I Was Mistaken as a Great War Commander-Chapter 159

Daniel Steiner’s words were delivered to Belvar through Deputy Director Pelliston of the Intelligence Bureau.

When Belvar saw Pelliston’s fear-stricken face as he conveyed Daniel’s message, he calmed him with the words, “I have a plan,” and sent him away.

But unlike what he had told Pelliston, Belvar had no such plan.

Because he had never even imagined that Daniel Steiner would be able to persuade the Guard Division’s Armored Regiment to defect and join him.

The tangled threads had now become a knotted mass that could no longer be unraveled.

‘...How disastrous.’

Belvar sat at his desk in the mansion’s study, slowly pouring wine into an elegant glass.

The red wine shimmered under the moonlight, giving off a hue as dark as blood.

‘Where did it all go wrong...?’

Closing his eyes, Belvar sank into reflection.

Back then, once Selvia became the clear successor to the Emperor, Belvar rallied every noble who held resentment toward her.

In doing so, he formed the Noble Coalition and asserted that Daniel Steiner’s power must be weakened for threatening the imperial authority.

Since the majority of nobles agreed, Belvar acted without delay.

It was Belvar himself who ordered Kadem, then head of the Free Society Party, to leak Daniel Steiner’s location to the Kingdom of Belmore.

But Daniel Steiner had seemingly known that his position had been compromised—on the very day of the Belmore Kingdom’s assault, he had already evacuated the outpost.

Crown Prince Blef, unaware of this, ordered an advance and ended up walking straight into Daniel Steiner’s ambush, suffering heavy losses and getting captured in the end.

‘He must’ve figured out back then that Kadem, the party leader, was the traitor.’

He didn’t know the full details, but it was obvious Daniel had extracted the information in exchange for the prince’s release.

After returning to the Capital, Daniel obtained investigative authority from Selvia and began a full-scale purge of traitors.

Almost as if to issue a warning to the Noble Coalition.

Had it ended there, Belvar might’ve managed to unite the coalition more tightly.

If sacrificing one lowly man like Kadem could strengthen their unity, it would’ve been a worthwhile trade.

He would’ve mocked Daniel Steiner’s haste and moved on to the next phase.

But Daniel Steiner did not act as expected.

Despite surely having extracted intelligence from Kadem, he didn’t follow up with further investigations.

Just as Belvar began to feel that something was amiss, a newspaper published an exclusive report titled: “The Collaborator Who Aided the Traitor Kadem—Baron Hendliem.”

There was no way an ordinary newspaper could’ve uncovered such information.

Surely, Daniel Steiner had co-opted the paper as a propaganda outlet to distribute the information.

Belvar wondered why Daniel would go to such lengths—until Daniel publicly stated, “Baron Hendliem is not that kind of man,” openly defending him.

That was when Belvar realized—

Daniel Steiner wanted to fracture the Noble Coalition from within.

Belvar saw through Daniel Steiner’s scheme, but the Noble Coalition was not a monolith.

They began loudly speculating that Baron Hendliem might’ve allied himself with Daniel Steiner.

Sensing that the coalition would collapse the moment their unity cracked, Belvar gave the order: eliminate Baron Hendliem.

By killing Hendliem, he managed to prevent the rupture, but within the coalition, a quiet fear began to take root—that Duke Belvar held the power of life and death over them all.

When fear starts to take the form of discontent, it becomes uncontrollable.

And if even a handful of discontent nobles chose to side with Daniel Steiner, Belvar’s position would collapse in an instant.

So, Belvar acted the moment the late Emperor passed.

He had to move quickly before Daniel Steiner devoured his power base.

In fact, to see it through flawlessly, Belvar even joined hands with Count Kaledra, de facto leader of the Allied Nations.

‘But I still couldn’t kill Daniel Steiner.’

Instead, not only did he achieve results, but even after a tactical withdrawal, he managed to minimize his losses.

Had he at least suffered massive casualties, Belvar might’ve been able to block him somehow—but thanks to Daniel’s foresight in sensing something was off and securing a retreat route in advance, the 7th Magitek Armored Division remained fully intact.

He was beyond a hero now—he had entered the realm of true military genius.

‘And now, to make matters worse...’

Even the Guard Division’s Armored Regiment, which Belvar had baited as a pretext for forming a suppression force, had been persuaded by Daniel to defect and join him—leaving Belvar with no remaining cards to play.

He had ignored the truth for long enough—but now he had no choice but to admit it.

Daniel Steiner was superior to Belvar in every way.

With a face steeped in defeat, Belvar clutched his wine glass tightly.

‘I won’t run.’

Even if he did flee, Daniel Steiner would track him down and kill him eventually.

Better to fight to the end in the Capital than die in disgrace while grasping at borrowed time.

‘And...’

Only by holding out in the Capital could he buy time for his family to escape.

‘Don’t you dare think I’ll hand my family over to you.’

Slowly opening his eyes, Belvar raised the glass.

“Even if I die in the Capital...”

Resolve gleamed in his eyes.

“My family will carry on the name of our great ducal house!”

With that declaration, Belvar downed the wine to steel himself.

But Belvar did not know—

That beneath the very chair he sat on, a listening device had been planted.

****

As morning broke, Daniel ordered the 7th Magitek Armored Division and the Guard Division’s Armored Regiment to advance toward the Capital.

Because the unit commanders followed Daniel Steiner’s orders without a single word of protest, a long military procession began to move toward the Capital.

This procession occasionally passed by farmlands or the outskirts of cities, and each time, the people who witnessed the majesty of the 7th Magitek Armored Division and the Guard Division’s Armored Regiment couldn’t help but comment.

“...What in the world is that? Is that the army?”

“Of course it’s the army, you fool. But why the hell is the army heading for the Capital?”

“You’re right. They’re not headed for the front line—they’re going to the Capital. Did something happen there?”

“Who knows? Stop acting like you know anything and keep your head down and get back to work.”

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“Damn right. There’s nothing good to come from getting involved with the military.”

One of the farmers, who had been watching the procession while chatting, unconsciously let out a gasp.

“But still... that’s really something else.”

The endless column of tanks looked like giant slabs of steel raising waves as they moved.

Each one was a violently shaped behemoth, rumbling in perfect formation. The noise they made sounded like the growls of wild beasts, sending chills down the spine.

On top of that, the sight of armed soldiers marching forward, staring straight ahead like machines, exuded a will of iron.

“I don’t know who commands that army, but he must be like a king.”

“No kidding. Honestly, with a force like that, they could level a whole city.”

“Obviously. That’s what an army is for.”

Wherever that army passed, it would not have been wrong to say a king reigned over that territory.

Amid the farmers’ awed murmurs, the army continued its advance. After several days, they finally arrived at the controlled entry point of the Capital’s wartime perimeter.

“...Huh?”

Sergeant Volker, the officer in charge of the checkpoint, felt the ground shake from the movement of the tanks and hurriedly rushed outside.

What he saw was a column of troops, accompanied by countless tanks, steadily advancing.

Even at a glance, the number was close to twenty thousand. Volker couldn’t help but gasp for air.

The soldiers were just as stunned.

“Sergeant, sir—what do we do? Are we supposed to... do a checkpoint inspection?”

Volker, finally coming to his senses, shouted,

“Checkpoint inspection?! Are you out of your fucking mind?! You wanna get shot and die trying to inspect that? Open the goddamn gate now! Even if we don’t open it, it’ll be opened anyway!”

The soldiers nodded and moved quickly, removing the barricades and barbed wire.

While Volker stood there, sweating nervously, the forces of the 7th Magitek Armored Division slowly approached and began to enter the Capital one by one.

It was an unauthorized entry—but no one stopped them, nor could they.

Just as Volker was wondering how on earth he was supposed to report this to his superiors, a military jeep pulled out of the line and came to a halt nearby.

Baffled, Volker cautiously approached. The window of the jeep rolled down slowly.

At that moment, Volker reflexively saluted.

There was no mistaking that face—even if one tried.

“C-Colonel Daniel Steiner, sir!”

Seated in the back seat of the jeep was none other than Daniel Steiner himself.

Volker, frozen in place without realizing it, glanced nervously at Daniel and spoke up.

“...Is there anything you wish to say, sir?”

Daniel, his tired eyes staring straight ahead, quietly opened his mouth.

“To the citizens of the Empire—and to Her ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) Majesty the Empress.”

Daniel raised a hand and lightly straightened the cuff of his uniform.

After brushing off a speck of dust from his sleeve, Daniel turned his head to look directly at Volker.

And in that moment, Volker felt as though he couldn’t breathe.

“And to the traitors hiding within the Capital...”

Daniel’s eyes narrowed sharply as he stared at Volker.

“Tell them—Daniel Steiner has returned.”