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Translated By Arcane Translations
Translator: Wjin
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“Thank you, Sergeant Bell.”
“Don’t mention it, it’s just a glass of water.”
I struggled to sit up in bed. According to the military doctor, I had fainted due to overexertion of my already weak body. I’d also heard a frightening warning that continuing like this could cause significant brain damage.
Apparently, no bones were broken, nor was there serious spinal injury, but I was confined to the infirmary for at least a few days.
You… how did you even graduate from the Hero Academy?
Even the doctor who examined me seemed dumbfounded. His slightly bewildered voice kept echoing in my ears.
I gulped down the cold water Bell had brought and looked at Lumia, who was lying in the next bed.
She was sleeping soundly. Lumia, who had been tossing and turning all night due to pain, was finally able to fall asleep after receiving painkillers this morning.
“It’s a relief. That her life isn’t in danger.”
“It would have been a disaster if the bullet had strayed even a little.”
Because I, her rescuer, was also injured, she was practically left unattended for a while. And even after being rescued, we had lost a considerable amount of time moving a distance of about 4 kilometers.
If a bullet fragment had hit an artery, Lumia would have lost her life.
“By the way, how are the follow-up measures proceeding?”
“The army corps of engineers is scheduled to begin repair work on the fortress. All the remaining bandits were executed.”
They were just a band of bandits. They weren’t a regular army subject to the laws of war, and since they had captured the fortress and annihilated the garrison, execution was inevitable.
But the bandits weren’t the problem. The group that had injured Lumia and briefly confronted me – they were clearly the masterminds behind this incident.
“Haven’t we found out anything about those guys?”
“The military police are investigating, but they haven’t told me anything.”
“No leads at all?”
“It seems they interrogated the captured bandits… but I don’t know.”
Considering they were wearing robes and fled as soon as they realized the situation might be prolonged, it was only natural that their identities were difficult to ascertain.
In other words, they had thoroughly prepared for this fortress attack. Even if I had killed one or taken a prisoner at the time, they would have made sure there were no repercussions.
‘They’re 100% agents.’
I knew this type well. The kind of people who carried cyanide capsules in their mouths.
I recalled the situation again.
One of them had called the leader “comrade.” And as far as I knew, only three nations in Hearts of General used the term “comrade.”
The Republic of Polania.
The Autonomous Region of Valoran.
And lastly, the Sovie Empire.
Polania was an ally of Ukraine, so they had no reason to carry out such a radical operation.
And while the Autonomous Region of Valoran wasn’t an ally, would a small nation like them, similar to Ukraine, take such a gamble?
In the end, the conclusion reached by process of elimination was the large nation in the East, the Sovie Empire, the only one capable of such an act.
Among the Imperial Alliance forces, they were a nation that rivaled the Reinhardt Empire in military power. Moreover, they constantly clashed with the Duchy over territorial disputes.
Without needing to think too deeply, it was definitely the Sovie Empire’s doing.
Even in Hearts of General, they were the nation that trampled Ukraine first at the start of the world war. Capturing a remote fortress would be a piece of cake for them.
‘But this is too early…?’
Of course, it was common practice for large and small skirmishes or localized conflicts to occur in the border regions before the official start of a war.
But even that usually happened a year or two before the war began.
War didn’t just break out suddenly.
Localized conflicts, provocations, dispatch of spies, redeployment of legions, diplomatic pressure, and so on… It was like slowly piling up dry firewood and kindling in a furnace and then throwing in a spark at the right time to ignite a fire.
That was war.
Therefore, there were always precursory signs before a war. Every event had a cause and effect.
However, the current situation was so sudden that it could hardly be considered a cause and effect. Even when I played the Sovie Empire in Hearts of General, I never played like this.
If you unnecessarily provoked other countries from the beginning, you would receive all sorts of checks and balances before the war even started.
Then, far from winning, the nation’s system could be overturned by a revolution. Why would they do something so inefficient with a low return compared to the risk?
I fell into thought for a moment.
Even if the Sovie Empire was a crazy rogue nation that disregarded the attention of neighboring countries, it was certain they wouldn’t act this recklessly.
After first possessing this body, I had relentlessly visited the operations and intelligence departments.
It was partly to familiarize myself with the key officers as a newly appointed lieutenant, but the most important reason was to grasp the current situation Ukraine was facing.
After reviewing the conversations of staff officers, the weekly newspapers delivered every week, and the daily newspapers left in the corner of the library…
I was convinced that Ukraine was following the ‘orthodox path to ruin.’
Even when the overall atmosphere of war intensified across the continent, the Grand Duchy of Ukraine would fail to choose a side, get caught in the conflict between the Free Alliance and the Imperial Alliance, and be split in half.
It had the tactical advantage of being a natural transportation route, bordering various nations and able to deploy troops anywhere. It had the geographical advantage of fertile plains covering most of its territory, making food supply extremely easy.
However, it also had the fatal weakness of lacking the military power to maintain its position while advocating for ‘neutrality,’ and even its alliance system with neighboring countries was loose.
As a result, both sides would quickly divide the nation.
With the ridiculous excuse of ‘we can’t hand over such a strategic location to the enemy.’
In some extreme cases, it was even divided into three parts with the Reinhardt Empire in the south joining in. It was truly a nation with a tragic fate.
But this was supposed to happen five years later.
The Sovie Empire’s sudden move. It was clear they had another motive, rather than simply provoking Ukraine. The reason they had chosen Fort Belgorodo among the numerous border fortresses was probably related to that.
“Sergeant Bell,”
I called Sergeant Bell Meyer, who was sitting quietly beside me. It would be better if I went myself, but I couldn’t since I was incapacitated.
“Could you go to the operations department and find out what was stored at Fort Belgorodo?”
“Huh? The fortress inventory? Why so suddenly…?”
She looked puzzled, but I answered lightly, “I think I can figure out the motive of those who attacked Lumia and me if I know that.”
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Headquarters of the 18th Infantry Regiment, under the 8th Division, responsible for the northeastern border of Ukraine.
A chilling silence filled the spacious conference room. A total of 28 casualties had resulted from this operation. 12 dead, 16 wounded. More than half of the wounded were seriously injured.
Including the annihilated fortress garrison, the total death toll rose to 40.
Of course, since they had wiped out the infiltrating bandits, it could be considered a successful operation in terms of results. But tactically, it was closer to a disastrous failure.
“18th Infantry Regiment Commander, say something.”
“I apologize, General.”
Major General Novgorod, the supreme commander of the 8th Division, spoke in a low voice, his words freezing the air in the room. Regiment Commander Alvin, the target of the reprimand, could only lower his head.
“It was all my fault. I underestimated the enemy’s strength.”
“They were just bandits driven out of the border region. How could you suffer such losses!!”
Novgorod roared and slammed his fist on the table. Bang!! The table shook violently from the impact.
“I apologize.”
The officers gathered for the post-incident review and follow-up measures huddled at the sight of the enraged general. They knew better than to provoke him.
He held absolute authority over the division, making him, at least in this moment, a higher authority than even the Grand Duke.
“Has the military police found anything yet?”
“No, sir. Apart from the assumption that the bandits fled as soon as they completely captured the fortress, there’s no significant progress.”
The adjutant answered in a calm voice, his hands full of documents submitted by various departments regarding the Fort Belgorodo raid.
“I even heard that if it weren’t for the visual support from the mage battalion, we wouldn’t have even noticed until the bandits reached the edge of the encirclement.”
General Novgorod’s gaze shifted to Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart Cromwell, who was sitting in the corner. The general’s anger subsided slightly.
Lockhart Cromwell. He was an officer of a unit operated separately from the division, the commander of the mage battalion, a unit with its own unique characteristics.
Therefore, Lockhart was the only one who could maintain a relatively relaxed demeanor in this tense atmosphere. And it was also because he had the clear achievement of having his mage officer discover the bandits who had approached right under their noses.
“If it weren’t for Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart’s unit, the regiment’s encirclement would have been completely broken through. You’ve made a significant contribution.”
“My battalion simply did what it had to do.”
Lockhart bowed his head in response. He hadn’t actually done much in this operation, but there was no reason to refuse when the general himself was offering him credit.
“Yes, that lieutenant made a very appropriate response in the emergency, right? Not only that, but I heard he was injured while repelling a group of unidentified mages who tried to infiltrate during the chaos…?”
To be precise, he wasn’t injured while repelling them, but rather collapsed from exhaustion after tending to his subordinate.
‘It seems the regiment dressed it up nicely.’
The one who needed the embellishment was the regiment, not me. They had lost 40 men to bandits, so they had to inflate the enemy’s capabilities somehow.
That way, the general would have some face when reporting to his superiors.
“Could you tell me the name of that brave and intelligent lieutenant?”
“Second Lieutenant Enoch Levandal, sir.”
That was when it happened.
BANG!!
The tightly closed conference room door burst open with a loud noise. All eyes turned to the entrance.
“What was that lieutenant’s name!?”
A woman with a slightly askew army cap strode into the conference room and shouted.
This was a post-incident review for the serious incident of a duchy fortress being attacked. Not only was General Novgorod present, but most of the officers gathered were field-grade officers.
It was a rude act that no one would dare commit unless they had a death wish, but the people in the room couldn’t utter a word.
She had unusual, light purplish hair. It was a short bob that barely reached her nape, but combined with her soft, curved eyes and fair skin, it gave her a unique charm.
The insignia on her epaulettes were three chrysanthemums.
A colonel.
Her rank wasn’t the issue.
She was the current superstar of the Ukraine Army, the one everyone was paying attention to.
One of the twelve Grand Mages, the only one possessed by Ukraine, and the commander of the newly established ‘Special Response Brigade’ in the army, backed by the absolute trust of the current Grand Duke.
The Grand Mage of the Sky, Sony Zeppelin.
“Huh, what? Major General Novgorod? You arrived earlier than I thought.”
She asked the pale-faced general with a mischievous grin.
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