to Nordia is about 58 kilometers. Are you saying that such a long tunnel exists?”

They seemed to think that even if there were underground tunnels, it was impossible for them to be that long.

If they knew that Vietnamese soldiers had created underground tunnels spanning 250 kilometers, they would probably faint.

But to those who had never experienced the Vietnam War, ultra-long-distance underground tunnels were beyond unfamiliar; they were in the realm of the unknown.

“Logically speaking, it’s hard to believe that an underground tunnel of 58 kilometers exists!”

“But the enemies are receiving supplies without any naval or air support. They’re breaking through our solid encirclement! Underground tunnels would explain everything!”

“No matter how solid the encirclement is, there are bound to be gaps. It’s more realistic to assume they’re traveling through those gaps.”

The officers at the table began to argue.

Daniel, who had unintentionally stirred up the fight, could only awkwardly remain silent.

As the voices gradually grew louder, Feldeham raised his hand to stop them.

“Enough. Let’s hear more from Captain Daniel. Do you have a reason to be so sure that the enemy’s supply route is an underground tunnel?”

He didn’t. But he could make one up if he wanted to.

“The enemies were all lightly armed. It was as if they didn’t expect to encounter any enemies. If they were breaking through the encirclement to supply, there should have been heavily armed soldiers.”

“That’s not a reason.”

“That’s right. But all the lightly armed enemies were wearing portable flashlights. As if they wanted to pass through the dark places more quickly.”

Flashlights? It wasn’t strange for soldiers to carry portable flashlights, but portable flashlights were not part of the kingdom’s army’s basic supply unit uniform.

“Hmm.”

Feldeham, feeling puzzled, tapped the table, and Daniel said.

“If the enemies are using underground tunnels to supply, you must order a search operation immediately. This is a clear opportunity.”

“Why do you think so?”

“After subduing the supply battalion and examining the unit, I found that they had radios, but all the batteries had been removed. It seems they did this to avoid eavesdropping.”

Everyone there knew that the Imperial Intelligence Agency had taken control of the kingdom’s army’s communications.

They had also succeeded in perfectly deciphering the kingdom’s army’s ciphers, so the kingdom’s army was currently extremely reluctant to communicate.

Then why was this an opportunity? After thinking about it, Feldeham had a vague realization.

‘The enemies’ supply route… could become our invasion route!’

On the battlefield, all sorts of variables existed, so it was common for supplies to be delayed by a day or two.

In some cases, supplies were delayed by as much as a week.

Since the supply battalion was reluctant to communicate, the Nordia Armored Division would only know from the logistics headquarters that ‘supply support has departed’.

That meant they wouldn’t know that the supply battalion had been attacked by the enemy.

If they used this gap to find the underground tunnel, send the Magic Mobile Corps brigade, and march the remaining division’s entire force towards Nordia?

‘…It’s a capture!’

It was as if he could see the scene of the solid Nordia being captured so easily unfolding before his eyes.

The Nordia Armored Division, exposed to enemy attacks from both inside and outside, would surely surrender without putting up a proper resistance.

Feldeham shuddered at the truly devilish tactic.

Feldeham, who was trembling with excitement, soon regained his composure.

‘The tactic is perfect. But this is a matter of possibility.’

It meant that this tactic could only be realized if everything Daniel Steiner said was true.

Frankly, he couldn’t completely trust the words of a staff officer who was only a captain.

‘But…’

It was worth taking a gamble on.

“…Alright. Captain Daniel Steiner. I’ll trust your words for once. I’ll order all available personnel, including the search battalion, to thoroughly search the area near where the enemy supply battalion was located.”

“I’m honored to have earned your trust, sir.”

Daniel said seriously, but he was smiling inwardly.

‘Underground tunnels? That’s ridiculous.’

To be honest, Daniel shared the same opinion as most of the officers at the table.

It was not logical to supply using ultra-long-distance underground tunnels. It was clearly illogical.

It was more realistic to assume that there was a hole somewhere in the encirclement and that the enemy was using it to supply by land.

‘Even if there were underground tunnels…’

Unless the kingdom’s army was stupid, they would have hidden them thoroughly, so it wouldn’t be easy to find them.

‘As a result, I’ll be the main culprit in causing confusion for the Imperial Army…’

His performance evaluation would plummet, and he would easily earn the division commander’s hatred.

Then he would be able to cover up the ‘competence’ he had gained so far with ‘incompetence’.

Daniel smiled slightly at the thought that he might be able to take off his uniform if he was lucky.

Feldeham, who saw that, gasped.

‘He’s smiling? Is he that confident in the plan he’s put forward?’

It was common for competent staff officers to be anxious about their predictions being wrong, but Daniel was smiling instead.

Even while discussing the enemy’s massacre that would unfold if the operation succeeded.

Thanks to that, Feldeham felt that his impression of Daniel had completely changed.

‘An elite staff officer from headquarters? A hero of the Imperial City?’

Those were ridiculous nicknames.

Feldeham stared at Daniel and gave a fierce smile.

In Feldeham’s eyes, Daniel Steiner was a fine warrior who was hungry for blood.

*

Late at night.

The search battalion under the division headquarters.

“Are there really underground tunnels nearby?”

“I don’t know. I have to do it because they told me to. I don’t really believe it, but…”

The search battalion soldiers grumbled as they moved.

They had been wandering around the area for six hours already because the headquarters had suddenly ordered them to search the area where the enemy supply battalion had been captured.

But they were having a hard time finding even burrows dug by animals, let alone underground tunnels.

Just when they were wondering how long they would have to do this stupid thing,

Thud…

The sound of stepping on a steel plate instead of the ground tickled their ears.

Wondering what it was, they looked down, but they couldn’t tell what they had stepped on because it was covered with branches and leaves.

“What’s wrong? Why did you stop?”

“No, didn’t you hear that just now? I think I stepped on something. Is it a, is it a landmine?”

“What? Shit! Wait a minute. Don’t take your foot off!”

The soldier with the gun slung behind his back knelt down and cleared the branches and leaves around his comrade’s foot.

What was revealed was not a landmine but a huge steel door.

The soldiers, who had been stunned for a moment, made eye contact and then stepped back.

“Could this be…”

In the silence, the two men gathered their opinions and grabbed the handle protruding from the steel door and tried to open it.

Then a dark interior unfolded.

“Flashlight. Turn on the flashlight.”

The soldier nodded and raised his flashlight and pressed the power button.

Click─

The light spread out in a fan shape, illuminating the stairs leading underground.

At the same time, the soldiers froze in shock.

There was no room for doubt.

“This is…”

It was the kingdom’s army’s underground tunnel that the division headquarters had told them to find.

Author’s Note

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