Chapter 4: The Kloden Wildwood
Glossary: Reite
The largest island of Gallia, situated on the north-western edge of the nation's borders, in front of the Fouzen Peninsula. It's mostly covered by a mountain range that makes hosting a large population impossible, with only the homonymous city being situated on a flat and fertile strip of land.
Despite Reite being the main settlement, the island's greatest peculiarity is the rumor of a village inhabited mostly by women who are the real rulers of the island and practice a strange magic.
Unbeknownst almost to everybody except the inhabitants and some of the highest government officials of Gallia, the island is actually the last organized colony of the Valkyrur people. While there are an imprecise number of Valkyrur's descendants around Europa, most of them can actually be found living on the island, and for some unknown reason, most of those who can awaken their powers are women.
The people of Reite has managed to retain their secrecy for nearly 2000 years, but one of the few males of the tribe, Erwin Absenkirch, has recently managed to convince them to start a gradual disclosure of their existence as science has just started to reveal that the powers of the Valkyrias are within reach.
April 9, 1935.
After nearly a month at the frontline, the 1st CAD was finally given a moment of rest back at Amatrian. Between Alicia baking incredible bread and having the time to take some samples in the forest around the base, Welkin was never out of things to do or enjoy.
But if there was one thing that really made him happy was to see Isara going along with three people of her age. Kiril, Sheila and Ramal had fully accepted her into their group and even now they were sitting together at the mess hall. Welkin could not remember a moment where she was so open and happy and it put a huge smile on his face as he sat at the officer's table.
"I didn't know you cared so much about her, honestly." Faldio, who was sitting in front of him, commented amused.
"I'm just happy she found some friends her age. Back in Bruhl, people tolerated her, but she hardly managed to get anybody's trust aside from our neighbor. Add that to her shyness and you can see why I'm relieved."
"Sure, sure…" Faldio said with a smirk. "But let's talk about something juicier."
Suddenly, all the other Squad Lieutenants turned around toward him with a witty smile.
"Uh...what would that be?" Welkin asked a little perplexed.
"Don't try to run, Welkin." Faldio joked but with a determined voice. "Who're you swinging toward? Alicia or Juno?"
Welkin's eyes almost popped out. "What? What are you talking about?"
"I said don't play dumb, Welks! You think nobody noticed that you're always talking with either one of them? Which one are you interested in?"
"Interested in?…" then Welkin realized and blushed. "H-Hold on...Alicia is my assistant and Juno is a friend from university, there's nothing else about it."
"Ah, cut it, Gunther!" Lieutenant Obren of Squad 3 added. "Just tell us who do you prefer."
"Yeah, you have two women coming after you." Lieutenant Arsen of Squad 2 commented. "Alicia is a great cook, she's caring, protective. If you prefer a sprinkle of tradition, she's perfect."
"And on the other side you have the intellectual who shares your interest in nature." Lieutenant Barnally of Squad 4 and the only woman among them, intervened. "Come on, just say it already!"
Welkin made a shoo gesture. "I told you! They're my subordinates, by the way. It would be improper anyway."
"Is this prick for real?!" Lieutenant Sanders of Squad 6 asked amazed and annoyed.
Faldio chuckled and sighed amused "I'm afraid he is."
Luckily for Welkin, that embarrassing interrogation was interrupted by a voice standing next to the table.
"Lieutenant Gunther, may I have a minute?"
All turned and saw Colonel Asso of the 1st Regiment. Welkin and Faldio, being at the edge of their respective benches immediately stood up and saluted.
"Colonel Asso. How can I help?"
"Easy, Lieutenant." Asso reassured. "You don't need to salute during lunchtime. Anyways, I'm here to ask for your assistance."
"Whatever you need, sir."
"General Absenkirch just told me that the new Edelweiss models will arrive here in 10 days."
Welkin was stunned. "Woah, so quick?"
"There's only six of them, but they will be assigned to my Regiment, and I intend to equip my best crew with them. Of course, for what little I've seen, your tank is a beast of its own. So, I was wondering if you and your sister had some time to show my men the ropes on your Edelweiss. Especially considering that, in order to make it faster, the GNA is sending us the weapons dismounted. My engineers would like an instruction book."
Surprised but delighted, Welkin smiled. "Of course, sir. Isara and I will be happy to help your men."
"Splendid. Thank you, Lieutenant. Is 4pm ok?"
"Aye, sir."
"Then we'll see you later. Enjoy the rest of your meal."
"Thank you, sir."
The Colonel walked away and left the other officers to discuss the situation.
"We're gonna get more Edelweiss? That's great. If we can upgrade all our tanks…"
"Don't get your hopes too high. The tanks will go to the Army first. After all, even if we win the war, the Militia will just go back home."
"That's right." said Faldio. "Welkin and Isara are lucky to have one as personal possession, but I doubt the rest of us will ever have one assigned anytime soon."
"I can always let you guys take a ride on my own tank, if you want." Welkin joked.
"Something tells me that's not for you to decide, but your sister's." Barnally returned.
Everyone laughed, even Welkin, who knew that it was pure truth.
April 13, 1935.
In the deep forestry around Amatrian, there was a secondary base, masked in a way that it might have looked like a civilian summer camp, but in reality the unit stationed there simply wasn't supposed to exist.
And exactly because they weren't supposed to exist they were the perfect people for Erwin.
He reached the camp and saluted the guard, whom he recognized as Cedric Drake, a criminal who belonged to the 422 since it was a penal unit. The man waved two fingers in what was not a disciplined salute, but that was enough for Erwin.
After all, this was a unit of misfits, with only their commander being a hardcore officer. Erwin made sure to pay them well and that any criminal history of the members was scratched away from the books of the judiciary, and they would take on the most dangerous tasks that had to remain secret.
That was Unit 422, nicknamed 'Nameless' for the people who accepted to enlist had also agreed to be identified with just numbers for the duration of their contract.
Once, the 422 was one of many penal units instituted by Gallia during the last war, which by now was starting to become known as the First Europan War, to which the current conflict seemed the natural succession. However, Erwin had never been fond of penal units: they usually did little but to be massacred. Even if they were made up of criminals of some kind, there were way too many among them for which this penalty was way too barbaric.
As such, the penal units had been disbanded in the reforms spearheaded by him in 1931, but there was one aspect that was very useful for the nation: while the GSS was an official branch, the 422 could be used for covert operation like their SpecOps counterpart, but they would carry more firepower and Gallia could have plausible deniability in case things caused diplomatic tensions, or if they were handling a matter that needed to be concealed from the public eye.
The camp was bustling with the activity of the unit. Erwin crossed sergeant Imca, intent on cleaning her own personal weapon, an eerie variant of an automatic cannon with a large bayonet fixed on top.
"Sergeant Imca." he greeted.
The woman made a respectful nod and made a huff. She wasn't one to speak much, but this time he would have to force her. "I have your next assignment. Would you mind gather everyone in front of your captain's tent?"
Imca didn't object and stood up, turned around and shouted "Hey! General Absenkirch has our next fight planned. Get your butts in front of Kurt's tent at once!"
The rest of the unit, which counted 33 people plus their commander, quickly assembled and reached the commander's tent, out of which came Captain Irving.
"General Absenkirch. How can we serve?" he asked calmly as he made a stern salute.
Erwin returned the salute so the officer eased up, then he looked around and spotted Riela. He signaled her and Imca to approach as he started explaining the mission to the whole assembly.
"All right, people, listen up. Some of our squads still deep behind the enemy lines have spotted the Batomys heading from Ghirlandaio to the south. Toward the Barious Desert. If the Batomys is moving, it means that Prince Maximillian is aboard, so I need you guys to get there and confirm the intel. I repeat: you are only to recon the area and confirm the intel. If you spot the Batomys, inform me and do not engage on your own."
Nobody seemed opposed to the idea.
"There is also another detail that I think you should all be aware of." the General added. "If Maximillian is there, then he will most likely be accompanied by Selvaria Bles. You might know her as one of the three Generals commanding the Imperial invasion of Gallia, but what you probably don't know is...that she's Valkyria."
Now a murmur shook the assembly.
"A Valkyria?" Corporal Rosso asked. "Like Riela?"
"Even worse." Riela herself said. "From what we know, Bles has been raised in a laboratory, experimented and trained to become the perfect weapon. I don't know if I would be able to take her on." she added worried.
"Another reason to avoid contact." Erwin precised. "If you spot her, and trust me, you can't miss her, get away from the Imperials and inform me immediately, I'll get there with reinforcements."
"All the way from here? But that will take days, sir, isn't that dangerous?" Gusurg, the tank driver of the team asked.
"I won't be here. I'm taking my Division down to the Kloden Wildwood: we got news of an imperial logistic base inside the forest, I want to verify that. Which means, if you need backup, we will be just a day of truck away."
"You heard the General." Kurt proclaimed. "Dismantle the camp and get ready for deployment."
The group answered by disbanding and going each to their tents, starting to pack up everything they had.
In the meantime, Erwin turned toward one of the three leaders of the team and stopped her. "Imca."
The Darcsen stopped but didn't turn around at first, as if she didn't want to show the expression on her face. Sensing her seething rage, Erwin knew he needed to speak clearly now more than ever.
"I know that Selvaria is most likely the one who destroyed your village, but you need to promise me that you will maintain your focus."
Imca didn't reply, but her whole body started trembling and she grunted angrily.
Then Kurt walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. Suddenly, the woman stopped trembling and looked behind with a surprised, yet more relaxed attitude.
"Imca. The General is right. This mission requires a modest approach. If you lose your head and give in to vengeance, you put the entire unit at risk and I cannot allow that. Can I trust you?"
Imca gasped, then she closed her eyes and growled softly, clenching her left fist very tightly, but after a few seconds, she finally let out a breather and reluctantly said "I promise. I won't put the unit at risk."
Kurt then let go of his usually furrowed face and cracked a smile. "Good. Go get ready."
Imca nodded, still conflicted but at least vengeance wasn't her main goal now.
"Nice job, Captain." Erwin complimented.
"This squad is like a family. A very picturesque family, for sure, but we need to always cover each other's back. Imca knows that, even if she won't admit it openly."
Erwin nodded and finally turned toward her Valkyria apprentice. "Riela. I meant it when I said that: assume that Selvaria is much stronger and trained than you. If you happen to be forced into a duel, your priority is still escaping."
Clearly scared but resolute to defend her team, Riela nodded and huffed a positive.
April 15, 1935.
"They're all yours, Captain. I don't think I need to remind you how important these babies are for the survival of Gallia." Adrien said to the GSS officer in front of him.
The man saluted and replied firmly. "We know, Mister Agusta. Trust me, these tanks will arrive to Randgriz, no matter the cost."
So the hulls of the new Edelweiss copies, which had the turret and only lacked the weaponry, were loaded onto the cargo and shipped away from the harbor of New Leeds, ready to reach and finish their construction at the Gallian National Arsenal in three days before being delivered to Erwin.
With that matter out of his way, Adrien now had to go back to the factory, for there was an important visit that he had to receive personally. In fact, as soon as his car halted in front of the main entrance of the Mawnokee factory, he spotted an officer in high uniform of the Vinlandian Army, accompanied by two officers of lesser rank that were there to protect him, and keeping them company there was Andy.
"General Mebenhower. Good to see you again." Adrien greeted in a friendly tone.
The officer nodded and made a cordial smile. "The pleasure is mine, Mister Agusta. I must say I'm quite intrigued to see what new inventions your company came up with."
"Then allow me to show you. Andy, would you be so kind?"
Smiling proudly, Andy showed the way with an arm. "This way, General."
The delegation was thus introduced the huge industrial complex, the largest in the world, where AN and several other junior companies specialized in different fields of weaponry had established their own workshops.
After showing their guests the factories of infantry weapons and gear, Andy brought the group inside the workshop of Northland Motors where the Vinlandian officers were quite surprised to see what kind of vehicle they were amassing in the huge warehouse.
A type of truck much larger and taller than the ones used by the armies of the world...and with four dented wheels.
"May I introduce you the General Terrain Climber, or GTC for short. This vehicle is faster than any other model around, can go over a selection of different harsh terrains and most importantly, it can load up to 14 people in its cargo bed." the young engineer presented.
"An entire squad?" Mebenhower asked surprised, then he took a look inside an open bed and realized that Andy wasn't lying. "That's impressive. There's even room for heavy weapons, here."
"Indeed, General." Adrien intervened to sweeten him. "If an army can afford these, supplies and troops will be delivered much more quickly and efficiently."
"But, how did you find all that rubber?" one of the officers asked perplexed.
"That's not entirely rubber. It's a polymer." a female voice barged in. Andy and Adrien turned with a smile while the Vinlandians were caught off-guard.
From behind one of the trucks, wearing a working suit that indicated an intense use, came out a young woman with the long black hair wrapped into a ponytail.
"It's a new formula that allows us to build these tires with less rubber than it would take to build the usual three-wheelers."
After seeing without a doubt that they were in front of a young lady, the Vinlandians took off their hats while Adrien made the presentations. "Gentlemen, allow me to introduce you to Bethany Agusta. My daughter and soon-to-be bride of Mister Tensen." he said merrily.
"Miss Agusta." Mebenhower greeted cordially. "I must say, it's not everyday you see a lady in a factory."
"I may be born here, General, but my mother and my father are Gallians, and I consider Gallia my second home. If by working here I can even give a slight contribution to their war effort, I can't just be playing house."
Mebenhower hummed impressed. "A fiery one. But given the father, I shouldn't be surprised."
Adrien chuckled. "It's the Gallian genes in her. Now, I'm sure you are already enamored with the new, economically convenient trucks. How about we go to the real king of this show?"
Shortly later, they were leaving the threshold of another large warehouse, finding themselves inside an open testing area. And before Adrien could say anything, everyone realized that there was a rumble coming from the sky, but it clearly wasn't a thunder.
Mebenhower and his officers looked around in the sky, wondering what was that noise, and then the rumble became ever closer to the point where they finally understood they direction it came from. They turned around…
And finally saw it: a small flying machine, with the shape vaguely remembering a cross and heading straight toward them. As the rumble clearly became rhythmic and loud, the plane passed over their heads at a few dozen meters and then darted in the sky.
"Dear God." Mebenhower muttered in amazement. "So you really made them. Flying machines."
"We prefer to call them 'airplanes', but yes we did." Bethany said proudly. "Meet the Flying Theimer Mk.1, or 'FT' for short."
"This is the first combat-oriented airplane in history, and I assure you, gentlemen, they're going to change warfare forever." Adrien stated, then he took a portable radio that he had with him. "Lieutenant Richthaven, do you read me?"
From the other side of the radio came the voice of a man in full ecstasy. "Copy you loud and clear, sir!"
"Having fun, I see." Adrien joked.
"You bet. I'm having the time of my life!"
"Glad to hear that, but we have some guests, today. How about you show them what the FT is able to do?"
"All right, then. Watch this!"
The plane then proceeded to climb upward as it spun around before turning back down, gain speed and then make a quick turn, showing off the agility of the model. The pilot then proceeded to make a few more stunts in the air before it was time to show the weapons.
There were a few old tanks scattered around the field, so Richthaven started his attack run from several hundred meters away, closed in on the target and fired a strafe of machine-gun bullets that hit the old tank with precision and even breaking several parts of armor.
"We mounted reinforced caps on the bullets." Andy explained. "It might not be enough to destroy a heavy tank, but the smaller ones can be destroyed easily."
"And while we still need to test it, we're pretty confident that the FT can carry a 50-pound bomb."
"50?!" one of the Vinlandian officers asked surprised.
"Indeed." Adrien replied. "A bomb like that can destroy a heavy tank, if modified with a reinforced head and the pilot is good enough."
Mebenhower brought a hand in front of his mouth and hummed in thought, though there wasn't much to think about after seeing all that. "Mister Agusta, consider me smitten for your articles." he proclaimed. "I'll write my report to the Senatorial Commission. I'm sure you will receive an offer very soon."
"We will be glad to do business with you. However, for transparency, I should remind you that our contracts with nations that are in a state of war back in Europa take precedence."
"Don't worry, sir, we know that." Mebenhower replied in a conceding tone. "However, there is also the matter of that new tank of yours. Vinland is really interested in…"
"I'm sorry to interrupt you, General." Adrien talked over. "But the Edelweiss project is property of the Gallian National Arsenal, as it was given by Professor Theimer in his will. We only produce it under license, and you might have noticed that there was a platoon of Gallian soldiers guarding that section."
Mebenhower hummed. "I see. So we need to negotiate with Gallia, directly."
"Yes, sir."
"All right, then it's up to the politicians, now. It's been a pleasure, Mister Agusta. Thank you for your hospitality."
"Whenever you wish, General."
April 16, 1935.
The Kloden Wildwood was really as deceiving as they said. The tall trees were so dense that one could hardly spot the sunlight from above, and the trails were few and relatively small, with only a real handful of them being useful to bring in vehicles.
As such, Erwin had decided to only bring in the Edelweiss and the personal squadron of Colonel Asso as armored support, while the rest of the infantry was transported with the new four-wheeled trucks sent by Agusta-North.
"A 'Bee' would've never made it this far." Welkin commented, referring to the most popular model of truck in Gallia.
"Leave it to Adrien to give us all the best toys to win a war." Erwin replied satisfied as he sat on the back half of the Edelweiss with Alicia, Rosie and Largo.
"Yeah, the Imps will wonder how the hell we got here so quickly." Rosie commented smugly.
"That is...if we find 'em." Largo commented less optimistically. "I can't tell left or right in this huge forest."
Erwin the noticed something. He quickly tapped Welkin's shoulder three times to order him to stop the tank and the young Lieutenant relayed the order to his sister. As the Edelweiss stopped, soon enough the whole column of vehicles did the same and for a moment there was only the rustling of the leafs to the wind. Erwin took a better look at a couple of bushes sitting on top of the upper side of a natural trench where they would have to travel through.
"Hey, Welkin." he asked. "Are you able to replicate the whistle of a green sparrow?"
Welkin hummed a little confused, but replied "Sure." and then turned and whistled just like a sparrow.
Soon enough, the bushes moved and the squad immediately pointed their weapons, only for Erwin to stop them. Because the rustling turned out to be none other than Ramal and Kiril, who then slid down the trench and walked up to the tank as they removed their masks. Erwin jumped down, quickly followed by the rest of the group, including Sheila who was driving inside the Edelweiss as the personal radio assistant of Erwin.
"Welcome back, boys." Erwin quipped. "Did you find anything on your excursion?"
The boys were quite tired and extremely sweaty. "We're not saying anything without some water." Ramal replied exhausted.
Erwin turned toward Alicia. "Sergeant, bring these soldiers something to sit on and some water."
Alicia nodded and huffed a positive before jumping down. The rest of the group, seeing that they were going to stop for a while, did the same.
Soon enough, as the rest of the regiment also dismounted to take a break, Alicia brought in two folding seats while two soldiers behind her were bringing in a table. Ramal and Kiril sat down with a relieved huff.
"What drama queens we got here." Sheila joked while she handed a full canteen to her boyfriend.
"Here. Don't drink all in one go, though." Isara instead said with a smile to Ramal.
The young Corporal for a moment blushed, but managed to retain composure and hoped that everyone would think he was simply hot for the fatigue, then he took the canteen, thanked her and took a long sip.
Meanwhile, a table had been prepared in front of them with a map of the area they were in. Erwin was patiently waiting for them to recover their energies, and his pupils only needed a moment more to stand up, wipe some water from their mouths, then leaned on the map and quickly orientated themselves. Erwin calmly extended a pen for one of them to take it.
Ramal did that and quickly drew a point on their momentary position, then moved it in a straight line until he stopped on a point indicating three kilometers away.
"The enemy base is here." he said. "It's definitely quite big for a place like this. They are probably storing all their supplies for the invasion of Central Gallia."
Kiril then took over, pushing his finger on the map. "By going down this road, we will encounter an outpost first, with a machine-gun and defended by a whole platoon. Also...it's not signed on this map, I see, but there's a secondary trail running parallel to the one of the base, which is also slightly elevated. The Imps have placed a few fixed weapons along it, but a small team should be able to get rid of them, since we found the access."
"Aside from that, though, we couldn't find any other trail, but we were already quite exhausted, by now." Ramal concluded.
"Of course. You already did a great job. Take a rest before we begin the attack." the General replied., then turned toward the Lieutenant. "Welkin, take your squad and go get a look. See if there's anything else we could use."
Welkin quickly saluted and then motioned his group to follow him. Right after they left, the other high officers of the Division arrived. They started discussing the chances of attacking and how feasible it was to just attack frontally, given the apparent lack of alternatives. Rowe seemed convinced that they could win with minimal losses if they were careful enough and used the artillery support with precision.
"General." Sheila then called, clearly alarmed.
"What is it?" Erwin eventually asked.
"Intercepted enemy transmission, sir. General Radi Jaeger is en route to the imperial base and he's expected within the hour."
That news froze all ideas for a methodical attack. Radi Jaeger was one of the three main Generals of Maximillian and he led an elite imperial tank squadron. If we was coming to take over the defense of the Kloden base, the Gallians better move fast and make sure he found nothing but rubble on his arrival.
It was perhaps a sign from the gods when Welkin returned and announced an important discovery.
"Sir, we found an animal trail that seems to lead directly on the side of the enemy base." he reported.
"An animal trail? Now that's why I brought you here, nature lover." Erwin said quite relieved.
Welkin chuckled and rubbed the back of his head before making a step aside. "We wouldn't have found it without our new squad member."
Erwin thus noticed that Alicia was holding a cub of Porcavian pig, a wild animal considered to be a sign of good luck."
"General Absenkirch. May I present you Private Hans, who just showed us the road to victory." Alicia said boldly.
Hans oinked.
"Well, Private, I hope your intel is worth it." Erwin joked, then asked Welkin "Show me where it is."
Welkin quickly reached the map, made some calculations and then drew the new trail on it. It was indeed not reported and perhaps even the Imperials didn't know about it.
"Then this is the plan." Erwin finally decreed. "Varrot, your Militia will lead the first attack on the base's first outpost to lure them out. Rowe, assign a squad to follow Ramal and Kiril and take the crag. Asso, you and your tanks will fight at the front with the Edelweiss. With that firepower, the Imps will be certainly focused on you. Welkin, send your team down the animal trail and tell them to breach the base while they are distracted. That should throw them off-balance and give us the upper hand. Everything clear?"
"Sir, yes, sir!" everybody replied in chorus.
"Then let's get rolling. Move, move, move!" he hastened.
Ramal and Kiril checked their weapons one last time, the Army Sergeant next to them reported in.
"We're all set to go, Corporals."
"Understood, sir." Kiril replied dutifully, then turned toward Erwin, who was instead mounting inside the Edelweiss to use it as a command vehicle, but before he disappeared inside the turret, he looked at his pupils and firmly nodded. "All right, let's get moving." Kiril finally declared.
The two GSS started jogging toward the starting position of the Division, then used the first line of tanks as cover to sprint toward the elevated trail, followed in their pace by the Army team.
As the threads started rolling in the background and soon enough the Edelweiss fired the first explosive shell toward the Imperial outpost, the flanking team of the Corporals climbed up the trail and quickly reached the crag and they immediately spotted and anti-tank cannon, its crew ready to fire on the Gallian tanks as soon as they entered in their range.
Quickly, the two GSS slipped behind the two gunners and knocked them out cold. They then looked down and realized that there was an Imperial heavy tank guarding the first outpost.
"Does any of you know how to use this?" Ramal asked.
"Me, sir!" a Private replied.
"I'll load it." another one said.
As the rest of the team checked the surrounding area, the two improvised gunners turned the barrel downward and fired at the Imperial tank. They couldn't get a clear shot of the radiator but they still hit the rear side from above, severely damaging the engine, which allowed another hit from the Edelweiss to finally destroy it.
And right after that, Kiril spotted the other flanking team with his binocular. Squad 7 was advancing pretty much unopposed on the opposite side of a small lake at the entrance of base, so the rest of the troops needed to keep the pressure up. As soon as their allies broke into the first outpost and quickly overran it, Ramal and Kiril led their allies further on the trail, where they quickly spotted a turret, a sniper and another AT gun pointed inside the logistical base to defend it.
Quickly enough, even those supports were taken out, but just as the Gallians were about to start firing down, they saw something that turned their optimism into hesitation.
"Quick, inform the General!" The Sergeant immediately asked the GSS, who were the ones with personal radios.
"Rot Falke, this is Othen, we spotted enemy reinforcements coming from the South-East. That's General Jaeger's tank." Ramal immediately reported.
"Othen, can you storm the base from your position?" Erwin asked.
Ramal quickly exchanged a glance and a nod with his best friend. "Roger that. We're going in."
The Army soldiers were stunned.
"Wait, what are you doing?"
"You can't just charge those tanks!"
Kiril replied calmly. "The flanking team is already there. If the Imperials feel attacked on all sides, Jaeger will certainly order a retreat."
"How can you be that sure?"
"I am not. But General Absenkirch is." the Darcsen replied. "So? Are you going to just stand there while the Militia takes all the glory?"
That last phrase clearly snapped something in their pride.
"Come on!" the Sergeant exclaimed. "I thought I was commanding the toughest sons of bitches in Gallia!"
"Urrah!" the troopers yelled.
With the morale of their allies restored, the GSS looked down, saw that they could easily slide down the side of the crag and so they did while the Sergeant ordered his sniper and three other troopers to use the captured fix weapons against their former owners. The rest of the platoon followed suit, including two Lancers that were quickly tasked with flanking the massive tank of Jaeger, the Lupus, and at least try to damage it.
Concurrently, Alicia led the rest of Squad 7 through an opening in the northern side of the base. Indeed, seeing that the Gallians had broken through every direction except the one he came from, and with what was left of the garrison losing every will to fight, Jaeger ordered a full retreat. The Lupus opposed a staunch resistance, with Erwin engaging it with just the Edelweiss and the Lancers hidden among the warehouses.
Eventually, the Lupus simply couldn't afford to take another blow so Jaeger and his elite guards retreated. Kloden had been finally reclaimed.
April 20, 1936
News of victory were just what the whole of free Europa needed after the Nord Republic had capitulated two weeks before. Hearing that Gallia had defeated one of the best Generals of the Empire in a head-on battle was a boon to morale of the country but also in the Federation.
"The Federal Council wishes to extend their congratulations to the Gallian people for their inspiring victory. Our troops have been fighting with renovated vigor, now that they have found again some faith in victory." said Townshend.
"We're glad to hear this." Cordelia replied cordially.
It wasn't just them in the room, though, as President Venstre of the Nord Government-in-exile soon spoke up. "Our Resistance back in the homeland reported that the Empire has had to take away two entire Divisions from the occupation in order to replace their losses in Gallia. Our chances at sabotaging and prepare an insurrection have gone a long way, thanks to that."
"However, it still isn't enough." Wilbur warned. "If we want a chance to actually defeat the Empire, we need to start coordinating our war effort."
"Agreed." said Ambassador Chirikhòn of Ellas, a neutral country in the southern part of Europa that had been recently attacked by the Empire. "Now more than ever, your project for a Europan Community might be our only salvation, Prime Minister. My King and His Government have declared their full support for it."
"The Federal Council has also subscribed to it. All there is left to do, is start writing down the charter." Townshend added.
"Then I suggest we start doing just that." Cordelia concluded. Then she snapped her left fingers and immediately a scribe came inside to start taking notes whenever the politicians were done discussing the points.
"Fist of all, we need to find an agreement on the primary nature of this new treaty." Wilbur began.
"For sure, it cannot be a military alliance." Prime Minister Wolgraff of the Hasse Kingdom replied.
"We all know that it would be an extremely unbalanced cooperation."
Townshend looked quite annoyed but didn't reply.
Wilbur thus went on with his proposal. "I propose that the basis of this treaty be an economic one. As you are surely aware, the main reason behind this and many other conflicts on our continent has always been the lack of ragnite and other raw materials. Materials that most of us possess in large quantities, but not enough to reach an independence on that field. For once. Gallia is open to establish trade deals that would let the members of this Community to acquire ragnite at low prices."
"So you're proposing a commercial league." Chirikhòn said.
"Indeed. If we want peace in Europa, we must strive together toward building a continent that is economically prosperous, for as along as there is a country that feels cut out of the road for wealth, someone will always consider war as a valid way to get what they need."
"A fair point." the representative of the Fhirald Liberation Movement, one of the several clandestine organizations at the meeting, said. "Our land would be able to provide this community with food and steel in exchange for other resources."
"But we can't just ignore the fact that we're all facing a common enemy." Townshend intervened. "We should at the very least establish some level of military cooperation. For example, the Federation is willing to start sharing some of our technology. Establishing a common ammunition type, for example, would go a long way toward creating a unified front."
"Indeed, Ambassador." Wilbur acknowledged. "The path of Europan cooperation will also go through establishing a collective security, but first of all, let's focus on laying the foundations for the economy."
Right on the outskirts of Kloden, the Third Regiment was resting before heading back to Randgriz. The First and the Second had already left in advance, as they were finally about to receive the new Edelweiss tanks.
"Finally, we're leaving these damn woods." Largo commented. "I was tired of getting lost."
"No kidding. Add all the insects constantly flying into my eyes to this damn wilderness." Rosie added.
"There was no other choice." Alicia said. "We had to make sure there were no Imperials left inside the Wildwood."
"Well, I enjoyed this unexpected excursion." Welkin said honestly. "I finally got to see a lot of the plants hidden deep into the Wildwood. I didn't think I would ever get the chance while in the Militia."
"Of course you would enjoy walking through bushes and marshes, Welkin." Juno quipped. "However, it was quite a learning experience."
"You are a student of Biology, right, Juno?" Alicia asked friendly.
"Yes. Though I'm specializing in Microbiology, exploring the Wildwood is certainly a good exercise."
They were interrupted suddenly when Kiril walked up to them. "Welkin, all Squad Leaders must report to the General immediately." he declared.
Squad 7 looked around nervous, some already dejected as they smelled that they were probably going out on another mission.
"What's going on?" Welkin asked quite alarmed.
"The General will give the details, but there is an emergency. We're all going to the Barios Desert."
