“The general aim of the campaign has been decided,” Marshal Popov said in the blandest imaginable voice. “Then, about the number of fleets we should send, as well as the commander of the expedition ....”

Admiral Potiorek was very enthusiastic. “Marshal, I would like to request my own appointment as commander of this campaign,” he said. “I have a draft plan ready.”

The plan called for a grand total of fourteen fleets, striking in unison. Such a force would quickly overwhelm Fortress Thalassa before Imperial reinforcements arrived.

Or so Admiral Potiorek believed, anyways.

“So ... do you have any actual plan to ‘storm Fortress Thalassa’, Admiral?” Admiral Kadita’s oddly bass voice came. Admiral Kadita’s face was often compared to that of high schoolers’, and her two ponytails didn’t help either; so when she used that bass voice that was so very rare, people couldn’t help but be intimidated.

Fortress Thalassa was the size of a small planet, or a particularly large moon. It was guarded by the Seventh Fleet as well as various anti-ship guns. Most terrifying was its main weapon, the “Devil’s Breath”, a massive EMP blast that could disable many ships at once.

“The Devil’s Breath can only disable, what, five or six thousand ships before having to recharge. We’ll have almost three hundred thousand ships at disposal, and can overwhelm it with sheer force!”

“The mobilization of half of our Armada is not something that can be concealed. The Imperials would know it, and would deploy their own fleets. Then it’ll be a simple pitched battle, where we’d be outnumbered with the fortress on their side,” Vice Admiral Koo opined. It was impossible to read the faces of the assembled officers.

“You’re too pessimistic. As we mobilize first, we’ll have the advantage in numbers.”

But how much of an advantage would that be, mused Abbas.

Even the “pro-war admirals” weren’t so keen to follow this sort of unchecked aggression. Marshal Popov sighed, like a teacher sighing at his bratty students, and proposed something:

“Then let’s modify our aim a little. Rather than directly assault the fortress, we will use our forces to establish control over the surrounding starzones and besiege it.”

No objections, none at all. Admiral Tang slightly nodded, like some sort of approval.

“Admiral Karunaratne, as we are ordered to attack within six months, please calculate how many ships we could possibly send.”

Six months? Why so specific? thought Abbas, but the answer came three seconds later from his brain.

Ah. The election. So they’re trying to shore up popularity with a military victory?

Don’t they think of how many lives will be lost?

The mathematical and logistical genius replied immediately. “150,000 warships at most, alongside the appropriate supply ships and logistical work,” he said. “It will, however, practically deplete the supplies and therefore the fighting strength of the frontier fleets. Taking that into account, a figure around 100,000 or 110,000 warships would be ... more proper, so to say.”

“Then, Joint Headquarters will decide which fleets to send, in conjunction with the civilian government,” Marshal Popov said, raising to his legs. It looked like he couldn’t stomach this antagonistic meeting any longer.

The meeting was adjourned thusly. “What a mess,” Abbas commented to nobody in particular.

“Well, at least we’re not throwing half the armada to Thalassa,” Admiral Tang said, shaking her head.

The Kaufmanns, having received this secret information through one of their agents—an aide to Admiral Cadorna who was bribed—sent news to the royal family in the Empire through another agent.

At this time—which was roughly three months after the war council--the Emperor and Princess Katharin were attending a garden party held by Duke Dahl, an old admiral enamored with military traditions. His true intentions, really, were to speak with the respected Admiral Karl von Marbach. The old Duke “secretly” hated the physically weak emperor and the princess, who was going to be the first Empress of the Empire soon.

This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.

It wasn’t much of a secret, though, thanks to Spymaster Klaris’ spyrings.

It was in this garden party that Spymaster Klaris came to the Emperor and told him of the news in whispers. The Emperor nodded, excused himself and his daughter, and returned to the Imperial Palace. They sat down in the lounge room.

“Katharin ....”

“Yes, father?”

“You handle this.”

Katharin’s eyebrows raised. “Are you sure, father? If I fail ....”

“Sooner or later, you’ll be Empress. With effort and luck, perhaps the war will end in your reign. But if not, then you’ll have to know how to fight it. Coordinate with our vassals,” the Emperor said. He stood up and walked towards the room’s exit. “I trust in you, Katharin.”

“Understood. Thank you, father.”

The person to consult, naturally, was Admiral Karl von Marbach. The two studied the general plan of the enemy. “I see. As a strategic plan, it is not bad. They’re prudent enough to avoid attacking Fortress Thalassa head-on,” Karl opined.

“As for the forces involved ....”

Katharin meddled with a projector. The enemy forces would be:

Battlefleet Dragon, commanded by Admiral Potiorek, doubling as commander of the whole campaign;

Battlefleet Wyvern, commanded by Admiral Orban;

Battlefleet Heaven, commanded by Admiral Kadita;

Battlefleet Wingfoot, commanded by Admiral Grant;

Battlefleet Lotus, commanded by Vice Admiral Wallenstein;

Battlefleet Datura, commanded by Admiral Falkenhausen.

“I see. Six battlefleets, two smaller than others ... that’d be around 110,000 warships or so. What is this? Their reserve?”

“Ten thousand ships, taken from Battlefleet Chiyou,” Katharin said. “Commanded by one Rear Admiral Yue Fangling and one Commodore Abbas al-Salem.”

“The relationship between an admiral and their fleet is like that of a sun and its planets. Without the sun, the planets cannot revolve; without the planets, the sun’s light is useless. I’d like to know the justification for separating parts of Battlefleet Chiyou from its admiral,” Karl wondered. This man, an elite admiral, full of experience and knowledge, knew fuck-all when it came to politics.

Thank goodness we have an abundance of schemers and politicians, Katharin thought to herself, because if she had to rely on Karl for it, she may as well just dissolve the Empire right there and now.

“Whatever the case, this is what we have to face. I’m thinking—we shouldn’t let them know we know,” Katharin opined.

“Indeed. That goes without saying. The issue here is how to move our forces discreetly to Thalassa Starzone, and how many fleets to send in the first place, and which ones.”

“I have no experience in this. Please teach me, Admiral,” Katharin asked. For a member of nobility, much less royalty, the word ‘please’ tends to be non-existent in their dictionaries.

“For now, let’s discuss the number. I’m thinking around seven or eight numbered fleets—that should grant us enough of a numerical advantage that we ought to decisively repel the invasion.”

“Let’s mobilize the Royal Fleet, and put you in overall command,” Katharin said almost off-handedly.

“The Royal Fleet, Princess? It’s unprecedented ....”

“The Royal Fleet needs to have some battle experience, don’t you think?”

“Certainly.”

If there were a split between the throne and the nobility, Karl would be on the former’s side—Katharin was sure of it. Therefore, she would like to promote him to a marshal, and afford him some more prestige. For that to happen, however, she needed Karl to win a victory.

“The Royal Fleet alone is fifty thousand ships. The Seventh Fleet guards Fortress Thalassa, and the Twenty-First Fleet patrols the area. If we had five numbered fleets to that, we should have enough of a numerical advantage to overwhelm the enemy reliably.”

“Alright. I’ll personally arrange it. Also, it seems like Rear Admirals Thompson and Radbruch have recovered. I want them to participate in the battle.”

“As you wish. The Royal Fleet’s too large for me to command alone anyway,” Karl said before taking his leave.

Katharin summoned Spymaster Klaris for her weekly briefing. She was beginning to take over matters of state from her father, who wholeheartedly approved. “A number of notable things happened this week,” the spymaster stated after a bow. “Most interestingly, a small uprising demanding food erupted in one of the planets under Count Telmar’s domain. The Count used deadly force. Three thousand people were killed, ten thousand more injured.”

Katharin’s forehead wrinkled. Count Telmar was a well-known ally of Duke Gerlach; in fact, there was a sort of friendship between the two noble houses for hundreds of years. Something buried within the young woman’s sea of memories emerged. “Doesn’t Count Telmar’s realm have many agricultural worlds? Why would his people starve?”

Agricultural worlds were populated with only farmers; these were meant to produce food for the Empire.

“Apparently the Count just held a birthday party for his daughter, which consumed a lot of agricultural resources. The Count disregarded his serfs ....”

“I don’t buy it,” the sharp princess cut off. “Investigate where his produces go. No way he spent them on a party.”

What the Republic called ‘civilians’, the Empire called ‘serfs’. They were not quite slaves—slavery was abolished several emperors ago. Serfs may own land and live at their discretion, but were still bound to the will of the ruling nobles above them, and paid taxes to them, some of which went to the royal family.

“Princess, have you prepared for the Republic’s invasion?” Spymaster Klaris asked cautiously.

“I have. Is there something about it?”

“Our recent defeat in Alvisa has stirred anti-imperial sentiments in some worlds. A victory would do much to curb them.”

Of course, the Empire portrayed Alvisa as a “victory”, but when 130 million souls were lost—dead or captured—it was simply impossible to practically deny reality, even if the Empire housed more than three trillion humans.

“I see. I’ll keep that in mind.” A warlike gleam shone in her eyes as she stood up.

“Well, shall we teach them a good lesson?”