by Carlo Zen
Until just a moment ago, the colonel’s expression would have made even hell’s prison guards run for the hills, but now she was the picture of cheer. A sublime smile like an angel’s bloomed across her face.
“How in the world did you convince him?”
“Oh, it was easy. They’re war maniacs. They were so thirsty, it was a home run.”
…Correction: She’s a seductive devil, no question.
Or at the very least, she was terrifying. She was a great mage. She was a great commander.
Dear God, please allow me to thank you for not making the colonel our enemy.
“Plus, the one in charge of formation, Colonel von Lergen, knows what’s what. I don’t think there will be a problem.”
Weiss mentally decided that he would go to church this Sunday.
With no idea what he’s thinking, Tanya smiles happily at how smoothly things are going.
After all, she finally has an idea how things will go. Ah. It pays to push people for a yes or no answer, she reflects. Everyone said yes.
Apparently, there is a point to bowing your head and saying please. Now she’ll have a better chance of surviving the perilous front lines.
…I’m just going to do my best for a brighter future. If I manage to survive, I should be able to at least escape to the west.
JULY 1, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, GENERAL STAFF OFFICE, LARGE CONFERENCE ROOM
It was an awfully strange scene. We had been gathered for the ceremony to establish the new Kampfgruppe. The venue, perhaps as a sign of the General Staff’s sponsorship, was a room in the General Staff Office.
The higher-ups seemed plenty excited about it. High-ranking officers were sprinkled among the attendees.
That was fine. It simply meant we had guests to witness the establishment of the unit. The Guard Division had been on many assignments dealing with formal events, so we had experience.
“…Welcome, battalion members. I’ll be counting on you.”
But what is that? The commander had to get up on a specially ordered dais to survey the room or even see over the first row of attendees.
That absurd, expressionless, doll-like creature was giving orders to people who appeared to be bloodthirsty mages just back from a war zone.
She smiled at them, and they watched her every move so as not to miss a thing; something seemed very wrong.
“Colonel! Commander!”
The way they shouted, so focused, made us realize how much they trusted her—they would follow her to the depths of hell.
Even we Fallschirmjäger of the Second Guard Division who qualify as “elite” had to hand it to them. And yet there they were…
Yes, these soldiers who distinguished themselves in that hell on the Rhine…
…were paying their wholehearted respects to this little kid.
“My wonderful battalion, brothers who have gone with me to paint the town red. Let us celebrate the new friends joining our ranks.”
This figure—smiling like a seasoned officer—was beyond the realm of our comprehension.
“New troops, welcome to the forward-most line.”
Her smile was savage like a drill sergeant’s.
Could it really… Could it really be possible for a child to wear such a smile?
“Welcome to my—our—battlefield. We invite you wholeheartedly.”
Her hands were soft and would have looked more natural holding a doll, but instead, this odd, human-shaped creature spread her arms as she delivered a welcoming address.
No one.
None of the high-ranking officers present could raise an objection to this thing. The veteran mages all obeyed this inhuman being in the form of a person.
Not that we should wonder why our war-freak battalion commander would go along with this.
We should have come prepared. We should have known that war nut had fallen under her spell!
“There are only two things I expect from you.”
It was almost like we had heard this before somewhere.
“Don’t get in my battalion’s way. Keep up. That is all.”
And then the colonel smiled. Or at least, we supposed that must be what she thought a smile was.
Whoever said “A smile is by nature a hostile action” was right.
Smiling is, without a doubt, the act of baring your fangs. It’s an unmistakable threat.
JULY 2, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, GENERAL STAFF OFFICE, SERVICE CORPS DEPUTY DIRECTOR’S OFFICE
Lieutenant General von Zettour was looking over the reports from the front lines while having a late meal in his office. Tense, hurried footsteps interrupted him in his duties.
When he looked up and saw his subordinate standing there, he was confused for a moment.
It was the promising talent Colonel von Lergen. The Service Corps and Operations in the General Staff had fought over him, and Zettour himself thought highly of the man.
When he flew furiously into his office, Zettour furrowed his brow slightly and asked, “What is it?”
“General von Zettour! Are you really putting Colonel von Degurechaff in charge of a Kampfgruppe?!”
The question was cleared up the moment Lergen opened his mouth. For better or worse, he was one of the army’s sensible officers. To put it another way, he was someone who was apprehensive of Degurechaff’s more over-the-top actions… During the inquiry, he had defended Degurechaff’s conduct, but ultimately he thought she would inevitably ruin them; therefore, he didn’t trust her.
And his fears were well-founded. As was known both in and outside the General Staff, even Zettour, who valued her so highly, originally had the same worries as Lergen.
But to him, such concerns were already meaningless. In order to win, he was prepared to swallow any pill, no matter how bitter.
This was war. They couldn’t be picky about their methods. Zettour had decided that even if the side effects were agonizing, they could regret it as much as they wanted after winning the war.
“What I’d like to know,” said Zettour, “is where you heard about this, Colonel von Lergen. How did you gain access to this info from Operations? It should be confidential even within the Service Corps.”
“General, forgive me for saying so, but Colonel von Degurechaff has already gone too far. I’ve just received a report that she’s co-opted a battalion from the Second Guard Division garrisoned in the capital with the excuse that it’s necessary for her investigative research for the General Staff!” Spittle flew from his mouth, he was so furious.
Apparently, he had caught wind of the Kampfgruppe’s formation via an incident that affected his own department.
Well, I guess he’s as outstanding as always, thought Zettour with a sigh.
“But that must be Colonel von Degurechaff’s way of ‘appropriately’ handling things.”
In the army, “appropriate” use essentially meant exploiting everything available.
Though he had said “a measure” of discretion, this did happen directly after he told her they would give it to her. He realized they were lucky she hadn’t co-opted weapons.
It amounted to borderline interference in supreme command, but this was Degurechaff. Surely, she had some sort of justification prepared. In which case, there wasn’t any problem. He didn’t feel like complaining.
“Either way, the Second Guard Division is, along with the First, charged with defending the capital. Considering their connections with the court, they would never be deployed in combat, but they have high-quality equipment. Maybe we should be impressed with her taking advantage of what’s on hand.”
“…True, the Second Guard Division isn’t doing much of anything at the moment, but she’s clearly overstepping her authority.”
“That’s enough. You probably shouldn’t say any more, Colonel.”
He didn’t feel like hearing anything else, and he made that loud and clear.
“General?!”
“Colonel von Degurechaff is an expert field officer. The Guard Divis
ions soldiers are elite…unlike the key members connected to the court. Don’t you think that’s an optimal combination?”
“But—” Lergen tried to protest, but Zettour sighed at him.
“We can’t afford to let them twiddle their thumbs.”
The requests from the front lines conveyed how grave the situation had gotten. Degurechaff had offered a plan to ameliorate it. And it was to flexibly employ a Kampfgruppe made up of multiple military branches in the Imperial Army’s preferred efficient method.
That said, while Degurechaff’s report was brilliant, it was undeniable that at this rate, it would remain armchair theory. How much doctrine can you really claim if it’s untested?
“In order to actually verify its practicality in combat and mitigate the difficulties on the front lines, it’s hard to avoid employing the unit in a test, and the only way to do it is to put the one who came up with the idea in charge.”
You understand that, right? Zettour asked with his eyes, and Lergen was left speechless. It was true; it was common understanding that there were virtually no magic officers who were also such outstanding commanders.
No, you could say they simply didn’t exist.
And Degurechaff was essentially the only one who could use the General Staff’s firefighting team, the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion, to its full potential. If the battalion built up by that great commander was going to be the core of the new Kampfgruppe, then ultimately, its commander would have to be Degurechaff.
“Since that’s the case, I’ve decided that now is the time to deploy it on the front lines. Colonel von Lergen, I don’t think a staff officer of your caliber would require any more explanation than that, but what do you say?”
“I humbly thank you for your kindness and the quite undeserved praise. But if that’s how you feel, then please forgive me for offering you my opinion: You should at least station Colonel von Degurechaff and her Kampfgruppe on the southern continent!”
“We can’t hold out down there anymore. General von Romel has been fighting for almost a year, but we can’t get dragged into a matériel war.”
The Southern Continent Expeditionary Army Corps had been dispatched as a way to gently shake up the status quo of the fight.
Zettour made the choice to send them unwillingly; it was for political purposes. They were managing to achieve continual tactical victories…but as expected, the reports that came in said they were struggling against the enemy’s matériel strength.
The Commonwealth was propping up the Republicans substantially, and the insincere neutral stance of the Empire’s dear ally, the Kingdom of Ildoa, was incredibly fishy.
And on top of that, due to the frequent raids on the transport fleet by the Commonwealth Navy and marine mages, the supply situation of the thinly spread expeditionary forces had gone from beyond pitiable to nearly disastrous.
General von Romel was an expert in maneuver warfare, but with a fundamental force imbalance, there was little hope that he would be able to counteract strategic inferiority with tactical victories.
As they had already achieved their initial objective of creating a distraction, the idea of committing more troops at this point could be met only with confusion.
“But we can shore up the matériel disparity. Wouldn’t that be the place for Degurechaff to shine, as you believe she will? Couldn’t she take on the Commonwealth marine mages?”
“For a time, I’m sure she could, but it would only be a drop in the bucket.”
The fundamental quantities of matériel being committed were too different. All Zettour could do was make a face like he’d been sucking lemons and lament the shamefulness of the Imperial Army.
“Multiple reports are saying that matériel is being supplied directly to the Commonwealth Army and the remnants of the Republican Army—er, the Free Republic, was it?—from an unconfirmed source.”
It was exactly as they had feared.
He wanted to cry, Is Degurechaff a devil?! Just as her report had predicted, massive amounts of Unified States–made military goods were flowing into the southern continent via the Commonwealth as camouflage.
And apparently, they were coming from the Unified States directly.
What’s worse, they were purposely doing the deals with private enterprises and transporting things on ships of neutral nationality. Even if the Empire wanted to sink them, the ships were from a third country. Or that one.
Sinking or inspection could invite the Unified States into the war. At least, that’s what Degurechaff’s paper from so long ago claimed.
Her assertion that the executives of the Unified States were hoping the Imperial Army would do just that actually had a high probability of being true.
“…Colonel von Lergen. We know due to a curious leak that a certain country is sending matériel directly to the southern continent.”
“Huh?”
“The leak was made on purpose.”
Basically, someone from either the Commonwealth or the Unified States with a perverted interest in provoking an imperial attack on Unified States ships was kind enough to tip them off.
The only way to avoid a conflict would be to bomb the port of discharge.
But on the southern continent, even that would be difficult. It would have to be a raid from high altitude. Given the slim chances of hitting their target, the only way to do it would be to carpet-bomb the area.
The imperial air fleet was already fully engaged on the western and eastern fronts.
Under the circumstances, concentrating the necessary amount of bombers on the southern continent was impossible.
And they were likewise strapped for mages. It would be too hard to pull a whole unit off the main lines.
Thus, currently, they had no move to make.
“There’s a leak regarding that country’s assistance. Apparently, the amount of supplies flowing in is undeniably huge. Vexingly, we have no way to stop it.”
“The Unified States is sending supplies to the southern continent directly? We know they have troops working with the Commonwealth forces, but…direct support to a combat zone is… Wasn’t Congress’s policy to be a neutral third party?”
“The president seems to have taken a different stance.”
Apparently, the good ladies and gentlemen of the Unified States considered their country to be neutral. And it was an utter pain in the ass, but they even wanted to continue normal trade relations with the Empire.
If that was all… Zettour winced.
If that was all, they would surely be desirable trading partners. But the president of the Unified States seemed to be of a different mind than the voters.
“…What will you do?”
“Our Empire may be great, but we have our hands full with the Federation and the Commonwealth. I want to avoid starting anything else.”
Ultimately, if they had no way to mitigate harm, getting involved would be too costly. He could only think that the Unified States’ pro-war faction was openly provoking them. There was no need for the Empire to go biting that poisonous apple of their own accord.
“Of course, it’s aggravating to helplessly watch our enemy enjoying those benefits.”
Which was why they had to win in the east. If that could be achieved, nothing was off-limits. All that mattered was whether it would benefit the Empire or not. Everything had to be considered accordingly.
“That’s how it is, Colonel. To win, we need to get results in the east. So I’m going to have Degurechaff wreak havoc on the eastern lines.”
“…Yes, sir.”
Midway through the Great War, a serious conflict arose within the Imperial Army General Staff regarding overall war policy. General von Zettour, who had led their efforts on the Rhine front overall, and his followers made up the western faction.
They advocated a bloodletting strategy, draining the enemy over time until it died.
On the other hand, the eastern faction, made up primarily of people involved in the eastern army, pr
ioritized the eastern front. They advocated a decisive strategy to end the war quickly with encirclement and annihilation.
The western faction strongly condemned the idea of a decisive battle as too risky. Zettour, especially, who was an adherent of Attritional Containment Doctrine, wanted to avoid large-scale offensives. Trench warfare had taught them the merit of decentralized advances and encirclement tactics, but he was extremely skeptical of going on an offensive while their enemy held the advantage.
Meanwhile, the eastern faction proposed their strategy on the premise that the Federation would have numerical superiority. Under that assumption, the western faction’s proposed plan had to be deemed unrealistic.
What they set their sights on next was an attract and annihilate strategy employing their mobility along interior lines.
It was an application of a method proposed by Zettour, who had encircled and annihilated the bloodied and weakened Republican Army at the end of the first battle on the Rhine. The eastern faction focused on the mobile aspects and saw the tantalizing prospect of an encirclement.
While the Attritional Containment Doctrine endlessly piled up corpses, the Decisive Battle Doctrine would limit losses by ending everything in one victory. The eastern faction used that logic to rebel against the passivity of the mainstream General Staff faction. It ended up that they would test their theory in an operation on the eastern front against the Federation Army that had broken through imperial lines after the initial sneak attack.
They succeeded in surrounding an invading force of 400,000 Federation soldiers with a mere 150,000 in Trouncenberg. Compared to the imperial losses of 10,500, the Federation lost 150,000 (90,000 of which were taken prisoner).
Though tables hadn’t completely overturned their numerical inferiority, and they let some remnants of their enemy escape, the battle was considered solid precedent for the eastern faction’s theory.
On the heels of that success, the eastern faction began planning how to increase their gains and bring the war to an early close. At that time, a movement that supported any prospect of an early end to the war appeared in opposition to the cabinet and the imperial family’s fears of heavy casualties.