"The trenches of the Great War morphed a monster beyond our control. Shot, bombed, burned, stabbed, gassed…each day and night as we left and vilified them – and they all experienced it. I fear that the generation of men that was supposed to grow with us is gone. No human leaves such conditions intact, and their actions today show that clearly."

- ROCN News, Anonymous Columnist.

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Frontline Observation Post 0-7

Ludendorf Front

November 20, 2024

William lowered down his binoculars.

"They pushed us back again. We are preparing for another set of counter-charges. We can't allow them to establish a supply line to the captured trench lines." He said while Amelie continued to watch the distant lines with her binoculars.

It was slightly silent, but occasionally, a shell would hit the wounded earth. Craters, filled with brownish water, were everywhere up ahead. And she could scarcely see into the distance. The thick, constant smoke, the fog, it all obscured everything.

All she could really see was the desolate half-burnt or destroyed trees, the sets of buildings that were mere shadows of their past, and littered wrecks of tanks, vehicles, mechs, and everything else. The road up ahead was just as desolate.

It seemed that the severity of the battle had left the Army unable to recover or clear the last armored spearheads that once charged through the roads. The distant ghosts of the last counter-offensive, Operation Silent Spear, something she had watched from her bunker, were still there.

She lowered down her binoculars.

The backline trenches were quite bad, Amelie mused as the two continued on their inspection. The backline trenches were more of an auxiliary line at the moment. Unlike the frontline dugouts and the support trenches up ahead, the RGO here was hard at work in auxiliary duties.

Duties where women's magic shined like an ironic hope for the thousands of wounded men from the frontlines. Normally, women studied healing magic since their first grade at school. It was, perhaps, the most useful form of magic for the civilian sector. It made healthcare accessible, and extremely effective since the dawn of magic.

And it gave women a death grip on healthcare. The mere threat of withholding it from men was so severe, that during the Great War, most that died were from injuries normally treated by magic.

"There's not much they can do, really." One of the attending RGO officials told her. She was in her forties. Yet she volunteered at the frontlines. "They're dependent on our magic. Quite frankly, leaving them alone during the Great War was probably why their casualties were so high."

Amelie looked at the emergency medical dugout. Inside, there were countless injured young men being given emergency medical attention before being shipped to the Halia's more well-equipped hospitals.

"Unsurprising, really," William said, crossing his arms behind her. "We're still applying non-magical wound and trauma treatments that we only learned from the Great War. But our medics aren't well trained. Except for drugging the injured with drugs."

"Isn't that dangerous? While modern medical drugs seem great, their side-effects seem…severe compared to magic." Amelie said. Unlike precise healing magic that purely healed diseases and injuries, invasive medical procedures had failure rates.

"Well, given the choice of dying to a badly treated bullet wound to the gut, or dying without it, you'd pick the former." Amelie looked at one of the soldiers, who stared silently in peace at the ceiling as a nurse kept her glowing wand aimed at his bleeding torso. "But, at least now magic is available. A bit more at least."

"I'm glad that my decision paid off then." She sighed. "Though, I definitely am not fond of the idea of young women being forced here too. But then again, if men would be here, then it would just be a fair measure."

Soon, the two of them left the frontlines. Amelie gave one last passing look behind her before she boarded William's vehicle. The distant sounds of artillery and gunfire hadn't ended. She imagined another severe fight was being waged somewhere.

The ride to the next town was grueling. The roads were all bombed to bits. Even with the engineers and workers clearing the roads, they passed through minor traffic jams of convoys stopped by ongoing clearing operations. One time, they had to wait for a few minutes for a recovery vehicle to pull a Löwe wreck off the road.

Himmelsbach was a bit different from her last visit. There were more fortifications and checkpoints, and they passed through parked LSS Mechs and M3 IFVs. William told her that multiple armored divisions were massing near Himmelsbach for a possible limited counter-offensive. That didn't make sense to her – why would that be necessary now?

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"General Holl proposed it three days ago. He did have a point. Those captured trenches are still unestablished." William said as he turned the SUV right. Amelie shook her head. "They're grinding through our lines. And the longer they hold it uncontested, the harder it would be to flush them off."

"It's just gonna be another costly business…" She almost felt the urge to puke. "I still remember Operation Silent Spear. Seeing all those wrecks didn't help."

"Unfortunately, that's an inevitability. The Ludendorf Front already solidified. We both lack proper offensive capabilities, but enough defensive capabilities to force a stalemate. It will be a slog regardless."

"Then why? Why try to push them back again? Can't we just hold the line and retreat as needed?"

"We can only retreat so much, Amelie. Remember that."

"And we can only lose so many lives, William. Remember that."

He scoffed. "We'd lose more if we give up the initiative. Letting them achieve a breakthrough that would endanger us to an encirclement is infinitely worse than the alternative."

They stopped in front of what appeared to be a converted command center of what was a noble estate. When Amelie exited the SUV, she saw soldiers lying idly on the side of the estate's wall. Their uniforms were messy and muddy, and their helmets were untied on their chins. They were mostly looking at the passing troops and tanks listlessly, their guns and equipment lying beside them.

"What are they doing?" Amelie asked, eyeing up two soldiers silently smoking as they watched a group of doves pass above them.

"Waiting for pickup, I suppose. Being rotated off the frontlines. They probably already spent a month or two there." The two of them continued on toward the estate. It was wide, with multiple IFVs parked near the still surprisingly intact flower garden.

That was when they stopped in front of what appeared to be gathered fresh soldiers that awaited in front of the estate. There were probably a hundred of them, all idly standing by and chattering amongst themselves.

"Is General Holl here now?" Amelie asked as they stayed back. They were here to meet General Holl and the leaders of the IV Armored Corps, a newly formed ad-hoc command of JTF-Ludendorf's remaining Armored and Light Mech Divisions.

It was to be led by General Holl himself. To Amelie, his actions in the defense of Heiflitz distinguished him as one of her most reliable officers. Thus, when William sent her the candidates, she immediately picked and assigned him for the job.

My tanks and mechs are the most important pieces in this battle. She told herself that day. He would best lead it.

"Yes. I already rang him."

"Good. I'm not fond of too much waiting. Not anymore with all this…nonsense flying around us."

"Well, I too wouldn't be too fond of the frontlines if I was new." William took a pack of cigarettes and lit up one.

"Hey, you don't smoke, right? Why are you smoking?"

"Who told you I don't smoke?"

"I never saw you do it."

William laughed. "Well, I'm not really addicted to it, I suppose. But, I sometimes did back in Liebnich. With the boys." He looked back at the assembled men. "Reminds me of the old times, I guess."

General Holl and multiple staff officers emerged from the estate. Immediately, an officer shouted "Attention!" to the men, and they all stood straight. Amelie and William walked forward, meeting the group of OAF officers who lined up and saluted her.

General Holl lowered his salute.

"So, Your Majesty. Got a whiff of the front at last?"

"It's quite nasty, General. I believe you plan for another counter-offensive?"

"The details are in. We're planning to do it after they bashed their heads on us. Preferably exactly when Chief Air Marshal Zimmermann moves his arse off his hole."

Amelie laughed a bit at that. It frustrated her, and thus, she was starting to view the Chief Air Marshal as an absent lazy slob in a sense. It was probably unfair, as the Air Force was facing problems too severe to be discounted, but Amelie was frustrated with him regardless that she found relief in someone else poking at him.

"Well, I do hope he finally does. Anyway, who exactly are they?"

General Holl turned around to the assembled troops. "D Company. 2nd Infantry Battalion. I'm just about to rotate them to the front. Are you up for an inspection? I'm sure these boys wouldn't mind the Queen's attention."

Amelie glanced back at William, who merely gave her an approving nod. She said yes to General Holl, and immediately, she was walking in front of the assembled troops, with General Holl, William, and the staff officers following her from behind.

Am I supposed to say something?

She didn't. Instead, she continued walking, inspecting them briefly one by one. She tried to act all serious, but quite frankly, she had no idea what to inspect.

Inspect them of what? She asked herself. Of their uniform? Which will be torn and dirtied? Of their weapons? Which all of them held? She almost stopped in front of one of the younger soldiers. Of their courage? When they are already about to go to war anyway?

All she could really glean from these troopers was that these fresh boys were just boys given a soldier's uniform, some training, and a gun, and sent off to war. It boiled her blood. How all these happened under her rule.

What boiled her blood more, was the fact that she couldn't change that.

"They're good people." She said to General Holl when they finished. It was the only observation she could see. "Take good care of them, General."

He gave her a nod. but no promises. But Amelie didn't expect anything.