Part 2

THE SAME DAY IN TIEGENHOFF

-x-X-x-

"M-Major!"

Tanya is literally smacked awake by Lieutenant Serebryakov, who is staying in the same billet as her in Tiegenhoff.

"Lieutenant Serebryakov? What is it?"

"An offensive! The Federation Army is on the move!"

Judging from how pale she is, it's obvious this is no small move.

Sensing the crisis, Tanya hurls off her blanket and jumps out of bed. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, there were no children's pajamas anywhere to be found, so she sleeps in her uniform. Her low blood pressure upon waking is annoying, but she has no time to fret about things like that now.

Swallowing her cold coffee, Tanya asks some quick questions to get a sense of their situation.

"How many?"

"…According to the air fleet, it's eight divisions at minimum." "What? Eight at minimum?"

It's an offensive of, with the most optimistic estimate, four times their own two divisions. Tanya was sure their offensive would be carried out with some degree of numbers, but even she has to parrot back that amount in disbelief. That's way too many. She doubts the veracity of the reconnaissance plane's report for a moment but then shakes her head. No.

"A major offensive? If they send that many troops our way at this point, they can certainly protect their flanks, but… have they seen through our maneuver plans?"

If the enemy is changing up their movements, there must be a reason for it. As far as Tanya knows, the rigidity of Communist thought and command chain is legendary.

That they would abandon their reckless breakthrough on the central lines and mount a major offensive on Tiegenhoff, off to the side, is completely unexpected.

"This will leave their central offensive dead in the water… Should we assume if they are transferring this many forces around, there's been an intelligence leak? Well, but they're going so slowly. They must have figured out what we're doing and are moving in response."

Anyone can guess that the Imperial Army's aim to surround and annihilate the Federation Army is a maneuver battle. Traditionally, the General Staff can be considered believers in Cannae—that is, disciples of the double envelopment. It's only reasonable, then, that the Federation Army is on guard against it.

Even if there was a leak, Tanya's suggestion of maneuvers with Tiegenhoff as the base was only just adopted.

…They must have sensed they were in danger of being surrounded.

Man, underestimating the Federation Army as a bunch of good-for-nothings who move in adherence to their inflexible command structure like the Red Army was a total mistake.

If Communists can react on the fly… this war won't be so straightforward.

"Ngh, no time to think about that. How do the rest of the troops see the enemy situation?"

"Both divisions' headquarters have concluded there are signs of a major offensive. Captain Weiss is waiting outside…"

"…How thoughtful of him."

That my warmonger12 subordinates have the delicacy to mind sex differences comes as a bit of a surprise. That said, it's important to act when the time comes.

"Sorry I'm late!"

Jumping out of her room and seeing Weiss fully outfitted, Tanya grasps her role completely.

"I've been informed of the situation. For now, I'm going to joint divisional headquarters. Under the circumstances, I need to confirm what the division commanders' plans are."

Tanya and her troops are reinforcements that just arrived. Originally, Tanya's battalion had been planning on supporting only the two divisions in Tiegenhoff until further reinforcements showed up.

So if she doesn't figure out what everyone's moves are, this war won't happen. It's irritating, but it was Tanya's mistake to think the enemy army wouldn't act this quickly. She can only grind her teeth at her naivete, laughing at the Communists' tendency to be fools.

"Captain Weiss, while I do that, I'm leaving the unit up to you! Prepare to sortie immediately and be ready to get a jump on the enemy vanguard in the sky!"

"Yes, ma'am. We'll shift into scramble prep on the double."

"If you feel it's necessary, you can attack without waiting for my instructions. But keep defense of the city in mind when judging how far to go. We're aiming for command of the sky, but don't do any more than intercept. I don't want the battalion taking any pointless losses."

"Understood, Major!"

Leaving him with an "I'm counting on you," Tanya rushes over to the joint divisional headquarters of the Third and Thirty-Second Divisions and is stuck being shocked again the moment she arrives.

approach. Astonishingly, the Federation hasn't even bothered with heavy equipment and dares to raid the city with light units.

The serious issue, however, is that the defending side has only two divisions. Two undermanned divisions mid-retreat, that is. Considering they were practically cut off until the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion arrived, circumstances are awfully severe.

For one, it will be impossible to expect them to have the concentration of force to prevent approaches from all directions.

At this rate, we'll be defending from within the city. The majority of civilians have evacuated, but even so, it will be a huge hassle to weather the Federation Army's wave attacks while protecting the remnants.

On top of that, the Federation isn't a signatory on several international treaties. The law of war doesn't apply.

"…So our battalion is advancing to defend the city. We'll lure the enemy and engage in delaying combat on the outskirts of Tiegenhoff."

Thus, upon returning to her battalion, though frustrated, Tanya is explaining the unavoidable interception plan to Weiss, Serebryakov, and Grantz. Of course, it isn't as if they grasp their enemy's situation well enough to do terribly complicated maneuvers.

They'll advance and buy time as they get a handle on things. The modern mage battalion is taking on the role of the traditional light cavalry—seems about right.

"Are you sure? The General Staff instructed us to be the vanguard in the mobile battle. If we use up our energy on delaying combat here, the original plan will fall apart."

"We're not just talking about a breach—the whole advance base on our flank is about to get swallowed up. We have no choice but to intercept. I think the General Staff will understand." Not to mention. Tanya puts on a defiant smile. "We can also read this as the enemy sending in the rest of their reserves. If we get through this, all that's left will be to make short work of the Federation Army minus their backup."

"You've got grit, but this plan seems too intense."

against an entire corps, forget divisions! This isn't impossible. If you're going to try to get out of it by saying it's too intense, I don't mind sending you out against them on your own—how about it?"

"Commander, if you could please stop messing with me…"

"Sheesh, Lieutenant Grantz. Be a pain in the ass somewhere else, not on the battlefield. You need to learn some work ethic."

She pats dejected Grantz on the shoulder. Thanks to him, the rest of the unit finds some humor to chuckle at despite the fact that they're about to face the overwhelmingly huge Federation Army. It's good to have that bit of emotional wiggle room. Especially for a difficult job, it's best to have the proper degree of tension paired with the proper degree of calm.

Panic will always cause mistakes.

"All right, battalion. As usual, we're going to get in the enemy's way. You learned this at school—the part about aggressively doing things your opponent hates." After all. Tanya grins before continuing, "I'm a good girl, you know. Naturally, I take the initiative to do what others hate."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha. You've hit the nail on the head, ma'am."

"Right? Okay, Captain Weiss. This operation is go. Our opponents in the Federation Army are more flexible than we thought. Now then, shall we see what they can do?"

The Communists are outstanding opponents.

So no carelessness, no extraneous thoughts—we've got to kill them, in order to never be bothered again and to make it safely to tomorrow morning.

These guys kill for their ideology. We can't lose to idiots who don't know the harm principle.

With renewed enthusiasm, the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion takes off and advances to meet the approaching Federation units. Before long, a unit that seems to be the vanguard comes into sight, but Tanya is incredibly confused.

"What the—? We're this close, and they still haven't sent up their aerial mage units?"

Her grumble sums up the reason.

When she turns to her adjutant, Serebryakov, who is on lookout duty, she gets a head shake in answer.

"Lieutenant, we aren't over Dacia, you know!"

"I understand what you mean, but Major… I'm not detecting anything. Are you picking anything up?"

"No," she replies, but she's so taken aback that the word lacks strength.

Still, Serebryakov, with an equally mystified look on her face, must feel the same way. Regardless of how it would go if they were invading the enemy's rear areas, they're coming at them head-on with the added objective of recon-in-force.

Since it's recon-in-force, and the whole point is to see how the enemy handles them, they were prepared to battle Federation aerial mages, but this is what they get. Even Tanya didn't imagine there would be no one to meet them.

"We still have to be on guard against an ambush, but… are they trying to draw us in? This is the Federation Army! Are they really going to just take anti-surface attacks undefended like Dacia and its lack of air or mage forces?"

And they're the ones attacking. Tanya figured that given their meager heavy artillery, they would throw in all the air and mage forces they had to make up for it. That's how you would usually do it, and without control of the skies, this fight would be a one- sided massacre.

The whole reason Tanya decided to engage and sound out their strength was to figure out the scale and determination of their forces. But this is a waste. Even if they were to try to discern how the enemy is thinking, or if Tanya were to make her own judgments, no contact with enemy mages is potentially fatal to either objective.

There's no way to predict their tactics.

"We're flying here right out in the open! If we're not being intercepted, then… stay on your guard for ambushes and ready anti-surface attacks. Let's rule out the possibility of any enemies lying in wait."

All we can do is strike, cautiously but unhesitatingly.

Tanya considers a number of ways to deal with potential enemies and prepares herself to respond whether they're present or not.

"This is Fairy 01 with a notice for the battalion! Ready anti-surface attacks by company! Don't forget to watch your flanks. Support one another and keep a sharp eye on the air around you!"

This is sort of like playing dual-hammer Whack-a-Mole with one hand tied behind your back. Here we go! Tanya shouts and waves the hand holding her rifle to signal everyone to be ready to charge.

"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?"

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?

-x-X-x-

MARCH 29, UNIFIED YEAR 1926, IMPERIAL ARMY GENERAL STAFF OFFICE

-x-X-x-

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.