There Is No Other Way
There Is No Other Way
The outpost commander reported to the battalion commander defending the warehouse zone the moment he discovered the brigade's advance.
But Daniel Steiner's brigade gave the defense force battalion commander no time to respond.
Kwang─!
The roar of tank guns shook heaven and earth.
At the same time, warehouses and hastily dug trenches were destroyed in succession, scattering their debris.
With no time even to scream, the defense force soldiers buried under the debris lost their will to fight before they lost their lives.
"How are we supposed to beat this...."
The massive tanks emerging through the fog were like beasts made of iron.
Machine gun emplacements poured out fire but could not penetrate the Imperial tanks' armor.
The tanks, absorbing the bullets as if they were an itch, turned their turrets and aimed at the machine gun nests.
The soldier gripping the machine gun screamed something—whether a roar or a shriek—and pulled the trigger, but it was futile.
Kwang!
The shell struck the machine gun nest directly, reducing everything to ashes.
Sand from the sandbags scattered, and dark red smoke flickered like flames.
Amidst that horrific scene, Imperial soldiers in black uniforms emerged one after another.
They leveled their rifles at the defense soldiers in the areas the tanks had already swept through.
That included the soldiers lying crushed under debris.
"Aaah...."
The soldier let out a hollow laugh as he looked at the Imperial soldier aiming a rifle at him.
'There was never any chance from the start. The likes of us, against the Empire's Devil....'
There was no way they could defeat the army led by Daniel Steiner.
*
Less than ten minutes after the Imperial brigade launched its attack, the defense force battalion commander defending the warehouse zone raised the white flag.
Fighting would only mean a dog's death anyway, so he raised the white flag to preserve their lives.
Daniel, accepting the battalion commander's intent, ordered his own forces to cease fire and occupied the warehouse zone.
He had won an easy victory.
─ We've won again! The Allied Nations bastards are no match for us!
─ Long live the Brigade Commander! The Brigade Commander has led us to victory!
─ Ahahaha! Look at these Allied troops, the sons of bitches have pissed themselves! Fucking cowards!
While the brigade's soldiers, drunk on victory, were shouting at the top of their lungs, the intelligence staff officer Pelf approached Daniel, who was surveying the warehouse zone.
"Brigade Commander. The battle was a success as expected."
Daniel, spotting Pelf, nodded.
"Our casualties?"
"None. Since the enemy battalion commander surrendered before a proper battle even occurred. More than that, though I've witnessed it several times from the sidelines, your strategies and tactics are astonishing."
Me? Daniel, who had no idea what he was talking about, stayed silent, so Pelf continued.
"Didn't you wait for fog to form before advancing? I thought the reason you delayed the advance as much as possible was to preserve the soldiers' stamina, but I was just a frog in a well who saw only one thing."
Excitement crept over Pelf's face.
"The brigade commander realized the recent weather was humid and delayed the advance precisely to exploit the fog! Thanks to the fog, the enemy outpost spotted our forces too late, giving us a huge advantage! Truly, I cannot fathom how many moves ahead the brigade commander is looking!"
It was not.
Daniel had given the attack order without any particular thought; he was merely lucky that the fog had rolled in.
'Even if I make some excuse here that it wasn't....'
They wouldn't believe him, of course, and would willfully misinterpret it as humility, so he decided to let it drop.
"Intelligence Staff Officer, if your report is finished, return and have the enemy battalion commander extract the communication frequencies of the Penbark Defense Force command. I intend to have a conversation with the Defense Commander."
"Yes! Understood!"
Pelf answered vigorously, turned, and walked away.
Daniel, watching his retreating figure with a bitter expression, let out a low sigh.
'We've broken through the enemy defense line, so now we have to advance on the city....'
The moment he occupied Penbark, the Chief of the General Staff would place an excessive amount of trust in him.
He was already starting to worry about what orders he would be given next.
Daniel, agonizing over whether there might be another way, placed a hand on his chin.
'Perhaps....'
A single opportunity might still remain.
'If I provoke the Penbark Defense Commander through communications....'
Wouldn't the Defense Commander then advocate a desperate resistance and try to wage urban warfare?
If the citizens of Penbark joined in on top of that, he could order a retreat with the excuse that 'breaking the resistance is too difficult.'
Just as Daniel, sensing a possibility, was earnestly considering the matter,
"I don't understand. Why on earth...."
His contemplation was interrupted by a low mutter.
Raising his head, Daniel saw Lucy standing not too far away.
Lucy was gazing toward Penbark, a somewhat strained expression on her face.
It was now close enough to be discernible with the naked eye.
Daniel, silent for a moment, walked over to Lucy's side.
"Adjutant."
When Daniel approached, Lucy flinched in surprise and turned around.
"...Brigade Commander."
As Lucy bowed her head deeply, an unidentifiable fear emanated from her—something unlike her usual self.
'It can't be fear directed at me....'
It was reasonable to see it as a manifestation of emotions she held toward the city of Penbark.
Daniel, unsure what to say, carefully picked his words before opening his mouth.
"Have you perhaps been here before? Or do you know something about that city?"
Daniel probed her feelings, but Lucy shook her head.
"It's a place I've never been, and a city I'm seeing for the first time."
"Your expression doesn't seem to say that."
"I am not lying to the Brigade Commander. It truly is a place I do not know. However...."
She raised her head and turned her gaze once more toward the city.
"The closer I get to that city, an inexplicable unpleasantness...."
As if loath to say more, Lucy clenched her fist tightly.
Daniel, who had been watching her, followed her gaze and looked at the city.
"I won't pry for the reason. However, if you don't want to enter that city, you can tell me honestly. I have enough authority to indulge a whim of yours."
He was obliquely asking whether she might cooperate, since he, too, found occupying the city uncomfortable because of the Chief of the General Staff.
But Lucy, who took Daniel's words as kindly consideration, shook her head.
"I appreciate the goodwill, but I must decline. I don't quite know why I'm feeling this way, but...."
Lucy turned back to Daniel and gave a faint smile.
"I think I'll be fine as long as I'm with the Brigade Commander."
It was a smile that seemed as if it could vanish at any moment, painfully uncertain, but Lucy's smile, so full of consideration for another, was truly beautiful.
When Daniel remained wordless for a while, Lucy tilted her head quizzically and blinked her red eyes.
"...Brigade Commander?"
Only then did Daniel collect himself, let out a dry cough, and shake his head.
"It's nothing."
Lucy, nodding slightly at Daniel's words, looked at the city once more.
A cool breeze blew from somewhere, brushing across both their faces.
Amidst the silence, Lucy became conscious of Daniel's presence.
Was it because someone was beside her who wished to understand her pain?
'For some reason....'
Even while looking at the city now, she no longer felt that unpleasant sensation.
*
Meanwhile, at the Penbark Defense Force Command—Command and Control Room.
"Your Excellency! The enemy brigade reportedly bypassed our forces and attacked the southeastern warehouse zone! The defense line has been breached!"
During an ongoing operations meeting, the officer in charge of communications relay burst through the door and delivered the urgent report.
In the command and control room, frozen by the news that the defense line had been breached, the operations staff officer barely managed to speak.
"...They attacked the southeastern warehouse zone? Isn't that outside the expected route?"
"It certainly appears that the battalion sent to set up the ambush was in fact captured by the enemy. They seem to have extracted information from Lieutenant Colonel Bental."
"What? Even so, surely that... Are you saying Lieutenant Colonel Bental spilled all the defense force's secrets within a single day of being taken prisoner?"
Why on earth would a man of such steely resolve do that? The staff officers in the control room were thrown into chaos by the unbelievable news.
The most confused among them was, naturally, the Defense Commander, Dolbaf.
'How....'
How had Daniel Steiner seen through all of their operations and responded?
Even though they had conceded the bridge and designed the defense line, Daniel Steiner was continuing to defeat them in detail, as if to mock their efforts.
Dolbaf, his face colored by the signs of defeat, pressed a hand to his forehead, and the operations staff officer shouted.
"Your Excellency! If Daniel Steiner has occupied the warehouse zone, it is only a matter of time before he advances on the city! Ordering the main forces at the defense line to withdraw...."
"What in the world would change if you order a withdrawal! It's flat ground from the warehouse zone to the city! That would mean Daniel Steiner will enter the city even faster!"
"So you're saying we should just sit on our hands!?"
"If that report is true, then the number of personnel captured or killed by the enemy exceeds 800! Can we truly hold back an enemy brigade with our remaining forces!?"
"That's not incorrect! And moreover, you yourself said the enemy will reach the city before our own forces can!"
As the staff officers began arguing furiously, the control room turned into a chaotic mess.
While everyone insisted their own opinion was correct, Dolbaf gritted his teeth tightly.
Feeling a pounding migraine, Dolbaf slammed his thick fist onto the command table with a bang.
Only then did the staff officers fall silent and turn to look at Dolbaf.
"All of you, shut your mouths. The report hasn't finished yet, has it. Communications Staff Officer."
The designated communications staff officer opened his mouth with visible tension.
"Yes! Defense Commander!"
"When exactly do the reinforcements the central government promised to send arrive?"
"...An order has come down to hold out for just one more week."
Murmurs leaked out among the staff officers.
Because a week was more than enough time for Daniel Steiner to overrun the entire city.
Dolbaf took a deep, forced breath and then spoke.
"And Daniel Steiner? What does he want from us?"
He was asking whether any radio message had come in from Daniel Steiner.
The communications staff officer hesitated a moment, then spoke.
"Daniel Steiner said...."
Despair hung over the communications staff officer's face.
"That if we do not surrender, he will lead us to death, down to the very last man. He added that any citizens joining the defense force will also be identified as enemy combatants and shot, and that if we intend to stand against the Empire, we should steel our resolve. He also said this is his first and final warning."
A heavy silence descended upon the control room.
Because they knew those words spoken by Daniel Steiner, the Devil of the Empire, were no mere threat.
"Even the citizens... He intends to attack even our citizens."
Because Daniel Steiner had forewarned them of such an atrocity, a suffocating terror pressed down on their bodies.
It was as if the screams of citizens were already ringing in their ears.
"The defense force must not use the citizens as shields. That cannot happen...."
With a low sob, Dolbaf bowed his head before the staff officers.
He simply could not bring himself to lift his head and voice an opinion.
"Tell Daniel Steiner. That the Defense Commander admits defeat and surrenders...."
Gritting his teeth, Dolbaf spat the words out as if vomiting up his resentment.
"That Penbark is now yours, you bastard...!"