Operation Ingelström I: Reconnaissance
40 Years After the Great War
Londinium
Since its founding, the Russy Federation has always been a secretive and insular country. Despite its founder's calls for a worldwide revolution, its leaders quickly found that not everyone agreed with their aggressively socialist policies. And they were soon forced to turn inward to consolidate their control and prevent any counter-revolution against their new regime.
Even several years after the overthrow of the Tsars and unwavering efforts of their secret police to root out all trace of these so-called enemies of the state, the country remained almost completely closed. A mystery to the rest of the world. This was especially true under the brutal leadership of Josef Dzshugashvili, whose purges are now infamous around the world. Even if they are still not openly spoken about in the Federation.
This is perhaps why it is so difficult for us to understand the reasoning behind the Federation's decision to attack the Empire when they did. Indeed, looking at the few facts we know building up to March 15th, there seemed to be no logical reason for the eastern bear to intervene at all.
It's perhaps fortunate for the Empire that they had never truly learned to trust the Communists on their border. Even during the darkest hours of the Western front, the Empire kept some troops nearby to keep an eye on this incongruous neighbour. Had this not been the case, the war may have been over much sooner. At least the war against the Empire. – Andrew WTN Special Correspondent.
10th March Unified Year 1926
Letzenbourg-Dusseldorp Railway, Letzenbourg
Willibald Koenig let out a sigh as he watched the dark barren landscape of the Letzenbourg countryside pass by the window. The workers and engineers had been quick to repair the broken infrastructure after the success of operation revolving door, but the land took longer to heal. Even months after the fighting, only a few specks of half-dead grass had managed to find their way towards the ugly brown scar that covered the country where the trenches now lay abandoned and run down. It looked as though it would never heal, perhaps it never truly would.
It hadn't been so long ago that he and his comrades in the 203rd had flown above this area, fighting for the freedom of the Empire and their Letzenbourg allies. At the time he hadn't thought of this area as anything other than the battlefield, it hadn't occurred to him that this land had actually belonged to anyone. Now he could see people here and there, normal civilians picking through the debris and craters for some remnant of what they had once left behind, along with soldiers searching for mines and unexploded munitions.
He couldn't believe anyone would want to come back here. Why would they? It was an ugly mess, no longer any use to anyone.
I know how that feels.
He shook the thought from his head before turning away from the window and staring down at the prosthetic hand strapped to his arm. Due to the intensity of the war on the Rhine, he was far from the first soldier to receive a false limb. In truth, he knew he was lucky, there were hundreds if not thousands who had received far more grievous wounds than him.
Most were fitted with something more basic than his artificial hand, such as a hook or claw, while others were given false legs so they could walk. All were designed to allow them to grip or move so that they might return to work and some sense of normality, albeit with a degree of difficulty. However, as an officer, and a mage to boot, he was allocated something a little more extravagant. The Empire believed in giving the best to its elite soldiers.
He'd been told it was one of the finest available, designed specifically to fool the casual observer that it was a real hand. It was lightweight and made of easy to clean and maintain stainless steel, a true piece of craftsmanship they said. And in truth, he could see what they meant. With a glove covering the palm and fingers, and his sleeve covering where it strapped to his arm, it really did look almost like the real thing.
But it didn't move. Neither could it be adjusted to grip a rifle or handgun. It was an ornamental lump of metal designed so that people in polite society didn't have to stare at the poor disfigured soldier. It wasn't designed for the man who wanted to get back to work, it was designed for the officer that had to be around those who would feel uncomfortable seeing the cost of war.
He hated it.
The so-called lightweight did nothing to distract him from the constant dull ache that had accompanied him since they'd been forced to take the remainder of his hand. And although the design may have fooled a casual bystander, it did nothing to help him forget what he had lost. Not just his hand, but his ability to fight alongside his friends and comrades, his ability to make a difference.
I'd be better off without it. Hell, with one of the hooks the enlisted men are issued with, there's no reason why I shouldn't be back in the air with the others! He complained inwardly, resisting the urge to rip the thing off and throw it across the railcar. However, the memory of the Major during training appeared in his mind; the image of her contemptuous stare giving him pause as he forced himself to calm down.
She wouldn't accept him back like this, she'd said so herself as she'd seen him off.
"I understand your desire to continue working but your career as a frontline officer is over." The memory of those words still stung as he recalled the dispassionate way the Major had informed him that he was no longer officially part of the unit. "Your skills can be better utilised elsewhere."
"Elsewhere." He repeated with a sigh, wondering if she really meant that or just felt sorry for him. He could still remember how she'd tried to avert her eyes from his stump. Somehow the look of pity was far worse than the scornful glare she had given them while training in the mountains, or the manic laughter she often displayed as she assaulted the enemy.
Maybe I should have taken the prince's offer instead. He thought remembering the boy's visit as he had been boarding his ship back to the Empire. Unlike her, he'd been all smiles and acted as though he barely noticed his injury, it had been refreshing after the constant string of sympathy he'd received from everyone else. However, he soon turned serious and asked him a question he'd been dreading hearing.
"Do you still want to serve?"
He'd initially been insulted by those words, and even though it was the kind and gentle Prince Wilhelm, he was angry and could barely keep himself from screaming at the boy for even suggesting it. However, the boy quickly went on to explain that he had been quietly putting a little money away for each of the officers he'd been serving with, as a pension after the war or compensation in case the worst ever happened. It was typical of the kind-hearted boy. Even now, Warrant officer Tayanen and his family were living a little more comfortably after his discharge for food poisoning back on the Rhine. Although apparently, his intestinal problems had only gotten worse. Still, thanks to the prince's generosity, he and his family were able to live despite the man's ailments.
If he lived modestly enough, the money that Prince Wilhelm had offered was enough for him to manage for the rest of his life if he chose to leave the army. He'd even offered him a little extra in case he wanted to pursue something new, like the beerhouse Neumann had talked about opening after the war or the carpentry workshop that Sergeant Litz had been working in before he joined the volunteers.
He couldn't do that though; he had always planned on staying in the military. Besides he refused to allow himself to consider retirement while his comrades were still out there fighting. He'd never be able to look himself in the mirror again if he did.
He'd told the prince as much and the boy had accepted it with a silent nod. Telling him he would do all he could to support him and giving him the business card of his accountant if he were to change his mind.
No, I can't leave the military, for better or worse I'm here now. I'll just have to do what I can to make the best of it. Even with this thing strapped to my arm.
He let out another long sigh and closed his eyes, trying to ignore the rhythmic throb from his arm as the train clicked along the tracks and he thought about his new mission. He'd been assigned to oversee the training of the Letzenbourg volunteer brigades, since the Letzenbourg Prime minister had expanded the recruitment of these militias to those without magical talent, the quality and discipline of the soldiers had dropped dramatically.
According to the official reports, they were said to: "have a lot of enthusiasm but not much else." A surprisingly candid assessment from an official document. From what he could tell, they were considered more of a hindrance than anything else by the General staff and he'd been told by some of the officers that served alongside them that they were a mob that made the Dacians look like Special Forces. He could only imagine what the Major would make of them.
Worse still, the whole thing was political, with both the Letzenbourg government and what was left of their military leadership taking an active interest in the troop's training. He'd need to liaise with them regularly and so had been given the rank of Captain for the trouble. It seemed most VIPs wouldn't interact with a mere second lieutenant. To think, they said a promotion would cost an arm and a leg. I suppose they were half right.
In truth, Koenig didn't see why the Letzenbourgers were so insistent about training more troops at all. The war was more or less confined to the south, there was no need for these volunteers. But it seemed there were plenty of people out there that wanted to fight for Prince Wilhelm and neither the General Staff nor the High command had been able to dissuade the Letzenbourgers from continuing recruitment. There was even a rumour that the rulers of the little country had politely rebuffed the Crown Prince himself when he'd suggested toning it down. As such, they now had an untrained multinational rabble in uniform roaming the streets.
He was expecting a difficult time but, after months of convalescence, he needed something to challenge him and take his mind off things. It didn't quite feel like really being back at work, but it was the least he could do while the others were still fighting the Commonwealth and Republic.
The train screeched, breaking him from his thoughts as the sudden deceleration sent a shooting pain through his arm. He did his best to ignore it as he opened his eyes and glanced outside again. They'd now reached Letzenbourg city, another place he'd only really seen from the air. However, unlike the scarred countryside surrounding it, the city was buzzing with activity. Evidentially the rebuilding effort was in full swing here, likely due to the considerable funds contributed by the Empire when the prince had signed the Charlemagne treaty.
He rose from his seat, grabbing his briefcase from under the seat as the train finally ground to a halt, the engine hissing loudly as it vented steam. He stepped onto the platform and allowed himself a few moments to get his bearings but was surprised to find there were already a number of Letzenbourg soldiers and a balding man in a suit making their way towards him.
"Ah, Captain Koenig! How delightful to finally meet you!" Said the balding man, gesturing one of the soldiers to take his briefcase before taking Koenig's good hand and shaking it vigorously. "I'm Pierre Dupong, Letzenbourg's minister for defence, please come this way we have a car waiting for you."
Koening blinked with surprise. He'd expected someone would be waiting for him, but he wouldn't have dreamed that a senior member of the government and regency council would be waiting on the platform for him. Maybe the political side of this assignment would be worse than he feared.
"We're honoured to have a hero such as yourself working with us." The man continued as he ushered him out of the station, the soldiers hastily attempting to form an honour guard around him. "We're very keen to do everything we can to help end this war as soon as possible and I'm sure your input will be invaluable!"
Koenig found himself suppressing a smile as he thought of how the Major might have reacted to the minister. She'd been full of scorn about the Letzenbourg regulars, let alone these new militiamen. Only Prince Wilhelm and his mages had managed to impress her and even then, she was loath to admit it. He was sure that her assessment would be along the lines of: "the war effort was better off without you", or at least that's what she'd say once out of earshot of the diplomat.
Still, if she were here, she would do everything in her power to whip the recruits into shape, just like she had for Grantz and the replacements on the Rhine; and for the rest of the 203rd for that matter. He would have to do that too, although he didn't have an enemy trench or an artillery battery to help him out as she had.
"If only we could do more to help against the Commonwealth's navy, but we've only just got the ports generously ceded to us by the empire up and running." The balding little man continued as he led Koenig away from the station, heedless of any attempt to interject. "Still, we plan on building at least three torpedo boats by autumn, it's not much but every little helps, eh?"
Koenig began to wonder if all politicians spoke so much, so far he hadn't even had the chance to say hello and the man seemed to have no intention of allowing him a word any time soon. He began to see what they meant when they said the Letzenbourgers were enthusiastic. The way this man was talking, it sounded as though he expected them to invade the Allied Kingdom any day now.
Soon they arrived at the car, a luxury model imported from one of the Vaterland's most prestigious manufacturers with the Letzenbourg Lion flying from too little flags on the front. Again, he found himself surprised and slightly overawed at the reception he was receiving, this was a vehicle for visiting dignitaries and royalty, not a low level like him. However, he was quickly ushered into the back of the car by the minister while the soldiers climbed onto some waiting motorbikes, and they raced off towards their destination.
"As you can see from the city, we're doing everything we can to aid the war effort. The sooner it's all over, the sooner His Highness will return to us after all." The Minister continued, before pausing for the first time in their conversation. "Tell me, have you any news of our prince? You were serving with him not so long ago, yes? I look forward to hearing any tales you have of him later, but is he well?"
Despite being the first time he had been allowed to speak, Koenig found himself unsure of how to answer the man. He hadn't seen the prince for months and although he had been in good spirits when he last saw him, from what he'd heard from Visha and the others there had been an incident and he hadn't been doing so well recently. He wasn't sure the man would like to hear such an answer however, something about the way the man spoke told him that he should be careful when talking about the young prince.
"I'm not sure, I haven't seen him for some time." He replied honestly, deciding to omit what else he'd heard. It wouldn't do him any good to spread rumours without knowing how much truth there was to them. However, the disappointed look on the minister's face made him wonder if he should have said more.
"Of course, I understand you were injured in the line of duty. I hope you are recovering well." The man replied carefully as Koenig tried to ignore the man's sideways glance towards his false hand. "I apologise, I should have realised. We rarely hear from the prince and we're all keen to hear how he's doing. We mostly only hear what few reports are sent to us from the General staff."
Silence hung in the air for a moment as Koenig struggled to think of a diplomatic reply to the minister's words. It had almost sounded like the Letzenbourger was accusing the Imperial army of deliberately withholding information from them. Then again, if they were as zealous as the rumours said, he might not have been mistaken.
"Anyway, we should get down to business." The minister said eventually, perking up once again. "You'll be reporting to Brigadier General van Bylandt but for all intents and purposes you'll be in command of the training program, I'm sure your field experience will be invaluable. You'll be given an office and the instructors will report directly to you, however, I must warn you we have a shortage of officers at present. Many have been either imprisoned or executed for their role in Ludwig's insurrection, we've sent some new candidates to the War College in Berlun for further instruction so we hope to replace them soon, but these things take time. It is our firm hope that they'll return in time for the final push; we don't want anyone saying we're not pulling our weight."
Koenig nodded and tried to hide the feeling of disapproval from his face. It was hardly any wonder that they had a discipline problem if they had a shortage of officers. Most forces expected their junior officers to take care of many of the day-to-day problems, before joining the 203rd he'd rarely expected to see a major for much more than a briefing or a court-martial hearing. Suddenly he realised how lucky he'd been to be serving with someone as hands-on as Major Degurechaff.
"Ah, we're almost at Fort Lamberd." The minister said breaking Koenig from his thoughts. "I'm afraid I won't be able to show you around myself, there is still much to do. However, the Prime minister did ask me to extend an invitation to dinner this evening. I look forward to seeing you there, I'd love to hear some of your stories fighting alongside the Prince and Miss Degurechaff!"
Koenig suddenly found himself feeling decidedly less hungry as he thought of sitting for an entire meal with people like Mr Dupong but thought it better not to say that out loud. Maybe I could fob them off with the excuse that I'm busy settling in he thought searching for an excuse to avoid the meeting but again he thought of the major. She wouldn't try to get out of something she didn't want like that, I guess I'll have to put up with it.
"General Van Bylandt has arranged for someone to show you around. Good luck Captain." The Minister continued as the car came to a stop in front of the Letzenbourg fort and Koenig found himself taking a deep breath as he stepped out of the car.
"Sir!" A small voice piped up, causing him to glance around in surprise. A small boy, almost as small as the prince, had appeared in front of him and much like the young royal was wearing a miniature Letzenbourg uniform. He stood stiffly in front of him giving him a salute and a determined expression.
"Private second-class Reinhardt Haussmann reporting!"
10th March Unified Year 1926
Berlun-Templehof Aerodrome, Berlun
Tanya allowed herself a smile as the members of the 203rd let out a unanimous cheer as their transport plane touched down on the runway. They were finally home.
Part of her wanted to join them, in truth she was almost ready to fall on her knees and praise the General Staff for their progressive attitude towards troop deployments. It almost made her want to sing with glee that for the next few months her most dangerous activities would be training and administrative work. However, she knew it would undermine her authority with the troops if she were to indulge in such boorish behaviour, so she settled for a self-aggrandising grin instead.
All hail the Personnel department and their enlightened approach to conserving the health and wellbeing of their human resources! She smirked, hoping that Being X was listening in on her thoughts at this moment. The fake god would no doubt be furious that she had managed to escape his death traps once again and hearing her give thanks to her superiors rather than him would only aggravate the creature more.
She counted that as a victory; further proof that an enlightened and civilised human being no longer needed outdated concepts like faith.
All in all, their journey back from the south had been quite pleasant. Although they'd had to take a detour to avoid the Allied Kingdom's fighter planes stationed around their southern sea bases, they had made good time; even the weather had been on their side. It was almost a shame their pilots were being so efficient; she would have liked to stop off in Ildoa on the way back to try out some of the local cuisine. As talented as Neumann had been at turning the donated pasta into something edible, it would have been nice to try out the real thing.
Maybe I'll have to book a vacation in Roma when the war is over, I can go thumb my nose at being X's puppet in the Vatican while I'm there. She thought with a sneer, imagining the fury of the irrational so-called deity.
Even Wilhelm had been unable to spoil her good mood on the journey back, although it seemed as though he were not putting in as much effort to annoy her as usual. Despite their little talk, he had remained more like his old, cheerful self and had been happily chatting with the other officers for most of the trip. His only real attempt to bother her had been a misguided attempt to include her in a game of cards with him and Visha, something she knew was unwise considering the older girl's unusual talent for the game. Fortunately, she managed to avoid financial ruin and instead opted to sit alone with a coffee and an old copy of the Londinium times liberated from a captured commonwealth soldier. Apparently, the Imperial Navy had managed to sink the Allied Kingdom's flagship while she'd been in the south. It seemed the war was going well on all fronts.
She did take a little joy after overhearing how much the boy's wallet had been lightened by Visha's ruthless use of her cards, however. At least the mystery of why the battalion's budget was consistently higher than it should be had been solved. Visha regularly donated a portion of her winnings into the pot whenever she left a card game with a profit, she claimed she felt guilty taking so much from her comrades. If the rumours were to be believed, the soldiers remaining in the south were going to good deal better off now she had left, at least financially.
Weiss would no doubt organise a party with the proceeds, although knowing him it would contain far more alcohol than was healthy. She couldn't deny her soldiers this vice however, they had worked hard and deserved a break. As long as they managed to clean themselves up in time for their next duty shift; who was she to lecture them on the dangers of alcohol poisoning? She just wished she could get away indulging in a glass of Riesling herself from time to time, alas she would have to wait a few years for that.
Yes, things were looking good. She'd achieved good results in the south, no doubt going a long way towards repairing her relationship with the General Staff after her attempt to attack Brest, and she would be away from combat for the foreseeable future. What more could a good employee ask for?
Finally, the plane came to a halt and a Tanya watched through the window as a soldier pushed some steps up to the door to allow the passengers to disembark. She grabbed her kit bag and quickly exited, knowing the others would be just as keen as her to get both feet back on the ground. Protocol demanded they wait for her to get off first and it wouldn't do to make her employees wait after all the hard work they'd put in.
She soon found herself humming happily to herself, confident that her subordinates would be too distracted to notice and anyone else would struggle to hear it over the sounds of the engines and propellers echoing around the aerodrome. She wasn't even annoyed that Wilhelm had fallen in step beside her, his familiar presence almost a comfort at this point. Although that may have only been because she could be certain he wasn't up to something when he was close by.
"You're in a good mood." The little captain observed cheerfully as he sauntered along by her side. "Anyone would think you were looking forward to being away from the front."
Tanya ignored the boy's sarcastic barb; Wilhelm couldn't upset her today, she wasn't sure anything could.
"I could say the same for you." She replied with a sideways grin, "I'm surprised you didn't beg me to let you stay with Romel."
This much was true. Considering his preoccupation with paying off his so-called debt to being X, she had expected him to be doing all he could to prevent being sent back to the Empire but again he had been surprisingly well behaved.
"I'm sure I can manage to get myself posted to one of the Albion raids." He replied with a shrug as Tanya tried not to be annoyed by his nonchalant assurance that he would get what he wanted. She wasn't about to let him out of her sight if she could help it, and she certainly wasn't volunteering to fly out over the Allied Kingdom for an ill-advised harassment attack. However, she decided to keep that quiet for now; there was no point in ruining the good mood. "Besides, I need to get to work arranging your transfer."
She wasn't about to let him do that either. He'd embarrassed her enough with his display in front of General von Romel, the last thing she needed was him repeating the performance for the senior officers of the general staff. Unfortunately, that meant she'd have to keep him close again to prevent him from trying anything. It was beginning to feel like she'd never get away from the problematic little captain.
"It seems I can start work on that sooner than I thought." He continued, drawing her gaze towards a trio of approaching officers, including a pair of familiar faces.
The presence of Lieutenant Colonel von Rerugen was always a comforting sight for Tanya. Since the Generals were usually busy orchestrating the war, the colonel was often used as their personal messenger. It had gotten to the point that he almost seemed like the General staff's de-facto mouthpiece, so having him here to meet them was a sure sign that her superiors had forgiven her for overstepping her authority.
The second familiar face was one she would not have usually expected; however, it was no less pleasant to see her old friend Major Max von Ugar. The last she'd heard he was working in the Service corps under General von Zettour. As she understood it, he was one of the officers with the difficult and thankless task of making sure their supplies reached their destinations. Perhaps he'd been the one that had arranged their flight back.
The third officer she did not recognise, however, experience told her that he was likely from intelligence. They were known to be impatient when it came to reports and she'd learned in the south that General von Romel did not send as many reports to command as many of her superiors would have liked and routinely refused to act on requests for clarification. This officer likely wanted to debrief them as soon as possible to fill in a few gaps in the records. Something that might have been admirable if not for how poorly the Empire's intelligence department tended to squander its information nowadays.
"Major Tanya von Degurechaff and the 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion reporting, Sir!" As always Tanya made sure to greet her superiors with a textbook salute and introduction. She may have known some of these officers well, but such familiarity was no reason to break with protocol. Unfortunately, Wilhelm did not agree with that sentiment.
"Colonel von Rerugen, Major Ugar, it's good to see you both again. I hope you are well." Said the boy echoing her greeting in a far more unprofessional manner. Even his salute is sloppy, maybe I'll force him to go through boot camp again so he can refamiliarize himself with the basics of soldiering.
"Welcome home." Rerugen replied with a friendly smile, fortunately unperturbed by the boy's lacklustre show of civility. "You've accomplished great things down south and General von Romel speaks highly of you and your unit. Both myself and the General staff are very impressed with the reports."
Tanya heard Wilhelm breathe in and was certain he would once again try to embarrass her by embellishing her achievements. However, with the greeting now over she was able to stand at ease, so she took the opportunity to surreptitiously shove her boot into one of Wilhelm's shins to force him into silence.
"You honour me too highly; we were simply doing our duty for the Vaterland." She replied automatically as Wilhelm fought not to let out a yelp in the corner of her eye. It was one of the many phrases she'd learned that were expected of a soldier. She was certain no one really believed it, aside from maybe her band of war nuts, but it was the sort of phrase superiors liked to hear. It was not unlike the Salaryman's old workplace really; there was an attitude expected of a good employee. The language had just changed slightly.
"I'm sure you faced many unique difficulties in the desert, we have limited experience with expeditions outside the Vaterland." The colonel continued, his words causing a surge of jubilation to bubble up inside Tanya. This was clearly the man's way of tactfully informing her that the General Staff had forgiven her, they were even praising her. They were even acknowledging that she now had expertise that most of their officers were lacking in; could this be a hint that they plan to move her to the strategic department to begin propagating this newfound knowledge?
Calm down, I'm getting ahead of myself. She chided herself inwardly, feeling slightly drunk off her success.
"By the way." The man continued casually, "We haven't yet received the latest reports, how is your unit?"
It's wonderful to work for an organisation that takes such good care of its employees. Tanya thought happily, we're barely off the plane and they want to be sure of the health of the battalion!
A reminder of how much she and her troops were valued was always welcome. Additionally, he had given her the opportunity to boast about an achievement she could hold up as proof of her good leadership. Even Wilhelm couldn't ruin with exaggerated claims of superhuman feats.
"We suffered very few losses, since my last report we have suffered no additional casualties. I estimate the battalion as a whole is at least ninety-five percent combat effective." She reported enthusiastically, choosing to leave out that most of their losses had been in Wilhelm's close combat company and even then, it was compounded by him sending Captain Zerbist away. The main loss had been Lieutenant Koenig, one of her veterans, unfortunate to be sure. They'd been forced to train up Grantz as his replacement. She wondered how Koenig was getting on, she'd have to ask Rerugen later.
The colonel seemed pleased with her report however she did notice something strange as she delivered her account. Max seemed to have gone pale and was wearing a frown as he fidgeted slightly behind Rerugen. She hoped the man hadn't been overworking himself, or worse still he'd fallen foul of another batch of those rotten potatoes. It would be both embarrassing and unfortunate if he found himself with a medical discharge because the General Staff office cafeteria kept churning out inedible food. Not everyone had the iron constitutions of Generals Rudersdorf and Zettour.
"Good, and how is morale?" Rerugen continued as Ugar began to sweat slightly behind him. Seriously, the cooks at the General staff office should be court marshalled!
Unfortunately, by this point, Wilhelm had recovered from his bruised ankle and she could see him studying the situation with a thoughtful frown. More annoyingly, he decided to choose this moment to chime in once again.
"I think I can say the entire battalion has more than earned a good re –"
Once again Tanya took steps to silence the boy before he ruined anything, this time an elbow in his side which she hoped was disguised as a friendly gesture. It was better her superiors thought she were overly familiar with the brat than allowing him to embarrass her again after all.
"What Captain Hozollern means is that everyone has been looking forward to coming home. However even before that morale has remained high and the men are all in great spirits." She cut in, feeling quite pleased with how well she'd interrupted the boy's attempted sabotage. Her report on how high the morale was useful too, maintaining good spirits with her troops was another sign of strong leadership, something she needed to show to secure a transfer to the strategy division.
"You never cease to surpass expectations." Said the Colonel while Tanya felt her chest swell with pride, such high praise was definitely a sign of good things to come.
"Now let's talk about your next mission."
Tanya paused unsure if she'd heard the man correctly. She was going on leave, there wasn't supposed to be any mission.
"You know Major Ugar from the Railroads division, he's arranged transport up north for you and an aircraft for the operation." The man continued as a wave of horror swept over her, he was serious, they were really sending them straight out on another mission. "And this is Captain Rudolf with Strategic Recon, he will brief you en route."
"R…Recon?" She squeaked, unable to keep the shock from her voice. There had to be some mistake, it couldn't be true, the General staff cared about the wellbeing of their human resources. "But…"
"We expect great things from you Major, farewell and good luck."
15th March Unified Year 1926
The Lietuvos Socialist Republic, Russy Federation, 30 miles from Imperial Border
Damn the General Staff! I hope they all rot in Hell! Tanya swore internally as she lay on the hard frozen ground of the Lietuvos Socialist Republic, one of the Russy Federation's puppet regimes behind the iron curtain.
How could they do this to me! Why am I always so overworked? Tanya bemoaned as she struggled to come to terms with her current situation. It wasn't fair! They were supposed to be enjoying some R&R, not lying in a frozen backwater watching the Reds run artillery drills! Surely this is asking too much! What happened to fair labour laws! What happened to conserving the wellbeing of our human resources!
She felt her fingers clench into a fist reflectively as she strove to hold her temper. In truth she was angrier with herself than anyone else; the south had dulled her social skills and she'd missed the obvious signs that something was wrong. She'd realised too late that the sudden appearance of so many friendly faces at the aerodrome was a far cry from the welcoming committee she'd assumed it to be. She'd even missed Major Ugar's silent attempts to warn her as she'd happily boasted about how well they'd performed.
That misstep had sealed their fate. Instead of a thank you for a job well done and a quick interview with intelligence, she'd been given an emergency briefing and shipped straight out east. Rather than consideration from the General staff, the familiar officers had been sent to make sure they arrived in a new theatre as quickly as possible. And she'd allowed it to happen.
It was intolerable! As much as she liked efficiency, she couldn't believe her superiors would stoop to adding so much to her workload out of the blue like this. They were acting like one of those black companies the Salaryman had heard of in the old world, where the management asked for unreasonable amounts of overtime with no compensation or reward.
Had she been working in the private sector, she'd have seriously started considering taking her skillset to a competing company. Unfortunately, working for the military didn't allow for much choice when looking for a new employer, especially in wartime. The only competitors were other nations and threatening to defect would land her in front of a firing squad. Thus, she was stuck. The military had a monopoly over her time and they were content to run her ragged.
That was why the private sector was infinitely more preferable to any public or state-run organisation, they had a vested interest in keeping their workforce happy. The military could learn a thing or two from the business world, although she had to concede that free-market ideals might not always transfer that well to the armed forces.
She closed her eyes and forced herself to calm down, doing her best to ignore the damp making its way through her flight suit as the frost slowly melted underneath her. In truth, this mess wasn't entirely the General staff's fault. If she were being completely honest their reasoning for sending her out had been sound, and not a little worrying.
The intelligence officer accompanying Colonel Rerugen, Captain Rudolf from the 437th strategic recon unit, had revealed that the Empire's spies along the Eastern border had fallen inexplicably silent. Worse still there had been unconfirmed reports of vast amounts of manpower and matériel being directed towards the Empire's borders. This had understandably worried the General Staff and they were concerned the Russy Federation was up to something. Mass mobilisation on your doorstep wasn't exactly something you could ignore.
The whole thing could all be for show, of course, totalitarian dictatorships enjoyed wasting men and equipment on pointless displays of power after all, but the Empire couldn't afford to be complacent. They'd been caught flatfooted by both Legadonia and the Republic in the past and they were determined not to let it happen again. Besides, the Federation had always played its cards close to its chest, you could never be sure what they were thinking. That was why the Empire had always kept some forces on their eastern flank, even when the Rhine was at its bloodiest, they hadn't moved. Everyone knew the communists couldn't be trusted.
Unfortunately, that was where she and her battalion came in.
They had been ordered behind enemy lines to investigate; that in itself was enough to set off alarm bells for Tanya. If they were caught, the Federation could interpret the action as an act of war. That the General staff were willing to risk gifting them a casus beli showed how serious this situation had become. However, it seemed they now had no other way to accurately find out what was happening in the paranoid country, particularly since the Abwher was still recovering from the damage that Wilhelm had caused.
The brass had done all they could to sneak them over the border as quietly as possible. After a train ride up north, they had been bundled into a camouflaged transport plane and sent over the Baltic Sea. The hope was that dropping in the night would both help avoid detection and give credence to the cover story that they were lost during a training exercise should they be caught. Either way, Tanya had no intention of being captured by communists; she couldn't be certain they would follow the rules of war.
On an intellectual level, she knew this operation was necessary, they needed to find out what was happening and this was the quickest way to do it. However, there was one question that kept going through her head.
Why me?
Maybe there is something to be said about Wilhelm's suffering from success theory. She thought with another sigh as she reached for her binoculars to take another look at the huge railway gun below.
"Communists, why don't you stick to ruining your own country?" She murmured as she watched a Russy officer shout at his rabble of conscripts. She'd always thought it was optimistic of the Empire's Leadership to think that they could live peacefully with such troublesome neighbours. She could understand why they tried of course; they had to at least try to extend the olive branch and negotiate the non-aggression pact. They were logical people like herself, and as logical human beings, they undoubtedly hated war and believed that killing people was an inexcusable waste of resources and human capital.
However, the Communists believed in the destruction of personal rights and the free market, they believed in a totalitarian rule that removed almost all hint of freedom. The fact that they seemed to be so willing to throw away the Empire's kind offer of peaceful coexistence was proof they could not be trusted. If the worst happened, and they were forced to engage, Tanya could at least be sure that she was fighting on the right side. After all, fighting totalitarian communists in order to defend a relatively free world was practically a battle of good versus evil. A Holy war of sorts she thought with a grin, relishing twisting the definition to suit her purposes.
She shook the thoughts from her head and concentrated on the task of observing the soldiers below. As expected, they seemed ill-disciplined and poorly trained compared to most soldiers she'd observed. She found herself tutting at their behaviour as she watched, even the Dacians had shown more professionalism than this.
Their poor performance was obviously one of the side effects of their flawed ideology. The removal of their personal freedoms and will to push for better accomplishments had ruined any potential they had. That was why communism was such an abhorrent system, its destruction of the free market and the ideals it entailed went against basic human nature. No wonder they needed to fill their forces with political officers to keep everyone in line.
Still, she couldn't fault them on the hardware they'd brought. The Railway gun was at least as big as the ones she'd seen on the Rhine, not necessarily a good choice in the terrain around the border but it was an impressive sight, and it would have enough range to penetrate deep into friendly territory. If the goal was to coerce the Empire into some trade concessions, then this wasn't a bad tool to use. Its soldiers may not be all that intimidating, but looking at this showed they hadn't made all the same mistakes as Dacia.
But why try this now? Why not when the Empire had been already fighting on two fronts? It seemed very strange that the Federation would choose the point when the Empire was, for all intents and purposes, winning the war to start threatening them. It was almost unnatural. States like the Federation relied on intimidation, they were experts at it, and they knew when best to employ it. Why hadn't they struck when the Empire was weaker?
Are they subject to some sort of outside influence? The Allied Kingdom maybe? No that couldn't be it, the Russy were politically isolated from the world, and even more unfriendly to the Allied Kingdom than the Empire.
Could it be being X? No, that doesn't make sense either. She thought with a frown as she continued to watch the Russy troops heft their mountains of munitions from a nearby supply train. The communists were all almost exclusively atheists, it was one of the few good things about them.
They had instituted a policy of state atheism and actively tried to remove religious iconography and replace it with the symbols of their Federation. Although Tanya disagreed with the assault on personal freedoms, even the freedom to worship a foolish concept like god, and the attempt to shove their idiotic ideology down people's throats, she could understand the idea of ridding the populace of their archaic beliefs. It was just a shame the communists were so ham-fisted about it, just like they were with everything else.
Still, it meant she could be fairly certain Being X had nothing to do with this, after all, who would listen to him in a country full of non-believers? However, it still didn't explain the Russy's current illogical actions, she could only conclude the whole thing was caused by classic communist ineptitude.
"It's probably all a bluff right? It's not even worth worrying about." She heard Wilhelm say at her side, letting out an anxious laugh. "It's probably just a drill to keep us on our toes."
Tanya lowered her binoculars and turned towards the boy laying in the dirt at her side. He was pale, more so than usual, and wore an anxious look on his face as he gnawed on his thumbnail nervously. Unlike herself, his binoculars remained on his belt, but his eyes darted around each of the distant figures as though they were searching for confirmation of his words. He was distracted and distant, despite asking the question aloud, Tanya doubted he would hear her answer if she deigned to respond.
Wilhelm had been acting strange again since he'd heard the briefing on their deployment; in truth, he seemed more upset about this mission than she did. During the meeting, he'd asked Colonel Rerugen several times to confirm that the mission was not to attack or provoke the Federation, becoming increasingly agitated every time. Since then, he'd spent most of his time quietly murmuring to himself, a fact that she was acutely aware of since he insisted on staying so close to her.
For some reason this entire situation had the little captain rattled. It was strange that the boy she'd seen casually slice through machine-gun nests was so obviously worried about a reconnaissance mission. Stranger still, he wasn't even trying to hide it from the battalion or the other officers, for once he didn't seem to care how he might be perceived. She'd expected him to be thrilled at the idea of another way to pay his "debt" but so far, he seemed to be almost as eager as her to be as far away from here as possible.
He blinked and turned to meet her stare, keeping a cautious eye on the activity below as he looked at her imploringly. "They wouldn't be crazy enough to fire right? They don't have anything to gain."
Tanya wasn't sure how to answer. People crazy enough to implement communist systems were crazy enough to do just about anything in her opinion; and were more than happy to give up what they had to achieve it. However, she felt a little shiver as she stared into his pleading eyes and found she wasn't able to force herself to say that to the boy right now.
"Weiss and the others will be back soon. Once we have more information about the other positions, we might be able to find out what's going on." She replied opting for a neutral response as she turned back to her binoculars; staring into those green orbs was making her uncomfortable.
"What's wrong with you anyway? You don't usually get this nervous about a mission." She continued, cutting the little captain off before he could ask any more impossible to answer questions about the minds of the communists. His latest bout of unusual behaviour was already starting to grate on her nerves. "What's the matter, not enough Russy in the Federation for your debt?"
"Very funny! Make jokes while we sit in hostile territory!" The boy spat angrily and much to her surprise, causing a pang of regret about the petty gibe she'd made at the boy's expense. "It'll make me feel much better when they drag me off to Yekaterinburg to be buried in a basement with my so-called cousins!"
Tanya paused her observation of the Federation forces and glanced over at Wilhelm again. She'd expected some pushback from her comment, of course. This was Wilhelm she was talking to, he always liked to have the last word. Usually, he'd just make his own little rebuttal, often infuriating her further, and move on. He wouldn't normally become so hostile and defensive over something like this. Did this mission really bother him that much? She felt like there was something she was missing.
"Calm down and stay quiet." She replied, mindful that the boy's sudden outburst might cause unwanted attention if they were not careful. "What on earth are you talking about?"
"In case you've forgotten, I'm not exactly the most popular person in these parts. Unlike you, they are still labouring under the assumption that I am royalty and therefore the personification of the evil oppressive imperialist ideas they've sworn to wipe out! If anyone realises I'm here, they'll have every weapon from here to Silberia trained on me! And I doubt telling them I'm a fraud will do much to dissuade them!" The boy replied desperately, his voice sounding more like a whimper than a whisper.
"You're being paranoid." She replied quickly, trying to push aside the stab of guilt she felt for not sharing the truth about his heritage she had learned from Canaris. "It isn't like they'd single you out."
"Easy for you to say! I've had communists trying to kill me all my life! They even broke into my room in the Ducal Palace. Now I'm in a country filled with these people, do you really think I want to be anywhere near this place?"
Tanya scanned the boy's face and words for some sign that this was another deception on the boy's part but was surprised to see there was nothing but genuine fear. She hadn't seen him like this since the rooftops of Letzenbourg; Wilhelm was well and truly terrified.
She wanted to laugh. The boy who usually had no fear of battle, who recklessly threw himself into combat with nothing but a sword, was scared of fighting the Federation. The boy who she'd seen take joy from cutting down Republicans, people whom Tanya had no real antipathy to aside from their stubborn refusal to surrender, was terrified of fighting people that she believed were beneath contempt. They almost deserved to have Wilhelm's murderous intent set on them as far as she was concerned. Although she would still lament the waste of human resources of course, if only because without the communist brainwashing they might have been useful members of society.
It was ironic, this was possibly the closest she'd ever come to truly understanding Wilhelm. He was almost making sense, except he'd gotten it was backwards! The little Captain had finally grown a sense of self-preservation but he'd done so at a time when they were on the precipice of fighting the only people in this world Tanya could conceivably consider evil. You really are a bastard aren't you Wilhelm, she thought with a grin, you're even more of a coward than I am!"
After all this time he was finally starting to act like a logical human being, he was learning to hate war just like her. Even this new showing of fear was healthy, it meant he might work a little harder to avoid doing anything foolish. She would have to make sure his new show of cowardice wouldn't effect his performance of course but she didn't expect that to be too difficult. In the meantime, she felt like having a little fun with him. After all, he'd put her through, she deserved a little payback.
"What's the matter, don't speak Rus? Worried your mind games won't work on the Russy?" She teased glancing back towards the Railway gun below. "You've always managed to trick them before, maybe you should brush up on your language skills."
"Trakhat' tebya!" The bratty captain hissed back, grabbing her arm to tear her attention away from her duty. "It's fine for you! If you're captured you'll just be sent to a POW camp, if they get me, I'll be paraded through Red square and have my execution broadcast to the world!"
Tanya tore her arm away from his grip, giving him a brief elbow in the ribs in rebuke for his overfamiliar actions and foolish comment. Wilhelm was delusional if he thought a communist POW camp was any better than a firing squad. The Federation wouldn't treat their prisoners with anything other than contempt but at least she now knew what the source of the boy's newfound fear really was. He feared being captured.
She supposed it made sense. As a member of the Imperial Royal Family, he was probably confident that the Republic or the other allies would treat him well if he were downed in combat, he had been the last time he'd been captured after all. Even if he'd been caught by one of the soldiers who'd seen how cruel he could really be, his social status would probably save him from the worst of it. But the Russy had been brainwashed into believing people like him were the devil, for lack of a better word. Suddenly his shield of privilege was gone; if anything happened out here he was in the same boat as every the rest of them.
Well, I suppose I should cut him a little slack, at least until we're back in friendly territory.
"We won't be captured Wilhelm, I won't allow it." She replied, injecting authority into her voice in an attempt to calm the boy. "If we need to engage, we'll take out what we can and break back through the lines."
"But−" The boy began only to be interrupted by the return of Captain Weiss.
"Sorry to interrupt ma'am." Her deputy began as Tanya nodded for him to continue. "The other positions are the same as this one, a lot of troops and a lot of heavy artillery pointed at the border."
Suddenly, there was a loud grinding as the barrel of the vast artillery piece began slowly rising into the air. The sound of tortured machinery and metal filling the air as the massive war machine fought with gravity to position itself in firing position. Tanya ground her teeth with frustration before gesturing for Weiss to ready the others. It looked as though it was really going to happen. War with the Russy Federation.
Abruptly, the weapon came to a halt and an expectant silence hung in the air.
"They won't fire, they can't!" Wilhelm breathed as they stared at the gun, and for a moment it seemed he was right.
But then the gun fired.
Authors Notes
Hi everyone and thank you all for reading
As usual, I have to apologise for the lateness of this chapter, however, the blame mostly falls on my beta reader's employer this time. The chapter has been finished for a couple of weeks but due to his work, he hasn't been able to get back to me as soon as I would have liked. The upside of this is that I've been working on the next one (which I already think is much better) and I'm already over halfway through it. Hopefully, that means less wait (assuming Vimmy-Vickers-1919's employer allows him time to check it for me that is).
Overall, I don't believe this to be the best chapter I've written. It suffers a bit from being a transition from one theatre to another and needs to do a lot of setting up for what comes next. I've tried to combat this by adding some humour here and there to keep it interesting, particularly with Tanya. Hopefully, that helped keep it a little more interesting.
Trakhat' tebya! Means Fuck You! in Russian…. I hope. Google translate says it is and that's about the best I can do, if I am incorrect and you know the correct way, please let me know and I'll adjust it. I thought about putting it in Cyrillic but worried it would be even less correct, and since most of my readers are unlikely to be able to read it anyway, it's probably for the best. Either way, I just wanted to show that Will spoke Russy, even if I do not lol.
Thank you for the favs, follows and reviews and I hope you continue reading my story.
Xanen