Prelude (4)
A small village on an open plain.
And on a slightly removed hill near that village stood a ridiculously large mansion.
According to our collaborators, that mansion had been a historic site of resistance dating back to the War of Independence. And there was a very high chance that Pancho Villa's forces—now holed up to face us—were entrenched there.
"And what does that matter?"
Patton, of course, had zero interest in preserving historical landmarks.
"The Mexicans held out there against invaders? That's only because they've never tasted a tank. Smash the outer walls, give the inner walls a taste of artillery, and it's over!"
He was completely confident.
And it made sense—in effect, we were bringing two field guns right into the village. From his perspective, there was no way in hell those taco bastards could match our firepower.
Deng— Deng— Deng—
"What's that sound?"
"A bell ringing."
"I've got ears too. You think I'm asking that? Those idiots are ringing their own funeral bells in advance."
The faint tolling echoed through the air.
With cavalry, automobiles, and even tanks moving for the first time, the village was clearly in an uproar.
"Terrain-wise, we can't avoid being exposed."
"What are your orders?"
Patton clicked his tongue, as if the answer was obvious.
"The village and the mansion are somewhat separated, and we don't have enough troops to control the entire village. So we charge straight for the mansion."
"They're already ringing bells—looks like they've prepared quite a bit—"
"Or maybe they're trying to run. Cavalry—six of you! Circle around to the back of the mansion and cut off their escape! Infantry and tanks advance directly! The remaining four cavalry—follow me!"
As he banged on doors and shouted orders, six cavalrymen split off immediately.
"Lieutenant Kim!"
"Yes, sir!"
"You take those cavalry—no, wait. Forget it! You need to manage the tank! We charge as is! Breach in two minutes!"
After a brief moment of thought, Patton waved his arm and gave the order to attack.
"Vehicle Two, breach through the front gate!"
Vehicle Two smashed through the large front gate. Dismounted cavalry followed right behind, while the two armored cars under Patton's direct command rolled in slowly.
And as if they'd been waiting—
A welcoming barrage erupted.
Ratatatat! Bang! Bang!!
"The tacos are firing!"
"Return fire! Don't panic!!"
Gunfire flashed from every direction around the mansion.
As expected.
And the tank was doing exactly what it was meant to do.
"You idiots! That tank isn't going to explode! Take cover and advance slowly!!"
While Patton's unit pushed in and the area turned into chaos, I anxiously stared at the pocket watch I had just set.
"You nervous, you bastards?"
"No, sir!"
"Not allowed to be. With a monster like this beside you, you're not dying today. This is just a picnic. A picnic where we harvest taco heads and go home."
At least it wasn't a lie. It was a hundred times better than charging straight into that wall of fire on foot.
The soldiers—and the two local guides—were all staring at me nervously. If I showed even the slightest hesitation, their morale would collapse instantly.
And then—
It was time.
"Vehicle One, breach the outer wall and advance!"
"Break through the wall?!"
"Fire, you bastards! Shoot!"
BOOM!!
The tall outer wall shattered in an instant.
Vehicle One crushed through the broken bricks and entered the garden, with an armored car following right behind.
"Push along the side of the mansion! Go! Keep smashing through!!"
We burst through the wall out of nowhere, and a couple of stunned bandits nearby froze, unsure what to do.
"You idiots! Shoot!!"
Bang! Bang!
Caught off guard, the two bandits were riddled with bullets and collapsed. First kills.
"From now on, anyone not in uniform and still moving is the enemy! Shoot first!"
Bang! Bang! Bang!!
Gunfire rained down from the second floor. The soldiers couldn't even lift their heads.
Damn it. Do I have to spoon-feed them everything?
"Armored car! Suppress!"
"…Sir?"
"Rake the second floor with the machine gun! Don't let those bastards stick their heads out—keep firing!!"
Ratatatatatatata!!!
Suppressive fire.
In an instant, every window shattered into pieces, and the taco heads that had been peeking out disappeared.
"Maintain fire! The rest of you, dismount! Move into the building! Hey! Keep proper watch while you advance!!"
So sloppy.
The enemy wasn't much better, but the more I watched, the more I couldn't help but raise my voice.
"Good. Keep it like this. You—does this place have any other exits?"
"How… what do we do?"
The only interpreter had gone with Patton, so communication with the two locals beside me was awkward as hell. Still, if they had any sense, they should understand what I wanted.
As I pressed them in English, the two locals began talking among themselves.
"What do we do?"
"Are we losing? How do we beat that armored monster?"
"What are you talking about? If the boss shows up, he can beat even that thing!"
"Then let's start with this guy—"
I fired immediately.
BANG!
"…Huh?"
You pieces of shit.
Spies from the start.
Without even realizing I understood Spanish, the idiot talking about their "boss" got his head blown off.
The other one froze in place.
"Hey. You."
"W-what is this—"
"I understand Spanish, you dumb bastards."
When I spoke in thick Filipino-accented Spanish, his face drained of all color.
"Start talking properly. Or you'll end up like him."
BANG!
"Ghk—"
The moment that spy tried to reach into his clothes, my pistol fired again.
Damn it.
I'd moved too far away from my soldiers.
A rookie mistake.
If I'd had even a few men with me, I could've captured them instead of killing them—maybe squeezed some information out of them.
Regret was regret. Now I had to do my job.
Whether it was the shock of killing someone for the first time or not, the gunfire echoing all around was only growing louder.
If I slipped up, I'd die screaming in a place like this.
And then—
A chilling thought hit me.
If those bastards had planned to stab us in the back from the start… then what about Patton?
"You idiots! Hey!!!"
I jumped off my horse and rushed toward the fools clustered uselessly behind the tank.
"You bastards! Your officer's getting shot at from behind—what the hell are you doing?!"
"The resistance is too strong!"
"What's the tank doing, damn it?! Fire! Blow this whole damn house apart!!"
God damn it.
This is so frustrating I could lose my mind.
I climbed straight onto the tank and threw open the hatch.
"S-sir?!"
"What, you don't want to fight now that it's real combat instead of tests? If you don't like it, write a transfer request—I'll send you packing!"
"N-no, that's not—"
"Then shut up! If you've got balls, prove it! I'm taking command of this tank now! You just load shells and keep firing!"
Half my body hanging out of the hatch, I kicked the useless tank commander aside.
Damn it.
If we keep hesitating here and Patton dies, we're completely screwed.
There was a saying from my previous life, back in the Rift:If you've got a problem, grab them by the collar and carry the game yourself.
Same thing here.You can't reason nicely with soldiers. You just shut up and make them do things one by one.
"Load the main gun! Fire!"
BOOOOM!!
A beautiful hole blew open in one side of the mansion. As always, when the wall collapsed, the taco bastards inside panicked and swarmed in confusion.
"Machine gun! No—just ram the tank in!"
"S-sir, but you—"
"Even if I die, I'm the one dying, so just get in there!!!"
With a grinding roar, the tank smashed straight through the opening.A bandit crushed under the treads screamed—only to have his head immediately filled with bullets.
Gunfire poured in from all directions.But who cares? If bullets like that could pierce a tank, they wouldn't have built the damn thing in the first place.
One round grazed past the back of my neck—but after going through regression, there's no way I'm dying somewhere this stupid.
"Fire!"
Ratatatatata!The glorious roar of the machine gun filled the space, completely drowning out the enemy's gunfire.
Noise beats noise.
"Main gun, fire!"
"…Inside the house, sir—?!"
I kicked him again, and the cannon roared.
The stylish paintings and antique tapestries vanished without a trace under the tank shell.It was as refreshing as chugging soda.
"Reverse! Make a hole for the infantry! Reverse! You lot—move in! It's a sweep now!"
"Go! Move! Move!!!"
At this point, the tank had done everything it could.
The soldiers poured into the mansion, and the taco bastards—completely shaken—started throwing down their weapons and raising their hands one by one.
Only then did I finally feel the tension leaving my body.
Fuck…This is exhausting.
Patton had gone even further than me.
A spy who'd been with him tried to attack, but Patton immediately stabbed him in the neck with a sword, then charged forward with tanks and armored cars.Faced with that overwhelming assault, the bandits realized that no amount of gunfire would stop it. They panicked, broke formation, and were completely crushed in a one-sided beatdown.
Naturally, Pancho Villa wasn't there.
If we hadn't had tanks, we would've taken real casualties. From their perspective, it had been a well-prepared trap.
As expected, armored units absolutely dominated enemies who weren't prepared for anti-armor combat.
The problem was what came after.
"Lieutenant Kim!! Hurry and help me!"
"With what, sir? We need to secure the battlefield first—"
"That's exactly it. We can't just leave behind our achievements like this, can we?"
…What the hell are you talking about?
Ignoring my confusion, Patton started barking nonsense.
"We must drag the corpses of these bastards—who dared threaten civilians and fire upon the United States Army—back with us!"
"Yeah, no. Cut the bullshit, sir."
"What did you say?!"
After everything I'd gone through today, even Patton's growling didn't faze me anymore.
"Fine. Let's compromise. Five. We'll take five bodies. Tie one to each armored car hood, hang one from the tank cannon—"
"Absolutely not. Don't you dare hang anything off my precious tank."
"Then three! Only on the armored cars!"
"If we do that, people will look at us with disgust."
"No they won't! They'll go, 'Wow, those guys are incredible!' That's the difference in experience between you and me!"
You're the only person in the world with that kind of experience.
Patton kept rambling like that, then suddenly stopped and stared at me intently.
"Lieutenant Kim."
"Yes, sir."
"There's… something I'd like to ask of you."
"Go ahead."
"The enemy leader you blew apart with the tank's main gun."
Right.The reason those taco bastards had lost their will to fight so quickly—
Their leader had been obliterated by the tank's main gun.
"His head… is still intact, isn't it?"
"It is."
"Could you give me that head? Naturally, the credit for killing the enemy commander will go to you. I just need the head."
…Is this man living in 1916, or 916?
What is this, collecting heads?
"…Take it if you want."
"Much appreciated! Hahaha! I've been eyeing that head! I'll mount it on a spike and carry it back!"
At this point… I stopped caring.
We returned to base in triumph.
Bodies decorated across the hoods of armored cars.And Patton, proudly carrying a pole with the enemy leader's head impaled on it.
Seeing this, General Pershing said nothing—just kept lighting cigarette after cigarette.
After a long silence, he finally let out a sigh.
"I came here to capture bandits… but I didn't expect the men under my command to be bandits themselves."
…Why plural?Please exclude me, General. I'm innocent.
The days that followed were busy with after-action reviews and writing combat reports.
Then one day, I was summoned by General Pershing.
"You'll have to go to the rear."
"General! What do you mean by that?!"
Before I could even respond, Patton—who had, of course, brought him water—shouted loudly.
"Lieutenant Kim is a dependable pillar of the future U.S. Army! He should be earning more achievements, not being sent to the rear! What is this, Washington again?! Those idiots don't want to give a 'yellow' any credit?!"
"Calm down. Because of you, Lieutenant Kim can't even speak."
"I'm speaking on his behalf anyway!"
"…"
"…My apologies. I'll be quiet."
After silencing Patton, Pershing turned back to me.
"I'll tell you in advance—neither I nor the expedition command had any intention of sending you to the rear."
"Then—"
"As Patton said… this is a request from higher up. Apparently, quite a few people caused a stir after hearing that a bullet grazed your neck."
…Well, I didn't die, so isn't that fine?
"I received letters. One addressed to you, and one to me. After reading them… I had no choice but to send you to the rear. Go ahead—read it."
I took the letter he handed me and opened it immediately.
The handwriting was very familiar, and the message was short.
[Son-in-law. Start thinking of a name for your first child.]
Two days later, I quietly boarded a train bound for the rear.
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