The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 7: Ut Sementem Feceris, ita Metes

by Carlo Zen

  “So even if only lightly, a quarter of our members got hit?”

  She decides to swallow her next thought: It sure doesn’t feel like we’re fighting the Federation Army… They’ve taken a lot more wear and tear than she imagined they would from assaulting this position. And on top of that, the Federation mages were full of such fight, it made her eyes pop.

  …I knew it already, but the Federation Army is growing stronger. Though under siege, the Federation’s organized resistance shows no sign of collapsing.

  Normally by now, their discipline would be failing with a catastrophic rate of acceleration, so…I’ll admit that their stubbornness has increased.

  “We may have achieved limited air superiority, but we don’t have much time. Just in case enemy reinforcements are on the way, let’s do our strike and blow this joint.”

  “Yes, ma’am! As the documents indicated, the location of a building thought to be enemy HQ has…” He’s about to say been established, but Tanya stops her vice commander and shakes her head.

  “No, there’s a very good chance that’s deception.”

  “What?”

  “The enemy’s probably waiting for us. I can’t see that as anything but a trap.”

  She truly doesn’t want to charge into a danger zone. Her whole heart is against it.

  Tanya has no interest in approaching a heavily guarded Federation Army headquarters. The Federation has made remarkable progress in anti-mage combat since the time the battalion attacked Moskva directly. Approaching carelessly could leave them with unimaginable burns.

  And in the first place, this is an additional task on top of joining up with the paratrooper rangers at the river crossing. There’s no reason we should be worked this hard simply because it’s possible.

  We could end up Swiss cheese.

  “Colonel?”

  “Federation resistance is tougher than we knew. The headquarters is sure to know what they’re doing.”

  “…Yes, you’re right.”

  “So we can’t just be a bull who obediently charges at a red cloth.” Tanya works to convince her second-in-command that rushing straight for the Communists’ red flag would be risky. “Think about it, Major. Deception is a classic tactic. Expecting the enemy HQ to be incredibly inept is thinking too wishfully.”

  “So you’re saying…they’re deceiving us about the location?”

  “That’s right.” Tanya nods firmly. “Is that huge HQ-looking thing really HQ?” she asks rhetorically, as if to say, Surely not.

  She’s hoping it’s not, but she’s unsure of the truth. Still, it just has to be reasonable and probable enough to persuade Weiss.

  If the commander in an assault fails, there’s no problem at all as long as they make a plausible excuse.

  “…Just as idiots and something-or-other are crazy about heights, Communists like standing out. But lately they have more soldiers.”

  “Understood. So then we’ll have to start from the search?”

  Tanya replies with an expression that says, Regretfully so. “Make a careful examination of the area. Stay in assault formation and circle around in an effort to search and destroy.”

  “Got it.”

  Off goes her second-in-command with a renewed determination. She feels bad for what she’s done to him, but since the purpose of the deceit was to keep the losses and fatigue her friends experience to a minimum, her conscience deems it good.

  Work should be done with integrity, but it also has to be accomplished within a fair pay grade. Selling your labor for unreasonably low prices only warps the entire labor market to be unfair. The logic is simple. Even ace-level pro baseball players get pressured by their juniors…to push for higher salaries during yearly negotiations.

  Since we’ve already done our original job, and this is just an additional order, Tanya has no reason to try so hard to attack the enemy HQ. Of course, in the interest of self-preservation, she’s done the minimum work necessary.

  Even if we haven’t completely trampled them, since we conducted the assault, we’ve already carried out the home country’s order to “attack enemy HQ directly.” Even in the case of the Moskva raid, the true purpose was to achieve strategic results by demonstrating that it was possible to arrive in Moskva and attack.

  Decapitation tactics achieve something regardless of whether they succeed or fail.

  Locating the enemy, collecting geographical data. She can also say that they held the enemy back. As Tanya is thinking that those things together will make a report, she’s hit with unexpected news.

  “We found them!”

  Grantz’s jubilant shout echoes almost surreally as it enters her ears. How can he be happy on a battlefield?

  After a moment of genuine fretting, Tanya refocuses with a start. “What?” She gapes. “You found them?!”

  This subordinate of hers isn’t clever enough to joke around at a time like this. So did they really discover a hidden base?

  “Colonel, is there something special about your nose?!”

  “Are you trying to get me to say there’s a reason they call me a war dog?”

  “C-Colonel?!”

  I’m not saying the lie turned out to be true, but I guess you just never know what is going to happen in life.

  “Lieutenant Grantz, if you have time to chitchat, be serious about the war—we’re at war. You can’t do a proper job if you’re screwing around.”

  Anyone as serious as Tanya can’t fathom such a thing as joking around during a war.

  THE SAME DAY, IN THE AFTERNOON, IMPERIAL CAPITAL BERUN, IMPERIAL ARMY GENERAL STAFF OFFICE

  The Imperial Army’s Salamander Kampfgruppe carried out a raid on a Federation Army group headquarters. The first report of it was forwarded via the Eastern Army Group to the General Staff, where everyone was waiting with bated breath for results.

  At the first word that the raid was underway, anxious staffers began to gather; the room grew so densely populated that even though it wasn’t terribly small, it began to feel cramped.

  Is it here yet? How about now? They waited for the next report, guests who were not particularly welcome since, whether consciously or not, they leaned heavily on the shoulders of the technician clinging to the communications set.

  Communications personnel and staff alike wanted to be liberated from this anxiety as soon as possible—it was unbearable. Even if the former wanted to be free from the imposing presences of the staff and the latter, the suspense, waiting as if every second was an hour, was something they undeniably shared.

  Nothing yet? Not even now?

  Everyone’s entire being was shouting with an incoherent voice. And it was in that atmosphere that whenever a telegram arrived from the front lines, the poor duty officer had to shake his head that it wasn’t related and somewhat stiffly, perhaps because he was nervous, get the message delivered to the proper department by officer-messenger mail.

  For a time, everyone was made antsy by practical messages from the occupation troops up north or the Southern Continent Expeditionary Army Corps or a scheduled check-in to do with the western aerial battles.

  The staffers had run out of patience, and the utterly exhausted duty officer was getting sick of their stares, but then he received a message that made his expression change.

  Forgetting even the suppressive fire of looks from the sharp officers focused on his face, he ran his bloodshot eyes over the text and then looked up.

  “It’s from the Kampfgruppe.”

  “What does it say?”

  Even if the asker didn’t mean to press him, he ended up reading it aloud. “From: the Lergen Kampfgruppe. To: the eastern front and the General Staff. We’ve attacked them directly. I say again, we’ve attacked them directly.”

  A direct attack! They went in on a raid and made a direct attack! The message was short but incredibly clear.

  “They carried out an air raid on a number of enemy command personnel, including communications personnel and other facilities.
The eastern army is currently assessing the results… Wow, though, they did it.”

  The room erupted in a cheer—“Whoooo!”—and Lieutenant General von Zettour, who was observing from a distance in a corner of the room, nodded at Colonel Uger in a not-dissatisfied way.

  “That’s why I call her a hunting dog.”

  “Yes, it’s well said, sir. She really did a great job.”

  MAY 11, UNIFIED YEAR 1927, EASTERN FRONT, JOINT DEFENSIVE POSITION OF THE RIVER AIRBORNE UNIT AND THE KAMPFGRUPPE

  “Theater warning! The Federation troops under siege have begun to move! They’re attempting to punch through the encirclement!” the technicians on duty at imperial communications apparatuses all down the eastern front tense their expressions and shout all at once.

  It’s bad news that comes as the Imperial Army is about to begin celebrating the victory they assumed was theirs.

  “Now?! They’re still capable of organized maneuvers?!”

  “I thought they lost all ability to resist in an organized way! What’s going on?!”

  Of all the… Everyone suspects for a moment that it’s a mistake, but having been warned that the Federation is coming, leaving is no longer an option.

  All along the eastern front, officers are slapped awake out of nowhere. Those who were off duty and thought they could sleep easy for the first time in a while are no exception.

  Not to speak of commanders, who have to rush to their posts and take reports from the officers on duty. Thus, like all the other officers along the eastern front, Tanya zooms to her command post, and when she hears what’s going on from the concerned-looking Major Weiss, she’s so shocked that she yelps, “What?! They’ve almost broken through?!”

  “Yes, ma’am… Part of the left flank, where the airborne unit is, is being breached as we speak.”

  She glances at the map that has the latest information written on it…and the enemy troops who should be completely encircled are flooding into the left flank.

  It’s less the pressure is on and more like it’s about to burst.

  “It’s so sudden… What an unbelievable scene.”

  The fact that she doesn’t shriek, Of all the ridiculous—! must be due to the minimum necessary self-control engaging. Tanya considers herself fairly acclimated to her job as an officer, but there’s still a limit to what she can take.

  Troops under heavy siege breaking through and escaping? Regardless of theory, in practice, it’s almost unheard of. Just look at military history from any place or time.

  At Cannae, being surrounded by half their number was enough for elite heavy infantry to be totally wiped out.

  Not that there aren’t examples like Dyrrhachium,8 but in that case, the power ratio was one to three. It’s hard to fight a siege battle when you’re the one side of that equation.

  Extreme examples such as Chipyong-ni aren’t nonexistent, but I wonder if the defense of a regiment with air supremacy can really be applied on the scale of a whole army.

  At Austerlitz and at Tannenberg, there was no question that the side that capitalized on its mobility to surround the enemy was likely to win. Surrounding and beating on the enemy is simple but a sure thing. So someone with Tanya’s common sense would never doubt their success.

  But now the siege was being broken?

  “Sensibly thinking, it’s impossible. How is the enemy able to maneuver in an organized way? And more importantly, what are our troops doing? Shouldn’t they be building defensive lines with the rest of our guys by now?”

  Unlike when the airborne unit suppressed the crossing on its own, both flanks should have received multiple reinforcing units by now, including armor.

  Are they late? Or having trouble? Or are they just idiots who let the enemy get through? No. Tanya kicks the thoughts getting her nowhere out of the back of her mind and allots the majority of her brainpower to figuring out what remedial measures will patch up the situation.

  “Shit! Hurry and round everybody up!”

  “They were at separate posts in order to both manage the position and support the defense… I’ll have them rush back.”

  “Yes, do that. Ohhh, no, wait.”

  She adds that Major Weiss should stay and calls upon the young officer who is easiest to order around.

  “Lieutenant Grantz! I’ll leave spurring them on to you. Get everyone together no matter what it takes!”

  “Yes, ma’am! Right away!”

  Feeling good about him racing off, Tanya rapid-fires orders to prepare for the enemy attack. “Lieutenant Serebryakov, go make sure the airborne unit is prepared to blow up the bridge! If they need support, you can give them Lieutenant Tospan’s infantry!”

  “On it!”

  “Major Weiss, I’m sure you’re tired, but I want you and your unit to stand by. If the enemy can pull off an organized escape, it’s entirely possible they could come attack us here.”

  Just then, a subordinate interrupts to call her: “Colonel!” It’s Captain Meybert, who seems to be rethinking the bombardment zone as he peers at the map. “Excuse me, but…it’s about the bridge. This mission could be completed by artillery. If need be, do consider destroying it via artillery barrage.”

  “What? You can target it?” Tanya shoots back, somewhat skeptical. After all, shells are surprisingly inaccurate. The guns Meybert has at his disposal are highly advanced, including the fact that they are self-propelled, but even then, they connect with the intended target only every few shots. Unlike precision-guided munitions, the accuracy of indirect shelling is only in the realm deemed “good enough” when suppressing an entire area.

  “If it’s just that bridge, we can take it out with direct fire. At the very least, we can create a temporary obstruction.”

  “You can hit it?”

  “If you order us to.”

  There doesn’t seem to be any excessive bravado in Meybert’s attitude as he volunteers for the job. Tanya’s cheeks ease into a smile at his professional way of putting it. He’s a guy who’s hyper focused on his specialty, so if he says he can do it, he probably can. “All right.” Tanya nods and tentatively accepts the offer. “Just make the preparations for now, Captain Meybert.”

  “Who decides whether we destroy it? Can I?”

  “Hold your horses, Captain.”

  It’s worrying that she has to wonder whether he just wants to shoot, or gets an ego stroke from being entrusted with difficult work, or something similar.

  “I’ll make one thing clear. You can’t forget that destroying it isn’t actually optimal.” She doesn’t neglect pressing her point. “If you rush just because you want to cause some destruction, we’ll have problems…”

  “Of course, I know that.”

  “Very well. The likelihood of us being attacked here isn’t very high, but just in case, I authorize you to destroy the bridge on your discretion if it comes under attack. But make sure you talk to the airborne troops first. Do not blow them up.”

  The artillery officer nods his understanding and occupies himself with some calculations. Passion in one’s work should be encouraged, not reproached.

  “Now then.” Tanya waves over her vice commander. “Major Weiss, at any rate, we… Hmm?”

  “I’m back.”

  The look on her adjutant’s face as she jogs over and salutes is fairly tense. Weiss must realize, too. They exchange glances and swallow their sighs, and Tanya questions her as she salutes. “Thanks, Lieutenant Serebryakov. Have the bridges the other units control been blown up?”

  “…Apparently, they weren’t allowed to…and now it’s too late.”

  “What…? Not allowed to?” Before she can ask why, her adjutant is already replying.

  “The paratrooper rangers were told to hold the bridge without damaging it. Other units apparently received similar orders, so…” It was evident what she was trying to say. The bridges under our control were all supposed to be kept undamaged and passable, so the Federation Army’s escape route was still hanging o
ver the river.

  What in the…? Tanya closes her eyes in spite of herself.

  If the bridges are still up, that means there are places where it’s possible to cross. If the enemy breaks through a single point, there’s an undeniable risk of their escape.

  “So they weren’t able to destroy them. This is a problem, Colonel.” Weiss nods as he comments, and Tanya snaps in reply.

  “The General Staff is greedy.”

  “Greedy?”

  “Yeah,” she responds to the vice commander’s confused question. The urge to occupy an undamaged bridge is one every staff officer has had in map maneuvers. If you can do that, you have a way to advance swiftly. And you can secure a supply route. In other words, a bridge is something that makes it possible to go somewhere that would otherwise be inaccessible.

  …So then, considering that we’re in the middle of working out a diplomatic compromise, perhaps the General Staff is using the bridges as a threat against the Federation Army—If you don’t accept our terms in this negotiation, we’ll invade.

  Securing a bridge that serves as a route to attack is convincing proof. There isn’t much else that would pressure the enemy so elegantly in terms of making it clear that invading is possible, so I get how they feel.

  But though we may have the enemy encircled, we’re spread far and thin. If we can’t hold them, blowing up the bridges should be an option!

  “I don’t know if this is just posturing or if they’re serious…but apparently, the higher-ups want to demonstrate that we can invade. Of course, the ones who have to do all the work are us in the field.”

  “Demonstrate? Sorry, but to whom?” Serebryakov asks, and when Tanya sees her blank look, she realizes her mistake: The negotiations going on in Ildoa are top secret.

  “Oh, it’s nothing. Never mind. Forget about it, both of you.”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  Her adjutant and vice commander politely acknowledge their understanding, so Tanya politely nods.

  It’s terrific that they mind their manners even on the battlefield. Tanya is proud of her subordinates, but she suppresses a sigh as she laments her misfortune as the one stuck dealing with things her superiors find inconvenient.