Semi-Coercive Imperialist

An Imperial outpost bordering Yursled had been attacked. The Empire captured a lieutenant from the Yursled border guard and obtained a written confession. The confession stated that Yursled’s military intelligence had ordered the bombing of the border outpost.

The Yursled government announced, ”No such officer has ever been taken prisoner,” but that denial itself was used as evidence.

......

The entire military gathered at the border. Several Frontline Imperial Guard divisions traveled three hundred kilometers overnight via the highways, while trains carried tanks without rest. Dust like fog blanketed the sky above the border.

Those were the roads I had laid down.

......

The Imperial Princess gave a speech at the Hall of Light. Countless searchlights raised pillars through the darkness, and tens of thousands in uniform stood in formation. She spoke beneath a brilliant canopy of light.

That was the stage I had built.

......”The Empire’s children died on Yursled soil. The Imperial flag was extinguished by their hands. I will not stand by and watch the Empire and the Aran be insulted and scorned again.”

I listened to the Imperial Princess’s speech on the radio in my office. It was a script written by Johann Georg. It was a good speech.

”......I issue Yursled a final ultimatum. Hand over those responsible for this incident, and cede to the Imperial Army all territory within fifty kilometers of the Empire, including the port and corridor. The deadline is midnight tonight.”

It was, in effect, a declaration of war.

The pretext was the liberation of persecuted people of Imperial descent within Yursled, along with revenge and compensation for the damage suffered by the Empire.

The purpose was a glorious advance to restore the Aran’s standing, uphold the nation’s struggle, and preserve the Empire’s identity.

They were all merely excuses.

......

Thump thump thump thump thump...

The Frontline Imperial Guard and the Regular Army moved to their respective attack positions. Yursled’s border facing the Empire was surrounded, and immediately afterward, the four nations of Hailand, Prozen, Balkania, and Bolska delivered memoranda to the Empire.

”If the Empire does not withdraw, each nation will fulfill its obligations under the treaty...”

Balkania, which had been the Empire’s ally before my return, had joined the other side in this life.

All four nations issued general mobilization orders, but the Empire did not respond.

......

Before advancing into eastern Yursled, the Empire deployed the Regular Army along the western border.

In truth, the Imperial Guard had pushed the Regular Army westward to claim its own ”merits,” and only those elements of the Regular Army that could be called the same faction as the Guard joined the eastern front. The Imperial Guard clung desperately to the east so as not to miss its opportunity.

The Regular Army did not particularly object.

I was in the west from the beginning, and the Imperial Guard was in the east.

There was no need to say which side they would choose.

Of course, the Imperial Guard’s strength would not be insignificant. They had Aternum tanks as well.

But tanks were machines, not people. A legion that advanced not on legs, but tracks. Their use required intricate and delicate handling, yet the Imperial Guard’s leadership did not understand that.

The Imperial Guard, who were nothing but political soldiers, did not know the difference between maneuvering tanks on a map board and maneuvering them through mud in actual battle.

”Woof!”

Leo’s bark pulled me from my thoughts. Holding him in my arms, I stroked his head.

Tap.

Freya set down her teacup and spoke.

”The world’s in an uproar, isn’t it?”

”So it seems.”

”And yet you’re calm.”

I leaned back at ease.

”I can afford to be calm because I’ve already done what needed doing.”

”What needed doing?”

Freya picked something up. It was the list of commanders for the eastern front.

”Your name isn’t here.”

That was true.

Not just my name, but many others were absent.

Lieutenant General Maut, who had fought in the Western War and distinguished himself in Gennen, was not there. Neither were Major General Berens nor Major General Hagen.

Nor were Schweitzer, the famed commander who had crushed the Zerphan Republican Party, Colonel Kai Han, or the young officers I had kept my eye on, including Major Bernhardt and Major Adel.

”......No.”

Even so, I smiled.

”My name is in every army of the Empire.”

That was truly not a lie.

Because...

* * *

”The Empire’s children died on Yursled soil. The Imperial flag was extinguished by their hands. I will not stand by and watch the Empire and the Aran be insulted and scorned again.”

An Imperial port in the west.

The radio broadcast delivering the ultimatum echoed across the bridge.

”......”

Captain Ruder of the Regular Army, twenty-nine years old, had participated in the Sea Plan, the alpha and omega of the Imperial Navy’s current projects, and become the captain of one of the many submarines produced there.

”Whew.”

Ruder paced around the captain’s cabin.

It was only natural for a soldier to be tense in such a situation. The crew, too, were staying awake through the night.

After walking back and forth for some time, Ruder suddenly noticed something.

”......”

A manual tucked into his drawer.

Naval Command: Rules of Submarine Engagement.

Rules of engagement he had read countless times.

The first chapter, found as soon as he opened the first page.

[ A submarine is strongest when it cannot be seen. The moment it surfaces, it becomes nothing more than a ship. ]

Below that, it continued.

[ Do not attack passenger ships or hospital ships under any circumstances. Do not attack if identification is impossible. A submarine is most lethal when it lies hidden beneath the sea, and an uncertain attack means losing an opportunity. ]

[ A submarine does not pursue merchant vessels. Instead, it watches mana stone carriers, troop transports, ammunition ships, and warships. One mana stone carrier is a more effective target than one hundred merchant vessels. ]

[ Submarines need not travel in packs. Each patrols an extremely broad area alone, without encroaching upon one another’s territory...... ]

A submarine was most troublesome and frightening when it was lying in wait.

Because no one could know along which route or at what depth an unseen submarine might be hiding.

There was more as well. Procedures for diving and surfacing, torpedo firing specifications, radio silence rules, crew organization, patrol rotations, food distribution. It was a doctrine containing everything a submarine captain needed.

The author’s name was written on the final page of the manual Ruder had read until it was worn.

[ Maximilian von Albrecht Ebenholtz ]

A noble who improved conditions for the Regular Army and earned the respect of everyone called a soldier.

Ruder sometimes wondered.

No matter how deeply Maximilian had discussed matters with numerous experts and soldiers, how could Maximilian have written a manual so detailed?

”......A submarine is strongest when it cannot be seen.”

Still a novice captain, Ruder soothed his nighttime tension by rereading those rules countless times.

......

The west. At this very moment, nearly every soldier in nearly every barracks was assembled in full gear, awaiting orders.

”......”

The unit was steeped in silence. In a stillness where even breathing seemed to echo clearly, Major Karl Winter, a battalion commander, took a deep breath while looking at the manuals and doctrine spread across the desk.

Unit Command Doctrine.

Detailed Manuals by Branch.

They were books Karl Winter had read until worn. Textbooks for an extremely important written examination, mandatory for promotion.

Since the Regular Army reforms, every officer had to pass this examination to receive their next rank.

But if such doctrines were simply written down, most would not read them.

If written down and forced upon them, they would read them, but not understand them.

If written down, forced upon them, and tied to real benefits and penalties according to compliance, only then would they try to cram them into their heads.

Once they rose beyond even that and became the standard, there was no choice but to internalize the manuals themselves. People would act without asking.

Until now, the Regular Army had only gone as far as forcing doctrine upon its commanders, but the author of these manuals changed everything.

He had created a clear system and used all his influence to bind promotions, pay, and honor to doctrine.

Few soldiers could refuse a man named Maximilian Ebenholtz.

For that reason, most young Regular Army commanders had internalized his system.

But it likely did not apply to the Imperial Guard.

After all, their only standard was His Majesty the Emperor.

Their rules were the Emperor’s words, and their doctrine was the Emperor’s mood...

......

Imperial Guard headquarters. The leadership sat around a round table.

Martin Himler, Rainer Wolf, Hagmunt Goring, and Kents Bertem. The core figures of the Imperial Guard celebrated the success of their scheme.

Clink.

Wine glasses struck one another.

”They’ll be crushed within three days.”

Kents Bertem spoke with a smile. They considered the likes of Yursled an extremely easy opponent.

”Yes. The declaration of war comes tomorrow.”

Martin Himler took up Kents’s words.

”We’ll advance the tanks in an instant.”

They had no force capable of resisting us, so we could occupy them in a flash.

Using that achievement, we would raise the Imperial Guard’s prestige and standing, then use the Regular Army to strike the west.

In other words, while the Emperor still trusted us, we had to seize control of the Empire.

”We’ll destroy them swiftly.”

The method for crushing Yursled was a frontal assault.

A gentle, steady press would be enough to trample them. There was no need to go around in circles or waste time.

”We will reveal the Empire’s strength to the entire continent.”

Fear would arise there.

The Empire’s immense and overbearing power.

If we tore them apart as they were, the smaller nations around the great powers would not even dare to think of resisting.

”And the Imperial Guard will become the center of the Empire.”

Kents Bertem’s final words were, in effect, the objective of this Yursled occupation.

Every member of the Imperial Guard smiled.

......

In the dawn fog along the Yursled border, the Imperial Army stood in formation.

Rows of tanks stretched across the horizon. Behind them stood columns of trucks and infantry bearing the Frontline Imperial Guard’s silver emblem.

Rumble...

The sound of engines roared beneath the ground, vibrating through the soles of their feet, while thousands of exhaust pipes scattered blue smoke above the fog.

All of them awaited the Imperial Guard commander’s order.

The field commanders had first proposed preparatory bombardment, but Imperial Guard headquarters dismissed it as ”cumbersome.”

It would only give the enemy time to prepare, and it would not look good.

This was a battlefield that was practically propaganda, meant to display the overwhelming difference in strength.

One commander suggested a flanking maneuver. Yursled possessed a fairly solid defensive line called Bresla Fortress.

But Major General Lenz of the Imperial Guard said,

”If we show the continent that the Empire detours around a mere stone in the road, what will they think of us?”

With that, Lenz excluded the commander from the operation.

”All forces!”

From somewhere, an order resonated through mana stones.

”Advance!”

At that single command, the army began to move.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Tank tracks crushed the road as they advanced.

The Empire’s army moved straight toward Yursled.

”......Your Highness the Imperial Princess. Do you see it?”

At the command post on a hill overlooking the border, the Imperial Princess watched the advance.

Countless tanks and soldiers. Faces filled with confidence. A march as sharp as though carved by a blade, and officers standing atop spires, pointing forward.

Whooosh...

Just then, the morning sun cleared away the fog, illuminating the endless ranks of iron in gold.

It was beautiful.

”This is an expedition for racial purification.”

Rainer Wolf had come to stand beside her without her noticing.

Princess Justine quietly nodded as she watched the entire scene.

......

The Empire had carried out military action against Yursled.

Naturally, the continent’s four nations responded with declarations of war.

[ Hailand Declares a State of War Under the Hailand-Yursled Mutual Defense Treaty ]

[ Prozen General Mobilization Order: Thirty Divisions Deployed Along the Border ]

[ Balkanian Prime Minister Agento Fiercely Condemns Empire...... ”We Will Give Yursled Every Support.” ]

Nearly every newspaper announced that war had returned to the continent.

People in the streets trembled in fear, but Hailand did not stop.

”We move as well.”

Arthur Winston stood before a map in the prime minister’s office. Hailand had already closely coordinated with Prozen.

Prozen would strike the Empire’s western fortress line, while Hailand would send its fleet and expeditionary force to support the offensive.

But before that.

”......Prepare His Majesty the King’s speech.”

There was an order to things.

A speech to unite the people of Hailand’s homeland and every other nation standing against the Empire.

”The Imperial bastards used the radio, too.”

Arthur adjusted his grip on his cane.

”There’s no reason we can’t do the same.”

The entire Hailand cabinet, including Army Minister Leonard, obeyed his words.

* * *

My grand estate, Maximilian Ebenholtz.

[ At this solemn hour, I wish to speak directly to every household in Hailand. It is with a heavy heart that I tell you we are once again at war. ]

Crackle. Crackle. Static mixed with the radio broadcast.

[ We did not want this...... We did everything we could for peace, but those efforts were rejected...... ]

I listened to the Hailand King’s speech over the radio.

[ This struggle will be long and dark. I cannot promise you victory. But I ask only one thing of you. ]

It was a broadcast repeating endlessly throughout Hailand.

[ Stand firm. Hold your place at home, in the factories, and at sea. May God protect our cause...... ]

The Hailand King’s speech reached the east as well as the west, and the Western Allied Forces moved beneath that voice.

The Allied Forces launched their advance. Their armies converged on a single point.

Their destination was likely the port in the Empire’s west, where the Sea Plan was underway.

”......They really crossed the Imperial border.”

The communications network I had designed so closely brought me reports of their advance speed and route every hour.

I found it rather admirable.

They were certainly much more hard-line than before my return. Their response was far more decisive and powerful.

And so, very naturally, countless nations across the continent entered a state of war.

”Sir Knight.”

Not long afterward, more information reached my estate.

Bresla Fortress in Yursled.

The defensive line the Imperial Guard was confident it could break through within three days.

”They say the advance has been stopped there.”

It was a stalemate.

The Empire’s proud tanks had stopped before a mere ridgeline.

”Twenty-three tanks have been damaged, and the only order coming down from Imperial Guard headquarters is, ’Charge again at dawn tomorrow.’”

Yursled’s defensive line had not given way. It was something I had half expected.

Those Yursled bastards must have secretly received support from Lobrus, Hailand, Prozen, and Izenheim as well.

”They say the Allied Forces are advancing in the west, too.”

”Who commands that front?”

”Lieutenant General Maut.”

Maut. That person from Gennen. A commander more familiar to me than anyone.

”Tell them not to stop the advance. Keep opening the way as they retreat.”

We would draw them into the Empire while fostering a sense of crisis within it.

”The deeper they come, the better.”

The Imperial Guard would be trapped in a stalemate in the east, while the Regular Army in the west would pretend to be caught off guard and driven back.

Then the continent would gain confidence from the Empire’s weakness and perhaps insult the Emperor.

They might condemn the Empire’s tyranny and pour out unrestrained words.

Once the provocations of countless people across the continent poured forth, at last...

The Emperor would remember once more the Empire’s truest sword, which he had set aside somewhere.

I would simply wait for that time.