Oh God, forgive me...
Forgive me for staining the earth with the blood of my foes,
and guide me to the promised land.
I am but a poor, ignorant lamb.
A lost lamb who is ignorant of the truth.
I sing a song of praise unto the Lord.
Oh, I praise the Lord. I praise the heart of the Lord.
Fuck you. I'd prefer to feed you to the pigs.
Attention, everyone!
What a naughty girl you are.
I'm so overcome with feeling, I can't control myself!
My little fairy...
You certainly made a mess of things.
I regret acting out of line.
But this is the will of God.
She must be defeated...
That demon!
Are you serious?
You're putting Lt. Colonel Degurechaff in charge of that combat team?
Of course.
In light of the current war situation,
we've no choice but to put her in charge of her brainchild.
But... behind that appearance of a little girl...
...is a monster.
That's what you want to say, right?
Welcome to my combat team!
My wonderful comrades-in-arms, with whom I've enjoyed my time so much...
Let us rejoice in our new comrades!
And to those of you who are new, I welcome you with open arms.
Welcome to my... to our battlefield.
This world is unfair!
And the battlefield is one insane thing after another!
And for all of you, that means...
You are now free... to choose!
Choose whether to struggle or die!
Welcome to the front lines!
It's time for war!
This story is a work of fiction. People, organizations, locations, laws, names, etc. have no relation to any real-life counterparts.
How?
How did this happen?
Unified Year 1926, Autumn
Eastern Front, Near the Front Lines
We're in enemy firing range here, too!
Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Infantry Commander Captain Lienhart Thon
Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Infantry XO Lieutenant Klaus Tospan
Give the order to retreat!
No! The principle of elastic defense requires us to defend this point!
Our infantry are a bunch of dumbasses.
What's the point of holing up in a trench there?
Our allies are cut off! We need to protect them!
Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Armored Unit Commander Captain Elmer Ahrens
Annihilate the enemy forces!
We're under attack! Fall back! Fall back!
And our tanks are poorly trained dogs who don't even know how to sit?
Our job right now isn't to attack! It's to recover our allies!
Our allies' base has been surrounded! We will provide support!
Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Artillery Commander Captain Rolf Meybert
Artillery, full attack!
We're out of shells!
What?
And my artillery is just a random group of morons!
Have you even considered whether that base is worth all those shells?
Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 4th Company Commander Lieutenant Theobald Wüstemann
Hurry! Climb!
Stay in formation!
And our new mages aren't even worth using as human shields.
They all work hard, but they're so dumb!
Why am I in charge of this combat team?!
Episode One: Salamander Combat Team
Fuck this!
Imperial Army Strategic Headquarters 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion Commander and Salamander Combat Team Commander Lt. Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff
This is what happens when I had barely any time to train them.
What a waste of time.
Lieutenant Colonel! Fighters!
Four of them, heading our way!
Altitude 9500, speed 350!
Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion XO Lieutenant Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov
They're after our surface base!
Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 3rd Company Commander Captain Rhiner Neumann
Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 2nd Company Commander Captain Wilibald Koenig
Lieutenant Grantz's unit is the closest! They're en route to provide support!
We're moving as fast as we can, but those fighters will get there first!
Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 1st Company Commander Lieutenant Warren Grantz
Enemy fighters approaching!
We can't hold this position!
What the hell are those mages doing?
Damn it. I told you not to slow me down.
You got here fast.
Sorry! We'll head to intercept.
Wait.
I'll do it. Let me give everyone a tactical demonstration.
You'll do it personally?
The Federation doesn't give its fighters a mage escort.
The rest of you support the ground forces' retreat.
Dog of the Empire! There's just one of you?
You think you can take us?!
That's the Commies I know!
They love wasting bullets and soldiers' lives!
How can she move like that?
A named mage?
The Devil of the Rhine?!
I doubt anybody's learning anything from this shit.
Enemy sighted!
Show them what you learned in your training!
I'm fighting here!
Don't you know how to work with your allies?!
Now!
Die, monster!
She knocked it out of the sky?
That's what it looks like when you have the Silver Wings...
No... It's hopeless!
Oh, God!
Even the fucking Commies are begging for God's help?
I'm sick of people who keep clinging to the absurd.
Oh, Lord, grant us balance and order.
Grant us peace, and the promised land.
You are the guiding shepherd.
Guide us upon the path of hardship and lead us to the summit of the hill.
You are the promised crown of glory,
the house of honor...
A world of peace and purity.
May your gospel resound upon the Earth...
Upon the world.
Shit. Why the hell do I have to praise God?
That bastard's trying to brainwash me.
This is 02.
Our surface forces have completed their withdrawal.
Roger that.
Everyone, return to base immediately.
Also, it seems our new recruits don't know how to fight a war yet.
Once we're back, I want every single unit commander in my tent.
Salamander Combat Team Garrison
Captain Ahrens. Why did you send in your tanks?
Does the concept of "reserve forces" mean nothing to you?
And Captain Meybert, it seems you don't know how valuable an artillery shell is.
If I start deducting from your salary, will that get it through your head?
And Captain Thon and Lieutenant Tospan, are you simply stupid?
Why would you try to hole up in a forward position?
On the Eastern Front, defending our camp is our highest priority.
And Wüstemann, your maximum air time is still in the double digits?
That's pathetic.
You're gonna get shot down within the day at this rate.
Let me make this as clear as I can.
Our forces pride themselves on our speed.
But this front is huge, and we...
We can only defend a single point.
Thus, we need to make that point strong.
If we can't do that, our already depleted forces will be isolated and wiped out.
B-But ma'am, if we stay in our camp we'll be surrounded!
Elastic defense theory teaches us to never give up the initiative!
Shut up, textbook for brains!
The elastic defense theory you were taught
only works under conditions of adequate manpower,
adequate equipment, and adequate supply!
And here on the Eastern Front, that's impossible.
But you lot refuse to accept that reality.
Sheesh.
There's nothing worse than someone who's stubborn, stupid, and hardworking.
The war began with the Entente Alliance violating our borders.
Now it's spread to the whole continent.
We occupied the northern Entente Alliance territories,
but now the partisans are fighting back hard.
And down on the southern continent,
we're still fighting a group calling itself the Free Republic.
Our war against the Federation on the eastern front
shows every sign of turning into a quagmire.
We are taking heavy losses at the hands of the Imperial Army.
Somewhere in Moskva, People's Party Conference Room
And those who allowed this to happen must suffer the people's wrath!
And thus, we must come together!
Party Leader Comrade Secretary Josef
We must give our former comrades a chance to atone!
People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs Committee Member Comrade Loria
We must bring in the mages that we sent away
for the crime of siding with the old order!
B-But the very existence of mages goes against party principles.
Oh? Comrade, are you saying that you're opposed to having
these counterrevolutionary elements fight the Imperial Army?
N-No! I just...
Comrade Secretary,
I am free to proceed with bringing the mages into the army, yes?
And to the west, the Allied Kingdom maintains air superiority,
while it attempts to find new methods of cooperation.
Allied Kingdom Capital, Whitehall
So Prime Minister Churbull,
Allied Kingdom Navy Major General Donald Habergram
you want to work more closely with the Federation?
Allied Kingdom Prime Minister Churbull
Major General Habergram,
you're an intelligence officer, so I expect you to understand.
If we have to make a deal with the devil, so be it.
I see. So we're making one devil fight another.
The Ildoa Kingdom, which allied with the Empire, maintains neutrality.
Meanwhile, the Unified States, on the other side of the ocean,
is providing support to our enemies in the form of weapons and supplies.
They even sent in a multinational volunteer force.
Gravesite Somewhere in Federation Territory
Why can't we send them back to their homelands?
The rule is that war dead are buried where they died.
We can't cause problems for other countries in the middle of a war.
Unified States Volunteer Lieutenant Mary Sue
But...
It is what it is.
A hero rests in the land where they fell.
The Empire's enormous military might has made it the enemy of the whole world.
Damn it. Why did this happen?
I'd rather be training a bunch of penguins than those new recruits!
Actually, in my old world, didn't some country give a penguin an honorary rank?
The snow is impossibly beautiful,
and impossibly merciless.
I don't even need to recall what happened in the world war in my last world.
Winter saps a soldier's strength, wears at their mind,
and freezes their legs.
And when the snow melts, it'll become mud that we'll have to wade through.
The Empire's greatest strength is its mobility.
This is the worst battlefield possible for it.
We can't win like this.
Emergency report, Lieutenant Colonel!
What is it? What happened?
Major Weiss encountered the enemy while on patrol.
Two Federation infantry brigades are approaching fast!
Two infantry brigades?!
Yes.
Major Weiss had the frontline units fall back.
Good. He has my authorization.
This is bad...
We're going to be swallowed up at this rate.
Men!
The situation is simple!
A huge enemy army is about to surround us!
We have no choice but to let them attack, wait for them to exhaust themselves,
and launch a counterattack!
This is a defensive battle!
Keep your positions in good order!
Yes, ma'am!
All units are in position and ready to intercept.
Good.
By the way, Lieutenant Tospan.
Where's Captain Thon?
Why is he not answering?
Well, he's...
He's leading a recon team.
H-He wants to survey the terrain!
He says an officer should see it for himself.
Then do it before the fucking enemy gets here!
Keep your men in shouting distance!
But ma'am...
Shut up!
Turn over command to Lieutenant Grantz!
Wait!
An officer has the right to make his own decisions...
I told you to shut up!
I'm too busy to deal with your bullshit!
From now on, Captain Thon is to be treated as MIA!
But that's not fair...
Useless goddamn morons...
And the snow fell earlier than I expected...
How do we get out of this?
How come none of the units are reporting enemy contact?
The enemy's still waiting to attack?
Are they continuing their encirclement?
Should I try to attack and see how they respond?
Major Weiss, can you do artillery spotting?
In this darkness, I can't promise it'll be accurate.
I thought so.
Maybe I should wait to see what the enemy does...
Lieutenant Colonel!
Let us try!
We've trained hard for night artillery combat.
Okay.
Open fire as soon as Major Weiss gives the order.
But don't use too many shells.
Conserve your ammo.
Understood!
Sharing coordinates!
A8C6!
I repeat! A8C6!
Load the guns!
Fire!
Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion Vice-Commander and Salamander Combat Team Vice Commander Major Matheus Johann Weiss
Any effect?
The effect is unknown.
The darkness is worse than expected.
All units, stay sharp.
Stay in position until further orders!
Don't let the enemy lure you out! It's a waiting game now!
Lieutenant Colonel, this is strange.
What is?
It's strangely silent.
What is the enemy trying to do?
I don't know.
We can't see anything from here.
Why? Why aren't they attacking?
Is this whole thing just a decoy to keep us pinned down?
This is 02!
The situation has become clearer!
These aren't brigades.
They're what used to be brigades.
What?
The enemy was moving in tight groups, within voice range.
So it appears our artillery wiped them out!
So the Federation's brigades didn't get enough training time, either?
Everybody, looks like we've been waiting for nothing.
Show 'em what we've got, everybody!
Number one through number five, sustained fire!
Let's work enough to pay for that ammo!
Panzer vor!
Let's go! Time for the infantry to go to work!
The infantry have begun their assault.
We will proceed to wipe out the enemy.
Got it. I want you to take command of Lt. Wüstemann's unit too.
I want to fix their lack of training.
Yes, ma'am. Immediately!
That wraps that up.
Looks like I might have to rethink things.
Good work, everyone!
The Lieutenant Colonel is giving us an innocent smile.
First, very good work today, Captain Meybert!
I want to show my respect for your talents!
I was wrong about you!
I hope you'll accept my apologies!
Of course, ma'am!
And you too, Captain Ahrens!
Your last charge can only be described as impeccable!
Thank you!
And Lieutenant Wüstemann...
I hope you'll grow into your role!
Ma'am!
As for Lieutenant Tospan,
I'm not completely satisfied...
But that's okay!
Make up for it next time!
I-I'll do my best!
Did you think I'd change my opinion of you all after that performance?
For better or for worse, I'm a high-ranking military officer.
If we win the war,
I'll get all the credit I want.
But if we can't win...
I'll be the one to take the blame.
Given that I don't know how much leeway I'll get for just following orders,
that means that other people's testimony will be what determines my fate.
So from now on, I must focus on maintaining a good reputation and image.
Wait, where is that oaf, Captain Thon?
You're right. I haven't seen a report from him.
He was captured, or he's dead.
Well...
If he deserted, he gets a firing squad.
All right, everyone, let's have a toast!
To our fatherland!
To the victory of the Empire—
No...
To an early end to our war!
Cheers!
This... You're kidding, right?
I'm afraid it's true.
It's everywhere in the capital, I'm told.
In the language of flowers, a gladiolus means victory.
And olives, supposedly, are a symbol of peace.
Propaganda is...
"Peace is the greatest good"
really scary.