Norden I 3

***

NOVEMBER 6, UNIFIED YEAR 1924, NORTHERN DISTRICT, KRAGGANA DEPOT, ADVANCE GUARD

For the Imperial Viper Battalion, the words the worst described everything about their day. Certainly, there was no other way to explain the circumstances after they sortied.

The bulk of the Empire’s proudest force, the Great Army, had been abruptly redeployed, which caused massive confusion. By the time the Imperial Army’s Northern Command managed to get everything under control again, the Entente Alliance had taken the chance to recuperate and rebuilt their lines. As a result, the imperial units that had been sent out to pursue and mop up the enemy had to be reorganized, and the Northern Army Group’s logistical network was overextended.

That meant opportunities for continuous Entente Alliance Army strikes on imperial supply depots. Once the Northern Army Group had been forced to spread their manpower thin to fend off the Entente Alliance commando attacks, the enemy aerial mages would strike.

The Northern Army Group had already been hit with this tactic twice. They were just barely managing to keep the front supplied, but they couldn’t afford another major disruption. The depot raids had to be stopped. That was the gist of the Viper Battalion’s mission to guard the supply lines.

The brass had made it sound simple, but for those actually tasked with the assignment, it might as well have been impossible. Although the Entente Alliance’s total mage strength was less in absolute terms, it had total freedom in deciding when and where to attack. Meanwhile, the Viper Battalion had to allot troops to multiple points and communication lines because they were committed to defense.

It was a huge bother that the enemy had made remarkable qualitative improvements. Most of the remaining Entente Alliance mages in this commando unit had been in service since the war started. Furthermore, these tenacious soldiers had been equipped with the latest model of orbs that, though officially unmarked, were actually supplied by interested world powers such as the Republic, the Commonwealth, the Unified States, and the Federation. With this, the quality of their gear and combat capabilities rose dramatically. The Entente Alliance mage commando unit had transformed into a threat even imperial mages couldn’t take lightly.

On top of all that, the fact that imperial forces couldn’t let their guard down against even new units on the front made it difficult for imperial commanders to station troops. Sometimes the Entente Alliance sent in fresh soldiers. If they were new mages rushed through training, they could be immediately slaughtered, but sometimes there were “voluntary mages” of unknown nationality mixed in; it was hard to know how to deal with those.

“Fucking hell. Entente Alliance mages again?!”

As a result, despite outnumbering their opponents on paper, the imperial mage units on the defensive were suffering from local numerical inferiority.

The Viper Battalion’s skill was fairly standard for an Imperial Army unit. Compared to others in the district, they were veterans with a good amount of combat experience, and as usual in the Imperial Army, they were well trained. There was no reason not to label them as a first-rate combat unit.

So the fact that they were outnumbered by a fearsomely powerful enemy unit could only mean the situation was terrible.

“This is sooner than we thought! Why did Intel say we had nothing to worry about?!”

Information regarding the skill level and equipment possessed by the average Entente Alliance mage had been passed on to Viper Battalion so they were ready for the qualitative improvements, the disciplined fire, and other tactical measures their opponents had taken that made them a greater threat than before. But despite the force’s upgrades, according to their data, the imperial mages should still have been superior on an individual level.

That’s why they were confident they could defend to some extent, even if they were outnumbered. They figured with Airspace Control holding the sky they could overwhelm the enemy with their individual abilities; a little numerical disadvantage wouldn’t beat them.

So they wanted to curse Intelligence as the ones responsible for the phoned-in report. They could explain it away as the fog of war, but the ones who suffer are always the troops on the front lines. When everything was predicated on different information, it made them want to be mean.

“—Commander!”

He blossomed red upon shielding a subordinate who had carelessly maneuvered into the enemy line of fire.

Luckily, his flight was only momentarily disrupted, and he soared across the sky in an evasive maneuver; he must have managed not to black out. There was no immediate threat to his life, but as far as the soldier could tell, it was a serious wound.

As his buddies covered for him, maintaining coordination, what crossed their minds was the notion that output strong enough to penetrate an imperial mage’s defensive shell didn’t come from standard Entente Alliance equipment. In spite of their grim suspicions, they cast formulas one after the other. Even when the Entente Alliance unexpectedly made it a three-way fight, the mages of the Viper Battalion were fulfilling their duty thoroughly.

“…I messed up. Sorry, 02, the rest is up to you.”

“Understood, Commander! 07 and 13, you two have reached your limits. Fall back with him!”

02 had taken command, so he quickly shifted mental gears. Their commander wouldn’t be able to continue fighting, but he needed an escort to retreat, so the only option was to assign soldiers who were exhausted or heavily injured to go with him. They hadn’t expected this to be such a tough fight, but the enemy was also wearing down. All we have to do is defend, he encouraged himself, but it pained him that their battalion was down to half its original strength. A company’s worth of mages had already retreated. Another half a company’s worth had been shot down and were still lying on the ground below. Down to half strength, and their enemy was still raiding their supply depots, though the fight should have been wearing them down, too. Their determination was extraordinary.

“CP,7 do you read me? This is 01. Command of the Viper Battalion has changed hands.”

“CP, roger. Viper 02, do you read me?”

Of course, there was tension in the CP radio operator’s voice. The company they’d sent ahead was already combat ineffective. Almost all their anti–air gunners who were supposed to be a powerful deterrent against mages had already been evaded. Behind those, the only defense the supply depot had was the temporary anti–air gun emplacements established to provide direct support fire. Maybe they could do a little intercepting, but there was no way they could handle a large-scale assault.

“No problem. This is Viper 02. The commander has been seriously wounded, so I’m taking over.”

Agh, what should I do? I want to take my time to think of a way to handle this. If God exists, he’s a real asshole.

“CP, roger… Got some bad news for you. The surface observer squad spotted two company-sized groups approaching from the northeast. Seems like they’re definitely headed your way.”

“Reinforcements? How the hell do they have any left?” Viper 02 took off his receiver and screamed. They’re chipping away at my friends in this bloody battle, but we’ve downed way more than a company’s worth of these bastards. And yet, two more companies were closing in on them. A little math was all it took to see that the Entente Alliance was pitting a regiment’s worth of mages against a single supply depot. Why?

This is a bigger problem than our intelligence agency being incompetent. The Entente Alliance obviously has way more troops than we thought.

“Viper 02 to CP. If I may share my thoughts on the matter…”

We won’t be able to continue interception missions like this. Our only choice is to use the supply depot we’re supposed to protect as a shield, even if it sustains some damage, and commit to a defensive battle. If we take any more casualties, our unit will be wiped out, and the supply depot will be overrun. Having made his decision, 02 had to tell CP.

“This is an emergency. Please make handling this top priority. The battalion has sustained serious casualties. I don’t think we can take much more. Requesting immediate permission to retreat. I want to take us back to the depot.”

Even the exhausted Viper Battalion could fight their hardest in a tough battle if they joined up with the depot’s defenses and the mages who had retreated. It would increase the likelihood of the depot getting damaged, but there was no other way to intercept at this point.

If the battalion fought with only the remaining mages, they would just be picked off one by one. It would be better to at least join up with the remnants of the units that could still fight and get support. They might get cut, but they would be able to put up a better resistance that way than with broken bones.

“CP, roger. I hear what you’re saying. I’ll consider it with high command. Wait five minutes.”

Under normal circumstances, five minutes would be wonderfully efficient. It was proof that the bureaucratic CP understood the gravity of the situation. But even if he should have been happy for the prompt assistance, as someone on the front lines, he had to think, Five whole minutes?

Three hundred seconds. How many times would they have to evade and counter while waiting them out?

“Please respond as fast as you can. The vanguard is already beat up!”

In a brawl like this, the vanguard always had to face the enemy the longest. They were already so worn down they could barely fend for themselves as individuals, much less perform as a unit. Even if they set up for a protracted defense, they wouldn’t last long. Just staying in the air was a huge burden for them now. Only someone who had experience knew how hard it was to dodge formulas. Anyhow, they had no choice but to hold out until they got permission to retreat.

…That was the right mind-set, but it wouldn’t be that easy.

“Lieutenant, multiple aircraft at two o’clock—bombers,” came the half-screamed report from his subordinate on guard. Agh, the worst guys show up at the worst times. Mechanical birds that were comfortable flying at high altitudes and could carry a huge amount of explosives a human could never manage. They had almost never been spotted on the northern front: bombers.

“H-how high?!”

“They’re at 9,500.”

His question contained a sliver of hope, but the response was cruel. It sent a chill up his spine.

Nine thousand five hundred feet. That was too high for a mage but low for a bomber. At that altitude, they could also bomb targets to some extent.

Naturally, they had sturdy armor. And a bomber unit under pursuit from mages could shake them off with no trouble by leisurely climbing to a higher altitude. Between the huge altitude gap and their armor, intercepting bombers was too hard a mission for mages. That was why the aerial units that specialized in interception always fought the air supremacy battles.

But with a mere mage battalion, they didn’t know what to do. Intercept the bombers while fighting two battalions? That was the definition of an impossible order.

“Viper 02 to CP! It’s urgent!”

“This is CP. Viper Battalion, what is—?”

“We’ve spotted multiple bombers! Altitude is just an eyeball estimate, but they’re at 9,500 feet! Intercepting is impossible. Deploy all the marshaled troops immediately.”

What the heck? CP was taking too long asking the question, and he furiously interrupted.

Bombers don’t have great mobility, but they are fast. If fighters go around 250, then bombers go 200 to 210. Mages usually go around 230. If they really worked, they could tolerate 250, but at that point they could only really fly in a straight line.

The enemy was going for a one-two punch of bombs and mages. The methods to deal with that were certainly limited. This enemy was awfully crafty and capable.

“Bombers? Tell me how many and what direction.”

“Two o’clock from our perspective. About twenty.”

It was only twenty planes, but getting bombed in this state would entail more than a little damage. It would be a disaster if they lost the winter fuel stockpile. The troops on the front would have a cold time.

Surely their opponent knew that. That’s why they’d brought out not only mages but bombers as well. This was what it meant for worse to come to worst.

“CP, roger. Can you intercept them?”

He suppressed the urge to shout, How?! “They’re too high, and we still haven’t eliminated the enemy mages. We can’t really use long-range sniping formulas right now.”

Basically, It’s obviously impossible. It would be difficult even under normal circumstances to eliminate bombers with a 3,500-foot gap in altitudes. If they were operating fully manned and employed disciplined fire, maybe, but that was about as much of a chance as they had. Intercepting them while dogfighting enemy mages was unfeasible.

“…We definitely want to avoid Kraggana Depot getting bombed.”

“We can’t put up a fight if we’re all dead.”

CP seems to want to rely on us, but the impossible is impossible. There are things that can and can’t be done, and we are doing our absolute utmost. The voice of the Viper Battalion leader couldn’t help but become sarcastic and even a bit resigned as he replied with pride. It seemed like no matter what they did, they would be wiped out.

So are they going to tell us to brace for annihilation and resist? My interest is purely sarcastic, but boy, even I’m getting pretty philosophical. Maybe I should get ready to die.

It happened just as he thought that.

“Roger… What? Really?”

A whisper, then a shout. Then a flurry of voices. Something was happening at the command post.

“CP? What’s going on, CP?”

“CP to Viper Battalion. Fall back immediately.”

The awaited retreat orders came down in a tone that brooked no argument, but he never imagined they’d get them like this. What the hell happened?

“We have permission to retreat? I appreciate it, but is everything all right?”

“Rejoice—you have reinforcements. A battalion is rushing over from Sector B-3. Once you join up with them, you’ll be under their command.”

Reinforcements? What woodwork did they suddenly come out of this late in the game? If we had reserves, why did we end up in this struggle?

“Reinforcements? That’s news to me. If we had extra troops, what were we waiting for?”

“They were dispatched from Central. Call sign Pixie.”

The operator ignored his attitude and simply conveyed the information. If it was a unit from the central forces, they must be getting caught up in the fighting as soon as they arrived. It was likely they had shown up ahead of schedule and Command thought, Great! before throwing them right in.

“And you should be happy. Their commander is Named.”

He forgot his grudge in spite of himself and nearly whistled in amazement.

Wonderful. That’s absolutely fantastic. A battalion of reinforcements and a Named. It’s like the harvest festival and Christmas both arrived at once, and we got this terrific present. If I could, I’d open a bottle of champagne and welcome them with a toast.

“Viper 02, roger. Those are some fancy reinforcements.”

If we’re getting that kind of quality backup, then…yes, I see why we were granted permission to retreat. I want to shout hooray, but I do wish they could have come a little sooner.

At that last thought, he realized humans rescued from hopeless situations tend to expect an awful lot, and he winced. Well, he knew it was completely unreasonable, but he still had the nerve to think that if the reinforcements had come earlier, his battalion wouldn’t have had to suffer so much.

Add some fighters, and it’ll be perfect. There probably wouldn’t be many, but he was sure they would scramble some to intercept before too long. His mouth naturally relaxed into a grin at the prospect. It was such a load off to know that the enemy would be crushed one way or another.

“When will the fighters be taking off?”

“…They were judged to be unnecessary.”

The unexpected response stunned him.

Fighters? Unnecessary?

“Huh?” He wanted to ask what the radio operator was talking about.

“Don’t worry about it. Just hurry and meet up with your reinforcements.”

“…Roger.”