I Became an Officer in Another World in Just 5 Minutes - Chapter 175

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 175

“Hey, you bastard! Why do you keep bothering me and causing trouble!”

“Come over here!”

Loud shouting came through the slightly open window.

Without realizing it, my forehead wrinkled.

“Why is it so noisy outside again.”

“The soldiers seem to be fighting. I’ll go down and break it up.”

Captain Larsen, the 1st Company Commander, stood up from his seat.

“Leave it. If we end it half-heartedly, it won’t be properly resolved and they’ll just fight more in the barracks.”

Standing up and looking out the window, I saw two men fighting fiercely, throwing punches.

‘Sigh, is this an infantry battalion or a UFC battalion.’

It had already been a week since I took office as infantry battalion commander.

With new people joining every day, now almost all the battalion members had gathered.

I thought things would flow smoothly without major problems, but with people gathering from all over the country, there were far too many incompatible aspects.

‘In this situation, what? Build organizational strength? I’d be grateful if no murder cases occur.’

If there were fewer people, I could at least try to control them, but there are over a thousand.

That’s why I told them to at least try to get closer within companies, but this wasn’t showing much results either.

“Have the squad members gotten a bit closer?”

“Yes, they have. Probably as time passes and they train together, it’ll get much better.”

“We don’t have that much time to wait.”

Now that the Western Expedition Army has almost fully assembled.

We don’t know when we’ll depart.

In such a situation, not being able to trust the guy next to you?

That’s just certain defeat. Certain defeat.

“Think of some improvement methods. Not just Captain Larsen, but others too.”

“Then how about holding a mock battle tournament while also training?”

“Mock battle?”

Captain Pitt, the 2nd Company Commander who served in the 1st Division, presented quite an interesting opinion.

“Yes, men become friends by clashing bodies together, don’t they.”

“Hmm.”

It’s certainly not wrong.

“If each squad forms a team, it’ll help improve combat effectiveness too.”

“Rather than squads, it’d be better to randomly rotate team members. That way they’ll get to know each other.”

Didn’t they already say that squad members had gotten somewhat closer?

We need to break the ice in awkward relationships, not make already close relationships even closer – we’re not looking for marriage partners here.

“That sounds good.”

“Since we don’t have much time, let’s announce it today and select teams right away.”

“Yes!”

Perhaps because his suggestion was immediately adopted.

Captain Pitt seemed somewhat excited.

“But Battalion Commander, it would be good to have rewards for something like this. Do you have anything in mind?”

At Captain Larsen’s words, I leaned back against the chair and thought for a moment.

‘Can’t give leave, and food wouldn’t be particularly appealing either.’

The soldiers here aren’t like South Korean soldiers who are restricted in freedom and confined.

They can leave anytime, and the system I improved is working well so the food is good too.

‘Then what I can give them.’

What else could there be.

There’s only one thing.

“100 gold for first place, 50 gold for second place. That should be enough.”

“Excuse me…? That much? It’ll be difficult to get budget approval.”

“When have I ever applied for that. It’s just my own money.”

Even if I applied now, it would be pushed back in priority and probably hard to receive before departure.

‘It might not be approved at all.’

Embezzlement is easy, but getting government money honestly is quite difficult.

“That much from your own pocket.”

“If it can stop this brawling, what’s 100 gold? I could pay 1,000 gold.”

However, if the prize money gets too big, bloodshed might occur, so I need to be careful.

“Besides this, I’ll provide additional budget support. Prepare plenty of food for them to eat during the tournament. You know what I mean?”

“Yes!!”

Perhaps because they could picture success.

Captain Larsen and Captain Pitt answered with energetic voices.

‘These guys aren’t bad.’

Perhaps because I brought the ace among aces.

Working with them for a week, I felt they understood immediately.

‘At least top 5 percent.’

Honestly, I don’t know why these guys enlisted in the military.

“Oh, and Larsen.”

“Yes, Battalion Commander.”

“Is that 2nd Squad Leader of yours doing okay? Does he work well?”

The 2nd Squad Leader of Captain Larsen’s 1st Company.

Currently, Lieutenant Barus Etiad holds that position.

“You mean Lieutenant Barus? Honestly, I was a bit uncomfortable at first because he’s nobility, but he’s doing extremely well, building trust with squad members in a short time.”

“Really…?”

An unexpected answer came from Larsen’s mouth.

‘Wasn’t he definitely a failure?’

Lieutenant Barrus.

I still can’t forget that scene.

“He’s very respectful to me too, and in a good way, he works so hard you wouldn’t think he’s nobility.”

“Okay. That’s fortunate then.”

Well, the training camp memories are old news.

If he’s doing well now, that’s what matters.

“The 3rd Company Commander hasn’t arrived yet so you’ll be busy, but let’s push through until the mock battle.”

“Yes!!”

True to being aces, they were workaholics.

Preparations for the mock battle were quickly arranged.

And when things were somewhat organized, I gathered all battalion members on the training ground and went up to the platform myself.

“Ahem.”

First, a clearing of the throat.

Honestly, I’m a bit flustered right now.

‘No, seeing them like this, there really are damn many.’

1,500 people.

This matches the number of soldiers in the air wing when I served in South Korea.

“First, the reason I gathered everyone is because sitting in the battalion commander’s office, I keep hearing fighting sounds non-stop.”

Fighting among fellow unit members.

Solutions are solutions, but first I need to address the problematic behavior.

“I don’t have enough hours in a day thinking about fighting those Adits bastards. Do you have leisure time? Or can’t you see ahead?”

Frowning slightly as if annoyed, I scanned the battalion members with my eyes.

Still, knowing they did wrong, those who fought couldn’t properly meet my eyes.

“There might be awkward and incompatible parts, but do you want to throw punches at comrades who should have your back? I don’t understand.”

Shaking my head and reading the atmosphere, it seemed the stick was enough for now.

“Since everyone seems to be overflowing with energy, we’ve decided to hold a battalion-wide 10-on-10 mock battle training competition.”

Perhaps it was because this was completely unexpected.

Everyone looked up at me with slightly surprised expressions.

“We’ll select team members today, and compete over the next two days, tomorrow and the day after.”

A tight schedule.

Well, we can’t drag this out for long, so it’s a quick decisive battle.

“Team members will be randomly selected and posted on the wall, so check after lunch.”

I announced the competition proceedings, but somehow their expressions and reactions weren’t great.

‘They probably don’t want to do it.’

I also know exactly how they feel since these ridiculous events annoyed me the most during my military service.

However, there’s something different between the Republic of Korea military and me.

“By the way, the winning team gets 100 gold, runner-up gets 50 gold. Two teams that catch my fancy will receive 30 gold as prize money, so keep that in mind.”

The two 30-gold prizes that weren’t originally there.

Thinking about it, if we only give prizes to the winner and runner-up, the competition atmosphere would likely die.

‘We can’t leave out special awards.’

A total of four teams would receive substantial prize money.

Naturally, the battalion members’ eyes changed in an instant.

“Now do you feel like participating?”

“Yes!!!!”

The most resounding voice I’d heard so far.

Indeed, money is great and always close to the truth.

“And if any team gets into fistfights during preparation, they’ll be immediately disqualified, so be careful. That’s all, dismiss.”

“Dismiss!!”

After finishing all the competition announcements, I came down from the platform.

‘This should be fun. I should bring some popcorn tomorrow.’

You know what they say.

Nothing’s more entertaining than watching a fight.

It’s been a while since I could relieve stress, so this should be good.

“You know about the teams as I mentioned earlier, right?”

“Yes, unless they’ve fought seriously, I’ll mix in one pair of people who don’t get along on each team.”

Lieutenant Larsen was in charge of team composition, and naturally it wasn’t completely random.

‘This kind of thing is always rigged.’

When the Army says they randomly assign units, nobody believes that, right?

This is the same.

‘Where is there anything random in the military?’

If it were that fair, how could it be the military?

“The Regimental Commander will probably come after lunch when I report to him, so organize it and post it on the wall.”

“Yes! Understood!”

Leaving the minor tasks to him, I mounted my horse to make what was arguably the most important report to the Regimental Commander.

‘The order got a bit mixed up, but he’ll probably approve it.’

Given Colonel Schultz’s personality, he’s not someone who would oppose something like this.

However, if there’s a problem, it’s that he does something even worse than opposing.

* * *

“Good idea. Your battalion has many exceptional soldiers, so establishing the right atmosphere won’t be easy. This should be effective.”

“Yes, by mixing the teams, I’m hoping to strengthen organizational unity through this opportunity.”

“But are you planning to pay the prize money out of your own pocket?”

Colonel Schultz asked after checking the prize money section.

“The budget application process is quite cumbersome, and there are many things to worry about right now, so I judged it better to use my own money.”

“I know you have a lot of money, Lieutenant, but I don’t think you should shoulder everything yourself.”

Colonel Schultz said this and made an expression as if he were deeply contemplating something.

‘What’s this? He’s not going to say I can’t use my own money, is he?’

I used prize money to encourage participation, so there can’t be problems here.

“Hmm.”

“Father always said that if you’re a noble, you shouldn’t be stingy with money used for paths that help the Empire’s future. So you don’t need to worry about it.”

By the way, I just made that up.

And Colonel Schultz’s reaction was unexpected.

“I’m also a noble now, so I should follow those words. I don’t have as much money as you, Lieutenant, so I can’t cover everything, but I’ll support you with 70 gold.”

“Pardon…? Are you saying that, Regimental Commander?”

“This is a competition being held to strengthen organizational unity that I mentioned, so how could I be a regimental commander if I don’t even support this?”

This person is different.

‘Definitely different.’

Unlike me, 70 gold would be a considerable sum for him.

Readily offering such money isn’t easy for anyone.

“Thank you for your help.”

“You’re spending more than me, Lieutenant, so why thank me? But more importantly.”

Colonel Schultz’s gaze swept over the plan once before turning to me.

“The 10-on-10 mock battle sounds very interesting and helpful. Aren’t you participating, Lieutenant?”

“Me…me, sir? For that, I’ve already organized all the teams…”

“Couldn’t you gather the company commanders and squad leaders from the 1st Infantry Battalion? Combined, that would easily exceed ten people.”

He’s looking at me with an expression like his mouth is watering.

This… I’m in trouble.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Team. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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