by Carlo Zen
It was originally built before the war as a passenger ship… Full of people, it rushed across the open sea.
It was the fastest way to travel besides a plane. And if you wanted to, you could pack it with tons of people and cargo.
This is just an estimate, but I bet it could carry a division’s worth of personnel at thirty knots. Or you could fill it with weapons and ammunition and send it cutting across the vast ocean with that thirty-knot speed.
It’s practically a moving maritime logistics base. Palace was the right word.
“All right, battalion. Obviously, we can’t let that thing be.”
“We sure can’t!”
To the Imperial Army, this is nothing but a strategic nightmare. No matter how thorough they’re being with the commerce raiding operations, it’ll be meaningless if the RMS Queen of Anjou gets through.
If the enemy laughed off the blockade mission the submarine units were making such harsh sacrifices for, where would that leave us? And that’s why…we must sink the RMS Queen of Anjou.
“Well, that’s why they picked us to give these orders to. Battalion, prepare to attack.”
“Yes, ma’am. Battalion, prepare to attack!”
“If possible, stop the enemy warship, er, boat. Use explosion formulas to blow away the engine or the rudder!”
For a second, she nearly calls it a warship—it’s that imposing. The order to halt Her Majesty as she calmly crosses the vast ocean is definitely another instance of getting the short end of the stick.
I’m impressed the joint intelligence agency managed to pick it up. And I can see why Operations would want to send us in. Even with an ambush, it would be pretty hard to capture it with our existing ships.
“This boat is just too much. They’ve shaken off our superficial efforts and existing paradigm and technology with that size and speed…”
For starters, there’s no way a submarine is going to catch a ship that was a contender for the Blue Riband. I can feel myself ready to grumble at the sky.
It’s not like the imperial subs are subpar.
But subs that even on the surface reach only the twenties when pushing their engines to the limit just can’t compete. And they never expected to have to go up against such a giant monster of a ship.
So it surpasses the imperial subs. The only ones who can chase it are the air forces the Empire is so proud of.
But sadly…
The Empire’s planes are severely limited when it comes to anti-ship attacks.
After all, it’s an issue of whether the mission fits the scope of a tactical air force aiming to support ground troops and fight air battles. Have they begun outfitting themselves for maritime aerial power?
With horizontal bombing, it’s hit or miss. In that respect, aerial mages—the other air force—are much more accurate.
Hitting the boat, we can do.
I’ve even heard that troops in the south and west have had success in operations attacking smaller ships and torpedo boats.
“Understood. But I think stopping that ship is going to be pretty tough…”
“Even just the engine is probably built to be strong.”
“Right, we can’t ignore the question of whether our firepower will penetrate it.”
But even that is full of issues, as Tanya is forced to point out.
First, aerial mages don’t have unlimited firepower. Particularly when it comes to stopping a huge ship, all we can do is hope for secondary explosions.
“Or maybe we could attack the sides and cause it to take on water or damage the propeller…”
To rob the ship of propulsion, we could probably pull off a focused attack on the stern. But. Tanya is at a loss in this vexing situation.
“But don’t you think they’d have taken some measures against that?”
“Yes, I’m sure at that size they have buoyancy to spare. They may even have a spare rudder. I don’t think we can expect results if we go into this without more info.”
Tanya nods at Weiss’s complaint.
“If only those guys in Intelligence could find us a map of the layout.”
“Apparently, they at least know that there aren’t many escorts.”
“But that’s a given, isn’t it, Major Weiss? It’s way too reckless to ask us to take on that mobile foothold with such few numbers. If they didn’t have that sort of intel, we wouldn’t be taking on that huge ship.”
Our target is a passenger ship. To be explicit, it’s a boat that carries people. We’re fatigued from our long flight, while the enemy is brimming with the energy to come up and intercept.
We wouldn’t have even considered coming near this thing if Intelligence hadn’t guaranteed us that the Commonwealth is relying on its speed and not attaching many escorts.
“…Huh?”
Something seems slightly off.
“Abort the attack! Turn around—now!”
It’s not as if I believe in the frankly suspect idea of a sixth sense, but something is weird.
The moment Tanya senses it, she doesn’t hesitate.
The 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion was in assault formation, ready to swoop down and attack, but they respond to Tanya’s command immediately.
“Break! Get out of attack formation! Increase altitude! Hurry!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
Her subordinates neither question nor argue, and Tanya is thankful for their understanding. Right as everyone begins climbing in prep for an attack from below…
“Mana signals! Multiple signatures from the enemy ship?!”
“Disciplined fire, incoming!”
What they shoot, without using their sights to aim, is an attack calculated to hit the entire area. The mix of regular and formula bullets is far more orderly than haphazard firing.
Even a battalion won’t make it through unscathed if it flies into a hail of bullets. If we had been a few seconds later, we would have been turned into Swiss cheese.
“It’s a battalion—no, a r-regiment?!”
“The mana signals are rapidly increasing! What the—?!”
I can’t help the screams of my men echoing in my head.
Since we dodged quickly, the battalion hasn’t taken any losses. But it’s probably too soon to call it a close shave and be done with it.
As the situation continues to rapidly evolve, Tanya bites back her curses and suddenly thinks: Our augmented battalion is being fired on by a regiment.
If an enemy you have no intel about attacks you preemptively, it’s hard not to break step. Really, we’re probably blessed, considering we didn’t lose anyone.
“01 to all units. Abandon the original plan! Abandon the plan! Ascend—get some distance!” She clicks her tongue in frustration as she has them get out of assault formation and climb. “This isn’t what we were told! Those bastards in Intelligence are freeloaders after all!”
She means what she shouts.
We were told that due to the difficulty in mustering manpower, the ship would have only the minimum escorts…but that is clearly not the case. Intelligence has really half-assed it.
I don’t know if they cocked it all up, or latched on to some bad info, or what.
But in the end, it comes down to their work being hurried. Cursory. We should have beat the General Staff’s philosophy—the devil is in the details—into those administrative numbskulls’ heads.
“Colonel, it’s a unit of Commonwealth marine mages! A regiment and closing in fast!”
“That can’t be all. Assume they have two regiments.”
“Roger!”
Our premise that the giant ship had only minimal escorts…has been shattered. The ship is huge. If they wanted to, they could fit a whole division on it.
If we just got attacked with discipline fire from a regiment, there must be more where that came from.
“If we can rob it of propulsion, the submarines should be able to work for us, but…it’s unclear if we’ll actually be able to stop it…”
/> OCTOBER 5, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, OFF THE NORTHERN COAST OF NORDEN
He had heard it said. Major General Habergram had warned him: “Since we have a mole, the enemy might show up.”
Lieutenant Colonel Drake, leading the Commonwealth’s marine mages, recalled the superior officer who had guaranteed him, “That said, with the deception and the thorough information war we’ve carried out, there should only be a few if they do show up.” He heaved a sigh.
“…You dodged that?”
He thought it was a perfectly targeted shot. The enemy had been in formation to dive and attack when his troops had unleashed a screen of anti–air fire straight down their path.
They had even suppressed their mana signals so they wouldn’t be detected beforehand.
Despite all that, the enemy mages veered away at the last possible moment. Given the distance and the timing, the only possible explanation was that their commander had suspected something immediately before the charge.
“What is it, Colonel Drake?”
“No matter how you look at it, their intuition is just too good. And I recognize some of the signatures in there. This is the Named we fought the other day—I’m sure of it!”
He just barely kept his face from tensing and looked up to see the enemy unit increasing their altitude. They were so full of fight they not only saw through the sneak attack but were even taking distance to overcome their numerical disadvantage.
Even a high-speed military transport ship boasting a cruising speed of thirty knots would be slow against opponents in flight. It would be very bad to allow them to remain hanging around.
And so, they had to approach their braced enemy.
“Apparently, General Habergram is unfamiliar with the battlefield. Didn’t he say that…ambushing them with two regiments would be plenty?”
Given how important this route is, did they go all out with their guard unit?
Are we being ordered to fight this Named unit with this few people?
This was nothing like what they’d been led to expect.
…He should have expected that the unit reporting directly to the Imperial Army General Staff would show up. Not that there was anything they could do about it now.
“That said…we can’t let them get away without a fight…”
The bitter memories trickled back.
He had learned from experience in their encounter on the Rhine front, so he was aware, whether he liked it or not, of how much trouble this imperial Named unit was.
They had spirit and skill, but they also had a habit of taking the initiative and doing what their opponents hated. Surely they all have devil tails.
“These are the warmongers who hunted the voluntary army from the Unified States. Stay on guard. Attack with all your might. This fight will take everything we’ve got. Get both regiments in the air. This boat isn’t about to sink from the firepower of a mage unit, so let’s get up there and attack!”
“Pirate 01, this is Anjou CP. An all-out interception is fine, but it’ll lower our guard against subs. Even just a battalion is fine, so please leave a reserve force as direct support for the Anjou.”
“Sorry, even giving you a single company will leave us hard up. I’ll leave a voluntary mage company, but consider any more than that impossible.”
“I heard it’s a Named, but are they really that tough?”
Drake sighed over the wireless as his response. To him, it was so obvious it didn’t need to be debated.
They’re our natural enemy, a serious threat.
To put it plainly, he loathed them so much, it made him want to whine in a pathetic, ungentlemanly way.
“If there is anyone I don’t want to encounter right now, it’s them.”
“I understand that you think highly of them, but they’ve flown a long way to get here, right?”
“Even if they have, and they’re terribly tired, facing that battalion will still be a struggle for us. It would be easier to clash with other imperial forces with numbers equal to ours.”
He meant every word of his grumbles. Marine mages were brave. Many of them were skilled veterans. That said, they had been worn down since the start of the war.
They were replenishing their losses with fresh soldiers and new recruits, so they weren’t in ideal condition to engage in combat. If that was their situation, regrettable though it may be, they had to consider the possibility of a breakthrough.
“Anjou CP, a word of warning. This might be the same imperial unit that attacked them before. Please keep an eye on the voluntary troops.”
“Roger, Pirate 01. Things’ll be much easier if you guys can clean them up properly.”
“We’ll do our best, but don’t expect too much.”
His quiet reply was his true feeling.
With neither vanity nor condescension, he was confident they were the best marine mages. It was a conviction regarding their pride and self-assurance, or perhaps their duty.
But he was fully aware that they weren’t guaranteed the glory of victory unconditionally—that’s not how things worked on the battlefield. He wasn’t a green newbie, unfamiliar with the fog of war. He’d seen many a defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, only a stone’s throw away.
Only God knew what would happen when their greatest enemy and their greatest ally clashed. Drake wasn’t arrogant enough to assume the winner. As a man in the same business, he understood the Imperial Army’s ability so well it made him sick. And against Named, he knew it would be an intense fight.
But that didn’t mean anything.
Pulling off a win while you were nervous was a fantasy.
“…That tough?”
“Yeah, that tough.”
If they put in every last desperate effort, would it work?
Well, maybe. So that was enough. If they could bet on the possibility, then they could carry on through power of will. All right, we’ve got to try it.
“Pirates, it’s time for war! And we’ve got them heavily outnumbered! They’ve come such a long way, so give them a nice welcome!”
As he shouted his command, warriors adapted to the sea air took off.
Though even a two-thousand gap in their altitude was painful, the enemy was already ascending to eight thousand.
Is that gap actually eight thousand?
Absurd.
If they ended up getting shot down in a one-sided attack from above, they’d end up a textbook-case laughingstock.
But we have no choice.
“Split into companies and eat into the enemy defensive fire! All units, this is a fight to punch through! Rush them!”
Each company commander encouraged his subordinates within earshot as they rose, weaving through the bullets, thermic beams, and explosion formulas that rained down.
One bad hit and they’d be shot down like that.
“Don’t flinch away! We’re a regiment! Our opponent’s a battalion!”
“Keep pushing till we’ve surrounded them! Show them how to fight a war, gentlemen!”
“We’re gonna show these landlubbers how we do things at sea! Let’s go!”
It was just a charge to overwhelm the enemy’s processing power with numbers. It was a confession of ineptitude, a stupid plan to crush the enemy under the corpses of his subordinates.
It was nothing short of a brute-force move, but he had no other choice.
“All right, you gentlemen sons of bitches! Follow me!”
THE SAME DAY, THE 203RD AERIAL MAGE BATTALION
We’re actually eight thousand above. No normal mage units would challenge us under those circumstances.
There shouldn’t be… Or so I wanted to believe.
But apparently, these Commonwealth jerks take sports, war, and nothing else too damn seriously.
Suppressing a tongue click, Tanya looks down at the Commonwealth mage companies each making their own approach. Even throwing firepower at them to keep them down, they haven’t lost any momentum.
I’d like
to write them off as daredevils, but vexingly, their fighting spirit and skills don’t seem to be inversely proportioned. They’re coming at us with magnificent evasion, defense, and teamwork.
…If we really engage, their numbers will probably crush us.
“01 to all units! Prepare to withdraw!”
My abrupt decision is to avoid the encounter.
“01, if we withdraw now, they’re likely to pursue!”
“I know! My company will charge to cause confusion! The rest of the units I’m leaving to you, 02. Have them perform delaying combat and support the charge!”
My unit and I will distract the enemy with an attack on the RMS Queen of Anjou. I leave the rest of the battalion to Major Weiss and an evacuation operation.
“05 to 01. Please let my company do it.”
“Why not give your subordinates a chance to shine once in a while? I’m confident I or 05 could do it.”
A proposal from First Lieutenant Grantz and an encouraging rejoinder from Weiss.
Tanya suddenly wonders something and brings it up. “So how come you don’t include my adjutant?”
“Ha-ha-ha. Because we know it goes without saying.”
“All right… Hmm.”
She does think relatively highly of the others’ abilities. They may be a bit overly war crazy, but they do know when to quit.
…Who should I send as the distraction? She’s unsure until…she suddenly thinks…
“Then we’ll all go.” Her subordinates are about to acknowledge, but she beats them to the punch and says, “These are orders from your battalion commander. All units, split into companies and charge. I say again, split into companies and charge.”
When you think about it, if the enemy is coming up at us…we just have to obliterate them with impulsive force. Adding the speed of our fall to our charge, we’ll have the energy advantage over our climbing enemy.
“Dive! If the enemy is going to come up, we’ll beat them down!”
Just because the enemy wants to see if they can saturate our processing power doesn’t mean we have to go along with it. If they’re split up, it means they have holes.