“Idealism have turned into an empty joke in the eyes of men.”

- General Sergi Val

+++

West Orland

November Palace

May 6, 2025

“Okay…I’m not exactly sure how this will help us though,” William said from behind. “I mean, a concrete political agenda sounds cool and all, but I think we need to be real and focus on the—”

“William!” Nia cut him off. “Can’t you see? We need a good cause to keep the people fighting. Amelie’s right. And that’s why you’re here. You’re good counsel.”

Amelie nodded.

“Yeah, you’re a guy, so you can help us draft men’s interests,” Amelie said. “See, I want these fourteen points to be fully right. For both the interests of men and women. That way, we have a vision to see through when this war ends. Then we can spread the message. Up the morale of everyone. Rally them into the fight. Or to the factories. Whatever.”

“Just tell them that if they buy war bonds they’re going to get good returns post-war,” Hans said. “I mean, you know, standard procedure. I don’t really get how this will aid us in upping the morale of men. Quite frankly, morale will be low, but they’ll fight on anyway. Heh, it’s the only way out of this cruel world.”

“And that’s exactly what we have to change!” Nia said. “That, and we need to promise something good for young women too. Tell them that this is a fight worthy for them to join their brothers in. Unity.”

“Right, unity,” Amelie said.

“You two are quite the forward-looking ladies,” William sighed. “Fine…let me see the draft.”

Excitedly, Amelie pulled out the document that outlined her, “Great Cause” and handed it to William with almost shining eyes. William silently read the first lines with boredom, as Amelie eagerly awaited his judgment.

“First of all, did you even consult any guy about this?”

“Um, nope. Albert I guess, but he only gave it a passing read back then. And I’m too scared of Walter.”

“Oh, great, that guy. As expected, and I don’t blame him,” William sighed. “Your brother probably didn’t even give a crap about reading this. I mean, the first line is ridiculous. You might as well be an eight-year-old. I mean, world peace, are you crazy? That’s like asking for money to fall on trees or something.”

“William!” Amelie shouted. “First of all, wars are the biggest problem we face. So ending it is absolutely a top priority. That’s why it’s number one. There has to be peace and stability before you can do the rest. Plus, you’re a guy. You should hate war.”

“Nah, not really. It’s my livelihood,” William smirked. “Life can suck, but you pay well with this job where I help you manage the war. It’s honest living. You know, if you think about it, even if this war ends, most guys would probably end up as ‘security contractors’ in the unstable world that’ll surely follow anyway.”

“You and your brother are so alike…”

“It’s a joke,” William sighed. “But come on, how does this not sound way too childlike? It’s like…what’s this, point five—equality of wages in the workforce? Okay, cool, very cool for us, but how exactly is this going to sell for women who want to keep our wages low for cheap goods.”

“Have you not noticed that points five to ten are specifically said to be there to reduce societal tensions and make sure we won’t be in this situation again?” Nia crossed her arms. “We women aren’t stupid. We tell this to them, and they’ll agree that this needs to change so none of this disaster happens again.”

“Uhuh, that’s cool,” William then continued looking down at the document. “Okay, how exactly do you think section three will go down, points eleven to fourteen? You say in eleven, we’d place more investments in rebuilding the economy, then you say at fourteen you’d reduce Orland’s debt. Wow, wanna eat the cake and have it too, huh? You even said you’d, ‘invest in the social rehabilitation of men’ in point ten, damn, cool. How’d you do that without money? With hugs and kisses?”

Amelie looked like she was about to cry, but William continued dismantling her “Great Cause” one by one.

“Okay, then you have points twelve to thirteen. What are you, you sound like the NRF now. Enforcement of union and labor rights, then you want to enforce antitrust laws and expand them? What, you wanna kill your support from the private sector? Okay, and this is cool for the average blue-collar Joe, but I’m not sure how’s the UOP going to accept this. Even the ORP is going to be antsy from these ideas, though, to be fair, they’re a bunch of crooks anyway.”

“Come on…” Nia sighed.

“And, yeah…I’ll say it now, this sounds so progressive and so humanizing I think anyone who sees this is going to choke in diabetes first before vomiting at how unrealistic this is,” William looked down at the two of them, who also looked down at the floor. “How long did you two spend to make this?”

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“Erm…” Nia fell silent.

“One night. I actually had one already back then that I used as a guide to rule this Kingdom, but it wasn’t as well fixed as this iteration. Um…is it really that bad?”

“Nope, it’s way too good you two must be flying with rainbows coming out of your feet. Yeah, no, this is like…a plan no serious administration can propose. It’s way too broad. Long term. It’s like you’re thinking you’ll be the Prime Minister for two decades or something. I mean, if you stick to these plans consistently for decades, that might work, since you can do it phase by phase, but there’s term limits, and…oh…”

He paused.

“Oh…”

“What?” Nia then smiled. “Realized it now, huh? You dummy! She’s the Queen! She can enact that plan and propose it to every subsequent administration until she’s an aged hag.”

“Nia!”

“I have a point. That’s why we crafted that plan. It’s to solidify Amelie’s image of being a long-term reformist monarch. See? Unlike a simple elected government that has to focus on short-term goals, she can show this and tell the people that she will advise every government under her to follow this goal until its completion. Just like how Queen Areya promised during her coronation that she would make sure that every Orlish Government under her will prioritize the creation of a strong Orland.”

“Okay, yeah, that…does have a point…”

“In my case, William,” Amelie smiled to herself. “I will release this plan, and tell the people, both men and women, that I will make sure that we will finish this war, ensure the world after that war is safer, and create a more equal and human Orland.”

“And you called that, ‘the Great Cause’,” William asked.

Amelie nodded.

“Alright…” William looked back down at the document, before smiling a bit to himself. “Well, you should consult more experts about this. I think it’s nice, but you just need to perfect it a bit. This might be a good propaganda piece for us.”

+++

“Alright, as for the daily update of the war situation,” Amelie looked down at the compiled report file in her hands as William spoke. The situation room was nominally empty, with most ministers of the Heiss Government gone, except for Jacqueline and Walter, who were now keeping themselves in touch with the war situation more closely with the Queen. “It’s not stable yet.”

“As I expected,” Walter said. “Been watching the news daily. And getting updates. Seems like the situation in Gallia isn’t getting better, huh?”

“Yeah,” Jacqueline said. “They have already lodged more and more requests for aid to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Adelaide said that she’s holding off from making any further promises until Pristina and the OHC can ensure further military aid, so, yeah, our support levels remain the same regardless of the deteriorating situation in Gallia. I hope that doesn’t end up badly though…”

“Unless General Albrecht’s plan works, it will,” William said. “The enemy has broken through all of the DMZ Defense Line. The combined Gallian, Lorathian, and Orlish forces are now in between a rout and a barely organized retreat to the next defense line. So far, casualties have been severe…”

The screens showed a list of major formations, brigades specifically, from both the Lorathian, Gallian, and Orlish armies. Amelie looked at them, and indeed, it was beyond scary. Most units were badly in the red, with many brigades suffering thirty to forty percent casualties.

“So far, most of the losses have been equipment. We’ve lost four hundred AFVs of all types in the last weeks. That’s…pretty severe. For example, the 4th Independent Armored Brigade of the Gallian Army has been reduced to thirty percent of its original strength after a three-day battle near the DMZ. Right now, this brigade is deemed combat ineffective and will retreat from the fighting for reinforcements and reorganization…”

He then showed a list of formations marked as “combat ineffective”.

“So far, fourteen Gallian Infantry Brigades have been shattered and would be pulled out of the frontlines. Alongside that are two armored and one mechanized brigade. On the Lorathian side, the I LEF Mobile Corps have suffered greatly. Two of their ABCGs, or armored brigade combat groups, have been mauled during a week-long campaign against four Confederacy and Pozneki motor rifle and armored divisions. They held hard, but they lost one hundred fifty tanks in total. That essentially means that the I LEF Mobile Corps is now half as effective as it was in the early days of the fighting…”

“The attrition levels are insane,” Jacqueline muttered. “It’s like, we’re burning through equipment without end. How are we going to replace those losses quickly? In just a few months, our forces in Gallia will be fighting with sticks.”

“That’s exactly the situation,” Walter said. “This is the early days of the conflict. Reminds me of the opening year of the First Great War. No, I mean, this is exactly that. Both sides will absolutely tear through their equipment stockpiles during the mobile warfare phase. And this time around, no side would want a repeat of trench warfare. Just as we’re betting on encircling them at all costs, they’re doing the same.”

“Right, they’re doing very aggressive maneuvers, and we are doing the same to counter them,” William said, as the screens zoomed into the map. “Here’s a timelapse of the battle for a city near the DMZ in two weeks. Notice the pincers that the enemy attempted to do? Notice how the lines shift so fast in rapid back and forths. And notice how the city was briefly encircled before we pulled our forces back. That’s the situation…”

“Right, they are just as hungry for encirclements as we are,” Walter smirked. “I guess we all really learned a thing or two in the Great War, huh?”

“Except for not doing war again, apparently,” Jacqueline said. “So I suppose that’s how these few months will go then?”

Amelie sighed.

“I can see the situation. We’re both leveraging our mobile forces in the early days of the campaign to achieve a superior position on the battlefield,” she declared. “Then once all those fancy equipment dries up, we’d both have no choice but to settle for a stalemate. But they don’t want that to happen. And neither do we.”

“Hence why we are trying to outmaneuver each other,” William said. “He who dares and achieves a successful armored victory will decide which nation will fall in the next year.”

William zoomed the map out to cover all of West Vaeyox.

“Will Gallia fall to the CFN…or will Poznek fall to the MN. And if not…then we shall see a repeat of the Great War. Once again in Gallian soil.”

“Another great stalemate,” Amelie muttered. “No, it cannot happen again.”