Tieagenhoff Offensive I: The Approaching Storm
40 Years after the Great War
Londinium
The battle of Tiegenhoff is considered one of the most important early engagements of the war on the eastern front, with many describing it as the Federation's first real taste of what the Empire was capable of on the battlefield.
Although the Federation made staggering headway in their initial assault; after a month of fighting their advance began to slow and was eventually halted almost completely in the face of the Empire's formidable interior lines strategy. This was aided by the Imperial forces' staunch defence of the strategically important city of Tiegenhoff. Its location allowing the Germanians not only to deny their enemy the use of the port and rail hub, but use it as a staging post for strikes behind the advancing Federation forces.
With the problems at their backs mounting, and slowing the progress at the front, it was hardly surprising that the Federation commanders would look to secure their fragile supply lines. However, historians often debate if the assault on the city was the wisest course of action on the part of the Federation Generals. Indeed, some claim the reinforcements allocated for the assault would have been better used in the north where they were coming under pressure from the Imperial counterattack. Or perhaps in Dacia where the Imperial forces in Tiegenhoff forces could not strike their supplies and an anti-Imperial resistance movement had already begun gaining influence.
Regardless of what may have been, the Federation chose to come down on the city with all its might. And amazingly almost without the Imperials noticing. – Andrew WTN Special correspondent.
May 2nd Unified Year 1925 10:10
Rear Imperial Defence lines, Elbing, Maseria, 90km south-west of Tiegenhoff
Colonel Ernst Vogel tried to stifle a yawn as his staff car delivered him back to brigade headquarters. He felt as though he had barely slept since the Russy first attacked over a month ago, but these last two weeks had felt especially exhausting. He'd almost forgotten what it was like to sleep more than a few hours at a time. He wondered where the Russy soldiers found so much energy, even now he could hear traces of distant fighting, in spite of the engine noise from the car.
Despite managing to stabilise the lines and dig in to defensive positions, the Empire had been under near-constant attack from the Red Army. There was no respite for anyone on the eastern front as the Feds threw their strength across the entire front in the hopes of finding a weakness. At first, Vogel had hoped this might be a blessing in disguise. The enemy was spreading themselves thin; theoretically, this meant the numerically inferior Imperials were fighting on slightly more equal terms. However, as the days wore on it was increasingly turning into a nightmare for the beleaguered defenders.
If the Reds had gathered their forces in one spot, as was common in Imperial combat doctrine, they might have been able to punch through by now. Such an outcome was hardly desirable but the Eastern Army had strategies with which to counter such an attack. However, it seemed like the communists were not content to simply make themselves an opening; they wanted to wear down all possible resistance in their path. As it stood, brigades like his were exhausted and struggling to even hold their assigned sectors, while Eastern command's strategic reserve had been run so ragged that it was practically a spent force. It was only a matter of time until something gave out and when it did there was a real fear that the entire line would collapse with it.
The Eastern army had always feared that the Federation would use its vast reserves of manpower should the nations come to blows. The Imperial army had already received its fair share of attrition on the Rhine and that had been against an enemy actively trying to minimise it. The Russy had no such restraint and seeing them use their numbers so readily was terrifying. The Federation might not have gained much more ground after the initial assault, but the defender's ability to fight was eroding fast. It was only the fear of what the communists would do to the Vaterland that kept most of the soldiers from running.
He just wished the General Staff would allocate them more troops, they could use all the help they could get out here. The option to properly rotate their troops would be nice too. He might have been exhausted but at least he was able to catch a quick nap when travelling to the army group's headquarters. His men were not nearly as lucky and he'd pushed most of them far beyond what regulations suggested. They really needed reinforcements.
Ah, but you have reinforcements! He thought sardonically, parroting the words of the general in his mind as he let out a heavy sigh. A fine body of men that everyone seems keen to unload onto someone else! And I drew the short straw.
His "reinforcements" were another thing that had been causing him sleepless nights lately. A fresh batch of recruits from the Letzenbourg volunteer army that was increasingly becoming a major pain in the neck. It's not as though I don't appreciate the extra personnel but…
He found himself suddenly far more tired as his car began to slow as it approached the scarred town hall that he had commandeered as his headquarters. He could already see one of the principal factors that had been causing him so many problems of late. A young man in his early twenties patiently waiting at attention and radiating the sort of misplaced enthusiasm that most experienced officers learned to dread as the car came to a halt in front of him.
"Welcome back colonel! I have all the reports you missed while you were away ready for your inspection!" The young man saluted, looking almost like he would explode if he were forced to wait any longer. Just being around the boy made him feel older, or at least as though his life was being drained from him. Then again, that might have just been the effect of seeing so much paperwork.
"Captain Frantz, how good of you to meet me here with the contents of my desk." He commented snidely as he opened the car door and stepped out onto the shell-marked street, not bothering to hide the sarcasm in his voice. Thus far, experience had taught him the young officer was too oblivious to notice it.
"Not a problem sir! Despite what your adjutant told me, I was certain you'd want to see them as soon as you returned." The young captain replied, falling into step beside Vogel as they made their way into the headquarters.
Why couldn't you have brought me something useful like a coffee? Or a stiff drink? Ernst groaned inwardly, wishing the young man had enough sense to realise that no officer wanted to be bombarded with such a pile of information the moment they arrived; he would have enough of that once he got to his office. Couldn't he even let him have this moment of peace? Or at the very least only give him the key points! He'd even brought along ammunition requisition forms!
"Shouldn't you be on duty in the command centre Captain?" Vogel replied doing his best to hide his mounting frustration. "I was hoping you could get a better picture of how we do things before you and your company are deployed to the front."
In truth, he was worried the young officer and his rabble would do something reckless the moment he turned his back. As such he had kept them around headquarters under the guise of familiarisation training. Meanwhile, Captain Franz had been stationed in the command centre in the hopes that he might manage to pick up some common sense from the other officers. When he'd been summoned to regional HQ, he'd left the boy in the hands of his deputy.
"Major Drachmann said I seem to have a decent grasp of things. He said he didn't mind sparing me so that I could help bring you up to speed." The Captain replied in what might have been a helpful tone if the young idiot weren't so hell-bent on making life more difficult for him.
Et tu, Herman? He groaned inwardly, a headache beginning to form in his temples as he bemoaned his deputy's treacherous action to place the Letzenbourger back in front of him. Drachmann had probably gotten fed up with babysitting the young man too. This sort of betrayal couldn't go unpunished, his deputy was going to find himself with a lot more work after this.
"Excuse me sir, Could I ask if you were able to forward my plan to the general?" The enthusiastic young captain continued, forcing Vogel's mind away from his thoughts of petty vengeance against his second in command. Franz was looking at him with a hopeful expression, clearly unable to keep the expectation from his features. However, for Vogel, each enthusiastic word and expression from the junior officer felt like a vice tightening around his temples.
Of course I didn't! You'd have to be insane to consider something like that! Vogel grumbled to himself, struggling to stop himself from snapping at his overly enthusiastic junior. We're barely holding the line! We are using shells as fast as they can ship them to us and we're low on manpower! In what world would a counteroffensive make sense right now?
"The General's staff will take a look at it when they get the chance I'm sure." He lied repressing a sigh. Usually, he would have congratulated the young captain for taking some initiative, but the man had no concept of patience or good timing. He wasn't sure if he was incredibly optimistic or just terrible at reading how bad the situation was. He'd only looked at the plan himself in an effort to be diplomatic.
Unfortunately this small bit of encouragement for what he assumed was a young officer keen to impress his new commander had been taken as support for a broad offensive along the front. He'd been bugging him daily to present it to the general, so much so Vogel was beginning to think he was more relentless than the communists.
In the end, he'd decided it was easier to allow him to believe he'd passed it on to the higher-ups. Let him believe it was lost in the bureaucracy, he didn't have time to explain to the man why his plan would fail. He had more important things to worry about.
"Thank you, sir! I'd like to show you a few more ideas−"
Fortunately for Vogel, the young captain did not have the opportunity to continue his overeager attempts to impress as another young officer rushed out of the building and rushed towards them. However, his heart sank once more as he recognised the distinctive metal gorget around the man's neck indicating that he was one of the Feldgendarmeries. He knew that the army needed the military police, but seeing one of them rushing towards you with a worried look was a sure sign your day was about to get much worse.
"Colonel! I'm glad I've found you." The officer called with a salute, sparing a sideways glance at the younger officer before he continued. "It's the Letzenbourgers again, they've gotten into a brawl with some men from Captain Bruhn's company."
Vogel let out another groan and made a mental note to find some painkillers for his head while the young captain at his side alternated between objecting to the MP's words and apologising for the trouble. He was beginning to see why so many men turned to drink, at this point he'd even drink that drain cleaner the Albish called whiskey if it would make all this go away.
"I apologise sir, it's true my men are spirited but this must have been another misunderstanding." The Letzenbourger captain replied defensively, as Vogel bid the MP to lead them to the makeshift holding area where they were keeping the offenders. "These were the same men guarding Prince Wilhelm's palace until a few weeks ago, I promise you they are usually exceptionally well disciplined."
The man seemed so convinced of his words that Vogel might have believed him if he hadn't already had problems with the Letzenbourg contingent. Under normal circumstances, he might have just assumed this was Franz being loyal to his men but at times the man seemed utterly blind to the discipline issues in his ranks. There had been a fight between them and another of his companies on the day that they arrived. He hadn't been able to understand why they were so hostile; they were all Imperial citizens now the Charlamagne treaty had been signed. Shouldn't they all be friends?
He should have known then there'd be a problem there and then. Unfortunately, he'd been told to be diplomatic with his new charges so had asked the Feldgendarmeries to be lenient. He was beginning to wish he'd had the whole company locked up.
Despite the young captain's protests, they soon made it towards the small outcrop of buildings the feldgendarmeries had commandeered for their thankless task. Despite the sound of artillery fire once again opening up in the distance, he found himself instinctively more concerned about the small crowd that had gathered around the office of the lieutenant in charge. Along with a group of harassed-looking gendarmeries.
"Sergeant, clear these men out of here!" He ordered, uncomfortably aware of the angry glares passing between the black uniforms of the Letzenbourgers and the olive khakis of the Imperials of Bruhn's company. This issue could very easily spill out of control if they weren't careful. "If you have time to gawp at the military police, I'm sure we can find something more productive for you to do."
Fortunately, the threat of extra work was enough to clear most of the spectators, although he couldn't help but notice a few holdouts amongst Franz's men. Give me the Reds over these troublemakers any day, he grumbled to himself as they finally made their way into the feldgendarmeries' cosy little office.
In the past, the MPs attached to his brigade rarely had to deal with discipline problems amongst his men, a point of pride for Vogel, and were more accustomed to escorting prisoners of war to the rear. As such, the offices they had commandeered for themselves had been quite small and they had only prepared one cell for issues such as this. That was why Vogel was not surprised to see both belligerents sat in the main office instead, under the close eye of three more feldgendarmeries. The officer in charge would not want to risk locking them up together.
What did surprise him was that he recognised the Imperial that had been involved in the altercation. Corporal Freybe was a bit of a local legend within the unit, having won an Iron Cross for bravery by saving several men on the Rhine. He was a model soldier and, if not for the black eye and guilty expression he was sporting, it would have been unthinkable that such a man could be involved in this sort of dispute.
The Letzenbourger, however, looked as though he was barely old enough to enlist, in truth, Vogel wasn't even certain he was from the small country at all, his olive skin seeming more akin to someone from Ispagna or Ildoa. And unlike the heroic corporal across from him, looked at all the Imperials in the room with undisguised contempt.
"Sirs!" Both greeted, getting up from their seats and saluting under the watchful eyes of the MPs. Although Vogel couldn't help but notice the Letzenbourger was far less enthusiastic about it than Corporal Freybe.
"What happened?" He began, wincing as both men practically began shouting at him to tell their side of the story. "Corporal, you first."
"Sorry Sir, I know I shouldn't have thrown the first punch but what he said about us…about the Empire. He –"
"And I'd say it again! We're not all cowards like you Imperials!" The Letzenbourger interrupted, causing all aside from his captain to stare at the man's strange outburst with a mixture of anger and surprise. Of all the people to accuse of cowardice. Corporal Freybe? The man had carried injured men out of no man's land under fire! Even after taking a shot to his shoulder! How could anyone describe him as anything more than a hero?
"Calm down Private Artigas, the colonel asked −." Captain Frantz attempted to step in to save the loud-mouthed soldier from himself but apparently, he hadn't finished insulting his allies just yet.
"No sir! Prince Wilhelm is out there fighting for us and these Imperials are happy to just hide behind the barricades and let the Reds walk all over them! Who knows what they're doing to the civilians who couldn't get out? Why should I listen to someone who got a tin pot medal for hauling cowards out of the mud? Where was he in the occupation when my brother needed dragging out of the streets? They abandoned us like they abandoned the East! If they cared about their country, like the prince cared about ours, they'd be counterattacking! They'd be−."
Vogel, along with every other Imperial in the room now understood why the corporal had been so willing to punch the private in the face. Vogel wanted to do the same for his insults. However, what they hadn't expected was the wet thud as the usually calm and polite Letzenbourg captain slammed his fist into the soldier's chin, knocking him from his chair and spilling blood and teeth onto the floor.
"How dare you use our Prince's name in such a way! God set His highness to us as an example, not as an excuse for you to air your grievances!" The young officer yelled placing a boot into the rebellious soldier's gut for good measure. Meanwhile, Vogel and the feldgendarmeries stood stunned by the sudden change in the usually polite and restrained officer. "Have you ever heard our prince slander our allies, despite their failure to protect us when we needed it most? No, he simply continued to do what he must to end this war, and that is what we will do too."
The captain shoved his boot into the injured soldier one last time before turning back towards them and bowing deeply and apologetically.
"Colonel, I sincerely apologise for all this. I request no charges be filed against the good corporal and I shall see to it that this man is severely punished."
"F…Fine" Vogel replied eventually as he tried to recover from the young captain's sudden fit of violence. "Have him locked up and sent to the rear."
He rubbed the bridge of his nose as he turned to leave. At this point, he was almost ready to do anything to hand over the whole issue to someone else and get away from these insane Letzenbourgers. His head was still throbbing and the longer he was around them the worse it seemed to get.
"But sir; that would mean he won't be able to fight with us. Despite his conduct, he must be allowed the chance to redeem himself." Franz interjected quickly, making Vogel wonder again how the man managed to gain a commission.
"I don't want him to fight with us Captain, I won't have men serving me that can't follow orders and start brawls with their comrades."
"Please sir, I'll make sure he learns his lesson, but Private Artigas isn't the only one of my men who harbours ill will against the Imperials for the fall of Letzenbourg. I know it isn't your fault but too many see this retreat as a parallel. They feel like you don't care about your own citizens." Franz replied apologetically as Vogel resisted the urge to bite back at the implied insult to him and his Vaterland. Did all Letzenbourgers feel this way about their brothers in arms? "It would be better if I could direct their frustration at the enemy rather than their friends."
Vogel paused for a moment, the last part almost sounded like a threat. No that can't be it, he shook his head dismissing the thought. He was getting too frustrated being around these Letzenbourg madmen and it was starting to affect him. Maybe it would be better simply to send them to the front. Let them see what real war is like against the Reds. Then we'll see who the cowards are.
"Fine, you'll move out tomorrow." He replied, grimacing as relief seemed to paint the young officer's expression. "But you need to get these discipline problems in order, I won't have troops that follow orders under my command."
"Of course, Sir" Franz replied with a smile that did not fill Vogel with confidence. "I assure you that every Letzenbourger follows his officer to hell and back."
May 2nd Unified Year 1925 15:40
Federation staging area, Georgenburg, 80km East of Tiegenhoff
Drake took a swig of water from his canteen as he watched the sea of trucks, horses, tanks and people busying themselves with preparations for the upcoming assault on the city of Tiegenhoff. He had to admit, he was impressed with how efficiently the Reds had managed to get such a formidable force together; especially considering how many men they already had holding down the Imperials at the front.
Most people didn't realise how much effort it took to get an army where you needed it, let alone have it ready to fight. Seeing how quickly the Federation had managed to get all this manpower and matériel organised might have left him in awe if he didn't know what it had cost to achieve. It seemed the Federation was capable of feats of logistical wizardry on par with the Empire when they were motivated enough. Although, the Empire didn't resort to throwing lives away to accomplish it. He just wished he knew what had got the communists so riled up that they felt they needed to hide their movements behind a mountain of corpses.
"This whole thing stinks of politics." He murmured to himself taking another swig from his flask to stave off his thirst, although he knew it wouldn't do much good. His body craved something stronger than water, it always did when he knew something was off and there was nothing he could do about it. He liked to think of it as a mental defence to help him cope with the stupid decisions made by the higher-ups. As a soldier, it was his job to follow orders, but it didn't mean he had to like it. Booze could at least help him take his mind off of it for a while.
He wouldn't indulge now of course, he was not so cavalier as his uncle and would never dream of doing something that would endanger the operation just to satisfy his personal vice. He wasn't some drunk who didn't know when to say no to a bottle. However, the craving still stayed with him, scratching at his throat to remind him that something wasn't right. His sailor's instinct was bidding him to crawl into the bottom of a glass until this mess was all over.
"They do say that war is the continuation of politics." He heard an over-friendly voice call from nearby.
Drake wasn't surprised that his moment to himself had been interrupted, he'd sensed the figure approaching and had chosen to ignore it. Since taking over the international unit time alone had become a precious commodity that he craved almost as much as decent scotch; and usually just as rare. He'd become used to unwelcome social calls from his Federation watchdog, Lieutenant Tanechka, with the latest censored reports, or Warrant Officer Sioux with questions and worries about fighting the enemy. Occasionally he also got a visit from his uncle, seemingly turning up to remind him that they were technically in the same boat despite most of his duties keeping him in the comfort of the Albion embassy. It was almost rare to be left alone with his thoughts these days.
What did surprise him was that the voice didn't belong to any of the usual suspects, and its owner's accent was as alien to this part of the world as his own. There were only a few Albions amongst the international force but this voice didn't belong to one of his men. However, neither was the voice entirely unfamiliar.
"Sorry for the interruption, colonel." The man continued as Drake turned to see what back home would be an unremarkable man in a long coat holding a briefcase, tipping his bowler hat in greeting. Had they been in Londinium, he might have easily mistaken him for a businessman stepping off the tube and heading towards one of the banks in Canaria Wharf. The man looked like one of the classic stereotypes of an Albish gentleman and almost laughably different to what you would expect to find amongst a Federation army. And the smile on the man's face told Drake that he knew full well he must be the most suspicious-looking man within a hundred miles.
"I'm John Walsingham from the foreign office, but please call me John."
Funny, that isn't the surname you used last time, neither was that your job. Drake commented to himself inwardly with a raised eyebrow, looking the man up and down as he offered his hand in greeting. It had been a while but he had met the man once before during a briefing back in the Allied Kingdom. He'd been an intelligence officer, one that even his uncle deferred to. At the time he'd been using the name John Doe but even then it had been an obvious pseudonym.
This name was probably fake too, the spooks were understandably reluctant to give out their real ones. However, that the given name was the same was likely no coincidence; nothing anyone from intelligence said was accidental. Neither was his overtly albish attire. Something was definitely up but was this act for his benefit or the Reds?
He resisted the urge to rub his temples. It seemed he'd been right about this being political; that meant it would be full of irritating games and likely to be a major headache. As if I needed another reason to want a drink.
"Nice to meet you, John." He replied cautiously, narrowing his eyes as the man shook his hand. "But don't you think this is a dangerous place for a diplomat?"
"Not at all! I feel like I'm the safest man in the country, always a friendly face to see to my protection and I even hear the deputy of the commissariat for internal affairs is here for the coming operation." The man smiled widely, gesturing to a pair of federation guards who stood far enough away to be respectful but close enough that they could overhear the conversation if they wanted to. It was likely they were just as fluent in Albion as his own federation handler.
The man was trying to tell him to be careful of what he said Drake realised stifling a depressed sigh. The eyes and ears of the Federation were on them.
Drake didn't like this sort of duplicity, he much preferred an honest game of rugby, however, you couldn't climb the ranks of the military without being able to read between the lines. In this situation, it was more about what wasn't said than what was. He'd have to put up with it for now, at least until he found out the real reason for the spy's visit.
"Not to mention you heroic fellows from the international volunteer force. No no, I'm quite safe." John added still wearing a wide smile, causing one of the guards to twitch with annoyance. "Perhaps we could see our gallant heroes while I'm here?"
"If you don't mind the walk." Drake replied raising an eyebrow, wondering if this was the spook's way of telling him that his visit was about his volunteer unit. He could already tell this conversation was going to irritate him. He'd be second-guessing whether he'd been reading too much or too little into the man's words for the rest of the day.
"What brings you all the way out here John?" Drake replied as they made their way down the busy dirt road towards the camp, raising his voice slightly to be heard over the traffic. He didn't expect a straight answer out of the man of course, but the least he could do was start giving him some clues, even if their escort was still listening in.
"My apologies colonel, how rude of me." John replied, still sounding the epitome of an albish gentleman as he too raised his voice to be heard. At this point, Drake was almost certain he was purposely making fun of the Federation security forces or at least being as obvious as possible. At the very least he seemed to be enjoying himself. "I was on my way to the capital to see your uncle. I have a report to give him about the sale of some pocket watches and agricultural equipment from the Unified States. The Prime minister is keen to send some of the spoils to our friends in Moscau. I thought I might take the opportunity to meet the volunteers while I passed through."
Drake glanced at the guards following each seemed to be straining to hear the conversation now that they had stepped onto the busy road. Had that been the spy's plan all along? He was fairly sure they wouldn't have noticed the slight change of intonation in his voice surrounding certain words as he spoke at the very least. Even as a native albish speaker, he had struggled to pick it up.
Agricultural equipment and pocket watches were the first words that stuck out to Drake and he had a decent idea of what he might have meant. He'd heard rumours that the Allied Kingdom was looking to buy weapons to ship to its allies, or at least outsource their production to somewhere safer. The Unified States were an ideal place for that and well outside of the Empire's reach. However, the problem had been the US' reluctance to break its neutrality. Did that mean they'd figured out a way to skirt the neutrality laws? The higher-ups in Londinium were very good at bending the rules almost to breaking point when they needed to. It gave the Albish a bad reputation at times.
As a mage, he knew that pocket watches were a nickname often given to computation orbs, with the civilian models often being designed specifically to mimic them. Despite the Federation's disinterest in using mages, the Free Francois and homeland still needed them, so the spy had likely chosen the phrase to let him know that they may be receiving better equipment soon.
As for the other phrase, he knew old tankers liked to call their armoured vehicles tractors, they couldn't move much faster than them after all. Chances are someone with a sense of humour had picked up on that in the negotiations and decided to label them agricultural equipment. It made Drake almost want to laugh out loud at the audacity of it, what would they call the canons? Pest control?
Regardless, although it was underhanded, it would be enough to satisfy international law from a paperwork point of view. If the Imperials decided they wanted to inspect the ships there would be trouble though. However, he suspected that the plan was to never allow that, the PM wasn't the sort to keep the navy twiddling its thumbs in port. Meanwhile, it seemed he would be getting new mage gear and reinforcements to the volunteer army, including some armour. It was just a shame they wouldn't be here in time for this assault.
The final word that had stuck out in the spy's speech was the word "volunteers" but again without further context, he did not know what the man wanted to tell them about them. Perhaps he really did want to simply meet with them after all.
After a short walk, they veered off the road and towards some tents set up in a small wood just off the main track. As they approached, Drake was pleased to see that his deputy, Major Johnson, had ordered the troops to do some basic drilling, they were certainly green enough that they needed it. And although the American Major went to halt the exercises, he waved for the man to continue as the group approached.
"Good to see you keep their skills sharp colonel, I'm sure it'll make all the difference when you meet up with your old friends from Moscau."
Drake stared at the "diplomat" once more, surprised at the directness of this message. Unfortunately, the two Federation guards escorting him felt the same way and both stepped forward, seemingly forgetting that they were supposed to be hiding the fact that they didn't speak the albish tongue. John, however, seemed unperturbed and simply looked at them all with an expression of innocent confusion.
"Haven't you been briefed yet? I was given the news before I left Londinium." The man smiled at his chaperone's annoyed faces as Drake had to wave away two of his own officers who had been looking on at the Federation intrusion cautiously. John was playing a dangerous game, the Reds clearly knew he was more than he seemed but the spy seemed determined to make the most of his newfound diplomatic immunity. Drake couldn't help but wonder if this too was part of the political dance the Commonwealth was playing with its Soviet ally.
"No matter, I'm sure our friends won't mind me telling you a little early. We did help them find out the information after all." He continued turning back to Drake with a meaningful look. "The unit that assaulted our friend's capital are amongst the city defenders, including you know who."
The Devil of the Rhine! Drake cursed inwardly. That explained why the Federation was so keen to throw so much weight into this fight. It was a revenge mission.
The desire for an alcoholic drink began to scratch at Drake's throat once again. As a soldier, he'd been ordered on dangerous missions on the basis of dubious reasoning in the past but he'd never seen a whole army mobilised for the purpose of vengeance against a single unit. He didn't like it, emotions like that had no place in those commanding men to die for their country, there was too much scope for a mistake or oversight. Even with the overwhelming force that the Federation had put together, the thought of it felt almost reckless. And considering that command had sent John out here to tell him all this, they thought so too.
Something had made the higher-ups nervous, something they weren't allowed to share with a field commander like himself directly. However, before Drake could think of some suitable way to subtly ask for more information on what it might be, John had turned away and was staring off at the volunteers as they finished up their drills.
"Funny, when I gave her that gun for her father, I never imagined I'd see her using one too. What a terrible world we live in." He said wistfully, his voice almost a whisper as he watched Major Johnson dismiss the unit. Drake followed his gaze and was surprised to see it fall on warrant officer Sioux, one of his bigger problems beyond all the politics. It seemed his uncle wasn't the only one who'd been keeping an eye on the girl but how did the intelligence man even know about the Legadonian refugee? Let alone care about her.
"Still, it looks like she's making friends at least. She seemed like such a lonely girl back in Legadonia." He continued gesturing at the group she had joined now their drills had come to an end. Drake was unsurprised to see both the battalion gossip Lieutenant Kelly and Sergeant Willibrord amongst them; the latter being another thorn in his side, especially recently.
The Zealous young Letzenbourger had been acting stranger than usual lately, praying even more regularly and speaking in an almost fatalistic manner; making Drake wonder if he had to add poor morale to his list of worries. Curiously though, despite the pessimism in his words, his tone had remained calm and cheerful, as though he were at peace with something that had been weighing on his mind. Drake found his attitude perplexing, to say the least, and he still couldn't shake the uncomfortable feeling when he was around him.
"Well I've wasted enough of your time, I must get going." John said eventually, breaking both of them from their thoughts as he tipped his hat and turned back to his escort, pausing only for a moment to place a friendly hand on Drake's shoulder.
"A fine body of men you have here colonel. You've done good work getting all these nationalities working together so smoothly." He said fixing Drake with a hard stare before adding quietly. "Don't let anything happen to them because of Federation politics."
May 4th Unified Year 1925 04:00
Imperial Grand Hotel, Kaiser Suite, Tiegenhoff
If there was one thing Tanya had learned to appreciate since her reincarnation, save perhaps the high-quality milk chocolate that the Empire was famous for, it was a good night's rest in the comfort of a nice warm bed.
It was something the Salaryman had taken for granted during his lifetime. Why would it be something he would ever think about? In a modern, civilised world people rarely gave such a small everyday experience a second thought, at least everywhere but the most poverty-stricken of places. A safe and warm place to sleep was one of the most fundamental standards of living, not some difficult-to-attain life goal that required hard work and sacrifice.
His family may not have been particularly wealthy, but they had never been so poor that they would struggle for something as basic as a warm place to sleep. Even in his youth, when he had visited his grandparent's home out in the country, he had been able to sleep comfortably enough on the spare futon atop the tatami mat, despite how drafty their old house could be at times. Once he'd grown up and moved into his own place, he'd easily been able to afford a decent apartment and a place to sleep. Even slobs content with minimum wage or sponging off the state could manage something so basic in the Salaryman's world, to think that he'd be incapable of securing a decent place to rest his head was laughable.
However, in this new world, Tanya had found that a good night's rest was far more precious than the Salaryman could have ever dreamed of.
The orphanage where she had been raised had not been well funded. As a church-run institution, it mostly relied on donations from do-gooders and well-wishers, although she couldn't for the life of her understand why anyone would do so since the Empire did not reward such "generosity" in its tax system. Even basic necessities were precious resources to the nuns that had taken care of her as she'd grown up and she had seen first-hand what poverty was really like. Had she not been the one being raised there she might have found it funny how poorly Being X treated his worshippers.
For the first few years of her new life, she'd slept on flea-ridden straw mattresses in a mostly unheated convent dormitory, shivering in the cold even in the summertime. The stone walls of Being X's house did nothing to keep in the warmth and the bedding provided by the nuns had been course and itchy, looking as though it had been there since they first laid the stones of the ancient building. Both warmth and comfort seemed like opulent luxuries in that place, almost completely unattainable for her and the children living there.
Things had been a little better while training for the military, although not by much. It was necessary for such a large organisation to provide equipment and sleeping quarters of a certain standard so that their soldiers could perform their duties. The trade-off was that you had no choice in when to wake up or go to sleep and anyone caught awake after lights out was rightly punished. However, despite this infringement on her personal freedoms, for a while, some of her best night's sleep had been courtesy of the Germanian taxpayer. For someone who would have described themselves as broadly libertarian in her past life, the irony was not lost on her.
Even that scant comfort had not lasted, however. Once the war had started, the military had greater priorities than finding its human resources a place to lay their head. Like so many others, sleeping in the mud-soaked trenches of the Rhine had taught her that in wartime it was rare for a soldier to find a particularly comfortable place to sleep. More often than not, you were lucky to find time to rest at all. If you did, it was an experience to be treasured and enjoyed regardless of how terrible the conditions were. She had learned those lessons the hard way.
That was why she found herself wearing a satisfied grin as she wrapped the thick commandeered blanket around herself and nestled down into the opulent feather mattress that Visha had requisitioned for her. It was perhaps the most comfortable bed she'd ever been in, save perhaps the one she'd had when staying at Wilhelm's country home on the Rhine. However, she'd struggled to really enjoy it back then; knowing that this bed had no connection to the irritating little captain somehow added to the experience and allowed her to relax much more easily than she had before.
Perhaps that was why she found herself letting out a contented sigh as she allowed her mind to wander and drift towards sleep, her mind subconsciously taking stock of the last few weeks as her body enjoyed the newfound sensation of warmth and comfort.
It seemed as though, for once, luck had been on her side from the moment the battalion had arrived in Tiegenhoff. She'd initially been worried they'd been too late when they arrived to the sight of the city being shelled. However, in their haste to force General von Scholtz's forces into submission, the Reds had foolishly moved their big guns up towards the city with little in the way of air defence. With surprise on their side, it had been a simple task to destroy the artillery and reinforce the city before it could be overrun. That they appeared to arrive in the nick of time was just an added bonus; one that had left her in good stead when she'd met with the general.
Since then, they had been kept quite busy. Aside from keeping any approaching artillery at a suitably safe distance from their new base of operations, the battalion had been performing regular strikes on parts of the Federation logistics network as well as supporting the eastern army as it attempted to stabilise the lines.
Due to their unique position behind the majority of the enemy forces, the former was gratifyingly simple and effective. Had they been facing a sane enemy that valued its men and matériel, it would have likely put an abrupt end to any offensive operations as they scrambled to secure their precious logistical lifeblood. However, communists by their very nature were deranged, and as such hadn't let something like common sense or concern for their own personnel blunt their enthusiasm for violence. Instead, their foolish attitude had kept them attacking almost non-stop across the entire front and Tanya and the 203rd had been forced to act as a fast reaction force for eastern command whenever their other duties allowed.
It was just like the communists to make things difficult for honest hard working people like herself. For a system that claimed to represent the workers, they sure liked to heap extra work on them.
In truth, it was a shame the General Staff had not allocated more of the Grand army as reinforcements in this sector. The Russy had worn themselves down so much that it would be a great time for a counterattack. However, Eastern Command was stretched thin and wasn't about to blindly charge in like the commies had. For the moment, the lines were fairly solid, so everyone was content to wait until General von Rudersdorf had finished with his plan in the north.
Despite all the extra work, things hadn't been too bad during their sojourn in the city; her plan to use the area as a base of operations had worked out perfectly. As well as providing a decent place to sleep and strike from, the local forces were more than willing to share their provisions, especially since the navy had started resupplying the garrison. Although most of the rations they shared were the ersatz equivalents of their original, and as such barely resembled them in taste or appearance, the good will they had fermented had allowed many of the soldiers to share in some of the rarer treats available to a soldier. Tanya herself had managed to get a hold of some fine chocolate that she hadn't seen since she was last in the capital, although she had to admit it wasn't the same without some decent coffee to accompany it.
That wasn't to say everything had gone their way of course. Despite a certain amount of warning, the Eastern forces had taken quite a beating in the initial Russy assault and had been forced to trade an uncomfortable amount of space for time. Now that the dust had begun to settle it was clear to even the lowest trooper that large swathes of Imperial territory had been taken by the Federation during the first few days of their advance.
Worse still, some of the casualty reports from the early engagements had somehow been leaked and although they weren't as bad as some of the more paranoid members of the general staff might have feared, it still had an adverse effect on morale. This had been compounded by the news that some of the Imperial royal family had been caught up in all this mess, although Tanya was unsure why it'd had quite such a profound effect on the common soldiery.
Apparently, Wilhelm wasn't the only royal nephew that had gotten into his head to play soldier, although they at least had the good sense to try and get themselves posted away from the Rhine front. Unfortunately, the pair of brothers were visiting the troops in the east during the Russy invasion and had been swept up in the combat following the opening hours of the Federation assault.
The news had done nothing to improve the mood of troops that had so recently been forced to cede so much land to the communists. She wasn't entirely sure why but some even seemed to take these deaths as a personal affront, something she thought unprofessional and unbecoming of an Imperial soldier. It even seemed to bother Wilhelm, although he did his best to hide it. It was a little surprising, she had expected him to twist the news to his advantage somehow, but he'd been strangely quiet on the matter.
Still, all in all, things weren't so bad. She may have still been fighting on the front lines but she was enjoying relative comfort. Meanwhile, the Imperial army was slowly but surely turning things around, once the grand army made it here, things should finally start calming down.
At least that was what she was thinking until an urgent knock at the door broke her from her thoughtful daze.
"Excuse me, ma'am." The voice of her faithful adjutant called through the door with a hint of unease. "You've been called to the General's command centre."
Tanya reluctantly relinquished her grip on her blanket as she blearily blinked her eyes open. She yawned as she bid Visha to enter, fighting the urge to snap at her assistant for disrupting her well-earned rest. Her troops knew well enough not to wake her unless it was urgent, Visha doubly so. Besides, the girl had brought some coffee with her and the smell filling the room went a long way towards improving her now foul mood.
"Who's the Duty officer?" She asked wearily, accepting the cup proffered by Visha and taking a sip as she drowsily hauled herself out of the comforting refuge of her bed. If this disruption did indeed prove fruitless she wanted to be sure to direct her ire at the right person.
"Prince Wilhelm, Ma'am." The older girl replied quickly as she reached into Tanya's kit bag and began laying out a clean uniform for her. "He's called a general alert and had the command centre staff wake all the officers."
Upon hearing the boy's name, her first instinct was to roll back into bed and ignore it. She wouldn't put it past the brat to have her dragged out of bed due to some petty act of malicious compliance. It wouldn't be the first time he'd found a reason to annoy her using the excuse of her orders being "too vague"; the definition of urgent was one he particularly liked picking apart. However, she quickly dismissed the idea.
Wilhelm might have enjoyed finding reasons to annoy her, but he wasn't foolish enough to wake the entire city defence force on a whim. A general alert meant all the command staff had been summoned, including General von Scholtz. Even Wilhelm would hesitate to cause so much trouble without good reason. Besides, as much as she was loath to admit it, Wilhelm was a competent enough officer to know how to deal with most situations that might arise. Even if he liked to pretend he didn't to irritate her. Something was definitely wrong.
She yawned again, stifling a curse as she quickly finished her drink and dressed herself, hoping the caffeine would go some way towards helping her feel more human. In her past life, the Salaryman had found it relatively easy to wake himself up, even if he'd been called in for an emergency. However, her new body seemed to suffer from chronic low blood pressure in the mornings and as a result, it took a little time for her to get herself together. Hence why she was always so grateful for the coffee Visha prepared for her.
Still, on days like this, even a decent cup of coffee didn't feel like enough.
Despite this feeling of drowsiness, she dressed herself quickly, stopping only to tie her hair back and straighten her uniform; being tired was no excuse for being sloppy after all. Once she donned her boots, she hastily headed out into the early morning gloom, doing her best to ignore the knot of anxiety forming in her stomach and trusting that Visha would follow after her.
As she strode through the darkened ruins of the city, she felt her unease rise as she noted trucks and soldiers beginning to crowd the streets. The presence of a few of them wouldn't be unexpected but there was much more activity than there usually would be at this hour and her staffer's brain told her these men were moving with much more urgency than she would expect for a usual combat rotation.
Fortunately, it didn't take long for her to reach the General's headquarters, an unassuming government building tucked away on one of the side streets near the centre of the city. It was not nearly as grandiose as some of the division headquarters she'd been attached to in the past, but she appreciated von Schultz's pragmatic choice in this case. Aside from the central location, the building itself made her feel nostalgic for the Salaryman's time working in the human resource office. When she was attending the General, she could almost convince herself she was back in a cushy office job. Besides, a plain-looking office building probably made for a much less tempting target for the communists than one of the more extravagant buildings in the city.
Unfortunately, neither the knowledge that the headquarters was unlikely to be attacked nor the sentimental feeling she had about the old office building did much to ease her growing sense of disquiet as she entered the foyer. Junior officers rushed frantically around with reports while the mid-ranking ones barked deployment orders at their struggling subordinates. It felt as though she were walking through an ant nest that had been kicked, a disquieting thought when you hadn't yet seen what was doing the kicking.
Finally, she reached the conference room that acted as General von Schultz's planning room and found her senses bombarded by the frenzied activity inside. The General had yet to arrive but his staff were busily rushing between the radios and the large map that dominated the room, each man emitting an aura of anxiety that bordered on panic that she herself was beginning to feel.
However, it was the smallest figure in the room that drew her attention the most.
Unlike the rest of the officers, Wilhelm was an ocean of calm in the room; standing silently and almost nonchalantly at the map table as he poured himself some coffee from a nearby pot. He seemed unaffected by the chaos around him, barely paying any attention to the cries of the other officers or the reports in front of him. However, for once she could not bring herself to be annoyed at the boy despite his carefree attitude to whatever emergency had caused him to summon everyone.
While the other officers, herself included, had only thrown on a uniform to rush to the command centre as soon as possible, Wilhelm had donned his flight gear and was the only officer in the room armed with more than a sidearm. Additionally, although he was doing his best to project a calm demeanour, Tanya could sense the tension behind his cocky smile. This was just a performance for him, either for the sake of his fraudulent reputation or as an attempt to help calm the other officers down. Either way, it was clear he expected trouble, and that he would be deployed imminently. Considering how reluctant he'd been to engage the Russy in the past, Tanya could only assume that this was a bad sign.
"Commander." He nodded in greeting as she approached, eschewing a salute in favour of passing her a mug of black coffee. She felt a stab of annoyance at the boy's breach of protocol, but the little captain seemed to sense her displeasure and his overconfident smile softened, allowing her to see the worry in his eyes. "Trust me you'll need it."
"Report." She replied, choosing to forgive his conduct for now as she took a sip from the mug; she was still feeling a little drowsy and was willing to overlook it in exchange for her caffeine fix. It was not nearly as good as the cup that Visha had brought her of course, but she was thankful for the energising effects of the dark and bitter liquid. Even if it was a little strong, even for her.
"Take a look for yourself." He replied, frowning slightly as he gestured at the map, a fraction of worry making it into his voice. "I doubt you'd believe me if I told you."
She felt another stab of annoyance at his uncooperative behaviour but pushed it aside as she saw the tension behind his expression. Although she knew she could often see through Wilhelm's deceptions, there seemed to be more to it this time and she soon found her gaze following his towards the large map splayed out over the table.
Her war college training, along with two lifetimes of experience analysing information, quickly kicked in as she surveyed the situation shown on the chart. But what she saw made her pause.
This can't be right she thought turning back to Wilhelm for confirmation, half expecting him to wear an irritating grin as he revealed that it had all been some elaborate prank. However, the boy's frown remained and Tanya couldn't sense anything but worry behind his furrowed brow.
"Our scouts spotted them approaching the city. Ten divisions including armour and air support, as well as reports of sporadic mana signals." The boy observed grimly. "I think it's safe to say the Federation doesn't want us here anymore."
Ten Divisions! Where the Hell did they come from? She thought, suddenly much more awake now she could see the danger they were in. How did they possibly bring in so many reserves without them noticing? And why had they suddenly changed their tactics and concentrated their forces here on the city? Sure the Imperial forces here had made a nuisance of themselves with strikes on their supply lines but since they'd continued attacking regardless of how secure they were, she'd assumed they had chosen to leave the city besieged. Why strike here now after the damage had been done?
"How did they sneak up on us like this? What the Hell is intelligence doing?" She snapped at anyone within earshot, causing more than a few officers to try to make themselves less visible. Evidently, they had been in charge of keeping an eye on the Federation troop movements.
The whole situation was intolerable! How could she possibly be expected to do her job properly, and more importantly keep herself alive, if intelligence was too incompetent to do theirs? If there had been some prior notice she could have persuaded the General to withdraw from the city; she would have even volunteered to act as a rear guard while they loaded up what they could onto the ships if she'd have thought it would get them out of here quicker. But now the enemy was almost on top of them, there was no way they could withdraw the whole force under that much pressure! Even suggesting leaving so many personnel behind would have her branded a traitor and likely lead to a court martial.
Now they would be forced to mount a near-impossible defence of the city and it was hardly a task she relished. Although it was true that urban warfare favoured the defenders, the Federation had more than enough troops concentrated on this attack to counter the advantage the Imperial army had in the city. It was the worst possible scenario for them. Did you have something to do with this Being X?
"That's what I'd like to know as well!" The voice of General von Schultz boomed as he strode into the conference room, evidently sharing her irritation. "How could they possibly keep that many troops a secret?"
"Sir." She said reflexively as she snapped a salute, her action hastily repeated by the other officers in the room but he quickly waved them to return to their work and he was soon surrounded by staffers desperately vying for his attention.
"I wonder if they're trying to give advice or just making excuses." Wilhelm whispered, sniggering in her ear. "Regardless, it doesn't look good for us. Maybe we can find a boat to get us out of here before all hell breaks loose."
"Very funny." Tanya snorted derisively. Either the boy had developed a sense of gallows humour, or he was making fun of her again. He knew full well she couldn't simply get on a ship and leave, no matter how much she wanted to. His royal status might be able to shield him from the consequences of running away from battle if they left but she'd be arrested and court marshalled before she managed to step off the boat. She'd be lucky to make it to the end of the day before she met the firing squad. "We're not going anywhere…unfortunately."
"I thought you might say that." He replied with an exaggerated sigh, shaking his head as the general finally managed to disengage himself from the gaggle of sycophantic officers.
"Major Degurechaff, I know that I have no authority over your battalion but I'd like you to coordinate with me on how best to utilise your mages for the city defence." The general called beckoning her to join him and causing her to wince inwardly. Although she knew it would be unlikely, she had still been hoping she might be able to leave the city under the guise of striking the enemy supply lines. If the city fell while she was away, she couldn't be held responsible for its loss. She'd still have to get back to friendly lines afterwards but that was preferable to trying to hold out in a city with barely two divisions.
However, the general's request had backed her into a corner. He would likely want to rely on her battalion for aerial support and to reinforce ailing parts of the defences. If she were in his shoes she wouldn't have dreamed of allowing the battalion to exit the city. Even if she invoked her General Staff authority to get out it would be difficult to explain why she'd abandoned him at such a critical time. She was stuck here.
"Of course Sir." She replied, doing her best to hide her disappointment.
"In that case, permission to take some troops to harass the enemy as they advance." Wilhelm cut in before they could continue. "My men are ready to go, and Neumann's company has only just finished their watch, we can at least try to slow them down while you plan the defence."
"…granted." Tanya replied cautiously, blinking in surprise. She was used to Wilhelm doing his best to be an annoyance and cause trouble, she hadn't expected him to volunteer to make himself useful, especially considering his previous reluctance in Moscau. Still, she had to be sure he wouldn't get too carried away. "Don't do anything too risky and pull back if you are engaged by enemy mages. We don't want to suffer too many casualties before the battle even starts."
"Don't worry about that Major, I have no intention of picking a fight I can't win." The boy, his face morphing into a confident smile. He let it linger for a moment before Tanya caught his eyes momentarily darting towards the general, almost as though he'd just remembered he was there, and his expression changed again into what Tanya knew to be a façade of sadness. "I just hope the Federation comes to their senses and pulls back. Then maybe we can bring this terrible war to end."
The last part had obviously been for the general's benefit, she knew all too well he wanted this war to continue, even if he didn't want to fight the communists. However, as always no one else seemed to be able to see through the brat's lies, with some of the listening officers even nodding sagely in agreement. The General, however, didn't seem so convinced and wore a worried frown.
"Prince Wilhelm, I thought we agreed that if the city were attacked you'd…" Von Schultz began but the little captain held up a hand and immediately silenced him. Once again Tanya could not believe how disrespectful the boy could be towards his superiors, or why so many people put up with his insolent behaviour. Sometimes it felt as though the world had gone mad.
"I'm afraid I can't general." The boy replied, his confident grin widening. "I have my orders. We're not going anywhere."
Authors Notes
Hi everyone and as always thank you all for reading.
It's been a little while between updates and I apologise for that. Since I'm reaching the point where I've already overtaken the manga and I'm going to overtake the anime I've been making a clearer timeline of what I want to happen from now on and where I'll be diverging from the LN. I also had to make a more detailed plan of how everything happens in the Tiegenhoff battle instead of winging it like I usually do.
It also took a little time as it's a build-up chapter and I was a bit concerned it was a bit boring (still am). All this, combined with easter falling in the middle of it all put me behind a bit but hopefully, I should be able to post a little more regularly now.
I have shifted the timeline around a little, the 203rd are supposed to arrive on the 26th March and the battle starts on the 29th. I thought this was all too close together, at least for how it happens in the movie/anime (which I'm more or less following because it condenses things) so I've spread it out a bit.
I also added a little detail about the Letzenbourg soldier being from Ispagna because I learned that Luxembourg has a large Portuguese population. I had no way to explain the detail in the story but I thought it would be cool.
As always, thank you all for reading and I hope you are still enjoying the story.
Xanen