I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy - Chapter 248
EP.248
There are rules of war that have not changed from the past to modern war.
That is, you must never kill an envoy sent by the enemy, no matter who they are or what message they convey.
The reason why the custom of not killing envoys arose is because, no matter how much they fight, there is a need for a means to exchange ‘minimum contact’.
On the continent of Europa where I live, acting as an envoy and killing someone who tries to communicate is considered a greater evil than mass murder of civilians in war.
As a man, if I had enough courage, I, a 4-star captain, could deliver the message and return very safely.
“Well, if the Warsaw guys were so cornered that they couldn’t even think about such a thing, they would have lost their minds and tried to cut down an envoy, a nabal, or a 4-star head if they saw one. “I would never do something like this.”
In addition, if Spiegelman, a Baron of the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, cuts off my head, the Grand Duke of Warsaw will secretly be happy.
In any case, there is a high possibility that he will destroy Baron Spiegelmann as well as the three clans under him in order to avoid getting a very dirty reputation on his hands.
So, if the Baron cares about his life and the lives of his family, he wouldn’t be able to cut off my head.
As I trudged along like that, I remembered the time I had been ripped off by Laura Anya under the pretext of meeting her.
Originally, using a personal relationship to express an opinion to me, my superior, could have been problematic…
Lieutenant General Werner, the deputy commander, said, ‘An exception is made to stop the commander from taking too risky actions,’ and several officers agreed. Thanks to you, it passed without any problems.
While I was wandering around like that, when I arrived near the Reich Imperial Army camp and the Gryfino Castle moat, I stopped.
Then the attention of the soldiers and citizens standing on the castle wall all turned to me.
“That bastard is here again, damn it. “They’re going to tell me to surrender again this time, right?”
“You dirty bastard who destroys the foundation we have barely built and pretends to be good, die! “You son of a bitch!”
“Okay, come and attack me!” “I’ll make sure your grave is here!”
I heard voices warning me with all kinds of evil, but based on my experience of hearing enemy soldiers utter threatening words several times… I
could hear a slight tremor in the voices of the people on the walls of Gryfino Castle.
Their voices are trembling, but the reason they are shouting so loudly is that they are trying to suppress their fear even though they are afraid that we will invade and slaughter them.
So now, with just a little touch, the door to this castle ruled by Baron Spiegelmann could be opened.
“I, Peter Jaeger, commander of the Reich Imperial Army’s Expeditionary Force to the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, express my sincere respect to you who are protecting the walls to the end even in this hopeless situation.”
It may seem funny that the person urging you to surrender praises you for fighting well so far, but
I sincerely want to applaud their courage.
Even though we know that we can occupy that castle if we want, and that after that, all those who attacked that castle with spears and swords will be killed in droves.
This is because overcoming the fear of death and holding on in that castle is absolutely not easy.
So, as a soldier of the empire, you should praise what is worthy of praise, criticize what is worthy of criticism, and use to your best ability what can be exploited.
“But I will ask you again. Do you really think that you can win against our 100,000-strong army by relying on these low walls? “If there are any who are so mistaken, I will let you know as a final tribute to your courage.”
Then I paused for a moment and pointed to a few people.
“You, who are holding a spear, are wearing rags, let alone armor, and an old woman holding a hoe are wearing rags. You, the woman holding a stone, are standing at the front with your blood boiling at the thought of protecting your hometown! Not a single person holding a weapon will leave this city alive. “I, Count Peter von Jaeger, swear that anyone who resists with weapons will only be able to come out as a corpse.”
If you don’t listen to me today and open the castle gates, I’m going to use a catapult and throw stones at you for about two days to advise you to surrender, but then I’ll go back.
When you want to scare someone, you should make them as scared as possible by pulling out a knife and making them feel like they are going to hit their neck at any time.
Only then will the other person be unable to come to their senses and offer up what they want, fearing that a crazy man like me might pull out a sword and attack at any moment.
Then I held out my hand to Vincent, who was pulling a cart with wine barrels next to me, and he handed me a glass filled with wine.
Perhaps because it was drunk right in front of enemy lines, the taste was unusually refreshing and rich.
“You dirty predator! “Are you still a human being?”
“Fuck, fuck!!”
“… I don’t want to die like this, please save me…”
The guy who cries out because he doesn’t want to die, the guy whose only words are swearing, the guy who relies on justice, which is of little value in the current situation.
Showing such diverse reactions means that the atmosphere has slowly become so strong that it is difficult for the officers to control it.
I decided to continue talking, ignoring the officers up there scolding and cajoling the soldiers.
“I just said that I would make the last recommendation, but in fact, there was something I couldn’t say, so I’ll continue to say it. Your homeland, the Grand Duchy of Warsaw, has abandoned you. Otherwise, when a large army of 100,000 is coming, there is no way that a castle with such low walls and only 8,000 soldiers would give an order to gather all the men to defend a castle with only around 30,000 soldiers! Isn’t your country truly trash? “I don’t know if you are a knighted noble, but you are also driving citizen serfs who have no obligation to fight except when they are conscripted to death!”
The reason I point out this fact is to break the last stronghold of the soldiers in that castle.
The nobles in that castle, including the imperial army officers and I, all know that in this situation, this castle will fall before reinforcements arrive.
Nevertheless, when officers and nobles change their affiliation, not only do they lose the privileges they had enjoyed so far, but they have also been indoctrinated to be loyal to the country and the Grand Duke’s family to a degree that borders on brainwashing.
Even if it is an unreasonable order, we have no choice but to follow it.
However, if you tell the commoners and citizens to die for the Archduke who has never seen their face and only rips off their taxes, they will not listen.
Guarding Gryfino Castle would at least instill false hope that the hundreds of thousands of troops led by the Archduke would defeat the Reich Imperial Army led by the evil Peter Jaeger.
“If what I said is a lie, ask the officers you trusted and followed! “When will reinforcements come?”
After saying that, I took another glass of wine from Vincent and drank it.
Meanwhile, at the walls of the castle, numerous soldiers were questioning the officers so harshly that they were on the verge of collapse.
It’s as if he wants to prove that reinforcements are really not coming and that this guy named Peter Yeager is talking nonsense.
“noisy! If you ask any more questions, they’ll think it’s a protest or an attempt to lower morale, and they’ll hit your head! “Go back to your original position immediately!”
“Don’t listen to the enemy! Yuan Yuan will definitely come!”
“Hold on just a little longer, and His Majesty the Archduke of Warsaw will defeat the Reich Army!”
The officers, perhaps because they were afraid of dying, were unable to say things like ‘When will reinforcements arrive’ resolutely and calmly, so their morale plummeted.
When you idiots do things like that, you should act like a man, be evil, and at least lie to them about when reinforcements will come and encourage them to fight till the end.
Even if you’re prepared to die, if you’re so scared of death that you can’t even lie to yourself until the end, who will believe the soldiers under your command?
I said as I took another glass of wine, laughing at those nobles.
“All of you brave loyalists to His Majesty the Archduke of Warsaw will die here, so how could you not pay homage as a knight! So I bring you all the best drink to bid farewell to this world! And one last time, I want to speak directly with your leader, Mayor Spiegelman, so open the door quickly!”
I couldn’t have opened the door after driving it this far…
Immediately the gate opened and Baron Spiegelman carefully came out and spoke.
“Please come in.”
See next episode