“Sir, the 4th Field Army has been routed by an elven surprise attack.”
Duke Zurich, the commander of the 3rd Field Army, immediately began deploying reconnaissance units around the area upon hearing the report from his subordinates.
“Have the reconnaissance units prepare for an elven surprise attack.”
“Sir, would it not be better to withdraw to Biarritz? This Donostia is surrounded by mountains on three sides, making it a terrain where the enemy can easily launch a surprise attack if they so desire. Moreover, tank units are not very effective in such terrain, so it would be wise to withdraw the army until reinforcements arrive.”
After much deliberation over the continued insistence of his staff officers, Duke Zurich finally decided to abandon Donostia City and retreat. Of course, if they simply retreated, the enemy could simply re-fortify Donostia, so they destroyed as much as they could and set up various booby traps to inflict further damage on the enemy when they attempted to reorganize.
With the 3rd Field Army also retreating, the emboldened Republic immediately occupied Donostia and began preparations to retake the northern territories. They also invested the funds they had obtained by ceding several territories to the Elondil Empire into the production of weapons.
Men were conscripted into the military, and women were drafted as laborers to bolster the military and accelerate the production of supplies. At the same time, they resumed the assassination of officers and officials using Glory Knives.
When news of the Western Military District reached the Imperial capital, the Emperor dismissed Duke Dortmund, the commander of the 4th Field Army, from his position as field army commander, holding him responsible for the defeat.
Subsequently, Duke Prague, the commander of the 1st Field Army under the Central Military District, was appointed as the commander of the 4th Field Army. In addition, the wounded were sent to the rear, and reservists were mobilized to fill the vacancies in the 4th Field Army.
Eventually, towards the end of the winter break, it was decided that the reserve third-year students of the Imperius Academy would be commissioned early. This was due to the severe reduction in the number of officers and officials as a result of the enemy’s indiscriminate assassination of officers and officials.
In response, the Emperor issued a special order to increase the enrollment quota of the Imperius Academy’s Department of National Defense, and the Academy’s headmaster Aurei also agreed.
“I never thought I’d be commissioned so soon. . .”
“I guess that just means the situation on the front lines is getting worse.”
Currently, the Kingdom of Holland had been completely annexed by the Empire, and with the exception of a few resistance groups, the Kingdom of Francia had also been effectively swallowed up by the Empire, including the Francia Peninsula.
In addition, the forces of the Northern Military District, which had occupied all the territories on the Britannia continent, were advancing south, bringing the total number of troops deployed to the Democratic Republic front to 2 million.
“Damn. . .”
Oswald, who had been developing weapons as quickly as possible in anticipation of the elves’ participation in the war, was finally left with a bitter taste in his mouth when the situation turned out like this.
‘𝘋𝘰 𝘐 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘢𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴?’
Oswald pondered weapons that could definitively end this war while also preparing for the invasion of Chaos.
‘𝘐𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘎𝘪𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘵?’
Of course, he could consider something like the 「Soul X Cannon X RaX] like last time, but with the current level of technology, it was impossible to create it, even with the blueprints. Fortunately, Oswald had experienced the Gigant from 「Final Chapter] firsthand.
It was about 5~6m in size and weighed around 25 tons. It was smaller than the RaX he had created last time, but it was also much heavier. It seemed that the smaller size was due to the need to engage in close combat, but the weight had not decreased accordingly.
And coincidentally, Oswald’s early commissioning assignment was Maesterium.
‘𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢𝘯 𝘰𝘣𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘦?’
Maesterium wanted Oswald, and the Emperor also thought it would not be bad for Oswald’s talents to blossom at Maesterium. Of course, after the CID officially announced Oswald’s rank as Diamon, there was talk within the Ministry of Defense that Oswald should be sent to the front lines instead of Maesterium.
In response, the Emperor brokered a compromise between the Ministry of Defense and Maesterium, allowing Oswald to work at Maesterium for the time being and to be deployed to the front lines if he achieved certain accomplishments.
“Where are you guys being assigned?”
“Probably to the Western Military District or the Northern Military District, where the fighting is the fiercest.”
“Go ahead and warm up the seat for me.”
Some time later, after parting ways with his friends, Oswald headed to the Empire’s Maesterium.