009: Soldier's Job 4

April 17, 2022 – 3 minutes read – 503 words

“On it!” Tony

Tony pulls out his sword and chops at the troll’s neck.
After a few swings, the neck separates from the torso.

“Is anyone injured?” Pat

“No serious injuries, just scratches and bruises.” Soldier A

“Wayne, are you still with us?” Pat

“Oh, I’m still here, thanks for the assist, platoon leader!” Wayne responds with a short chuckle.

“What kind of luck must we have to come across a troll this near the royal capital?” Pat

Everyone nods at my observation.

“For now, we’ll need to take the troll’s head back and report! Prepare to withdraw.” Pat

“Roger” Soldier A

“That concludes my report! Colonel!” Pat

“That was some hard work! I’ll continue to investigate, go and take a rest.” Colonel Reedon

The colonel is a man with a bald head and blue eyes, built like a barrel.

“Hah! Excuse me.” Pat responds as he leaves.

“What is a troll doing in that forest? What are your thoughts?” Officer A

“I don’t like it, if it is only a random stray, we’ll be fine.
What do you think Colonel Reedon?” Officer B

“Again, a stray would be tolerable, but it would turn awkward if there are more.
Trolls are usually found in groups of three, so we could be looking at two more lurking around.” Colonel Reedon

“How long would it take for a survey?” Officer B

“We should send a company with a mobile ballista, I’ll leave it to you to pick the company.” Colonel Reedon

“Huh! Immediately!” Officer A

After filing my report and verifying the receipt of the troll’s head, I went straight to bed and slept like a log.

The next day, I woke up to a buzzing barracks.

“Bring a stretcher, quickly!” Medic A

“Have you brought the bandages yet? I need them now!” Medic B

“Stay strong! Stay with me! Don’t fall asleep!” Medic C

There’s yelling and running footsteps all over.

As I leave my private room and head for the ruckus, I spy a soldier on a stretcher heading for the medical room.

“Hey, what happened?” Pat asks a nearby soldier

“The company in charge of the investigation encountered two trolls and managed to eliminate them, but 15 soldiers were injured, additionally, three more were seriously injured.
I just got back.” Soldier

If they went to investigate immediately after my report, were they fighting during the night? A night battle against trolls? Who is the commander? It doesn’t matter how weak the troll is, a night battle is a terrible lapse of judgement. Against two of them? What insanity is that?

Even if a troll is slow, humans moving through an unfamiliar forest at night are far from fast.
If they hurry, they’ll trip and sprain an ankle on stones or branches.
A troll has a wider stride and won’t get caught like a human.
Normal tactics are to always fight in daytime in forests.

This is part of basic military doctrine, was someone too impatient? Maybe the camp was attacked? What happened?