chapter_0038

37 – The Captain Always Has a Plan

37 – The Captain Always Has a Plan

A soldier must fight once given an order.

Since I was included in that category of ‘soldiers,’ I could not refuse the command.

In the end, I had no choice but to lead my company, which had arrived late, and march toward the enemy lines as a follow-up unit for the brigade.

As I advanced through the dark tunnel, relying on my flashlight, I discovered a ceiling from which light was seeping. When I emerged through it, I found the enemy’s supply base laid out before me.

It was a massive warehouse piled high with various supplies, but the kingdom soldiers guarding it were all sprawled out, cold corpses with bullets embedded in their bodies.

It seemed to be the work of the brigade soldiers who had entered first.

Frowning at the stench of blood, the officers and soldiers of my company began to arrive one by one.

“Wow. What a splendid festival they’ve thrown,” said Lieutenant Mckell, the first to speak.

I nodded vaguely and stepped outside through the wide-open doors of the warehouse.

Instead of the dim light of the tunnel, the vast sunlight illuminated everything around me.

A quick glance around revealed that there was little difference from inside the warehouse.

The soldiers of the allied forces guarding the base were all corpses as well.

In the meantime, the bodies of the imperial soldiers were hardly visible.

Even if it was a surprise attack, I never expected such a disparity in skill.

The kingdom soldiers were almost pitiable.

As I openly clicked my tongue, a loud ‘bang!’ echoed from not far away.

Turning my head, I saw the city center being bombarded.

Fortunately, it wasn’t indiscriminate shelling.

They were focusing their attacks solely on the enemy military bases to avoid civilian casualties.

This was proof that the current empire was adhering to international law during wartime.

However, it was uncertain whether the imperial soldiers were also following international law.

Beyond the open door of the supply base, I could see the imperial soldiers slaughtering the kingdom’s soldiers.

In several buildings, windows shattered as kingdom soldiers fell.

Even in urban combat, they were suppressing the enemy with near perfection.

‘Is this what they call the elite of the empire, the Magic Mobile Corps…?’

Just as I was inwardly admiring, a woman with light brown hair stopped beside me.

It was Frien.

“What a horrific sight,” she said.

I was surprised to hear her speak so rightly and turned to see her in a posture of reverence, as if praying to God.

“They must have been human once. How could they not know that if you join hands with beasts, you become a beast yourself? They deserve divine punishment, but their mistakes are truly sad.”

Right. It was unlike her to speak so wisely.

As I looked at Frien with a hint of disdain, Lieutenant Mckell spoke up again.

“I thought it would be an easy victory after hearing the outline of the operation, but I never imagined it would be this overwhelming. I even feel guilty. It feels like we’re committing violence against children.”

Mckell’s joke made Sergeant Glendy burst into laughter.

“What a perfect analogy! And to think you considered using the enemy’s supply route to infiltrate, it seems our company commander can see several moves ahead on the battlefield!”

“…I was just lucky.”

“Hahaha! With such humility, I can’t help but respect you. So, are we joining the brigade’s soldiers now?”

Is he crazy? Going to fight in the middle of enemy lines where the shelling is raging?

I turned to see his face filled with anticipation, as if he genuinely meant it.

Not just Sergeant Glendy, but the other officers and soldiers also had expressions that showed they were itching to fight right away.

Even Lucy, who maintained her usual expressionless demeanor, seemed normal in comparison.

‘They really are war maniacs…’

It sent chills down my spine.

While everyone seemed eager for battle, I regrettably had no intention of fulfilling their requests.

“We’re heading to the coast.”

The coast? Frien opened her mouth as if she didn’t understand.

“Captain Daniel? With our feint attack, aren’t all the enemies concentrated on the front lines or in the city center? The coast is currently filled with civilians evacuating.”

“…Are you suggesting we attack civilians?”

What does she think I am to ask such a question?

The reason for heading to the coast was simply that I judged there would be the fewest enemies there.

If we couldn’t avoid combat anyway, choosing the area with the least engagement would increase our chances of survival.

Of course, I knew that explaining this might lead to all sorts of accusations from these unreasonable war maniacs, so I decided to gloss over it.

“I have a plan, so just follow me without any complaints.”

In truth, I had no plan.

I merely used the word ‘plan’ as a magical term to quell the dissatisfaction of my troops.

As expected, the officers, including Frien, saluted me in acknowledgment.

‘Good.’

Now, I could leave the war to the brigade’s soldiers and just kill time by watching the sea at the coast.

“All troops, move to the coast immediately.”

I calmly issued the command while hiding my true intentions and began to walk.

–

“The front line… has been breached!”

“We’ve lost contact with the central forces in the city!”

The news of defeat reached the ears of the kingdom’s armored division commander, Rapunai, as he fled.

He had anticipated this to some extent, but he never expected the city to fall so rapidly.

Grinding his teeth, Rapunai glared at the radio operator and said, “Order them to hold their positions as best as they can against the imperial forces’ attack.”

“But that would lead to heavy casualties among our troops…”

“That’s an order! Don’t you understand that we need to buy time to escape for another chance!?”

Soldiers could be conscripted at any time, but losing the military leadership would make it difficult to fill the vacancies, which was Rapunai’s belief.

However, that belief was also a kind of defense mechanism formed to justify his own retreat from the battlefield in times of crisis.

Boom—

The ground shook from the shelling, causing Rapunai to stagger.

Just as he was about to fall, he managed to regain his balance and continued walking.

“Damn it! How much longer do we have to go!?”

As Rapunai pressed, an officer of the junior ranks beside him spoke up.

“We’ll reach the rendezvous point soon if we just turn down this alley! The evacuation ship is disguised as a fishing boat, so it should be safe from the imperial forces’ attack.”

Nodding at the officer’s calm explanation, Rapunai felt reassured.

The imperial forces were adhering to international law during wartime unless in special cases.

That meant they wouldn’t attack civilians, and if they joined the evacuation line disguised as fishing boats, they could escape easily.

“But Commander, are you really going to evacuate?”

The kingdom’s forces, having lost their leadership, were like a candle in the wind.

The officer said this out of concern, but Rapunai was only angry.

“At the point of being surrounded, we have already lost the war! The only thing keeping us alive was the supply line, and they used that against us! Do you think we have a chance!?”

“There is no chance, but we are prepared to fight to the death…”

“Stop talking nonsense! Not retreating from a losing battlefield is the act of a complete fool!”

Though the soldiers were not included in Rapunai’s retreat.

“…Understood.”

Thinking he couldn’t change the commander’s mind, the officer fell silent.

After glaring at the officer once, Rapunai turned into the alley and could see the coastline unfolding beyond it.

Just a little further, and they could board the evacuation ship.

Thinking they were finally safe, Rapunai and his men froze as soon as they stepped out of the alley.

“Huh?”

They had encountered the imperial army clad in black uniforms.

There were about 200 imperial soldiers.

On the chest of the imperial officer leading them, the National Virtue Medal gleamed brilliantly in the sunlight.

Seeing that, Rapunai swallowed hard.

The elite troops he had brought for protection numbered no more than 50.

He had worried that increasing their numbers would raise the chances of being spotted by the enemy.

In any case, if they engaged in battle now, they would only meet a pointless death.

‘But…’

How on earth did they set up camp here?

From Rapunai’s perspective, it was absurd since he hadn’t communicated due to concerns about interception.

Daniel, leading his company, felt no differently.

‘…Why is the command of the armored division here?’

As someone who had simply entered the coast to avoid combat, Daniel couldn’t understand.

However, it seemed the soldiers did not share that thought.

Clack—

The imperial soldiers raised their rifles in unison, aiming at the command of the armored division.

Sergeant Glendy also aimed his rifle alongside the soldiers and said, “Commander, was this what you were aiming for with your ‘plan’? I’m beyond admiration at this point; it’s terrifying.”

Daniel felt the same fear.

The thought that he would gain military merit again made him sigh involuntarily, but he couldn’t show it.

“Bind those men.”

Daniel narrowed his eyes sharply at the frozen command of the armored division.

“Anyone who resists can be shot.”

At Daniel’s cold words, the kingdom soldiers lost their will to fight and began to drop their weapons one by one.

They were acknowledging through their actions that Nordia had fallen.