NOVEL WEB Chapter 179: New Tactics (4)
The day before the 7th Guard Division’s founding ceremony.
“I never thought that instead of the Crown Prince, the 4th Princess would come, especially the day before the founding ceremony.”
Now, we could talk about it with a smile, but it was quite serious at the time.
I wondered if there was something wrong between His Highness and me that I was unaware of or if I had done something wrong that made him not want to see me, so I requested a visit to ask him directly.
The next day, His Majesty secretly sent me a letter written in his own hand.
[Currently, the Crown Prince and I have absolute trust in you, but there are signs of jealousy among other generals. If a member of the royal family symbolizing your 7th Division becomes the Crown Prince, it might lower their morale. Therefore, I will send my daughter, the 4th Princess of the Empire, Louise von Reich, to celebrate the founding of the division. P.S. She admires you, so please treat her well.]
Seeing the letter with His Majesty’s personal joke, I could relieve some political tension.
“Even if our father-in-law, adorned with five stars, were to come, it would be terribly uncomfortable, let alone the Princess, who might not have the same understanding of the military as the Crown Prince. I’m not sure if it’s going to be easy to host her.”
Apart from me, the soldiers and officers already suffered a lot because of the massive cleanup of the unit.
Fortunately, except for the day of the founding ceremony, the schedule was adjusted to focus more on detailed cleaning during roll call than usual.
Otherwise, I would have lost a handful of hair due to stress.
Never in my life was I so glad to hear the words, ‘You can just train.’
“General, General! The Princess has arrived.”
Upon hearing that, I immediately rose from my office chair, walked out, and showed my respect as soon as the door opened.
“Raise your head, General Yeager.”
Sky-blue hair, white skin, deep blue eyes, and striking features. Her figure was slender but well-proportioned where it mattered.
Even if she wasn’t a princess of the empire, she was a beauty—no, a pretty girl—who would capture everyone’s attention just by walking down the street.
Seeing me, the Princess smiled and extended her right hand, saying,
“Please kiss my hand in respect. From now on, you are not just a General but a knight who leads a division that fights under my name.”
It wasn’t particularly awkward for me, a General, to kiss the Princess’s hand.
It was a common greeting for a nobleman to meet a woman of higher rank in this era.
However, even though I was the commander of the Guard Division that fights under the honor of the 4th Princess, it wasn’t common to refer to me as a knight.
Someone might misunderstand that I was a knight who had sworn loyalty to the Princess.
“Yes, Your Highness the Princess.”
But what could I do? If someone of high standing wishes it, I must oblige.
After kissing her hand, Louise blushed as red as an apple and seemed embarrassed despite being the one who requested it.
I’ve hardly ever had to greet noble ladies, except for female royals or Laura, so I felt no embarrassment.
How was she reacting like this despite regularly receiving similar greetings from male nobles, both old and young and handsome?
“Thank you very much for coming all the way from the capital, Reichsburg, to our division in Hamburg, Your Highness. From now on, my wife, Lieutenant Colonel Laura von Benner, will attend to you. Please take a tour of the unit with her, as you wish.”
Since the Princess was also a woman, it would be much more comfortable for her to walk around with Laura, a fellow female officer and lady of a Marquis family.
This was definitely not because I felt burdened by hosting Her Highness.
“Thank you for your consideration. However, I would like to hear about this unit directly from General Yeager, who commands the 7th Guard Division that fights under my name. May I insist a bit?”
In Princess Louise’s eyes, as His Majesty said, I could see the admiration she had for me.
So, if I were to unnecessarily delegate the guidance to Laura or another female officer, she would be displeased.
“Understood, Your Highness. However, as per your orders, we have not prepared any lavish hospitality. Please forgive any shortcomings in our hosting.”
Hearing my words, the Princess’s playful smile faded, and she responded kindly with a face full of sincere goodwill.
“What could be more meaningless than the empire’s finest unit facing disruptions in training and unnecessary hardship due to such hospitality? And there’s no greater honor for me than having the General himself guide me through the unit.”
According to senior officers, even the arrival of a two-star division commander would turn the unit upside down with all kinds of hospitality.
It was truly admirable to see members of the empire’s royal family taking the lead in avoiding unnecessary hardships for the soldiers because of them.
“From now on, please don’t call me ‘Your Highness, the Princess’ so formally when addressing me. Even though you’re not directly serving me, you are my knight. Please call me Louise even in official settings.”
According to the personal letter from His Majesty, the Princess admires the knights on white horses from fairy tales.
It seemed she wanted to get closer to me out of happiness for having a unit fighting under her name, separate from any political interests.
Well, since His Majesty and the Crown Prince sent the 4th Princess here, it was an order to get along well with her.
“Yes, Princess Louise. Then, let’s start with the nearest training ground. While I can’t offer you lavish hospitality, I will show you how strong our 7th Guard Division, which fights under your name, truly is.”
With that, Princess Louise smiled broadly and said,
“I’m looking forward to it, General.”
Even if Princess Louise ordered us to carry out our regular schedule, an inspection was still an inspection.
Therefore, I organized only intuitive training that even Princess Louise, who wasn’t well-versed in military matters, could understand just by looking.
This was a mock battle conducted by each battalion.
For reasons unknown, Her Highness wanted to observe our ‘actual training,’ which was part of our daily routine…
“When I fought at Richten Hill, anyone who handled a spear like that died! And yet, those who eat well and sleep well can only do this much?”
“When I fought under the General, I couldn’t imagine gasping for breath from just this level of training. But these days, times have gotten better…”
“When the 7th Guard Division was first formed, we did guerrilla exercises for half a day just as a warm-up before such mock battles. To be exhausted by just this, the General would be more than disappointed; he would weep.”
Based on their experience fighting in the critical Battle of Richten Hill, the founding members of the 7th Division, now senior soldiers, non-commissioned officers, and officers were pushing the new soldiers to their limits without crossing the line, using all sorts of “back in my day” stories.
As a result, the new recruits, non-commissioned officers, and officers were surpassing their limits through the hellish training without a single complaint.
However, to Princess Louise’s eyes, it seemed pleasing that soldiers who had overcome the empire’s crisis at Richten Hill were treating their juniors in such a manner.
“I’ve inspected many units, but I’ve never seen one train with such passion. Every single soldier and officer educating their juniors in this manner is a model of posture and physical condition. Impressive. A fine unit befitting General Yeager.”
“Thank you, Princess Louise.”
“The thought of such a unit fighting under my name fills me with happiness. I initially thought of just taking a brief look, but the mock battle is more intense than I anticipated, and the soldiers’ attitudes and skills are truly astonishing. I’ll stay until the training is finished.”
After watching the mock battle that lasted several hours until late in the afternoon, Princess Louise sincerely and warmly praised the soldiers and officers before returning to her quarters.
Naturally, this story spread throughout the 7th Division after the training ended.
Since then, Princess Louise occasionally started sending me personal letters, and I, in turn, occasionally wrote back about the 7th Division’s status and my daily life.
Laura, Anya, and Charlotte, upon seeing this, said that Princess Louise might have romantic feelings for me, but…
“I already have Laura, so could Princess Louise really feel that way about me? I can’t imagine His Majesty or the Crown Prince would even dream of it.”