I rose from my seat reflexively.
“Yes! Lieutenant Colonel Max Jaeger, Imperial Army.”
“I read the report you submitted on the Battle of Soissons. Quite impressive. It was practically as if you’d written, ‘Throw existing doctrine into the trash.’”
The conference room stirred. Dozens of pairs of eyes fixed on me. Envy, jealousy, curiosity, and contempt.
[Skill ‘Indomitable Mind’ is active.]
Cold reason cooled my head. If I couldn’t avoid this, I had to take control of the board.
“That was not my intent, Marshal. I merely… wished to say that change is necessary.”
I spoke as I walked forward.
“The Imperial Army is strong. Brave as a lion. But regrettably, we are now becoming an old lion too fat to run.”
“W-what did you say?!”
“Impudent!”
Shouts erupted from all sides. The Emperor’s eyebrow twitched.
‘Analyze status.’
[Affiliation: Imperial Navy]
[Rank: Marshal]
[Status: Displeasure, dismissing it as nonsense from an arrogant army bastard.]
[Affiliation: Imperial Air Force]
[Rank: General]
[Status: Interest, welcomes any logic that might increase his own budget.]
I steadied my breathing. I had to persuade these old men if I wanted to preserve my life in the coming world war.
‘Captivating Eloquence.’
[Skill ‘Captivating Eloquence (Lv.3)’ has been activated.]
“Trench warfare? Constructing defensive lines? Of course they’re effective, but they are not the best. They are relics of the last war. We saw it at Soissons. We saw just how helplessly concrete bunkers could be bypassed.”
I drew a line across the Western Front with the pointer.
“The key is ‘speed’ and ‘concentration of firepower.’ Infantry must no longer crouch in trenches with rifles in hand. They must run alongside tanks. To do that, tank radios must be improved, and infantry firepower must be reorganized around automatic weapons rather than bolt-action rifles.”
“Automatic weapons? Can we handle the ammunition consumption?”
A logistics general objected.
“Ammunition is cheaper than a single soldier’s life. Rather than firing ten rounds to suppress one enemy, pouring out a hundred rounds to keep his head down, then flanking and annihilating him, raises our men’s chances of survival.”
I cut him off firmly.
“The same applies to the Air Force.”
The Air Force general’s eyes gleamed.
“Using aircraft only for reconnaissance is a waste. As with the air support during the advance on Soissons, the Air Force must serve as flying artillery.”
I paused briefly.
“And… propellers have their limits. According to intelligence, the United States is already researching an ‘engine that flies without propellers.’ We, too, must accelerate the development of jet engines.”
Up to this point, even the Army and Air Force generals nodded to some extent. My military achievements were proof enough.
The real problem came next.
“Lastly, the Navy.”
The essential condition for the Empire to be reborn as a true empire. Command of the sea.
I turned toward the Navy marshal.
“The era of big-gun battleship doctrine is over. Battleships are no longer the princes of the sea. They are merely oversized targets.”
“Now listen here, Lieutenant Colonel! That is going too far!”
The Navy marshal slammed the table and rose.
“The honor of the Imperial Navy lies in a fair and honorable decisive fleet battle! How dare some army mud-crawler discuss the sacred sea!”
The expression of Emperor Ferdinand IV, who had been observing the meeting, also hardened subtly. It was famous that the Emperor loved gigantic battleships. After all, nothing was better for displaying the Empire’s strength.
‘This is dangerous.’
[Skill ‘Indomitable Mind’ is active.]
[Tension and pressure are being suppressed.]
But if I backed down here, I had no future.
“Your Excellency. Honor does not win wars.”
I looked directly at the Emperor.
“Your Majesty. The ruler of the sea is no longer the ship with the largest cannons. It is the ship that can strike from the farthest distance.”
“From the farthest distance?”
The Emperor showed curiosity.
“Aircraft carriers. Airfields that float upon the sea.”
“But the construction cost and time…”
“I am not saying we need proper fleet carriers. Even if we have to tear the decks off requisitioned merchant ships and oil tankers, we must put aircraft into the air.”
I deliberately emphasized cost-effectiveness.
“With the money it takes to build one battleship, we can build dozens of submarines and converted merchant carriers. If the enemy’s merchant fleets are cut off, the enemy’s tanks stop and the enemy’s people starve. That is victory. Cheap, fast, and lethal.”
[Skill ‘Captivating Eloquence’ strongly shakes the target.]
The Emperor stroked his beard and murmured.
“A floating airfield… Our eagles taking flight from the middle of the ocean? Quite romantic.”
Fortunately, I had successfully connected to the Emperor’s sense of ‘romance.’
“Ahem…”
The Navy marshal’s face flushed red and blue, but once the Emperor showed interest, he had no choice but to shut his mouth.
“Hoo…”
I let out a short breath and concluded my remarks.
“That is all. This is the path of survival for the Imperial Army that I felt keenly at the front.”
*
Londinium, capital of the Victoria United Kingdom.
Royal Intelligence Bureau headquarters, the Director’s office.
Clack, clack, clack.
A place filled only with the sound of a cryptographer striking a typewriter.
Director Sydney Wellesley, sunk deep into her leather chair, picked up the freshly decoded telegram.
Lieutenant Colonel Stirling, seated before her, opened his mouth.
“It is the regular report from Major Arthur, no, Lieutenant ‘Aiden Hunt.’”
“Has he already caught the tail?”
“Not the tail. It seems the man has offered up his entire body. His audacity exceeds imagination.”
Wellesley read down the document.
[Recipient: Londinium / Sender: Aiden (A)]
[Contents: Report on securing Target ‘M’s slush fund and details of fund management]
“7,450 gold coins…”
Wellesley let out a hollow laugh.
“That is far too vast a sum for a mere lieutenant colonel to scrape together at the front in a single month. He squeezed Soissons dry.”
“That is correct. If this ledger alone were made public, Max Jaeger could not avoid a court-martial. Embezzlement, misappropriation, bribery… we could attach any number of charges.”
“No, don’t expose it yet. This isn’t enough.”
Wellesley put a cigarette between her lips and shook her head.
“If you want to kill a hero, you have to break his wings when he has flown the highest. Only then does the sound of his fall become thunderous.”
Her gaze moved to the back page of the report. Max’s investment details, attached by Arthur.
[List of Investments]
1. Land in the imperial capital’s 9th and 10th District slums (adjacent to a garbage landfill)
2. Hahn-Metall stock (three consecutive years of recent losses, on the verge of bankruptcy)
3. Rotem-Werke stock (agricultural machinery manufacturer, technologically backward)
4. Sternberg Trading Company (small-scale clothing merchant)
“…What is this?”
Wellesley’s brow furrowed.
“These are the investments into which he poured his slush fund.”
“The 9th District is a sewer, and Hahn-Metall is a place that makes nothing but scrap metal. Sternberg? He entrusted money to a tailor?”
“According to Major Arthur’s analysis, it seems he made a fortune from the war and was blinded by it. Typical nouveau riche behavior. The gambler’s mentality of betting one’s entire fortune on scraps of information overheard here and there.”
“Ha…”
Wellesley’s vigilance crumbled a little.
Even if he was a demon-like commander on the battlefield, it meant his social intelligence and economic sense were at a child’s level. A greedy but stupid hero. Perfect material for the Intelligence Bureau to cook however it liked.
“Interesting. I suppose he thinks he’s bought a goose that lays golden eggs?”
“That is correct. Major Arthur is encouraging that delusion. The moment he goes bankrupt and becomes penniless, we will have our hands around his leash.”
“Good.”
Wellesley tossed the report onto the desk, seeming satisfied.
It was then. Stirling carefully held out another document.
“And… there is one more thing. The matter of his private life.”
“A woman problem?”
“It’s serious. Although they are not even his lawful wife, he keeps female military attendants around him like concubines. On trains, at hotels in the imperial capital… they say he is the height of licentiousness.”
The attached photograph showed beautiful female officers surrounding Max Jaeger in a hotel lobby. Serafina, Hanna, Erika, Frederica… every one of them a promising talent of the Empire.
Wellesley’s eyes turned cold.
“What a disgusting male.”
She pressed down on Max’s face in the photograph with her finger.
“Collecting women like trophies just because he has a bit of ability? He is exactly the sort Her Majesty the Queen detests most.”
“This, too, will become a useful means of attack. The Empire’s conservative nobles will froth at the mouth if they find out.”
“Yes. Very good weaknesses are piling up one by one.”
*
A hotel suite overlooking the scenery of the imperial capital at a glance.
“Aiden, has the newspaper arrived?”
I asked leisurely while drinking morning coffee brought up by room service.
“Here it is, Lieutenant Colonel.”
Aiden held out the morning paper with stiff movements. His fingertips were trembling ever so slightly.
I gave a faint smile and accepted the newspaper.
The top article on the front page. A headline in bold Gothic font.
[His Majesty the Emperor’s Decisive Action! ‘Imperial Army Modernization Plan’ Announced Without Delay!]
[Army Confirms Establishment of Three Additional Mechanized Divisions! Cavalry Abolished!]
[Navy Approves Aircraft Carrier Construction Plan… Curtain Falls on the Era of ‘Big Guns and Big Ships’]
“Hmm, he’s moving faster than I expected.”
I took a sip of coffee. It seemed my remarks at the last meeting had drawn out the Emperor’s decision.
But the real substance was on the business page. I flipped through the newspaper. The reason Aiden’s face had turned ashen was written there.
[Imperial Capital’s 9th and 10th Districts Designated as ‘Second Munitions Industrial Complex’! Large-Scale Redevelopment Begins!]
[Ministry of War Signs Exclusive Supply Contract for Next-Generation Tank Armor with Hahn-Metall!]
[Rotem-Werke Completely Halts Agricultural Machinery Lines… Transformed into Military Engine Production Base!]
“…”
I folded the newspaper with a snap and set it on the table. Then I looked up at my capable asset manager standing opposite me.
“How did it turn out, Aiden?”
Aiden swallowed dryly.