37 Advance

The history of the steppe was stained with blood.

After Kaiser III died young, the empire lost its center and began to falter. The natives truly began to feel it about fifty years ago.

The soldiers guarding the imperial border began to grow lax.

The number of the fearsome Wyvern Knights dwindled, and the army's equipment and quality kept plummeting.

To them, the Empire was no longer a bunch of weaklings that could recklessly covet the Great Steppe, a land blessed by the Mother.

And in that era, three tribes began to rise to prominence.

Borkan, Aikamad, Serelkis.

The strongest and cruelest on the Great Steppe quickly began to expand their power.

There had always been disputes between tribes within the Great Steppe, but this time was different.

Any tribe that would not submit would be swept away completely.

It took about fifty years to unite countless tribes through fear.

At last, when the politics of the steppe had settled somewhat, they turned their eyes toward the Empire.

"The Great Steppe is a bountiful and merciful land, but it is far too small for our people, whose numbers grow every year."

"The rise and fall of nations is an unavoidable current. It is time for the Empire, which has ruled the continent for a thousand years, to fall, and for us, who have wandered the steppe for a thousand years, to rise."

"A stable land. A stable home. It is time to end our lives of wandering beneath the sky as if it were our blanket."

The opinions of the three most powerful tribes quickly converged.

They formed a joint policy council and prepared to choose a leader who would unite the nomads.

It was something that had already happened many times in nomadic history.

But this time, things were a little different.

This time, there was no imperial enemy to stop their unification.

The Empire could no longer push deep into the steppe.

The new Western Archduke, Charles Raymonds, was showing interest in a suppression campaign, but that was only in the borderlands of the Great Steppe.

"By the end of this year, let us elect a new leader and seize the chance to sweep away the Empire."

That was how they waited for their opportunity.

Their first chance came with the war between the West and the South.

In what was almost an imperial civil war, the South had begun invading the West.

The three tribes responded at once, judging that the longer the war between the South and the West dragged on, the weaker the Western border would become.

However, their first chance vanished all too easily.

The Western Army was wiped out in just one week, and only a week and a half after the war began, Porvin had already been occupied.

"Those stupid Western fools."

Thinking they needed to understand how the West was operating, they took a step back for the time being.

The second chance came quickly.

A large number of Western Wyvern Knights opposed the newly established regime and left the West.

The corrupt nobles who had guarded the border were all purged and replaced.

"Maybe this is our chance."

With that judgment, they sent proposals to each western fief.

The proposal was that if they paid tribute, they would not be attacked.

The reason for sending such a proposal was simple.

To test whether the Empire had the strength to stop our offensive.

If they accepted such a humiliating proposal, it would mean they were weak, so we would attack; if they refused even after a few of their fiefs were smashed, we would wait for a later opportunity.

Several large tribes, including the Temerkan tribe, moved first.

Up to that point, they never doubted their victory.

The South had intervened, but its scale was not large. What could an army totaling only a few thousand do?

...And then, unbelievable reports came in.

"We can't get in touch with the Temerkan tribe!"

"What?"

"No messenger has come back to report the battle. Judging by the circumstances, they appear to have been annihilated..."

One strong tribe that had made its name on the Great Steppe was annihilated.

Soon afterward, the tribes that had moved to pressure the western fiefs were wiped out one by one.

Although most of them were only third-tier tribes, it was still a shocking turn of events.

To think that the Empire, which they had believed to be powerless, could do something like that.

An emergency tribal council was convened, and a few soldiers who had survived the battlefield were summoned.

They all looked completely shell-shocked.

"We won't punish you for fleeing the battlefield. Tell us what happened on the western border."

An older soldier among them slowly opened his mouth.

"Never... never oppose them. They... they command thunder and fire! Our warriors who were struck by their fire fell helplessly, and every time we heard thunder, a huge explosion erupted!"

Those were words the tribal chiefs at the meeting could not understand.

Thunder and fire? Did he mean magic? It wasn't as if they hadn't dealt with mages day and night.

Besides, wouldn't it have been the shamans' sorcery at work? Why were they so terrified?

"Thunder and fire? Are you talking about their mages?"

"No. That... that was something different from the mages' magic. Not even the mages' magic was that cruel and horrific."

"Go on."

"The flames they spewed blew our warriors' limbs off. Hundreds of warriors melted away in a single minute, and everywhere... everywhere was filled with corpses beyond recognition..."

The chiefs who heard that thought the same thing.

These soldiers have lost their minds.

"Hmm, for now, bring them in."

The defeated soldiers did not really know what weapons the enemy had used, and the barbarian chiefs who had never faced firearms directly thought their story was nothing but exaggeration.

Misunderstanding soon led to a mistake in judgment.

"It seems the Westerners have developed a new trick."

And that mistake in judgment turned into baseless confidence.

"No matter. Our shamans should be able to counter it."

Besides, even if the enemy invaded the Great Steppe, there was nothing to fear.

The history of the Great Steppe was, in essence, a history of struggle. The Empire that had coveted the steppe for hundreds of years had already launched countless wars of invasion.

Along the way, they had been driven back many times and paid many sacrifices, but in the end, the ones left standing on the steppe were them.

Even after hearing that the Southern Army was preparing to invade the West, they were not afraid.

"This time will be no different."

Thinking that, the chiefs issued their orders.

"Prepare for war. This is a holy war to defend the Mother Steppe."

***

Since the modern era, wars of aggression have cost a tremendous amount of money.

The consumption of weapons in the age of spears and swords and in the age of firearms was on completely different levels.

The problem was that, given the nomadic peoples' nature, it was hard to recoup the cost of war.

The natives living near the western border and assimilated with the West over a long period of time were fine.

They had become almost settled folk, making it possible for Charles Raymonds to get his money's worth.

But once you entered the Great Steppe, the story changed.

There, it would be fortunate if you could recover even half the cost of the expedition in actual goods.

'That is, if we're only counting visible assets.'

If the expedition succeeded, it would make the people of the West more pro-Southern.

And that would be an enormously big deal.

Just look at the Wyvern Knights, who were left in an awkward position after the war between the West and the South.

After the destruction of the Western Grand Duke's house, the Wyvern units guarding the border also split in their loyalties.

The Wyvern Knights who had served under the old corrupt nobles fled to the imperial capital, and the Wyvern Knights who were loyal to the Grand Duke's house itself also left the West.

But not everyone left the West.

About 200 out of 600 remained in the West.

Those who were loyal more to the West itself than to any noble house or to the Grand Duke's line.

For now they were only staying in the castles along the western border to prepare for barbarian raids, but once that problem was resolved, it would be worth trying to win them over.

'If we can recruit even a few knights, the effect will be enormous.'

Even if firearms and gunpowder weapons had advanced, the power of magic had not disappeared.

Without military aircraft yet, the Wyvern Knights were still the only air force, and those who could wield magic would be of tremendous help to us.

Mainly for the navy. In anti-submarine warfare.

Just handing depth charges to the Wyvern Knights and using them as anti-submarine air support would be extremely effective.

Besides, there was one more advantage.

'That means we don't need to bother making a carrier-type ship.'

Wyverns can fly without a runway.

Vertical takeoff and landing, free maneuverability in the air, and the rider's excellent skills were all useful abilities even on a modern battlefield.

If you put them on a ship roughly converted from a merchant vessel, that would basically make it a seaplane carrier.

'Besides, when we eventually establish an air force, it'll reduce the complicated pilot-training process.'

Talents who can withstand several Gs of acceleration without special training, are used to flying, and have better eyesight and judgment than ordinary humans?

They were far too tempting.

Tempting enough that I wanted to recruit them by any means.

Matters like western public sentiment, border stability, and establishing a command structure had already been mentioned countless times by the staff.

There was far more to gain than the money we would spend on the expedition.

So I signed the final approval document without hesitation.

The order written on the document soon spread throughout the entire army.

And so, on September 27, after the bright summer had passed its peak.

Bathed in the cool autumn wind, the Southern and Western allied armies began marching beyond the border.