Youjo Senki - Volume 12 - Chapter 3.5

DECEMBER 6, UNIFIED YEAR 1927, THE ILDOAN FRONT

After offering a living sacrifice in the form of Lieutenant Grantz, Tanya and the rest of the Salamander Kampfgruppe officers finally have the freedom to return to business as usual. They still have the grueling order to give the enemy a bloody nose, but now they can carry these orders out on their own terms, without the watchful eyes of a high-ranking officer peering over their shoulders.

With that, Tanya assembles her officers to begin the final confirmation of the operation before carrying out the orders. First Lieutenant Serebryakov acts as her assistant, with Major Weiss, Captains Meybert and Ahrens, and First Lieutenant Tospan representing each of their respective branches of the army. Together, the group collectively gives a difficult look at the war map laid out before them. Tanya has Lieutenant Wüstemann sitting in on the meeting, too, for his own studies.

“Tell me, my Kampfgruppe officers. What do you think of the enemy?”

It’s Captain Ahrens, heading the panzer unit, who takes the initiative to answer my question.

“It’s the same every time we look at it. Judging by the map alone, their strong points are dug in and leave few openings.”

Captain Meybert nods in agreement and continues.

“The enemy has prepared well for this engagement. It’s likely that they have positioned their artillery units in the rear for concentrated support fire. The challenge lies in their camouflage, making it difficult for our reconnaissance units to pinpoint their exact location.”

Though likely unimpacted by the difficult assessments made from the armor and artillery perspectives, Major Weiss shows a similarly difficult expression as he lets out a sigh.

“What do you think, Major?”

“Full frontal assaults are never easy, but…the more recent bases we’ve encountered have proper anti-mage countermeasures in place, making them harder to blow through.”

“I see… And what about you, Lieutenant Tospan?”

The man in charge of the infantry simply shakes his head at my question.

“I have nothing to add. We’ll see what we can do, but I believe charging a base is always going to come with hefty sacrifices.”

More pessimism. While it’s never good to underestimate your enemy, this shouldn’t be a blanket outlook. I look at the three of them with a grimace.

“You three sure are cautious… You mustn’t forget that it is human beings who carry out war. Taking this into consideration, we should look at the Ildoan soldiers.”

I’m a former HR expert and I take pride in my ability to communicate sincerely with modern man. My lifetime’s worth of experience is what tells me that my interpretation is correct.

“Ildoa’s war council is made up of intelligent planners. Luckily for us, however, they have little experience when it comes to actually fighting a war. You should all be happy.”

“We should?”

The first reply I get is a dubious look, but I shrug it off. Good and bad luck are two sides of the same coin.

“First, Ildoans have lived a life without war. Second, their lack of experience combined with high intellect will make them easy to defeat.”

“Uh…”

My officers silently try to find words to reply with, but I calm them down with a wave of my hand.

“It isn’t that hard to understand. Our enemies have spent a lot of time studying this war from afar. That said, there are many things one simply can’t comprehend without actually experiencing them, such as the momentum defeat carries with it.”

This is true whether talking about organizations, humanity as a whole, or just individuals. In other words, the enemy doesn’t realize they’re in a downward spiral.

“An army that goes on the defensive while it is on a losing streak has already lost the battle.”

It doesn’t even have to be a big battle to start the streak. A single random encounter is enough. Had they a small victory, something to stir up a sense of bravery in their soldiers, then the defense laid out before them would most definitely be something as impenetrable as steel. But if their forts are filled with hiding badgers…? Then they are weak, and their weakness needs to be capitalized on.

I know this from experience.

“The only cure for defeat is victory. An army full of soldiers who don’t believe in themselves is surprisingly weaker than what numbers alone would suggest.”

Even the most well-built base will amount to nothing if its soldiers are hiding inside it, protecting themselves until the end of the battle.

The Seige of Odawara is a good example of this. The same goes for Osaka castle. After losing their will to fight back, the defenders of Odawara simply surrendered its castle to the attackers. Even with all the planning and effort that went into raising the grand Osaka castle, it fell due to having subpar defenders. Soldiers who are certain of their victory are hard to contend with, but soldiers fearing their impending doom will often crumble on contact.

After thinking for a moment, staring at the well-made enemy fortifications while I imagine the mental state of its soldiers…I reach an easy conclusion. The soldiers inside are most surely a mess. If this is the case, then we only need to amplify their fears and destroy them while they are a panicked mess.

“Captain Ahrens, I require you to undertake a difficult job for this operation.”

“Seeing as my orders for most operations fit that description, what will you have us do this time?”

There is an honorable resignation in his casual response. It seems these soldiers have adapted to unreasonable demands in a way that is helpful. As Captain Ahrens’s superior, and more importantly, as a good middle manager, I’m proud of the fact that this is the level of trust we’ve established.

After a brief chuckle, I give him orders in a deliberately calm manner.

“I want you to have your tanks really make some noise.”

“Why, may I ask…?”

“Ideally, they’ll mistake you for Colonel Lergen’s 8th Panzer Division. We’ll scare them with a false sense of numbers.”

Dummies and decoys. There are entire chapters on this diversionary tactic written in the military textbooks.

“It will use a lot of fuel and artillery…”

“That’s fine. I need it done, Captain. If the enemy mistakes the armor formation for our main forces, then it is a small price to pay. I want you to throw everything you’ve got at them!”

If the enemy believes there is a panzer unit at their doorstep, then their defensive line will most certainly falter. To put it simply, the soldiers will get scared, and their commanding officers will show hesitation.

The base will surely grow disillusioned by the division.

“Captain Meybert! You’ll be charged with covering Captain Ahrens with support fire. I’m expecting you to use just as much of your arsenal as the division does.”

No bars shall be held to maximize the enemy’s fear. We must take the initiative to do what the enemy fears the most.

“Major Weiss and Captain Tospan, you’ll be given the lofty task of accompanying the tanks. You’ll be going on a quick drive with me.”

The two men nodded before Weiss took the lead to ask a question for both of them.

“Where will we be driving to?”

“The enemy base. It’s almost suppertime, and something tells me Ildoan bases are much tastier than whatever’s in the Federation and the Commonwealth.”