Chapter 7

[ x ] The next logical step would be to focus on trench combat, it takes a mage to kill a mage in melee, so it should be expected that your Battalion would be facing some if the trenches were attacked. [Grants the 354th Mage Battalion the ability to hold fortifications longer or even to the last man, more effectively, no matter the pressure.]

As usual, your captains didn't disappoint you when the time came to move on, and so after inspecting your Battalion one last time you decided that your men were ready for their trench training. But while you were sure that the 354th wouldn't disappoint you, there was a decent amount of doubt concerning the training itself, it was after all not that simple to simulate the overrunning of a trench without collecting a good number of bruises and destroyed fortifications.

You guessed that your men could always just fix the damage as part of their training later on, or so your captains reasoned when you brought the matter up to them. But all their happily delivered comments truly achieved was that they reminded you of how you made up your mind quite some time ago when it came to the matter of toughening up. Thus, you decided that you would let them have their fun, your officers weren't instructors, but they were from time to time sadistic enough that things should work out.

And seeing as you heard a few hours ago that the Legadonia Entente was sending troops to the border again, you weren't convinced that taking the more measured approach that you would usually prefer was really the better course of action. For holding the border was ultimately the duty of the 354th, and you knew that your Battalion couldn't do so in the sky even if they had volunteered to do exactly that. The penetration and magic blade formulas were pretty much the only tools your Battalion could currently use well enough to take down enemy mages with certainty, and even then, neither formula would do against the mages of the Republic that focused on the concentrated long range use of the former.

The Empire was despite its power a rather peaceful and defensive nation, so you were sure that even with the Great Army fully mobilised there wouldn't be much offensive action for a Battalion like yours to undertake, meaning it should be fine if the 354th focused on reinforcing crumbling positions on the ground. It was after all one of the advantages you planned to get from creating your Battalion as you did from the scraps of the Empire, no one would honestly expect the 354th to do more than hold the border, even with your not too shabby leadership.

And if nothing else, sniping mages from the trenches would do exactly that, so you couldn't see a reason to further doubt the efforts of your captains, even if a few bones were broken it seemed like it was indeed the best way to keep the Battalion alive and in good shape for a bit longer. Though what you were seeing after a few days of admittedly decent progress was truly dismaying, for your men just wouldn't learn to not engage in melee right away when they were on the defending side. They were told time and time again that doing so would destroy the little order they had, but no, they were still perfectly content with stabbing and slashing at one another in the fog.

"How many were wounded this time, Roland?"

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"Only about half of them got their shields breached this time, so at most fifty percent, sir."

"That's a bit pathetic, isn't it?"

"Not everyone that volunteers to defend the Empire is made for our kind of work, sir."

"I know, and I'm as always mindful of that, but even so, fifty percent won't do, squeeze them harder, Roland."

"Are you sure, sir, doing so won't be good for the trenches."

"That's just more training for them then, wasn't that what you told me when I brought up that matter a few days ago?"

"I did, but two Companies can still do a lot of damage if they go all out."

"We both learned how to properly defend a trench normally, and as mages, Roland, the basics aren't something we can skip here."

"And to be clear, the only reason why they weren't taught this stuff yet was because their instructors were still focused on the more mage specific basics when I snatched them all away."

"So?"

"So they can and will learn the basics, the only question that matters is when they will finally do it, the costs that come with a bit of wasted concrete and steel shouldn't be the focus."

"Are you sure that more pressure will solve the problem, Elmer?"

"..."

Well, that was a bad sign if you ever heard one, it seems like your training was going a bit over the envisioned budget by the higher ups, so much so that Roland got apparently a second assignment to keep the expenses to a minimum. It was of course extremely annoying to get that message out of nowhere, but you could understand their stance, at least it seems like your good standing with your captain and a number of the generals would give you some additional wiggle room to finish the trench training without disruption.

Please select the option you like the most:

[ ] It can't be helped, your Battalion would need more than just the trench training to survive the looming war. [Grants the 354th one additional opportunity to train before the war starts at the cost of 10 reputation with Roland.]

[ ] It can't be helped, your Battalion doesn't have the right to refuse or stretch the desires of the higher ups. [Nothing happens, the 354th suffers neither good nor bad consequences.]

[ ] It can't be helped, your Battalion would need to be forged in the fires of war once the current training is finished. [Grants the 354th the ability to retain strength while fighting with limited supplies and resources.]