by Carlo Zen
“Assume strike formation! Company members, follow me!”
The calmly gathered unit begins a steep dive on her orders. In preparation for the most dangerous part—withdrawing after the descent—Tanya has her unit behind her, essentially a wall of meat. Having the commander go out front is great. Tanya laughs as her altitude plummets, and when she reaches point-blank range—where she can see her enemies’ eyes—she seizes the chance she’s been waiting for.
The panicking enemy land army’s return fire is limited, so it’s easy for her to pick out the commander by watching the confused soldiers.
Her company’s members line up their gleaming barrels, wondering when they can fire their formula bullets—Now? Now?—and Tanya’s voice booms as if she’s delivering a message from heaven. “On me! Manifest your explosive formulas! Anti-surface attack—now!”
She computes the formula with her Type 97 and manifests it at the appropriate coordinates.
Loosed with perfect timing, the formula flies true, into the middle of the enemy infantry, literally blowing away an area that had just barely been maintaining discipline.
Tanya’s formula flashes and bangs, followed by a chain of explosion formulas fired by her company that pour down with model—you could even say quintessential—density. Given the secondary explosions and the flying shrapnel, she doesn’t need to ask the observing escorts to know that they’ve gotten some results… The enemies are crushed all too easily.
Soldiers flee in a panic on the ground, just like the Dacian soldiers who broke ranks and ran. It really takes me back to that one-sided game in Dacia.
But. There Tanya exercises self-restraint and shouts over the wireless that it’s time to pull out.
“Withdraw! Withdraw!”
“08 to 01. Their anti–air fire is limited! Requesting permission for a second strike!”
“Denied, 08! We’re not here to increase our gains! Prepare to withdraw!”
A proposal from her subordinate to achieve more comes flying in over the wireless.
It’s not bad to bask in the joy of kicking Commie ass in combat, but the battlefield wasn’t made for the pursuit of individual happiness.
“Major?!”
“Let’s hit them as much as we can! We should attack again!”
I understand how they feel, but we can’t go mixing up our objective and our method. Tanya has the wherewithal for a wry grin.
For whatever reason, the members of the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion really are warmongers. Once they spot an enemy, all they can think of is sinking their teeth into them and not letting go.
“Fairy 01 to all units! Prepare to withdraw! We’re withdrawing! Pull out with your company. Once we regroup, we’ll swing by the enemy lines. Make searching for and destroying mage forces your top priority!”
She shouts not to turn around as she looks out for anyone in pursuit, and when they regroup up in the air, she checks everyone’s gear.
Though everyone regrouped efficiently, Tanya finds Weiss keenly focused on the ground. So he thinks we should strike the Commies now, too, then.
Is he overly eager to fight? Marvelously brave? Either way, Weiss is a sensible person who finds it hard to object to his superior officer directly. This is one of those times a boss has to step in and be considerate. Fine. Tanya shrugs and discreetly calls him over.
“Vice Commander, are you one of the ones who thinks we should reopen fire?”
“…May I tell you what I think, Major? These will probably be the only units without air cover. If we don’t hit them now, our troops will suffer later.”
When Tanya asks Weiss directly if he is dissatisfied with withdrawing, he makes an argument. And what he says is correct. It’s not as if Tanya hasn’t considered that their opponent may have dropped the ball. And it’s because she followed the same train of thought that the battalion is withdrawing.
“It could be a trap, couldn’t it? These are Communists we’re talking about. We can’t rule out the possibility that while we’re playing with the division in charge of getting beat up, they send in the real fighters.”
Even the United States Navy used radar picket ships almost like targets for beatings; using them for the defense of the fleet was simply reality.
As long as the opponents are Communists, the possibility that they would use some random unit as a decoy and then attack with their real forces can’t be ruled out.
“Okay, let’s continue with the search-and-destroy procedure. I just hope it goes well.”
With that, she tells her troops to follow and sneaks in repeated anti-surface attacks on what appears to be a Federation Army attack route.
This is what it’s like to achieve great success—and against virtual swarms of enemies.
The battalion notices new enemy ground divisions seven times, but they never meet any enemy air or mage forces.
The plan was to search and destroy, to lure the enemy like a violent light trap, but though they rain punishment on the ground, the enemy never appears.
Upon reporting as much to the Third and Thirty-Second Divisions holed up in Tiegenhoff, Tanya spots what seems like a new batch of ground forces. There are still more? She’s practically lost patience by now.
“More fresh troops? What are you even thinking at this point, you Federation jerks? You’re going to expose all these combat resources as targets for anti-surface attacks? I don’t get it.”
If the Federation really doesn’t care about losing eight divisions, then I wonder about the extent of their reserve forces. How many are there, even in just this district we’re covering?
No. There, Tanya switches gears and whips her exhausted body into shape for another anti-surface strike.
As if it was her intention all along, she carries out a strike on the eighth division of the day in order to continue searching for mages.
The results are the same.
And the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion must have gotten used to the Federation’s anti–air interception. They cruise for a few minutes on the edge of the guns’ range, and when the Federation troops start to shoot in panic, the mages are calmly observing their targets.
Is this just how they do things?
While they exhibit unexpected self-control in not shooting blindly when the mages are out of their range, they have a tendency to shoot all they have the moment we just barely enter it. If you remember these kinds of peculiarities about enemy armies, they’re surprisingly handy. Making a mental note, Tanya nods at Serebryakov’s exhausted-sounding report that the battalion has regrouped and no one is missing.
“Nice work, Lieutenant Serebryakov. No losses, but how about fatigue?”
“…Major, we’re pretty tired.” Serebryakov almost never complains, but she admits now that she’s exhausted.
Guess it’s that time. Tanya is forced to accept that even her battalion has limits when it comes to their ability to sustain tenacious combat.
Since they’re performing recon-in-force, they’re carrying weapons and ammo under the assumption there will be combat. And it’s an aerial mage unit. With their computation orbs alone, they have a number of anti–surface strike options—they don’t even have to use formula bullets. She’s been coaxing the limits further up as they continue fighting, but…her subordinates really are nearing dangerous levels of exhaustion, not to mention running out of ammo.
“What was that division just now?”
“As expected, it was a new one, not one of the seven we’ve already hit… Guess we should take the air fleet’s reconnaissance seriously.”
“So this is eight divisions?”
Talking with Serebryakov and facing the truth that the estimate of eight divisions can’t go any lower, Tanya, being Tanya, still has to murmur, “I don’t get it, though. I wonder where their air forces are. The question’s giving me a headache.”
“…I beg your pardon, Major, but if they haven’t come out after we’ve attacked them this much, maybe… Maybe…there aren’t any here?�
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Serebryakov’s remark leaves Tanya dazed for a moment. The Federation Army has no aerial mage forces?
She laughs it off as impossible. “But Lieutenant Serebryakov, that can’t be true. They’re the ones who went on the offensive.
“And besides…,” Tanya continues to explain. Unlike the premodern Dacian army, the Federation Army may be Communist, but the Federation still manages to count as a major power. Regardless of the quality, it does employ aerial forces, and there have been reports from various units that they were fairly tough.
“Have you read the combat reports from the air fleet deployed in the east? They say they’re currently battling it out for air superiority with Federation air forces, including mage units!”
“Yes, Major. But that means the Federation Army should understand the importance of air superiority.”
That’s true. Tanya nods. Though the war is going in their favor, she hears that the aerial battles are difficult. After all, many of the imperial mages are stationed at important points in the west, having a staring contest with the Commonwealth. Not that there are so few in the east, but…having to deal with the entire Federation Army head-on is intense.
“They’ve left us alone all this time… I mean, I tried to think of various perspectives the Federation might have, but I can’t come up with any reasons for this besides an absence of forces.”
“…That makes sense, but… No, you’re right.”
In that case, I guess I misread the situation. Tanya regrets having such generous expectations. Instead of worrying about searching, we should have concentrated our efforts on anti-surface strikes.
Hindsight is twenty-twenty, but it bothers her that she missed that chance.
Even if they were to restart the attacks now, her unit is utterly spent, and that’s an optimistic description. If she pushes them too hard, they won’t be able to exhibit their full capabilities even if restarting is possible.
Tanya’s logical calculation of pros and cons flatly rejects pointlessly thrusting elites such as the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion into a mass of enemies as a meaningless sacrifice. It’s a terrible shame, but they need rest and supplies.
“We’ll withdraw… Ask Tiegenhoff for rest and supplies. We’ll leave the job of attacking the ground forces to another mage unit. Oh,” Tanya continues. “Tell Major Hofen of the 213th Mage Battalion we decline his offer of drinks.”
Serebryakov, wincing, and Grantz, looking disappointed, acknowledge the orders.
Grantz seems to really have a thing for booze. That’s no good, muses Tanya. Overindulging in alcohol is immoral, and although it’s a matter of personal preference, Tanya is about to tell him that maybe he should pay a bit more attention to his health when she catches herself in shock.
Was I about to interfere with someone’s personal freedoms?
…And on dubious moral grounds?
MARCH 29, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, IMPERIAL ARMY GENERAL STAFF OFFICE
At about the same time Major Tanya von Degurechaff was having some internal conflict about her mental status and returning her unit back to Tiegenhoff…Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf was knocked out of bed with the news that Federation forces were approaching Tiegenhoff. The following report, that the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion had intercepted and had its way with them, made him smile.
The mages gave a thorough beating to eight enemy divisions. With just the two divisions holed up in Tiegenhoff, the city might have fallen…but apparently, in the end, Degurechaff had employed quintessential mobile defense.
She had gone so far as to send a report apologizing for acting to lure out the enemy mages and realizing too late that there weren’t any, but…that was just her being a perfectionist. Rudersdorf even chuckled at the bizarre apology.
She had taken on a massive army, upset them so much they would have trouble advancing, and proven the absence of enemy mage forces. As a result, the Federation Army’s many available reserves were being held up.
“Splendid! Magnificent!”
He was sure, then, that they would be victorious.
We’ve won.
There was only one thing to do now.
Send in a torrent of soldiers, all the men the Empire could move, to hit the exhausted Federation Army’s enervated weak points.
[chapter] IV Reorganization
APRIL 10, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, GENERAL STAFF OFFICE
Colonel von Lergen was proud of his work as a General Staff officer. As a soldier, as an officer, and most of all as a human being, he had no doubt that faithfully carrying out his assignments was his duty. Perhaps that was the problem.
With a gloomy face, he mentally sighed for the umpteenth time—he had lost count—that day. This must be how it feels to want to escape to alcohol and cigarettes if it was allowed. It seemed he wasn’t the only one who felt that way.
The details were truly absurd.
The military was being restrained by political request. Though he knew it was a farce, he found himself in the position of having to force several high-ranking officers to become clowns.
People have a tendency to misuse these inquiries, thought Lergen, heaving a sigh as he took the seat prepared for him. He glanced around the room and noticed that the faces to his left and right were all nearly twitching. From their expressions, it was obvious that everyone was reluctant to be there.
Both high-ranking officers of the General Staff and staffers in charge of day-to-day business were in attendance. There may have been a lull on the eastern front, but that didn’t mean their time was infinite. Lergen understood their irritation at having to squander it on such a foolish endeavor.
That must have been why. The wooden mallet signaling the beginning of the meeting sounded almost like a call to get it over with.
“Everyone’s here? Good, let’s begin.”
It was Lieutenant General von Zettour himself calling the meeting to order, after all. Maybe that’s how he meant it.
“All right, Major von Degurechaff. This court of inquiry will hereby investigate your recent behavior in order to clear up Supreme Command’s questions.”
And Lergen couldn’t blame him. Everything about this inquiry was irregular. The one who carried out the attack on the Federation capital, what would normally be considered a successful operation, was being reprimanded, albeit in a roundabout way.
The army’s logic said her actions were forgivable. Which was why originally, the entire General Staff vehemently opposed this meeting. The reason it got pushed through was probably that the civil officials who spent all their time in the rear didn’t understand what war was.
Since Zettour was presiding, the verdict was sure to be innocent. The difficult-to-bridge gap among the General Staff, the government, and the politicians was clear, both from the fact that the nonurgent matter was viewed as problematic, regardless, and that a need for an inquiry was felt at all, if only to have a story ready.
Well, it makes sense. Lergen accepted the situation with a sigh.
The sole cause of this issue was that Major von Degurechaff’s actions could be seen as overkill.
From a military perspective, attacking the enemy capital was logical. Any staff officer could nod in approval of the incredibly significant contribution she had made. But when he heard that some of her conduct would invite controversy from a political perspective, Lergen could understand that reasoning as well.
If the aim was to pulverize the enemy’s honor, then attacking symbols of their country was difficult to avoid. The politicians probably thought it would just provoke the Federation… They were missing the point, but neither could he deny what they were saying.
“In this inquiry, Major von Degurechaff, the allegations against you are that you used excessive military force in an urban area and took military actions at your own discretion. Do you admit the truth of these things?”
The criticisms of going too far and doing so independently, as Zettour had just read in a skillful monotone, were based on reason.<
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Most of the officers present, however, would promptly dismiss that reasoning as distorted. Lergen himself was confident that the strict orders regarding Degurechaff’s innocence from his direct superior, Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf, would be carried out.
The attack on Moskva was necessary. That was Lergen’s firm belief.
“General. I am both shocked at the two allegations you’ve presented to me and adamant that they are not true—I swear it.”
“That’s fine. Then, Major von Degurechaff, let’s clear up the allegation of acting on your own discretion first.”
Everyone believed that although the operation conducted by the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion as a threat and a distraction ended up being a long-range raid that was more threatening and distracting than anticipated, it did not deviate in a significant way from what you would call harassment attacks.
Even if she did act on her own, all the General Staff officers would say it was within the scope of her orders. Why? Because she had reached the goals of those orders. This was what you called thinking on your toes, not disobedience.
Which must have been why Zettour nodded as if he understood.
“Prosecutor, get going.” Unlike the calm, familiar voice he’d been using up until now, his tone abruptly switched to harsh and forceful.
Well, he didn’t need to hide it. The moment he addressed the army’s judicial officer in such a stern tone, his true feelings were clear. After all, he himself had been involved in establishing the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion. Even in this inquiry, if the General Staff hadn’t forced him to take it on the pretext that he was the one responsible for her, he never would have been given the presiding role.
“Oh, Prosecutor, before I forget, I have a warning. No observers are allowed to leave their seats during the proceedings. If Major von Degurechaff’s honor is in question, then as an Imperial Army officer, I prefer that all officers are present to witness the discussion. I’m sure you know this, but,” he continued, and what he said next was, from the view of the army judicial officers, quite difficult, “personally, if need be or anyone would like to, I’m fine with making the logs public. All right. You may begin.”
