Academy Genius Commander

6 – Rhineland Cadet Platoon Leader Selection Test (2)

“Peter Yeager and Johann von Hausenburg’s platoons, please come to the center of the field.”

There was no emotion in the call to come out to the stadium, but the words made my heart thump.

If I defeat Yohan’s platoon with an overwhelming difference in skill in the mock battle that will start from now on, the evaluation of me will change from a simple, eye-catching commoner orphan cadet to a talented and promising future commander.

At least in mock battles, my ability as a commander would be evaluated objectively, not my place of origin or status.

“Jaeger Platoon! Keep pace and go forward!”

My platoon, including me, moved as if we were a single person, adjusting the height of our feet and the length of our stride as we had trained.

On the other side, John’s platoon marched in line and space, but hand and foot all out of step.

In this era when there was no concept of ceremony, the march in which the hands and feet were moderately aligned as if they were one body gave a considerable shock to the audience.

“Did you say Peter Yeager? Hey bastard, how do you train your troops so that they can keep their feet aligned like that? Did you practice only that for a month?”

“When my friends bet 3 silver and who would win, I bet on Hausenburg… aren’t you losing money?”

“I haven’t seen the details yet, but just looking at the march, it’s almost like an elite soldier…”

Usually, when people imagine an elite soldier unit, they imagine a unit with excellent individual soldiers.

Anyone who has some knowledge of military science will agree that an elite army is an army in which the ability to connect members belonging to a unit is excellent, even if each unit member has only basic capabilities.

With the development of weapons, firepower and range greatly increased, and until modern warfare, in which unity is death, battles between ranks and ranks and formations were war, and the collapse of ranks and formations was a factor in winning or losing, and the battle line was To collapse was to lose.

It is a world that is incomparably more important than modern warfare to perfectly match each person’s movements through rituals in order to properly form ranks and formations.

Because this is such a world, my units, whose movements match, will look elite in their eyes.

It’s so good to see you being astonished at the competence of a commoner orphan you ignored.

With such interest and attention, when we were about 20 meters away from Yohan’s platoon, the student council executive in charge of the game raised a flag and ordered a stop and said,

“I will give you 5 minutes from the current time to form your formation. The two cadets, John and Peter, make the best formation to defeat the opponent.”

As soon as those words were spoken, I immediately turned to look in the direction of the soldiers and said,

“From now on, form formations as I commanded. Got it?”

“Yes, I understand!”

“They stand in a total of 4 rows of 8 people per row, and 8 people holding crossbows cover the spearmen in the front from the back. Also, when the first clash occurs, the soldiers in the forefront must focus only on clearing the enemy’s spear, while the soldiers behind them must stab the enemy and seize the victory! Squad leaders in charge of each column do their best to subdue the enemy!”

The 1st row is a tactic that defies the enemy’s attack, and the 2nd row is a tactic that stabs the enemy directly.

It may not seem that difficult in words, but in practice it is quite a difficult fight.

Because the long spear is very long, unlike a sword, it is not easy to move quickly.

This is because it is not easy to secure space to wield a spear because of the arms, legs, and bodies of allied soldiers in a situation where soldiers are united.

Of course, in my platoon, where each platoon member moves according to a set motion, it is possible to attack like that until a melee breaks out.

“From then on, I just have to follow my command of the deputy platoon commander. Don’t be nervous, enemies are our food.”

The soldiers responded with cheers, and a flag was raised 10 seconds before the start of the game.

Just before the game began, John spoke in a provocative voice, bluffing as if he had already won.

“If you are a commoner, act like a commoner and surrender to me, an aristocrat! Then you won’t have to see him lose unsightly!”

No matter how noble that nobleman is, it is bad manners to provoke him in a mock battle.

Moreover, if the jockey speaks inappropriately to me, who is at the top, if it had not been before the game, depending on the interpretation, it could be judged as a hypocrisy.

There were a lot of things piled up, so it might be okay to pay them back to some extent before the game starts.

“Keep talking nonsense in your sleep, John! Even a drunkard who gets drunk in the market can talk better than you!”

When he said that, his face flushed red with rage like a drunk, and the official in charge of the game declared with a pathetic look from a distance of thirty meters.

“From now on, the final mock battle of the day begins! Let each cadet fight fair and square!”

At the same time, Yohan and I slowly approached the opponent while maintaining formation.

Gradually, the distance between us got closer and closer like this, 10 meters, 7 meters, 5 meters, and when we came close to reaching each other’s spears.

Johann commanded beside the foot soldiers of his platoon, confident as if he thought he had already won.

“Destroy Peter Yeager’s platoon! It is a ragtag group led by a commoner. There is no victory for them! Let’s definitely win and go back!!!”

At the same time, the crossbowmen in my platoon fired their crossbows without arrowheads at the first row of enemy spearmen who pulled their spears back to stab us.

It would have been best if all 8 people were hit by shooting 8 shots, but was it because they focused only on improving their ability to move as one body as a unit? Or is it because the aim was unstable because it was a real battle?

Actually, it was about 4-5 shots.

However, those who have not experienced combat and are only focused on improving their individual capabilities…

“…..”

“What is that? Why are arrows flying all of a sudden? Just a moment ahead!!”

“You idiots, look ahead, not the ones who have been hit by arrows and stretched out next to you!!”

Even with such a blow, they could no longer show their unity as an army and began to struggle.

It was really nice to see Yohan’s platoon being destroyed like that, but it’s too early to be vigilant.

Also, if you’re going to destroy it, it’s polite to ruin your career here to the point where it’s hard to recover at all as an officer.

“Now! Remove the spears in the first row, and stab the enemy in front of the second row at once according to the squad leader’s instructions!”

John tried to respond somehow when I gave orders and prepared to attack.

My soldiers removed the spears of the already half-collapsed enemy soldiers in the first row, and then our soldiers in the second row stabbed them in unison to incapacitate them.

With this alone, their spearmen’s defenses were almost completely broken.

Yohan’s soldiers don’t even know how to fight in formation, but let’s see that the formation collapses and the nearby allies are hit by spears and arrows.

“f*ck, I ate everything!”

“No, when I came to the academy and was trained by Platoon Leader Yohan, I thought we could win somehow, but I can’t even touch it!”

“Are those sick bastards really recruits like us? Isn’t the instructor cheating?”

It gave the highest praise and morale crawled to the very bottom.

Taking advantage of this gap, I pulled out the sword from my waist and went inside the broken enemy camp to completely destroy the enemy unit, shouting.

“The entire line of John’s platoon has collapsed! Everyone, follow me and charge all at once! Crossbowmen, put down your crossbows, pick up your wooden swords and follow!”

At the same time, I kicked the torso of the enemy soldier in front of me and knocked it down, then struck the torso with the sword in my hand.

It felt like hitting a soft punching bag with a hard surface in both hands with a baseball bat.

He hit the helmet of an enemy soldier who was unable to move while being overbearing, knocking him out, and striking the pit of the stomach of the guy next to him who rushed forward as if this was an opportunity.

The soldiers of my platoon followed me and shouted as they knocked down the remaining soldiers of John one by one.

“We won!”

“If you put down your weapon and surrender, you won’t lose it, so surrender!!”

Seeing this, Yohan seemed to have made up his mind and charged at me with a wooden sword for the commander.

He must have lost his temper at the sight of his platoon being pushed back in an instant, and every movement, from the posture of aiming the sword, was sloppy.

So I kicked him in the waist, knocked him over to the side, and crushed his body as he tried to get up.

Then, filled with resentment on Yohan’s face, he threw three fists at him, pointed a wooden sword at his neck, and said,

“I, Peter Jaeger, defeated Johann von Hausenburg and his platoon!”

At the same time, the soldiers shouted, and the official in charge of the game referee made a surprised expression and declared.

“The winner of the mock battle, Peter Yeager!”

When I heard the announcement that I had won, I started to hear people in the stands looking at us.

“Certainly, isn’t that senior a commoner orphan from 4th grade? Even though senior Hausenburg’s grades are ambiguous, about mid-ranking. I don’t think this is a battle between the same students, no, would the instructor be able to do that in the same situation?”

“…is it really true that recruits who only trained for a month fought against each other? Senior Yeager’s unit was destroyed as if a platoon of only the elite were playing with new soldiers. Was it really a hidden talent?”

“Guy Hausenburg is already done with his life as an officer. No matter how strong the Jaeger platoon was, they lost miserably like that.”

Although there was a bit of sympathy for the poor Hausenburger.

Their interest is a reserve officer named Peter Yeager, who has not been able to spread his wings because he has been an orphan for four years.

Also, just looking at the evaluations over there, the image of a senior in the 4th grade, who was already the best friend among them, has completely disappeared.

The result is more satisfactory than expected.

Even if you go out to the front line in the future, if you do this, you will be able to perform well and rise to the top.

So I finished the last game with their sympathy and astonished attention, and a week later, my platoon and I were dispatched to the Rhineland front.