Ch.247The Black Coast of Yenisei. Lorelei Federation (3)

“In fact, the bad blood between our Lorelai and Kyralie has continued from long ago. The two countries were originally one nation, established by refugees who fled during the Era of the Solar Eclipse.”

“So they split apart?”

“Yes. We wanted to establish Lorelai as a pastoral, self-sufficient nation, but those who would found Kyralie believed they needed strong military and industrial power to prepare for war. It wasn’t an unreasonable idea. After all, most citizens were war refugees to begin with.”

“Hmm…”

The history lesson from the diplomat was quite interesting.

Even for a country I was merely passing through, such diverse and deep history resided within it. Would it not be choosing ignorance over wisdom to refuse to hear these tales?

“Eventually civil war broke out, and Kyralie’s founders left Lorelai to establish their own country. Over the course of 1,000 years, they grew their power through various wars, large and small. Now, Kyralie alone is three times stronger than our Lorelai.”

“Yet they still joined the war with allies. Does that mean they fear Lorelai’s military?”

“That’s likely the case. Though smaller in overall scale, our soldiers are elite. Thanks to the sale of black pearls—worth 100 gold coins each—our defense budget is quite substantial.”

“With war breaking out, you can’t mine black pearls anymore… What happens if the war drags on?”

“No need to worry about that. We already have a year’s worth of pearls stockpiled in our warehouses to secure export quantities… And since the Luminator destroyed the enemy fleet, we can resume pearl mining. The 1,000 years haven’t been spent solely dealing with Kyralie.”

“That’s fortunate. By the way, how are the other fronts?”

“The eastern front is at a stalemate. Both armies have minimized regular troops and are primarily deploying mercenaries. Having just arrived, they’re likely conducting reconnaissance before consolidating their positions.”

“I see… a stalemate…”

Mercenary units were basically treated as expendable pieces in large-scale frontlines.

They had to be used since they were already there, but commanders were reluctant to deploy them in important battles.

Of course, that didn’t mean mercenaries were useless.

Since mercenaries who broke contracts faced severe punishment, they generally fought hard. Moreover, mercenary units could handle everything except major roles—they could blockade key routes, defend bases, and serve as diversionary forces in offensives.

Any commander who understood the importance of reducing frontline scope to secure organizational cohesion would rarely choose not to hire mercenaries despite issues of trust and command.

In fact, there was an even bigger reason why mercenary units couldn’t serve as the main force in wars.

The absence of supporting infrastructure.

For example, if there were 10,000 soldiers and 5,000 were killed or wounded, regular army medics would transport them for treatment or burial, and reserves would be brought in to restore the force to 10,000.

But mercenaries had no such support. If 5,000 casualties occurred among 10,000 mercenaries, they’d have to shut down operations immediately. They couldn’t receive reinforcements from their home country, and replenishing troops during wartime was practically impossible, while losses accumulated. No matter how well they fought, they couldn’t escape being treated as cannon fodder.

Some might ask, “Doesn’t the employer provide supplies and support?” That only happens in special cases where money is plentiful but standing armies are not. When regular troops need to be fed, trained, and deployed, why would anyone provide support to mercenary units?

The reason mercenary contracts were expensive was because that money had to cover everything—buying your own food, bandages, and recruiting village boys—not because employers had money to spare.

That’s why mercenary units like ours—with our own supply lines, command headquarters, medical facilities for large numbers of personnel, and machinery to repair weapons—could name our price. We could fight independently for long periods without relying on employers, so we were worth what we charged.

“So… what are the enemy’s movements?”

“They’re regrouping their forces. They’ve identified our armor, and they probably consider your vessel the greatest threat.”

“I would too, in their position. So? Their response?”

“About 120 airships and 300 tactical aircraft have been detected. They likely plan to overwhelm us with human wave tactics.”

“A reasonable choice.”

Even if ground forces were annihilated, as long as a battleship with massive cannons remained in the sky, the northern front couldn’t fall.

No matter how powerful tanks might be, they pale in comparison to a massive battleship equipped with sixty 460mm heavy cannons.

Rather than risking piecemeal deployment and total destruction, the enemy was gathering all available air power to attempt to sink the Sky Warden in one decisive strike.

Even as invaders, they showed tactical expertise. Moreover, the resources and administrative capacity to mobilize such ships and aircraft gave me a renewed sense that I was participating in a full-scale war between nations.

“Will you be able to hold out?”

“We’ll see. It’s actually my first time in a fundamental battle where both sides are trading blows rather than a one-sided fight… but I believe in my soldiers.”

“Understood. We’ve sent additional anti-aircraft weapons to the northern front, which I hope will be of some help.”

“Yes. I appreciate the assistance.”

*

After receiving a rough explanation of enemy forces from the liaison officer, I gathered my staff in the operations room to begin discussing the large-scale aerial battle expected in a few days.

“Is fire support for ground forces possible during the aerial battle?”

“It depends on the situation… we could do it, but it would be better not to.”

“Why is that?”

“Looking at the enemy’s forces, they’re likely to increase further, which will inevitably lead to chaotic combat. While tactical aircraft might be manageable, airships require ship cannons or anti-ship missiles to deal with. Even with 360 CIWS units, sustained attacks will create gaps in our defensive screen due to reloading and overheating issues. Enemy anti-aircraft missiles and autocannons could exploit these gaps, causing significant damage to our lightly armored sides and underside.”

“Hmm…”

A valid point.

While our upper armor with gas cells was extremely sturdy to defend against artillery and missile strikes, the sides with numerous drive components and the underside with flight decks that couldn’t be armored were vulnerable even to ground-based anti-aircraft fire.

“Wouldn’t it be better to keep the shuttles grounded? They’d be damaged even by fighter scratches…”

“No, if the shuttles are grounded, the enemy will surely target them. That would severely disrupt our supply and personnel transport, and we’d lose our emergency evacuation means if the Sky Warden were to crash.”

“Though shuttles are vulnerable, they’re still iron-clad airships. They’ll at least provide minimal space armor.”

The staff thoroughly analyzed the Sky Warden’s capabilities in preparation for the aerial battle.

From the outside, they might look like a bunch of middle-aged men in matching uniforms, but right now, I couldn’t feel more reassured.

“Beyond that, an aerial battle will involve the ground as well… Debris from falling airships and tactical aircraft could cause significant damage to ground forces.”

“But if we don’t maintain the front line, we can’t stop the enemy’s advance. Debris of that mass would collapse even covered trenches with their covers. We should dig deeper trenches and build reserve trenches with emergency passages.”

“That sounds like a good idea. We’ll have the ground forces do that… The biggest problem is that we lack means to preemptively strike the enemy. Ship cannons might hit airships but struggle with smaller tactical aircraft, and CIWS is for close-range defense, limiting its proactive use.”

“Sigh… Being originally a transport vessel…”

Unfortunately, our weakness is our difficulty in countering enemy aircraft.

Three hundred tactical aircraft—with the possibility of even more—presented a serious burden for our side.

Add to that the enemy airships we had to deal with, and it was certain that we faced a formidable battle ahead, even with ground-based anti-aircraft support.