by Carlo Zen
Enemy mages have infiltrated a rear area where there are active partisans.
It's a gold-standard tactic we've experienced enough times on the eastern front to be fed up with it.
Though the Council for Self-Government got the Federation partisans under control, everyone can still remember how much trouble they were. Just then, Federation mages cross the border, and we aren't sure how to deal with them.
If we leave them be, our fragile transport net will get attacked. But sending excellently mobile mages after them will cause its own problems. Playing tag along the vast eastern front often simply exhausts the it side.
"...Sparks flying from the east?"
"We can't rule it out. This is how the Federation does things. It would make military logical sense for them to expand their reach to the northern front to take advantage of our fatigue."
Things had seemed quiet in the former Entente Alliance territory. If sparks are flying, they may not stay calm any longer.
"What are the Feldgendarmerie and local garrison even doing?"
Tanya resists the desire to nod at Major Weiss's complaint and urges him to grasp the severity of the situation before denigrating others. "If they're aiming to hit us where we're exhausted, they've made quite the cunning choice."
Once you find yourself on the side getting it handed to, you understand the nature of things.
Tanya was secretly concerned that First Lieutenants Grantz and Tospan didn't have an appropriate sense of the crisis, but even they have begun to frown.
Experience truly is a great teacher.
"...Communists sure know what people hate," Tospan grumbles in a low voice, and the comment is surprisingly on point for him. Tanya feels like celebrating her subordinate's growth.
Sadly, before she can praise him, she ends up warning him.
"They probably deserve our respect."
"Huh?"
"Everyone has their strong points. A talent for harassment should probably be appreciated."
Tanya's experiences in the east have taught her that Communists are not to be underestimated.
Between their efficiency in snatching away our cause and their scheming to draw the Imperial Army into a war of attrition, in the area of malice, the Federation's Communist Party is by no means stupid. I have to admit that they're employing the principle of competition well.
Tanya can't very well lose to the Commies on competition, the very foundation of the ideal market. Even if the commodity is ill will, competition is competition. I need to step up like I would to any other.
"...Put together some records of partisan activities."
"Their general status isn't enough?"
Asymmetrical data are a problem, but that's why you work hard to erase the asymmetry. Putting in the effort to uncover the truth is always crucial.
Responding to her adjutant's perplexed question, Tanya gives an order imbued with her powerful will. "They seem to be operating differently from the partisans in the east. I want to compare them. Oh, and once you've collected the materials, check with the General Staff to see what's going on."
"Understood," First Lieutenant Serebryakov says, leaving the papers she'd collected and racing off to contact the General Staff. Tanya watches her go and then looks over the documents.
It happens just after she hands copies around to all the officers present and urges them to read closely. "May I say something?" It's the person she least expected. "This is bad. We don't have the partisans by the roots."
She does a double take in spite of herself, is I guess what you'd say. "Oh?" She's more than a little impressed by Tospan's comment. Apparently, even a first lieutenant who doesn't seem to have any idea how to apply knowledge can come up with a decent idea once he has some experience. She feels like she's seeing another side of her subordinates, whether it be First Lieutenant Tospan or Captain Meybert.
It's not half bad if they can compare the counterinsurgency battles in the east and the north and recognize the differences. Progress should be acknowledged.
"Could it be signs of a general uprising?"
Correction, Tanya whispers internally. She's not opposed to acknowledging Tospan's remarkable progress, but he still seems to lack the ability to think about a situation for himself.
"Lieutenant Tospan, I find that hard to imagine."
"Why is that, ma'am?"
That gape-mouthed numbskull face.
But questions should be answered.
After all, the ability to admit you don't know something is a virtue. Idiots aware of their uselessness are a zillion times better than numbskulls convinced of their wisdom.
Tanya isn't averse to appreciating Tospan's honest-to-a-fault nature; it's certainly better than if he pretended to know what he didn't.
"They may be spread out, but we have quite a few troops over there guarding that territory. There's no way at present that the partisans could expect to rapidly capture the urban area."
It's generous of her to explain things to him in an if not careful way, then at least in detail.
"We'd be awfully lucky if the partisans started shit with no prospect of success. Our problem at present is that, sadly, the chances of that happening are slim."
When everyone asks with their eyes, How come? she declares, "Frankly, the enemy mage units that dropped in there are commandos who have come to cause a disturbance. As long as they don't get reinforcements, holding the city center should be no problem for our forces."
As far as Tanya can see, commandos are guerrillas. In other words, they're the guys who are the best at the things people hate. Considering that the Northern Army Group division is prepared to protect against a landing on the coast, it goes without saying that the enemy would target the city.
"The issue is whether the garrison can chase down units so highly mobile as mage units."
Let's be straight. Garrisons are slow, so the best they can do is defend a point. It's questionable whether a slow, second-rate division will even be able to hold the line.
"...It's less about holding a position than searching and destroying."
"Exactly. Which is why---" Tanya is in the middle of saying what everyone figures she will say, this is where we come in, when a knock on the door interrupts her.
"Lieutenant Serebryakov, coming in."
"Welcome back, Lieutenant. What did the General Staff have to say?"
"We've been ordered to help mop up. They assessed the situation as a raid by a regiment-strength number of Federation commandos and are giving the order for multiple strategic reserve units including our Kampfgruppe to deploy."
"Hmm...roger that."
One glance at the written orders is enough to make what the higher-ups are saying clear. They probably figured this would be too much for the local garrison, with their lack of mobility, to handle.
It's an order to go beat them out of the bushes.
This job is always the same when it comes to being sent off somewhere by a single sheet of paper.
"Sheesh, they sure got on top of that faster than I expected."
"So?"
"Yes, Major Weiss. You probably already know."
Naturally, the orders in her hand are to sortie. As usual, the General Staff's judgment was quick and decisive.
But the implications of this particular judgment being so quick are terribly grave.
The Northern Army Group has become such a bunch of lazy hermits if they need to rely on the home country to hunt a few commandos for them. The fact that the General Staff made such a fast decision means that the situation is worse than anticipated... It's proof that units with the energy to tolerate maneuver battles are scarce. Or perhaps that the only troops up north are newbies with no experience?
We may not be busy at the moment, but if the strategic reserves under direct command of the General Staff are being mobilized, that's proof that things are bad enough that they're forced to send us.
Anyhow, if we're going to go, we had better get going.
Ahhh, fuck.
So much for standing by in the home country.
"Let's do it in grand style with public funding from our beloved fatherland---what do you say?"
"""Understood!"""
"Good." Tanya nods and starts firing off orders in rapid succession. "The situation being what it is, I'll lead the main forces of the Kampfgruppe. Major Weiss, take the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion and go ahead of us."
It's imperative to travel both the sea and air routes to imperial Norden.
"Given the scope of the incursion, they're probably not operating in divisions. If you want to conduct some recon-in-force--level attacks, that's up to you."
"Understood. We'll be the vanguard."
If she leaves things up to her nodding vice commander, she can trust there won't be any mistakes in the details.
"Can we borrow Lieutenant Serebryakov?"
"Sorry, not this time. There won't be enough people at HQ."
"...That's true."
Regardless of how it would go in enemy territory, this is territory under our control, even if it is a military government. Considering the condition of the unit...Tanya concisely delivers her decision that they need to prioritize the functioning of their headquarters element.
If there's any issue, it's which route the main forces should take.
"What should the artillery do?"
Meybert had been silent up until now, but his question struck at that very point.
"I can't make any promises."
Just as Tanya is regretting having to say that, Serebryakov jumps to answer a phone call from the barracks guard that there's a visitor. The moment she hears who it is, she calls out, "Colonel von Degurechaff, Colonel Uger is here to see you."
"Oh?" Tanya's voice is bright. "Colonel Uger? That's great. We'll have this settled in no time."
She doesn't even have to tell her to show him in. Or rather, he shows up so fast, it's more like he barged in.
If the guy from the General Staff in charge of moving the troops comes at the same time as the order to deploy, that's some blazingly fast work.
Delightfully, the moment he arrives, he gets right down to business.
"I'll arrange land transport to the port. We can send the necessary equipment directly to the north. I just need you to not count on having much heavy gear."
"You mean because we're hunting partisans?"
"The Norden sea route is the bottleneck, and we don't have the capacity to take a ton of heavy gear through there."
I have to say, this omission of even the time-appropriate greeting is exactly what I expect from a member of the General Staff elite. It's so easy to discuss work with someone who gets it.
Straightforward business gets replied to in kind.
"I'd at least like to send the most critical armored forces and artillery..."
The moment he looks at her, he sighs. "The supply system is set up for an alpine battle in Norden."
He implies that it's basically impossible, which prompts Tanya to ask, "...What are the rails like north of Norden?"
"In short, all we have are some prewar lines that we've partially reopened. There's hardly any capacity for military rolling stock."
"I remember there being heavy equipment in Norden at the beginning of the war..."
"Yeah, we did send some. And we learned our lesson, Colonel. It's too hard to supply armored troops up there."
"Sorry, but are guns an issue?"
"They have spare equipment up there, so you'll be fine. Really." He winced. "The biggest problem is once we send everyone in, it's not so easy to get them out."
When we poured troops into the Entente Alliance after getting embroiled in Norden issues, the Republic blasted us in the flank.
For the Empire and the Imperial Army General Staff, going through that trauma once was plenty. That's why the Kampfgruppe was formed as a compact unit for strategic deployment.
It was all out of a desire for strategic flexibility.
But those in the field have their own ideas. As a commander, Tanya has to state her concerns.
"I understand the situation; however...even if we have artillery, taking away our armored forces is out of the question. Are you saying to take all our tank crews and turn them into infantry?"
The whole point of having a combined arms unit is to have a combination of arms.
If you take tank crews out of their tanks and make them fight, that's what you call "infantry." And tankmen without tanks are little better than amateurs.
"...Hmm. That's a good point..." But after thinking on it, the response Uger comes up with is unexpected. "Oh, what if we made them motorcycle troops?"
"M-motorcycle troops?"
"If you're mainly worried about mobility, they'll definitely come in handy. And against partisans like this, they're not a bad idea. Well, I heard your enemy is actually invading Federation mages, but how about it?" He's awfully perceptive. Still, even if it's a good plan, an officer needs to know where their supplies are coming from.
"Tell me more about the bikes."
"They were seized from the Republican Army, but the Railroad Department has gotten ahold of some in good condition."
If they were seized, that means they're outside the official count. So yes, it would be possible to be flexible with them. But then again, since they aren't official issue, they may not match.
It doesn't really matter if a group of individuals has different vehicles. But what Tanya needs are vehicles for a unit.
"You'll have to excuse me for asking, but can you get enough of the same model to outfit a whole unit?"
Uger's reply is a silent nod. He continues his confident affirmative verbally, "If a company's worth will do, I'll have them prepped for you right away on my authority."
"They won't break down on us? I just hope they don't turn into decorations while we wait for replacement parts that never come."
Uger laughs off her concern. "That's a great question, Colonel von Degurechaff. It's important to maintain a questioning attitude toward that kind of operational assumption. But I hope you'll remember who you're asking."
The man proudly puffing out his chest is a logistics expert.
This is what it means to have a home front you can be thankful for, one that understands the field of operations and can offer appropriate support. How reassuring it is to have a friend tell you it's no problem. Everybody needs connections they can trust. Long live social capital!
"...What a rude thing for me to ask a logistics expert. I do hope you'll forgive me."
Whether taxis, company cars, or yes, even military vehicles, it's assumed for operation that they will be standardized and uniform. If we discount the detail that they're seized machines, the fact that there are enough to go around is good.
Tanya bobs her head in apology.
If repairs and a supply of spare parts can be guaranteed, then Tanya personally has no complaints.
If there is anything... Tanya throws the ball to her subordinate in attendance who had been sitting quietly.
"Captain Ahrens, what do you think?"
"We'd be happy to have them."
"It's all right with you?"
She asked because she wants to honor the opinion of the people who will actually be using them, but the reply that instantly comes back is somewhat unexpected. She didn't think he would agree so readily to being converted from armored troops in tanks into much more vulnerable motorcycle troops.
"It's definitely better than being stuck holding down the barracks in the home country. Our tanks can get a total overhaul, and we can be kids again racing around the fields and mountains."
"I see." Tanya gets it. She doesn't want to leave her troops behind if she doesn't have to, either.
It's not specifically to do with Ahrens. The bonds of all troops to their unit are tremendously strong---even mo
re so when you're an armored unit commander in charge of tight-knit tank crews.
"Oh, there is one thing, though." Ahrens speaks up earnestly in an anxious tone. "This is all just until we get our tanks back after they get spruced up, right?"
"That's an extremely reasonable worry." I'm sure they would hate to have to trade their tanks for motorcycles. His thought makes a great deal of sense, so Tanya chimes in, "Colonel Uger, I hate to force this on a great logistics expert such as yourself, but...can we get that in writing?"
When she glances at him, he seems half-understanding, half-disappointed? You really have to keep your wits about you with this one.
If we hadn't said anything, who knows where he would have sent our equipment! Saying an elite in the General Staff has a nasty personality is a compliment, but surely there has to be some limit.
"I can't get anything past you---all right. I'll make it not just something from me but proper orders negotiated through the Service Corps."
"I appreciate it."
"Well, I get it. You were the guys who would have been losing gear."
For a moment, Tanya's about to rail back at him reproachfully, but she immediately closes her mouth.
She understands how he feels.
When they were short on supplies, she demanded one thing after another. Naturally, the receivers of the requests were the guys in the rear. Given that Uger bore the brunt of that, she probably needs to view his "tricks" with a little more tolerance.
Despising the thrifty one is the very incarnation of foolish sectionalism that disregards the organization as a whole.
Boasting that you can plan absolutely everything the way the Communists do is idiotic, but without a genie on your side, no one can avoid selection and concentration.
"It's an awful lot to juggle, huh?"
For the one making sure the limited resources get where they need to go? Of course it is.
"That's for sure. Well, I'd best be taking my leave."
As he stands with his cap under his arm, he smiles awkwardly. I should probably be grateful for the sort of friendship that gets someone to come out at this time when called.
We're both pros.
So let's do what we need to do.
"Well, I wish you luck."
"You can count on me."