by Carlo Zen
The warning scream was from the mage unit directly supporting not the right flank but the center.
"Ridiculous! They're not striking the batteries?!"
He had just sent the 2nd Mage Battalion and the newly pulled 1st Composite Mage Regiment over to the right flank.
But he was forced to realize, with utter loathing, that the enemy mages who had been running amok on the right flank had changed course.
The maneuver wasn't even aiming to stop the reinforcements. For a moment, no one was sure where the enemy was headed.
It wasn't a move to destroy the right flank's encirclement, which had seemed to be on its last legs. No. And it wasn't even a move to intercept the incoming backup.
It was a charge at the central Republican forces.
"They're like devils..." The truth came out of Vianto's mouth as a complaint.
Vianto was more familiar with mages than anyone else present, and he understood the enemy's intentions. Or maybe it was more that he knew from experience what they would target next.
Striking the right flank was just one of their objectives. If the Republican Army had left them to their own devices, they would have broken through the right flank and left.
But what do they do if the Republican Army does the sensible thing and reinforces the right flank?
Simple.
They strike where units have just been removed: the center.
It wasn't as if units would be taken from the left to go all the way on the right. To check enemy mages on the right, units would be taken from the center. Supposing the mages charged in a straight line, the noise and jamming would be such that their ability to detect enemies would be temporarily paralyzed.
Then if the Imperial Army moves based on the sign of reinforcements on the way?
That moment, Vianto instinctively understood the horrible truth, and his spine froze.
The mages were finally protecting the right flank. The exact instant they finished fanning out, they became useless. They couldn't contribute a single thing at the decisive moment the center was being attacked. No, we made them useless!
The enemy maneuvers appeared to be the meanderings of a cornered group, but in fact they were more devilish than the devil, using tactics that were the height of cunning and extremely devious. The enemy mages were pulling off maneuvers Vianto wasn't even sure were theoretically possible.
He thought he was well versed in the terrors of the imperial mages.
"General de Lugo, please fall back."
"What?"
"The enemy is coming here! Damn it! They mean to re-create what they did on the Rhine front!"
They would take out the headquarters with a "surgical strike."
Anyone would laugh it off as a bad dream, but the Empire executed it on the Rhine lines.
They broke through the Republican main lines, positions built to have incomparably tight defenses, and took out the fortresslike headquarters.
The panic that overtook the frontline units at the time was on a practically indescribable scale.
...And the current Republican Army didn't have a substitute for de Lugo. It had just exchanged its old wineskin for a new one. It didn't have another ready.
The Free Republican Army, as one could tell just from the name, had taken enormous efforts to achieve. So if the general at the head of the Republic fell now, of all times, continuing an organized resistance would be nearly impossible.
To the Imperial Army, even if its entire Southern Expeditionary Corps got wiped out, if they managed to take de Lugo with them, it would still be a victory.
No, it'll be hard to take out the Imperial Army now. They'll probably just get a little beat up.
And what will happen to our firepower and units if we send them out to face those mages?
At the very least, we won't achieve our initial objectives.
"Men, protect the general. This is our final battle."
The enemy broke through on the Rhine, but here Vianto couldn't let it happen. He wouldn't give the Imperial Army another headquarters.
THE SAME DAY, IMPERIAL ARMY CAMP
"Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"
Hearing that laugh, the unlucky noncommissioned officers who were also in the armored vehicle grimaced.
Well, anyone has the right to grimace if their high-ranking commander bursts out laughing when they're surrounded.
If he's gone insane, this is going to suck. There was nothing terribly strange about their feelings.
Normally, Romel would have been considerate and held his laughter in. But for today, he just laughed and laughed, more than you would think a person could.
"Ah, this is truly amusing. Way to go, Major!"
Just this once, Romel couldn't stop laughing. The scene before his eyes had made a tremendous impact that warranted the reaction.
He thought he could control her somewhat on a leash, but actually, she was much more effective when he let her go. She must have caught a whiff of something---that's why she wanted to go on recon so late!
He was grateful that she had seen through the enemy ruse and alerted him the Republicans were on their way before the main forces encountered them.
Thanks to that, he was able to prepare to face a superior enemy.
At the same time, if there were units outside the encirclement, you'd think they would aim to withdraw. But he felt stupid about thinking that when he saw what was happening.
"Is she---is she retreating forward?! I have to laugh. Major von Degurechaff's maneuvers are incredible!"
He had been puzzled when he heard the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion was engaging the enemy's right flank. How much will it really do when their encirclement is almost complete? At that moment, he had resigned himself to losing the entire army.
He figured the 203rd Battalion's efforts would only lengthen the time it would take to wipe them out and had even been considering ways to withdraw. If we do everything we can, maybe some units can escape, and if we're lucky, maybe we can sow the seeds of a defensive line reorg.
So it took him a minute to understand that Degurechaff had broken off combat and charged straight into the center of the enemy formations. He didn't realize it wasn't a charge of resignation and self-sacrifice until the confusion in the center of the Free Republican Army gradually spread and enemy movements grew sluggish.
Directly after that, he finally got his answer as to her objective. Surprisingly, striking the right flank was a total diversion. Her real aim was the enemy's main force that he was facing with his troops. And her even bigger ulterior motive was to attack enemy command directly. That was her plan.
"She turned this fight around using maneuvers and securing local superiority!"
She was just like a magician. To an ally, she's surely an evil-crushing shield of White Silver. But to headquarters, she's a mad dog indeed! Oh, she will achieve so much more off the leash.
This had to be a headache for a proud general. A proud general wouldn't want to admit that someone of a lower rank, and a child, at that, was better than them at war, but who would?
"Ahh, so that's why most generals can't figure out what to do with her. No one likes a hunting dog who's smarter than the hunter..."
She's too talented to be a mere field officer. Any superior officer would have a hard time with her as a subordinate.
She might even be too much for me to handle.
I understand very well now why the General Staff, no, the Western Army Group, gave her the authority to act independently. She's a frightfully competent hunting dog.
Thanks to her shaking off enemy reinforcements and ripping through their headquarters, the enemy was in a panic. The Imperial Army, supposedly surrounded by the remnants of the Republican Army, had managed to maintain an organized combat unit, and the situation was now such that it could make a breakthrough.
They were free to push forward or retreat.
And in fact, since the flanks couldn't do much due to the confusion in the center, they could
even resurrect their initial plan to take them all out.
We can do this. Romel smiled ferociously.
"Hit the enemy's left flank! This is a mobile air battle! Hit their left flank and drive straight through their central forces!"
They would leave the disordered right flank alone for the moment.
And the connecting unit in the center had fallen into disarray following Degurechaff's attack. Romel saw immediately that the left flank was what remained.
Though it was currently isolated from its chain of command, the left flank actually had the most organized fighting power left. He would attack it with not a moment to lose.
In order to do that, he needed all the military strength they had. What should I do? he started to wonder but realized he didn't actually have enough troops to think that hard.
"The light division should defend our position! All the rest of you, get on the left flank! Crush that left flank!"
Having decided to leave the greenest of his light divisions to hold down their position, he would take the rest of his forces to clash with the left flank in an attempt to bring down the encirclement and take out their enemies.
If they did that, they would at least be able to secure a retreat. It would probably be possible to deal quite a blow if they hit them while they were already confused.
That he had been able to make such a judgment so quickly was a testament to Romel's unusual talent.
At least, maintaining an orderly resistance while encircled was praiseworthy. Once he had a course of action, he moved quickly.
"Tell the major she can do whatever she wants."
And then, no one knew if it was for better or worse, but he let go of the leash.
The Chihuahua on the other end was probably cute and lovable.
But on the battlefield, he needed the wild hunting dog. And she could wreak way more havoc on the enemy if she and her battalion didn't conform to the norms.
That was how it seemed to him, so he did it to reach his goals.
"Huh? Are you sure, sir?"
"With that one, there's nothing better than to let her do her thing. Hunting should be left up to the hunting dog, right?"
When commanding a corps the same size as his enemy's, Romel himself had no intention of losing to anyone. He could probably even take on Degurechaff just fine. He was fairly confident of his ability to wage maneuver warfare on the operational level.
But he understood that when it came to running a battalion, he was inferior. Or perhaps more importantly, he had to accept that he would never be as good as her at sensing the time to fight.
The opportunity she seized with her brisk maneuvering was such a brief instant that though I could see it from afar, I couldn't grasp it.
In any case, the more you try to control her, the more energy you waste. She and her battalion really are war's hunting dogs. They're cavalry officers of ancient times, the real deal. They know when, where, and how to go charging in.
They could take prey without you teaching them how. So rather than risk them forgetting how by training them, it was much more logical to let them run wild.
"More importantly, hurry up and get ready for a penetrating raid! Get on the Republican guns before they regain discipline!"
He could think about how to use Degurechaff and the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion later on. Now it was most important to take care of the immediate situation.
If we don't crush the Republican artillery, we'll be caught in a one-sided barrage. If I don't seize this chance, I'll be the most inept of the inepts. I have no interest in being mocked by history as an incompetent general who wasted the hard work of his fellow soldiers.
"Understood! Right away!"
Praise be to the skirmishers and their crisp movements.
Look how briskly they move, even under these trying circumstances. Those are veterans of the Rhine, all right. Even if their units are undermanned, they're more useful since they don't hesitate. A soldier who can move is better than one who can't.
Once the light division acclimates, they'll be a bit more helpful. I'm glad they've at least been learning some fighting techniques.
"Gather all the remaining gunners together! I don't want to get caught 'round the back! As soon as you're done attacking the artillery, blast the hell out of the enemies in the center. No limit this time on the amount of shells you can use! Just shoot like crazy!"
"If we're trying to keep them in check, do we really need that many?"
"We can't bring the artillery on the charge. Plus, the light division staying to hold our current position needs backup. Now, get going!"
But surely, they couldn't be expected to defend on their own. They were liable to collapse if he left them surrounded and alone. That would affect all the units charging, too.
Speed was paramount in a maneuver battle. In order to minimize the time the most vulnerable unit would be exposed, he'd have to make soldiers run.
At that point, they really couldn't take the artillery with them. Then the only thing to do was have them put their firepower on display once they had taken up their position. Artillery employed in a practical way can be useful for both offense and defense, no doubt about it. Firing, distracting, defending---they do it all. If the troops left the guns as a trick up their sleeve, the defensive position could be defended while they fought the maneuver battle.
There was hope. Yes, a path had opened.
"It's a race against time. Be quick! Gentlemen, move out! Put the armored unit out front!"
"Sorry, sir. Right away, sir."
The existence of a light at the end of the tunnel reinvigorated HQ. It was a brilliant transformation, as if their monochrome world suddenly had color again. And he, Romel, was no exception. Though they were surrounded, Romel was in high spirits. Strangely enough, it seemed like things would work out somehow. With this operation and the tireless fighting of his subordinates, they would turn the tables and the feeling was... Man, this feels so great.
If the gods exist, they sure work in mysterious ways.
"Ha-ha-ha! I can't make fun of the major. It does feel good to turn the tables. All right, let's scare the living daylights out of 'em."
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! What a surprise!"
"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! Indeed!"
At Republican headquarters...
The normally tranquil albeit stuffy room was wrapped in an unusual atmosphere. The tense staffers were watching the two high-ranking officers in the middle of the room who had big, empty grins on their faces.
One was their commander, General de Lugo. The other was the officer regarded as the toughest, most experienced veteran of all of them, Colonel Vianto.
Their most senior commander and the veteran they were supposed to be able to rely on burst out laughing. On a battlefield, there is no greater fear. When the two people who should have been their core cracked up instead of coping with the crisis, the staffers wondered, Have they gone insane? with a shudder, and their faces all twitched.
So for a short while, the staffers were faced with the grave dilemma of whether or not to call a medical officer.
Paying no mind to the confusion around them, de Lugo and Vianto continued to laugh. What's so funny? As some of the staffers watched very, very closely, they realized the laugh was almost their way of saying, Who cares? and that they, too, had no choice but to follow suit.
And after the laughter had run its course, they spat: "This reality is a goddamn joke." That was their complaint against the absurd situation in which they found themselves.
They had been completely confident that their battle formation would lead to victory. It was a simple operation that required only sticking to theory: Apply pressure on the surrounded Imperial Army from three directions.
The Free Republican Army was structured in such a way that prebattle forecasts indicated it could win against the Imperial Army. Was... It had to be discussed in past tense.
"Did they--- Did they seriously overturn our strategy w
ith an operational-level power move? They've got some balls."
Now their plans had been completely obliterated---even though they hadn't made any mistakes on the strategic level. As a result of tactical maneuvers performed during operations, their strategic advantage was overcome. Theoretically, that shouldn't happen. But in reality, the situation they prepared for had been reversed.
After attacking the right flank, the enemy regiment essentially traded places with the reinforcements to assault the central forces.
The unit directly under Vianto was out intercepting, but surprisingly, the moment the enemies made contact, they began to retreat. Just like that, the Republicans couldn't stop them with their elite group, but neither could they organize a united resistance.
If the enemy was coming at them on the offensive, some could pin them down and the main group could strike the rest of the imperial forces.
But if the enemy was retreating, they had to attack.
Naturally, that made the logic work in reverse. Still, they couldn't just leave them be. They had to do something.
But in their situation, they didn't have many options to choose from.
The disorder on the right flank was unbearable, and the left flank was in a furious battle against the main enemy force attempting their breakthrough. When the battle was going in such a direction, they couldn't permit a regiment of mages to do as they pleased.
And then---
They could hardly believe it.
The possibility had crossed everyone's mind, but they had dismissed it as unfeasible.
"The enemy mages have broken into multiple groups?! They---they're pulling back around, and fast!"
They were all suddenly speechless.
Of all the---
Is that even possible?
The scene was a vivid reminder of the gap in ability between the two sides.
""It's like they're playing tag with us.""
Just as the pair said, it happened the instant the intercepting unit hesitatingly gave pursuit. The imperial forces smashed through as if they had been waiting for the slightest disruption in the lines.
Since both sides were accelerating past each other, they should have been able to turn and fire, but they were going so fast it made combat difficult. Vianto's mages attacked anyway and barely grazed the enemy, but the imperial mages nailed a handful of Republican mages.
