Chapter 19
Bang!
Klaus's sniper rifle spat fire. The bullet struck squarely between the brows of the orc wearing a horned helmet and commanding the horde. As its massive body collapsed, a crack briefly opened in the orcs' solid shield wall. I didn't miss the opening.
"Charge! Hit their flank!"
At my command, 3rd Platoon sprinted forward as one. They advanced while looking for cover, firing their rifles in rapid bursts.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
It looked as though a thunderbolt had fallen from the sky. Our position was the high ground on the orcs' flank. Packed together without any cover, the orcs were little more than perfect shooting targets.
"Kraaagh! They're on the ridge! It's an ambush!"
"Turn the shields! Bullets are coming from this direction!"
"Lord Gortus has been hit!"
The orcs who had been relentlessly pressing 2nd Platoon were caught completely off guard. The flank of their solid shield wall was defenseless. The bullets pierced their tough hides, tearing through flesh and bone without being stopped by the shields. The orcs fell screaming.
"W-what? …Max?"
Erika stared blankly at us, as though she couldn't believe the sight before her.
"…It's 3rd Platoon! Lieutenant Jaeger!"
Someone among the despairing soldiers shouted. That shout poured oil on the dying embers of hope.
"We... survived...!"
"It's reinforcements! Reinforcements are here!"
Hope began returning to the soldiers' eyes. Looking down at them, I shouted toward Erika.
"Get a grip, Lieutenant Stahlberg! Do you want to watch all your men die?! This is our chance to counterattack!"
"Ngh… ngh! Damn it!"
At my shout, she seemed to come to her senses and bit her lip. Though she was ashamed to have been driven into this situation, her face flushed bright red, but she still had enough sense to begin reorganizing 2nd Platoon.
"Everyone, get a grip! How long are you going to hide like rats?! Keep the approaching enemy in check and fire properly!"
Her orders were quick and precise. Intermittent flashes of gunfire began erupting once more from 2nd Platoon's crumbling defensive line. But once morale had broken, it did not return easily. Most of the soldiers were still paralyzed by fear and unable to respond properly.
"Aaah... There are too many of them...!"
"Magazine! My magazine's empty!"
Some soldiers crouched behind cover, unable even to raise their heads, while others trembled so badly that they couldn't properly change magazines. Despite Erika's shouts, 2nd Platoon was still trembling with fear.
'This won't do.
I surveyed the battlefield from the ridge. Fire support alone would not be enough. I first needed to restore their morale.
'Charismatic Speech.
I shouted at the top of my lungs.
"Raise your heads, 2nd Platoon!"
Ding—
[The skill 'Charismatic Speech (Lv.3)' is activated.]
[It simultaneously affects multiple targets (members of 2nd Platoon).]
"You are elite soldiers of the Empire! Are you going to kneel before mere pig-like orcs?! Are you just going to stand by and watch your comrades fall bleeding beside you?!"
[It temporarily increases the targets' resistance to negative emotions (fear, despair) and inspires positive emotions (courage, fighting spirit).]
"If you don't fight here and now, you'll spend the rest of your lives branded as cowards who ran away! Do you want to be remembered as losers?!"
My voice, imbued with the power of the skill, pierced the ears of the members of 2nd Platoon. Focus slowly began returning to the eyes of the soldiers who had been trembling in fear. It wasn't overwhelming, but it was enough.
[The morale of the members of 2nd Platoon is greatly restored.]
The soldiers began standing up again. They picked up the magazines they had dropped in the dirt and reinserted them into their rifles.
"That's right... That's right... We can't die like this...."
"We're not losers...!
"I'll kill them… those pig bastards…!
Clack! The magazines clicked into the rifles. Though they were still staggering, the members of 2nd Platoon gripped their rifles again. Then they aimed their muzzles forward once more and shouted.
"For the Empire!"
"They killed my comrades! I won't forgive them!"
"H-how...?!"
Erika stared blankly back and forth between her subordinates and me, as though she couldn't believe what she was seeing. A platoon that had been in an uncontrollable panic just seconds earlier had transformed into an entirely different unit at a single shout from me.
'Status Analysis.
[Name: Erika von Stahlberg]
[Emotion: Extreme confusion and disbelief at what was happening before her, a trace of awe toward Max Jaeger for reviving a platoon on the verge of defeat, and intense jealousy]
A trace of awe. Could anything be less suited to Erika? I snorted inwardly. She didn't let the opportunity pass and began issuing orders.
"3rd Platoon has drawn their attention! Fire at their openings! They have ax throwers, so make proper use of cover!"
Following her orders, the soldiers hid behind fallen trees and rocks and began firing back at the charging orcs.
Rat-a-tat-tat-tat-tat!
The machine gunner of 2nd Platoon pulled the trigger. The riflemen did not waste their remaining ammunition, firing carefully from the shoulder. The hail of bullets accurately tore through the gaps in the orcs' formation.
The tide turned in an instant. Having lost their commander and facing a crossfire from both directions, the orcs could no longer resist and began scattering.
"They're running!"
"Pursue them! Don't let a single one live!"
Erika and the members of 2nd Platoon charged out of the trenches with a shout. We looked down from the hill and ruthlessly put bullets into the backs of the fleeing orcs.
When even the last orc fell, the tension vanished as if it had never been there. The surviving members of 2nd Platoon collapsed where they stood or embraced one another, sighing in relief.
"…We survived. Did we... make it?"
One soldier muttered in a dazed voice. The comrade beside him supported him and spat out a curse.
"Damn it, if not for 3rd Platoon, we'd be orc chow by now. Did you see? The moment Lieutenant Jaeger showed up, everything changed in an instant...."
"Quiet! Check the dead and tend to the wounded!"
Erika shouted in a trembling voice. But even as the soldiers watched her warily, they kept glancing toward 3rd Platoon. My platoon members were proudly changing their magazines.
"It was nothing. This fight would've ended long ago if our lieutenant had been in command."
Sergeant Gunter said it loudly. Erika's shoulders flinched at his words. She whipped her head around and glared at Gunter, but when she saw me standing calmly behind him, she couldn't say anything. Instead, she took it out on the blameless members of 2nd Platoon.
"Don't just stand there! Check the wounded first and establish a perimeter! The battle isn't over yet!"
The members of 2nd Platoon flinched and began moving.
I watched them and quietly gave an order as well.
"3rd Platoon, maintain the perimeter and assist with evacuating 2nd Platoon's wounded."
"Yes, understood!"
And so, the battle ended.
*
By the time even the gunfire from the east had died down, dawn had broken over the Ashen Forest. Only orc corpses remained strewn across the battlefield, where smoke, the smell of gunpowder, and the stench of blood mingled together.
As soon as we returned to the base, all officers were ordered to assemble. The location was the company command tent. I brushed the dirt off myself roughly and headed there.
The command tent smelled of gunpowder and dust left by the battle, and was filled with a strained atmosphere utterly at odds with victory. The platoon commanders who had already arrived were all standing in their places. Lieutenant Walter and Lieutenant Franz stood with grim expressions, their mouths tightly shut.
Erika looked especially wretched. Her hair was thoroughly disheveled, and her combat uniform was torn and scorched in several places. She had both fists tightly clenched behind her back and her head bowed low. Though she was pretending to be calm, her shoulders were trembling faintly.
'…….'
Finally, when I took my place, Seraphina, who had been standing with her back to us in front of the operation map, slowly turned around. Her gaze swept over us once before fixing on Erika.
"Lieutenant Stahlberg, you first. Report."
"……I hereby report the results of 2nd Platoon's mission to defend the western ridge."
Erika replied in a hoarse voice.
"We engaged a large number of enemy stragglers and successfully repelled them. However... we suffered casualties. Two dead, five critically wounded, and eight lightly wounded. Ammunition expended: 70 percent of our small-arms allotment."
While she continued her report, I quietly activated a skill.
'Status Analysis.
[Name: Erika von Stahlberg]
[Status: Shame and anger at her own error in judgment]
[Emotion: Humiliation at incurring an unwanted debt, fear of Captain Seraphina]
'Humiliation at owing someone, huh….'
It was a status window befitting Erika. The report continued.
"...Without 3rd Platoon's support, it is highly likely that our defensive line would have collapsed. That is all."
Erika finished her report in a timid voice. For a moment, silence filled the tent. Seraphina merely stared at Erika. Under that wordless gaze, Erika's shoulders hunched even further.
"It sounds as though your error in judgment put your entire platoon at risk, Lieutenant Stahlberg."
Soon, Seraphina spoke. Her words were as cold as her voice.
"Even though you could have retreated far enough to preserve your strength, why didn't you? Was it that pointless pride of yours again?"
"……I'm sorry."
"You shouldn't be sorry to me; you should be sorry to the men under your command who died."
Those words, sharp as ice picks, pierced Erika. She bit her lip until blood began to seep out. At that moment, Seraphina's gaze turned toward me.
"Lieutenant Jaeger."
"Yes, Captain."
"Report."
I immediately began my report.