Chapter 37
A soldier is someone who must fight once he has received an order.
Since I was also included in that category of “soldiers,” I could not refuse the order.
In the end, I had no choice but to lead my company, which had arrived late, toward the enemy lines as the brigade’s follow-up unit.
Advancing through the dark tunnel with only flashlights to guide us, we discovered a ceiling with light leaking through it. When we emerged from the tunnel through that opening, an enemy supply base spread out before us.
It was a massive warehouse-like place, with all sorts of supplies piled up inside. The Kingdom soldiers guarding it had all become cold corpses, sprawled across the ground with bullets lodged in their bodies.
It appeared to be the work of the brigade soldiers who had entered first.
As I frowned at the stench of blood, the company’s officers and soldiers emerged one after another.
“Well, you certainly held a splendid little festival.”
Lieutenant McCall was the first among them to speak.
I gave a perfunctory nod, then walked outside through the warehouse’s wide-open doors.
Instead of dim lamplight, vast sunlight illuminated everything around us.
I glanced around, but there was little difference from inside the warehouse.
After all, all the Allied soldiers guarding the base had become corpses.
Meanwhile, there were almost no corpses of Imperial soldiers to be seen.
Even if it had been a surprise attack, I had never expected such a vast difference in ability.
The Kingdom soldiers were pitiful enough to make me feel sorry for them.
Just as I was conspicuously clicking my tongue, the sound of artillery fire—‘Boom!’—rang out from not far away.
When I turned my head, artillery shells were raining down on the city center.
Fortunately, it was not indiscriminate shelling.
They were concentrating their fire solely on enemy military bases to avoid harming civilians.
It was proof that the Empire was currently observing the international laws of wartime.
Whether the Imperial soldiers themselves would observe those laws was another matter.
Through the open warehouse doors, I could see Imperial soldiers massacring the Kingdom soldiers.
In several buildings, windows shattered as Kingdom soldiers fell from them.
Even though it was urban warfare, they were subduing the enemy with near-perfect efficiency.
‘So this is what it means to be called the Empire’s elite, the Magic Mobile Forces…….’
Just as I was admiring them inwardly, a woman with light brown hair stopped beside me.
It was Prien.
“What a gruesome sight.”
I turned to see what had gotten into her, only to find her standing in a reverent posture, as though praying to God.
“They must have once been human, too. How could they not have known that joining hands with beasts would turn them into beasts themselves? They deserve divine punishment, but their transgression is terribly sad.”
Right. There was no way you could possibly say something sensible.
As I looked at Prien dubiously, Lieutenant McCall spoke up this time.
“After hearing the outline of the operation, I thought it would be an easy victory, but I never expected it to be this overwhelming. I almost feel guilty. It’s as though we’re bullying a child.”
Sergeant Glendy burst out laughing at Lieutenant McCall’s joke.
“A perfect analogy! More importantly, to think you’d use the enemy’s supply route against them and infiltrate this way. Company Commander, you really do seem to see several moves ahead on the battlefield!”
“I was merely lucky.”
“Hahaha! You even possess humility, so I can’t help but admire you. More importantly, are we going to join up with the brigade’s soldiers now?”
Was he out of his mind? Did he intend to enter the middle of an enemy position teeming with artillery fire and fight?
I turned to see whether he was serious, only to find his face filled with anticipation.
It was not just Sergeant Glendy; the other officers and soldiers also looked as though they were itching to fight right away.
Lucy, who had maintained a blank expression throughout, seemed like the only normal one.
‘They’re a bunch of warmongers…….’
It was enough to make my skin crawl.
They all seemed to want a battle, but unfortunately, I had no intention whatsoever of granting their request.
“We’re going to the coast.”
The coast? Prien spoke as though she did not understand.
“Captain Daniel? Because of our allies’ diversionary attack, aren’t all the enemy forces concentrated either at the front or in the center of the city? There should be a procession of civilians evacuating along the coast right now.”
“……Are you suggesting that we attack the civilians?”
What did she take me for, to ask me something like that?
I was suggesting the coast simply because I had concluded that the enemy presence would be thinnest there.
If battle was unavoidable anyway, choosing the place with the least fighting would increase our chances of survival.
Of course, if I explained that, I had no idea what sort of criticism I would receive from these utterly unreasonable warmongers, so I decided to gloss over it.
“I have a plan, so stop grumbling and follow me.”
In truth, I had no plan.
I had simply blurted it out because “plan” was a magic word capable of silencing the unit’s complaints.
As expected, Prien and the officers promptly saluted me to indicate their understanding.
‘Good.’
Then all I had to do was leave the war to the brigade’s soldiers and kill time by staring out at the sea from the coast.
“All personnel will move to the coast with me immediately.”
Hiding my true feelings, I calmly issued the order and started walking.
*
“The front…… The front has been breached!”
“We’ve also lost contact with the central army in the city!”
The news of defeat reached the ears of Rapunai, commander of the Kingdom Army’s Armored Division, as he fled.
He had expected something like this to a degree, but he had never imagined the city would fall so rapidly.
Rapunai clenched his teeth and glared at the radio operator.
“Order them to hold their positions as much as possible and withstand the Imperial Army’s attacks.”
“But if we do that, our casualties…….”
“That is an order! Don’t you understand that we need to buy time for our escape so another opportunity can arise!”
Major General Rapunai’s doctrine was that soldiers could be conscripted as often as necessary, but if the military leadership were wiped out, it would be difficult to fill the vacant positions.
But that doctrine was also a kind of defense mechanism he had developed to enable himself to abandon the battlefield in an emergency.
Boom─
The ground shook from the artillery fire, making his legs waver.
Rapunai nearly fell, but barely regained his balance and started walking again.
“Damn it! How much farther do we have to go?”
Pressed by Rapunai, the colonel-level officer beside him spoke.
“We’ll reach the rendezvous point as soon as we turn down this alley! The evacuation vessel has been disguised as a fishing boat, so it should be safe from Imperial attack.”
Rapunai nodded at the officer’s calm explanation.
Unless there were special circumstances, the Imperial Army observed the international laws of wartime.
That meant they would not attack civilians, and if they joined the civilian evacuation procession aboard a disguised fishing boat, they could make an easy escape.
“But, Division Commander, are you really going to evacuate?”
The Kingdom Army was no different from a candle before the wind without its leadership.
The officer had said it out of concern, but Rapunai could only feel anger.
“We already lost the war the moment we were surrounded! We managed to keep going because our supply line was still intact, but they used it against us and stormed in! Do you think we have any chance of winning!?”
“We have no chance, but we should prepare for a fight to the death and…….”
“Don’t talk nonsense! Refusing to retreat from a battlefield we’re going to lose is something only complete fools would do!”
Though, of course, Rapunai’s retreat did not include the soldiers.
“……Understood.”
Thinking he could not change the Division Commander’s mind, the officer simply fell silent.
Rapunai glared at the officer once, then turned down the alley and saw the coastline spread out beyond it.
He only had to go a little farther before he could board the evacuation vessel.
Rapunai and his group thought they were finally saved, but the moment they emerged from the alley, they stopped short.
“Huh?”
They had come face-to-face with an Imperial Army unit wearing black uniforms.
There were approximately 200 Imperial soldiers.
On the chest of the Imperial officer leading them, the gold National Merit Medal shone brilliantly in the sunlight.
Rapunai swallowed hard at the sight.
The elite soldiers Rapunai had brought as an escort numbered no more than 50.
He had been worried that the larger their numbers, the more likely they would be spotted by the enemy.
In any case, if they entered battle like this, they would merely die meaningless deaths.
‘But…….’
How on earth had that man managed to set up camp here?
From Rapunai’s perspective, it was only natural that this made no sense, since he had refrained from exchanging communications out of fear of interception.
Daniel, who was leading the company, felt much the same way.
‘……Why is the armored division’s military leadership here?’
Daniel had entered the coast simply to avoid combat, so this made no sense to him.
The soldiers, however, did not seem to think that way.
Click─
The Imperial soldiers raised their rifles in unison and aimed them at the Armored Division’s military leadership.
Sergeant Glendy also aimed his rifle alongside the soldiers and spoke.
“Company Commander. Was this what your ‘plan’ was aiming for? At this point, it’s gone beyond admiration and become downright frightening.”
What frightened Daniel was no different.
He could not help sighing at the thought that he would once again rack up military achievements, but he could not let it show.
“Arrest those men.”
Daniel narrowed his eyes sharply at the Armored Division’s military leaders, who had stopped in their tracks.
“You may shoot anyone who resists.”
At Daniel’s cold words, the Kingdom soldiers, their will to fight gone, dropped their rifles one by one.
They had acknowledged through their actions that Nordia had fallen.