Sovereign

“ALERT! You are urged to evacuate this city at once! This city has been identified as a rebel holdout. Bombs will fall within twenty-four hours. Comply at once - save yourselves!”

- Putschists’ Airdropped Flyers over the City of Thein

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Halia, Kingdom of Orland

July 1, 2024

Queen’s Bunker

The Battle of Halia had raged on for weeks already. While the city’s air defense had so far limited the strikes on the city itself, the bombardment had never ended. And so, Amelie had mostly stayed in her bunker, directing the battle and administrating her Kingdom from the protective confines it afforded her.

Truthfully, she never felt comfortable inside of it. It was truly suffocating inside - more so mentally. She was being forced to hide. The very Queen - the very monarch of Orland, was turned into a mere rat, hiding in fear underground.

And never had the battle truly faded. While the Putschists’ offensive was stalled, the buildup of forces on their side of the Ludendorf River showed clearly that their offensive hadn’t ended. Both sides were gearing up for a battle for the city itself.

And they both intended to strike at the enemy - offensively.

“We are still facing some logistical issues. Mostly in terms of fuel and heavy munitions. But most of the issues had been relegated to our secondary units that won’t be participating much in the upcoming offensive.”

Colonel Kleist and William, her two main officers in charge of the city, and the battle for it, had served her well. Currently, they were once again inside the Situation Room, where she would head to every day, sometimes even two times a day, all to obtain a sense of how the battle was developing.

And so far, it was pretty bad.

It always had been though. Still, I do wonder, will this really work? I would be sacrificing so many lives just for a mere distraction. Granted…this would really strengthen our defensive lines, and maybe even drive them off the other side of the Ludendorf River, but still. To throw so many men callously…

The only sliver of good news that she had received was the volume of volunteers from the Ministry of Health. It seemed that Minister Allison’s request for the city’s medical workers to go aid the Army worked so far. Many women were signing up in droves to support the battle with their abilities.

At the very least, this battle shouldn’t end up like the Great War did. We women would be there to support them. At the back maybe, but, that’s something at least. Not that I’d stomach sending any woman to the frontlines itself, but…men definitely should not be the only ones fighting this war.

“Do we have an established timeframe already? When are we starting the counter-offensive?”

Kleist didn’t reply, as he changed the display on the screens. On it was a rundown of the current statuses of the units that would be involved in the offensive. Most notably the ones that would be leading the spearhead. They were prioritized both in preparations and supplies earlier, as they had to be in complete strength once the attack orders came in.

If they failed in their assault, the entire counter-offensive could be jeopardized. Such a result would be unacceptable, as millions of civilians were counting on those artillery batteries of the Putchists’ to be distracted for a few days.

Failure would be unacceptable.

“As of now, Major McKenzie and his logistical departments have been hard at work organizing our supply lines to these units. The constant combat however caused constant materiel and manpower losses. However, the medical and auxiliary support of the Ministry of Health and the Royal Guard has helped us minimize it.”

A video of frontline medics - women, fresh on the frontlines, could be seen aiding scores of troops in stretchers inside a field hospital. Wounded soldiers, piled up in bloody beds, were tended with glowing wands. Even one who had his leg amputated seemed to be sitting calmly, as his leg glowed, and the wounds closed.

“So far, this has caused a positive upswing in the morale of our ground forces. Which is great, but we still face many challenges, which our logistics units are trying to fix.”

Amelie sighed a breath of relief. At the very least, her troops were now receiving proper medical attention. Something which she imagined had almost always been far away. Even though modern technology was capable of treating combat injuries, humanity had been way too reliant on women’s magic in healthcare that the development of effective treatments without the aid of magic had only been extremely relevant during the Great War.

And with the awful logistical strains of the current battle, many of those desperately needed supplies weren’t being shipped. But mana was always available, and while it would require many mana elixirs to enhance and support women in conducting advanced magic (which was mostly sourced in the industries of Löt), it still seemed to have aided greatly.

“That’s good, Colonel. But my question was, do we have an established timeframe?”

“That’s exactly why I’m informing you of this. No, we do not. But, we plan on launching it any day of the next week once we are ready. All unit commanders have already been informed of this plan. This should also help us keep any intel leaks at a minimum. If we don’t know exactly when we would strike, they cannot know either.”

“That sounds stupid and ingenious at the same time.”

“Indeed, Your Majesty.”

Kleist’s report went on and on. The current casualties and losses. The consumption of munitions and supplies. The developments in the front - alongside the previous attacks conducted by the Putchists in an attempt to capture another sector of the defense line. All of it resulted in heavy casualties for both sides.

By the time it was over, Kleist had already left both Amelie and William.

“So…that’s how it is?”

“Yep, Amelie. Whatever improvements in the situation are hard to come by. We’re still suffering heavy casualties each day.”

She looked at him as he packed up his briefcase. William was already leaving the Situation Room as well.

“So, where are you going?”

“Meeting the Deputy Prime Minister.”

“Walter? What does Walter need?”

“Something about the evacuations of the civilian government.”

Days before, Amelie had approved the evacuations of the Orlish Government straight to the city of Eutstadt on the west coast of Orland. There, the Orlish Government, alongside the Orlish High Command could resume their day-to-day operations without constant shelling.

Still, both Jacqueline and Walter elected to stand their ground. Notably, Minister Allison and Minister Adelaide also decided to stay in the Royal Capital, and there were even talks that the new Minister of Defense after Heindhöff’s Putsch - the Archduchess herself would go straight to the Capital to “assist in its defense personally.”

Dammit, our prides are going to cost us this war. At least I have a good reason to stay here. I’m the Queen. They could just…rule there while I stay here.

She was, after all, the symbol of the Kingdom. She could just stay and lead here, while they too lead over there. Mostly because the damage to the Kingdom’s legitimacy would be utterly horrendous should the Queen be forced out of the Capital. But the Prime Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister?

“What of it?”

“Just needed to iron out some details regarding who would evacuate and who wouldn’t. You know how it is, it’s a mess.”

She didn’t reply as he closed his briefcase and stood from his chair.

“Anyhow, have a good day, Amelie.”

I wonder when that would be true.

…

Alice didn’t seem to be amused by the cake she was eating inside of her room. She seemed to be frowning at it, as it definitely was of subpar quality. Still, she was eating much of it just as Amelie arrived inside her room.

It was a spacious room, already designed for the habitation of royalty. Naturally, being Alice’s room, it was customized to her taste. Now, it didn’t seem too far from her original room in the Palace, aside from the utter lack of windows.

“Alice?”

“Amelie? Oh, I was just having breakfast.”

Amelie took a seat in front of her. She smiled at her.

“How are you doing?”

“This place still sucks. I wonder when all of this nonsense would end.” Boredly, she stuck her fork at a slice of cake. “And this thing sucks too. I think it’s not true cake.”

“Well, the bakery did close.”

“War sucks.”

Amelie almost wanted to giggle at it. Her little sister seemed to be more disturbed by the lack of quality in her food as a result of war than the true horrors of it.

“Well, that’s why we are trying to end it.”

“But will it?”

“Of course it will.”

Eventually…it has to.

…

The report on her desk utterly surprised Amelie. She could barely believe it. A massive weight was off her shoulders, and her eyes almost threatened to spill tears as she held the report in her hands, her eyes darting quickly as she read it all.

We report a complete victory in the Northern Sea. Strike Force 7, and the ONS Rebenslof, have successfully lured the Empress into a decisive defeat eight hundred kilometers off the coast of Northern Lorathia. While VACCOM forces suffered losses, we have captured two Larissan carriers and sunk one. More importantly, we now have the Empress, Katerina Illyenov as our prisoner of war. Rest assured, the Kingdom’s victory in the Vaeyox Front is close.

- VACCOM Commander, Admiral Herard Tresckow.

He did it. That absolutely outrageous, reckless rascal. That irritating older brother of hers who dared to make her worry to her death for nearly a month because of his “dedication to duty” and “thirst for decisive victory” did it. The Empress, that brat, was hers.

Good news at last. When did this last happen? Oh, it’s been a good while. I’ll absolutely teach that brat a lesson. This time, the Empire would have to surrender to us. And the war there would end.

Which was even more great news, as now, she could focus her attention solely on the war in her own Kingdom. Much of the Orlish Navy and a good chunk of the Orlish Air Force had been stuck in Lorathia and Vaeyox after all, as they had to fight the Empire and hold the line from their attacks.

Naturally, with an end to the war in that continent, her forces stationed there could now be redeployed to Orland.

Though…perhaps not too. Those forces are there to safeguard the security interests of Vaeyox after all.

That…was a bit of a pickle there.

Still, this was beyond great news. Oh, she could do so many things for the day to celebrate. Like a good, true cake for her and Alice. And maybe contact Albert as well and have a talk with him. Goddess knows she was dying to have a talk with her older brother for ages. She really wanted both to berate him, congratulate him, and perhaps tell him all of her awful problems just to vent.

…I sound like a spoiled brat now.

That shameful part of hers aside, she truly relished in delight from this news. The blood spilled over there, which was indeed utterly deplorable, had at least not ended in vain. A quick end to the war, which was what she had originally desired when the Larissans attacked had been achieved.

She definitely planned to shower that jerk with as much gratitude as she could give. He had achieved the impossible, that not even the Admiralty and High Command believed was possible.

She almost hugged the report with a smile.

Albert…thank you…thank you.

At last, the Kingdom’s first victory had been achieved.

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