WeTried Translations
Translator/Editor: Asakusa
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◈ Veteran of the Northern Front ◈
Chapter 16: Operation Frostfire (3)
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The silence that fell was instantaneous.
One look at Berun’s cold eyes and frigid demeanor told me all I needed to know.
Berun was not in a good mood.
“...You make it sound as though the Frostfire Operation is flawed.”
“It is.”
“Hah.”
A dry laugh escaped Berun, and Berun’s expression hardened.
“Squad Commander Ubel Graum, I think highly of you, so I’ll let this pass. But be careful. What you just said is an insult to headquarters.”
As Berun said, in the military, merely opposing or questioning an order from above could be a crime.
‘If it had been another commander, my head would already be off.’
But the Berun I knew was not that kind of person.
“Fine, then. Can you tell me why you think so? Surely you didn’t say that without any basis.”
This was the important part.
I steeled myself once more.
“This war was flawed from the very beginning.”
“...From the beginning?”
“Yes.”
Barbarians were simple-minded brutes.
That was the Empire’s image of them.
And there was some truth to it.
Most barbarians trusted only their strength and charged in headfirst.
But chieftains and elders valued reason over instinct. They could assess a situation with a cool head.
They knew to strike an enemy’s weakness when they had the advantage, and to retreat when they did not.
Now, let us return to the Frostfire Operation.
With a few exceptions, each tribe had a force of around one to two hundred.
The heart of this plan was to defeat the smaller tribes one by one, display the Empire’s might, and warn the barbarians.
That purpose itself was mistaken.
“The barbarians are likely suffering from food shortages right now.”
“Food shortages?”
“Do you remember the report I gave about the condition of the barbarians who attacked my outpost?”
“...You said they were gaunt, as though they hadn’t eaten for days.”
“That is correct.”
What headquarters had overlooked was the complacency of the commanders leading the army and the barbarians’ circumstances.
“Since ancient times, they have said that no matter how skilled the hunter, one should never provoke a starving beast.”
The barbarians were struggling with food shortages. Declaring a campaign against them now was no different from driving a wounded beast into a corner.
Berun shook his head at my argument.
“That is quite a leap. It is a plausible guess, but there is no clear proof.”
A leap?
Then how about this?
“Lord Berun, do you know of Cassias?”
“What kind of question is that? Of course I do.”
Cassias, the undefeated commander.
Cassias was one of the Empire’s founding heroes, a great figure who went undefeated in all eighty-seven battles fought in life. In the game, he existed only as part of the setting.
‘If circumstantial evidence won’t work...’
Then I would persuade Berun with logic.
“The great Imperial commander Cassias said that several conditions had to be met to win a war. Of those, the three most important were climate, terrain, and morale.”
It was a famous principle, appearing in numerous military texts from my previous life.
Let us examine our current situation one point at a time.
“First, climate. Though winter is nearly over, it is still winter. Simply marching to war during winter in the already freezing North will be a tremendous hardship for the soldiers.”
“Mm.”
“Second, terrain. We are marching into enemy territory rather than fighting on Imperial land.”
“...Naturally, our understanding of the terrain will be inferior to the enemy’s.”
“On top of that, as I mentioned, we must maintain supply lines in this cold weather. That only increases the burden.”
“...”
Berun’s expression grew increasingly grave as I laid it out clearly.
It meant I was persuading Berun.
I needed to drive the nail in now.
“Lastly, morale. This is the most important point.”
“I find that difficult to agree with. Whatever else may be true, the Imperial Army’s morale does not fall behind that of the barbarians.”
“Under ordinary circumstances, that would be true.”
“Ordinary circumstances? What do you mean...”
“What if the barbarians truly are suffering from food shortages, as I said?”
Headquarters was likely underestimating the enemy, thinking, ‘The barbarians have no sense of cooperation anyway. If we press our numerical advantage, they’ll flee on their own.’
But contrary to their expectations, the barbarians would not run. They would unite and fight to the death.
“What tribe would take in refugees who abandoned their homeland and fled when food is scarce?”
They would be fortunate if the cannibals did not capture them and turn them into food.
“If they’ll die either way, the barbarians will ultimately face the Empire with everything they have.”
The climate was poor.
The terrain was unfavorable.
The enemy would charge in prepared to die, while our side looked down on them.
Even the great Chungmugong would have smacked his forehead and shaken his head, saying this could not work.
Berun fell silent for a moment before speaking quietly.
“...There is certainly logic in what you say. But doesn’t that ultimately rest on the assumption that they lack food?”
“It is not an assumption. It is a variable the Imperial Army has yet to identify.”
If the enemy had fewer soldiers than us.
If their soldiers were less skilled than ours.
There was nothing more foolish in war than indulging in wishful thinking over unconfirmed facts.
One must always act with the worst-case scenario in mind.
That was the mindset a soldier needed in war.
Had my persuasion worked?
Berun’s gaze was noticeably different from before.
‘How should I put this?’
Berun seemed to be thinking, ‘I didn’t expect this much.’
In any case, Berun looked at me with that kind of expression.
“I understand what you’re saying, Ubel Graum. Even so, I can’t help but wonder why you came to me with this. Are you saying that the subjugation operation must be called off?”
“No.”
Even Berun could not oppose a decision handed down by headquarters.
“What I want is for you to trust me if the worst comes to pass.”
“Trust you?”
“Yes. I cannot promise the best outcome, but I will do my utmost to prevent the worst. So please trust me.”
“Hm. Very well.”
Perhaps Berun’s evaluation of me had risen after our conversation.
Berun readily nodded.
“If I find your arguments reasonable, I’ll give them due consideration.”
“Thank you!”
With that, the first piece of my plan to survive fell safely into place.
＊＊＊＊＊
Time flowed like water, and before I knew it, two days had passed.
It was the day of the subjugation operation.
As soon as the sun rose, my squad and I crossed the Elnes Mountains and set foot on barbarian land.
Gilbert’s thousand-man unit, which we belonged to, moved along the left side of the Elnes Mountains while avoiding the barbarians’ eyes as much as possible. Kruger’s thousand-man unit of the Right Army pushed in from the right.
The subjugation force had effectively been split in half.
It was supposedly for an efficient command structure, but from my perspective, knowing the future, it was simply frustrating.
Gilbert was a man with a mustache like the fellow printed on the can of potato chips I used to buy and eat sometimes in my previous life.
“Lord Gilbert, a barbarian village is in sight.”
At his adjutant’s words, he smiled with satisfaction and stroked his mustache.
“Hm, our first prey. Good! All troops, attention!”
At Gilbert’s shout, the soldiers turned their eyes toward him.
“We have suffered at the hands of the barbarians for far too long!”
“...”
“Their atrocities have only grown worse with time, and they have finally reached a point that even the exalted Skadi cannot forgive.”
Skadi was the goddess of winter and hunting worshipped by the people of the North.
“Therefore! We have gathered here to punish them. And just ahead live those vile cannibals, who crossed into Imperial territory and fed on the corpses of our comrades!”
At the word cannibals, fury filled the soldiers’ eyes.
Of all the barbarians, the soldiers hated those with cannibalistic customs most of all.
How could they not, when those people saw them as prey?
Soldiers who had lost comrades to cannibals glared at the village with eyes filled not just with anger, but venom.
“Today, we will wipe out those wicked creatures and raise the Empire’s prestige! Follow me!”
Gilbert charged toward the enemy on horseback.
I did not know exactly what kind of person he was, but he certainly had a talent for inciting soldiers.
The sight of the thousand-man unit charging while holding formation was spectacular.
‘Seeing it in person, it really is overwhelming.’
People often made this mistake, but a thousand soldiers were by no means a small number.
When the mass of troops, arranged like a checkerboard, emerged from the forest, panicked cries came from the barbarians.
“Th-the Empire?!”
“The Empire! The Empire is attacking!”
They hurriedly grabbed their weapons to respond, but our side was a step faster.
“All troops, charge.”
“Waaaaah!”
A preemptive strike launched with full force.
The soldiers easily smashed through the wooden barricades around the village and entered.
There were only two hundred barbarians living in this village, and fewer than a hundred were able to fight. The outcome had already been decided.
“Urgh!”
“Elder!”
“You cursed Imperials!”
“What are these cannibals babbling about?!”
“Ghk!”
Unable to understand the barbarians’ language, the soldiers thought they were merely shrieking and stabbed them to death without hesitation.
‘They have all completely lost their minds.’
They were consumed by madness.
By their rage toward cannibals, and by intoxication with their own strength.
In just ten minutes, the quiet village had turned into a living hell.
“Please spare us!”
“Please... at least spare this child!”
After all the tribal men were killed, the remaining women shielded their children and begged for mercy. But unfortunately, the soldiers lost in madness had no hesitation left.
“You vermin!”
“My friend died on guard duty a few days ago because of you! You disgusting cannibal bastards!”
“P-please...”
Thrust! Stab!
The barbarians fell with aggrieved expressions on their faces.
I knew why they felt wronged.
Because they were not cannibals. They were simply ordinary barbarians.
Cannibals had a custom of piercing their faces with things like earrings for every ten people they ate. Not a single person in this village wore one.
‘That bastard Gilbert...’
I gritted my teeth at Gilbert, who was smiling as he looked over the barbarians’ corpses.
I understood that incitement could be necessary.
But that did not change the fact that it disgusted me.
‘At the very least, they could have bound those unable to fight and taken them prisoner.’
This was no different from conquering an enemy city and massacring every civilian living inside. It was not merely shortsighted. It was stupid.
‘How the hell does that bastard plan to deal with the consequences?’
Not every barbarian was hostile to the Empire.
There were tribes that had built friendly ties with the Empire and received support, tribes that maintained amicable relations, and tribes that remained neutral.
‘There is no Imperial-made equipment or clothing in this village...’
That meant that despite living near the front, they had never attacked Imperial outposts. At minimum, they were a neutral or friendly tribe.
If other neutral tribes heard this news, they would not remain still.
‘When we should be reducing even one enemy, they have only made more.’
That was not the only problem.
“Heh heh, are there any more hiding?”
“Hey, there’s one here!”
“Heh heh heh, did you think we wouldn’t know you were hiding in a hut like a rat?”
“P-please... ghk!”
The soldiers wandered around looking for survivors, their eyes bloodshot as though they were addicted to something.
Perhaps they were drunk on the feeling of slaughter and the smell of blood.
They were completely out of control.
‘Does that bastard Gilbert not realize that treating the soldiers like this could cause problems later?’
Once soldiers learned something, they tended to act according to that experience.
If they repeated acts too disgraceful to even call combat, there was a high chance that in a real crisis, they would run wild instead of properly following orders.
‘At least most of the ones acting like animals are penal soldiers. The regular soldiers are behaving somewhat like human beings, but...’
Even taking that into account, the subjugation force’s situation was still a complete mess.
As I let out a sigh with a troubled expression, Marcus and the others approached with concern.
“Lord Ubel Graum, what is wrong? You do not look well.”
“It is nothing.”
Unlike the other soldiers, my squad remained calm.
Seeing them offered me at least some comfort.
Then Ren looked around the village with a strange expression and asked, “But are they really cannibals? I heard that cannibal villages have things like altars made from human bones and skin.”
“Ren, do you believe rumors like that?”
“Mm, but it is true that we cannot be certain this is a cannibal village...”
“What do you think, Commander? Are they cannibals?”
“I do not know.”
I could not answer easily.
The truth was, they were not cannibals.
I wanted to tell them that this was all nothing more than a cheap trick by that bastard Gilbert.
But regardless, the soldiers’ morale was high right now. The operation had only just begun, and I did not want to shock my squad by revealing the truth.
‘It is enough for me alone to suffer over it inside.’
Of course, with time, they too would learn the truth.
The subjugation force’s current course was never a good long-term strategy.
The madness born from shallow incitement and slaughter could not last forever.
But the morale of the barbarians, upon hearing that Imperials who had invaded their homes were massacring even women and children, would only grow stronger with time.
Moreover, not everyone had fallen for Gilbert’s incitement.
As proof, Berun and several other squad commanders wore dark expressions.
They knew it too.
Morale raised through madness and incitement was only temporary.
In the end, its conclusion had already been decided.
‘Once the madness fades and morale falls...’
That was when the hardships would begin.
Footnotes:
Chungmugong is the posthumous title of Admiral Yi Sun-sin, a revered Korean naval commander.
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