CH 62

The Melancholy of Diaroze

A week after Ao’s visit, the Calencian fleet departed from the capital. There’s still no development on the frontline but with Calencia being on the weaker side, they would be at a disadvantage if this situation is prolonged for too long. That’s why the consensus of the staff officers was to end this war as soon as possible.

“Now then, it seems that the Calencian dogs finally decided to make their move huh.”

While checking the information on her mobile terminal, Diaroze said so with an expression that is full of confidence.

“The boring days of crushing their puny guerrillas is finally behind us. Kukuku…….don’t you think this is going to be fun, my dear little sister.”

“But, can we win?”

In contrast to Diaroze’s joyful tone of voice, Valentina’s response was blunt and extremely dry. Diaroze’s animated gesture immediately came to a halt and her Tiger’s eye colored (TLN: golden-reddish brown) intersect with Valentina’s.

“Although we still possess the superior force, the difference is not as overwhelming as our previous battle. Moreover, even with such a big difference, we’ve suffered defeat once already……..”

“Defeat?”

Hearing those words, Diaroze’s heart races with a sweet numbness assaulting her brain.

“Aneue?”

“It, It’s nothing. Continue.”

“Yes.”

While looking at Diaroze with suspicion, Valentina did not press any further. After all, she has no way to predict her sister. At best, the reasons she could think of for her sister to act that way is that her sister is not feeling well or that she’s thinking about something else entirely.

“In any case, our force is not as strong as it was in the previous operation. On top of the damage our main fleet suffered in the Leboir system, we also suffered some damage from the enemy guerrilla activity in the territories we are currently occupying as well.”

“Certainly, with their guerrilla tactic, it would be a bad move for us to consolidate our detached forces huh.”

The Nored side has destroyed almost all the major military bases and cities of the former Calencian territories via Purge Bombing. However, the surviving remnants of the Calencian army along with the civilians have armed themselves and relentlessly resist the occupation.

If Diaroze pulls back the troops she stationed in those areas out without any kind of strategy to deal with the resistance, the occupied star systems they managed to take over will be taken back from the inside. This is something that she must avoid at all costs.

“What about the reinforcements I requested from our homeland? They should be here soon, no?”

In the first place, the only force the Calencian managed to damage was simply one of the Nored’s Expeditionary Fleets. With it being a superpower, the Nored Empire still has a large number of fighting forces back in their homeland.

“That’s……it appears that the dispatch of the unit Your Highness requested was not approved. They did not actually send that many units over to us as well.”

“…….Who did they send? Show me.”

Narrowing her eyes, Diaroze asked her staff. With the Nored Empire having other enemy nations to fight, such requests for reinforcements always involve negotiating with aristocrats and others in the Imperial Family. Diaroze never expected her request to completely go through but the truth still stands that the next battle will be tough for them with the number of troops currently available to them.

“Seven Squadron of Strikers, 700 units in total. They also included Striker Carriers for them to operate from, ma’am.”

“A Striker Carrier? Is that not the commoner unit……..”

A Striker Carrier functions like an Aircraft Carrier. It carries a large number of strikers with an extra-wide launch deck for the strikers to deploy from. However, the pilots for these strikers are usually from the commoner class.

Since a talented ace would be quickly given a knighthood and assigned to a medium-sized or larger battlecruiser or battleship, it can be said that being stationed on a Striker Carrier is the starting point of a military pilot career. Naturally, how skilled or how high the morale level of such pilots is should be easy to imagine.

“…..what else?”

“A Scouting Fleet and several Assault Fleets. This is the list, ma’am.”

“Hou, they at least sent someone decent to us huh.”

Diaroze smiled as she checked the names of the ships on the list displayed on the main monitor of the conference room. In a battle where the battle theater is extremely wide, you would always wish for more reconnaissance units no matter how many you already have. Moreover, the Assault Fleets which carry a large number of anti-ship missiles will come into handy when it comes to a large-scale battle between fleets.

“So, what about the capital ships? That’s what took the most damage in the previous battle. I need 4 more battleships…..no, I want at least 2 more.”

“None, ma’am.”

“Ha?”

“The capital did not dispatch any………”

“I see. That’s how it is huh. They’re probably sending some large-type armored ships instead right. Well, I guess there’s nothing to be done about it.”

“No, they did not send any of the large-type battlecruisers either, ma’am. We did not receive any replacement for the battleships we lost.”

A bead of cold sweat appeared on Diaroze’s face. In fear of Diaroze’s reprimand, the staff shrank back. However, Diaroze was silent.

“In, Instead, they have sent us a strategic-class weapon. The power it provided should be enough to compensate for an entire corp of battleships, ma’am.”

“……Hou, interesting. What did they send?”

“The Mobile Fort [Valizer], ma’am.”

Saying so, the staff put the image of a gigantic weapon on the main monitor. The weapon is neither a ship nor a striker. Its design made it look like a number of limbs grew out from an enormous cannon. The CG image of a battleship is being displayed for comparison but the scale of this Mobile Fort is much larger. Truly a gigantic weapon.

“…….that’s an interesting weapon to have but I still feel that it’s not enough.”

Can a mercenary with such a strange power really be stopped by a weapon like this? Diaroze frowned and groaned.

“B, But there’s good news, ma’am! The Four, the Four Strongest of our Empire were dispatched to us!”

“Hou.”

“What……?”

Diaroze and Valentina expressed their surprise at the same time.

“I see, I requested for them thinking that they would refuse but……..that’s why the forces they sent felt so inadequate huh! If those guys were dispatched as well then it’s a different story.”

Saying so, confidence can be seen from the eyes of the grinning Diaroze.