I Became a Genius Commander at the Academy

Chapter 70: Barbarians Should Be Defeated As Barbarians (1)

Three months had passed since the incident where the 5th Prince tried to recruit me.

During that time, I had been lecturing the students at the Staff College on the subject ‘What is War?’

My course soon gained the honor of being the most sought-after lecture among the students at the Staff College.

Of course, there wasn’t an internal poll or secret survey among the students. Still, when I checked the number of students who wanted to take my course for the next semester using my professor privileges, there were as many as 40. Given that the Staff College enrolled 25 students per year and 50 in a 2-year program, didn’t that mean nearly 80% of the students wanted to attend my lecture?

I did hear older professors grumbling about me seeing these numbers.

But anyway, I only had to hold out for 18 months, and then I would be dispatched as a field commander from the Staff College, and I hadn’t made any mistakes worth noting.

“When I first received my assignment as a professor, I had many concerns about how to conduct lectures. Now, I’ve somewhat grown accustomed to it.”

However, as the saying goes, life isn’t always filled with only happy or sad moments. Right then, another challenge was approaching me.

“Professor Yaeger, are you in there? The Minister of Military Affairs, Otto Moritz, has ordered a strategic plan to be submitted to the Staff College. Director Oigen has summoned all the professors to the 1st Operation Planning Room immediately.”

“Understood. I will head there right away.”

With that, I changed into a different outfit and contemplated.

During my time at the academy, the holidays had been relatively easy and laid-back.

Now, professors affiliated with the Staff College were required to create a perfect strategic plan through meetings to deal with battles that were ongoing or about to occur.

Furthermore, it was ridiculous to demand professors write new academic papers or reports related to military studies in a short holiday period of just two months.

However, I had already studied war-related subjects in my previous life and had real battle experiences from Raintlant and Chekovia. So I could quickly write my paper.

This was another opportunity to showcase the abilities of Peter Yaeger.

Upon entering the 1st Operation Planning Room, guided by the staff, I found the professors already in a heated debate.

“I agree with the Minister of Military Affairs that we should crush the northern regions. However, with our current military force, it’s challenging. Don’t you understand?”

“Still, isn’t the tribal leader of the Ludwig tribe up north now calling himself Khan and consolidating his forces? If we wait too long, we might end up facing over 10,000 cavalry.”

The professors were passionately discussing, and Otto von Bismarck, the Director of the Staff College with four stars, clicked his tongue in disdain.

He slammed the table with his baton.

“Are you really the esteemed professors of the Empire’s Staff College? Did you not even properly read the new documents sent by Minister Otto earlier? First, investigate why the Ludwig tribe is acting up!”

All the professors quietly took their seats.

Everyone started to read the confidential report about the movements of the Ludwig tribe.

After roughly an hour of reading, everyone had a general grasp of the situation on the ground.

In short, the reason for the uproar by the Ludwig tribe’s leader was likely due to a famine in their territory.

The Ludwig people, much like the Mongols or Jurchens on Earth, had been nomadic but settled in Hungary about 100 years ago and began farming.

However, 100 years wasn’t enough for them to completely shift from being nomads. They still relied on both farming and nomadic lifestyles.

Now, due to the famine, they waged wars in order to survive and expand their influence and territory.

The direction their blades would turn towards was…

As I was lost in thought, the Director, who seemed quite enraged, said in a loud voice,

“Damn that Ludwig bastard! If there is famine, they should have just quietly sought our help. Why are they mobilizing their tribe for war again? Poor souls! We should soon send our glorious imperial army to cut off their heads!”

I had heard rumors about our Director being nicknamed the ‘Iron-blooded Director.’

Despite being nearly 70 years old, his voice boomed as if he had consumed a steam train. And the muscles visible beyond his uniform were not something to be taken lightly.

Jokingly, even a 40-year-old knight in his prime might lose his strength in front of him.

Shortly after, the Director pointed at a professor sitting three desks in front of me with his ceremonial baton and asked,

“Where would Ludwig’s blade be directed, considering he is expanding his force?”

“Obviously, he would first target the weakest tribes around him. By integrating them, he intends to plunder for food.”

In countries like the Reich Empire, the Francois Republic, and Chekovia, where agriculture was practiced, and fortifications were built, they usually prevented their military forces from plundering conquered territories.

While destruction was swift and perhaps gratifying, the subsequent reconstruction of fields, castles, and cities took years.

However, nomads typically killed the elderly and males of the defeated tribe and took women as both trophies and slaves.

“So, do you believe they might attempt to raid us? Or is the possibility unlikely?”

“In my opinion, unless they are insane, they wouldn’t dare approach our Empire. Nevertheless, we should strengthen our northern defenses.”

“That’s reasonable. What do the other professors think?”

Then, sensing an opportunity to gain the Director’s favor, the professors began suggesting.

“How about dispatching two divisions to reinforce the northern fortifications?”

“We should directly crush a few tribes. That seems like a good method too.”

“Sending a warning letter to Ludwig might also help. It would justify a war later.”

While these strategies might have seemed straightforward, they were incredibly efficient in terms of defending the Empire.

That was because if we dispatched two more divisions to the northern wall, the Ludwig leader wouldn’t consider raiding the Empire anytime soon.

And if we crush a few tribes, they would find it difficult to secure food through raids during the famine, which would weaken them, and sending a warning would create a pretext to subjugate them when they would be weakened later.

However, in my view, these tactics and strategies were too focused on just defending the Empire. We had an opportunity to expand the Empire’s territory, and it felt like it wasn’t being fully utilized.

So, cautiously, I raised my hand and proposed,

“Staff College Professor, Peter Yaeger. I seek permission from the Director to speak.”

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