by Carlo Zen
It’s a universal truth that trouble always comes raining down from above.
“General von Zettour is…being completely unreasonable, too.”
“Unreasonable, ma’am?”
Tanya was talking to herself, but her adjutant responds, so she shrugs.
“Are you advising your superior to leak classified information, Lieutenant Serebryakov?”
“N-no.” Serebryakov shakes her head, and Tanya lets her know it was just a joke. Continuously shooting at waves of Federation soldiers from behind cover can’t be good for a person’s mental health.
Seriously, though, this work environment is quite possibly the worst.
“…Shall we blow off some steam by prepping for this counterattack?”
Peering out from behind their cover, Tanya sees enemy soldiers quickly approaching.
Basically, they’re focused on the ground, purposely forgetting threats in the sky during their charge. It’s an efficient advance, but thinking that war is waged in two dimensions is a mindset that should have been left in the past.
After all, the modern era is the era of three dimensions. Feeling lucky not to have enemies launching formulas at them, the relieved enemy foot soldiers have assumed there are no mages—a weakness Tanya takes full advantage of.
“Did we get ’em? Did we get ’em? …All right, let’s go!”
As if exemplifying how to lead from the front, Tanya leaps into flight.
Soaring into the air, she opens fire on the enemy below with her submachine gun. All she has to do is squeeze the finger laid over the trigger anytime the barrel of her gun lines up with a Federation soldier.
Pop, pop-pop-pop. A pleasant report sounds as the rain of formula bullets falls on the earth below.
No matter how the Federation infantry tries to respond, it’s too late. They just barely manage to look up at the sky, but most likely…they can’t even tell what’s happening to them.
Mana manifests inside the formula bullets, ready to interfere with the world. We control the combustion as much as possible to produce less shrapnel so the explosion formulas we’re scattering don’t damage nearby buildings.
It’s just a single attack. But it’s a well-planned ambush.
As the formula bullets burst, elements that were once Federation soldiers spray across the earth; at that point, many of them make up their minds.
“Clear! Clear! The enemy soldiers are losing the will to fight!”
Nobody wants to die. Facing the horror of death, human instinct is to flee. That instinct can only be suppressed with a certain degree of training and discipline.
“01 to my group! Don’t destroy too much of the cover! Think of Lieutenant Tospan. If we leave them with nowhere to hide, I’m the one who’ll have to apologize!”
“Colonel! The enemy mages are on the move! It seems they’re on rapid response duty—they’re headed straight for us!”
After nodding a thank-you to Serebryakov, Tanya summons her vice commander, who was on anti-artillery duty.
“Major Weiss, the enemy’s here. The enemy mages!”
“So they finally decided to show up!”
“Like kids late for school! Being late for war is human—a fine thing. We should be grateful for their self-sabotage, I suppose.”
“You’re absolutely right! Shall we punish the tardy children?”
“Yeah.” She nods emphatically. “Have fun with them.”
“Yes, ma’am! May I borrow Lieutenant Serebryakov?”
“Sure. Lieutenant, go support him.”
If she’s sending her adjutant away, Tanya needs to find a new buddy. Luckily, defending against infantry on the ground isn’t a terribly hard job.
Perfect, she thinks and taps the young guy fighting alongside Tospan’s infantry. “Lieutenant Wüstemann, come play tag with me down on the ground. Let’s scatter the enemy foot soldiers!”
“U-understood!”
All right. With Wüstemann as her new partner, Tanya sets about mopping up the remaining enemies. That said, chasing away infantry whose will to fight has already collapsed is exceedingly simple. Even a second lieutenant fresh from the academy can do a decent job at it.
Tanya observes how Wüstemann’s unit operates, to see what they’ve got, and mentally notes that they’re still very green.
Skill-wise they’re not bad, but they don’t pay enough attention to their coordination with Tospan’s infantry. Certain allowances can be made, since it was such a sudden pairing, and they may not intimately know each other’s capabilities yet, but if they’re in the same Kampfgruppe, they should know.
But at this point, Tanya should admittedly revise her evaluation a bit. Given their education and experience…I suppose this is what you get.
It’s not only Wüstemann; all the magic officers are unfamiliar with the way regular infantry operates. It’s taught to some extent at the academy, but most magic officers lead mage platoons and companies, not infantry. They just get used to that way of operating.
For that reason, she adjusts her mental evaluation of Wüstemann to Nearly up to standards.
“All done here. We’ve driven off the enemy.”
“Nice job.”
Having completed their task, Tanya gives the lieutenant a few pointers based on things she noticed. “You put in some great effort, but I want you to learn more about the infantry. Though you still lack experience in leading a mage company, you’re coming along. That said, you don’t seem to understand how the other arms work, which defeats the purpose of being part of a mixed-unit Kampfgruppe.”
“That makes a lot of sense.”
“To be clear, I’m not blaming you. I mean, the situation isn’t good, but…despite your lack of experience, you’re doing all right—that’s for sure.”
Tanya’s way of expressing it is a bit severe, but it’s a perfectly appropriate evaluation.
“Thank you for the harsh compliment.”
Wüstemann obediently nods; you can say he has room to grow. If all that’s missing is experience, education can fill in the gaps. An individual who accepts feedback and is willing to learn can be taught up to a certain level.
Deeply impressed by the power of education, Tanya turns her focus back to work and walks over to the infantry unit.
“Where’s Lieutenant Tospan?”
“Here!”
A sooty face capped with a helmet pops out from the edge of some cover.
“Oh, you’re commanding from the front, too?”
When it comes to overly frank people and serious idiots who don’t even know the meaning of slacking off, it all comes down to how you use them.
Lately, Tanya has felt that Tospan’s stock is doing great. Well, part of the problem is that he started so far down.
Anyhow, as long as he’s right next to me, that makes things easy.
“Lieutenants, we have work to do.”
“Yes, ma’am!”
There’s only one reply.
Just Tospan.
“…Lieutenant Wüstemann?”
“Yes, ma’am,” answers the young officer, brimming with relief that his job is done. That’s no good. You can only let your guard down once work is over and you’re drinking your coffee.
I was just praising him earlier, but maybe I spoke too soon. What a handful. Tanya gives him a hearty slap from behind. “It’s too soon to relax, Lieutenant.”
“H-huh? There are still enemies around?” The way he stiffens up betrays his lack of experience. Only a total amateur changes their level of alert based on enemy presence or lack thereof.
“This is perfect. Reeducation in the field. Let’s go get supplies.”
“Huh? Supplies, ma’am?”
His perplexed expression shows he wasn’t expecting that, but Tanya nods. “We’re going to collect lost items—time to show some kindness to the environment by recycling.”
You have to be eco-friendly with your ego—that ensures you’ll keep doing it.
Being eco-friendly is wonderful
, since it makes economic sense. It’s lawful and carries economic advantages, and it signifies market equilibrium.
“Lieutenant Wüstemann, it’s about picking up what’s been left behind. Take weapons, ammo—anything useful—off the enemy corpses. That’s one source of supplies.” She smiles at him. “Oh, and there’s no need to take prisoners for grilling. There’s no need to kill them, either, but don’t go getting shot because you went too close.”
“…It’s indecent.”
“You think you can wage a decent war? Bullshit.” She jumps on his word choice and warns him with a scowl. “Are you saying you throw yourself into the slaughter purely, justly—sane and sober? Don’t make me laugh. That’s a broken man talking. Going to war after downing some liquid courage with a grimace is much more human.”
He frowns for a moment, perhaps thinking to argue back, and then whines, “So are you drunk, then, Colonel?”
Boy, did I overestimate him. I can’t have him taking everything literally. Haven’t you ever heard of a metaphor?
“How rude. If I look like an adult, you need a new pair of eyes. You know minors are prohibited from drinking and smoking, so of course I’m always sober. Look, it’s not like my hobby is torturing my subordinates,” she argues, feeling awkward. “It seems that you are misunderstanding me. I’m an exceedingly peaceful, law-abiding individual. I believe that, especially at war, we must follow rules and regulations. And I expect the same out of my troops.”
“I beg your pardon, ma’am, but I’m not sure I follow.”
“It’s utterly simple.”
My subordinates tend to be narrow-minded. Recalling the past, Weiss and the other veterans of the Salamander Kampfgruppe used to be the same way, a fact that is vaguely horrifying.
But the reality is we’re at war.
It’s precisely because we’re at war that Tanya makes sure to hold her humanity dear.
“We’re soldiers. We shoot because we’re told to. Because it’s a reasonable order. In the end, we merely pull the trigger because HQ tells us to. Who’s out here killing each other for fun?”
“But that doesn’t mean…”
“—You want to loot corpses?” Tanya smiles wryly as she instructs him. “Don’t be so self-centered, Lieutenant—it’s childish. My subordinates and I are merely doing our jobs. The reason I say to get supplies is because we need supplies, and the reason we need supplies is because the higher-ups gave us orders that require them—that’s all.”
“…So you’re saying the army…the army orders it?”
“Lieutenant Wüstemann, did you come to the front lines on a patriotic volunteer trip?”
“I can’t say I don’t love my country…”
“Haaah,” Tanya sighs. Wüstemann may have some aptitude, but his strange way of thinking gives her pause. Tospan, who stays quiet and waits for orders, might be more endearing.
She whirls around to face Tospan and gives him a concise explanation of what to do. “Lieutenant Tospan, I want the infantry to patrol and round up useful items. Recover any souvenirs the Federation Army has dropped.”
“Recover dropped items? Right away, ma’am.”
An immediate response. No hesitation. So even a person who does only what they’re told is capable of this much progress. To Tanya, it’s a shining example of successful training. Lately, she’s been finding it quite fun to invest in human capital.
“Look at that, Lieutenant Wüstemann. That’s the correct work attitude.” Telling him to remember that, she turns back to Tospan. Instructing him on how far he’s allowed to go out, she also reviews the procedure for the expected counterattack.
Frankly, it’s quite an efficient exchange. Taking what we can has become so highly standardized in the Imperial Army that a quick meeting to confirm procedures is enough even with Tospan types.
Tanya should probably rejoice in the optimization. Not that she really wants to think about being forced to be efficient in realms like this.
“By the way, Colonel. May I ask a question about this collecting? If we’re sending out the infantry, why don’t we consider building an outer perimeter? We can advance if we do it now.”
Bewildered, she stares back at him.
A suggestion? From Tospan?
“…You want to advance?”
“Yes, Colonel. The enemy can only offer limited resistance right now.”
Logically, he has a point: If we build a forward position, we can use the space we gain to buy time in a delaying battle. But there are too many reasons Tanya can’t accept even a decent suggestion from Tospan.
“…Rejected. Your tactical judgment is valid, but we don’t have the matériel for it. That’s the whole reason we’re stuck going out borrowing.”
“What a hard-knock war…fighting with supplies people have dropped.”
“Truly, Lieutenant Tospan. I’m in complete agreement with you.”
Ironically, when we have people, we’re short on supplies, and when we have supplies, we’re short on people. Tanya vents on her subordinate in a roundabout way.
“I sure miss getting supplies. Lieutenants, put it on a card if necessary, but get me some rolling stock for freight from the Federation Army!”
“…Ummm, Colonel?” Tospan is puzzled.
Tanya shrugs and shakes her head at him. “Forget it. I was just griping—I’m in a bit of a mood.”
If she were talking to Serebryakov, who is more familiar with her tendencies, she could expect a little more…of a thoughtful rebuttal to console her somewhat, but it would be too much to expect that out of Tospan or Wüstemann.
“Still,” Tanya continues her griping. “Defending this town with a single Kampfgruppe is enough to make anyone want to whine a bit.”
By all rights, this should have been a job for a division at least. When you think about it, defending a base with a Kampfgruppe goes against the very purpose of its formation.
“I’m human, too. Now and then, a complaint is going to slip out.”
Ah, but they’re not interested in listening to their superior’s bitching. When they don’t say anything, Tanya thanks them genuinely.
“I appreciate the polite silence. Now then, let’s be punctual like civilized people. Lieutenant Tospan, I’m leaving collections up to you. Lieutenant Wüstemann, back him up.”
““Yes, ma’am!””
The sight of her troops saluting and jogging off elicits both anxiety and hope. If Tanya was forced to pick, she would feel like she needed to count on them. There’s no choice but to use the available human resources to the best of my ability, so…having some expectations isn’t a bad idea.
Watching them go, these soldiers learning to stand on their own two feet, she celebrates that their careers are coming along. She has no intention of being so inept that she would get in the way of her subordinates’ promotions. Making full use of your talented subordinates, the ones you trained, can be said to be the essence of management.
Though it’s a bit late for someone who previously worked in HR, I should probably recognize that when I reconfirmed the value of education, a latent talent for cultivating people blossomed.
“They say when you complain about lacking something, what you actually lack is ingenuity… Can’t slack off when it comes to cultivating your people. Of course, there’s a limit to what you can do in the field, but still.”
There’s that saying about how necessity is the mother of invention, and a shortage of human resources has spurred Tanya to find new ways to best utilize what little she has. The human infrastructure of the Empire is so fragile that Tanya feels compelled to go out of her way to educate Lieutenants Tospan and Wüstemann despite the costs involved.
What a mess. Tanya shakes her head.
JUNE 18, UNIFIED YEAR 1927, EASTERN ARMY B GROUP HEADQUARTERS, WAR ROOM
The officers crowding the war room at B Group HQ all wore severe expressions as they peered at the map spread out in the center of the room.
That part was fin
e.
Staff officers staring at a map is as natural as human beings breathing.
There was just one problem: The inspector and supervisor nominally in charge, Lieutenant General von Zettour, was glaring around the room, demanding someone speak, but apparently, a cat was holding everyone’s tongues hostage.
“Gentlemen, I need your thoughts. The Lergen Kampfgruppe has been surrounded for over a week.”
The staffers of B Group glanced at one another, trying to pass off the responsibility of replying.
“The Lergen Kampfgruppe is completely isolated in enemy territory—” When, after taking their time, one of the officers finally spoke up, what he said was awfully trite.
“Gentlemen, apologies for the personal announcement, but you don’t mind, right? It turns out I can read maps, too.” Zettour decisively cut him off. “If you take into account the enemy unit intel scribbled here, it’s clear that Soldim 528 is an isolated stronghold.”
In other words, it was also impossible to misunderstand the Federation’s desire to recapture the strategic urban rail stop… That said, it was a shock that despite the huge battle raging in the south, they still had enough troops to deploy in such numbers in the central area—which was decidedly not where the hottest action was happening.
Striking at enemy manpower was a necessity—especially now, while they still could.
“I can see that without you telling me. But I do thank you for your kind explanation.”
But the response to Zettour’s biting sarcasm was silence.
“Why is the rescue plan behind schedule?”
He pressed them again but got nothing. His stare roamed the room—I can’t believe it, he seemed to be saying.
“You have a fighting force. They should already be positioned in a place where they can deal with the enemy’s movements. Though many of B Group’s strategic reserves were drawn off, you should still have a unit dedicated to rapid response.”
“…General, it’s the bare minimum.”
“Isn’t that plenty?” Zettour shot back at the whining B Group staffers.
Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf and the other Operations staff were partial to the concentration of force, but not so much that they would leave their flanks unguarded. These people had full divisions of armor, mechanized infantry, and regular infantry at their disposal.