I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy

“They are heading towards Boros Castle, where our main force is headed, and they seem very relaxed, perhaps because it’s their territory.”

“Not bad. Then, are the barbarian light cavalry led by Istvan doing proper reconnaissance?”

“They are mainly focusing on roads frequently traveled by people, not paying much attention to places like plains that are difficult for people and wagons to traverse.”

Often, when we watch cartoons, novels, or movies dealing with strategy and tactics, we see scenes where people only scout the frequently traveled paths and the area around their forces and end up being ambushed, leading us to think,

‘If only they had scouted more carefully and broadly, they wouldn’t have fallen for such an ambush. Are they stupid? Tsk tsk.’

However, in reality, to scout every place without missing anything, a huge number of soldiers must be deployed.

Operating an army in such a manner could lead to defeat in actual combat due to the mental and physical fatigue already accumulated among the soldiers.

I took advantage of the enemy’s common sense thinking by selecting places without water for drinking near the roads and almost no villages for food supply, so I could observe the enemy’s movements without being detected.

“Do you know of any forests along the expected path of the enemy where we can hide?”

“Good. Then, from now on, I’ll give out the operation orders. Everyone, listen carefully.”

When I said this, Laura, Anya, and the chieftains of the northern people all perked up their ears.

“As of now, we will hide in the pine forest 15km from here, as we just heard, and wait for the enemy to come.”

On the Raintlant Front, we conducted a surprise attack with a few mages added to one company, penetrated to where the division commander was, and successfully captured the division flag.

In Bisochea, acting as an advanced scouting party, we launched arrows and magic at the scouting company coming at the front to physically weaken the enemy.

Even now, the mere preparation of a surprise attack operation fills me with an exhilarating feeling.

And it seemed that Laura, who fought with me on those two fronts, Anya, and the northern chieftains, who had countless battle experiences in the north, felt the same emotion.

Their faces were openly filled with anticipation.

“Just thinking about the surprise attack makes my heart boil! As expected, the Khan Slayer is passionate.”

“I even gave up the alcohol I had hoarded to join the surprise attack force of just 1,000. But now that I think about it, it seems like I let it go for too cheap.”

“I’m reminded of the time in Raintlant, and I even miss it.”

“I find myself missing the times in Raintlant.”

…If they found out that a person like me, a General, led a surprise operation with just over a thousand soldiers, the Crown Prince, my father-in-law, and everyone else would think I was crazy.

I was doing this as the deputy commander of the Northern Army to give these Northern folks here a chance to fully integrate into the Imperial Army.

Although there was still an image among the Empire’s nobles and commoners that the Northerners were barbarians and had to be avoided.

Showing bravery by attacking the enemy’s main camp with just 1,000 soldiers, like me, a symbol of rising status and a war hero of the Empire?

Then, the machismo and manliness-dominated nobles and commoners of the Reich Empire would start to see the Northerners not as barbarians but as soldiers with true courage.

So, what could I do? They joined the army looking up to me, so I had to create such opportunities for them.

After organizing my thoughts for a moment, I quietly raised my hand to calm them down and then spoke.“

“An army of that size typically moves about 12km a day, so we have just over a day to prepare for the ambush and surprise attack. It may seem short, but it’s long enough that we must hide thoroughly to avoid detection and be swift and precise in our preparations for the ambush.”

“What should we do to prepare? What actions should we take?”

“First, our goal is to instill fear in the soldiers at the enemy headquarters. So much so that just by seeing you, the archer cavalry, the soldiers of the Stockholm Kingdom would be scared to the point of wetting themselves. And while at it, enjoy some arson as well.”

Indeed, instilling fear was the primary goal, but I had another small wish—that the enemy’s food supply would burn to ashes due to our little act of arson.

It was because what significantly reduces soldiers’ morale and combat ability isn’t the mass death of their comrades.

It was falling into a predicament of worrying about starving to death before even encountering the enemy due to a lack of food for the next day.

“Long live the commander of the Northern Army! This is indeed our Northern tradition!”

“Burning down the villages of hostile forces and instilling such fear that they wet themselves just by seeing us is the way of the North. I’m glad you recognize this…”

“Wait, you damned Istvan. Once I charge into the enemy lines on horseback, I’ll make sure to kill you thoroughly.”

They say humans generally enjoy watching a fire from across the river, and even more so, watching their enemy’s house and property burn down.

It seemed not just the soldiers of the Reich Empire enjoyed this, but the Northerners were exactly the same.

“You brave warriors of the North here probably already know, but you’ll need to prepare courage, dry leaves or bark that burns well, and oil that catches fire easily. That way, we can play with fire at night. Can you ensure we have enough of these?”

Hearing this, the Northern archer cavalry just laughed and said,

“There are no cowards among us. Besides, standing in battle alongside the general who killed the Khan himself, even the cowardly among us would find their courage multiplied a hundredfold today, wouldn’t they?”

“We can gather leaves and bark from the forest, and we can find plenty of oil in the enemy’s camp to use.”

“It’s an honor to be invited to such a fun game of playing with fire.”

But this alone wasn’t enough.

To be precise, this preparation for the surprise attack was enough, but it fell short of repaying the grudge against the bastard Istvan, who betrayed us and made the good soldiers of the Reich Empire come all the way to Stockholm.

So, I devised a plan to beautifully frame the detestable Istvan with a false charge during this surprise attack, sowing seeds of doubt among the Stockholm folks.

“Everyone, pay attention. If we’re going to play with fire, shouldn’t we give all the credit to Chief Istvan, who has granted us this glorious opportunity?”

Saying this, I took off the plate armor I was wearing and changed into the leather armor typically worn by nomads, which I had prepared in advance.

“So, when we attack, we’ll also take with us the document bearing Istvan’s forged signature and seal that we’ve prepared in advance, and scatter it in a visible place. If this is found, the Stockholm Kingdom’s army will start to doubt Istvan.”

The letter I wrote contained roughly this content,

[To the Chief of the Istvan Tribe, thanks to you informing us of the Stockholm army’s position, we were able to successfully ambush their headquarters. As promised, you will be granted the title of Count in the Reich Empire, and a countship within the territory of the Stockholm Kingdom.]

The likelihood of the Stockholm Kingdom’s army thinking that Istvan betrayed them and informed the Empire’s army of their position after seeing this was very low.

However, if we continue to exploit their weaknesses and keep winning, the King of Stockholm would gradually begin to doubt Istvan.

Then, without dirtying our hands, that bastard’s head would fall to the ground.

“Now, let’s all move out and prepare for the operation.”

Though we had done it a few times, a surprise attack was always thrilling.

The next dawn.

The sky was dim, and the Stockholm soldiers, about 500 meters away, were yawning while on guard.

They appeared careless, with no sign of caution, but such defenselessness could have been an act.

All of us in the Northern archer cavalry, including myself, were waiting cautiously, tensely.

After a few minutes, the five Northerners who had gone ahead as scouts returned and cautiously reported,

“It seems they haven’t noticed the ambush. If we attack now, we can win.”