I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy

Chapter 17: Opportunity For Promotion (4)

When I let out a loud battle cry, the 70 soldiers following me echoed it back with force.

“Kill them all!”

“The Lieutenant promised us early discharge! One week off our service for each head, hell yeah!”

“Charge! Charge!”

As our soldiers screamed and madly charged at the enemy lines, a barrage of fire arrows and magic spells came flying from our rear.

In the midst of this, the watchtower facing us was completely consumed by fire, killing all the guards inside.

Even the tents inside the enemy camp were ablaze, and we began to hear terrified screams and shouts from within.

“Damn, it’s hot! Who are these bastards?”

“What kind of trick is attacking us in the middle of the night, you ruthless scum!”

“Run, you idiots! We’re all screwed! Ahhh!”

Although we hadn’t reached the enemy lines yet, the screams alone were enough to tell us that the place had become a living hell.

Given the burning watchtower and the resulting chaos, the enemy couldn’t gauge the size of our forces in the dark, and they would think we were at least five to ten times larger.

Upon hearing the reports, the commanders of the Francois Republic would assume that,

‘If the Reich Empire, which is on the brink of surrender, launched a surprise attack, they must’ve prepared a considerable force.’

So they would try to gather a large force to counterattack.

The spy would have already reported to them, and they would have been celebrating their impending victory and had let their guard down, waiting for orders from their commanders.

They’d need some time to gather and organize, especially since they’d already been caught off guard.

An unorganized army was as good as a scarecrow, so…

“Until they regain their senses, they’re our meal! From now on, call me your battalion commander until the end of this operation! I will lead the charge! Attack!”

Hearing this, the soldiers laughed softly even as they charged.

“Long live the battalion commander!”

“Battalion commander, you promised ten enemy heads for an early discharge, right?”

After about 30 seconds of mad running, we broke into the enemy lines, and the disoriented soldiers were visible.

The man who looked like a captain was hastily putting on his uniform while his sword was in his hand. And the junior officers, like lieutenants, were visibly confused and scared, waiting for orders.

The soldiers were in utter chaos. Some were trying to put out the fire, some were looking for weapons, some were hurriedly putting on armor, and some were even drunk.

They looked worse than an army from the Tang dynasty.

Everyone was screaming, filled with terror.

“The captain commands you to calm down! The enemy has the size of a battalion!”

“Move near the colonel’s tent!”nove(l)bi(n.)com

“Put out the fire first, you idiots!”

While some protagonists might philosophize about the misery of war, my job here was to quickly give these guys a merciful death.

Although I was shaking too, as I led just 70 men into a camp of over 9,000, if I showed fear now, it was over for the operation, for my life, and for my men’s lives.

“Attention battalion! The colonel is following us with reinforcements! Grab whatever weapons you find and kill the enemy. If you find oil barrels, break them and light them! We’re here to cut off the division commander’s head today! Do not go after officers below the rank of major! Charge!”

After saying that, I threw my spear and hit a man who looked like a captain, and our soldiers threw their spears, killing enemy soldiers.

As I yelled “Charge!” like a madman, we relentlessly butchered the soldiers of the Francois Republic.

Our soldiers used whatever weapons they could find—swords, spears, crossbows, hammers—to kill the staggering enemy troops.

The enemy soldiers could resist but chose not to. Instead…

“Fighting against a battalion without armor is insane! Retreat, you bastards!”

“Hurry to the colonel’s tent!”

“The path there is on fire, you dumb lieutenant! What did you learn at the Republic Academy?”

Having suffered a senseless charge, the Republican soldiers were basically in disarray, hardly putting up any resistance at all.

I’d love to kill these idiots too, but…

The moment we would stop moving, my unit would be surrounded by the enemy and be killed.

Therefore, for us to survive, we had to cut across the camp of the Francoi Republic to get to the other side.

“Ignore the small stuff and keep moving forward! Let’s decapitate that division commander, I should at least get promoted to lieutenant colonel or colonel! Charge!!!”

The commanders of the demoralized troops and other unit leaders looked at us in disbelief. However, due to the surrounding fires and the ongoing deaths, as well as the uncertainty of the fires spreading to vital places like food and weapon storage, they focused on containment efforts.

Just then, the leader of the 1sy squad joined us with his full force, including two mages.

“Here, you should call me Battalion Commander.”

“As per the Battalion Commander’s orders, we’ve been focusing fire spells like Fireball on the Francois Republic camp. The Francois Republic’s base has turned into a sea of flames.”

It was the perfect timing for them to join us and bring good news, especially when we were already nervous and fatigued going against more than 9,000 soldiers. So I had the feeling of all the stress being washed away from me.

“A sea of flames, truly well done. Now instruct the mages in the rear to keep casting Fireball until they’re almost out of energy. For the soldiers, pick up any weapon you find and stab or throw it while following closely. Falling behind means death.”

“I will carry out the orders.”

Soon after, they were casting Fireballs from behind and decimating the enemy soldiers with the same fervor as arsonists. Sometimes, the mages’ fire spells hit oil drums, causing large flames to burst out and spread in all directions. We killed the enemies in our way with any weapons we could find. They couldn’t even dare resist our newfound ferocity.

“Spare me! Damn it!”

“Hey, there was a call for assembly. Shouldn’t we go?”

“You’re worse than dogs! Did your parents raise you to wage wars like this?!”

In war, the side that could kill even one more person wins, regardless of how dirty or cruel the methods were. And my soldiers seemed to understand this, mocking the enemies who couldn’t even move.

“If you’re unhappy, you should’ve stood guard better, idiots. Kill them all!”

“It’s because your division commander is an idiot. We’ll apologize for him. Sorry, now die.”

In about 30 minutes, we would slaughter the enemy nearly unilaterally. Thinking of the huge reward we’d get for not missing this chance, we pushed the enemies back. Eventually, we reached the enemy’s central command. Although it was empty due to their division commander ordering a retreat, we were able to secure the division flag as proof of our deeds. Then, trumpet and drum sounds announced the arrival of our reinforcements.

Then we all cheered,

“Our reinforcements have arrived!”

“Damn, we survived until the end!”

Waving the Francois Republican flag, I announced,

“The operation was a success! Rest here for 15 minutes and then return to the main force.”