The Southern Alliance.
In a certain city,
this place could at this moment be called all laughter and merriment; representatives from every member state of the Alliance were drinking happily here, beautiful women in their arms and fine wine in their hands.
"Ha ha ha ha, the day we completely defeat the Nancy Empire is close at hand!"
"I've heard the Doyle Empire's side has already sent the Nancy Empire a telegram. If that Empress of the Nancy Empire is willing to go and stay a while in the Doyle Empire, the Nancy Empire still has a chance to exist."
"Stay a while? Isn't that just a canary in a cage? Who knows, she might even end up a plaything for the Doyle Empire's upper crust."
"Don't you worry. With a temper like the Nancy Empress's, there's no way she'll ever surrender."
"I'd rather that bitch didn't surrender. Then maybe we'd have a chance to get a taste of this Nancy Empress ourselves."
"Your tastes run a bit strong. I heard this Nancy Empress is in her forties, isn't she?"
"You're too young. You don't understand the flavor of it. When the Nancy Empress was young she was the Nancy Empire's greatest beauty, one of the first one or two on the whole Southern Continent. She's older now, but she has all the more allure for it."
As these men talked, they would bring up the Nancy Empress now and then.
In their talk, the Nancy Empress seemed to have become a plaything they could handle however they liked.
Just at this moment,
someone came rushing into the banquet hall and looked around.
He soon saw the man he was looking for
and at once dashed over.
"My lord! My lord!" The man rushed over and dropped straight to his knees. "It's bad; something's happened!"
The officer, drinking wine with a woman in each arm, frowned at the man who had burst in.
"All in a flap; what sort of way is that to behave!" This officer was no ordinary officer, but the supreme commander of one kingdom's army.
"One of our corps was attacked by the Nancy Empire's army and wiped out to the last man!"
Hearing this news,
the officer frowned: "How many men did we lose?"
"Thirty thousand!"
"Thirty thousand…" The officer's frown deepened.
Thirty thousand did not look like very many, but the trouble was that the army he had led out this time came to only about a million in all; losing thirty thousand at one stroke was no small loss either.
"Oh my, how did that happen? Didn't you say before, brother, that your kingdom was advancing fastest? How did you get bitten back by the Nancy Empire's beaten remnants?"
"Ha ha ha ha, losing even to that? Looks like you lot aren't up to much either."
The other generals teased him one after another.
This left the officer general's expression very sour.
"Who was in charge of this army, that something so big went wrong? Send our strongest, the First Corps, to support them!" the officer general said angrily.
As they saw it, the Nancy Empire was very weak now; whoever got beaten by the Nancy Empire was making a laughingstock of himself.
So what this officer general wanted now was to settle the score as soon as possible.
"Yes!"
The other generals and officers paid it no mind either, thinking only that the destruction of this thirty-thousand-man corps came from their own carelessness and from a counterattack the Nancy Empire had put together, nothing more.
——————
The First Beast Corps
was the strongest corps formed by one kingdom of the Southern Alliance; though this corps was organized as a single corps,
it had over fifty thousand men.
And its weapons were of every kind:
tanks, helicopter gunships, and every sort of the most advanced weapons and equipment.
Even in the whole Southern Alliance it was one of the first one or two.
And at this moment the First Beast Corps was advancing in full force.
For they had received orders.
Before this, a corps of a friendly army had been attacked and wiped out to the last man.
Their commander was furious and had ordered them to carry out a retaliatory attack in the shortest time.
And the target of this retaliatory attack was the Nancy Empire's second-largest city.
They were to take this city in the shortest time.
That was their task now.
"The Nancy Empire's second-largest city; there must be plenty of money there," the adjutant beside him said, looking greedy.
"Never mind money, there'll be plenty of beautiful women too," someone beside him said with a wicked grin.
"All right, enough idle talk. Since this is the Nancy Empire's second-largest city, they'll never give it up lightly. We can't let our guard down. The Thirteenth Corps being wiped out before is an example right in front of us. I hope you won't let your guard down in this operation. We have to win this first battle well. Five more corps will catch up later and take this city together with us. If we perform badly, it's us who'll lose face!" The corps commander looked sternly at these men.
But the subordinates under him had always been on good terms with the commander, and could tell that the commander was only stern on the surface just now.
In truth, he did not think much of this operation either.
"All right. My lord, I can tell from your tone. What is our corps? Can those ordinary corps compare with us? We're equipped outright with three hundred tanks, and there's the forward airfield built in the rear, and our own air wing, three hundred helicopter gunships! A full three hundred! What have those Nancy Empire bumpkins got to fight us with?"
"All right. Enough idle talk. As planned, cross the plain ahead quickly. Once we're across this plain, we'll see this operation's target, the Nancy Empire's second-largest city. We take this city fast, and then we can go in and enjoy ourselves properly." The corps commander showed a mocking smile.
The First Beast Corps began advancing quickly:
tanks, infantry, and every sort of heavy weapon and baggage under tow.
Suddenly!
The roar of guns came, one shot after another.
Boom, boom, boom.
The forward units came under artillery fire!
"Enemy attack, enemy attack! Take cover!" someone cried out.
The First Beast Corps went into battle at once.
Truly one of the first one or two corps; its professionalism was very high. Though attacked by surprise, it still made the most fitting response in the shortest time.
"They actually dare to fight us outside the city!" the Beast Corps commander said in a deep voice.
He showed not the least worry at being ambushed by the enemy.
As he saw it, an attack like this by the enemy could have no effect at all.
It was only a dying struggle, nothing more.
"Set up the artillery positions. Send our tanks forward! Find where the enemy is. And tell the Beast Air Wing at the rear airfield to be ready to support us at any moment." The Beast commander waved his hand as he spoke.
The force of over fifty thousand men went into action at once.
Three hundred-odd tanks began pushing forward on a wide front, and behind them great numbers of infantry appeared.
This was the tactical plan of infantry–tank coordination.
And just at this moment,
on the plain, tank after tank bearing the Nancy Empire's insignia appeared opposite too!
"Nancy Empire tanks sighted. About fifty in number. Tank type… one never seen before," an observer reported.
"A tank never seen before? Could it be some tank the Nancy Empire kept at the bottom of its chest? Hmph. Even if it's the Nancy Empire's last reserve tank, is it any match for our tanks? Have our tanks crush them!" the Beast commander said confidently.
Fifty tanks were spread across this plain.
By comparison, the three-hundred-tank array opposite looked vast and mighty.
But just at this moment,
on the horizon opposite appeared thirty-odd helicopter gunships.
"They actually have helicopter gunships? Didn't we wipe out every one of their few helicopter gunships in the very first fighting?" The Beast commander looked puzzled.
"And these helicopter gunships aren't the types the Nancy Empire had before, either," the adjutant beside him said, binoculars in hand.
The Beast commander thought a moment, then said, "Have our tanks push forward a little more slowly. Tell our own air wing to take off at once and come support us!"
"Yes!"
On so vast a plain, gunfire rose on every side.
Though the Nancy Empire's tanks were few, their hit rate was extremely high.
In the very first moments, firing from long range, they knocked out several of the Beast Corps' tanks outright.
This unexpected hit rate was something the Beast Corps' side had not foreseen.
And those helicopter gunships began hunting the tanks on the ground.
On the field, it was the Nancy Empire's side, of all things, that held the advantage.
But very soon the helicopter gunships of the Beast Corps' air wing appeared in the sky.
Perhaps because they had noticed the Beast Corps' helicopter gunships appear on the battlefield,
the Nancy Empire's tanks and helicopter gunships pushed forward no further,
as if they feared these helicopter gunships of the Beast Corps.
"Hmph. Prepare to counterattack. Wipe out all those tanks of theirs!" the Beast Corps commander gave the order to take the offensive once more.
The battlefield situation looked, for the Beast Corps, to have turned around again,
and they made ready to begin a hunt of their own.
But…
the real outcome did not seem to go as smoothly as this Beast Corps commander would have liked.
On the plain, soldiers long since camouflaged there shouldered "bazookas" one after another and aimed at the Beast Corps' helicopter gunships in the sky.
"Bazookas below!" a helicopter pilot spotted the bazookas that had appeared below.
But he did not hurry; he at once put the helicopter gunship into a climb.
This was the best way to deal with a bazooka attack.
The soldier on the ground pressed the fire button, and a missile shot out.
The helicopter gunship in the air noticed the missile flying up from below, and the pilot at once began maneuvering the helicopter gunship to evade.
With practiced moves, the helicopter gunship swung sharply to the flank.
The move was very smooth.
The pilot smiled confidently; he was very pleased with his evasive maneuver.
With so quick an evasive maneuver, that bazooka could never hit…
Suddenly!
He saw that the missile fired at him had actually turned in the air
and locked onto his helicopter gunship again.
At this moment the helicopter pilot's pupils shook violently; by now he had no chance at all.
Boom!
After a great explosion, this helicopter gunship turned into a ball of fire and fell toward the ground.
At the same time, many of the Beast Corps' helicopter gunships around fell from the sky like a meteor shower.
In the rear, the Beast Corps commander watched this scene, utterly stunned.
This was… was he dreaming?
Why were their helicopter gunships so easily hit and destroyed by those rockets?
Why did the enemy's rockets seem to be able to track?
He had never seen anything like this among the Nancy Empire's weapons before!
"The enemy's bazookas can track. Our helicopters' losses are very heavy!" the adjutant beside him said anxiously.
The Beast Corps commander clenched his fists.
In his head two lines of thought were wrestling at this moment: keep fighting, or choose to withdraw.
If they kept fighting,
the threat that weapon of the enemy's posed to helicopter gunships was simply too great.
But if they withdrew, he would have no way to answer to his superiors.
In just this moment of hesitation, several more helicopter gunships were hit by the enemy's special rockets.
"Withdraw!" the Beast Corps commander said through gritted teeth.
The Beast Corps' troops began to withdraw.
But in such circumstances, how could the Nancy Empire's army lightly let the Beast Corps before it go?
The fifty tanks advanced on their own initiative, and the infantry behind them sped up their thrusts too,
launching a hunting attack on the Beast Corps.
In the air there were helicopter gunships hunting as well, and the Beast Corps' tanks had no chance at all to strike back.
What had been a duel on the plain turned, in a mere few hours, into a battle of encirclement and annihilation.
Before long,
this battle report came before the Nancy Empress.
When the Nancy Empress saw this battle report before her, she rose straight up from her throne.
"A great victory! A great victory! We've badly mauled the Beast Corps. Three hundred tanks, every one destroyed by us! Of two hundred helicopter gunships,[1] we destroyed over a hundred. Over thirty thousand enemy killed outright!" The Nancy Empress held up the battle report in her hand and spoke to everyone in the great hall.
The ministers in the great hall cheered.
"Long live the Nancy Empire!"
"Long live the Empress!"
"A great victory! Truly a great victory!"
Though there had already been one battle of annihilation before, that earlier fight, wiping out an ordinary corps of thirty thousand,
fell far short of this battle now.
This battle seemed to open a ray of dawn in the dark clouds that had hung over the Nancy Empire's head all this while,
with a feeling of the clouds parting to show the sun.
And at this time they all truly felt just how formidable these weapons and equipment from the Fierce Dragon Kingdom across the sea were.
The Nancy Empire's chief port.
Truck after truck, loaded with every kind of raw material, came here, carrying these raw materials to the merchant ships berthed in the port.
Salaman, the Flame Elf Queen, gazed at the resources being carried aboard at the docks in an endless stream.
She looked at the Nancy Empress, who had come in person and stood behind her.
"It seems those weapons and equipment I brought you have pleased Her Majesty the Empress in use."