“Arkelian forces cross the Orlish border at last, sending in the first wave of reinforcements to join the Orlish Armed Forces at combating the Federal Republic. This marks the first time that foreign forces entered Orlish soil ever since the Arcane Wars, with the Federal Republic’s Foreign Ministry decrying the ‘traitorous act by the Queen’ of ‘sending foreign mercenaries on Orlish soil’. Prime Minister Jacqueline Heiss however has welcomed these troops, calling it a natural and inevitable result between Orland and Arkelia’s newfound alliance.”

- Geopol Press

+++

Central Orland

Archduchy of Löt

July 5, 2025

She was now at the Archduchy itself. Not exactly the best place in Orland to be in nowadays, considering how intense the fighting for it was. Since yesterday, Amelie had nothing but lamented the state of Orland’s largest principality. Sure, it was under the suzerainty of her family’s archrival, the House of Dubois, but the Archduchy still held a special place in her Kingdom.

If the Grand Duchy was the political center, and the Free Confederation was the economic juggernaut, the Archduchy was the original core lands of the ancient Orlish tribes that migrated throughout North Opellia. That, and unlike East Orland, which was subjugated for centuries by the Lorathian Imperium, the Archduchy was originally one of the independent Orlish polities during the age of Lorathian hegemony, before being conquered by the Orlish Kingdom post-independence, and remained an integral part of the Orlish State even during and after the Arcane Wars and the First Orlish Civil War.

Thus, unlike the more economically powerful east and west coasts, Löt held significance in Orlish culture. The city of Thein for example dates back more than two thousand years. Halia and Rebenslof…were merely half a millennia old in comparison. And all these old cities, Amelie saw nothing but ruins as she toured the Principality to check its condition herself with William.

Cities that dated back to the old starting days of her people. Cities destroyed by planes, bombs, and missiles produced by the new, usually artificial and industrial cities of Orland’s industrial powerhouse, the Free State of Wuringen (most of which, such as Eirhow, were cities designed from the ground up not even one hundred years ago), the core of the Federal Republic, directly east of the Archduchy.

Amelie looked up at the destroyed spires, cathedrals, academies, and the old town, as well as roads, rail, and infrastructure reduced to rubble as William drove her through Thein. There wasn’t much civilian life present in the ruined city. Even the military presence in the city was limited, as there wasn’t really much point in defending a city that effectively stopped existing already, or using it as a logistical hub when other smaller cities around it could serve a better purpose. Thein was, for all intents and purposes, now just a fat piece of rubble that the Federalists would have to chew through if they wanted to advance to the rest of the Archduchy and beyond.

Soon, their vehicle and convoy stopped at one of the few buildings untouched by the bombings. The district itself seemed livelier to Amelie’s view compared to the rest, as most residential housing, stores (all closed), and establishments were still standing, outside of a nearby school that was bombed.

“They really hate schools, huh?” Amelie said, looking at the distant building, with nothing but its foundations remaining standing. “The one thing I hate about them is that they really have no care about bombing anything they want to bomb. It’s like their entire mode of operation is bombing pointless things. Those bombs could have been used on our defense lines instead! This is stupid.”

“Well, that’s the point,” William answered as he turned the wheel to the side. “They bomb the shit out of civilian institutions to incite fear. That, and those schools teach magic to young girls, no? Heh, all the more reason for them to burn it to the ground.”

William just stopped their vehicle in the parking slot near the building, near a flagpole that still flew the tricolor of her Kingdom. The two security cars behind her also stopped nearby, with William’s agents shuffling out in good order, while two Orlish Army officers checked them at William’s side door. William then showed them their identifications, and the two finally exited their vehicle.

Amelie and William then went inside of the building, which seemed to have been in use as a military headquarters. Around them, clerks and soldiers ran around, many hooked on their computers as they coordinated the constant fighting on the frontline just eighty kilometers away, which was now getting closer again to Thein as the Federal Republic retook lost territory during the slow but continuous grinding campaign conducted by the OAF against them.

“With the entire Archduchy mostly evacuated, at the very least, there won’t be many problems in the way of civilian casualties anymore,” Amelie said, as they went for the stairs. “Thus, I wonder if abandoning a determined defense in favor of letting them stretch their defense lines would be best.”

“Well, we already did that,” William replied as they continued upstairs. “Unlike in Halia or the Free Confederation, the territorial depth here is very high. So the preferred mode of defense is always going to be mobile defense instead of focusing too much on static defense. Still, we did keep a lot of static defenses early on in the war to hold on to territory and prevent civilians from falling to Federalist occupation before evacuations, but now, the OAF and FOAF are very elastic in their defenses in this region, alongside the south.”

“Hmm, I meant, what I’m saying is, what if we bait them here,” Amelie said. “Like, let’s abandon defending those lands in the east completely. Let them take it, we’ll just bleed them a bit, and bit, then, we’ll bait them into wasting their troops in a symbolic battle here. Then we counterattack.”

“A bright idea,” William smiled. “Hmm, are you sure though? The political cost of the OAF retreating and giving up land is one of the reasons why our Generals and the OHC have not suggested it yet.”

“Well, without people around here to protect, I think the Eutstadt government can absorb any loss in prestige from being kicked out of the territory east of here,” Amelie said. “Besides, I’m just copying what we’re about to do in Gallia. Maybe if we do it here, we’ll win a strategic victory enough to finally liberate areas under Federalist control. Maybe even reach something in Wuringen.”

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

“Well, we still haven’t seen if the Gallia plan succeeded,” William said. “Right now, they’re already dangerously close to Toldoi. If we fail, we’ll really be royally screwed. If we give up the prepared defenses here to execute a destructive counter-attack afterward, should that fail, West Orland lies pretty much wide-open without significant defensive lines set up.”

“Well, of course, we’ll set up extra defense lines before retreating,” Amelie insisted. “Then…then I don’t know, I’ll let them have what they want to have for a while with this offensive they’re having. Then, I’ll steal it quickly and fast while destroying their military units. That should give us an upper hand.”

William chuckled as they turned for another room, marked as the office for “General August Bohm”. William knocked thrice on the door, but no response came. Then, with a smirk, he opened it while shouting.

“August! Rise and shine!” He shouted, and suddenly, inside, an Orlish officer in his early thirties snapped awake from his desk. Amelie looked at the clearly stupefied General, noting his appearance. Black hair, quite the funny mustache, and well, he was a bit of a chubby guy in Amelie’s eyes. All in all, the man seemed to be in half-panic upon seeing the two of them. “Good afternoon, General Bohm. Seems like Her Majesty and the OPM have found it necessary to visit you.”

“Willy—wait Your Majesty?” The General quickly stood up and bowed. “I apologize, Your Majesty! The day yesterday was too long and I have shamefully fallen asleep in the line of duty. Please if you must have me shot—”

Amelie chuckled as she removed her gloves and went for the seat in front of the surprised General’s desk.

“I’m quite disappointed that something somewhere planted the outrageous idea that I would ever order stupid things like that,” Amelie smiled at him. “I’m just here for a frontline visit. I see that you two know each other.”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” the General said. “That man…w-was my buddy back in the Liebnich peninsular campaign.”

“And August managed to climb the Army ranks faster than I could ever have imagined,” William closed the distance and raised his hand. “Been a while, ole chap. Miss the trenches?”

“I still smell it every day from here,” August said, before shaking William’s hands and finally smiling. “You’re also a goddamned climber, you dipshit. Somehow now a Director of a damned intelligence agency…how’d you even do that?”

“Trust me, it ain’t as fun as you imagine,” William replied with a grin as the two continued shaking each other’s hands. “I’m being dumped a lot of jobs.”

“Seems like a bad employment deal.”

“Well, the boss is a kind angel at least.”

Amelie just rolled her eyes as the two stopped and took a seat.

“So, anyhow, General…you’re the one assigned to oversee this section of the frontline?” Amelie asked, and August nodded.

“Indeed, I’m the assigned commander of the 10th Army. Half of the Löt frontline is under the responsibility of the 10th Army. Made up of the XIV Corps, XL Corps, and the XV Maneuver Corps. Quite a massive…undertaking, really. Though, the XL and XIV Corps are currently very badly depleted, so I only really have about sixty thousand soldiers around here.”

Amelie then turned serious.

“When were you assigned here? And how many men were here when you took command.”

“Six months ago. And, roughly the same. Around five thousand less than the current figure. I remember I had to reorganize a lot of the units under me due to their losses before I was assigned here.’

“And…in those six months, how many died under your command?”

The General sighed.

“Eighty thousand soldiers, Your Majesty,” August said grimly. “The battles are…fierce and constant. Just like everywhere, we need a constant stream of…men to feed on the grinder.”

William wheezed a bit.

“Well, ain’t it like the old times?”

“Hell, yeah, dude,” August joked as he shook his head. “Goddess, whether it’s there or here. Whether it’s the old guys in charge, or it’s us, it’s the same friggin crap over and over. It’s kinda starting to get old.”

“But, you’re still on duty.”

“Well, war’s all I know,” August admitted. “And it’s required.”

Amelie’s eyes lowered a bit in shame. He’s right. She thought. These men will say the war sucks, but really, it’s all they’ve ever known. She looked back at William, who could have stepped down during the days when they were asking for men to demobilize, then, she imagined her brother, Albert, still out there in Kusari supporting the MN campaign to defend that Empire. They’re all drawn to the one thing they know.

“Anyhow, we’re here to check out the frontlines,” William said. “The Queen here is…very much eager to devise some sort of scheme to figure out what we should do about the constant back and forths happening here.”

August placed his hand under his chin and then looked at Amelie.

“Your Majesty, the frontlines right now aren’t stable,” he said. “The enemy is pushing quite deep into us, and we’re still in the process of organizing local counteroffensives, so the lines are…moving really rapidly for me to authorize having the Queen run around the place.”

“Come on,” Amelie clasped her hand to plead. “Can’t I at least make some appearance here and there to check on the men under me? I just want to tell them some words at least and hear what they need, or what ideas they may have. I also really wanna see how we’re conducting our defensive operations here.”

“Escorting you would be quite difficult,” August warned. “Even I don’t really risk myself checking the front lines unless things are completely secure. Drones and crap are flying around everywhere and enemy SPGs are targeting any vehicle they see from kilometers away with ridiculous precision, so we can’t have you be escorted by any convoy of more than two vehicles.”

“Well, I have William,” Amelie insisted. “Just…maybe place us in an HMLV or something. I’ll drive around and check stuff. I’m sure he can communicate anyway so we can stay away from danger. I don’t need much more. That, and we’re just staying in secured areas. Check the HQs. Depots. Forward bases. All that stuff.”

The General sighed.

“Alright…why’s the Queen even into this type of crap,” he asked. “You should lead us from the rear. You’re too important.”

“Well, how can I call myself the ‘Queen’ if I can’t even see the troops fighting under me, hmm?” Amelie asked. “Isn’t what all of you men hate the most are armchair leaders? Well, I may be one, but I want to try my best to do what I can on the frontlines, even if I can’t really change much about it. After all, the reports I get on my desk do not absolutely reflect what really is happening in the front. Besides, old Orlish Queens led their Armies directly in the frontlines.”

“Pfft, this isn’t the Arcane Wars, Your Majesty.”

“Yeah, well, that’s just a bad excuse,” Amelie said. “Am I approved?”

“Well, you are the Queen,” August said. “You’re the one approving things, no?”

Amelie smiled, before eagerly pulling August’s hand, and shaking it.

“Thank you so much then, General!”