by Carlo Zen
“If you fail to seize the position, contact me immediately. Otherwise, the plan is to maintain radio silence until our reinforcements arrive.”
“What about enemy reinforcements?”
“Come crying to me if you can’t handle them. Otherwise, crush them.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Reconfirming everything to make sure we don’t miss anything and keeping the troops informed of relevant information—we’re model communicators. Anyhow, we can’t say for sure that we’ll succeed, but there are blatant reasons we could fail, so there’s no better way to prepare than getting rid of them.
“Okay, Lieutenant Serebryakov, you’re our reserve commander. If Lieutenant Weiss and I go dark, order the retreat.”
“Retreat, ma’am?”
“The operation is a failure if you lose our signals. If well-outfitted enemies show up, you have no chance of winning. We’re just like canaries.”
A canary in a coal mine gives its warning by dying. The point of view that resulted in this method is exemplary in its practicality. Of course, we face the vexing reality that the army values us and canaries equally.
That said, though Tanya made this troubling simile, she has absolutely no intention of nobly sacrificing herself. If need be, she’ll make a scene screaming about the danger to everyone as she makes an airborne escape; that’s how far her loyalty to the Reich goes.
“Then I’ll try to sing my sweetest.”
I kind of have to hand it to Weiss for that joke.
“I’m not interested in hearing you sing, Lieutenant. Get ready to move out!”
“Yes, ma’am!”
As each soldier briskly checks over their gear, Tanya grabs her parachute, makes the last pre-jump checks, and nods in satisfaction.
If I have no choice but to go, I should at least do a good job.
“Okay! Go!”
When it came to zeal for one’s work, Colonel Anson Sue of the Entente Alliance Army was like Tanya—the kind of person who made rigorous preparations for battle.
“Enemy attack!”
“That’s insane! We can detect their mana signals from this far away? What’s the suppression squad doing…?”
Colonel Sue’s unit had just been stationed there out of a need to protect the sea, and although they weren’t in perfect fighting condition, they were already on guard—no doubt because he had learned the horror of completely losing the initiative in battle.
And especially considering their situation now… Ever since they had carelessly started the war, the pressure had been growing.
“They were attacked in their sleep? Is the army even training people properly anymore?”
Which was why Sue couldn’t hide his displeasure with the chaos descending over their coastal guns and clicked his tongue in annoyance. The discipline was probably so lousy because they were calling up reserves from the rear.
“…Enemy status?”
At that time, he was regarding the attack as a mere bit of harassment. But even a harassing attack on the guns was a nasty move that could lead to a dispersal of their forces in the name of stationing additional troops in a rear echelon city like Os. One might say that he still had the wherewithal to lament such things at that point.
No, more accurately, he was sighing while keeping a hopeful eye on the situation. Colonel Sue himself probably didn’t understand the core of his emotions.
But up until then, at least…he didn’t grasp how grave the situation was.
“Unclear. I have reports that the coastal units are engaged…and it seems the patrol boats haven’t made their regular check-ins.”
“What? Ask the patrol line what’s going on. Could be a sneak attack by mages flying out of a sub.”
Approach in secret and attack. In that sense, a commando unit and a submarine went together perfectly. That was why Sue persistently appealed to the military to adopt submarines, but sadly, the Entente Alliance Navy was really only a slightly thicker-skinned version of a coast guard. They didn’t have the resources to allot submarines for use in magic operations. The few they had, frustratingly enough, had gone on their periodic deep-sea exercise before the start of the war and then wound up getting disarmed as warships in a neutral country. That disgraceful situation meant they had zero operational submarines.
Reflecting jealously, Sue wondered if they could perhaps capture one as he had his men get ready to sortie. He had the radio operator connect him with the picket line.
“I’ve been calling them, but none of the ships are replying…”
“Do you think there’s some kind of confusion and they can’t connect?”
That was when he understood the situation.
The picket line ships had gone dark. If it were only one of them, it could have just happened to be near the submarine and gotten attacked, but if the entire surface warning line went quiet, that was not a minor problem. No, it meant the root of the trouble was on the surface!
“…Crap! They’re targeting the guns? We’re moving out! Scramble!”
Enemy mages were sneak attacking the batteries. And they had lost contact with the ships on the sea.
“Huh?”
“The guns are all facing forward!”
It was the enemy. An enemy attack. A major methodical attack! The fatherland, my country…the home I must protect…
“In the air now! Scramble! Engines on!”
Sue’s unit, taking off with determination in their breasts, was an unexpected newcomer for the Imperial Army. The Imperial Army General Staff thought it was a newly organized unit that had just been stationed there. They had also grasped that the enemy troops were not very content and tended to have insufficient logistical support, and the General Staff’s intelligence wasn’t wrong. So the staff officer who had analyzed the data came to the utterly commonsense conclusion that it was a static guard with a measure of defensive capabilities that was protecting the city of Os.
And that was why he thought the troops would be able to clean them up with the strength of their main force.
He had figured that by the time that unit had assembled to counterattack, the main imperial force would have already landed.
And he wasn’t entirely wrong. Only his conclusion was.
After all, at face value, Colonel Anson’s force was a puny mage battalion, a mix of wheat and chaff that was undertrained and lacking unity.
But the Empire didn’t know why these troops were fighting. Because it didn’t need to yet.
Still, from a totally objective standpoint, the unavoidable truth is… The Imperial Army commander, Tanya, muttering mainly curses at either God or the devil about the arrival of these unforeseen enemies, has to come up with a way to handle the situation.
“Major! New enemies!”
The rapidly approaching formation is a battalion-sized group of mages. Both their speed and altitude are quite impressive. No doubt about it, they’re a first-rate interception unit—and a horrible nightmare for the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion suppressing enemies on the ground.
“I see that! Lieutenant Serebryakov, take command of First Company and stop them!”
“Major, it’s too dangerous with only one company! I’ll share some troops from my group.”
“Lieutenant Weiss, you just capture that battery! We’ll figure out some way to handle this.”
Tanya decides without a moment’s hesitation to go meet them herself.
I’m at wit’s end, but I can’t run away. If I send my subordinates up and they get the shit kicked out of them, there’ll be nowhere for me to run. If that’s how it’ll go, Tanya feels more at ease intercepting them herself from the start and preparing for trouble.
True, she isn’t terribly keen on facing an elite-seeming enemy battalion with a force the size of a company, but it’s better than the fear of having them on top of her. If she doesn’t want be made into a target, she has to get above them.
“R-roger!”
“First Company, follow me! We’
re intercepting!”
The moment their short exchange is finished, Tanya accelerates to climb hard. As she swiftly ascends, aiming to occupy a combat altitude that is even with or superior to their opponent’s, she catches sight of the tiny dots drawing nearer every second.
And as one side got visual confirmation, so too did the other.
“We can’t get through to the surface!”
“I’ve got visuals! They’re on their way up to meet us!”
As Colonel Sue’s battalion raced across the sky in a messy formation and reached the Osfjord, the situation was as he had feared. The batteries had descended into chaos due to a sneak attack.
Not only that, but enemy mages were smoothly gaining altitude while maneuvering into combat formation, as if they had been skillfully lying in wait.
He could instantly gather from their impressive aptitude and clean formation that they were formidable opponents—in other words, the kind he hated.
“They’re fast!”
“A company? They must think we’re wimps!”
“These guys parachuted in. Don’t underestimate their training! Put our numerical advantage to good use! Let’s go!”
That said, they couldn’t cower. How much do you think numerical superiority will really matter? the realistic part of his head sneered, but he suppressed it and encouraged his unit to drive the attackers away from the batteries.
“Beat them back!”
What else could he say?
“Go! Get ’em!”
All he could do was scream and lead his troops in the charge.
He chose to do it, but it was also his only choice. But it should probably be said…
Sue looked up at the sky. I guess God isn’t smiling on me.
“Ngh?! That’s—”
“Colonel Sue?”
Dear God, why…? Why is she here?
“This one’s pesky as rust. Take some distance and fire to suppress. Do not let her get in close!”
She’s got that obnoxious alias White Silver or whatever. When it came to an enemy who fought bitterly against his own unit and got an award out of it, he remembered news from an enemy country. With all the blood she has on her hands, her alias is White Silver? Ha, the Empire has no talent for coming up with names.
Might as well call her Rusted Silver, looking like that.
A devil spattered and rusted in the blood of his fellow soldiers. There was no way for him to mistake that detestable girl—his sworn enemy.
Dear God, I pray. Give me the strength to destroy that devil.
Sue even prayed as he shot the formula, and just as an attack filled with fervent hopes should, it plowed into the enemy formation.
Or rather, things happened as he expected.
They scattered, taking barely any damage, and sped toward him with no hesitation. Still, that didn’t mean he could back down. There was no way he could withdraw.
He was carrying a submachine gun. If that mage would just get in range, he would turn her into honeycomb. With that thought in mind, Sue eagerly charged.
In terms of inability to withdraw, Major von Degurechaff’s unit is in the same boat. Tanya inwardly feels that she is being seriously overworked for her salary, but even if she wants to declare, This isn’t in my contract and fly away, that’s not how the army works.
Rules have to be followed.
If a regiment of mages had moved in to attack, perhaps she could have used numbers as an excuse to run away. But when both the enemy mages and your own are battalion-sized groups, you can’t get away with excuses—though she wants to flee, she can’t. In a case like this, the army says to put up a fight.
“Tch! These guys are tough. Attack in platoon formations!”
As she thinks how badly she wants to run, she realizes that if she did, the career she had spent all this time building up would disappear, and she would be helpless to stop it. Reluctantly, even grudgingly, she has to take on some degree of risk and fight.
The only way to thwart gaps in firepower and numbers is to dart in for melee. At close quarters, there is a greater danger of misfire; as a result, the imbalance in firepower stemming from the disparity in numbers decreases somewhat. More importantly, if they bring the fight to an individual level instead of organizational, the imperial mages will definitely have the advantage.
“Get above them!”
“Don’t let them get above you!”
Crisscrossing gunfire and formulas. The scene displays the very essence of mana science technology, a fantasy where the practical modern advances of civilization are having their day. Sadly, it’s a picture painted only in blood and iron.
In the end, though, the impact of numerical superiority will be felt. If it becomes a battle of attrition, the side with more matériel and men will be declared the winners.
“Oh, the reinforcements are here?”
“Shit! Again? More reinforcements?”
A regiment is approaching. Openly jubilant as she notices indications of their arrival, Tanya is sure of her victory, while Colonel Sue is devastated. As such, their voices reflect their situations—the former’s is very cheerful and the latter’s sounds helpless and bitter.
“Major von Degurechaff, what’s the status of the seizure operation?”
“Below they’re sweeping up, but I’m currently fighting an enemy unit. Requesting backup.”
“Understood! You two battalions, support the major! The rest of you, head for the interior.”
And in her straightforward exchange with the commander of the reinforcements, her remarks are businesslike to ensure the operation proceeds smoothly. The two of them are so in control of the situation, they’re no longer worried about whether they will succeed or not; instead, they’re thinking of what comes next.
The coastal guns are being seized, the enemy unit can be eliminated, and the imperial transport ships are coming into view across the bay. The scene below makes all the Imperial Army soldiers feel that they are moving step-by-step closer to victory.
Victory… It will be an established fact in the Imperial Army’s near future.
Colonel Sue’s beloved fatherland no longer had the power to object.
THE SAME DAY, THE REPUBLIC, CHANNEL COMMAND
“Alert from the early warning line!”
The observation units along the warning line had an alert. What that meant was clear: The imperial fleet was on the move.
This was the chance for a naval battle they had been hoping for. The tension at Command peaked all at once.
“Order DEFCON 1. So they’re finally coming out.”
We’ve been waiting.
That’s practically what the commander was saying, and his feelings were shared by all the other members of the Republican Navy. While the army was fighting a grueling battle on the Rhine lines, the navy was ridiculed as slackers. This was an opportunity to clear its name; they had been looking forward to this chance to support their troops.
“Er, they have…transport ships with them? Why?!”
But the enemy movements they had longed for completely betrayed their expectations. The latest update on the imperial fleet indicated that, contrary to their hopes, it had no intention of engaging in a naval battle. The fleet maneuver they had predicted was happening, but the warships were leaving the port accompanied by several transport ships.
Unless the movement was a long one, it was hard to imagine a unit of battleships sailing with slow, vulnerable transport ships—which is precisely why upon hearing about those vessels, the clever ones among them immediately speculated upon what might be inside and were assailed by a type of foreboding.
…What could be in there? Common sense would say coal, oil, food for the troops, ammunition, spare parts, and so on—things the unit would need on a long operation. But there was no way the Imperial Navy would take a leisurely cruise around the world right now. In that case, the ships had to be taking something important to where it was needed.
The Command personnel al
l waited with bated breath for the next report. The atmosphere was so tense their uneasiness was burning them up inside.
“Spike 04 to HQ. The imperial fleet is setting course to the north. I say again, course to the north!”
“Ngh! An amphibious operation?”
Of course, they all felt like they’d been whacked in the back of the head when they understood.
After all, this was the worst possible development for the Republic. It had been their worst nightmare ever since one corner of the encirclement, Dacia, had crumbled—the fear that the Entente Alliance would collapse as well. And now as they could see the Imperial Northern Army Group planning an offensive, the Entente Alliance’s main forces were tied up on the front.
…If the rear logistics base were seized in a landing operation, it would mean they had failed to avoid another Dacia. War could no longer be fought with superior ground forces alone, and if the rear supply lines were cut, the army’s fate would be tragedy.
In the back of their minds, a few senior officers remembered the plans for the Imperial Army’s amphibious operation, delivered in utmost secret from the Commonwealth. If the Entente Alliance were to fall like Dacia, how much would that increase the burden on their beloved fatherland?
“Ready the fleet and the marine mages to sortie on the double! They’re planning to land in the Entente Alliance’s rear area.” In came another enemy status report. Increasingly agitated, Command notified them that they should hurry up and send out the fleet. But one report made them all freeze. All the hubbub faded in an instant and dissipated.
“…Are you sure?”
“There’s no mistake! Subs and enemy mages are forming a restraining line!”
The primary mission of the Republican Channel Fleet was to confront and annihilate the Imperial High Seas Fleet. But while the Republic had to split their main forces between the north and south, the Empire could concentrate their naval power in the north. With the Northern Sea and High Seas Fleets combining forces, the Republican Channel Fleet would be forced into a disadvantageous position.
A fight that was once seven on seven had just been joined by three enemy reinforcements. Fighting a ten-on-seven battle wasn’t impossible, but it was far from the numbers they would like to see.