172 – The Age of Steel and Sorcery (1)
“…… Nice to meet you, Brigadier General Enoch Levandell.”
“Nice to meet you. Captain Ernst Pell.”
“Since you are no longer a soldier, there is no need to call you a rank.”
General Ernst Pell, chief of the Uk ranian General Staff, submitted an application for discharge, but he was relegated to the rank of general and assumed the new post of Minister of War.
Ministry of War.
A government department externally known as the Defense Planning Agency under the Ministry of State.
We only have such an organization chart in order to exclude the subject matter of Amon conflict as much as possible. In fact, it was a strict central government department that was treated like a minister from one to ten.
The Minister of War has an obligation to report to the Secretary of State, but not to obey the Secretary’s orders.
In fact, an agency under the direct control of King Orlando I, with only a sign hanging up under the State Department.
Of course, since I was in a position where I couldn’t attract aggro from the outside, the selection of people, including myself and Captain Ernst Pell, was also conducted very secretly.
Apart from the key chiefs and vice-minister level officials who support the administration, you probably don’t even know who belongs to this war department?
“All the people you selected have been checked. It is more surprising than I thought that there is not a single person from the 8th Assault Magical Infantry Battalion.”
“They are good combatants and commanders, but they are not great at setting the table.”
“That makes me a little more trustworthy. Normally, in this situation, it would be normal to push your line.”
Reserve captain Ernst Pell—No, the Minister of War, who has now become my immediate superior, said as he slowly flipped through the documents I submitted.
Well, it’s not that there aren’t people who can be considered my line.
On the contrary, this is the true essence.
Most of the first personnel of the Ministry of War were former officers belonging to the Central Technical Education and Research Office.
“Colonel Jan Bloch, Artillery Tactical Planning Department, Cavalry Department…… Wouldn’t it be better to call it Armored Division now?”
“This is the Cavalry Reform Department.”
“I’m not kidding about the name, what the heck is this. Yes, anyway, the head of the cavalry reform department is from the Eastern Legion.”
“Not only did she actively resist the coup, she destroyed the town she occupied and stopped those who tried to leave.”
“Lieutenant Colonel Olena was a person who had been talked about a lot in the past. She has just been promoted to colonel, so I think it’s a reasonable greeting.”
Colonel Olena Deriugina.
Originally, she was one of the main pillars of the coup, and she was the commander of a battalion under the cavalry brigade of the Eastern Corps.
As soon as she realized the coup, she immediately armed the entire battalion, and was one of the few commanders who went before the counter-coup.
According to Orlando I’s royal decree, she was once released from her position, but it was revealed that she had repulsed a group of defeated soldiers who were trying to plunder her own people as she was completely free from the previous charges.
Although she was from the Eastern Legion, she was honored for her exploits as a soldier and faithful officer who kept the right honor.
A female colonel in her late thirties.
She was insane by modern standards.
Of course, it’s not something I’m saying after I went from second lieutenant to brigadier general in less than five years.
Besides, that wasn’t all of the personal connections I selected and put into the War Planning Department.
Major Debra Bennett, who has been in a relationship since the 3rd Magic Battalion.
War Planning Department Tsushima Thermal Power TF Working Officer.
Major Ivan, a former infantry company commander, who worked together in the very first actual battle, the operation to recapture Belgordo Fortress.
War Planning Department Infantry Strategic Tactics TF Working Officer.
In addition to this, before the coup occurred, those who had been acquainted with large and small matters were actively hired according to their abilities.
How about a captain or a major?
There are a lot of people who have not been able to advance to important positions because they have not been able to build a line even though they have made excellent records and achieved excellent results.
Especially in the case of the Western Corps, there was never a direct border like the North or South.
There were so many real soldiers who were being ‘intentionally’ excluded because the commander’s evaluation had a great influence on promotion and position assignment.
If you think about what it was like from the northern corps, where the situation was better, you can see how messed up the Uk ranian army’s personnel system was.
I have to die at the words of a lieutenant colonel.
Follow orders no matter how unreasonable.
The life of being ignored and being ignored by fellow comrades in all kinds of checks over their positions was the process that new officers of the Uk ranian Army had lived.
Because they were the ones who persevered through life filled with a sense of disparity between reality and fantasy, and were the ones who would lead this country on the right path in all future tragedies.
“There is no specific greeting. Besides, isn’t the war planning department actually under your jurisdiction?”
“No matter what, we have to follow the procedure.”
“I can’t stop.”
Ernst Pell shook his head and laughed lightly.
“Anyway, with this, I have all the excuses. Has the personnel order already been given?”
“Yes, it will probably be sent to each unit today.”
“The hardships must have been clear in the future. As the youngest brigadier general in Uk ranian history and promoted to general in the shortest period, I think it is a job that I have to take care of…….”
The Minister of War added, looking at the sky with empty eyes.
“To be honest, I don’t think there’s much I can do to help. I’m too old now Their understanding of tactics is much less.”
“Still, haven’t you stood at the pinnacle of being Chief of the General Staff of Uk ran?”
“Do you think the position had some authority? He’s actually in command of an army where, except for a few units, he’s nothing but a corpse. He was there for the undertaker. A position where he has no choice but to see the nation’s euthanasia with his eyes open.”
He smacked his lips bitterly.
“Still, I think I can finally see some hope. If the old people who are getting old and are busy preparing their own food bowl are annoying, you can always tell me.”
A declaration of absolute support from a former general, who was also the chief of staff of the Army.
Even though the situation has gotten to this point, if there are guys who can’t even take care of themselves and hold on to their ankles, he was saying that he would step out and break the earthen pot.
I replied, bowing my head at the old general, who was old but had not yet lost a gun in his eye.
“That alone is reassuring.”
***
Enoch Levandel became a brigadier general.
Of course, it was a reward commensurate with the enormous credit of successfully securing King Orlando I from the coup d’état forces, protecting the citizens, and suppressing the coup.
Another reason that existed behind it was the terrible manpower shortage.
Because the coup d’état has divided quite a few people who were in charge of one axis of the Uk ranian Army.
Two legions were entangled in a coup and evaporated.
Is that all? The National Military Police was virtually completely disbanded, and the Capital Defense Division also had a large number of key personnel replaced.
Those who actively participated in the coup were executed by hanging, shooting, or other methods depending on the nature of the crime.
In the case of unavoidable participation, they were discharged in dishonor or demoted to an inferior position.
Soldiers and noncommissioned officers who followed orders without any fault were torn apart and scattered.
The power gap that occurred in the process had no choice but to be filled with promotion.
In order to make up for the insufficient number of officers, it was recommended that noncommissioned officers who showed a little growth actively take the officer course.
As the stagnant and twisted military rank system was overhauled, noncommissioned officers and soldiers with accumulated years of service were automatically promoted.
A raging storm of change.
Among them, the 8th Assault Magical Infantry Battalion, as always, was the unit that took a direct hit from the storm.
The most famous showmaker unit in Uk ran, which has been causing all sorts of issues ever since Sonny Zeppelin first created the Special Response Brigade.
As they proudly played an important role in the victory of the Quernen War, they were regarded as one of the most elite troops in the army as well as their fame.
After the war, rather than moving the whole unit, from soldiers to officers, they had a very eccentric unit style in which they were dispatched to each unit and were in charge of training.
It was natural to be the first target of reform.
“Are you going to disband the 8th Assault Magic Battalion?”
Sonny Zeppelin, who had barely returned from the International Magecraft Conference, frowned upon the news as soon as he returned to Kayev, the capital city.
“You mean we’ve used up everything we could possibly use? Tosa Gupaeng?”
“No, Sony. Please listen to me.”
“It was a wise choice to appoint Enoch as a brigadier general, but in return, are you saying that we should surrender the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion?”
It was never the attitude he would show in front of the head of a country, whose international status was elevated to a ‘King’ rather than a duke after declaring a kingdom and receiving recognition from the Free Democratic Republic of Prüh and the Reinhardt Empire.
Orlando I was just sweating profusely at the sight of Sonny Zeppelin.
“That was the opinion of Enoch Levandel.”
“What?”
That moment.
Someone knocked on the door outside the audience room where the two were alone.
“Looks like you finally arrived. Let me hear it for myself. It’s good to come in! Brigadier General Enoch Levandel!”
When King Orlando I finally shouted with an expression of relief, a blonde officer cautiously entered and saluted.
“Glory to the motherland!”
Brigadier General Enoch Levandel.
Deputy Chief of National Defense Planning, War Planning Department, and current Battalion Commander of the 8th Assault Magical Infantry Battalion.
“Enoch!”
“Long time no see, Vice Admiral Sonny Zeppelin.”
It was the first time I had seen it since the International Magecraft Conference was held.
In terms of actual time, it was only a few weeks, but both of them felt that it had been more than a few years.
“Crazy. I thought that one day I would become a general. When did a new lieutenant reach the rank he had just two years ago?”
“Isn’t this all because of a good commander and a good line?”
“The line is crazy. Even though he made that line himself…….”
A light joke.
Sonny Zeppelin accepted Enoch’s salute with a smile as if asking when he had lost his expression, and held out his hand for a handshake.
“But what are you talking about disbanding the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion?”
“Have you already shared that?”
When Enoch Levandel turned his head to Orlando I, he nodded wordlessly.
“This is the first step in the army reform plan being planned by the Defense Planning Agency.”
“It is true that the talent pool is overly concentrated…… Do you really need to disband a unit that is in good shape?”
Sonny Zeppelin also acknowledged that to some extent. The 8th Assault Magical Infantry Battalion didn’t have a single person to waste, from the battalion commander to the lowliest soldiers.
Honestly, it was greedy to keep such personnel in one battalion.
However, Enoch Levandel threw more bombs in front of Sony than the ‘disbandment of the 8th Assault Magical Infantry Battalion’.
“It’s not just a story about the 8th Assault Magic Infantry Battalion. The Special Response Brigade, which currently has Colonel Josef Lewandowski as its commander, is also going to be disbanded.”
“…… ???”
Sonny Zeppelin casually grabs Enoch by the shoulder as he opens his mouth.
“What are you talking about! Explain straight!”
“To be precise, we plan to reorganize after disbanding.”
“Reorganization?”
From Noble mtl dot com
Enoch’s eyes flashed at the sight of the great mage shaking his head.
“We plan to unite all of the existing Mobile Battalion and Assault Magic Infantry, which have been trained in each corps since the last Quernen War, into one unit.”
Common name.
Uk ranian Special Operations Command (UKSOCOM).
Whoever the opponent is, wherever it is.
The ferocious hunters who penetrated deeply and eventually cut their throats began to gather under one banner.
