Chapter 326 - Battle Preparations (Patreon)

Chapter 326

Qualen Woods, Archduchy of Rebirth

Sarth-Asaria High Road

"Almost there." Said Manson as he gazed at the holographic map hovering above the table.

Alexandra nodded.

"Almost. Though not quite."

"How are our enemies doing?"

Alexandra grimaced.

"Their vanguard has grown. Quite a bit, in fact."

The duke's eyebrow rose.

"Did the main army make it?"

The dungeon core shook her head.

"Not yet, no. They'll beat us there, mind you, but they're still a couple of days away." She had expanded her recon flights, the blackbirds amazingly useful now that they were travelling with the army in their carriers, and it hadn't taken her long to stumble upon Sunrise's main army. If anything had hammered home what they were facing, that was it. Seeing a million soldiers marching was...one hell of a sight. "No, it's the garrisons."

"Ah. Finally regrouped with their main army after running from us."

"Yes. Those between here and Asaria also marched ahead of the main army."

"How many?"

Alexandra shrugged.

"Hard to tell. But fifty, seventy five thousand more troops? A drop of water compared to their main force."

"Indeed. But still, something worth keeping in mind."

"Right. If nothing else, they've been able to build a fair few defensive emplacements."

"Using them as labor?"

Alexandra shrugged.

"It's not like the slaves have much else to do, and clearly the vanguard was exclusively made out of regulars. What, do you expect Sunrise's high and might soldiers to do their own digging when there's slaves to do the work?"

"Ah! Fair enough."

Alexandra smiled, before suppressing a frown. Something bugged her about those fortifications, ever since they'd begun building, and she couldn't shake it off.

They looked normal, but something was...off, about them.

No, not the fortifications themselves. The way they were being constructed. She'd seen Sunrise tire their slaves to the bones digging in to fight her.

Maybe they weren't as desperate as the Southern Army, but it still struck her as odd. Against someone with superior technology and so much artillery she knew she'd want as much of an advantage as possible.

Then again, they would soon have over a million slaves to help expand them. She was probably overthinking this.

"At least we know how their vanguard got here so quickly." Said Philia, and Alexandra had to hide a wince.

The Knight-Commander had gotten a lot gloomier, after their discussion. She'd been slowly sliding towards cynism throughout her entire tenure with Rebirth and then the Kingdom's civil war, but now that she had the confirmation that her kingdom was about to be vassalized, and she was helping it come about, she seemed to have fallen into a resigned state.

"Yes, we do. Clever, using their airborne cavalry like this, and having the garrisons along the way serve as resupply points." Said the duke, and the Earth-born barked out a laugh.

"If by 'resupply point' you mean 'stripping them bare', then yes." Alexandra shook her head, though she had to admit it had been clever, allowing them to get all of their pegasus light cavalry and gryphon knights all the way here in record time, denying her the possibility of a forward marine assault to take the bridge. It would have been suicide, but without knowing exactly when she could come, and the speed of her army, they had no way of knowing her force wouldn't arrive in time to reinforce the marines before Sunrise's own host arrived. "It's going to be a fucking wasteland from here to Asaria."

"Probably, yes. Now, what do we do about it?"

Alexandra shrugged.

"For now, we don't need a plan to deal with it. We might never have to. Once we arrive, we'll engage them with artillery, and force them to come to us. Then, we try to ensnare them into a chase south. If they come far enough down with us, my reinforcements will break them, and we'll march to Asaria unopposed."

"And how likely is that to happen, in your opinion?"

The dungeon core grinned.

"Depends on if my new units are as good as I think they are. If I'm right, then they're absolutely fucked."

"And if you're wrong?"

"Then it will be a bloodbath, and we will pave the entire high road with bodies."

Only grim silence answered her.

After a tense dozen seconds, and the atmosphere began to grow oppressive, Alexandra cleared her throat.

"Regardless, our forces have already gone over to the high road, so at least our mobility issues are gone. And with the sappers and our civilians repairing and expanding the road net behind us, we'll be able to pull back a lot faster than we came in. Not to mention it won't be big enough to accommodate Sunrise's whole force, so they'll either move a hell of a lot more slowly or have to disperse."

"They won't disperse, and invite defeat in detail." Said Philia. "You've made ample examples of what happens when someone does this against you. General Amelia, the Old World constructs, the Alesian fortresses..."

"Yeah. So they'll bull their way through. Unfortunately, they have the man power to punch their way in and create the infrastructure necessary to move. Fortunately, that still loses them time."

"Once we're here and further south, sure, but we'll do the first few engagements in the flood plains." Warned Manson. "They need only march through the fields, even if the high road doesn't accommodate them."

"Agreed. But in a battle of movement in open terrain, the advantage goes to the one with the armored divisions." That's a lesson her homeland learned the hard way, before deploying it in tandem with those who had taught it to them during the Terran Hegemony War, and then against the Pan-Asian Confederacy during the Interplanetary Wars. "I have tanks and mechs, they don't."

"But they do have cavalry. Air and ground."

"True. Which is why this won't be a cakewalk. But we have the initiative, that counts for a lot. Besides which, rushing us with the cavalry if part of our army is dug in while another part retreats, especially if both are covered by airships and artillery, would be madness. And thanks to my blackbirds we'll have ample advance warning of any attack."

"Very well. Now, as for our battle formation..."

*****

"Greetings, doctor." Said Allya as the scholar entered her office. "It's a pleasure to see you again."

Hexamarch Mortell, doctor of the university of New Raleigh, nodded.

"Please, the pleasure is all mine." His outfit was remarkably modern looking, a fairly sharp suit completed with a bowler hat, that he promptly took off and pressed to his chest. "You honor me with your time, especially so early after your wedding, and during such a critical time."

"Why, thank you. Take a seat, doctor."

The man nodded, and did as he was bid. Allya looked him and down, then sighed.

"Doctor, if you'll allow me to be blunt?"

"Of course!"

"Why the fuck did Rook send an operative to my damned city? I thought we had an understanding."

The doctor didn't even look surprised, he simply smiled.

"You did, and still do. I'm here to serve as a liaison as well as a good professor."

"Liaison?"

"Between your own secret service and New Raleigh's intelligence unit."

"I have..." Nothing as formal as a secret service, but truth be told her old assassin sect had been filling that role, hadn't that it? For that matter, so had Alexandra and her golems. "Several objections. Notably, the lack of warning."

"I'm afraid Rook didn't have the luxury of telling you, as more important matters are currently in his hands, and truth be told the message to the twins got lost in translation. And once I was there...I decided it was better if I told you in person, and in private."

"I see. You are nearing the end of your preparations, aren't you?"

The professor inclined his head.

"We are getting close. Though I'm afraid I cannot be more precise."

"Close enough to prevent the coming battle?"

The professor's silence and grim expression was all the answer she needed.

"Well then, I suppose we'll just have to buy you more time then."

Hexamarch brightened up.

"You'll delay the assault?"

"We'll delay the decisive battle." Pyn was rubbing off on her. They were planning on making this a long fighting retreat anyway, and her first instinct was now to see if she could do it as a 'favor'. There were benefits to everyone thinking you were allied with an unstoppable beast of war and the only person in existence capable of holding them back. Like Starvak did, though the guild master had kept quiet for a while now, as the dungeon core had rolled over the UDC. "But not indefinitely."

The professor nodded.

"Of course." He winced. "What...would you like, in thanks for such consideration?"

Allya leaned forward.

"Your future support."

"Support for...what, exactly?"

Allya smiled.

"Global operations, of course. I do not believe the UDC will stop there, and neither does Crystal. When they strike again, and they will, it may become necessary to retaliate...wherever they may be. When that becomes the case, I would like to call upon you to assist us."

"New Raleigh's capacity for power projection are limited."

"Don't bullshit me. You train guerillas and extract liberated slaves from all over the world. Your network of sympathizers and black ops make the dark elf's syndicate look like a joke. If we need a strike team deployed across the world..."

The doctor leaned back into his seat as he played with his hat.

"Will you kill them?"

He didn't need to precise who the 'them' was.

"No. But we will contain them."

"Deal."

Allya had to stop herself from swallowing.

He hadn't said he needed to contact his superiors or anything.

She might have seriously underestimated his rank within New Raleigh's intelligence...and how badly Rook wanted to stay on friendly terms with Rebirth.

"Very well." Allya looked at him, and decided that not pursuing the subject was the wisest course of action. Something told her that the ruler of New Raleigh would explain himself in person. She just hoped he came in with less drama this time. They'd never been able to get some of the scorch march from Alexandra's breaching charges out of the wood in her cabin. "So, how goes setting up the library?"

"Everything is going apace! We've run into minor difficulties with breaking ground, there appeared to have been some misunderstanding with how deep we required a cellar, but that has been cleared up."

"Cellar?"

"Of course! A library this far from the university will require printing presses and all the material storage to run them and store their output."

"Ah. I see. And the branch you were planning on opening?"

The doctor shrugged.

"Currently simply on paper, I'm afraid. We are planning to move professors and begin a full academia, but we will only do so once the library is fully up and running. It was deemed the...priority."

Allya nodded. It was, after all, Rook's payment for them letting the twins go and letting the flow of ingredients go through for breaking the brands, or whatever the hell he was doing.

"Of course. And how fare the twins with all this?"

She hadn't seen them in a bit, though they had been present at the marriage, they had excused themselves from the reception afterwards fairly quickly.

"They are currently taking a vacation. After so much overtime and stress, they amply deserve it."

Allya nodded.

"I can understand that. Do they intend to...leave Rebirth?"

Hexamarch shook his head as he waved his hat for emphasis.

"No, no, of course not. But they do intend to take something of a sabbatical, and work on personal projects."

"Well, it is more than fair that they get some time to themselves."

"Indeed. They have also reported something...interesting to me."

"Which is?"

"The arm."

Their gazes met.

Alexandra had, in exchange for increasing the production of the ingredients the twins, and Rook, needed, had them make a cybernetic arm for her former party member and healer, Alyssa. Whose adventuring party was currently regularly doing delves into the dungeon, always with above average luck in loot and damage, though Allya had to decline their invitations to join them.

"And?"

"Who is that adventurer, to the dungeon core, I wonder?"

"The death of you, your agents, and our arrangements with your boss." Answered the archduchess, with the same tone of voice she would use when discussing the weather. Her gaze however, burned with warning...and utter sincerity.

The doctor recoiled as if physically struck, and nodded.

"Very well. I will...cease my enquiries."

"Good." Allya smiled, and she saw him shiver. Yeah, asshole, you're not the only one with surprises. "Would you care for some hot chocolate, before you go?"

The professor nodded, somewhat choppily, and Alexandra poured him a mug.

She suspected the message would go through fully. If not...well, push came to shove, Alexandra would take care of it.

And she, for one, wouldn't bet on the good doctor.