Two Men, One Map

Two chairs both facing in front of the table. One occupied by General Rhine and the other occupied by General Braun. Both with the same solemn expression, gazing towards the map, thinking what they would do next.

A knock on the door soon interrupted them. However, both didn't look annoyed but rather worried.

"Come in," General Braun said idly, glaring towards the door.

The door slowly creaked open, as one of General Rhine's corporals, Corporal Wilbur, entered the room with the same atmosphere of solemnity just like them.

He looked back and closed the door behind him, after doing so, he walked towards the generals and saluted.

The first thing General Braun had noticed as the soldier walked forward was the piece of paper in his right hand. He did not order a single man to do the reports nor make one, so it only might be an order from another person in command.

"Casualty Report!?" General Rhine asked aggressively, leaning his back towards the chair making himself feeling more comfortable. However, his stern expression wouldn't go away no matter what.

"Nine thousand of our own were men found dead, sir!! Five thousand of which were wounded either severe or mild!!" Corporal Wilbur informs them with sedated eyes, gazing towards General Rhine. However, his vulnerability was slowly showing.

General Rhine sighed in frustration after hearing the report, standing up with an angered expression. yelling, slamming both of his hard rock fists to the table, creating a small crack, nearly destroying it.

General Braun glared with a surprised look, while Corporal Wilbur stands still with his eyes trembling, but his firm expression never faded. Not yet.

General Braun sighed in frustration after what outbursts General Rhine had made, and gaze toward the firm yet frightened expression of Corporal Wilbur, and asked the question he was eager to hear.

"Corporal, how many elves did we capture?"

At first Corporal Wilbur seem to haven't heard the question, so General Braun repeated the same question. However, this time, he gave out a much more threatening tone.

"Corporal, how many elves did we capture!?"

"Ah!!" Corporal Wilbur realizes as he opened the paper in his right hand, reading the contents.

"We captured six thousand Adriatic soldiers with no conditions. Most of which are now being sent to the city of Brucke. Trains are waiting to escort them to their new 'homes' far away from the battlefield," Corporal Wilbur informed him.

"How about enemy officers? Did you capture anyone from their intelligence team!?"

"We found a general in the tunnels beneath the enemy trench. However, he already committed suicide with a bullet stuck inside of his head. For the rest of the officers... they seemed to have escaped," Corporal Wilbur informed, again, standing with a straight spine and solemn eyes.

"Escaped!?" General Rhine asked, feeling unsure of what the Corporal said was either true or false.

"That trench was surrounded with our own artillery shells, and the surface was nearly surrounded by our own men!! Tell me!? How the hell did they escape that!!" General Rhine yelled, glaring towards the corporal.

The Corporal flinched, yet still standing firm even with the amount of pressure he was dealing with.

"Relax, General Rhine. The rest of those officers might have used their so magic again to teleport out," General Braun said, gazing towards General Rhine.

"Magic, huh... Tsk, elves with their dirty tricks! This is why I despise them!" General Rhine muttered with his eyes closed.

The General stood straight and took a deep breath, gazing towards the petrified yet firm expression of the corporal as he breathed out all of his stress.

"Place the rest of the papers in the table and you are now free to can leave," General Rhine said calmly.

Corporal Wilbur saluted and placed the papers on the table, but General Rhine still couldn't help but glare towards the somewhat frightened man.

Corporal Wilbur then looked away, with a bead of sweat up his forehead, walking forward towards the exit; opening it and closing it as carefully as he could possibly do, while General Braun gazes towards him with a solemn look.

As the door was shut, no sound of anger or bickering occurred. It was only two generals left again in the room still filled with problematic expressions and thoughts.

"You're more aggressive than usual, Rhine. It's unlike you," General Braun said in a sympathetic tone, gazing towards General Rhine.

"It's the reports that made me like this," General Rhine replied timidly.

"True, the report was expected that it would be that many casualties knowing that our surprise advance had been noticed by the enemy. Though, we nearly lost half of our men," General Rhine continued with his eyes closed and his jaws clenched tightly.

"I don't want to happen what happened months ago..."

"I'm stressed out as well, but the battle is won and that's what matters to me right now," General Braun said.

General Rhine stayed quiet, not eager to respond, while General Braun gazed towards the papers Corporal Wilbur had given to them in curiosity.

It seemed that there is still some information not told by the corporal himself, as each paper nearly stacked as many words as he imagined.

He stood from his chair and walk slowly towards the table, grabbing the paper and reading it.

General Braun's passive yet aggressive lip slowly lightened, as each word he read a small smile was slowly writing on his face.

"Oh! So you ordered Corporal Wilbur to obtain this other information down south, huh?" He said.

"What is it?" General Rhine asked, with his eyes opening up.

"It says here that the enemy trenches down south were captured successfully as well, and are now ready to advance the of city both Villie and Colmir," General Braun informed him.

He soon placed the papers back on the table, slithering it towards General Rhine so he can read the papers. With a single glimpse, General Rhine seemed to have believed him without any objection.

"Well at least there's something I can consider good news," General Rhine said with a stern look. He was still upset about the painful ordeal, but he seemed slowly coming back to his senses.

"So you don't consider our victory here as good news?" General Braun asked.

"That's the least of my worries. What we should be focused on right now is how we can siege the city of Mettis with the little men we have left," General Rhine said, glaring towards the map.

General Braun was left with a silent mouth, with a stern expression left on his face, gazing towards General Rhine. However, the tension was broken down nearly as quickly as it appeared, as another knock on the door interrupted them.

"Come in," General Braun said, gazing towards the door.

The creak of the door can again be heard, as a soldier from General Braun's division, Sergeant Wilhelm, entered with a seemingly important paper on his hands.

"Excuse me, A letter had been sent from the Capital," Sergeant Wilhelm informed them.

He looked exhausted, with his eyebags nearly hanging down from his eyes. Yet he still had the time and effort to give this letter from his commanding officers.

Both General Braun or General Rhine never ordered for this letter to be retrieved, as they left with a curious thought.

They soon exchanged glances, thinking one of them made another untold order. However, both of them gave out a confused gaze. Though they are still quite interested to whatever was contents of such letter.

General Braun soon approached the sergeant as the sergeant wholeheartedly given the letter to him. He soon opened the letter and read it.

At first, General Braun seemed suspicious about opening the letter, as it would probably be a trap to distort communication. However, the handwriting is no doubt similar to someone he knows.

His eyes soon let lose as they moved from the left to right as he mumbled the words of what was written.

"I guess it's another good news," General Braun said, with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

"It's written here that Lieutenant General Dhurke and his army are going to defend this territory. They'll be here at sundown," General Braun informed them, again, placing the letter to the table and slithering it towards General Rhine.

General Rhine took the letter from the table and skimmed it, as what General Braun had just informed is true.

"Well that solves our problem with men shortages, what we only need now is to convince General Dhurke to follow our plans," General Rhine replied, placing back the paper to the table and gave a small smile of relief.

"Then let's start planning ahead about how we should take down the city of Mettis. I want this plan to be as close as perfect as I don't want this war to continue any much longer," General Rhine continued, as he straightened his posture and stood straight, gazing towards the map.

General Braun nodded without any further arguments, as he gazes towards Sergeant Wilhelm.

"You're free to go now, sergeant. Unless if you want to stay here and listen?" General Braun asked him.

"No thanks, sir. I would rather like to rest together with the rest of division for today," Sergeant Wilhelm replied.

General Braun nodded with a smile, as Sergeant Wilhelm saluted in response. He soon walked out of the room, leaving the two generals in a quiet place with no disturbance, ready to execute the plannings.

Soon the two started planning ahead, gazing, pondering, and concentrated, with their eyes fully sharped and ideas open for the other to hear.

Each battle plan they pour to the map would often lead to the other general pointing out a major flaw to such strategy. Sometimes, even as near as a perfect plan, the other general would still find flaws and mistakes that would often frustrate the other.

They spend hours end on the map, still thinking the perfect battle plan they would use to operate such a move that would change the course of the war. Even denying to drink or move a single inch, as their concentration was all spent on the map.

Until finally, it ticked, like a candle flaming up the gloomy room, a plan was finalized. Both the generals seemed to can't find any mistakes nor flaws, as they ponder hard to counter the other. However, this time, it seemed perfect.

The two generals gaze at one another with a smirk on their faces. Both of their arms were soon raised as a handshake was form between the two of them.

It was now agreed. This is the plan they'll use, this is the plan that will lead them to victory. It seemed to them that the countless hours they worked and bicker was finally spent well.