CH 269

[Well, then, put someone in your room at all times, Sabine-chan.] Mitsuha

[Yeah, I understand!] Sabine

I asked Sabine-chan to keep someone manning the radio at all times because we never know when we might hear from Princess Remia.

Although, no matter how young she is, they can’t put a man stationed in a girl’s room, so it will probably be the maids placed in shifts and not soldiers……

[Sabine-chan, <Commoners are like dogs. So if a commoner man sees you changing your clothes or sleeping>, he won’t be able to stop himself…] Mitsuha

[That won’t happen! Oneesama, what kind of person do you think I am?!] Sabine

……Oh, I knew she’s aware of it……

I appeased Sabine-chan, who was pouting, and then I left.

No, if I seriously apologize, she’ll definitely say <I demand a proper apology!>.

It’s fine if she demands normal gifts like sweets, but the “apology gift” Sabine-chan usually asks for is something I wouldn’t normally give her, like a radio or a bicycle. I can’t afford to show too much of an opening.

I have to have a meeting with the captain and the helicopter team about the mission soon, so I’ll be busy.

Accordingly, adequate preparation, accurate information, and prompt action will determine everything.

No matter how many swords, spears, bows, and arrows they use, and no matter how many automatic weapons or machine guns we use. There is no guarantee that there will be no one getting killed or injured on our side.

No matter how powerful a weapon you have, if hundreds of arrows are flying at you, some of them can still kill you.

If they were careless and came too close, an arrow or spear could hit a vital part of the helicopter. It would be a serious matter if such a large foreign object were shoved into the delicate turboshaft engine.

[Now then, we’re heading out!] Captain

Princess Remia continued to contact me every minute. And info’s like date and time of the Imperial Army crossing the border was almost defined.

Finally, the day came for a sortie with a total of 21 people. Six from Wolf Fang including the captain, seven crew members including the pilot of each of the two helicopters, and myself.

The helicopters were parked at Wolf Fang’s home base.

I could transfer them together in the air, but I don’t want to take any unnecessary risks.

The helicopter pilots are new to transitioning, and with me not on board in the other one, anything could go wrong.

We have already had in-depth meetings.

Imperial troops crossed the border yesterday morning and invaded Princess Remia’s country, the Kingdom of Darrisson.

With this, the Kingdom of Darrisson has acquired the (Nishiki no Mihata)* as a <victim nation that was attacked by surprise without a declaration of war>. And the battlefield will be the territory of the Kingdom of Darrisson.

So, no matter how hard we attack our enemies, and no matter how outrageous it may look, it will not become an international problem.

But then, villages in the path of the enemy’s advance were plundered and the land that became the combat zone will be devastated, but these were wager chips and necessary expenses for the game called <war>.

Wager chips…

The huge expense, the devastation of the land, and the lives of the people.

If we step into the enemy’s country and fight, we can avoid the devastation of our own land.

However, in light of the international public opinion, they dared to fight within their own territory. They knew that many peasants will lose everything.

Of course, all villages in the path of the enemy have been evacuated and all food and money items have been collected. Except for a small amount of poisoned food…….

Of course, it’s about booby-traps.

Wolf Fang is already ahead of the game.

There was no way the ground and air units would leave at the same time.

They should have finished setting up the mortars by now.

Now here we are, two helicopters, fourteen mercenaries, and lastly, me.

But why are there three female combatants among the mercenaries, which should be quite rare?

Couldn’t they resist it because these girls pleaded to take them with us?

Or did they take their work lover or spouse with them, just in case?

Well, it doesn’t matter.

The mercenaries just need to work hard enough to get their rewards…… This time, we were the ones who had to provide the <fulfillment of the participation fee>!

The transfer destination was the courtyard of the Royal Palace of the Kingdom of Darrisson.

Princess Remia had requested that we <make the god soldier’s sortie from the royal palace and make it flashy>. That’s why I responded to Princess Remia’s request.

Well, I understand the situation.

As the king’s representative, she must have a lot of reasons to boost morale and gain popularity among the people.

It’s tough being a politician.

Then, I climbed into one of the helicopters. The rotors were already spinning.

If we go out now, we should be able to meet the enemy when they finish preparing for night camp.

All right, transfer!

[Apia!] Mitsuha (Appear!)

And then, we appeared in the courtyard of the royal palace.

[[[[[[Uwa ā ā a a~a ~~!!]]]]]]

[What the hell is that!]

Princess Remia’s letting civilians into the grounds of the royal palace!

I told them to leave the courtyard empty and not allow anyone to enter, but they opened up a part of the palace grounds to the public, probably for publicity……

As expected, they don’t seem to be letting anyone into the courtyard, though……

If someone is standing at the transfer point, it could be an accident.

Accidents due to teleportation…… Human bodies may overlap, that’s really scary!

Well, I know that I don’t have to worry about bodies merging together, or atoms overlapping in the same space and exploding in a big way, thanks to the knowledge that the spiritual life form shoved into my head……

However, as the rotors of the helicopter are spinning, the startled soldiers and mercenaries may swing their swords and say, <It’s a monster>! On the other hand, the soldiers and mercenaries may raise their arms high in jubilation at the arrival of the god’s army, something sad might happen, either way, right?

……Well, okay. At least Princess Remia didn’t break any of my instructions.

I glanced towards the group of people who seemed to be from the royal palace and saw Princess Remia waving at me.

All right, let’s go!

I turned the radio selector to UHF and shouted into the microphone so that the other chopper could hear me.

[<Operation Head Hunting> is a go! Both aircraft, take off!!] Mitsuha

No matter how much of a war it is, we should not add to the damage needlessly. Not only to our allies but also to our enemies.

The war and the higher-ups who chose the means may be <evil>, but the soldiers who are sent to the battlefield are not evil people.

Of course, we have to fight to defend ourselves, but there is no need to kill so many people. There’s no better way to end a battle than to end it quickly.

There are two ways to get the enemy to retreat…… quickly.

There are two ways to do this, either to let the enemy HQ decide and order a quick retreat, or to destroy the enemy HQ and let the soldiers run amok.

……And this time, we’re going for the latter.

A commander who has been ordered to fight a battle with no end in sight would not give the order to retreat so easily.

And if he does that, he will surely be hanged when he returns home.

I’m sure they’re only thinking of attacking and steamrolling into the capital, no matter what damage they cause.

Even if 90% of the troops die, if the remaining 10% got a hold of the royal capital, it’s their win. That’s what this battle is all about.

So, the best way to minimize the damage to both sides would be to crush the enemy’s HQ at the beginning and let the troops run away without any further fighting. If they run away without a fight, neither allies nor enemies will have to die.

So, if the commander, second-in-command, general staff, staff officers, and so on, are all destroyed in an instant, it will create a chaotic hodgepodge situation where you don’t even know who has taken over the command at that point.

No matter how much strength you have, an army without someone to give orders and directions is like a newborn baby.

It’s hard to crush the enemy’s HQ with ground forces.

First of all, we don’t know where they are, and it’s too hard to attack them from that distance amidst the enemy onslaught.

……Or rather, if you can attack to that extent, you have usually won. At a cost of the immense damage caused to both sides.

That doesn’t make any sense.

However, what if it comes from the air?

A bird’s-eye view from the sky would give us a clear picture of the enemy’s force deployment and the location of their HQ.

Then, bombs and bullets may even rain down on the enemy HQ.

What about the enemy anti-aircraft armament? Bow and arrows or throwing spears maybe?

……Yeah, almost no engagement, and the enemy leaders will be wiped out……