My Platoon is F**king Hopeless

Hearts of General has a distinct difference from other strategy games. The entire system, including personnel formation, is unlocked based on rank.

If typical tactical strategy games start with a player commanding hundreds of thousands or millions of troops as a supreme commander,

in Hearts of General, unless a player applies a special mode or changes game settings, every player must start as a lieutenant.

So initially, one can only train platoon members to increase individual stats, expand their specialties, and advance in rank.

Through encounters like obtaining artifacts or establishing special units, they can participate more actively in the world war five years later.

This was the core of Hearts of General.

I was reluctant to join Sony Chepelin’s Special Response Brigade or Siegmund Blakovich’s National Guard for this reason.

First, the Special Response Brigade led by a Great Mage would be good for achieving feats, but it lacks initial support. It would be better to join later after building up strength.

Next, the National Guard.

If Major Siegmund personally likes me, I might secure a position as an adjutant, corresponding to a captain.

Then, I could build influence within the most powerful group, closest to central power, controlling the strongest force in the entire Okhraine army.

But the problem is that I am not a politician.

Though my political skill stack is maxed out, this is purely as a soldier’s ability. Even if I were to speak before a battalion commander or division commander, it’s uncertain whether I could effectively communicate as a civilian or noble.

So, I wanted to take on a role related to research or education, not training. A unit truly engaged in doctrine and tactical strategy, not just a boot camp.

First lay the groundwork, then face the world war as a field commander.

Probably, the scenario would be similar to the recent Belgorod Fortress construction, as Sony Chepelin said, with the Soviev Empire being the first to invade.

Next, the Free Union Army’s Prui-Breton Alliance would enter to defend the northwest buffer zone of Okhraine.

The Reinhardt Empire would join after being influenced by the Prui-Breton participation, leading to the complete destruction of this small duchy.

In other words, if we could somehow delay the Soviev Empire’s invasion at the beginning, it could turn the tide of the battlefield.

With the Soviev Empire coming first, followed by the alliance, and then the Reinhardt Empire joining as an ally of the Soviev Empire.

If we can withstand the first Soviev invasion, the alliance would lack justification for the Reinhardt Empire’s intervention.

By buying time and leading a coalition of neutral countries to put pressure on the Soviev Empire from all sides…

We could open a path for Okhraine Duchy to survive in this damn war.

And to achieve this, we ultimately need superior technology.

However…

One of the key technologies at this moment is born right now. It was created by someone who first appears as a “stiff, old-fashioned senior officer.”

“This is amazing!! Viktor Zelensky? He will definitely recognize its true value!! No, if he can’t, then he’s the idiot!”

Unable to contain my excitement, I raised Debra Bennett’s hand. She seemed quite surprised by my enthusiastic reaction.

“No… Lieutenant? I understand it’s a great technology, but it’s just a fireball? The output isn’t high… I was planning to modify it with help from your platoon over the remaining period…”

“Of course! We’ll help you improve it with all our might!”

It was an unexpected, incredible achievement.

*

“Fireball!!”

BOOM!!

Lumina’s fireball was canceled out just before hitting the magic barrier due to another spell.

“Not bad. But it has a clear weakness.”

“What kind of weakness?”

“The way it diverts some mana to form the barrier and then engraves a separate spell on it, which the caster activates directly. Is that correct?”

“Hmm… Yes.”

Debra was visibly surprised by Cloid’s ability to immediately discern the principle behind the spell just by observing it once.

Indeed, a war hero would have tremendous insight due to the difference in experience.

“First, it’s vulnerable to fast lightning attribute spells because it’s activated visually. To cast any spell, the caster needs to accurately perceive the timing.”

He began listing the flaws of Debra Bennett’s prototype Defense-Dispel spell without hesitation.

“Second, it’s only highly effective against spells that hit a wide area with weak energy. It becomes less efficient against piercing spells that concentrate power on a single point compared to a regular magic barrier.”

Debra listened dumbfoundedly, then quickly took out her notebook from her chest pocket and started taking notes.

“Lastly, why Magic Missile? If it’s a low-level spell, its power decreases. But if it remains at the same level, it will break through.”

From just hearing Cloid’s explanation, it was clearly a prototype, or even below that level, making it impractical for real combat.

Still, given his thorough analysis of the flaws, he likely knows the solutions too.

“How should we proceed?”

Debra Bennett asked with hope-filled eyes, despite Cloid uncovering flaws even the developer hadn’t noticed.

To which the answer was:

“I don’t know.”

“What?”

“If I knew, I would have left this damned army long ago and gone to the mage tower or the magic development department.”

A blunt truth. Both Debra Bennett and I froze at this unexpected response.

Only Bella Meyer challenged him.

“Why do you only point out weaknesses without offering solutions?”

“Please. I’m not a researcher; I’m a soldier.”

“You’re really irresponsible. As always.”

“Bella, Sergeant Cloid! Stop it!”

Seeing the two bickering, Lumina began to intervene.

At that moment, Roxanna, who had been silently watching the demonstration, spoke up.

“…I don’t get the first weakness, but couldn’t the second and third weaknesses be solved by increasing the density of mana in the spell?”

“In fact, that’s true. The first one depends on my reaction speed, which is unavoidable.”

Debra nodded in agreement with Roxanna’s opinion.

“But increasing the mana density would decrease efficiency. My mana capacity is limited.”

This was a very basic observation.

The issue Cloid pointed out stemmed from the overall low output of Debra’s prototype Defense-Dispel spell.

For ‘Dispel-Defense’ magic to be fully commercialized in Hearts of General, various magical techniques, including ‘Magic Armament,’ need to be developed first.

No matter how much of a genius Debra Bennett is, it’s impossible to instantly make practical use of a spell derived from a simple idea.

It’s like medieval units suddenly appearing in modern times for some reason.

While limited operation might be possible, without prior research, it’s impossible to improve or mass-produce.

Realizing this, she sighed:

“Sigh… Then this shouldn’t be shown during the evaluation. It should be presented as additional research results after the evaluation.”

She seemed disappointed.

“No, that’s not what I meant…!”

“Has Private Roxanna any other ideas?”

“If we use the mana of me and the platoon leader… I wanted to say that we could raise the output enough to be used sufficiently during the evaluation.”

“???”

Everyone except Cloid widened their eyes at Roxanna’s unexpected suggestion.

“I’m not good at handling mana. I can’t engrave spells on barriers like the Facilities Manager.”

She was a mana disease patient.

Using too much mana is dangerous, and using too little can cause mana to overflow in the core—truly a troublesome condition.

That’s why she joined the military, hoping to use as much mana as possible and have a place to replenish it in emergencies.

“But I can release explosive amounts of mana… inefficiently though…”

“Private Roxanna, does that mean…!”

“Teach me this spell. I promise I will succeed in it during this platoon evaluation.”

Roxana’s green eyes gleamed sharply.

---