By afternoon, the core leadership of the Imperial Army's Western Front had all gathered in the massive strategy conference room of the command headquarters.
Over the continental map placed in the center of the table, Victoria pressed a pointer and formally submitted the tactic I had proposed that morning—the coordinated tactic of using catapults to collapse the enemy formation and linking it with a cavalry charge—as an official agenda item.
Immediately after the explanation finished, silence hung in the conference room for a while.
"......So, when the enemy hardens their formation and stops to block the cavalry charge, you mean to pour rocks via catapult by aiming for the timing just before the cavalry collides?"
"Precisely."
"W-Well, hmm..."
General Karl, the oldest veteran among the leadership, stroked his beard and muttered.
The generals looked at each other and fell into serious contemplation.
"Hmm. Rather than hitting moving enemies, we embed rocks into the formation itself, which has bound its own feet and huddled together to stop the cavalry...... The idea itself is truly ingenious."
"If the formation is indeed broken, our heavy cavalry's breakthrough power could punch through the enemy lines without stopping. If done well, the cavalry might completely penetrate the enemy position and immediately threaten the walls..."
Several generals nodded and showed favorable reactions.
But soon, a heavy sigh burst from one side of the conference room, followed by a gruff voice.
"I'll admit the idea is good, but it's far too unrealistic. Hey, Ian Harper."
General Bane, who commanded the cavalry, called out to me while leaning on the table.
Until just a few days ago, I had been addressed as Prince of Sterling, but now that my identity had been exposed and I had fallen to become a mere military staff officer, the generals naturally used low speech toward me.
"I heard well that this operation came from your head. For someone who just sat at a desk twirling a pen, it's an ingenious plan, and you correctly identified that formations lack mobility. But, you know too little of reality."
General Bane picked up the pointer and tapped it between the catapult model and the cavalry model.
"The core of this tactic is ultimately timing. The operation only has meaning if our cavalry slams into them without reducing speed at the fleeting moment when rocks fall from the sky and the enemy formation collapses. Correct?"
"Yes, General. That is correct."
"That's why matching that timing is difficult! How can we perfectly match the time it takes from the catapult fire command to the rock flying through the air and falling, with the charge speed of the cavalry charging fiercely, down to the second? If we fire even slightly late, or the cavalry runs even slightly fast......"
General Bane contorted his face fiercely.
"Boulders the size of houses fired by our own allies will fall on top of our precious Imperial cavalrymen's heads! If the cavalry is crushed by friendly rocks before breaking through the enemy, the formation will tangle and rather than a breakthrough, it'll be an annihilation on the spot. It would be worse than not doing it at all!"
At his sharp point, the other generals nodded in unison and agreed.
"General Bane is right. In the first place, there has never been a single precedent in the continent's history of operating catapults, let alone timed to friendly cavalry charges, against personnel. Catapults are for hurling at walls, not open ground."
"We have only three months left until the expedition to the Kingdom of Roland. Do you think catapult crews who have spent their entire lives hitting stationary walls in siege warfare can build the skill to match that timing without error in just three months of training?"
"Even if we assume the friendly cavalry isn't swept away by the barrage by some luck, the fallen boulders themselves become obstacles. The enemy could reform their ranks around the boulders. Infantry can be broken by trampling with horses, but boulders absolutely cannot be broken through."
"Surely they wouldn't respond that nimbly?"
"Doesn't the General know as well? Who is the current Supreme Commander of the Kingdom of Roland? Is it not the famed general, Alfonso? It may not be my place to say as one of the Imperial Army of the continent's greatest military power, but no one disagrees that man is the continent's greatest commander. If it's him, he will certainly respond to that extent."
"Nngh..."
The atmosphere of the conference room instantly tilted toward skepticism.
The generals' words were right in every detail.
My plan was perfect in theory, but on a real battlefield, there were too many variables.
It was a tightrope tactic that did not permit even the slightest mistake, and if it failed, the risk was too great.
I was biting my lips, unable to find a proper rebuttal.
Victoria, who had been listening silently to the generals' heated debate with her arms crossed, stepped forward.
"If it's that dangerous, it can't be helped. I will take the vanguard in this battle as well. I'll figure out how to survive, so don't worry and fire."
"......What? Your Highness! Absolutely not! It's not even regular infantry, but a cavalry charge against a formation...!"
The generals gasped and looked at Victoria all at once.
But Victoria's gaze was like solid rock, not wavering an inch.
"I'll say it again. I will stand at the very front of the most dangerous heavy cavalry unit, in the position of vanguard commander, holding the flag and leading the charge. So just fire."
"Y-Your Highness! That is too dangerous a gamble! If the timing is off even slightly and rocks fall on our own troops' heads......!"
"General Karl, General Bane, General Satur, General Bardil, General Valoni..."
Victoria called the generals' names one by one and met their eyes.
"I believe in the value of this operation proposed by Staff Officer Ian Harper. Don't you all know well that without this tactic, there is no way to break through their formation on the plains at the exchange ratio we desire?"
"That is...... true, but."
"More than anything, I firmly trust the excellent command of the Imperial generals here and the blood-and-sweat efforts of our Imperial soldiers."
A smile rarely seen appeared at the corners of Victoria's mouth.
"Surely you won't make excuses about insufficient training and miss with the catapults, getting your commander crushed by rocks? Is that all the level of you Imperial Army leadership amounts to?"
"......!!"
"I will charge toward the enemy position at the very front with my life on the line. You lot must somehow save me—use whatever means necessary to perfectly match that timing within three months. Can you do it?"
At the bombshell declaration where the Imperial Princess and Supreme Commander had taken her own life hostage, the conference room quieted as if cold water had been splashed upon it, but soon a burning fighting spirit began to ignite in the eyes of the veteran generals.
"......Ha! Truly a ruthless liege."
General Bane let out a hollow laugh and thumped his chest with his fist.
"If the Supreme Commander herself stands at the vanguard and charges, we have no choice, let's do it! If those engineer bastards throwing rocks from the rear dare leave a scratch on Your Highness's noble body, I will personally cut all their throats!"
"If Your Highness steps up like that, we cannot back down either! Damn it, we'll just train the catapult crews like dogs. Even if their hands bleed and their arms break, we'll grind them until we make it happen!"
In an instant, the command headquarters boiled over with fierce fighting spirit.
An armchair theory that had seemed impossible had transformed into an absolute goal that must be realized immediately, through a single decision made with the commander's life on the line.
Amidst the heated atmosphere, Victoria turned to me and opened her mouth publicly.
"Did you hear that, Staff Officer Ian Harper."
"Yes, Your Highness."
"That single ingenious idea of yours changed the Imperial Army's doctrine, which had been rigid for the past two hundred years, from the roots up. It was an excellent insight. The core of this expedition's preparations will be the idea you came up with."
As I hurriedly bowed my head at the public praise before all the watching generals, this time the Chief of Staff clapped my shoulder and laughed heartily.
"Hahaha! For someone who looks like a greenhorn on the outside, you were harboring a terrifying strategy in your head! The more I see of this, the more I like you!"
The Chief of Staff gestured toward the generals in the conference room and shouted loudly.
"Did you see, generals! This is why His Majesty the great Emperor did not let this one rot in prison or drive him to his death, but threw him to our military as a staff officer!"
"Indeed! His Majesty's insight is truly astounding!"
"Keep that brilliant head of yours spinning from now on! Hahaha!"
The generals grinned at me and did not spare their praise.
It was the moment my worth was recognized as an Imperial staff officer, rather than bearing the label of a traitor.
Of course, only Victoria and I knew the truth of the matter.
The Emperor had sent me to die, but to survive the death trap I had been driven into, I had squeezed out ideas by any means.
I will definitely win, and I will definitely survive.