"General Charlotte — here. On behalf of all the revolutionary-army officers and soldiers you saved this time, I express our thanks to you. Had your starship legion not arrived in time to the rescue and driven off the enemy, by all estimates the great majority of those seated here would not have lived to now." The Deer King commander, as the revolutionary-army leader of longest standing here, was the first to speak.
The others, too, expressed their gratitude one after another.
Xin'er, eyes alight, gazed at this woman-general before her; her heart within was all the more stirred, her small heart pounding away.
"This is nothing to speak of; after all, I too was once one of the revolutionary army." Charlotte went on, her face unmoved: "Let's speak directly of the business at hand. That is — the future arrangements for you all."
At these words of Charlotte's, everyone fell quiet, and watched Charlotte in earnest.
They could see that this council Charlotte had called was surely bound up, closely, with this matter.
"First, let me lay out the present situation. The Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth will absolutely not let us go — above all after this battle, we'll have become a thorn in the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth's eye. Every tribe will want to be rid of us. For no one wishes to have, right beneath his own nose, a bomb that might go off at any moment. No one wishes to see the thing that happened to the Black Wolf Tribe's home star happen to himself. And so, if I've not guessed wrong, within the coming half-month — within a week, even — the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth's side will muster at the least 100,000 interstellar warships to encircle and wipe us out; this number might even double. Under such circumstances, how we step next bears on the future fate of every one of us." Charlotte paused here, her gaze sweeping once more over all present.
"Each of you may have your own thoughts. In the old way, you might all sit down to discuss, to put it to a vote, and so on. But we haven't much time left to us now. I'll lay out my own thinking here directly: those willing to stand shoulder to shoulder with me, I'll regard as comrades-in-arms. Those unwilling to carry out my plan — then here we part ways, and go each our own way in peace. My thinking is simple: as things stand, we cannot root ourselves fast in any one place, root ourselves to death. We must move. We must rove about the various parts of the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth, showing off the advantage of a revolutionary army small but fine. And in this way, too, we can once more revive the prestige of our revolutionary army!" Charlotte said gravely.
At Charlotte's words, some were puzzled and at a loss.
Others had already grasped Charlotte's meaning.
"General Charlotte — do you mean we're to begin fleeing?" the Black Fox matron asked.
Charlotte shook her head, and said: "I'd sooner call it — sustaining war by war! Our legion fleet roves without cease among the territories of the various Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth tribes. Because of the way the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth is structured, the various tribal territories are, in fact, not very close-knit; there are even private conflicts among them. We take advantage of this to wage guerrilla war without cease, seeking chances to gnaw away at the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth bit by bit — and, by this very means, we can even manufacture conflict among the twenty great tribes!"
Sustaining war by war?
At this line of Charlotte's thinking, no small number were astonished.
"Wait — if it's to be sustaining war by war, then there's a great problem in it: with what do we sustain ourselves? So many interstellar warships of ours, so many people — the resources needed to keep them each day come to an enormous figure. Before, even with a base of our own, our days were passed in great hardship. If we go by this so-called roving-combat way of yours, it might even, quite possibly, land us in a plight of spent shells and exhausted grain!" someone spoke up.
Charlotte answered: "First, as to food — food is a thing none of you need worry over. I can guarantee to you all: for those willing to come with me, on food I can guarantee supply 100%! And then there's the ammunition-resource and raw-material-resource the interstellar warships need. These we can resupply swiftly by surprise-attacking and seizing the important resource hubs across the various parts of the Warhammer Interstellar Commonwealth; this, too, is the core idea of sustaining war by war. And of course, should there truly come a shortage of strategic resources, you may all set your hearts at ease besides. I'll have a way to handle it."
"What way!" someone stood forth and asked outright.
Every eye fixed on Charlotte.
In truth everyone was, just now, curious about that great riddle upon Charlotte.
Everyone could guess that Charlotte's having so vast and advanced an interstellar fleet was absolutely not a thing she'd built up on her own.
Plainly there was a great money-backer behind her.
And so they all wished to know: what was this trump card of Charlotte's?
Charlotte, her face unmoved, went on: "I know what's in your hearts. There are some things I cannot yet make clear to you. But I can swear, in the name of Charlotte, and upon the honor of the White Tiger clan: I will absolutely never do a thing to the revolutionary army's harm! If you do not believe me, then I'll not bar your way either. You may take each your own interstellar warships and go."
At so resolute an attitude from Charlotte, everyone was taken aback.
"Ah… General Charlotte, a matter this weighty, none of us can digest all at once. Give everyone a few days to think it over — how would that be?" the Pig-Head commander stood forth and said.
Charlotte shook her head, and said firmly: "We haven't that much time. I can give you three hours to think it over. Three hours from now, my Dragon-Tiger Legion will make ready to leave; those willing to come with me may, at that time, join us."
Three hours!
This time-limit took everyone by surprise.
Had it not been for the great victory Charlotte had just won, this posture of hers now would surely have stirred no small discontent among the revolutionary army's leaders.
"I've prepared some food for you all here; you may make your decision as you enjoy it," Charlotte said.
Very soon, meal-cart after meal-cart was wheeled into the conference room.
On the carts were bountiful loaves of bread, and some fruit preserves besides.
At the sight of this natural food, the revolutionary-army leaders present were all taken by surprise.
Leaders though they were, who might now and again enjoy food of this sort — of late, with the revolutionary army sinking further and further into ruin, the quality of their own lives had likewise dropped without cease.
"Gulp… since it's put before me, I'll not stand on ceremony." The Pig-Head commander was the first to move, a loaf in his left hand, a loaf in his right.
The others, too, began to stir; after all, no one falls out with good food.
"This preserve is so good!" Xin'er savored the preserve in her mouth, eyes alight.
At this point, the Deer King commander had walked up before Charlotte.
"Charlotte — can you truly not tell us, just for whom it is you now fight?"
"Grandpa Deer — no matter for whom I fight, Charlotte is Charlotte; her heart within has never once changed!" Charlotte looked at the Deer King commander with respect.
This was one of the few figures within the revolutionary army she held in respect.
The Deer King commander gazed at Charlotte a long while; at the last he let show a kindly smile: "It's good enough that you're alive, good enough that you're alive. Back when word came of your death in battle, that girl Little Deer grieved and sorrowed a long while."
"Grandpa Deer — come with me." Charlotte looked at the Deer King commander; this was one of the few revolutionary-army figures she wished to take with her.