Chapter 20: Operation Monarch IV: Friends and Foes
People of Letzenbourg,
I come not to depose my dearest brother, I come not to fight or harm you. I come to protect you, I come to offer you salvation.
I do not wish to overthrow my brother for he is an honourable man, he has done what he believes is right. He has turned his back on our oldest allies, he has invited an enemy into all of our homes, he has relinquished our freedom and independence, and he made us a region and a puppet of the republic.
He believes this is right because he is an honourable man.
I do not wish to do him wrong. I am but a small boy, and a simple soldier, who has been fighting too long to protect what he loves, so perhaps I cannot understand.
I am not an honourable man. Perhaps I'm too immature, but I cannot see the honour in betraying and attacking your friends. I cannot see the honour of relinquishing our people's freedoms to a bully that attacked its neighbour while its back was turned, I can't see the honour of giving our country away and I can't see the honour of making us slaves to the François Republic.
My heart belongs to Letzenbourg, I cannot abandon her, she is my home and I love her. I could not bear to see her under the oppressive rule of the republic, I could not bear to see our people squeezed dry to pay for their unjust and unprovoked attack. I am not honourable like my brother.
I do not wish to wrong my dearest brother, but I cannot believe this is what my father or any of our fathers would want. So, with the heaviest of hearts, I must stand against him.
I do not want this fight, but I am not a great orator like my dear brother, so I fear I have no other recourse. I have neither the wit nor words to stir a man's blood, I merely speak what I believe in my heart and I believe he is wrong to do this to us.
I do not wish to fight our brave soldiers, this is not your fault, you are just doing your duty. I would much rather fight shoulder to shoulder with heroes like you, but if I am felled by one of our great soldiers, I would consider it an honour. For what greater privilege could I have than to die at a noble and dutiful soldiers' side?
Still, I will fight! I must fight for what I believe in! I will fight for our country, I will fight for our independence, and most importantly I will fight for our freedom. – Excerpt from Prince Wilhelm's broadcast during the siege of Letzenbourg.
May 5th Unified Year 1925
Central headquarters General staff meeting room B, Berlun 03:00
Colonel von Rerugen rubbed his temples as he listened to Generals Zettour and von Rudersdorf argue in circles about how best to manage the Letzenboug situation. They had all been shocked to be awoken by the news that the Regent of Letzenbourg had defected and now the small country had erupted in a civil war. It had opened a hole in the centre of their lines, and it wouldn't be long before the republic took advantage.
They had begun marshalling reserves to rush in to secure the line and ordered Prince Wilhelm to return to Berlun as soon as possible so that they could install him as head of state and form a government in exile. But worse news was still to come, the young prince had led Degurechaff and her battalion on an assault to try and retake the capital with General von Hans promising reinforcements. This could utterly shatter the preparations they had been making for the upcoming operation.
Letzenbourg was never originally going to be sacrificed in revolving door, it was almost on the exact pivot point of the endeavour. This just made it all the more disastrous, they needed to plug the gap and protect the strategically important steel mills in the northeast of the country while holding the area to maintain the anchor point for the operation. He could understand why the prince would want to rush in to save his home, but from the general staff's point of view, it completely undermined their strategy.
It seemed his worst fears had been realised, and the worst qualities of Degureachaff had rubbed off on the young prince. There had already been rumours making their way back about how close the two had gotten. He didn't know whether this was some misguided attempt by the prince to try and impress her or her aggressive nature influencing him, but he had made the decision to seize the initiative without consulting command and dragged von Hans into it too.
"I know we were supposed to humour him but there's no way we can let those men into the city," Zettour stated keeping his usual calm demeanour despite the shocking news.
"There's no choice, we'll have to let von Hans send reinforcements. We have to keep the lines closed! Besides, the foreign office will be furious if anything happens to Prince Wilhelm" Rudersdorf raged. He felt his frustration if the situation were different the prince's actions would be lauded as heroic but currently, he may have single-handedly ruined the operation that could end the war.
"Doing that will torpedo the strategy to bait the republic with the withdrawal," Retorted Zettour "Even if the city is retaken the whole area will be contested for the foreseeable future. The enemy will see that weakness and concentrate their forces, we'll have no choice but to respond in kind, all of our preparations will have been for nothing" He finished leaning forward in his chair lacing his fingers together thoughtfully.
Zettour probably felt he'd lose the most out of this mess, he'd spent months scraping together the resources and equipment for revolving door. Just getting the material for a second set of highly fortified trench systems up to the front line had been a gargantuan task, let alone the extra ammunition and weaponry that had to be stockpiled. The thought of all that being wasted must have been weighing heavily on his mind.
"The High command won't accept Letzenbourg being lost, they'll say it makes us look like we can't protect our own allies" Ruderdorf commented to himself clenching a fist.
"Or our allies would rather be against us" Zettour murmured darkly.
The room went silent for a moment, they were right, it would be a political nightmare, the Empire would struggle to come out of this looking good. The generals would also be worrying about their positions by now, when the republic launched their sneak attack, heads had rolled. Rudersdorf and Zettour had only kept jobs because they were the moderating force that had warned against moving too many troops away from the western border. Not foreseeing this mess could result in similar repercussions for them.
"Where was the intel? Why hadn't we heard anything about the Regent's double-cross sooner?" Rudersdorf growled slamming a fist on the table.
"I'm terribly sorry that was my fault," a new voice said softly entering the room. All three of them turned to rebuke the intruder but found their words stalling in their mouths as the figure of Vice-Admiral Canaris, head of the Abwehr appeared at the door.
Canaris was one of the most powerful men in the Empire, as head of the Abwehr, he oversaw all the intelligence-gathering networks within the Empire and was part of the supreme high command. Officially military intelligence was a separate entity, but in practice, the bureaucratic nature of the different departments meant that not even the General staff could access certain information without the go-ahead of the Abwehr. It was an open secret that the Military intelligence branch was essentially under Canaris's thumb.
"I understand young prince Wilhelm is causing you some headaches, it wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that little project of yours would it?" The admiral smiled as he crossed the room, lighting a cigarette for himself.
Rerugen struggled to keep the surprise from his face, Revolving Door was a military secret, only a handful of the General Staff knew anything about it, even the Supreme High Command hadn't been briefed. It seemed the Admiral's intelligence network had its fingers even here at the general staff, but if that was the case how had he missed the Letzenbourg uprising?
"I should have guessed you'd already know" Zettour replied with a small smile, "You're keeping it to yourself I hope."
"Don't I always?" the man smirked and Zettour began explaining their concerns. The Admiral nodded occasionally as he listened, but his smile never faded. It seemed almost like he already knew everything the General was telling him but was letting him go through the motions of explaining it all.
"I see, it's a good job I asked you to put extra trenchworks between the Letzenbourg city and the steel mills then, that can be your new front line. You should order all friendly forces to retreat and dig in there" the Admiral suggested as Rudersdorf looked back at Zettour with a questioning look.
Although it wasn't strictly his purview, he was surprised that this was the first he'd heard of any extra fortifications, especially so far behind friendly lines. The fact that they were there at all suggested the Admiral had known that they were in some sort of danger.
"I'd forgotten about those" The general admitted, "They would make for ideal defences and it would mean that the operation could still go ahead" He mused aloud.
"Are you suggesting we abandon the city? All those people, they are our allies!" Rerugen cut in unable to sit in silence any longer. Even if it were to undermine their efforts, they were still talking about abandoning an allied capital and its populace to the enemy. The admiral turned his smile towards him, but his eyes were devoid of friendliness.
"It's regrettable colonel, but the city is a hive of traitors. They can be sacrificed for now. For the good of the Empire." The balding man stated coldly and the room fell silent again.
"Still the rest of the high command won't like it, it'll be bad for politics and morale" Observed Rudersdorf.
"The Foreign Office will complain but the rest won't be too much trouble," The Admiral assured them, "The finance minister will actually be happy to write off some debts to the Letzenbourg banks and I'll write to the Emperor to reassure him of our efforts. As long as you can bring this war to a conclusion soon gentlemen, I can keep the political fallout to a minimum." The Admiral declared confidently fixing the generals with a look.
The Generals shared an uneasy glance, they obviously felt the pressure being piled on. They already expected if revolving door failed, they'd be out of a job, the Admiral was now confirming it. At least he was endorsing the plan, in a roundabout way though.
"If the city is lost, they'll still want someone to blame" Rudersdorf noted, clearly not convinced that his head wouldn't be on the block.
"The senior officers involved will have to resign, it's about time we got the prince away from the front lines anyway, and von Hans should have chosen his friends more carefully." The Admiral stated flatly.
"What about Degurechaff? We have plans for her and her unit" Zettour asked with rare concern and the Admiral held his gaze on him for a few moments.
"I'm sure we'll find she was just following the prince's orders, you can keep her for now." He replied with a hint of threat, "I'll be keeping an eye on her though," He finished before seeing himself out.
"We're agreed then, we pull back the lines to those defences and order all friendly forces out of Letzenbourg city," confirmed Zettour.
"Do you think the Prince will willingly abandon the city?" asked Rudersdorf.
"Major Degurechaff will make sure he does," proclaimed Zettour confidently.
Rerugen couldn't help but feel bad for the young prince. He had charged in with the goal of saving his home but now, not only was he was going to be forced to abandon it, he would take the blame for its loss. It seems our Devil has damned The Saint.
May 5th Unified Year 1925
Letzenbourg City Radio Tower 03:15
Will had mixed feelings about how things were going so far, true you couldn't expect every plan to go perfectly but they were still in the early stages and he'd seen more than a few cracks begin to form. The Extra air defences had been annoying, it seemed that they were all over the city and if they weren't careful it could cause casualties within the mages and it went some way to negating their air superiority.
He'd expected the republic to support their new ally, but he hadn't expected them to ship so much hardware into the city so quickly. He wasn't even sure how they got them in there without the Empire noticing in the first place! It wasn't as if they could drive them in across the front lines, there must have been some clandestine op going on that someone had missed, he'd need to have words with the Imperial spymaster when this was over.
Worse news had come when he had found out that half his mage wing had absconded, with an entire squadron defecting to his brother. This hadn't been a complete surprise, but he had dared to hope it wouldn't be quite so bad as it was. He'd known at their formation that many of the group were simply mercenaries, their loyalty went to whoever was paying them. He had been absent for nearly 2 months, they probably thought it was time to find new work. As for the volunteers from Ildoa and Magna Rumeli, they probably thought it was better to go back home than wait out the war in confinement.
That had left him with a hand full of Letzenbourgers, Imperials and a flight from the Akitsushima Dominion, that he suspected were only here because they hadn't arranged passage all the way back east yet. He didn't dare spare any more troops from the delaying force so now their operations within the city were limited to his depleted wing and Tanya's 1st company
Now the Regent had mages too. They still outnumbered them, but their control of the skies was now far from complete. It seemed they would have to work even harder than he had expected, he remained confident, however, the battle was far from lost.
There had been some good news, Koenig and Neumann had reported that the Republicans had been slow off the mark and rather than rushing in they were advancing cautiously and with smaller numbers than Will had ever hoped. They sounded confident that they could delay the enemy for quite some time if they needed to.
To him though, the best news had been that Tanya had been worried about his safety, even going as far as to try to reprimand him to his face. He'd been so shocked and relieved he'd ended up laughing out loud, almost completely ruining her gesture. Normally it would be a bad thing for a subordinate to be arguing with their superior, but Will was quietly pleased about it. She was concerned about his safety! She wouldn't be apprehensive if she planned on turning on him, would she? It still wasn't a hundred percent concrete proof, but it was a good start and it was behaviour he felt he should reward.
He thought back to their spat in the planning room, she hadn't got upset until he'd mentioned rewarding her. He was beginning to realize that her faith in the meritocratic system was so absolute that she seemed to see his help almost as an insult, it hurt him a little to think that she was so brainwashed by the corrupt system. That didn't mean he still couldn't help her though, after all, he was one of the important people she was supposed to be impressing. He would have to do it quietly though, she'd probably get angry again if she found out.
What worried him was that after she'd got upset, she'd started shouting at him about plots and games. He wasn't really sure what she meant by that, this was the only plan he had, and even this was mostly on Vice-admiral Canaris's urging. He wondered whether the stress of being on the front lines was getting to her, she seemed to be becoming paranoid, perhaps she was suffering from combat fatigue. Her reincarnation could also be making it worse, he didn't know the details of her rebirth, but she obviously wasn't as mentally well equipped to deal with the strange situation as he was. It was probably why she was so irritable with him all the time. If she proved to be trustworthy, he vowed he'd be more understanding about it.
He'd had more mixed news once Christina managed to contact friendly ground units. From what they could tell, the forces that had joined his side outnumbered Ludwig's traitors. The problem was they were spread across the city and most of the senior officers had stayed with his brother. He ordered nearby units to rendezvous at the radio station, it was time he started using his strengths. Besides, it would make a good command post and he had an idea that would both alleviate the organizational problem and keep Tanya happy.
By the time they landed, the ground troops had already begun securing the radio tower and they were welcomed with ragged cheers. He felt a bit embarrassed, it felt like he was Caesar returning to Roma in triumph but at least it helped refill his confidence which had spent the last few hours on a roller-coaster of ups and downs. He'd have to be careful though, Caesar was stabbed in the back after all he thought sparing a glance at Tanya.
He shook the thought from his head, he'd chosen to roll the dice with her for the moment. It was funny, he was considering trusting her because she had chastised him about his apparent recklessness. What he was about to do with her was incredibly reckless, if she were to turn on him, he could end up in real trouble. Maybe he should have Christina on standby just in case.
Although the troops had cheered when they arrived, their eyes showed how demoralized they were. Tanya had remarked that they looked like beaten dogs and he had a hard time disagreeing with her.
Christina and Sophia had already started broadcasting his voice across every radio and PA system within reach of the tower. It was slightly discomforting listening to his childlike tone echoing around the city calling for peace, it seems it's true that nobody likes the sound of their own voice. He was glad this seemed to be having a positive effect on the nearby troops, but he also hoped it would be demoralizing their opponents. If possible, he would like to see them surrender or switch sides.
Between the recorded messages a second call for civilians to evacuate to safe areas was announced by Sophia, who would be getting information from the command post. A message had been sent to the Regents forces asking them to leave certain areas for the non-combatants, whether they would adhere to this remained to be seen but Will's forces wouldn't be attacking civilian held areas at least. Meanwhile, Christina was monitoring radio channels for news of Imperial reinforcements and notification of the other part of his plan to remove any future threats.
Time to sort out our command crisis He thought as Tanya and her adjutant shadowed him into the hastily assembled command post, there was just so much to do. Already soldiers were busying themselves with radios trying to get situation reports from across the city. The troops were also hastily throwing up barricades and dragging up AA guns in defensive positions. Even Tanya seemed reluctantly impressed with their fast work. Once they were dug in, they would be difficult to dislodge. Fortunately, neither side seemed to be willing to shell their own city as of yet, so the only real threat would be from mass assault or mages.
They were met by a relieved looking captain who had been doing an admirable job of trying to organize things in the absence of a proper chain of command. He looked harried and was obviously pleased that he could hand over the mess to a superior officer, even if both superiors were less than half his age. He unfurled a map of the city and found some stationary to serve as proxies to represent the forces in the city.
They were spread into 3 larger groups, as well as several smaller ones dotted around the city. This had completely negated the greater numbers they could field as the Regent's forces were centralized and could now deal with them one at a time. Additionally, without a coordinated effort, the fight seemed to be swinging in favour of the traitor forces. Will made a show of looking thoughtful and concerned for a moment, true things were starting to look a little dicey, but it shouldn't be difficult to turn things around. It would be nice to achieve victory before reinforcements arrived, but ultimately, they just had to contest the city until they did, then it would be total victory.
"Major, it's time we show off your tactical acumen," He began with a grin "Captains as of this moment Major Degurechaff is in charge of coordinating our forces within the city. I'm still in command of course, but you should treat her orders as my own," He continued before turning to a shocked and suspicious-looking Degurechaff. She looked as if she was about to argue but he pulled her to one side before she could start.
"Before you say anything, you're probably the most competent senior officer on the field, I need you to get them organized, it's better I am seen by the troops" He hissed quietly. "Besides it'll make you look good to the brass."
He knew she would still object, given her belligerent attitude towards him it was inevitable. He also knew she wouldn't be able to fault his logic, she was the best choice he had for the job, and she would no doubt love hearing him say that. He would admit she was a better strategist, although he didn't relish doing it to her face, he also decided to hang the carrot of pleasing the brass for her. She might not want him to get her promoted himself but if he gave her the opportunity to make it seem like she's proven herself to the brass he could get her promoted and transferred without any fuss from her.
It was also true that he was better out inspiring the Letzenbourgers, without leadership morale was suffering, they needed a symbol to inspire them, what better symbol than The Saint?
The risk, of course, was that he was giving her permission to deploy him and his forces as she pleased, additionally he would be draining his already diminished mana reserve while she was sitting comfortably back here. If she chose to act against him, he would have a difficult time taking her down. Is it too much of a risk? He thought to himself.
It'd be less risky just to kill her now A dark voice replied in his mind. He ignored it, he had decided he was going to give her this chance, the dark thought made him all the surer it was a good idea.
"I'm supposed to be keeping an eye on you, remember? I can't exactly keep you safe from here." She stated eyes narrowed in suspicion. She still didn't trust him, but he could tell she was warming to the idea.
"You're also supposed to support me, can you think of a better way of doing that?" He questioned innocently, "Besides I'll have to go where you deploy me, you'll have the biggest picture of the fighting, I'm sure you'll keep me perfectly safe."
She was studying him doubtfully, but she was struggling to find a flaw he was sure. She glanced back over at the map of the city and he saw the corner of her lips curl into a slight smile.
"Lieutenant Serabryakov, I want you to stay here and work with the captain and relay all relevant information to me while I'm in the air, I can coordinate our forces while staying with the colonel" She ordered with a triumphant grin that did nothing but cause Will more confusion.
Well, I guess that works as well, I guess, He thought. Although the point was to let her show that she could command from the rear. Commanding multiple units should still look good enough on paper to promote her to a rear position though, he'd just have to play down her insistence on leading from the front. Why is she so insistent on staying near me? She's never usually this worried about me He thought, feeling suspicious once more. He couldn't see what she would gain from it, what is she thinking? He thought Unless… He dismissed the idea immediately, it was just a silly rumour made by the troops, she probably still hated him. He just wished he knew if she hated him enough to turn on him.
"If you think that's best" He agreed reluctantly, "Organize what you can now, we need to be back in the air soon."
She took to reorganizing the troops with gusto, interrogating the nearby officers and having messages sent to the smaller groups to try to consolidate their forces. She seemed to be enjoying it, nobody questioned her, either his instructions were being followed or her reputation was doing the trick. Either that or they think that particular rumour is true He mused. Meanwhile, he added a few suggestions about troop movements and sent some messages of encouragement to some of the troops.
They had three mage squadrons to use within the city, he and Tanya agreed that each would go to relieve one of the main groups and then they would converge on their objectives. She, of course, insisted he stayed with her and her company while Hausmann and the Akitsushiman Lieutenant Tenkubashi would lead the other two squadrons. He wasn't especially comfortable being surrounded by troops loyal to her, but she pointed out, none of her units had defected and it had effectively ended the debate.
The aim was to relieve enough forces so that they could push on all their objectives from all directions, making the most of their superior manpower to strangle enemy resistance while using the mages to crush any counterattack before it could begin. He could find no fault, it was much the same as what he would have done himself, but Tanya seemed to enjoy slightly more micromanaging than he did, adding a few sub-objectives and clauses.
The enemy only had one mage squadron, if any group engaged them, they would hold it off until the others arrived and overwhelmed them. She said she didn't want to take any chances with them, but he suspected she didn't trust his volunteers to do the job. He didn't much care, as long as it worked, he was happy to let her deal with them however she wanted, they were traitors they could hang for all he cared. They probably weren't even the faithful he was supposed to deal with anyway.
Satisfied with their plan, he left her to finish her preparations and wandered out to re-join the mages. His only real concern was that they still hadn't heard an ETA for the reinforcements and what reports were coming in from western command were confused and sporadic. As he approached Christina's voice crackled a code word through the radio, he quickly switched frequencies and waited before her voice crackled back to life on their private line.
"We are having some problems with communications, but I can confirm the evacuation is complete sir" She reported, and Will felt himself smile.
"Good, execute Operation Carthage please" He replied before switching the frequency back. Finally, some good news He thought before wondering how Tanya would react when she found out. He quickly dismissed the worry, she would be upset but she'd have proven herself to be on his side by then, this was just a way of blunting the damage she could do to him.
He checked his watch, within the next few minutes the box would be gone forever.
May 5th Unified Year 1925
Letzenbourg City, Near The Ispagnan Tower 03:45
Lieutenant Tenkubashi was relieved to be finally seeing action again, especially now the young prince had returned. The two months since the boy's sabbatical with the Imperials had been trying for the volunteers sent by The Akitsushima Dominion. Aside from the prince and the other volunteers, many of the westerners were not entirely welcoming to them. They had viewed them with distrust at best, and hostility at worst. The officers that had been assigned to replace the prince and his deputy had been less than supportive and seemed to look down on the Dominion troops. They had always been taught that those outside The Ōyashima were barbarians, and although he was taught to be tolerant, it seemed many of their hosts were determined to prove it was true.
What was worse was that about a month ago the whole wing had been forced to stand down and hand over all its equipment. It was an outrage! They had been sent by their government to fight and gain observational and combat experience of both the Imperial and Letzenbourg mage tactics. How could they do that when they were kept 'on standby' and under guard? They were essentially prisoners, and although they'd sent objections to the Regent and the ambassadors, they'd had little luck. Over the last few weeks, the volunteers were either ordered home or began serving under the regent instead of the prince.
Tenkubashi and his group refused to serve the man, he hadn't even had the decency to meet them himself. They had long heard rumours that the Regent resented his younger brother for his success at such a young age, but he had dismissed such foolish stories, no grown man would be jealous of such a young boy. He'd eventually seen the truth in it though, what other reason could he have for grounding then demolishing such a capable fighting force? It wasn't if they had mages to spare, he seemed to be doing it just to undermine and erasing his brother's achievements.
It hadn't been that way when the prince was in charge, he had been respectful and had even gone so far as to learn some of their customs to help them settle in. Not just for Akitsushiman troops either, the Ildoan and Magna Rumeli volunteers received the same treatment. He also showed great interest in learning various tactics and skills from them all too, he and the prince had even sparred and shared sword techniques, although, unlike the prince he himself rarely used his blade in battle. The prince had stood with them, he was a leader.
They also appreciated the prince's odd honour code, it wasn't exactly bushido, but he understood it was a western tradition to give your opponent the chance to surrender. The prince seemed to stick to this code very strictly, even going so far as to continue to ask his foes to yield as he charged in to challenge his enemies face to face. His strict adherence to this ethos was something to be respected.
What they respected about him the most was his skill as a warrior, especially in the air. The way he dove into the enemy spinning like a pinwheel, slicing through the enemy as if they weren't there was almost terrifying. His hit and run tactics left the enemy reeling as if God himself had struck them down. To them, it must have seemed like he appeared and disappeared like a divine wind, because of this Tenkubashi and his men had taken to calling him Kamikaze.
He was also quietly pleased to be serving with the Argent once again, they'd only had the honour of serving with her and her unit once before, but at the time they were making up for the shame of allowing their own commander to be shot down and captured. She had become a legend despite her age, and he was looking forward to seeing more of what she could do. The prince must have been impressed by her too, not only had he elected to spend the last few months observing her unit, but he had put her in charge of coordinating this operation. In his mind, that proved she must be uniquely talented.
He smiled to himself and shook his head, his superiors must have thought he was making up tall tales in his reports. The story of even one of these children dominating the battlefield was unbelievable, two of them seemed utterly preposterous, if he'd not seen it for himself, he would never have believed it. Despite that, he and his men were proud to be serving with the two once more. Although he was privately disappointed that he wasn't at their side, he was pleased to be entrusted with leading a squadron to reinforce the allied ground troops.
They were currently speeding off towards their first objective. The Major had ordered them to assist the smallest surrounded group, closest to the Ducal Palace. This had been easy, nobody knew where the traitor mages were hiding so helping a breakout had proven relatively simple.
From there, they and he liberated ground troops were to move on what was known as the Ispagnan turret, part of what had once been part of the legendary fortress of Letzenbourg. Much of the once fortress was now either defunct or outdated, having been mostly torn down as part of the treaty of Londinium, that had meant to prevent any power gaining an upper hand on the continent. Of course, the treaty also stated that Letzenbourg was supposed to remain neutral in any conflict but ultimately everyone expected the small country to pick a side, it wouldn't survive if it didn't.
There were several strategically important parts left of the citywide fortress however, although even the most modern of the buildings were built several decades ago, they were still formidable. These had been used as fortified command posts for the Regent's forces, they were the points they would have to take to regain control of the city for the young prince. The main government buildings meant nothing if these key points were captured, they were mini strongholds guarded the main routes throughout the city, whoever controlled them effectively controlled the city.
Hearing a crackled order to assault from Major Degurechaff they sped towards their objective, they'd been ordered to capture or destroy the spire, Tenkubashi chose the latter. As they closed on the tower, the AA guns opened up filling the air with lead as the ground forces were being peppered by machine-gun emplacements. This is where the Prince's close combat strategy was surprisingly effective. They dropped low, flying below the AA guns field of fire, and assaulted the machine guns before they could adjust their fire from the advancing ground troops.
Many began to flee before the mages even reached them, Tenkubashi could tell they were rattled even before they charged. Their fire was too undisciplined, the Prince's broadcast must have made them lose heart and their officers must have been working double-time to keep order. More still surrendered to the advancing loyalists, it seemed many of the foes were not willing to fire on their own countrymen.
The way was soon clear to assault the tower itself and they ascended despite the AA and prepared Artillery spells. Tenkubashi ignored the hail of fire striking his barrier, it was already slowing down as the ground troops engaged the emplacements. He was going to blow the tower away, he wanted to vent some of his frustration from the past few months and show the westerners that the people of The Akitsushima Dominion were not to be trifled with.
Before he could fire, the anti-air stopped abruptly, he knew instinctively something was wrong. The ground troops couldn't have overwhelmed those positions so quickly, it could only mean one thing, mage reinforcements. They wouldn't risk hitting their own men, he cursed to himself, they must have snuck upon them.
He ordered his men to fire on the tower before searching for the new threat, he should at least complete his objective, calling for help with the mages was bad enough but doing it before he'd completed their goal would be a disgrace. As the tower erupted into flames behind him, he summoned an observation formula to pick up the enemy mana signatures. He studied the confusing mess of data that swirled through the air in front of him, as I suspected they're coming from…
A hail of fire suddenly detonated against the shields of several of his men, 3 fell immediately and he cursed his own negligence. He quickly ordered his men to engage, raising his machine gun to fire indiscriminately at the traitors, while he tried to put some distance between them to call for reinforcements.
He cursed again as the radio greeted him with static, quickly he tried switching to magic communication, but it seemed that too was being jammed. It seemed they were on their own for now, that suited him, this was an opportunity for him and his men to prove themselves. He ordered his men to charge and fired into the enemy formation.
He laughed as he personally managed to down the former commander that had replaced the prince. He'd always expected he was a weak and incompetent fool but had never expected him to fall so easily. The Regent and his forces were outclassed, already the tide seemed to be turning in their favour. It was as he had always expected, the mercenaries that defected were no match for the professional troops sent by the Dominion and with the Argent and Kamikaze leading them, victory was inevitable.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a figure seemingly trying to make their escape from the aerial melee. He felt his lips curl into a cruel grin, I'm not letting any of you turncoats' getaway he thought ordering his flight to follow. They fired explosive formulae at the small figure, watching as their sots exploded on the mage's shield, filling the air with smoke and soot. The prince might be happy to let the cowards run, but he had no such qualms. They continued firing into the cloud of dust, they hadn't seen the figure drop so he may still be in there, as far as Tenkubashi was concerned there was no such thing as overkill.
Suddenly the small figure appeared through the smoke and charged them head-on with an SMG and one of his comrades disappeared in a hail of cluster shots, with another falling soon after. He was fast, incredibly fast, even the type 97s shouldn't let someone move that quickly. He cursed vowing revenge for his fallen compatriot, he raised his weapon and aimed but found himself hesitating as he saw the serene and tranquil face in front of him. It couldn't be! It's Kamikaze, it's the prince!
The boy smashed into his chest at incredible speed, and he heard an audible crunch as his ribs cracked. Blood spluttered from his mouth as he struggled to find his breath after the wind was knocked out of him, but he was still stunned, what was happening? Why had the prince turned on them? The boy raised his weapon once more and obliterated the rest of his flight in a burst of fire before turning and grabbing Tenkubashi by the collar.
He stared into the boys glowing golden eyes, this was not the prince he realized. Other than the eyes the differences were clear, he was slightly taller and better built and rather than his uniform he was wearing a simple and unadorned flight suit. Most importantly there was no sign of the sword he knew the prince treasured so much.
Had he never been a superstitious man, but he swore this must be a Yokai wearing the prince's face. He didn't seem human, no normal person had eyes like that, they were unnatural. He felt dread building inside him as the boy continued to stare at him with a calm and almost detached expression. A combat knife appeared in the boy's hand and he pressed it against his throat.
"I'm so sorry, you don't deserve this you've been tricked by the devil too," He began with an eerily soothing tone. "I can only save so many of you, but I'm sure God will not judge you harshly."
The boy smiled softly before continuing, somehow that smile felt all the more terrifying. He knew what was coming, he knew he should accept it like a man but somehow seeing this boy brought forth a primal fear in the pit of his stomach. He found himself suddenly looking back on his life, regretting his choices and wanting to pray to God for forgiveness. Those eyes told him he would receive none, he would be damned, he just prayed that the prince and the major could defeat this monster before he damned anyone else.
The boy began pressing the knife deeper into his throat as he struggled to free himself, but his injuries were too much and the boy must have been enhancing his strength with magic. As the boy pressed, he heard him begin to pray.
"And thus, do I commend thee into the arms of our lord of earth, our lord, preserver of all mercy and reality, and the Father creator.
We give Him glory as we give you into his arms in everlasting peace, to be prepared to return into the denser reality of God the Father, creator of all. Amen"
As soon as the boy said Amen, he sliced deeply into Tenkubashi's throat and let go of his collar, and everything went black. God was merciful, he was dead before he hit the ground.
Authors notes
Hi all and thank you all for reading.
Sorry, no Tanya this chapter, I originally planned it, but I'd already got nearly 7000 words and I have a cap at 7500 words and there's no way I could put all of Tanya in that small of a space. That's also the reason I haven't explained what the prince is doing about the box with Operation Carthage, again sorry.
Lots going on though, Wilhelm is betrayed by Canaris and now Will seems to have dug his own grave (or at least a trench). He's gonna be in big trouble when he gets back to HQ, and poor von Hans is taking the heat too. It's a bit of a shame really, the battle looks to be going his way, thanks to Tanya's tactical acumen of course!
Meanwhile, he's started to trust Tanya, Yay! All it took was Tanya trying to remove him from command and Wilhelm completely confusing it for genuine concern XD. I'm not sure he'd be so happy about it if he found out what she really thought about him. Then Damian is zooming around being creepy and murdering people and looking like Wilhelm.
Other notes
I think the prince's speech at the start is actually the closest I've ever managed to make him sound persuasive. Its loosely based off of a speech in Julius Caesar (I had to study the speech for a project recently) and I'm pretty happy with it. *Braces for criticism*
I had a look at the maps for revolving door and where Luxembourg/Letzenbourg is supposed to be is almost exactly the pivot point. This was entirely unintentional but at least it helps make a lot more sense why the General Staff would be pissed about the prince's stunt. I hadn't realised just how much of an accidental clusterf*** the prince had made of everything. If anything, I'll probably have to play up his influence to get him out of it now.
I also am not sure whether Col. Rerugen is supposed to know about revolving door at this point but I'm using a bit of creative license. I like having the 3rd person between Zettour and Rudersdorf as they bounce off each other.
In case it's confusing, early on I decided (or I wrote it and was too lazy to change it) that Letzenbourg uses the commonwealth phrases for their mages so: Battalion = Wing, Company = Squadron, Platoon = Flight. Honestly, I forget sometimes so I thought I'd put it here so everyone knows what is what.
I couldn't help chuckling to myself as I was writing Wilhelm completely misinterpreting Tanya's motives, especially him thinking she wasn't handling her reincarnation as well as he was. Wilhelm, you really need some perspective on your own life.
Ōyashima is another old name for Japan meaning Great country of many Islands, I just thought it made sense that someone from the Akitsushima Dominion would have a few names for the land they are from. I also thought it would make sense that the foreign troops might make their own name for the prince too and I thought Kamikaze would be appropriate considering the way he fights.