Chapter 272.
I headed for the imperial army command in the southern outskirts of the capital.
The imperial army mainly consisted of imperial forces under the emperor’s command, reserve forces composed of adventurers and mercenaries, and local defense forces from each local lord’s soldiers. The imperial army was divided into three groups, and the Third Field Command, where I was appointed, was one of the three.
It was safe to say that the Third Field Command was essentially the forces of the imperial army’s general command because it mainly protected the imperial family and the capital, as well as served to subdue the rebellion of local lords. To be specific, if the general command was the head, then the Third Field Command was the body.
After walking quite far from the Adventurer’s Guild, which was in the center of the capital, I began to see the imperial army headquarters building surrounded by enormous walls. When I tried to enter the headquarters, a sentry guarding the entrance stopped me. “Stop. What brings you here?”
I showed my rank and civil servant ID from my pocket. "I’m Colonel Den, and I’ve been assigned to the staff office of the Third Field Command."
After confirming my identity, the guard saluted me and opened the door. "Loyalty! Excuse me!"
It felt strange that a soldier who looked much older than me was saluting me politely. In my past life, it was more based on age than class, but it was different here because it was a rank-based country. No, once you got around to being a colonel, age didn’t matter that much, so maybe he thought of me as an equal.
I went straight into the headquarters building.
"Welcome. What brings you here?" When I entered the building, a female soldier sitting at the counter gave a fake smile and asked.
I looked at the interior of the building behind the female soldier and said, "I’m here to see General Bloody."
"Yes, the General? Did you make an appointment in advance?" The female soldier seemed to be a little tired, as if people looking for Uncle Bloody was a common occurrence.
"Tell him that the colonel who’s been assigned to the staff office is here."
"Ah! Loyalty! I’ll deliver the message right away!" The female soldier at the counter radioed the news of my visit.
Despite it being the headquarters, I didn’t expect they would have even installed a radio, a piece of high-tech equipment, on the counter. In spite of both areas being headquarters, the Adventurer’s Guild and the imperial army were on a different level.
"Yes, sir! They want you to head inside. I will guide you."
After ending the radio call, the female soldier got up to guide me, but I raised my hand and declined. "No, it’s okay. I just have to go to the place that says commander’s office within the building, right?
“Yes? Oh! Yes. That’s correct.”
“Then, keep up the good work.” I headed to the commander’s office on the very top floor.
I knocked in front of the commander’s office and went right inside before I heard the answer. "I’m here...."
When I entered the commander’s office, there were several gray-haired generals as well as Uncle Bloody. "Iya, I thought General Bloody would be the only one here, but there were other generals. It is nice to meet you all. I am called Den."
Even with my bright greetings, the generals’ expressions were hard. Only Uncle Bloody laughed as he sat at the head of the table, holding his stomach. "Puhahaha! You’re early. I was just talking about you right now. Let me introduce you all to my nephew, Den, who is also joining as a staff officer in this war.” [1]
These were all people who I needed to meet to direct the army, but it was sooner than expected. I said, "I will introduce myself again. It is nice to meet you all, Commander of the Third Army, Commander of the Eighth Army, Commander of the Fourteenth Army, and Chief of Staff."
Everyone looked surprised when they were called by their posts before they even introduced themselves.
"Nice to meet you. I’m Lieutenant General Fabian charged with leading the Third Army, as you say."
“I’m the Eighth Army Lieutenant General Alain.”
“I’m the Fourteenth Army Lieutenant General Orleon.”
They took turns shaking hands with me, and lastly, the chief of staff shook hands with me and said, "You probably think I’m just a figurehead, but I’m Lieutenant General Isaac, your immediate supervisor.”
The chief of staff did not seem to like me, someone who seemed to have just suddenly parachuted down into the scene. For a subordinate to suddenly show up and start giving orders, it was natural for that person to be an unthinkable existence in the military.
"Hahaha, what do you mean, figurehead? That’s not true. It’s small, but it signifies that I look forward to your kind cooperation." I handed thick paper envelopes to each army commander and the chief of staff.
"What is this!? Bribery from day one! Do you think we’re that easily swayed because you’re the Head Commander’s nephew?!" said the Third Army Commander.
Each commander looked at me sharply, agreeing with the Third Army Commander’s scolding. Indeed, he was a hot-tempered man, as reported by the information I obtained earlier from the Big Mama Information Agency.
"Hahaha, why don’t you check the contents first? I’ve prepared something special.”
The Third Army Commander clenched his fist and tried to yell at me again but was interrupted by the chief of staff.
“Well, the bribe is excellent.”
“Chief of Staff-nim!”
When the Third Army Commander grew flustered and looked at the Chief of Staff, the Chief of Staff pointed to a paper bag in the Third Army Commander’s hands and said, "Check what’s inside and then get angry, Third Army Commander."
At the words of the chief of staff, everyone opened the paper envelope to check the contents.
"Paper? No, documents?"
The commanders grew perplexed when they saw that the folder’s contents were different from what they expected, and they looked through the documents.
"This, this is!"
The commanders browsing through the documents gazed at me in amazement, and I smiled lightly. "Well, actually, it is a bribe, as I look forward to working with all of you."
Even at my joke, the Third Army Commander asked with a serious face, "Are you sure about these contents? Or rather, you at least know that the solidarity of the imperial army could collapse?”
I nodded lightly. "I’m sure. It’s from the Big Mama Information Agency. It cost me a lot of money to obtain."
All the information costs went out of Aunt Talaria’s pocket, but whatever. It was my aunt who told me to take the information and money when desired.
At my answer, the commanders groaned. "Hmm. Is that so... I don’t like that illegal group, but their information is reliable. Still, to think that there were so many inside men and spies in the imperial army...”
I spoke to the Chief of Staff. "We’ll want to use these spies later."
The chief of staff understood me right away, and he looked at me with interest. "Hmm, instead, you want to use them to plant false information?"
I nodded with a smile, and the chief of staff bobbed his head in agreement before adding, "But I’m going to have to remove every single inside man in the staff office."
"Of course, the staff office is where every operation is produced. So, there’s one more gift for Lieutenant General Isaac in particular." I took out a thick envelope from my pocket space and handed it to the chief of staff.
The chief of staff checked the documents in the envelope and laughed in amazement. "Haha, you’re well prepared. Are you really the Head Commander’s nephew?
"Just because we’re family doesn’t mean I’m as ignorant as he is. Although, in general, my family tends to lack some common sense as they rely on their instincts,” I said.
Uncle Bloody spoke out, "Guys, aren’t you being too direct in front of the person you’re talking about?"
The chief of staff smiled at Uncle Bloody’s complaints. "Aigoo, I can’t speak because I’m so afraid. Then, we shall withdraw so Colonel Den and I can continue to talk behind the Head Commander’s back."
"Hush! Get out of here!" My uncle waved his hand, and the chief of staff and I stepped out from the commander’s office.
"You seem to be a close acquaintance with the Head Commander-nim."
"Haha, it’s been decades since we started going into battle together. It’d be weirder not to get close,” the chief of staff said as he reminisced. "We weren’t that close at first, actually. He was no less than General Glont’s successor after all. It was hard for anyone to trust him, but as we traversed around the battlefield together, we had to have faith in one another. Should I say that he brought people together in an odd manner?"
"Hahaha, I think I know what you mean."
If you disregard the fact that my uncle is a fool, he’s quite a competent boss. It was said that because Uncle Bloody produced the best results with his unique instincts, the person who took over as the head of battle had quite a hard time.
"Thank you for understanding. But you said you’d employ musketeers that aren’t used anymore, right? Do you think that’s practical?"
I nodded at the sudden question. "I think it’s plenty practical."
"If it’s a long-range battle, there are archers. So why would you use a musket with poor accuracy?"
"Well, first of all, what would you do if the accuracy was similar to that of an archer?"
The chief of staff answered my question after thinking briefly. "Similar to the archers... Still, aren’t muskets behind in their firing rate?"
"But their power is infinitely higher than the archers. It’s enough to pierce armor."
The chief of staff nodded. "That’s true. Wait, armor? Are you thinking of building a squad dedicated to shooting commanders?"
As expected, he didn’t become the chief of staff of the imperial army for nothing. He correctly guessed my intentions with a simple hint.
"Yes, that’s right. Traditional arrows are not enough to penetrate a commander’s armor. As such, I’m going to build a special unit that will have the unique mission of shooting down commanders to end the war as quickly as possible."
"I see. If you’re only going after the commander, you don’t need a high firing rate. But how are you going to increase the accuracy? With magic?”
Using magic to draw in mid-air, I tried to display a conical shape with the rear drilled through with a bullet. However, when I decided there was no way he would understand from these crooked lines, I waved my hands to erase the drawing.
"It’s possible without magic. Most certainly, the best method is to dig spiral steel lines into a musket. Alas, it’s impossible to build the muskets and train the men in time, so we will increase the accuracy rate with modified bullets.”
"Modify the bullets? Will that really increase the accuracy?”
The chief of staff looked at me with suspicious eyes, and I laughed insidiously, "Uhuhuhu, it’s possible. I’ll show you a magic-like miracle even without magic."
At my conviction, the chief of staff looked at me quietly, then grinned. "You know, before I met you, I trusted you even less than the Head Commander when I first met him. You’re young and don’t have any war experience. And on top of that, you directly asked for command. Honestly, it was unpleasant.”
He spoke his mind without any qualms.
"So, how was your first impression of me?"
At my question, the chief of staff smiled, waving the envelope I gave him. "It wasn’t as bad as I initially thought. It’s too early to judge, but I think I know why Guild Director Glont-nim said it would be good to believe in you.”
"That’s a relief. Honestly, I was worried about what to do if Chief of Staff-nim objected till the end."
In fact, it would have been challenging if the chief of staff crazily tried to hold me down. If the staff office becomes paralyzed, that means I have to run around like mad, but I can’t be on every battlefield.
"It’s too early to be relieved. I haven’t acknowledged you as the boss yet, and if I think your decision is wrong on a real battlefield, I will certainly disagree.”
That meant that he would definitely listen to my opinion. That was enough.
"Of course."
Standing in front of the staff office, the chief of staff suddenly asked before opening the door, "By the way, did Guild Director Glont-nim not give you any advice before you came here?"
"Ah, he did. Guild Director Glont-nim told me that if they act tough and are unwelcoming, I should crush them with force and mention Guild Director-nim’s name."
The chief of staff laughed cheerfully. "Hahaha, that sounds like him. Actually, that’s not a bad course of action. I can cover for you on the staff officer side, but the Black Water Buffalo guys that Guild Director Glont-nim raised himself have strong personalities. You’ll probably have to crush them at least once to handle them properly.”
"That’s scary."
I grinned at what the chief of staff said, and the chief of staff smiled as well. "Rather than scared, you seem interested.”
"Well, you’re not wrong."
The chief of staff opened the door, and I followed him into the staff office.
1. Staff used in the context of the military here is regarding upper echelon officers who are in charge of strategizing and commanding.
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