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Fine, It’ll Be a Blitzkrieg Then

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Translator: SFBaka

Editor: Thor’s Stone

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Kou had convened with Jenny, Rick, the newly promoted ship captain Robert, and his first mate Barry for a meeting.

Nyanta, Aki, and Aimer were also present.

「It’s pretty rare for you to call us over for a meeting too, Kou.」

Ever since Robert was appointed as the captain of the Cimon-class, Kou had never given him any direct orders and allowed him free reign over the ship.

He did feel happy about it, but it’s also true that he felt a little left out as well.

「Sorry. I have to trouble you all today. Actually, I’m gonna propose a plan for a large-scale operation this time.」

「……Hou. A proposal by Kou huh.」

Barry muttered. It was quite unusual for Kou to make such a proposal.

「Rick, I’m not really familiar with combat strategies and tactics, but I want to conduct a blitzkrieg.」

「Do you have any idea about what a blitzkrieg actually is?」

「I do…… I think.」

「Then please tell us what your purpose is in suggesting we conduct a blitzkrieg.」

「I want to pressure the Stones as much as possible and give an intense and lasting psychological blow to the enemy camp.」

「Mm.」

Rick laughed in amusement. It seemed like he approved.

The true essence of a blitzkrieg was not a lightning-fast assault against the enemy.

Even though it was a pretty well-known and popular combat tactic, there were few instances of actually making effective use of it.

It’s mainly to throw the enemy forces into disarray by quickly breaking through the enemy defense network, infiltrating the back lines, and dealing decisive blows to the enemy’s vulnerable bases and headquarters.

It was a tactic that came with an extremely high risk of the assaulting unit becoming isolated behind enemy lines and surrounded by the enemy’s main forces.

「Alright then. Let’s go ahead and conduct a blitzkrieg. But many of the enemy forces consist of unmanned machines. What are we gonna do that’ll put pressure on them?」

「Retrieving Asia. There are still several places where parts of Asia’s data are imprisoned. While the Stones are busily expanding the front lines, we’ll hit their more lightly defended backline. But I’m still not sure about exactly which place we should target……」

At this point, Aimer raised her face and spoke out.

「Kou, How about F811?」

「Master! Oh, right, that can work……!」

Jenny and the others were unaware of Master’s consciousness residing within Aimer. Master nodded deeply through Aimer’s body and closed her eyes.

When she opened her eyes next, she was back to being Aimer.

Aimer smiled and nodded toward Kou.

「Fortress Area F811 is located pretty deep in enemy territory, and it’s also near the coast. We’ll raid it and retrieve the part of Asia’s data held captive within it.」

「Okay, Kou. It’s a proposal worth considering. Tell us about your plan.」

Everyone turned serious gazes toward Kou. If it was the usual Kou, he would have responded with a sheepish smile, but this time around, he met everyone’s gazes.

「Let’s launch an assault from the sea using the Cimon-class. Then a unit will infiltrate the Fortress Area and retrieve Asia. The enemy has just finished taking over Fortress Areas on the front lines. So their rear’s current defenses should be thin. After all, they should still be busy plundering resources from the captured Fortresses and manufacturing their own camp’s Silhouettes.」

「Fumu. We have a spaceship that can also dive and operate underwater after all. But it’s rather big, so flying over should be fine as well though.」

「We’re not going to do that with the Cimon-class. Its movements would be easily detected, and I still have no intention of letting the enemy gauge our strength.」

「That’s true. Sorry for testing you, Kou.」

「The Aristides is already actively flying between ports around the world. If we need to launch a surprise attack via air, we’ll use it instead.」

「Correct.」

Rick grinned.

「Let’s continue with the next step. We don’t really need a Fortress Area. But I still want one anyway.」

「Even if we take control of a Fortress Area deep within enemy territory, chances are it’ll be recovered by the enemy eventually. It’s like taking an edge of the board in a game of reversi. However, the human side that had already lost two large-scale bases would definitely want a captured Fortress Area for themselves.」

「We’ll gather the tank corps in the dummy camp outside the base. In addition, Aristides will also get deployed and launch an assault on Fortress Area P336, which is the largest Fortress Area that’s closest to the Silhouette Base.」

「Are you actually planning to take over the areas around the Silhouette Base!? ……Well, it would certainly be hard for the enemy to mount an effective response while a Fortress Area holding Asia’s data is getting attacked.」

「The enemy probably wouldn’t expect a single Underground Force like us to execute simultaneous operations, right? Humanity is still in turmoil. If we don’t execute a major operation soon, their morale will probably plummet.」

「We recently received the variable machine for Jenny. There are also the 20 additional Dragoon tanks we openly bought from Wangcheng Industrial. They’ll think we wouldn’t be able to pull off such a large-scale operation with just those, right?」

「That’s right. The Quattro Silhouettes and other units in our Silhouette Base should still not be known to them.」

The Silhouette Base was their biggest trump card.

The enemy should not be aware of the two amphibious assault ships that are also capable of space navigation, nor the state-of-the-art weapons they’ve developed.

Even most of the people residing in the Silhouette Base themselves didn’t have an accurate grasp of the whole picture. They still weren’t aware of the underground arsenal Astraea, nor the full extent of Asia’s current capabilities now that she’s based herself in the underground arsenal as well.

「This will be the first time a Cimon-class and two Aristides-class ships will be deployed simultaneously. Barry, I’ll be counting on you as the captain of the other Aristides-class.」

「It’s here! I’ve been asked something crazy dammit! You’re gonna have me do it too huh!?」

「Oh c’mon. Only you two have been properly trained to serve as ship captains, right? It can’t be helped.」

Jenny ruthlessly slapped Barry with a dose of reality.

「It’s perfect for guys like you who prefer to be in the thick of things during combat operations, right, Barry?」

「Yeah. I’m definitely the type to take the reins in combat. You do get us well, don’t you, Kou?」

Kou addressed Barry, and Robert expressed his approval. This black man with a large build may talk frivolously often, but he was also more earnest about his responsibilities than most. Kou placed quite a lot of trust in him.

「They definitely wouldn’t expect a spaceship to suddenly rush out and the camp outside to prepare such a large number of tanks.」

「You can head to the campsite through the gate we’ve hidden via optical camouflage and quickly launch an attack.」

「Right. We’ll use the Aristides-class ships to destroy the shelter. It’s an operation that will place a lot of pressure on Barry and Rick though……」

「You’ll need a lot more forces for the Asia rescue operation, right? How many can you spare for us? And we’ll need to leave some for the defense of the base as well.」

「We can give you a total of 30 new MBTs (Main Battle Tanks) for the ground forces. We can also prepare a good number of Familiar-use multirole fighters. The armored combat vehicles will be twice the number of tanks. There will also be 20 Quattro Silhouettes. We can prepare a similar force for the defense of the Silhouette Base. As for human-use Silhouettes, it’ll depend on what the situation looks like when we launch the operation.」

「Buhaaah!」

Barry heavily exhaled. It was a number that was unthinkable to him. Just where was Kou hiding such a force, Barry thought inwardly.

「It’ll take at least three more days to finish preparing, but……」

「You’re telling me you can assemble such a force in just three days!?」

「I’ve prepared most of it beforehand! It’s just that Quattro Silhouettes can take a lot of time to produce!」

「Hold on. Kou-kun, aren’t we gonna end up short of forces on our end with that arrangement?」

「I’m thinking of prioritizing speed when conducting Asia’s rescue. We’ll bring four Pheasant successor units that can transform into multi-role fighters. We’ll also bring twenty Familiar-use fighters, four Thunderstorm heavy attack aircraft, Unit 5, three Badb Cathas, eight transport helicopters, sixteen Dragoon tanks, and twenty combat-type Quattro Silhouettes. We’ll also bring drill tanks too. Is that still not enough?」

「You really defy common sense, Hidden Boss. That’s more than enough.」

The Pheasant successor machines and mass production Huckebein types were currently part of the highest quality mass production combat Silhouettes. Of course, Kou’s Lanius can be included in that group as well. There was currently no other Underground Force apart from them that can deploy eight such Silhouettes.

There were also the Dragoon tank corps, the Quattro Silhouette Trooper division, and the heavy attack aircraft for support. If they still failed to succeed in a blitzkrieg with such a force, then they weren’t qualified as mercenaries.

「Since we’ll be relying on underwater navigation often, we’re also making submarines that can be operated by two Familiars. They’ll serve as escorts while our ships are moving about underwater.」

「This boss is really ridiculous.」

「What the heck is up with this Silhouette Base? Is this some sort of El Dorado or Holy Grail? All kinds of things keep popping up. It’s crazy!」

「As expected of the man who made my dream of becoming a spaceship captain come true. Of course, he’s gonna be able to prepare that many.」

Jenny and Barry whined in exasperation. Meanwhile, Robert was getting more and more of a weird impression of Kou.

「The problem is the number of personnel available to us.」

「That’s already covered. About 60 of Kurt Maschinenbau’s former employees joined Metal Iris’ combat divisions. We are also collecting the cores of destroyed Familiars from various battlefields so we can regenerate them inside the sealed area. Including the ones who brought their own machines, we’ve managed to secure about 300 new personnel.」

「Fuhahahaha. As expected of Kou! Usually, Familiars need to wait in line for a long time to be regenerated. Especially after such large-scale invasions.」

Rick let out a rare laugh. It seemed he was really enjoying the situation.

「If we have a Familiar regeneration facility, we can also make new ones, right?」

「We can. But they’re all being used exclusively for regeneration right now. Everyone’s gratitude is a bit too heavy for me though.」

「Of course they’d be thankful. Many of the ones who’ve gotten regenerated have lost their lifelong partners. In human terms, many of them have been traumatized. So instead of regenerating them, they’d expect that you’d prefer making new Familiars who are still blank slates.」

「I bet many of them are just raring to go back to the battlefield though.」

「Of course. I bet many of them are truly grateful. About 70% of Storm Hound’s Familiars are regenerated. Including me, of course. And in order for them to find a new partner here, I’ll have to work hard as well.」

「The number of Therianthropes has increased to about a hundred too, right?」

「They’re all early-type Therianthropes who were born more than a thousand years ago like Aki and the others. There are about 80 of them.」

「That sealed area seems to be sealing some totally ridiculous stuff.」

Kou wondered what would happen if they found out he was hiding a mobile arsenal spaceship down there.

「Isn’t it fine? Our Hidden Boss has seriously considered the operation and presented valid tactics. This time around, regardless of the success or failure of the blitzkrieg, the second operation is crucial. You have to put your all into it, Barry.」

「I’ll just follow Rick’s lead……」

「C’mon man. Don’t sound so pathetic. There will always be a chance of something unexpected happening on a battlefield. We have to work together so we can deal with them.」

「Ou.」

「We’ve always been on the receiving end of enemy attacks lately. Just like Kou said, we need to give them one heck of a surprise.」

「They brought down large-scale Fortress Areas through all-out attacks. We need to counter them with one as well.」

Their forces were finally ready. For now, they’d have to work on retrieving Asia’s data fragments first.

In order to pave the way for the next step, Kou had decided to do what was currently within his power.

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