NOVEL NEXT chapter 16
16 – Seeds for the future
“Commander. I am the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division.”
“Come in.”
The door opens, and through it Douglas salutes in moderation.
Receiving that greeting, Commander-in-Chief William offered me a seat next to me.
“How are you?”
“Yes. That’s right.”
It is a greeting shared as a father and son, as well as a greeting shared as a commander and a commander under his command.
After a short conversation, they talked about what they should do in their position.
“How are the current preparations going?”
“Yes, Commander-in-Chief. Currently, the 1st Cavalry Division is reorganized….”
Originally, you could leave it to the subordinate corps commanders to confirm.
That is the duty of the corps commander, and it is right for the commander-in-chief to oversee the whole thing.
But the 1st Cavalry Division is the most important of the various armies of the Empire.
Especially because it is the ‘Imperial Spear’ that can be hit at any time.
For this reason, it was not unreasonable for the commander-in-chief to directly ask about the situation.
“Good. Very good.”
“Thank you. Commander-in-Chief.”
“Yes. As long as it’s good, it would be better if you go sooner than later.”
“….”
Sometimes I reprimand the eldest son for making me explode.
To be honest, it’s a bit frustrating. Why is this handsome guy calling himself an old bachelor?
To the point where I even have a terrible imagination thinking, ‘Does he hate women?’.
“Sorry.”
Douglas has already been swept away by his mother’s storm nagging.
I really hated being caught up in another storm by her father here.
So he decided to quickly change the topic.
“These days, Königssen guys are overly quiet.”
“They eat war and rest. I got sick of it.”
War, truce, war again, halt, peace treaty, conflict, war, truce again, war again.
When we fight, we fight. Outside of that time, he devotes himself to internal affairs and preparations for war.
The Empire and Königsen have been repeating that since long ago.
From as short as 3 years to as long as 10 years, a truly absurd situation where war and peace are mixed.
In the early days, Königsen rushed as if he would destroy the empire at any moment.
And in fact, the Empire was driven to the brink of collapse and only breathed heavily.
The one who appeared at that moment was Joseph Reinhardt. National hero. Commander-in-Chief of the Imperial Army.
With his performance, he defeated Königsen. The roots of ‘union’ were laid down. And the Empire, and Königssen, everyone took a breather while waiting for the next war.
The current commander-in-chief was active in the next war. And again, time passed and now the commander of the 1st Cavalry Division.
The war heroes who broke the heads of their enemies whenever war resumed after a short truce.
Since then, Königssen has continued to remain silent, engaging only intermittently in small skirmishes.
It was like that before, but this time the silence was long. Uneasy, for a very long time.
“The Ministry of Information is making every effort, but nothing seems to have been done yet.”
“The conclusion is one of two things. Really nothing or nothing. Or not-“
“They’re determined and hiding it. There is no gap for information to leak.”
It was Douglas who wondered if that would be possible.
Information is bound to leak. Blocking doesn’t mean blocking.
It is better to distinguish between what should be blocked and what should not be blocked, and flow appropriately.
That way your enemies will get confused and get confused about what to believe and what not to believe.
If they prepare something big, there will be no information like now.
Any sign should be detected, but there isn’t. How tight are you?
“I’m worried. They haven’t been defeated in a while, and maybe it’s because there haven’t been any major battles in years, so everyone is getting relaxed. It shouldn’t be like this.”
“Even maintaining military readiness is a problem. The fatigue of the soldiers must be extreme.”
I’d rather they make a disturbing move, or at least send an envoy.
I was even more anxious because the guys who used to stab the empire with spears whenever they had a chance were quiet.
‘Even if it’s not the case, there are rumors that it’s going to be difficult any longer from inside the empire.’
No matter how much there was a truce or a time of peace along the way, it was almost impossible to restore all of the damaged empire’s capabilities.
Thanks to the healing magic, the damage to human resources was barely relieved.
If it’s not an instant death, if it’s just breathing, there’s a very high chance you’ll be able to save it in the end.
“It’s a pity, but I’ll have to keep my hands open until clear information comes in.”
If the intelligence department can’t do it, we have no choice but to rely on elves and beastmen.
They are experts at sneaking into Königssen and stealing information.
Since they are absolutely lacking in human resources compared to the Empire, they are taking the method of giving away the spoils by winning other battles in this way rather than rotating.
However, the Empire kept requesting that the elves and beastmen, who had excellent fighting skills, go into an all-out war.
The main reason is that only the sons of the empire cannot fight while shedding blood forever.
On the contrary, they were saying that they would help in other ways, saying that the expected damage was severe.
A coalition fighting against a rare giant called Königssen.
However, there is no choice but to have a series of conflicts.
In that situation, if we continue to open our hands as we are now, we will be giving the different races an advantage in the negotiations for mobilization of troops.
“For now, let’s talk about that. I have shared enough work stories with the commanders of each army.”
I have a story I want to tell. So I called my son who was busy.
I even added an order from the commander-in-chief because if I just asked him to come, he would say, “I’m busy with work.”
“Is this really true? It seems like Lihi has finally set his heart on military affairs.”
From now on, I am not asking you as a commander-in-chief or a marshal of the empire, but as a father.
Curiosity and little hope about the second son, who had not been able to know what was going on.
Douglas also responded as a son, not as a subordinate commander.
“It seems clear to me. This time, the Ministry of War released a new army march, but wasn’t there a name called Rihi? I can’t take this off or take it off. He must have made up his mind.”
“Hmm… When I listen to the Ministry of Information and Communication, I understand… I wonder if I’m overthinking it too much.”
Smart-
“Commander-in-chief. May I come in?”
“What is it?”
“I have news to tell you.”
After being given permission to enter, the adjutant carefully steps inside.
Then he politely handed a note to William.
“….”
The adjutant leaves the room and quietly waits for Douglas to finish reading.
The commander-in-chief, who finally confirmed everything written on the note—
“Lehi. I think she looks exactly like my mother.”
“Yes?”
From Douglas’ point of view, he came up with something that might be a little out of the blue.
“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”
“You know your mother. Every time you say you don’t like it, and if you don’t do it again, you feel sad, and you say you’ll never do it, but you’re doing everything. When I propose to your mother….”
“Father. If you hear that story today, you will read it a thousand times.”
I’m not joking, really. I’ve heard the real marriage proposal a thousand times.
My mother said no to marriage proposals. The father who accepted it straight away and was disappointed. Isn’t this the other way?! The mother ran away and belatedly asked to get married….
‘Wait. It’s not important right now.’
Douglas hurriedly shook his head to brush off his thoughts.
“What are you talking about at this time?”
“Look.”
William handed the note to his son.
Receiving it, Douglas slowly examined the contents inside—
“… Is this crazy?”
After a really long time, I uttered a swear word at my younger brother.
It was inevitable. Because the contents of the note are so enormous.
[ Rich Reinhardt. Double faculties hope. Department of Public Administration and Department of Officers ]
Are you insane? No, the Department of Public Administration alone is more than enough to break the head.
If you look around right now, most of them are imperial bureaucrats or corpses walking around.
You’re going to do all the courses for the officer department as well as the public administration department?
“It looks like your brother is very determined to do it right. Heh heh heh.”
“This is no laughing matter, Father. What a hell of a double undergraduate school.”
“Is that so?”
“Yes.”
“Heh heh. What do you think In the end, that guy, Lihi, has to overcome everything.”
That’s something to say so easily, he tried to mutter, but he soon shut his mouth.
As my father said, this is Lihi’s business…. Eh, I don’t know!
It’s a decision he made after making up his own mind, so he’ll take care of it!
*
After Douglas left, he sat down and continued to look at the note.
Faculty of Public Administration. And officer faculty. Looking at these two, there is only one answer.
“Is it a back job?”
Someone will say that if you are a soldier, don’t you fight first?
But I had a different idea. Those who say that are the newbies among newbies.
Those who don’t even know about war are just discussing strategy.
Anyone who properly understands the war will discuss ‘supply’.
And that point, Lihi seemed to have properly grasped it.
“Commander-in-chief. His Excellency Jeon Seung-gong has arrived.”
“Take them inside.”
The door opens and a man in uniform enters.
This is true. A friend who hasn’t changed at all. You’re the same age as me, but how can you think your body is better than my lieutenant’s? Do I have to do something called management?
“Welcome. Jeon Seung-gong.”
“It’s been a while. Commander-in-Chief.”
If you look at the title alone, the successor is higher. There are only three dukes in the empire.
However, it can be seen that this side is at the top in terms of military rank.
When this happens, others will cause conflict, but we were not at all.
Comrades who fought together in the previous Great War. That strong friendship wasn’t going to be shaken by something like that.
“Would you like a cup of tea?”
“I can’t refuse a car that the commander-in-chief personally drives.”
The head of the Imperial Army. And the knight, the spiritual leader of the special warfare force.
The story we share, who can be said to be the reaper of the giants, was nothing special.
“Are you still upset?”
“Don’t talk. It looks like he will die of old age alone.”
The majority of children talk.
The Douglas guy. Hey, your son and daughter are already giving birth to grandchildren and granddaughters. What are you doing?
Even this father wants to hear the voice of her grandfather.
“… Ah. Commander-in-chief. I have a question for you.”
“What is it?”
“Is that promise still valid?”
It’s a promise. What promise are you talking about? She shook her head vigorously.
I have a lot of work, so it’s not easy to remember.
Is there a problem with the warhorse? Did you say that you would support a separate manpower?
“It is not about the military.”
“Then….”
“It’s about children.”
Jeon Seung-gong continues the conversation with a smile on his lips.
“In-law, how are you?”