The Difference Is Like Between a Dog and a Cow

17 – After Effects (1)

“Thank you, Sergeant Bell.”

“What, I brought you a bottle of water.”

I struggled to get out of bed.

According to the surgeon, he passed out due to an overload on his weak body. I’ve also heard frightening stories that further brain damage could occur in the future.

Of course I didn’t break any bones or seriously injure my spine, but at least I was in the medic for a few days.

– Hey…… How did you actually graduate from the military academy?

The medical officer’s slightly bewildered voice lingers in his ears as if the person in question was also dumbfounded.

I gulped down the cold water Bell had brought me and looked at Rumia lying next to me.

She is sleeping soundly.

Rumia, who had been unable to sleep all night because of the pain, was able to fall asleep only after taking painkillers this morning.

“Still, I’m glad. Life is not affected.”

“She could have been in big trouble if she had been hit even slightly.”

I, who came to rescue him, had been neglected for a while due to a back injury, and even after being rescued, I spent quite a bit of time traveling a distance of about 4km.

Had the fragments of her bullets touched her arteries, Rumia would have lost her life.

“By the way, how is the follow-up going?”

“The fort is scheduled to be repaired by the Legion Corps of Engineers. All the remnants were executed.”

A band of bandits.

It was not a regular army under the laws of war, and since they captured the fortress and annihilated the garrison, it was only natural that they would be executed.

But the problem wasn’t the bandits.

The people who made Rumia like this and confronted me for a while. It was clear that those bastards were behind this incident.

“Did you find out anything about those bastards?”

“Even the military police came to investigate, but I didn’t say much.”

“Are there any suspicions?”

“It seems that he interrogated the remnants who were captured alive… …. Well.”

Actually, they were the ones who put on their robes and fled as soon as they judged that time would be delayed. It’s natural that you can’t easily recognize your identity.

In other words, it meant that they had thoroughly prepared for the assault this time.

Even if I had killed or captured one person at the time, it would have made no difference.

‘It must be 100% an agent.’

I know this field well. Those nasty people who carry cyanide capsules in their mouths.

I thought back to the situation at the time.

One guy called the leader ‘comrade’. And as far as I know, there are only three countries in Hearts of General that use the title comrade.

Republic of Polania.

The Autonomous Country of Valoran.

And the last was consumed by the Empire.

Pollania was an ally of Ukraine, so there is no reason for such a drastic operation.

And while the Autonomous State of Valoran isn’t an ally, why should a country similar to the Ukrnians take such a gamble?

In the end, the conclusion drawn according to the elimination law was that there was only one great power in the east, the Soviet Empire, that could survive doing this.

In terms of military power, along with the Reinhardt Empire, it is a country that forms a twin wall in the forces of the Imperial Alliance. Above all, he was in a position to constantly fight with the principality over territorial issues.

Without thinking too deeply, it was clear that Sobi was the empire’s doing.

In the first place, even in Haojie, at the same time as the World War broke out, it was the first country to trample on Ukraine. Capturing the outskirts fortress would be a piece of cake.

‘But it’s too early…… ?’

Of course, it was national rule that small and large skirmishes or local wars took place in the border area before the full-scale war broke out.

But that’s usually a story when there’s about a year or two left before the start of the war.

War doesn’t happen all of a sudden.

Local warfare, provocation, dispatch of spies, change of corps deployment, diplomatic pressure, etc…….

To start a fire by slowly piling up dry firewood and kindling sticks as if lighting a fire in a furnace, then throwing out the embers at the right time.

That is war.

Therefore, there are always signs of war before war. Cause and effect exists in everything.

However, the current situation was so sudden that it could not be regarded as cause and effect.

Right now, even when I was playing Sobie Empire in Haojie, I never played like this. If you touched the hearts of other countries from the beginning, would you have received all kinds of checks and checks before the start of the war?

Then, let alone victory, the national system could be overturned by a revolution. Why would you do something inefficient with a small return compared to the risk?

I was lost in thought for a moment.

No matter how much the consumption empire is a crazy gangster country that doesn’t care about the eyes of neighboring countries, it was certain that it would not come out recklessly to this extent.

After being possessed by Haojie for the first time, I was the one who constantly wandered around the Strategy and Information Divisions.

As a newly appointed platoon leader, it was also to get acquainted with key executives, but the most important thing was to understand the current situation in Ukraine.

After examining the conversations of the staff officers, the weekly newspaper delivered weekly, and the daily newspaper left in the corner of the library.

I was convinced that the Ukrnians were taking the route of ‘standard defeat’.

The Principality of Ukraine is unable to choose a side even when the tone of war intensifies throughout the continent, and is torn between the Free Allies and the Imperial Alliance, and is half-blown.

It borders with all kinds of countries, so it has the tactical advantage of being a shallow sea transportation route that allows troops to be sent anywhere.

Because most of the country is a fertile plain, it has a geographical advantage that food supply is very easy.

Despite its claim to be a ‘neutral country’, it has exposed its fatal weakness that it lacks enough military power to maintain its position and, at least, has a loose alliance system with neighboring countries.

The two camps would split the country into two in an instant.

For such an idiotic reason that ‘you can’t hand over such a strategic point to the enemy’.

Occasionally, even the Reinhardt Empire in the south joined in and was divided into thirds.

But this is a story from 5 years later?

The Sudden Rise of the Soviet Empire. It was clear that he had other ulterior motives than simply provoking the Ukrnians.

Perhaps that’s why we chose ‘Belgordo’ as the place to attack among the many border fortresses.

“Sergeant Bell.”

I called out to Bell Meyer, who was sitting next to me.

Anyway, it would be better for me to go by myself, but since I have trouble moving, I can’t help it.

“Would you like to go to the Operations Department and find out what was kept in Fort Belgordo?”

“Eh? Fortress storage items? Why is that all of a sudden…….”

She had a questioning expression on her face, but I answered lightly.

“With that, I think I can understand the purpose of those who attacked Lumia and me.”

***

Headquarters of the 18th Infantry Regiment under the command of the Army’s 8th Division in charge of the northeastern part of the Ukrnian border.

Only a chilly silence hung over the spacious meeting room there.

A total of 28 casualties occurred in this operation. 12 Dead and 16 wounded. More than half of the injured were seriously injured.

Including the annihilated fortress garrison, the death toll rises to a total of 40.

Of course, the thieves who had infiltrated were annihilated, so in the end it could be seen as a successful operation.

Tactically, it was close to a disastrous failure.

“Commander of the 18th Infantry Regiment, say something.”

“Sorry, Captain.”

The 8th Division’s supreme commander, Major General Novgordo, spoke in a calm voice. The air freezes at those words that overwhelm the congregation.

Regimental commander Alvin, who was being reprimanded, had no choice but to bow his head.

“This is all my fault. You underestimated the enemy’s strength.”

“So, it must have been a band of bandits chased from the border area. Why did I suffer such damage!!”

Nob Gordo yelled and threw his fists out. Bang!! The strong vibration shook the desk for an instant.

“Sorry.”

The officers gathered for a meeting on post-mortem criticism and follow-up measures shrank at the sight of the division commander who was very angry.

If you get caught wrong, you won’t even get a bone.

Because he was the one who seized the full power of Satan, at least for this moment, he was a person higher than the king of the principality.

“Is there still anything from the military police?”

“Yes, it is. Not much progress has been made, except to say that it is presumed that the bandits fled as soon as they completely captured the fort.”

The adjutant answered in a calm voice. In his hand, there were a lot of documents submitted by various departments related to the attack on the Belgordo Fortress.

“Even if it wasn’t for the vision support from the magic battalion, I heard that the thieves wouldn’t have noticed until they reached the edge of the encirclement wing.”

Major General Novgorod’s eyes turned to Lieutenant Colonel Lockhart Cromwell sitting in the corner.

The division commander’s eyes, which were filled with anger, faded a little.

Lockhart Cromwell.

In addition to being an officer of a unit operated separately from the division, he is also the commander of the magic brigade with its own speciality.

Thus, only Lockhart was able to maintain a relaxed attitude in this bloody atmosphere.

And it was also because there was a clear achievement that the person who searched for the thieves who approached right in front of them was none other than a magic officer under his command.

“If it hadn’t been for Colonel Lockhart’s troops, the regiment’s encirclement would have been broken through. Your credit is great.”

“My battalion just did what it had to do.”

Lockhart bowed his head in response.

Actually, Lockhart didn’t do anything big in this operation, but the division commander stepped up and fed him himself, so there was no reason to refuse.

“Yes, one of the platoon commanders responded very appropriately to an emergency, right? Didn’t he also say that he was injured while repelling a group of unknown mages who tried to infiltrate through the chaos…… ?”

To be precise, it was not that he was injured during the repulsion, but that he fainted from exhaustion while trying to take care of his platoon.

‘It looks like the regiment decorated it nicely.’

The regrettable person was the regiment, not himself.

Since I lost 40 troops against the bandits, I have to raise the level of the enemy somehow.

That way the division commander will have some prestige when reporting to the upper level.

“Could you tell me the name of that brave and clever second lieutenant?”

“This is Lieutenant Enoch Levandel, Commander.”

It was then.

Boom!!

The door to the conference hall, which had been firmly closed, opened wide with a loud noise. At the same time, all the assembled officers’ eyes turned to the entrance.

“What is the officer’s name!?”

A woman wearing a half crooked army uniform strode into the meeting room and shouted.

This is the venue for the post-mortem review of the critical incident in which the defense fortress of the principality was attacked.

Division commander Novgordo was also present, and most of the officers gathered at the table were field officers.

It was a rude act that could never be done without Gan coming out of the boat, but the people gathered there couldn’t bear to say a word.

Unusual hair color with light purple undertones.

It was a short bob with the tip barely reaching the nape of the neck, but the gliding eyes and bright skin in a soft curve gave off a strange feeling.

The pattern attached to the shoulder strap is three chrysanthemums.

It was a colonel.

Actually, rank didn’t matter at all.

She is the superstar that everyone is paying attention to right now inside the Ukrnian Army.

Of the 12 great mages, he is the only great mage possessed by Ukraine, and he is the general manager of the ‘Special Response Brigade’, which will be newly created in the army based on the absolute trust of the current king.

The Great Mage of the Sky, Sonny Zeppelin.

“Eh, what is it? Warden Novgorod? Did you arrive sooner than expected?”

She asked with a smirk at her division commander, who became her contemplation.