"……The Ashen Forest."
The division commander's low murmur lasted only a moment.
"That is out of the question."
The chief of staff cut in.
"That area is rough terrain. Tanks cannot maneuver there. There are dense trees, swampland, and even the variable of orc remnants."
"That is precisely the point."
I answered as if to show them.
"Rough terrain that cannot be passed. Rivers that cannot be crossed, hills that cannot be climbed."
That was why.
"This is the very detour no one will expect."
I looked Falkenhaym straight in the eye as I spoke.
"We deceive the enemy, draw them deep in, and strike at the opening they leave behind."
I began drawing bold arrows across the map.
"We split our forces into left and right wings. The relatively smaller left wing will act as though it is actively defending Rosenheim, tying down the enemy’s main force."
Then the tip of my pen drew an arrow starting from the position of the 1st Armored Division.
"And at that moment—"
A curve grew longer and longer, piercing through the Ashen Forest toward the enemy’s rear supply line.
"…the right wing will execute a flanking maneuver and cut off their windpipe."
What was completed was a vast encirclement that would sever the enemy at the waist.
"…An encirclement battle. A Kesselschlacht."
The 1st Division staff began to stir.
"It sounds plausible enough."
"Passing through the forest… If it succeeds, I suppose it would create a picture where we swallow the enemy’s 2nd Corps whole."
"The problem is that the condition of success is close to a miracle."
The 7th Brigade side was no less shaken.
Off to one side, Dietrich was fiddling with his tie.
[Name: Karl von Dietrich]
[Status: Nervous, expectant]
Major Helga frowned as she alternated between the report in her hand and the operations map hanging on the wall. Her gray eyes narrowed, and her black high ponytail swayed slightly.
[Name: Helga von Strauss]
[Status: A mixture of doubt and trust.]
[Emotion: Trusts Captain Jaeger’s abilities, but has no idea whether this operation is even remotely possible.]
The last one I could see was Serafina.
[Name: Serafina von Reinhardt]
[Status: Absolute trust]
[Emotion: Convinced that Max can make the operation succeed.]
Because this was an official setting, she did not show it outwardly, but her eyes were underlaid with faith in me.
But people like Serafina were extremely few.
The atmosphere among the majority was negative.
"But that is far too dangerous."
"What do you intend to do about supply? Do you plan on sending vehicles through the forest?"
"It will take two weeks just to break through."
"If the Republic bastards discover us, we’ll be minced meat on the spot."
"They say there’s only a paper-thin difference between brilliance and recklessness."
"Isn’t he looking down on the Ashen Forest too much just because he pacified it once?"
Skeptical opinions burst out from here and there.
Their rebuttals were perfectly reasonable. According to manuals, common sense, and decades of accumulated military experience, they were only natural.
"But isn’t turning the impossible into the possible the very measure of a commander’s ability?"
At my reply, the staff officers murmured. Looks calling me arrogant crossed with looks of interest.
But I paid no mind to their reactions.
My eyes were fixed on only one person: Major General Falkenhaym, the final decision-maker.
It was the same as it had been with Dietrich. Only now, it was not the 7th Brigade, but the 1st Armored Division.
As long as this was the army, the principle would be the same.
Obedience to one’s superiors.
For me, who could sway my superiors as I pleased, there was no better principle than that.
'Captivating Eloquence.'
[Skill ‘Captivating Eloquence (Lv.3)’ has been activated.]
"Your Excellency is His Majesty the Emperor’s captain of the guard."
I continued, enunciating every word.
"Will you bear the disgrace of having abandoned victory out of fear of a mud pit, or will you pierce through a treacherous path of thorns, stab the enemy in the heart, and offer it up to the Empire?"
The air in the conference room turned cold in an instant. A mere captain was treading a perilous line in the words he could speak to a major general—moreover, one of the Emperor’s closest aides. The staff officers’ faces went pale.
'Status Analysis.'
[Name: Wilhelm von Falkenhaym]
[Status: Deep anguish, pride provoked, thrill]
[Emotion: Longs for a great victory that will go down in history, even if it means taking a risk.]
But as expected, this man was a warrior to the bone. He was of a different breed from the safety-oriented staff officers.
Major General Falkenhaym’s eyes flashed.
"…A large-scale encirclement operation, is it."
"Your Excellency. If this operation succeeds, your name will be left in the annals of military history. As a magician of maneuver warfare who turned the impossible into the possible."
[Skill ‘Captivating Eloquence’ stimulates ‘Wilhelm von Falkenhaym’s’ romantic ideal as a warrior.]
"…I like it."
He slammed the desk. Thud—a dull sound rang out.
"I approve this operation. As Captain Jaeger says, we will force a breakthrough through the Ashen Forest."
"Your Excellency!"
"I will accept no objections."
The chief of staff rose to his feet, but Falkenhaym cut him off at once.
"……Hoo."
The chief of staff bit his lip. His gaze darted quickly between the operations map, my face, and the division commander’s expression.
Soon, the chief of staff set down the pointer he had been holding and picked up a pen instead. If he could not disobey, then carrying it out at maximum efficiency was the duty of a staff officer.
Then, opening a file, he asked me.
"We must leave a record. What should the operation be called when we telegraph command?"
Since it was an operation I had proposed, he was telling me to name it as well.
I answered immediately. There was no need to hesitate in borrowing that name from Earth’s history.
"Sickle Cut. Sichelschnitt."
Though on a slightly smaller scale.
"Good. Sickle Cut. The name, at least, is excellent. Whether we can actually harvest the Republic bastards remains unknown, though."
Soon after, practical problems rose onto the conference table.
"However, no matter how splendid a plan may be, without hands and feet to execute it, it is nothing more than a delusion."
The one who opened the topic was Major General Falkenhaym.
"Who will take the vanguard in breaking through the Ashen Forest?"
His gaze swept once around the conference room.
However, each time that gaze landed on someone, the Empire’s so-called elite officers subtly averted their eyes or cleared their throats.
"Your Excellency, I am ashamed to say…"
The chief of staff spoke with difficulty.
"Given the circumstances, it would be best for an officer well-versed in the geography of the Ashen Forest to take command…"
"Hmm…."
Falkenhaym stroked his chin. He was right. Breaking through the Ashen Forest was the most important part, and someone unfamiliar with its geography could not stand at the vanguard.
Then next would be—
The division commander’s gaze turned toward our 7th Brigade. Brigadier General Dietrich flinched in surprise and straightened his shoulders.
But Falkenhaym did not call his name.
The 7th Brigade had already exhausted all its strength at Rosenheim. The soldiers were tired, and their equipment was in tatters. It was too much to entrust them with the vanguard.
"In that case…"
In the end, Major General Falkenhaym’s gaze came to rest on the final place.
"There is only one suitable candidate after all."
……
It was me.
To be honest, I had expected it. No, the reason I had set up this board in the first place was for this.
Someone would call it madness. Wouldn’t the survival rate be higher if I stayed safely in the rear and picked up the crumbs? Under ordinary circumstances, that would be the correct answer.
But my calculations were different.
I had the [Minimap]. An absolute informational advantage that let me slip into their blind spots and strike their openings.
And with this cheat key, I was supposed to listen to someone else’s orders? If a stupid commander ordered me to charge into the wrong place, even my skill would become useless.
'I survive only if I take the wheel.'
It looked dangerous, but taking the initiative myself was the surest formula for survival, and the surest formula for victory.
Having finished my thoughts, I put on a deliberately troubled expression and said,
"Your Excellency. I am grateful for your excessive trust, but I am merely an infantry captain. Not only in rank, but also in experience and ability, I fall far short."
On the surface, it sounded like a refusal…
But in truth, it was the opposite.
At my point, the chief of staff nodded and added his support.
"That is correct, Your Excellency. Considering the importance of the operation, we need a commander of at least regimental level."
The hilt was too heavy to place in the hands of a captain. Just as the mood in the conference room was about to tilt back toward skepticism—
"Rank, is it."
Major General Falkenhaym snorted.
"If that is the problem, there is a very simple solution."
He took a fountain pen from his breast pocket and, without hesitation, scribbled something into the signature field of the operational plan laid before me.
Scratch, scratch.
His forceful handwriting cut across the paper. Falkenhaym soon lifted the paper and showed it to everyone.
"As of this moment, I delegate to Captain Max Jaeger the authority to establish and command an independent combat group. A Kampfgruppe."
A combat group. Kampfgruppe.
A combined-arms unit temporarily organized for a specific mission, unconstrained by regular organization.
"The unit name shall be Kampfgruppe Jaeger. Its composition will center around a reconnaissance battalion, an armored battalion, and a mechanized infantry battalion under the 1st Armored Division."
It was an astonishing scale. In effect, firepower at the regimental level or above. The conference room stirred.
But Falkenhaym’s unprecedented words did not end there.
"And to establish command authority."
He gave his adjutant a look, having him bring over a prepared box.
Click.
The box opened, and two resplendent silver flowers flashed.
"By wartime special provision, Captain Max Jaeger is hereby temporarily promoted to lieutenant colonel."