NOVEL WEB Chapter 177: New Tactics (2)
Until a few days ago, Corporal Koper, who had been promoted from private to corporal for his achievements at Richten Hill, was a soldier filled with confidence.
And he had a life achievement that warranted such confidence.
It was the fact that he had fought alongside the esteemed General Yaeger until the end in what was called the harshest battle in the history of the empire at Richten Hill and had finally returned alive.
Because of this, when he returned home on long leave, he was treated as a national hero in his rural hometown.
Thus, Corporal Koper decided that he must follow General Yaeger for life.
Although he was a non-commissioned officer now, he harbored the ambition to be promoted to an officer and become a junior noble in the future.
However, he was now bitterly regretting that decision.
“….Save me, damn it. I feel like I’m going to die.”
Even as he spoke, he was doing the notoriously difficult number 8 exercise to the beat of the instructor’s commands, and he was nearly at the 20 repetitions set by the instructor.
However, the instructor, whether knowing his feelings or not, just continued to give commands with an indifferent expression, looking down at the trainees.
“One! Two! Three!”
In any case, he swung his legs widely to the left and right in time with the instructor’s commands, making sure his movements could not be faulted.
So now, all the trainees here, including himself, just had to not shout that damn final command…
“One, two, three… nineteen, twenty!”
Whoever shouted it, unfortunately, the most dreaded final command was uttered, and all 40 trainees undergoing the training were plunged into despair upon hearing it.
They all wanted to find out who did it, but turning their heads wouldn’t help see anything, so in the end, it would be impossible to know who committed this act.
The instructor naturally repeated the words that had become familiar over the past few days.
“Aren’t the trainees paying attention? I told you to focus on the training. Is it that hard to follow the instructor’s order not to shout the final command? Compared to fighting at Richten Hill, this is nothing, isn’t it?”
Hearing that, the soldiers lying there thought that perhaps those times were better than this training.
At the same time, they were very curious about which crazy person shouted the final command during the exhausting number 8 exercise.
The instructor coldly said, as if even having the luxury to think this way was a luxury.
“I am disappointed in you! We will do the number 8 exercise again from now on! The count is 40! Repeat, how many?”
“40!”
“I like the sound of your response! Good, then we will do 40 now! Do not shout the final command!”
Hearing that, Corporal Koper and many other trainees prayed sincerely from the bottom of their hearts.
“Damn it, please let it end here. There should be no hellish situation like doing 60 repetitions of number 8 exercise in one go like yesterday.”
Then, under the instructor’s command, they began the tremendous ordeal of 40 full-body twists.
If it was very painful due to the pulling of the waist muscles until they finished 20 repetitions, now it felt like it was going to tear.
They all felt like giving up and wanted to be discharged, but Corporal Koper and the other trainees believed in the promise made by the General.
‘Anyone else might lie, but the General wouldn’t lie to us, damn it.’
“Aaaargh!”
“Oneee! Twooo!”
“Thirty-nine!”
As a result, the trainees here somehow managed to endure until just before the anticipated 40th repetition.
And then, the long-awaited 40th full-body twist began, and right next to Corporal Koper…
“One, two, three… thirty-nine, forty!!!”
The sound that should never have been heard! The word ‘forty’ was heard.
At that moment, Corporal Koper felt as if the lid of his head flew off, and since it was the guy next to him, he quickly turned his head to remember his face.
He thought about scolding him severely during the personal maintenance time after the training to get his mind right.
But the person who shouted the final command next to him was completely different from what he thought.
“Shh, be quiet.”
Unlike the trainees, wearing a combat uniform that wasn’t very dirty and the red cap, a symbol of the devilish instructors.
This time, it wasn’t a soldier who inserted the final command; it was actually an instructor.
Realizing this, Corporal Koper was so dumbfounded that his mouth involuntarily stayed open, and a pillar of hot resentment surged within him, about to explode for real.
But this place was the Imperial Army, where rank and position governed everything.
As he was just a non-commissioned officer of the 7th Guard Division, no matter how dire the situation, he couldn’t openly express dissatisfaction with the fact that it was the instructor who inserted the last command.
“I am greatly disappointed that the trainees are still not focusing on the training! Prepare for number 11 exercise!”
Doing number 11 exercise after number 8 was essentially torture.
So, the trainees next to Corporal Koper whispered their complaints secretly to the instructor.
“Damn it, just tell us to die. Why number 11 after number 8?”
“Which bastard shouted the final command again? Are they insane?”
“I don’t know who it is, but if I find them, I’ll kill them…”
Their complaints were whispered, so they didn’t reach the instructors’ ears.
“Number 11 exercise, 10 times!”
“10 times!”
“The response is too soft! 30 times! We will do 30 times! Omit the final command.”
“Ah!”
At this time, Corporal Koper sighed but resigned himself to start the number 11 exercise.
“Trainee number 38, step out!”
“Trainee number 38, step out! Ah!”
The instructor, who had secretly inserted the final command at intervals, called Corporal Koper out, and he headed to the back of the drill ground.
Corporal Koper knew from seeing others who had been called out before what kind of harsh treatment they received to come to their senses.
They were made to jump into the air and then do push-ups dozens of times, or do push-ups but keep their bodies lowered for more than a minute.
Or maintain a position with their hands behind their backs, wearing a helmet, and their heads bowed…
They were tested to their physical and mental limits in new and ingenious ways that he had never seen before.
At this time, Corporal Koper was the only trainee called out to the back of the drill ground, and the instructor spoke quietly, standing a bit away.
“Trainee number 38, lie on your back.”
“Lie on your back!”
“Maintain this position for a while and listen to the instructor.”
Contrary to his expectations, the instructor’s words, allowing him to rest, let him put down the worries he had been carrying.
“Never tell that I secretly inserted the final command. This was a special order from the General to enhance the training effect, so you must not disclose it. Understood?”
Corporal Koper momentarily resented the General but soon reflected on it.
For him, it was unthinkable to harbor disrespectful thoughts towards him.
Since he was someone who risked his life to save soldiers like him at Richten Hill, if he gave such an order, there must have been a reason behind it.
“Ah!”
“Good, trainee, roll left and right for 5 minutes in accordance with the command.”
“Roll left!”
Rolling left and right was practically a rest during guerrilla training if done at the right speed.
Following the instructor’s commands to roll left and right, he thought that overcoming this training would bring something, so he decided to just endure it.
Thus, Corporal Koper and other trainees of the 7th Division completed their PT exercises, and drill training, and then proceeded to conduct mock battles as if they were real.
After finishing the day’s training, the trainees entered the temporarily arranged barracks and fell asleep as soon as they lay down, as if dead.
And fifteen days later.
Corporal Koper and the soldiers started the morning with mock battle training instead of guerrilla exercises for the first time in a while.
The training was conducted with an intensity that was incomparable to before.
So, it would have been possible for some to drop out midway.
“The spear feels light? With this, I could stab with full force dozens of times in a row.”
“The armor isn’t that heavy. With this, it wouldn’t be hard to march in it.”
“Was the training always this manageable?”
The soldiers had been training every day, fighting against their limits with difficult exercises like guerrilla training in the morning and drill training or mock battles in the afternoon.
As a result, they had gained physical strength incomparable to what they had fifteen days ago.
Watching them, the officers commanding them thought they had been foolish to consider suggesting to the General that “this might be too much” during their guerrilla training.
The fact that the soldiers and themselves had increased their physical strength to this extent in such a short time meant that the unit’s combat power had increased, and it meant the probability of their survival and return from the battlefield had increased.
Other officers of the 7th Division, who had suffered through guerrilla training, also nodded and said,
“Damn, I thought I was going to die during training.”
“The General had it all planned. I never imagined the effects would be this significant.”
“As officers, we can’t be outdone by soldiers in physical strength. I’ll focus more on training tomorrow.”
And watching that scene from behind, General Peter Yaeger had a thought that would truly shock them if they heard it.
“If we stimulate the honor of being an officer, it seems entirely possible to gradually increase the intensity of the training by about 1.2 times.”