Additional Operations II: Situation Report
Dear Mother and Grandmother,
I imagine you're still pretty angry at me for running off to join the volunteers. I'm sorry for causing you so much more to worry about, I know how difficult it's been for you since we heard about Papa and the last thing I would want to do is cause you even more grief.
But that's precisely why I had to do it! I don't want anyone else to lose their loved ones if I can do anything to prevent it! I don't want the Empire to force any more fathers to break promises to their wives and daughters.
I heard the Imperials justify invading the Entente by saying they were attacked and that they are the victims of this war. Maybe that's true but everyone knows how strong they are, why build an army that big if you don't want to use it? If they really cared about peace they would have stopped before invading our home, they knew we couldn't beat them on our own, they proved that at Norden. They could have stopped before they took Papa.
The recruiter tried to talk me out of joining too, even though he said I was one of the strongest mages he'd seen. I told him the same thing, the Empire needs to be stopped.
I've been told that I have to be careful what I write and that my messages will be checked to make sure I don't write anything I shouldn't, so don't worry if any of this letter has been blacked out. If I'm honest some of the rules seem a little strange to me, I'm not sure I can even tell you what I ate for lunch at the barracks. Although hopefully, I can tell you it wasn't as good as Grandmother's apple pie and that I miss you both very much. Leaving you was much harder than I ever expected.
What I know can tell you is that I'm safe and being treated well. Training is tough and I'm not sure Colonel Drake likes me very much but he's a good teacher and I've learned a lot since I got here.
You wouldn't believe how exciting it is to fly! It's difficult to explain but it feels so liberating to soar among the clouds, even if it does take a lot of concentration to do all the manoeuvres the commander demands of us during training. When I look down at the world, I realise how beautiful and precious it all is and how small we really are. It's no wonder Papa loved being in the army so much, no one would want to give this up. I wish he could have been the one to teach me, I would have loved to fly with him.
When I first arrived here, some of the soldiers seemed to blame me for the war because I'm Legadonian. They didn't say anything in particular and if they did I'm sure Colonel Drake would reprimand them but the looks they give me made me feel uncomfortable. It almost felt like they hated me more than the Imperials.
Thankfully, most of them have started to warm up to me now that we have gotten to know each other better and I've even made some new friends during my time here. Vivi is a girl a little older than me but she's been very friendly and helped me a lot when I first got here. I'm sure I'd have been lost without her. I was struggling to even aim my gun the right way until she helped me, and she always supports me when the commander gets mad. She's been like an older sister to me, or at least how I imagine an older sister would be.
Then there's a boy named Damian from Letzenbourg. I was surprised at first, he's younger than I am but he's an incredible mage who's already fought against the Empire! They say that the soldiers found him near Letzenbourg and bought him back to the Allied Kingdom on a hospital ship.
Most of the soldiers a stay away from him, some even seem a little afraid of him although he doesn't seem to mind. I don't understand why they avoid him, I know he's a good person, I can feel it deep down. Besides nobody as devout as him could be a bad person, he prays every day without fail.
I'm ashamed to admit it, but after we heard about Papa, I felt my faith waver. But after seeing how devoted Damian is, I felt inspired; he's been through so much but remains faithful. I felt so much better when I started praying again, it gives me strength knowing that Papa is by God's side watching over me.
Damian doesn't talk about himself very much but when he does, he says he wants to save his brother and that God has given us the mission to bring peace back to the world. He's certain that we will succeed and that when we do nothing like this awful war will ever happen again.
He says it's like Noah and the floods, God will never allow something so awful to happen again.
If that's true I'll give everything I've got to make it happen.
I'm sorry if this letter seems a little rushed, and that so much of it is probably censored. There was so much more I wanted to tell you but they tell me that if I don't post this letter now, it could be months before the next one will reach you and I wanted to be sure that you knew I was ok.
I swear I will stop the Empire and I'll come home safely to you. If I'm very lucky, I might even be home for Christmas.
I love you both so very much
Your loving Daughter and Granddaughter
Mary Sioux
July 15th Unified Year 1925
SIS Headquarters, St James's Court, Londinium
Major General Sir Donald Habergram prided himself on his ability to maintain his composure, even in the most dire of situations. He'd long held the belief that it was important for a true Albion gentleman to exert an air of calm authority at all times so that he could act as a pillar of strength for those around him. By maintaining proper equanimity and fortitude one could overcome every obstacle life threw at you but some days, even he found it difficult to live by this philosophy.
"Am I to understand that you are telling me that we have lost our entire network within the Empire Sir Harry?" He asked, fighting to keep his voice level as he watched the man fidget uncomfortably under his gaze.
From his demeanour, it was clear that Sir Harry Ainsley did not share his belief about keeping one's composure. The man was sweating profusely and stumbling over his words as he delivered his bad news, failing to maintain eye contact as he spluttered out the unfortunate details of the situation they found themselves in. Habergram was aware he had a reputation for being a difficult personality to get along with, and it often put people on edge around him. But Sir Harry seemed quietly terrified of him, or at least the reception his report might receive. It was quite frankly ungentlemanlike and it was starting to grate on Habergram's nerves.
It was beneath him to speak ill of his colleagues, but privately the General didn't think much of the man. Now in his 70's, Sir Harry was the sort that clung firmly to the ideas of the last century when the Commonwealth kept itself isolated from the problems of the other powers.
In his prime, he'd been a career diplomat and had successfully helped serve the Commonwealth's interests by skilfully manipulating the other powers into keeping each other in check for many years before the outbreak of what they were already calling the Great War. He'd always been part of the camp that believed the Allied Kingdom was safer watching from the side-lines. That the Commonwealth should seek to minimize its involvement and instead bide their time in order to maximise their potential gains later in the game.
This was an opinion shared by the Prime Minister and most of the government. Only the Duke of Marlborough and a handful of supporters in parliament favoured direct intervention and had even gone so far as to help make war plans detailing intervention in Legadonia and a naval invasion of the Empire's northern coast. When the tabloids found out about it, they demonised him as a Jingo, which only served to make the idea of intervention more unpopular with the people.
Marlborough was seen as aggressive and an adventurer, he believed in continuing the expansion of the Commonwealth through military intervention and gunboat diplomacy. Despite proving himself to be a formidable and decisive leader during his time as First Lord of the Admiralty, he was seen by many as a liability due to his expansionist views. Some even went as far as to claim he would be the undoing of the Allied Kingdom and its overseas domains. All this was used as an argument against the idea of direct intervention on the continent but despite all that, Habergram agreed with him, at least to an extent.
Unlike Marlborough however, Habergram believed they had missed the point of intervention long ago. They had failed when they refused to honour the Treaty of Londinium and punish the Entente for their infraction. Due to their failure to act, the Empire had justification to enact their vengeance on the Legadonians and had made themselves stronger in the process. Since then, the Allied Kingdom's indecision had only served to make the situation on the continent worse.
They had continued their official policy of non-interference while secretly supplying information and supplies to the Empire's enemies in the hopes of tipping the balance to gain the most favourable outcome. Even as the Legadonia Entente Alliance fell, people like Sir Harry and the Prime minister were still thinking that they could take advantage of the situation if they waited for the right moment. It wasn't until the Republic was completely driven out of their homeland that they realised that moment had passed.
The great game to keep the balance of power in Europa had failed miserably and now because of people like Sir Harry, Habergram had an Imperial hegemony staring at him from across the channel.
"That's not entirely true General." The man opposite replied nervously, remembering at least that Habergram preferred to be addressed by his military rank while on official business. "We still have many agents in place at a departmental level but with the fall of the Abwehr, they've been forced to go to ground for the moment."
Habergram fought off a sigh. It felt like ever since the bungled attempt to create a government in exile for the Legadonians, there had been nothing but bad news from his operatives. They'd been proud of the information they had obtained for their Francois Allies in both Arene and Letzenbourg but had been shocked at the speed and ferocity of the Imperials reactions to those situations. They could only conclude that the mole that had hounded them since the fall of the Entente had struck again, although they'd still found no evidence of his existence.
They'd also been caught completely off guard by the Empire's strike at the Francois Rhine command headquarters and subsequent manoeuvre to wipe out the Republic's main forces on the Rhine. They'd heard nothing to suggest it was coming. Their information suggested that the Empire had been getting desperate and the Prime minister had been ready to step in to force the warring parties into a treaty that returned the balance of Power in Europa. But their information had been wrong.
Perhaps if Project Ultra had been fully up and running, things might have been different. The codebreakers in Blockley Park were doing a sterling job but so far Ultra was only decrypting about twenty percent of Imperial transmissions. Most of their intelligence was still sourced the traditional ways but their agents in the Empire had failed to warn them of what was happening. It wasn't until later that they had found out why.
"But for all intents and purposes, we have no idea what the enemy is planning. Aside from the information, we can glean from the Waldstätte embassy, we know nothing." He replied and Sir Harry returned a reluctant nod of confirmation.
Habergram hated relying on the second-hand information of diplomats, especially foreign ones. He was reminded of the words of Sir Henry Wotton: An Ambassador is an honest gentleman sent to lie abroad for the good of his country. Any information gained from foreign diplomats would be questionable at best. They only told you what their government wanted them to pass on and there was no telling if there was even a grain of truth in it.
Still, they had very few other options open right now. Not without risking exposing the existence of Ultra.
"What exactly do we know?" He asked as he poured three fresh cups of tea from the urn thoughtfully provided by one of the secretaries in the neighbouring offices. "Know" was perhaps too strong of a word under the circumstances but he wasn't about to waste time quibbling over semantics.
"Well, as you are aware, until recently all the Empire's intelligence has been coordinated through the Abwehr and we have had great success in infiltrating both this organisation and its child branches." The man began taking his cup gratefully as Habergram did his best to ignore the pleased tone the man employed when relating his department's past successes. It didn't matter how well you played in the first half if the other team beat you by the final whistle.
"Before our agents went dark, we became aware of a faction emerging within the Abwher led by this woman." Sir Harry continued pushing a file across the table with a picture of an attractive young lady on the front. "We believe this faction became aware of our activities and has since sought to eliminate our agents. This is why the network went quiet."
That made sense but it did nothing to alleviate the General's fears that they had a mole of their own somewhere within the organisation. Something must have alerted the Abwehr to the security breach. Neither did he find it especially comforting that the network had collapsed precisely when they needed it most, it seemed too neat to be circumstantial. Worse still, it seemed like Sir Harry had yet more bad news to deliver and since he had been quick to point out his agent's initial success, Habergram suspected the news would be dire indeed.
"It seems they have been particularly thorough in their efforts, even going so far as to implicate Admiral Canaris himself. They have essentially disassembled the Abwehr, all the intelligence is now controlled directly by the military." The man finished, flinching slightly as he caught Habergram's surprised glare.
"Canaris? How was he implicated? He was the head?" Habergram asking unable to mask his confusion. Although it wasn't unusual for people to be suspicious of the head of an organisation like the Abwehr, it was very unusual for a spy chief to actually be accused of anything. They usually knew too much about everyone else to be removed by force.
"We…aren't exactly sure." Sir Harry began in an uncertain tone. "At first we thought it was a simple coup in the organisation but the way the Empire has villainised him… It's possible he was working with some of our men inside."
"Their spymaster was one of our moles and we didn't even know it?" Habergram questioned incredulously, the mere thought of it was like some cruel joke.
"I know how it seems Sir, but much of our intelligence could have only come from someone at or near the top of the organisation." The man explained wearily. "And according to the man in the Waldstätte Embassy, the Imperial's are saying he tried to murder Prince Wilhelm Von Hozollern. He believes it's their way of covering up how bad their own leak was. I'm afraid, it appears we've dropped the ball on this one."
Internally Habergram felt like grabbing the man by his lapels and yelling at the elderly man for the ineptitude he and his people had shown in this matter. Such a failure was almost treasonous. He could not accept that no one knew Canaris had turned on his own people. If any one of them had even the slightest suspicion, they should have brought the Admiral in for debriefing at once. He was a member of their High Command, who knew what priceless information he might have had.
Additionally, the Empire had managed to purge their ranks from the inside without any of their agents knowing about it. If it had been a simple coup or a hunt for compromised agents, there would be a new leader of the Abwehr, perhaps even this woman in the file knowing the Empire's recruiting habits. Instead, they'd removed the entire Abwehr and allowed the military direct control. They hadn't wasted their time and effort chasing a mole as Habergram had, they'd cut out the entire cancer in one fell swoop and allowed the efficiency of the Imperial army to take over.
Habergram took a deep breath and cleared the frustration from his mind, there was no point focusing on past failures. It was time to move forward. He would advise the Prime Minister to replace Sir Harry with someone better qualified and see to it their efforts to find the mole was renewed without ripping apart their organisation. Unlike the Empire, they didn't have the contingencies in place to replace it.
In the meantime, they would have to see how they could use the information they did have and see what they could do about the new players on the board.
"What do you make of it, John?" He asked, turning towards the third man in the room who had been watching the exchange silently while dutifully waiting to be consulted.
John was not the man's real name of course, his profession made it important that he maintained a certain amount of anonymity. Although those present in this room had the clearance required to read the man's file if they wished, it was courtesy to only speak the name he had been given when he swore an oath to serve Queen and Country.
"If I may?" he asked gesturing the file on the table before he leaned forward and began calmly studying the information in the folder, pausing only to take the occasional sip of tea.
John was intelligent, well versed in both diplomatic and military strategy and adept at languages. Because of this, he was a very skilled data analyst and Habergram often found himself wishing he could have the man working closer to home. However, John's true strength lay in how easily he managed to slip into the background of almost any situation. He was by far the best field operative they had available; they couldn't afford to waste his talents back here at HQ. Rather than a hidden talent, John had a talent for being hidden and with information being so precious; they needed him to use that talent to obtain that information.
"It says here that she worked for the young Prince but had a brief break during which time she was seen entering the offices of the Abwehr, some of our agents even say Canaris considered her his protégée."
He began thoughtfully as he flicked through the papers.
"This information suggests she was recruited to keep an eye on the Letzenbourg Royals. It would explain why things went south so quickly in Letzenbourg, she had Prince Wilhelm on hand to stir things up in record time. It might even have been her that finished off Prince Ludwig when the Republic finally retook the city. She seems a little eager to put the little Saint in harm's way for an Imperial though, are you sure she's not a Red?"
The question hung in the air for a few moments, it wasn't something they could discount. Although the Eastern giant had signed a non-aggression pact with the Empire, they were still funding pro-communist movements across the world. Naturally, Royalty would be the top of any communist hit list. He made a mental note to have the officers serving with Prince James discreetly investigated, and to double-check on the royal family's security arrangements, just in case.
"At this point that would be speculation, but it's clear she's a potential threat. If we get a chance, we should remove her from play" Habergram declared eventually. "What about the Empire's plans? What do we know?"
"Submarines and spy planes have spotted ships heading towards the channel and troops massing off the coast of Northern Francois." Reported John before Sir Harry had the chance to answer. Sir Harry seemed surprised by the interruption but remained silent, giving Habergram at least one thing to be pleased about.
"That coincides with the reports from the Admiralty and the RAF. We've seen a lot of Imperial planes in the sky and the Air Marshal is worried about our ability to maintain air superiority, even with the new Radar systems we've been building" Habergram acknowledged with a frown. The signs were all there, it seemed they were planning an invasion.
"That could make things jolly difficult for our ships." Replied John obviously coming to the same conclusion as he was. "The Imperial Navy has come on leaps and bounds in the past few years; air superiority might just tip the balance in their favour."
It was all happening at precisely the wrong time. Although they had the Navy, they only had eight divisions on hand to protect the mainland along with a handful of trainee volunteer mages from the Unified States. Meanwhile, their coastal defences were outdated and poorly maintained, the Admiralty had never entertained the idea that anything could get past their ships. Additionally, their leadership was in crisis, the Prime minister's mishandling of the war situation had turned parliament against him and there were calls for a vote of no confidence against the government. Right now, they desperately needed strong, decisive leadership.
"You don't honestly believe they could get past our Navy, do you?" Said Sir Harry with barely disguised horror. "We outnumber them at least two to one!"
Habergram remained silent, as John patiently explained that a well-placed bomb could easily put a ship out of action either in or out of port. Besides, who was to say that was there plan at all? The Empire had outwitted their enemies at every turn during this war, it would be foolish to think they would not have some sort of strategy for circumventing the finest Navy in the world.
But how?
They needed Ultra up and running at full speed now! And they needed other intelligence to back it up or else their ace would be revealed too quickly. It felt like they were missing something important and Habergram couldn't help but be frustrated that he didn't know what it was.
"I'll advise the Prime minister to bring troops in from the Colonies and Dominions; we should prepare for the worst." He began thinking out loud. "Still, it feels like we're being dragged around by the nose by these damned Imperials."
He turned and stared at the map pinned to the wall on the far side of his office. If he were the Empire, what would he do? Where would he strike? Where else could he strike, given the problems a naval invasion would bring?
"John, you're headed to the southern continent soon, correct?"
"Indeed General, the foreign office wants some eyes on the Ildoan borders in Afrika." The spy nodded politely.
He already knew that of course; everyone was nervous the Ildoans might join the war on the side of the Empire. Relations between the two had soured since the Istria Crisis and although they were technically allied, they had not joined to defend the Empire against the Legadonians or the Republic. Still, it was possible they might take advantage of the current situation to make some territorial gains and everyone wanted as much warning as possible.
"Try to make contact with some of the native tribes while your down there," Habergram said almost absently. "I understand they aren't too fond of their Ildoan masters, perhaps we will have more luck befriending them, just in case the worst happens."
He turned back and stared at the map once more. His head told him to tell the Prime Minister to bring as many troops as possible from the colonies to the Home Isles, but his gut said it was the wrong move. Duty demanded he give the logical advice to Her Majesties Government, but that didn't mean he needed to ignore his instincts. Hopefully, most could be routed through the Suez anyway.
Whether it was the right thing to do, only God could say.
August 29th Unified Year 1925
Offices of the General Staff, Berlun
Hans von Zettour let out a sigh of relief as he took temporary refuge in the office of his friend and colleague, Kurt von Rudersdorf. Both had become something of celebrities since Revolving Door and the freshly promoted Lieutenant Generals often found themselves harassed by well-wishers and other general staff members seeking to curry favour with the heroes of the hour.
Zettour had found himself needing to sneak out of his own room in order to avoid the gaggle of junior officers loitering around the offices. Even the usually deserted General Staff dining hall no longer provided sanctuary, with many young officers risking the questionable food in order to spend time with him and Rudersdorf in the lavish surroundings. This would likely change within a few weeks, most would not want to endure the weeks of stomach cramps necessary to allow the body to adapt to the cafeteria food, but until then, their private meeting spot would remain out of bounds for the foreseeable future.
Since Zettour was known to be the more approachable of the two, he often found himself being periodically harassed by these fair-weather friends throughout the day. Fortunately for Zettour, most of them did not dare bother Rudersdorf; he had a habit of finding particularly unpleasant jobs for those that interrupted him without good reason. This meant his friend's office had become one of the few places Zettour could get away from the fawning junior officers and he found excuses to visit frequently just for some peace and quiet.
As the consequences of Revolving Door became apparent, Zettour began to find the praise and sycophancy increasingly annoying. Although he could take pride in the victory they had achieved, he believed the amount of recognition they were receiving was unwarranted, or at least excessive considering the outcome. They may have won a great battle, but they had failed to win the war.
They had failed the Vaterland.
From a purely tactical standpoint, Operation Revolving door had achieved far more than anyone had dared dream of. The Republic's Rhine battle group had been defeated and the long stalemate had finally been broken. They'd driven the enemy from their own capital and their mainland territories, forcing the bulk of their remaining forces to retreat to their colonies to lick their wounds. Although there were still some units hold up in the south of the country near the Ispagnan Border, they'd essentially taken Francois from the Republic.
Not even the unexpected intervention of the Allied Kingdom and their Commonwealth could prevent the fall of Francois and the Empire now had uncontested control over Europa. By any measure, Revolving Door had been a huge turning point in the land war and would go down in history as one of the most successful military operations ever conceived.
Despite all that, we failed thought Zettour as he clenched his fist, in an uncharacteristic display of frustration and irritation.
The objective of the operation had been to strike a blow that would force the Republic to the negotiating table. This had not happened. Far from suing for peace, the self-styled Free Republican Army was vowing to fight on under the leadership of Major General De Lugo from their colonies. Meanwhile, the Allied Kingdom had stubbornly stuck to their war declaration, despite it being obvious that they'd made a miscalculation. Now they were bolstering the defences of their island and doing what they could to support De Lugo with materiel and firepower.
If that wasn't bad enough, the Unified States started looking greedily at the continent in the hopes of "making a quick buck." They had happily started selling weapons, sending volunteers and lending money to the allied nations; using the Commonwealth blockade as an excuse as to why they couldn't provide the same service to the Empire. The only good news was the American people were vehemently opposed to involving themselves directly in Europan conflicts.
It was absurd! They'd beaten their enemy yet somehow their situation was worse now than before the war had started. All hope of a peace treaty seemed lost for the foreseeable future and now they were stuck fighting a war in which they had nothing to gain.
We're like a wounded animal that's bleeding itself dry. Will we have to fight this war to the last man? Will the entire world really turn against us as Degurechaff warned? Was that why she had been so insistent destroying the Republicans before they escaped?
His mind turned to the girl that proven to be both his greatest asset and the one had first introduced him to these unspeakable worries. Some in the General staff had begun referring to Degurechaff as a Mad Dog since her attempted assault on the Brest military port. They said it was proof of her overly aggressive nature and that her actions might threaten a lasting peace. Ironically, the opposite had proven true.
He should have let his mad dog off the leash and allowed her to wipe out the remaining Republican forces. If such an order cemented his image in history as a monster that hunted down fleeing troops, so be it. If it prevented the Vaterland from spending more blood and iron on this pointless war, he'd happily sacrifice his honour to the court of public opinion.
He clenched his fist again before pushing aside his frustration and reminded himself of the words of Cicero. Any man can make a mistake; only a fool keeps making the same one. He would make sure he didn't allow any more opportunities to end this war slip past him. In the meantime, they had to decide how best to proceed.
"Drink? Cigar?" Asked Rudersdorf out of politeness rather than expectation. Zettour shook his head, he had once again resumed his vow to eschew the pleasure of alcohol until the war was over and he felt guilty taking one of his friend's favoured treats.
Rudersdorf nodded in understanding before lighting his own cigar and puffing on it thoughtfully, filling the air with the distinct scent that could only come from the finest rolls of tobacco. One day he would find out how his friend seemed to obtain such a steady supply of the luxury product, Kurt had been suspiciously silent on the matter for many years and it had become quite a compelling mystery.
"So, we're decided?" Rudersdorf asked with a twitch of his moustache as he leant up against the fireplace on the far side of the room. "We'll send a small expeditionary force to the south to harass the Republicans as they regroup and disrupt Commonwealth supply lines from their overseas territories."
The question was rhetorical by this point, they'd already decided what they were going to suggest to the rest of the General Staff, and they weren't going to take no for an answer. This was simply the man's way of going over the details before they made their case to the other officers.
A push south was more of a show of force rather than a serious attempt to seize control of North Afrika. In truth, they weren't sure a force so small could effectively occupy the area required to blockade the entire inner sea, let alone the Suez, but they hoped it would be enough to cause problems for the enemy's logistics without straining their own. Zettour had already overruled sending a larger force, supplying any expeditionary force was going to a major headache so the smaller it was, the better.
The main problem was that the Imperial military's plans had always been defensive and built around the interior lines strategy. As such, they had built up the infrastructure within the Empire so that manpower and material could be moved to where it was needed. Once outside the confines of the Vaterland, they had to rely on other forms of transport, usually, this would be little more than a horse-drawn carriage.
For the expeditionary force, however, it would have to go over the inner sea, further extending the supply lines. The desert held a mountain of problems for the service corps and he couldn't guarantee that the expeditionary force could be adequately supplied. They also would have to factor in losses to the transport ships as they crossed the inner sea, it was unlikely a navy power like the Allied Kingdom would allow their sea supplies to arrive unmolested, so losses were inevitable.
The advantage of this plan was that their enemy wouldn't be expecting it. Everyone knew the Empire had no military presence in the inner sea or the southern continent, so their enemies believed they could safely regroup and strike back at the Empire later. Rudersdorf believed that if they could successfully wage a campaign in the south, it would disabuse the enemy of this notion and might get the Free Republic and its army to throw in the towel. Zettour agreed, although mostly because he saw it as the best way to minimise any more losses while still striking out at the enemy.
It also had the political advantage of showing their supposed ally the Kingdom of Ildoa, that they were willing to spread their influence into what the Ildoans considered "their sea". The Ildoan Kingdom had refused to honour their pact of mutual protection so a feeling of mistrust had begun to emerge between the two nations. It was hoped hope that if the Empire struck south, the Illdoans might be reminded of their obligations, even if it was only to share in the spoils. At the very least, they hoped they might provide them with some extra supplies from the Ildoan's North Afrikan territories.
"It was your idea." Zettour smiled feeling reassured by his friend's easy confidence, despite the hardships they faced. "Unless you're getting cold feet."
"We might not have it all our own way. I hear some of the new members of the High Command favour an invasion of the Allied Kingdom." Rudersdorf huffed derisively, he knew how foolish such an endeavour would be. "Even Marchese and Schreise are supporting it, they have most of the Grand Army staring at the Albish over the channel."
Zettour suppressed a groan. He could understand why they would want to strike quickly, the number of troops Albion could field was tiny compared to the Empire and it would take time for them to bring in more from their colonies and dominions. It made sense to strike before they could reinforce but in Zettour's opinion, an attack on Albion's coast was suicide.
"How exactly do they expect to get past their Navy? Zettour returned shaking his head. "Their home fleet alone is on par with our entire Navy; if they call in their colonial fleets they'll outnumber us two to one and that's without any assets the Republic contributes or their coastal defences."
"I suppose they expect us to provide another miracle." Rudersdorf smiled mirthlessly. "Maybe they expect the Navy to pull off their own version of Revolving Door."
It really would need a miracle if it were to have any hope of succeeding. Even if they did somehow manage overcome the Allied Kingdom's fleet, they had no proper landing craft, so an amphibious assault would be messy and incredibly costly. Additionally, all their supplies would need to cross the Albish channel to reach the frontlines, they would share many of the supply problems the expeditionary force would, but the number of soldiers needed to take the enemy's home would make this much more difficult, especially if they suffered problems with partisans as they had in Arene.
Meanwhile, they had no idea if they could attain aerial superiority to support the troops and protect their transports. The Airfleet had been fighting hard to gain dominance over the sky's over the channel and the southern coast of Albion but the Air chief was growing increasingly worried about losses. Zettour could understand why.
Even if they survived, every pilot lost over the Allied Kingdom was out of the war, confined as a POW. Meanwhile, the Albish just needed to play defensive, if they were downed over their home territory or even the channel there was a very good chance they'd get back in the pilot's seat within a few days. They just had to wear the Empire down and from what he had heard they were doing that very efficiently.
Pilots were lamenting that the Albion fighters always seemed to know where they were, they complained they were using otherworldly powers to fight them and were intercepting them at every turn. Such an idea was foolish but he had read reports that Albion had developed some sort of radio detection system, but with Imperial intelligence still rebuilding itself, they couldn't be sure on the accuracy of these reports.
"Do you think it's possible?" He asked his friend, wondering for a moment if he was being too defeatist. Not so long ago, they would have probably thought what they accomplished in Legadonia and the Republic was impossible, perhaps he was worrying too much.
"Only if the Commonwealth Navy forgets to leave port." Rudersdorf snorted, it seemed he was under no allusion that an invasion of the Albish mainland would be a simple affair either. "Did you know some fool even suggested sending mages over on a Zeppelin?"
Zettour laughed, feeling relieved that he wasn't the only one who had concerns over the risky plan. The two were used to picking apart one another's ideas until they found a workable strategy, they'd discovered long ago if neither thought it was possible, it probably wasn't. Still, he wondered exactly who had thought of using a Zeppelin to deliver mages, true they could fly higher than mages, fighters or bombers but how did they expect to get the mages back? Who would accept a one-way trip like that?
"That's certainly unorthodox. I suppose that's our fault for encouraging people to think outside the box." Zettour smiled before turning serious once again. "We can't afford to take unnecessary risks though. We need to minimise losses as much as possible; if another power turns against us it could be the end of us."
"You're still on that?" The moustached man said raising an eyebrow, he'd never quite been sold on the idea that this could become a world war, but even he was willing to be wary since the Allied Kingdom had joined. "Well, that's all the more reason for you to lend me a little extra firepower."
"I already told you can have her and her unit," Zettour replied. He'd initially been reluctant to let Rudersdorf take the 203rd, the point of the unit was to be a mobile reserve, not a vanguard unit. Still, he couldn't deny that they were the most effective unit they had on the roster and the amount of damage they could cause compared to the amount of supplies they required, meant that they were the ideal choice to save both manpower and materiel.
"What about the Prince's close combat company? Rudersdorf asked, already knowing Zettour's misgivings. "Degurechaff's paper on its implementation with mobile warfare was quite convincing and his speciality could come in handy if the enemy tries to dig in around the port cities."
The general staff was still split on how best to handle Prince Wilhelm. Most would like to keep the boy out of harm's way; he may have forgone his position as Letzenbourg head of state but he was still a relative of the Emperor, it could cause problems for morale if something happened to him.
Some had also expressed their concerns that he was now under the stewardship of "Zettour's mad dog." Degurechaff's newfound reputation worried some of the generals, who thought the girl's aggressive tendencies might rub off on him.
Despite the obvious drawbacks, Rudersdorf preferred to view the boy as a skilled soldier rather than a spoiled prince. Operation Lock Pick had proven that to be true. Rudersdorf argued that adding him and his company to the already formidable weapon that was the 203rd, only served to make the unit even deadlier. It would be wasteful not to deploy him alongside Degurechaff.
Zettour was on the fence about it. He agreed with his friend's arguments but there was the wider picture to consider, one that had started to cause ripples of concern among the High Command.
As soon as they had started to occupy the Republican mainland, they had found that anything in an Imperial uniform received a less than warm welcome. He supposed that was understandable given the circumstances, but the military police had already started experiencing major problems in the occupied territories. The stories surrounding Arene had caused the Republicans to believe they were monsters that would do unspeakable things to them now they had been conquered.
However, these problems were less prevalent in the areas entrusted to the Letzenbourg forces, with some Francois citizens hailing these soldiers as "their protectors form Imperial barbarism." It seemed that the Prince's reputation for mercy had even reached the François citizens and they believed they would be treated better under the Letzenbourg troops. Some of the local commanders had even resorted to dressing the Imperial troops Letzenbourg uniforms in places where resistance was highest just to keep the peace. It was fortunate the Charlemagne Treaty had combined their militaries, or this would have been legally dubious, although it was still uncomfortably close to being a war crime.
Ironically, the Francois citizen's impressions of the Letzenbourgers couldn't have been more mistaken.
He wasn't sure if it was the recent occupation of their country, or Prince Wilhelm's vow not to return to his home until the war ended but the field commanders had noticed a worrying aggressive tendancy among the Letzenbourg forces. At first, they had thought it a simple desire to reclaim the land lost to their people and they had proven to be highly effective and motivated soldiers in combat. Many had even earned commendations for their actions during Revolving Door and the subsequent push into the Republic.
However, this aggressive streak seemed to have gotten worse and Imperial troops had found their Letzenbourg colleagues taking out their frustration on the occupied citizenry. They'd had to remove the real Letzenbourgers from garrison duties just to replace them with Imperials masquerading as them.
The problem wasn't confined to the armed forces either. Since the treaty, the little country had been gripped by a wave of nationalism that extended throughout society. Aside from the people buying an almost unprecedented amount of war bonds for such a tiny nation, it had almost bled itself dry in an effort to supply more soldiers for the war effort. Additionally, the prime minister had opened Prince Wilhelm's volunteer program to non-mages, meaning the tiny nation was now receiving wannabe soldiers from across the world.
This caused its own problems, and some officers were already expressing concerns about how they would deal with this rabble. If things went wrong, Zettour believed that the young Prince might be the only one capable of controlling this mob, so he was inclined to keep him close at hand.
Besides, the propaganda department was always requesting Degurechaff and the Prince for various publicity stunts, having one of them around would at least keep them off his back. He wondered how the Major might react if they were separated.
Not well he imagined, she'd been very keen to have him under her command again.
He'd heard the rumours about them of course but even if they were true, he didn't take her for the sort to have him transferred for personal reasons. She'd been nothing but professional her entire career, if she wanted him in her unit there must have been a good reason for it. She must have seen something that they'd missed.
"You can have the combat company too; it'll be a good way to test out the mobile warfare doctrine." He conceded eventually, feeling a nagging feeling of doubt in his stomach again.
He didn't dare separate them now, Degurechaff's natural insight had proven to be too reliable to ignore. God help him, he felt as though if he did, he might somehow doom the Vaterland to certain failure. He didn't want to tell Rudersdorf this though, he knew he was being irrational, and he wasn't sure he could stomach the embarrassment to admit that to his friend. Still, something in his gut told him it was the right thing to do.
"I understand Project Shroud is due for a field test too. Since the Prince helped fund it, he should already be familiar with it. Will that give you enough to work with down there?"
It was a weak excuse Zettour knew, anyone could field test equipment but if his friend suspected he was hiding his true motivations, he was polite enough to ignore it.
"You're too generous, I'll have to make it up to you with some fine wine when this war is over." The moustached General thanked him graciously.
"Not at all, it's for the Vaterland after all." He returned with a smile feeling more comfortable now all disputes between them had been settled. "Now there's just the matter of the commander of the expeditionary force."
"Already done, Lieutenant General Romel will be commanding the expedition." Rudersdorf declared with a smile and a puff of smoke.
"Romel? He's not exactly known for following convention himself, are you trying to make this a hard sell to the General Staff?" Zettour joked in reply.
It was true that Romel was considered a little unorthodox compared to some of the officers that served the Imperial army, but in truth, Zettour agreed with his colleague's choice. The expeditionary force wouldn't be able to rely on tried and tested methods in the south, they needed a leader that could think on his feet and adapt his strategy to the situation. Romel was the ideal choice for this.
"He'll win us the south, I'm sure of it." Rudersdorf grinned before frowning slightly. "He did have one condition though, he wanted to meet those two first. He said if he didn't like what he saw, he wouldn't take them."
They stood in silence for a moment, they could order the General to take them of course, but Romel had a reputation for being very picky about his officers. Zettour could only imagine the stink he'd kick up if he was assigned officers he didn't trust. Then again, that would only be a problem if the man wasn't impressed by the pair.
"I don't think we need to worry," Zettour replied with a grin. "We're giving him a top strategist to deal with the enemy and a royal diplomat if our friends the Ildoans decide to cause us trouble, he'd be a fool to turn them down."
"Not to mention the best Mage Unit in the Empire," added Rudersdorf with a chuckle. "You'll make the man paranoid by giving him so much to work with, you're usually so stingy."
Zettour joined the laughter as he and his friend made for the door to head to the meeting, stopping briefly to glance at the map on a board by the door.
The South he thought, I've sent everything we can spare down there. If an opportunity to end this war arises on that front, I won't let it escape again.
Authors notes
Hello everyone and as always thank you all for reading.
Some of you might be a little disappointed that we aren't immedietly getting some Tanya and Will interaction after the party but I wanted to give an overview of everything else that was happening in the war and the Generaals were the best way I could think to do it.
I really enjoyed writing the Albion General's part so I hope you liked it. I always like when everyone misreads the situation in YS so I thought the idea that they think the fall of the Abwehr was deliberate would be an interesting development that served to make them paranoid. I also liked having the two points of view of the situation side by side.
Mary's letter was a bit more tricky as its a little harder to get into her head. She has a bit more of a simple attitude to the war and doesn't appreciate the complexity of the situation as much as others do but hopefully it feels in character for her.
I have a little time off over Christmas and because of Covid I'm limited to how much I can see my family and friends. On they upside though , I'll have mre free time sohopefully I can upload another Chapter within a few weeks.
Until then, thank you again for reading
Xanen