Becoming a Swordmaster by Reading Chapter 4

The Imperial Army cavalry had almost all stopped moving.

It was because the Holsteiner, the famed horse the Empire prided itself on, had lowered its head and begun to eat the boiled beans.

The Infantry Company Commander, Havier, who was in command of the 2nd Transport Unit, confirmed the sight and raised his voice.

“Fire! Don't miss this chance!”

It was not just Havier.

From the mouths of the other commanders participating in this supply operation, orders to attack burst forth.

Among them, the voice of Roden, who had proposed this operation, was also mixed in.

“The enemy has lost their breakthrough power! Now is our chance!”

And so, the attack poured down on the Imperial Army cavalry.

The Imperial Army riders belatedly moved to get the situation under control, but the Holsteiners did not listen as they usually did.

The reason was simple.

Due to the continuous guerrilla operations day after day, the Holsteiners were also starving.

It was thanks to seeing through this hunger of the Holsteiners that Ernst had been able to propose an operation like the current one.

Thus, the Imperial Army cavalry, who had lost control of their Holsteiners and were flustered, were helplessly defeated.

They were struck by arrows and fell from their horses, were pierced by spears and died, and had their heads cut off by swords.

And so the indiscriminate slaughter continued on.

The Imperial Army cavalry commander, Marco, fought with all his might, but it was not enough.

He was struck by arrows all over his body and in the end, had no choice but to drop his sword.

With that, the entire Imperial Army cavalry surrendered, and the soldiers of the 2nd Transport Unit raised their voices.

“Victory is ours!”

“Waaaah!”

For the 3rd Corps Transport Battalion, it was a victory won after a very long time.

For that reason, the soldiers' shouts contained the joy of victory, the relief of having survived, and a sincerity that went beyond that.

It was not just the soldiers.

The commanders who participated in this operation also felt similar emotions and shouted.

This was the same for Havier.

In Havier's case, in fact, the feeling of joy could not have been greater.

It was because he was the one who had pushed for this operation despite the opposition.

It was a natural story, but when Roden proposed the operation for today.

Everyone present was impressed for a moment, but in the end, they all scoffed.

They had no trust in the words of Ernst, who usually didn't even bother with personal swordsmanship training, let alone studying tactics and strategy, and lived soaked in alcohol.

Of course, Roden had anticipated this situation.

That was why he explained with all his heart why the possibility of the operation's success was high.

The fact that the Imperial Army cavalry was procuring food locally without receiving supplies,

the fact that they were focusing more on burning supplies than seizing them anymore, the fact that they had recently taken the risk of going deep into Allied mainland to attempt plunder, and so on.

He put forward various reasons and rationally explained that the Holsteiner, the famed horse the Empire prided itself on, must be extremely hungry.

His explanation was so excellent that the expressions of the commanders, who had consistently maintained gazes of disregard and contempt, also changed.

But that was all.

No matter how much the explanation made sense, most of the commanders felt reluctant to proceed with an operation that would immediately cost lives and affect the tide of the war based on Ernst's proposal.

Roden, who read the atmosphere of the meeting barracks, also smacked his lips in disappointment.

‘So they can't be persuaded after all. Just what kind of life did you live, Ernst? Thanks to you, I guess I'll have to be trapped in the meeting prison once again.’

But there was one person, Havier, who thought differently.

Of course, Havier also found Ernst unreliable.

But he had no intention of ignoring the rationality of the operation because of his distrust of one person.

Rather, Havier's thought was that at times like these, one should remove the person from the equation and look at the essence of the operation.

And so, after thinking it over carefully once more, Havier opened his mouth.

“I will propose the 3rd Platoon Leader's operation to the Battalion Commander.”

“…Are you serious?”

“I am serious. Thinking about it again, it's an operation that could work. Don't you think?”

Havier asked back, but no one could say no.

After hearing Havier say it was an operation that could work, they started to think that it might be so.

And in reality, it was difficult to find a reason why the operation would fail.

Anyone could figure out that the Imperial Army cavalry was starving if they thought about it for a bit.

They just hadn't thought of an operation to exploit this like Roden had.

And so, when no opposing answer came back, Havier nodded his head as if he had become certain once again.

Then he looked at Roden and opened his mouth.

“I would like to have a private talk with the 3rd Platoon Leader, could the rest of you leave.”

And so, after everyone had left, Havier spoke to Roden.

“I plan to go to the Battalion Commander right away and propose the operation. But I do not intend to reveal that you were the one who proposed it.”

What was he going to say?

Roden, who had been tense for a moment, was rather relieved at Havier's words and shrugged his shoulders.

“It seems you think that if you say it was my proposal, you might not be able to gain the Battalion Commander's trust. I don't mind. I will follow the Company Commander's orders.”

However, Havier wore a surprised expression, as if he hadn't expected Roden to be so compliant.

Then he asked.

“Are you really okay with that? Even though you could receive no small amount of honor and reward if the operation succeeds?”

But Roden was not shaken at all by this question either.

Rather, he showed a broad smile and answered.

“And in return, I would also receive no small amount of guilt and reprimand in case of failure. And I would also receive a tangible punishment accordingly. I will be content with just having avoided that.”

And that was the last conversation the two of them had that day.

Havier went straight to the Battalion Commander and proposed the operation, just as he had told Roden.

The Battalion Commander, who didn't even have the obstacle of Ernst's notoriety, immediately saw the excellence of the operation and approved it.

As a result, they were not only able to defeat the entire Imperial Army cavalry that had been persistently harassing the 3rd Corps Transport Battalion, but also achieve the feat of capturing the Imperial Army cavalry commander, Marco, as a prisoner.

All that was left now was to deliver the supplies to the 3rd Corps main battalion as planned.

Havier, who was about to get the situation under control and issue another movement order to the 2nd Transport Unit, glanced at Ernst for a moment.

At the same time, a thought that he had not been able to come up with while frantically pushing forward with his work came to him.

‘By the way, how was the 3rd Platoon Leader able to come up with this operation?’

Havier decided that he would have to ask about this on the remaining journey to the main battalion.

***

And so, after the battle was over.

The 2nd Transport Unit had to fight another battle of a different kind.

It was because they had to carry out the cleanup, such as burying the corpses, binding the prisoners, and reforming the ranks.

The 3rd Infantry Platoon, which participated in this operation as part of the 2nd Transport Unit, could not avoid this role either.

However, one should not misunderstand; the 3rd Infantry Platoon was originally part of the 2nd Transport Unit.

This meant that they did not participate in this transport mission because Roden had personally proposed the military strategy.

In this way, in a transport operation, one infantry platoon, one archery platoon, and one light cavalry platoon moved as a single unit.

However, during peacetime, the infantry, archers, and light cavalry formed separate companies according to their branch, as this was much more convenient for managing supplies.

Anyway, for this reason, the 3rd Infantry Platoon, which had been dispatched to the 2nd Transport Unit, moved swiftly for the cleanup under Chevalier's neat command.

And Roden just stood still and watched them.

No, it wasn't that he was doing nothing at all.

He was forcibly holding back the urge to vomit at the sight of the corpses.

The saving grace was the fact that no one expected Roden to participate in such work.

Thanks to that, Roden was able to have time to digest the horror of war, which he had

witnessed with his own eyes for the first time, all by himself.

And the aftereffects continued for several days.

It was when Roden had recovered from the aftereffects of the war, if only a little, that he was asked by Havier how he had come up with such an operation.

“It just suddenly came to me. I was a bit hungry at the time.”

Havier, who heard Roden's answer, asked back in bewilderment.

“Was that… an operation that could be thought of like that?”

“I'm not sure about that, but it just came to me like that. How could a guy like me, who has never properly read a single book on tactics, have come up with such a brilliant operation if not by that method? Haha.”

Roden answered with a joke.

Havier was still bewildered by Roden's attitude, but he could also understand it in his heart.

If not for that, there was no explanation for how Ernst could have come up with such a brilliant operation.

That was the only way to explain this situation.

In the end, Havier concluded that Ernst had luckily come up with a decent operation.

“Anyway, you've worked hard. When we return after finishing the supply operation, the Battalion Commander will probably bestow no small reward.”

“Oh? Will I be rewarded too? Wasn't the Battalion Commander unaware that I was the one who proposed this operation?”

“He will find out soon enough. I'll report it as soon as I get back. The reward is for that reason too.”

“Oh my. Thank you. I hope I can get a decent bottle of alcohol this time. I was getting tired of drinking only cheap rum.”

“…I'll try my best.”

At the last words Roden added, a glint of contempt once again appeared on Havier's expression, which had felt a slight hint of favor.

But Roden did not care.

Rather, he felt happy.

Because with this, Havier would have realized that Ernst had not changed.

‘If a person changes too drastically, it can arouse suspicion. Not that anyone would notice that I'm a possessor, but a nail that sticks out gets hammered down. I have to be careful.’

Naturally, Roden had not come up with this operation by luck.

He had applied the tactical knowledge he already possessed to the current situation and derived the best result.

And in this,

‘A few books on tactics I read a long time ago were helpful.’

A living, breathing siege weapon.

Mages, who were often called by this nickname, were also inseparable from war.

That was why there were also various books on tactics at the Penitudo Mage Tower.

And these books on tactics could not escape Roden's non-picky reading habits either.

But one should not misunderstand the actual number of tactics books Roden had read when he expressed it as ‘a few’.

Roden usually used the humble expression ‘a few’ when he had read more than 100, but less than 500, books of one type.

In other words, the number of tactics books Roden had read was at least 100.

To be precise, it was 293 books.

That being the case, there was no way Roden's genius brain would have failed to find a solution in five days' time.

Not only did he succeed in finding the best method in just one day, but he also succeeded in modifying it to fit this era.

In fact, it was for this very reason that Roden felt more and more tormented as the meeting dragged on.

It was frustrating because the solution to the problem was so obvious, yet no one was trying to say it.

This frustration also played a large part in Roden's inability to hold back and raising his hand.

‘But it's not good to step forward any more than this. If I attract the wrong kind of attention, my life will be in danger.’

The reason Roden thought this way was simple.

It was because of the Glockner family.