“Utilized as cogs, spent on the meatgrinder, and blamed for our failures, all as they cast us as the true evils of the world. Yet we’re all still here, about to charge atop from the only shelter that shielded us from the coldness of death under their very orders. The orders of those same women, who have not spared an inkling of care for us. Why? Why are we following their orders? Why are you following her orders?”

- Colonel Ben Focht before the 146th Infantry Brigade’s Mutiny, Löt’s Eastern Front.

+++

“So send more bodies to replace the losses?”

“It’s called battlefield rotations, Your Majesty.”

“I think that’s just a euphemism.”

Amelie felt her back slacken at it all. She tried to massage the headache that threatened to appear on his head, as she checked all the papers on her desk. The office that she had in her bunker had been less than ideal for a Queen for how messy it was, but it wasn’t like anyone but William and Kleist, or her other close underlings would see it.

Colonel Kleist didn’t reply any further. His plan was something she had expected. Essentially, they would just rotate off the shattered units from the frontline, and promptly replace them with the units that had barely even recovered from the last battles during the capital’s defense.

Units which were, as far as she knew, fatigued, low or middling in morale, and had suffered significant losses before. Sure, they had more experienced troops and officers as Kleist said, and their numbers were somewhat replenished, but she imagined that sending battered young men back into the fray without any significant downtime would take a toll on them.

Not that it hadn’t already. I imagine all of my troops on the ground are tired of this damned thing.

Most of her “proper” reserves had been ones that came by train to reinforce them from Rebenslof, but the Colonel advised against using them immediately.

“But why? Why can’t we just send the fresh ones? Wouldn’t they perform better?”

“Unless you want us to lose the main thing that would be good at holding the city if the enemy’s hammer somehow devastates us, it would be prudent to hold them off for now.”

“But the offensive-”

“It is true that the offensive would be more difficult to persecute for our already engaged troops on the ground. They have taken losses, fought for extended periods of time, and may be lacking in critical supplies. But they are the ones, including those that we are going to send to replace them, who participated in the planning and preparation. Our fresh units have just recently arrived. It would take time before they can jump the gun and join in if we pushed for it.”

“So there won’t be a true retreat? Just a shuffling of our units to hold the line, before returning back on the offensive?”

“Indeed.”

“Alright…can you please give me the numbers?”

He looked down at her strangely, and Amelie returned a tired gaze.

Come on, you know what I’m asking for.

“The casualties, Colonel.”

“Oh, I’m afraid that the numbers haven’t reached us yet.”

“I know you have no accurate figures, but I also know that the Army isn’t stupid that they won’t be able to estimate their losses. Please, no need to hide it to me, Colonel. I just want to know the truth.”

Of how much blood is on my hands again.

He sighed. Truthfully, the topic of casualties had been something that William cautioned him about. Something which he told him to avoid mentioning to her unless absolutely necessary. He understood William’s reasoning. The young Queen, she was…well, she had too much on her shoulders at this point.

There was no need to add more. They were in charge of the Joint Task Force, so that was their problem, not her's. They would rather inform the Prime Minister, Jacqueline, about the situation than her, a seemingly frail young woman who, in Kleist’s perspective, didn’t deserve to be in charge of this scathingly severe mess in the first place if it weren’t for the fact that she was the only decent monarch he ever served.

“Alright, Your Majesty. Do you want just the numbers or a full breakdown?”

“Can you give me a full breakdown, please?”

“Alright.”

He pulled out his tablet, and Amelie subtly braced herself. This was the report that she always dreaded whenever she approved a military operation. It was the worst part.

“The total casualties, for the last three days of this operation, had reached seventy-two thousand five hundred forty-four casualties. Roughly twenty-one thousand three hundred forty-four are killed in action, and the rest are mostly wounded in action or missing in action. The most hard-hit units are our main spearheads. The 14th Light Mech Division ‘Wachsam’ reports that only forty percent of its original strength is combat effective. The 8th Light Mech Division ‘Vereinigt’ reports that thirty-five percent of its formations are shattered. The 2nd Armored Division ‘Schnell’ also reported casualties similar to the rest. On the wider level, the 19th and 3rd Army Corps themselves sustained heavy casualties, mostly to Light Mech and Armored formations. We’ve lost a total of four hundred eighty-nine LSS Mechs, three hundred twenty-five Löwe Main Battle Tanks, six fifty-five M8 Infantry Fighting Vehicles, two thirty-three M3 Armored Personnel Carriers, twenty-eight LF-12 Zappers, eighty-four Mark-2 Field Artillery Pieces, twenty-two Rapid Fire Rocket Systems, and…”

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“Alright, you can end the report there, Colonel.”

Three days. Three damned days and this is what we lost. How is that even possible? It’s like…they’ve been butchered en masse. Goddess this is…

“Are you alright, Your Majesty?”

“I…I am absolutely fine, don’t worry about me. The question here shouldn’t be about me. Are you…are you men alright?”

He didn’t reply, and Amelie had a feeling that her question was pointless and the answer was obvious. Instead, he merely saluted.

“We are counting on you to bring us our rights, after all of this, Your Majesty.”

He left her office without any further words.

+++

Amelie looked around her room for a while after his report. She wondered how much more they would need to be sacrificed for the defense of the capital. No…to beat the Putschists themselves. In the back of her mind, there were already whispers forming.

Maybe she could still negotiate. Maybe she should just surrender and end it all. Maybe…maybe there was a better way out than fighting. Would they stop fighting if she abdicated the throne?

Would they?

But she shot those thoughts out just as quickly. These men were extremists. They weren’t just aiming to cut her off from the throne, they wanted to swing the pendulum violently against women as a whole. They wanted their magic gone. They wanted their power gone.

They wanted to…she would not let them get that.

I won’t let this get to me. I’ll..I’ll beat them. With fewer casualties this time! And…then the Army will march to Eirhow, then I’ll negotiate to end the war. Surely, with my reformist policies, and by beating them on the field, they would have no choice but to negotiate a surrender.

Now the question was, how could she exactly steer the ship of the Royalist state to do just that? There were so many tasks ahead of her. She needed to defend the capital, which she was already doing. Then she needed to kick them off from her bank of the Ludendorf river, then she needed to reorganize Orland’s wartime government properly, prepare for a true counteroffensive, fix the damage in the capital, and…

Goddess, this is endless. I’m gonna grow decades in just a few years at this rate.

She buried her face again in her hand. Alice did mention that she was seeing grey strands of hair on Amelie, even when the last time Amelie checked her hair, it was pristine golden blonde.

She looked back up at the clock in her office.

I’m gonna look like an old hag before I find a King.

Funnily enough, she had just realized, it seemed that no one pestered her about finding a King-Consort yet. Seems like the entire war thing utterly silenced the rest of the High Aristocracy. But, it wasn’t like it would be the priority until her throne itself wasn’t in a state of being shot into pieces by rebellious young men.

She shook her head off those distracting random thoughts. There was war. There were bombs falling everywhere. There were people dying. She had to keep focus and go on and on. If all she could do to help for now was to speed up the reading and signing of the mountains of papers in front of her, she needed to begin now.

But, her phone rang.

What? Again? William?

She took it. Was it going to be another damned emergency meeting? She had enough already.

“This is Queen Amelie Ludendorf. Who am I speaking to?”

“Just wanted to say hi.”

Albert? It’s Albert!

“Albert?! Is that-”

“Yes, it’s me. I’m calling from the Redcastle Naval Base. Alfast has been badly mauled by the Empress’ surprise attack, so they’re taking their merry time repairing my damaged escorts around here. Hey, how are you holding up right there?”

She looked at the wall of her office with a deadpan stare and replied in just as deadpan manner.

“Oh, nothing. I’m just under siege around here. And had an assassination attempt out of nowhere. And I’m holed up in a bunker to hide from Heindhöff’s airstrikes. Nothing really bad. I’m doing just fine.”

“Heh, the Queen seems salty that I haven’t called earlier.”

“Of course I am! Albert, you…you absolute rascal! You could have died!”

“Well, I didn’t. And I eliminated four Larissan Carriers. And Empress Katerina is currently my POW. And the Empire seems to be collapsing without her. Need I tell more?”

“I get it. Congratulations, good work, everything. You still didn’t need to do that, Albert. I was already sending two carriers to face her. You could have just slipped away and escaped. What if…what if she had gotten you first.”

“I apologize then, it was definitely reckless, and I haven’t considered you and Alice again. I really do apologize.”

“No it’s alright, it’s alright…” She breathed out heavily, and she realized she was almost on the verge of tears as she berated him. “I just had to say those things out. I’m sorry.”

“Well, what’s done is done. I’m more worried about the fact that you said someone attempted to assassinate you.”

“It’s been dealt with. And I’ll be more careful from now on.”

“Are you sure?”

She paused and looked again at the report papers that Marie gave her regarding the OIA cell that almost managed to kill her. She wasn’t sure.

“Yes.”

“All right. Oh, and I wanted to inform you, that I am being sent back by Admiral Halberd there.”

“What? Why? Isn’t it safer there, now that the Empire’s almost beaten?”

“I’ve been promoted to Admiral, Amelie. And with it comes another assignment. I need to hunt the ONS Matriarch.”

That…the ONS Matriarch. One of the carriers that Putschists managed to snatch from the ten-carrier-strong Orlish Navy. The most advanced, and powerful carrier of Orland too. And the very same carrier that became the menace of the North Allas Ocean, as it harassed merchant shipping headed to Rebenslof and Halia and threatened to cut off Northeastern Orland itself from the seas.

And the same carrier that forced the Orlish Navy away from supporting the Battle of Halia, for they severely damaged two of her carriers in an engagement last month.

“Albert…can you please repeat that?

“I’ll wipe out the Putschists from the North Allas Ocean. I’ll restore shipping to Halia. I’ll end the blockade. I’ll send the ONS Matriarch down to the bottom of the ocean. Is that clear enough?”

“I…I see. But I have one order for you.”

“Yes?”

“Don’t you dare die. Alice is still waiting for you, brother.”

“I don’t intend to. For the both of you. And you too. Don’t you dare die. For all of Orland.”