episode_0073

The third day began refreshingly with digging the trenches that had been dug on the first day.

It’s not summer, but in the middle of winter, digging out dirt with only human power without heavy equipment is not something that can be done in one day, so we dig trenches throughout the training period, take a break, and then move on to other schedules… and so on. there is.

A hole large enough for a small plant to take root can be created with just a trowel.

However, even a person without military experience can easily remember that it would not be easy to build a road wide enough for hundreds or thousands of people to carry firearms such as rifles or machine guns.

I straightened my lower back and thought as I wiped the sweat from my forehead.

‘Whoa~ fuck! Before, I just thought in my head that military life would be difficult, but I never actually experienced it… Now that I’ve actually done it, I think I understand why people who have served in the military have always said that the military these days is not even the military.’

Elysia and I covered our entire bodies with artifacts and buffs to properly demonstrate what a ‘human forklift’ is, but this would not apply to most Korean men who were born with average physical strength and were taken to the military for the crime of being a man.

He was trapped in the military for a year and a half (2020s) to 3 years (during the military regime) and went around like this. He somehow managed to come out alive, but he gained nothing other than a discharge certificate and honestly admits that the time he wasted in the military was meaningless. It is so unfair that we naturally look for logic that can justify it.

‘Actually, I didn’t hate military life. Although some seniors and executives disagreed, the life devoted to protecting the country was by no means a waste of time.’

Once you have completed the logic to justify the time you devoted to the military, your hatred toward the Ministry of National Defense and the Military Manpower Administration, which dragged you in, tormented you, and did not give you a single penny of compensation, will fade, and you will be able to see people serving in the military who have changed from before after you were discharged. It would be easy to look at it as an unpleasant time.

‘uh? I’ve worked so hard, why are you so lazy? These days, the military is going backwards! ‘Roll back again!’

To put it more simply, it’s a spicy version of Stockholm Syndrome.

Stockholm Syndrome is a phenomenon that can only be found when hostage takers treat hostages ‘gentlemanly’, but in the case of Korean military veterans, they tend to talk about ‘the military these days’ even though they did not receive particularly gentlemanly treatment from the Ministry of Defense.

While many things in society have changed in the decades since liberation, I think it is too much to argue that the military should remain in the same situation as the Ssang8 Years, when hundreds of people were dying even though it was not a war situation. This must be proof that this is shit.

‘All those who served in the military were so narrow-minded that they couldn’t have said things like military pride or anything like that. These days, when they see soldiers staying out or going out, there are many men who don’t criticize the military and say it’s not even the military, but buy them a meal, saying they work hard to protect the country.’

‘Before considering the mentality of those who served in the military, it is the poor treatment of soldiers that triggers compensation psychology. Furthermore, it should be seen as the fundamental cause of the conflict between those who have completed their military service and those who have not yet completed their military service and who are destined to be taken into the military one day.’

‘If the Ministry of National Defense had provided sufficient compensation to those discharged from military service, and had taken measures to prevent any soldiers from dying unjustly, the story might have been different. But you don’t do it, do you?’

Our Dear Father, His Excellency the President, also emphasized the treatment of soldiers through his teaching that ‘even a victorious army must be able to think of its dead soldiers.’ Unless we keep in mind this truth, which even authoritarian countries in the 20th century knew, we will not be able to live in the 21st century. The tragedy of the Korean military, the military of a democratic country, will continue without end.

After digging all the trenches, there was time for squad battles. The idea is to form a squad with members who have acted together so far and engage in a mock battle (even though it is said to use live ammunition) at a training ground where everything is prepared in advance. As you suddenly take over as squad leader, it is easy to suggest tactics to the members. lost.

“Out of all of us, the only one who can be the squad leader is Paula… right? You ran wild like that on the mountain yesterday too. If it’s studying with a textbook and a pencil, it might be okay, but if it’s a battle where you hit your body, the person with the best physical strength should be the squad leader.”

“Now that I think about it, doesn’t Paula study well? You said you got a perfect score on your written exam during the entrance exam. A squad leader who is not only physically strong, but also intelligent! It’s perfect!”

“If you are a commander, not just a soldier, you must have both a good body and a good head.”

“I agree too!”

As the other group members were getting lucky and Elysia, who was watching, was driving the wedge, I stayed quiet and took over the role of squad leader, and came up with the following strategy.

First of all, considering that if the squad leader is judged to be eliminated, the entire squad is defeated, instead of standing at the front line, some of the remaining team members take on the role of tankers and cover me while I basically use my high mobility even without a buff to keep the opponent in check. .

Even if you don’t think about the problem of dealing with the defeat of the entire squad, the reason why I can’t step up to the front is clear.

I have a shitty trait, so if I have to deal with a girl regardless of my stats, my whole body will lose all my strength and I’ll collapse without even being able to resist, so of course my good score will go by the wayside, right?

Next, when I was researching various weapons in Free’s artificial space, Elysiana received special training from Hanna and learned some combat-related magic. One team member is said to have known how to use long-distance attack magic even before entering school, and the personnel who will cover them. placed at the rear.

The fact that ADCs should not be placed in the front line is the same whether in games or in reality.

‘Training is just training, so you can’t hurt your classmates, so it would have been difficult to adopt the tactic of actively using attack magic if there weren’t any protective measures in place, but the high-ranking magicians working at the military academy fired several live bullets into the head. I heard that it casts a protection spell that can nullify the impact of being hit or having your limbs torn off by an attack spell…’

Lastly, even if it is not a city battle situation, taking advantage of the fact that there is good cover to hide in various parts of the training ground and good points to draw the opponent in for a concentrated attack, the team members in charge of confronting the opponent at the front are encouraged to hide and concentrate without being attacked as much as possible. Lure to the point of attack.

“Both of us and them have just entered the military academy and are full of energy, so if we make them think, ‘If we push a little harder, I think we can get a victory verdict,’ they will be dragged into a trap. You will be lured in without even realizing it exists.”

“You mean that we win if we make the opponent’s judgment become clouded by being distracted by chasing us, and as a result, we target the moment when the opponent is most vulnerable and pour out magic attacks and bullets?”

“That’s it.”

The mock battle that took place after the tactical discussion session went as I expected.

As the inexperienced opponent continued to move backwards while hiding behind cover rather than actively returning fire, he followed along very well, perhaps not even thinking about the possibility that this could be a trap.

Even if there was a smart person on the other side who figured out that this was a trap, we said, ‘If you push a little harder, you’ll win, but you’re leaving this out? He’s acting obnoxiously like, ‘What?’ and I, who can run the fastest out of all of us, are annoying the others by running around, so there’s probably nothing I can do.

Just as no one can sleep without paying attention to a mosquito flying around and sucking blood in various places, the soldiers are constantly exposed to the checks of long-distance attackers and their fever rises. A tactic aimed at making it easier to lose one’s reason and make a mindless assault.

In the end, the opposing team reached a narrow street where two strong adults could barely walk side by side, shoulder to shoulder, and were all eliminated after receiving concentrated attacks from our rear standby team and the front line attack team, which had switched from defensive to offensive, and did not expect much from the freshmen. I was able to receive good reviews from the instructors there.

“Since they are now 20 years old, I thought they would scream and charge without looking back… It seems they didn’t fall asleep during the tactical training class. That’s a great attitude.”

After the sun set, I climbed up the mountain I had wandered around a lot yesterday and had time to experience how difficult night combat is. Thanks to the infrared sensors of the detection device I had brought with me, I was able to wear night vision goggles like those used by 21st century U.S. special forces. I was able to move as smoothly as I could.

This cold weather training did not include no-sleep training, so instead of spending a long time in the mountains, I was able to go back and sleep in the tent pitched on the flat ground.

On the fourth day, we participated in a squad battle against instructors and senior cadets. On the fifth day, we received training on how to respond to injuries during combat and experienced a chemical, biological, and radiological situation. On the sixth day, we raised a ring-shaped barbed wire fence over the completed trench. By deploying machine guns, it was possible to create a plausible defensive position.

On the last day… that is, even on Sunday (even the Lord created the world in six days and rested on the seventh day!), we all had to shed blood, sweat, and tears. It’s a full military march, march!

Is there any reason to abandon good tools like trucks and tanks and have to walk tens of kilometers on foot? Even if you want to, what can you do? If I’m going to crack it, I’m going to crack it.

‘Because I’m doing this, I’m trying to understand the feelings of the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty hundreds of years ago, not the Korean soldiers of the 21st century. At that time, when Emperor Sui Yang invaded Goguryeo, he made each soldier carry dozens of kilograms of supplies, so he secretly threw away little by little on the way.’

As the march neared its end, the soles of our feet were on fire and the joints of our bodies were creaking, but we all managed to hold on with the thought that today was the last day.

When all the training schedules were over and it was the last night spent in a tent instead of a dormitory, there were some people who had strengthened their friendship while going through hardships together, but instead of saying, ‘I am absolutely right and you are wrong,’ they said, ‘I can’t believe that a low-level torturer like you exists in this world. ‘There were also people who quarreled and spewed out harsh words.

Fortunately, the group I led as the squad leader was able to end in a more harmonious atmosphere than before without any such incident.

“…Do you really think this is the end, Paula?”

“Eh, Elysia…? Now, wait a minute… This isn’t a lodging, it’s a tent…!”

I will correct it. The rest of the group concluded their training schedule and left for dreamland, but Elysia and I still had schedules left.

As I watched Elysia snuggling closer to me with an evil smile on my face, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep comfortably tonight…