You Expect Me to Believe That?
You Expect Me to Believe That?
When Daniel first heard Dolbaf's declaration of surrender, he denied it.
He figured it might be a deception tactic by the enemy defense forces and decided he shouldn't take it at face value.
Insisting they had to keep doubting Dolbaf until the very end, Daniel summoned a reconnaissance company and ordered them to secure the city's main entry points while simultaneously establishing security.
The recon company carried out his orders and informed Daniel that there were no traps inside the city.
That was it.
It wasn't a deception tactic—Dolbaf had genuinely raised the white flag to Daniel Steiner's brigade.
Having confirmed that Dolbaf's surrender was sincere, Daniel led the brigade into the city. Under the cold gazes of the citizens, he headed toward the enemy command post.
With brigade vehicles providing escort front and rear, the armored car carrying Daniel came to a stop in front of the command post.
After disembarking from the armored car, Daniel straightened his uniform and entered the command post building, leading Lucy and a platoon of elite soldiers.
Inside the building stood defense force officers wearing Allied Nations uniforms, but none of them dared to stop Daniel Steiner, merely bowing their heads.
Daniel glanced at them—men seized by a sense of defeat—and walked on until he stood before the command and control room.
"Open the door."
At his command, soldiers kicked the door in with their military boots.
Kwang!
Through the wide-open door, he saw the staff officers with their heads bowed and Dolbaf with his teeth clenched tight.
Before Daniel even gave a separate order, the soldiers moved in an orderly fashion into the command and control room and aimed their guns at the staff officers.
It was a threat to ensure they wouldn't try any tricks.
After briefly scanning the control room, Daniel walked forward slowly.
Ttogak─
Every time the sound of his boots echoed, the defense force staff officers' shoulders flinched.
Among the officers too terrified to dare lift their heads, only Dolbaf was staring at Daniel with a rigid expression.
Standing before the command table, Daniel met Dolbaf's gaze and spoke.
"Colonel Dolbaf."
Daniel's eyes narrowed.
"This is unexpected. I thought you'd insist on a desperate last stand."
Truthfully, he wanted to ask why the man had surrendered at all, but mindful of the eyes around him, he was being as indirect as possible about it.
Of course, from Dolbaf's perspective, it felt like a kind of mockery.
"You speak as if I had a choice. The moment I insisted on a desperate resistance, wouldn't you have turned this city into a sea of fire? You vile devil...!"
Daniel remained silent.
Because he had no idea how to answer that.
It was a clear misunderstanding, but he couldn't tell the truth.
At this moment, the room was filled with Imperial soldiers whose ears were wide open.
Even if he did tell the truth, Dolbaf wouldn't believe him anyway.
As the silence dragged on for that reason, Dolbaf broke out in a cold sweat.
Daniel's chilly gaze was giving him a sense of pressure—of being dominated.
Reading Daniel's intent in those eyes, Dolbaf felt a certain terror and spoke.
"...That expression of yours suggests you're not pleased with our surrender. Were you truly planning to turn the city into a sea of fire? Daniel Steiner. Are you really the same kind of human being as I am?"
Not only was he jumping to conclusions, but now he was twisting things into outright misinterpretation. It was absurd.
Thinking he couldn't let that mouth run on any longer, Daniel looked at Dolbaf with contempt.
"Is that the end of the loser's excuses?"
Dolbaf's eyes widened.
Gazing at Daniel with bloodshot, rage-filled eyes, Dolbaf forcibly suppressed the impulse to strike down the demon before him.
He had realized that, in this place right now, the one in the position of absolute power was none other than Daniel Steiner.
Once he confirmed Dolbaf had gone quiet, Daniel turned to look at Lucy.
"Adjutant. We've secured the enemy commander. Relay orders to immediately seal off the city and secure its infrastructure. Also, there may be organizations within the city that refuse to acknowledge their commander's surrender and are resisting independently—conduct a thorough search and deal with them."
Lucy nodded.
"Understood. Do you have any thoughts regarding the treatment of the commander and staff officers here?"
"Documenting the terms and scope of surrender comes first, so for now I intend to detain them here."
"Then I shall relay that message."
Lucy answered courteously and left the control room.
With the soldiers still aiming their guns, Daniel looked at Dolbaf.
"Colonel Dolbaf. Our side will bring the surrender documents soon, so I suggest you cooperate willingly."
With those words, Daniel turned and walked out of the control room.
As the sound of his footsteps began to fade, one of the people in the control room quietly spoke up.
"How pitiful."
It was Dolbaf.
"...Daniel Steiner. I genuinely pity you. I know your kind. I mean those who find purpose in life and feel exhilaration only through war."
Dolbaf's murmur, his anger now subsided, echoed quietly through the room.
"I want to ask. Why you came to hate peace. Just what on earth happened to you in the past that makes you act like a man so crazed by war?"
It was the kind of remark that would have given Daniel a stress-induced illness if he'd heard it—that was how unfair it was. Yet everyone present sympathized with Dolbaf's words.
'Well, the Brigade Commander does have a side that enjoys war.'
'Just looking at the Total War speech he gave....'
'I heard he's an orphan. Could it be he lost his parents to the Allied forces?'
Even the soldiers thought so.
*
Same time, General Headquarters.
Operations conference room, presided over by the Chief of the General Staff.
"...As you've stated, the Republic's advance is fierce, but not to a degree we can't withstand. The 12th Infantry Division executed a tactical retreat from the first defense line, falling back 6 kilometers southward, but after regrouping and launching a counterassault, they recovered the first defense line as of 9 a.m. today."
After hearing the report, Chief of the General Staff Arman sank into thought for a moment.
Arman, who had been examining the documents on the command table, turned to the intelligence staff officer.
"It is said the Republic bastards are using new model field guns. Has their firepower been confirmed?"
"Yes. The Republic's new model field guns have been confirmed as medium-caliber towed artillery, but they are not significantly dangerous. Their performance is inferior to our standard field guns, after all. However, the Republic side is concentrating on quantity and repeatedly engaging in mass fire missions, so caution is warranted."
Upon hearing the report, Arman nodded, inwardly relieved.
'The situation is somewhat disadvantageous, but we are withstanding the enemy's attacks without major damage. Considering they typically concentrate firepower in the early stages of a war, we can probably endure the Republic's invasion somehow.'
Thanks to having known about the Republic's entry into the war in advance and having redeployed personnel on the frontlines, they had managed to hold them off somehow.
'Now the problem is the Federal State.'
Right now the Federal State was keeping its hands out of things, but if they were to change their minds and declare their intention to join the war, the Empire would find itself in a position no better than a candle before the wind.
'Therefore, as Daniel Steiner said....'
They had to make the world aware that the Empire remained strong, to prevent the war from spreading.
'Because the moment other nations realize the Empire's situation is difficult, they'll have no choice but to tear us apart.'
Right now, the best course of action was to flaunt the Empire's strength in whatever way possible.
'If Daniel Steiner succeeds in occupying Penbark....'
It would clearly serve as the first signal to prevent the war's spread.
He felt sorry for having placed such a heavy burden onto a young officer's shoulders, but the situation was urgent, so it couldn't be helped.
A capable officer was, after all, most efficiently used by putting him on the frontlines no matter what.
Tok-tok─
Just as Arman was preoccupied with the Penbark matter, a knock sounded.
"Chief of the General Staff, sir! I'm the liaison officer from the Intelligence Staff Office! I have an urgent matter to report!"
News of an emergency? Arman cast his gaze toward the door.
"Enter."
Once permission was granted, the door opened and the liaison officer came in.
Under the gaze of the Chief of the General Staff and the high-ranking staff officers, the liaison officer's body stiffened for a moment, but he soon regained his composure and rendered a salute.
After Arman returned the salute, the liaison officer spoke with a trembling voice.
"I apologize for interrupting the meeting! The reason I've come is regarding a matter concerning Brigadier General Daniel Steiner."
There was nothing to apologize for.
Arman himself was the one who had ordered that matters related to the occupation of Penbark be reported as the highest priority.
"If it concerns Brigadier General Daniel, is it a request for support?"
If the enemy had conducted a delaying action with reinforcements in mind, then even Daniel Steiner would have no choice but to suffer hardship.
But the liaison officer gave an unexpected answer.
"No, sir! According to a report that just came in, Brigadier General Daniel Steiner has occupied Penbark! I have come here to inform you, sir, of this fact!"
He was so flustered that words failed him.
'Occupied... Penbark, you say?'
The staff officers in the conference room were also looking at the liaison officer with eyes of disbelief.
They had believed it would take at least a month to occupy Penbark even at the fastest, but Daniel Steiner had sent word of occupation in under two weeks. It was only natural to feel bewildered.
After a brief silence, Arman spoke.
"This is welcome news after what I was hearing. What are the casualties sustained during the engagement?"
"According to the data sent by the brigade, the enemy defense forces took damage close to annihilation for two battalions. On the other hand, our side's estimated losses are...."
As if he couldn't believe it himself, the liaison officer continued.
"...four killed in action and nine wounded—that is the total."
The staff officers stirred all at once.
"These numbers are absurd. Could this be an inflation of battle achievements?"
"Even if it is Brigadier General Daniel Steiner...."
"Didn't he face an enemy of regimental scale? And it was an assault, not a defense. Yet this is what...."
As if they had heard something utterly preposterous, the staff officers were rejecting reality.
Normally Arman would have reprimanded the staff officers and praised Daniel Steiner's feats of arms. But at this moment, he couldn't help but share their sentiments.
"Liaison officer. I'm asking this just in case, but...."
Arman wore a rare expression of bewilderment.
"Are you perhaps joking with me right now?"
That was how shocking Daniel Steiner's battle achievement was.