THE SAME DAY, THE GENERAL STAFF OFFICE
Though at night they conducted a thorough blackout, the General Staff Office was a fortress that never slept, like the beating administrative heart of the Empire.
So though it was nighttime, Lieutenant General von Rudersdorf was roused from his dozing by the clamorous ringing of the telephone.
"General von Rudersdorf, it's Lieutenant Colonel Uger. Terribly sorry to bother you while you're sleeping, but I have a report."
"Thanks. What is it?" He was used to calls interrupting his light sleep.
When Rudersdorf urged Uger to continue, the lieutenant colonel made his report apologetically. "There was another nighttime raid on the lowland industrial zone."
The aerial war in the west was in a lull, but both sides were doing everything their cunning could come up with to harass each other; it was turning into a spiteful conflict far removed from the sort Rudersdorf preferred.
"…They couldn't stop the enemy planes?"
"The air force was in charge of interception; they're drawing up the report of their accomplishments now. The ratio they managed to down wasn't bad, but if we want to stop every enemy, we need numerical superiority…"
He's serious, thought Rudersdorf with a wince and asked about the important part—how they would respond. "Colonel Uger, what's Zettour doing about it?"
"The other day he coordinated with the Foreign Office to denounce the attacks for violating the law of war. These are bombings on population centers with no warnings, so they're publicizing that fact to third parties and condemning them."
Whoa, hold on. Rudersdorf's mouth fell open.
"…I had heard about it, but can the Service Corps expand their activities so much without running shorthanded?"
"All we're really doing is compiling the damage reports."
It wouldn't do to forget how Zettour had warned him not to work his subordinates too hard when they were already so understaffed.
His intention was to bring up a slight concern, but Uger replied in an unfazed tone that it was nothing…which only made Rudersdorf realize he really did have to be careful how he worked the man.
"I appreciate your diligence. Is our protest and propaganda war having an effect?"
"Formally, not at all. At about the same time as this bombing, we got a response from the Commonwealth via the embassy of a neutral country— stating that the recent bombings are being carried out by Federation air units; we of the Commonwealth are not involved."
Rudersdorf sighed in spite of himself.
"You can't get any Commonwealth prisoners out of the planes you're shooting down?"
"They just claim that they're Commonwealth, but they left home to join up with the Federation air force."
"These guys have a comeback for everything, talking out of three sides of their mouths! It's so annoying! How thick-skinned can they be?!" He didn't mean to start shouting, but he realized with a wince that he'd raised his voice before he even realized. Oops.
It wasn't that he didn't understand the logic of the legal debate; he just didn't see himself ever enjoying these conniving, roundabout ways of putting things.
"…Sorry, Colonel Uger. Please bear with me until Colonel von Lergen gets back."
"No, General von Zettour told me to support you with everything I can muster. I'm at your service. Supporting the front lines is precisely what those in the rear are meant to do."
That may have been the model view, but the fact that he could express it calmly while on night duty…was astounding.
"You're really a no-nonsense guy, huh?" "Sir?"
The puzzled reply made Rudersdorf wish they weren't speaking over the phone. He would have liked to see what kind of face the colonel was making.
"I'm impressed you didn't burn out serving under General von Zettour.
He asks too much of people."
"More than a few of the people I joined up with are on the front lines now. I believe it's my job to do everything I can on my own battlefield to help them. An officer warming a seat in the rear can't complain."
"That's the ideal view for a matériel mobilization officer to have. Very good," he continued, aware that he had taken the conversation on a tangent. He steered them back toward the job at hand. "Colonel Uger. The plan to supply the ongoing Operation Andromeda is questionable. General von Zettour told me that the railways were the magic key, so I want to confirm… There're no problems with transportation itself at present?"
"The public safety operation the Council for Self-Government conducted was a success, so the railways themselves have been freed from the threat of bandits. The issue with track standards is still fairly pressing… but since it's neither winter nor the muddy season, we can squeak by with recovered rolling stock and on-the-spot rail repairs." Uger said he was handling it, but the situation he spoke of wasn't nearly as encouraging. "The bottleneck isn't the supply lines but the supply itself. Since the industrial production zone has been forced to introduce measures against the nightly air raids, production has taken a hit."
"Specifically?"
"Even the blackout policy inevitably has a negative effect when factories are operating around the clock."
That wasn't hard to believe. A blackout hinders efficiency by definition. Having to guarantee continuous operations in the middle of the night during a mandatory blackout must have been miserable.
But without the blackout and continuous operations, logistics would crumble.
"…So having our industrial base in the west has become a vulnerability for the Empire…"
The historical how and why that led the Empire's manufacturing to be clustered within range of the Commonwealth's air force was certainly unfortunate at this juncture. The worry of night raids had always loomed, and now that they were actually happening, Rudersdorf just wanted to hold his head in his hands.
"We have to come up with a better air defense plan ASAP. Thanks, Colonel Uger. Keep up the good work on matériel mobilization."
"Yes, sir!"
After putting down the receiver with a click and releasing a sigh, Rudersdorf took out a cigar and began smoking to try and buoy his spirits.
Understanding—at this late date—the pains Zettour had been going through with managing matériel was frustrating.
…There are just too many issues to worry about.
If the enemy is trying to reduce our capacity, then we should reduce theirs, too.
Recomposing himself, he held his cigar in his mouth while picking up the receiver he was so familiar with and dialing a number.
"Operations, it's me. Sorry for the late call, but what ended up being the story with that bunch of ships of unknown nationality?"
"According to reports from the Northern Sea Fleet's patrol craft and submarines, the convoy is growing larger. We figure it's the Federation swiftly filling in the losses they sustained at the beginning of the war."
A simple and clear report. It painted a picture of enemy distribution that was only growing stronger, much to his disgust.
"We can't board them? I'd like to stop them if possible."
"The navy says it's difficult. They're being escorted by the Commonwea lth Home Fleet, so with our surface fleet, it's…"
The officer from Operations probably didn't mean to say as much, but… Our fleet can't compete with the Commonwealth's navy wasn't the sort of report Rudersdorf wanted to hear.
But for better or worse…he was getting used to hearing it. He wished they would figure something out…
"Why can't they use marine mages? Shouldn't the navy be able to think of that?"
"The navy has only a small cohort of aerial mages. There aren't enough to force the issue. And other mages would need to be trained in maritime navigation before they will be able to be of any use keeping an eye out for the enemy."
"So bridging the gap will take time." He grumbled, "Nothing to be done about it now, I suppose."
…Andromeda was an offensive predicated on the assumption that the enemy didn't have much energy left. If the assumption that both sides were hurting was shattered, success became extremely doubtful.
It was irritating that they couldn't grasp the enemy's movements, but depending on how well outfitted their opponents were, the Empire would have to also consider how feasible it was to hold on to their occupied territories.
"Can you get a handle on the influx into the southern zones?"
"The Federation's counterintelligence is frustratingly perfect. That weirdo Loria from the Commissariat for Internal Affairs is a capable weirdo, so he's just all-around nasty."
"Things are that bad?"
"He keeps secrets locked down with unbelievable zeal and a stubborn attention to detail. For HUMINT, we have to rely on the former Federation Council for Self-Government, but for things outside the zones where their people aren't—"
Rudersdorf interrupted, as if to say he'd heard enough. "Hurry up the analysis of our aerial reconnaissance. And what about breaking their code?" "The crypto warfare section is borderline overworked. Federation Army
codes used to be easy to break, but they've been getting a lot stronger."
"It's like being smoke screened at every turn. And we're supposed to keep fighting a war like this?"
Cutting off his subordinate's apology, Rudersdorf got to thinking. If the enemy is going to skirt the law, two can play at the game… We should follow suit.
"We have to stop the enemy convoy from delivering those supplies… Isn't there some approach we haven't tried yet?"
There should have been one method for pinching off the flow that they
had been considering.
"We had that one plan, whatever it was, right?" "You mean unrestricted submarine warfare?" "Yes, that," replied Rudersdorf.
"…There's a large risk of violating the law of war… Are you certain that's wise?"
The hesitation in the Operations man's voice was exasperating. Laws again? "We have to avoid possible complications and keep it legal somehow. I want someone researching loopholes in the law."
"The navy's legal division points to the wartime contraband regulations and limitations of the safe sea passage policy. But the specialists in these laws say that the inspection rules weren't made with subs in mind, so that discrepancy could be dangerous."
Rudersdorf wanted to answer, Why should I care? but he couldn't ignore the argument.
This was the moment he really resented Supreme Command for banishing Zettour to the eastern front. Rudersdorf wasn't very good at the precise language and grammar necessary for legal interpretation.
How much easier this would be if I could just throw it all at him…
"…Right, thanks. Anyhow, keep looking into it for now." "Yes, sir."
After hanging up, Rudersdorf smoked his cigar in silence for a time. A few thoughts came and went through his mind, but, rare for a man whose MO in normal times was decisive, quick action…he wasn't sure what to do.
"I'm stuck, huh?"
It's not like me, but it's unsurprising, given the circumstances.
"Apparently, not having him around really throws me off… Guess I'll have to answer my own questions."