Chapter 36
Gerhart was recently feeling his body aging.
It had been over 40 years since he first went to the battlefield, and he had long passed the age of retirement.
Although his motivation and passion were still full, his worn-out body and stiffened mind could no longer keep up.
The Dragonian Empire was surrounded by numerous enemy countries, barely maintaining balance in the midst of them.
Although the empire was strong, it wasn't stronger than all the countries surrounding it combined.
Gerhart thought change was necessary to break through this situation, but he also knew that such change was difficult now when veteran generals like him were holding the center of the imperial army.
In that respect, the more he studied Viktor's strategies and tactics, the more clearly his abilities were revealed, so Gerhart saw Viktor as a talent who could bring change to the empire.
Although the noble faction army, after repeated victories in the early stages of the war, marched somewhat hastily thinking they could end the war quickly, and even minimized local conscription for reasons such as quick war termination and occupied territory management.
General Paul leading them was by no means incompetent, and he didn't make major mistakes based on imperial doctrine.
It's just that Viktor's terribly efficient tactics sharply dug into their weaknesses.
Bold maneuvers targeting temporarily divided enemies during marches, agile unit operations utilizing terrain, continuous supply route attacks, etc.
Viktor moved as if reading all the imperial army's movements, so the imperial army's hardships were inevitable.
The staff's prediction was that if the ceasefire negotiations hadn't been concluded, the empire would have suffered great damage from Viktor's counterattack.
Now that Viktor had come over to the empire, and was even receiving support from the Empress who had a discerning eye for talent.
Gerhart was already certain that Viktor would rise to an important position in the empire like himself.
"Corps Commander."
"Hmm."
"How about proposing corps integration even now? If Viktor's skills are true, it's a waste to have him lead only such forces."
Unlike his subordinates who distrusted the 1st Provisional Corps that Viktor brought, even if they trusted Viktor himself…
"Let's watch for now. They've also been through two years of war. It's my thought that it's difficult to see them as ordinary conscripts."
"...Understood."
Gerhart judged that they too would have hidden strength.
Concerns about cooperation were just excuses that everyone knew for the empire, which had often utilized surrendered enemy soldiers.
Although his subordinates considered Viktor capable, they distrusted the usefulness of his corps, seeing it as just scraped-together defectors of conscript origin.
Those who had seen the inadequate appearance of noble faction corps in joint training and such tended to be even stronger in this opinion.
However, contrary to such opinions, Gerhart thought that Viktor's forces, which faithfully carried out his instructions, could not possibly be at the level of ordinary conscripts.
An army that immediately follows the commander's orders even on the battlefield is itself proof of being elite.
"Large-scale movement and formation change training. You've conveyed it clearly, right?"
"Yes, Corps Commander."
This was the reason Gerhart affirmed Viktor's words considering this joint training as a place of proof.
More precisely, in the sense of proving the hidden strength of the 1st Provisional Corps.
Large-scale movement and formation change.
Especially for large-scale forces at the corps level to move smoothly, much more is needed than what is expected of ordinary elite soldiers.
"We will begin the joint training of the 10th Corps and 1st Provisional Corps."
The time given to Viktor's corps was one week.
Although it was a short time, Gerhart believed that Viktor's 1st Provisional Corps would certainly show its abilities.
---
As it's realistically difficult to train 15,000 troops at once, the joint training was conducted in a way where officers from both the 10th Corps and 1st Provisional Corps watched the training of forces divided into brigade-scale units of about 4,000 men.
One brigade-scale unit trained per day, and officers from both corps climbed high towers to watch the soldiers' movements.
About dozens of people including staff climbed the tower from the 10th Corps, while fewer than 10 people including Viktor, Anna, and Alexandrov came up from the 1st Provisional Corps.
"1st Infantry Brigade, as expected, it's impressive."
"General Klaus has made great efforts."
The 10th Corps' 1st Infantry Brigade, which conducted training on the first day, completed the tasks without major problems.
In the morning, they finalized formation and transition, and in the afternoon, they demonstrated various forms of formations such as crane wing, fish scale, and circular formations.
The 1st Infantry Brigade utilized various signals including flags, trumpets, and whistles for troop control, and Brigade Commander Klaus personally sent messengers to coordinate the finer details.
When changing formations, they consumed roughly 15 minutes to an hour depending on the form of the formation.
The soldiers moved sequentially like a wave starting from those close to the headquarters, and although they occasionally deviated slightly from their positions in company or battalion units, this was entirely natural.
Since it inevitably takes time for signals to reach, moving more nimbly than this is not easy even for the most elite soldiers.
The 1st Infantry Brigade finished overall training in the late afternoon, and only a small number of troops remained to train on deficient points until evening.
"15 minutes to change from column march to line formation. It's amazing."
"It seems they've focused on training for situations that can often be encountered in actual combat."
The 10th Corps officers actively exchanged opinions throughout the training.
Most marveled at the elite nature of the 1st Infantry Brigade, and officers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade took notes on Klaus's command style.
"..."
"Hmm..."
On the other hand, those who came from the 1st Provisional Corps just watched the soldiers with strange gazes.
"How does Corps Commander Viktor see it?"
"...Ah. It was excellent movement. I had heard of the 10th Corps' elite nature, but seeing it in person, I think the rumors fall short."
"Is that so? Thank you."
Although Viktor, as corps commander, responded positively to Gerhart's question, the lukewarm reaction shown by his subordinates didn't sit well with the proud 10th Corps officers.
This was the same while watching the 10th Corps 2nd Infantry Brigade's training the next day.
Unlike the 10th Corps officers who had heated conversations with each other,
"As training has ended, the 1st Provisional Corps will return first to prepare for tomorrow's training."
"...Yes."
Those who came from the 1st Provisional Corps quietly watched the training and quickly left.
"...Hah."
The officers felt such behavior as presumptuous.
After the training ended, the 10th Corps officers gathered separately to discuss the 1st Provisional Corps' attitude.
"Perhaps because Viktor is of surrendered general origin, he seems to have strong pride."
"Hmph. Viktor must have been inwardly unable to contain his admiration."
"A general who only dealt with ragtag conscripts might not have properly recognized our level."
"Hahaha!"
Although they couldn't say it in front of Gerhart, they were certain that Viktor's corps wouldn't be able to properly perform the training.
Thus, the next day dawned.
"Where is Corps Commander Viktor?"
"He said he would personally command the soldiers."
"...Well."
While most of the 10th Corps officers climbed the tower for observation, no one from the 1st Provisional Corps came up except for one messenger to convey Viktor's intention.
"Haha. They must be quite short on officers."
"Come to think of it, didn't only a few come up yesterday and the day before as well?"
"I heard it wasn't the entire army that surrendered, it might be because of that."
The officers whispered quietly.
Although the 1st Provisional Corps is small in scale, it's quite awkward for the corps commander to directly take charge of tactical command.
Even in the 10th Corps' training, Corps Commander Gerhart only watched the training from the tower for two days.
The officers approached Gerhart, who was sitting with a serious expression.
He was continuously watching the 1st Provisional Corps under Viktor's command gathering at the training ground.
"What do you think, Corps Commander?"
"It's not too late to evaluate after seeing the training. For now, let's just watch quietly."
"...Yes."
Following Gerhart's instructions, the officers sat quietly and began to watch the 1st Provisional Corps' training.
"If they're short on officers, it must be difficult, right?"
"That's right. Although Corps Commander Viktor is said to be excellent, he's still just one person."
The officers who were initially skeptical,
"...Huh?"
"What."
Began to open their mouths at the movements shown by the 1st Provisional Corps soldiers.
"Is, is that even possible?"
The 5,000 troops of the 1st Provisional Corps showed formation movement and changes right away from the morning without any particular preparation.
"My goodness..."
"How long did it take?"
"...It seems to have taken about 5 minutes."
When about 5 minutes had passed since the flag was waved at the main camp…
The 5,000 soldiers who had been stretched out in a long marching formation had already completed the transition to a line formation preparing for battle.
"Well, they might have just practiced linear formation continuously...?"
Their speed in transitioning to other complex formations besides linear formation was also several times faster than the 10th Corps soldiers.
"How on earth..."
Most importantly,
"To say the entire force moves simultaneously, is this even possible?"
"...We're seeing it right now."
"..."
The point is that all 5,000 troops move towards their positions almost simultaneously without delay between forces.
Without several exchanges of signals or sending many messengers.
They formed the overall formation by grouping in company units, and somehow there wasn't a single unit that got stuck or deviated from its position in the middle.
The staff members exchanged glances with each other, forgetting what to say.
"Could we do that too?"
"...I'm sorry."
"No need to apologize. I'm not unaware that that level of control is impossible."
At Gerhart's smiling words, the officers closed their mouths tightly and watched the movements of the 1st Provisional Corps.
If they trained unit movement for a long time, it might not be completely impossible, but they weren't confident in training to move so smoothly, quickly, and diversely.
"Oh, could it be."
"...It's amazing."
Even the brigade commanders who commanded previous training couldn't help but admire.
The 1st Provisional Corps, having already finished demonstrating formations in the morning, showed off its flexibility by moving archers, spearmen, and swordsmen here and there, especially the archers freely weaving between infantry caught the officers' attention.
Even while formations were moving, they created paths with exquisite speed adjustments and minute movements, and archers and elite swordsmen safely moved through those paths.
It seemed like their paths should overlap or tangle at least once, but they moved without mistakes with just a few signals.
"...Perhaps, are they learning tactics at the individual soldier level?"
"That can't be."
"..."
In the end, the 1st Provisional Corps' formation change and movement training and demonstration were all finished before lunchtime.
The 10th Corps officers came down from the tower and followed behind Gerhart, who was walking towards the main camp where Viktor was with a bright expression.
Not a single person still doubted the capabilities of the 1st Provisional Corps.
"Corps Commander Gerhart?"
"Is it alright to enter?"
"...Yes."
As soon as Gerhart arrived at Viktor's tent, he flung open the tent flap.
About dozens of 10th Corps officers followed in behind him.
"Ahem. Ahem! Corps Commander Gerhart."
"...Can you tell us how this is possible?"
Gerhart immediately approached Viktor, who was standing in front of a map clearing his throat, and asked.
"Ahem..."
"Perhaps, magic or something?"
When Gerhart jokingly mentioned magic, the officers seriously considered the possibility that Viktor had utilized magic.
Although magic in the Dragonian Empire is limited to simple forms of attack magic and Phlegethon, the movement of the 1st Provisional Corps was at a level difficult to explain without supernatural elements.
"Ahem! It's similar, probably."
"...Impressive."
Gerhart took Viktor's answer to mean it was difficult to reveal, and nodded with a smile.