Spoils of Victory
Volume 1 Chapter 3: Pact of Dragons
March 16th, 1936; 1:28 PM
Imperial Embassy to the Qin
Nanyang, Qin National Republic
This was the Qin's primary hope. For the past few years the Akitsushima Dominion has been prodding at their borders, and an escalation of the conflict was inevitable in the next few years at best. At worst, the Akitsushimans would be marching across the border by the end of spring. The Empire was their main hope at combating this growing threat.
Since the end of the Weltkrieg, also referred to as the Great War, the Empire has sought to find new allies, especially abroad now that their diplomatic situation was left ruined by the war. This sought them to forge a number of economic and even minor military arrangements with the Qin in order to help them modernize and catch up to European standards as they were years behind. The problem here lies with the fact that the Akitsushimans weren't.
Not only had Akitsushima modernized to western standards, but they even managed to take down a European power in the Russy-Akitsushiman War, back before Russy fell to Communism. This left Qin with a complete disadvantage. This added to poor industrialization, an outdated military, and internal political turmoil has left the Qin as little more than a disunited state ripe for conquering.
This is why they needed the Empire. Albion and the Unified States, while supportive of them, wouldn't dare risk getting directly involved. Rather they would send them weapons and supplies through secondary and secretive roads, likely via the Raj. The primary reason being that these powers had numerous colonies in the region, and getting directly involved in aiding Qin would likely lead to the Akitsushimans attacking them directly, something they wanted to avoid at all costs.
The Empire, however, would be the best bet for support. While their stance isn't as firmly with us as the other powers, they hold little to no territory in East Asia, with Qingdao being about the only significant one. The Empire can easily send volunteer forces without provoking a war, and furthermore they could even send direct advisors into our modernization to accelerate the process. All of this without little response from Akitsushima who both wouldn't have any real way of threatening them, and would likely only provoke Albion and the Unified States if they tried to protest.
Yes, the Empire was the best choice, their only choice. Their victory in the Weltkrieg has placed them as the foremost military and industrial power, even if the other powers were willing to support us, none of them would be as effective as the Empire.
This is why Seyang had to arrange this, he needed to get the Germans to agree to a diplomatic discussion, and if he succeeded, then Qin still might have hope. All that was left was to step into the Embassy and give them their proposal.
April 3rd, 1936; 2:21 PM
Imperial General Staff Office
Berun, The Empire
I couldn't help but furrow my brow as I looked down at the document, though in truth I'm not quite sure what to think of it. On one hand there was much for the Empire to gain, on the other hand, did I really have to be the one they sent? It's true that I'm a competent officer, however, leading an entire modernization program in the Qin?
I sighed, it's not that I have much of a choice anyways. Luckily I was fairly good at hiding my conflicting thoughts and my sigh, instead continuing to look down at the papers. From the looks of things, there were three areas in which the Empire, and by proxy me, have set out to improve. The Army, the Industry, and the Magecorps.
The army could really be split up into a few areas, including a proper and organized airforce, a standing, disciplined, and organized land army, and an overall modernization of their equipment. Their industry could also be split into three areas, the improvement of infrastructure and railroads connecting the country, the expansion of Qin industry overall, as well as a general strengthening of the economy. Lastly the Magecorps, while technically part of the 'Army' category, given my direct experience, it seems that while I'll be supervising and to a degree managing the other areas, the mage modernization is where I'll have a far more direct role.
The main advantage here is that I seemingly am able to pick who I choose to bring with me and who's in charge of what, so long as they receive the proper approval first. This most likely means I can bring Weiss and the 203rd, at least what's really left of it, in order to aid in the mage modernization portion. Uger has proven competent in the railways department, so I'm certain I can use his connections to find some other competent economic experts. Given their response to my proposals on logistical planning early in the war and since, I easily have a significant amount of respect from many in the department, so I don't have to worry about them questioning me as a superior. I know plenty of competent military officers personally, so modernizing their army, weapons technology, and air force shouldn't be too difficult to find people for. Of course the paperwork in handling all of this is going to be a hassle. Frankly I didn't want to do this, at least not now but…
I really do need the help of a competent assistant right now don't I…
April 3rd, 1936; 4:12 PM
Zolka Cafe
Berun, The Empire
I sat down at the table, quickly ordering, though since he didn't actually write anything down, it could be assumed he already knew what I wanted. I have been coming here more often than usual now, especially since Visha was making the coffee. However today it was exactly her that I wanted to see. She's been working here for a few months now I believe, though I never quite kept track of it. Regardless, this whole operation is going to be a headache to do alone, even setting it up is a task in of itself, and I'd like to have someone I know is a competent and loyal subordinate to do the task.
As the coffee was brought out to me, I again asked to see Visha. It wasn't uncommon for me to do so, though I didn't do it daily, not that she even worked daily, though I had gotten a grasp on her schedule and tended to frequent most when she worked. As Visha arrived, I gestured for her to take a seat, though to her I'd imagine she assumed this would be another one of our more casual conversations.
"How are you feeling today, Tanya?" She asked cheerfully, almost making me feel bad for asking her to return to the army to be my assistant, but to be entirely fair I wasn't forcing her.
"I'm fine, Visha, thank you. I wanted to talk to you about something, however. It's best if we talk in private after your shift is done, though. How does 6 PM sound? I'll meet you here and I'll take you to my office so we can talk."
"Oh, alright, yeah that works fine for me! What are we going to be talking about if I can ask here?"
"I probably can't go too into detail, however I suppose you could say it has to do with a deployment of mine. I'll explain the rest later. I apologize for scheduling it so late, I wouldn't want to drag you out of your job more than I already am" or will.
"Of course! That's perfectly fine! Would you like to talk about other things for now? I heard there was a new store opening down the street from here."
As Visha began rambling off about some flower shop opening around the corner, we once again entered another of our casual conversations, though this one was relatively short as I had some paperwork I needed to pre-emptively get done before 6PM.
April 3rd, 1936; 6:12 PM
Tanya's Office, General Staff Headquarters
Berun, The Empire
Compared to some officers, Tanya's office was relatively modest, all things considered. There was the effectively obligatory portrait hanging on the wall as well as seats and a bookshelf, however whereas some generals made their offices luxurious and grand, Tanya's could be described as far more professional.
Within her bookshelf was a row of awards, specifically metals, she had been given throughout her years in the Army, especially after the battle of Josefgrad and the end of the war. Though, in truth, it was less of memorabilia and more a showcase of her contributions to the Empire, likely for visitors to see should she ever have official business.
In public, and even in official events, she didn't wear many metals too often. In fact, she rarely wore more than one, the Silver Wings Assault Badge, though one frequent occasions she would wear the Iron Cross. From my talks with her, she said that she didn't like to show off, and that officers that cared to flaunt all of their metals for any reason besides trying to get respect or to be respectful are egotistical.
I have, of course, seen Tanya with all of her medals and badges on, however this has only been a few occasions. One being many of the various victory parades and celebrations after the war, another being her promotion into General Staff, and the last being her meeting with the Kaiser, although there may be others I don't know about. When she does wear them all, she basically shimmers like a christmas tree from just how many she has. Given that she was a war hero, they likely adorned her with many for publicity and propaganda purposes. Some of the medals sound made up and obscure as well as oddly specific to her, those were the ones she disliked the most.
Regardless of its elegance, it was clear to anyone who entered that she was a competent and well-respected officer, if her medals on the shelf didn't give it away. As for what I was here for… Well that much was obvious.
I spent many years with Tanya, she's taught me a lot, and that's not limited to being a good mage, at least not in the most basic of senses. Not only do I, at least in my mind, have a fundamental understanding of how she works, but she herself has taught me how to read and understand events to see what's happening. This of course wasn't limited to one on one conversation, but rather the whole of global politics, and given that, and given what's coming, it's clear there's only one thing she's here to convince me of. The shame is that trying to convince me is ultimately going to be a waste of time.
Mostly because I've already left my resignation at the cafe.
After Tanya gestured for me to take a seat, she sat down as well. She had grown, but she was still certainly short, relatively speaking, though her breasts had at least seen some growth which is a good sign, although given her age she's unlikely to grow much more.
"Alright, Visha, I know you're not technically a member of the Imperial Army, however what I'm about to tell you is still, at least for now, classified, at least until it's publicly announced in about a month. I believe I can trust you with this information?"
"Of course, Lieutenant General!"
"I told you, you're not apart of the Imperial Army right now, there's no need to use my rank."
"Well we are in your office, aren't we?"
Tanya sighs, "That we are, if you want to call me by my title then I won't stop you, though it is strange for a civilian to do, isn't it?"
It would appear Tanya's caught onto my decision already. "Well you're here to ask me to return to the Imperial Army as your assisstant, right? You've probably got some mission regarding the escalation of tensions with the Qin and Akitsushimans and you've got a lot of paperwork and a large lists of tasks to do, right?"
While it seems Tanya had assumed I picked up on it quickly, it seemed she was somewhat flustered by how much I had predicted, and from her slight grin, I'm going to assume I was right.
"I see you've grown a lot, Visha. I remember when you were still a nervous mess back in the Rhine Theater, a brave and committed nervous mess, but still very much a nervous mess."
"Thank you, Lieutenant General!" Was that a compliment?
"As you've properly identified, tensions are rising in the east, and war is practically inevitable. As you've accurately guessed, however, is that the Empire is getting involved, and I've been placed at the head of it all."
"Do you know why you specifically? I have my own guesses, but I'm curious as to if there were any alternative intentions."
"From what I can tell, there aren't any alternative motives. I don't necessarily have much in terms of political opposition in the General Staff, so there's no reason for someone to try and send me away. In truth I believe it's because they've decided I'm one of the most diverse in my knowledge, easily a capable military commander, mage, and with knowledge of logistics and economics to boot. They chose me because they needed a single, central leader who can competently lead all aspects of it."
"From the way you phrase it, it's some sort of build up mission then? Aiding a country in its economic and military buildup in preparation for the war?"
"Correct, Visha. I'm being put in charge of the 'Westernization' of the Qin army, logistics, and economy. Of course Mage Corps included. Though if I had to guess, I have a feeling this isn't going to end once the war begins. It's likely this will turn into a volunteer mission, with Imperial volunteers being sent. Predicting this, I'm going to be doing my best to reunite the remaining members of the 203rd to join me in modernizing the Qin army so that when war begins, the 203rd is immediately ready to aid. Personally I'd like to get the whole salamander kampfgruppe, however something of that scale isn't possible, though given enough time after the war actually begins, I can perhaps convince the rest of the general staff to give me some volunteer units to build up a new one."
"I assume you want me to help you as your assistant again I take it? It must be a lot of paperwork, and surely you're not going to personally speak with every member of the 203rd right?"
"You know you've grown quite a lot Visha, I'm quite surprised at how well you pick up on things now."
"Well I learned from the best!"
"That you did, so what do you say? I can't personally offer you too much, however I'm certain you'll be rewarded, and if you stay in the army, who knows, I might be able to twist some hands into getting you a promotion." Tanya winks and grins at me, and knowing her, she meant what she said.
Whether or not I remain in the army is one thing, however I'm happy to help out Tanya again, I don't have much connections outside of the Army, I haven't been able to make many friends outside of the 203rd or other army groups since the war's end. Given the fact the Empire will most certainly enter a war eventually, even if others don't realize it, it might be a good idea to get a good position in the army before it happens, that's what Tanya's taught me after all, even if indirectly.
"I'd be glad to help you out again, Lieutenant General Tanya Degurechaff!" I stood up and saluted her proudly, it had been a long time since I had done something like this in such a setting. Despite the nightmare that was the Empire during that period, I still have a strange nostalgia towards it and my comrades. I just hope this new reunion doesn't turn bloody too quickly.