CH 34

October 441 of the Monarchy calendar.

The Royal army, which was ordered by the Sovereign, went on another large-scale expedition.

“The defeat of Hercules killed the Crown Prince. We must dispel the anxiety of the people. I order the Commander-in-Chief, Colonel General Valfrete Strani Asteria. Lead the Royal Army in battle against the Coalition of Humanity and bring about a great victory that will overshadow the defeat.”

“By your will. I shall bring victory to the Monarchy.”

The sortie of Valfrete, who returned to his status as the Third Prince due to his restoration to the royal family, was the wish of the Sovereign’s grandson, Leandre.

Publicly, he asked his uncle, through his grandfather, to avenge the death of his father.

The Sovereign’s grandson is a teenage child who graduated from the High School of the Academy of Magic in March.

The Third Prince is the Commander-in-Chief of the Royal Army, and has a track record of triumph in war engagements.

When asked which of the two is appropriate to command the army on behalf of the aging ruler, the overwhelming majority would support Valfrete, no matter which demographic was surveyed.

Of course, the people also understand the issue of succession to the throne. They also know that if the Third Prince is killed in action, the Sovereign’s grandson would be pleased. Therefore, it was also inferred that the motive of the royal grandson’s request for vengeance included the issue of succession.

However, if Valfrete is once again victorious in the battle against the Coalition, there is a greater chance that the succession will be reversed. Therefore, people in various positions supported the expedition for their own reasons.

The first thing Valfrete did was to change its flagship for the expedition.

“For this expedition, my flagship, Sariel, will remain on the Capital planet. The expeditionary force’s General Headquarters will be moved to Lieutenant General Amakawa’s Fortress Kerviel.”

It was a change made due to the fleet capacity, movement speed, and combat power of Fortress Kerviel.

If all troops are stationed in Fortress Kerviel and moved, the movement speed will be doubled, there would be no fatigue of the officers and soldiers due to the expedition. However, even Fortress Kerviel could not accommodate the mobile fortress Sariel.

The Generals were surprised at the bold idea of leaving the original flagship behind, but were convinced when they heard the reason.

However, when Valfrete explained the number of fleets to be mobilized, they could not believe their ears.

“Currently, the Royal Army has 28 fleets. Of these, 18 will be used to defend the home sector, and the remaining 10 will be used to defend the Solar System and conduct the expedition. 5 fleets will be used for the invasion. If you combine the garrison and transport compartments, that’s how much can be accommodated.”

Fortress Kerviel is 90 kilometers long and has an internal space of 74 kilometers in length under an 8-kilometer thick composite fluid metal layer.

If only fleets are to be packed, it can accommodate 150 fleets including battleships.

However, various facilities must be installed inside, and the space available for stationing ships is one-tenth of the total. Moreover, since it is difficult to move ships in and out without excess space, the number of ships that could be accommodated would be reduced by a quarter to 3.7 fleets, a reasonable capacity.

This alone would not be enough to hold five fleets, but if they also used a transport compartment of the same size as the garrison compartment, they could hold 7.4 fleets.

However, even if the speed of the advance is increased, the number of forces will be too small.

In the Hercules Star System Battle, 23 fleets and 4 mobile fortresses advanced and were defeated despite the fact that 5 fleets were in charge of Solar System defense.

This time, he said he would do it with 10 fleets, close to a third of the last total.

Valfrete’s Chief of Staff objected, thinking of the 11 fleets lost in the Hercules Star System Battle and the Diete Star System Battle, which occurred due to too much concentration on the front lines.

“Your Highness, it’s too little.”

“Instead, we’re going to take about six million Fighter crafts.”

“Fighter crafts?”

The number of Royal citizens who responded to the open call for participants was undisclosed, but it was a tremendous number.

One billion people were killed and 3 billion were temporarily made refugees in the Capital planet defense. A huge number of people have lost their jobs and livelihoods and are seeking income to support their families, wanting revenge for their lost loved ones, and have fear or a sense of crisis.

And 312 million people, 0.8% of the Royal Citizenry, offered to volunteer.

At the time of application, the applicants are considered by their age, gender, health condition, and intent.

From there, it was further narrowed down to one-tenth by fitness evaluations, aptitude tests, etc., and a huge number of 31.2 million combat craft operators were created in the six star systems of the Monarchy. Moreover, the largest number of applicants was from the Diete system, where the population and damage were the greatest, and 10 million crafts have been born on the Capital planet.

The disadvantage of Fighter crafts is that they can’t navigate between star systems, but this can be solved by accommodating them in Fortress Kerviel.

If the volume inside Fortress Kerviel is divided by the volume of the combat craft, which is a 1/40 of an operational transport area, 18.41 million crafts can be accommodated.

Six million combat craft occupy less than one-third of the transport area, and since the compartment can only hold 1.3 fleets instead of 3.7, the capacity can be achieved. In addition, the extra 1.4 fleet’s transport area can be packed with a reasonable amount of supplies.

The number of Fighter crafts to be packed is 20, which is equivalent to the strength evaluation of one destroyer.

With 6 million crafts, the enemy will need the defense force of 300,000 destroyers.

The strength evaluation of one fleet is equivalent to 3693 destroyers, and the strength evaluation of 6 million crafts is equivalent to 81 fleets.

Moreover, the Fighter crafts of the Royal army are operated not by knight-class magic power holders, but by commoners using spirit crystals. If you want to increase the number, you can increase it by 100 million units.

Understanding the numbers, Hart was concerned about the skill of the pilots.

“With less than six months of training, will they be adequate as pilots?

Hart’s concerns were natural, and Valfrete was also taking measures.

They are performing as many simulations as possible, and even within the Mobile Fortress, while the fortress’s magic engines were not in use, the instructors would have them use the magic engines of the Fighter crafts for space maneuver training.

And they had already decided on the limits of their ability to improve.

“If you’re less than half a man, you can defeat the enemy with three times the conventional numbers.”

Even if the force equivalent to 81 fleets is reduced by a third to 27 fleets, that will be 37 fleets when combined with 10 fleets. This greatly exceeds the 28 fleets introduced by the enemy during the Battle of Hercules.

“There are 150 military personnel on board a Monarchy destroyer. It would be a great achievement if we could defeat an enemy destroyer, while going toe-to-toe with it, with only 60 semi-amateurs trained for half a year.”

“Certainly. If the Coalition forces knew the reality, their heads would spin.”

The Captain of a Royal Destroyer is a position held by an officer who graduated from the Battleship department of the Military Academy and gained several more years of practical experience after being promoted to Major.

Other than Captains and Vice-Captains, there are more than ten times as many officers who have graduated from military academies other than the Commandant Departments, and they are assigned according to their aptitude. Even non-commissioned officers are a group of professionals with various skills who have graduated from vocational schools and training schools.

On the Coalition side, there are excellent people from each country, who are not much different from the Royal Army, on board.

It wouldn’t be unbearable if such professional soldiers were dropped by a semi-amateur who practiced in combat simulations with less experience than themselves.

Hart responded with a frightened half-smile to his fiancée’s father, who smiled with a dumbfounded half-smile as he effortlessly overturned the crisis of mass production of magic individuals by the Coalition.

One month later.

Upon reaching the solar system, Valfrete immediately divided his forces into expeditionary and defensive units.

Expeditionary Force: 5 fleets, 6 million Fighter crafts, 1 Attack Fortress

Commander-in-Chief: Colonel General Strani

Vice-Commander: General Jhering, Gen. Reinelt

Fortress Commander: Lieutenant General Amakawa

Solar System Force: 5 fleets

Commander: General Lautenbach

The two Generals who commanded the two-winged forces in the Hercules Star System Battle are determined to win this time, encouraged by Valfrete.

On the other hand, Valfrete strongly reminded General Lautenbach.

“General Lautenbach, if a superior enemy invades the Solar System during the expeditionary force’s advance, your orders are to withdraw to the home sector. We will have the 18 fleets at home, the 5 in the Solar System, and the Fighter crafts protect our Star System, no matter which system the enemy attacks.”

Diete’s system is about the same as last year’s Capital planet defense, with 4 million Fighter crafts as well as the regular fleets and squadrons deployed. If 16 enemy fleets, as in the Diete System Battle, were to rush in there, it would be a repeat of the Capital planet Defense.

The aim was to stop the enemy by adding 21 fleets, more than the 19 fleet Solar System Invasion Force that the Crown Prince had moved there.

“Huh. But why don’t we move the rear forces into the Solar System? Pushing up the front line will increase the safety of the home sector. The Solar System has a workforce of 4 billion Non-Coalition members, and abundant precious natural resources, and I think it would be a shame to withdraw.”

Valfrete resolutely responded to Lautenbach’s argument.

“What if the enemy ignores the Solar System and attacks the home sector directly? The Solar System is enemy territory, and there is no need to defend it. Even if we give it up once, we can take it back again. I will issue a written order as Commander of the Armed Forces of the Monarchy, so it will not be your responsibility, General Lautenbach. Please obey.”

“Understood.”

Valfrete issued an order to General Lautenbach, a man considered inflexible and stone-headed, to keep the Solar System Forces under control.

After the 5 fleets to be used for the expedition were housed in Fortress Kerviel, the requirements were complete and they immediately flew out of the Solar System.

“Lieutenant General Amakawa, generate the Magic Conversion Protective Membrane of Fortress Kerviel.”

“Sir! Deploying the Shield.”

At Valfrete’s command, Fortress Kerviel generated a Magic Conversion Protective Membrane that blocked the operation of all Magic Engines inside it.

It is not possible to synchronize the magical powers of multiple people with the same magic engine.

Therefore, at the moment as the shield was generated, the only way to emit a Multidimensional Magic Conversion Communication Wave from the inside of Fortress Kerviel was through Hart.

“From now on, 24 hours a day, maintain the shield at all times with the Lieutenant General, the Operation Assistants, and the high-magic powered people I’ve chosen from the General Command, to block all communications. No matter who in or out of the fortress asks for communication for any reason, the Commander-in-Chief orders that it is absolutely prohibited. Prevent leaks of military secrets.”

Valfrete completely cut off the Magic Conversion Communication of the expeditionary forces with strict order and use of force. Then, at the General meeting where the Generals of the Expeditionary Force were gathered, he discussed a destination that no one had imagined.

“This time, our forces will not invade the Hercules System.”

“Sir, then, where?”

The answer to Jhering’s question was given by stereoscopic image.

The image showed a K-type main sequence star smaller than the Sun.

The system has many planets in the star system, and two terrestrial planets orbit in the habitable zone.

The planet nearer to the star system is named Finnegus by mankind.

Finnegus is a planet with islands scattered throughout its vast ocean, and because of its small land area, it had a low oxygen concentration.

On terrestrial planets, which have undergone the same evolution as the Earth, cyanobacteria generally generate large amounts of oxygen through photosynthesis, and while being consumed by the oxidation of dead cyanobacteria, they increase oxygen slightly.

If the land area is large, the dead cyanobacteria are trapped in the ground by weathering erosion action, and oxidation does not occur, and the amount of oxygen increases at once.

Due to the small land area of ​​ Finnegus, the oxygen concentration was not high enough to immigrate. Therefore, human beings migrated to another planet.

The planet farther away from the star system is called Finn.

The origin of the naming is Finn McCool, the chief of the Fianna Knights in Celtic mythology.

Finn means “white, beautiful”, and is named after the clouds that frequently occur on the planet Fynn, which reflect stellar light and shine white and beautifully. After Earth was destroyed in the War of Independence, the Coalition chose this rich planet as their next home planet.

In other words, the planet reflected as a destination was the head planet of the Coalition.

“………… The Myrna System”

“Our destination is the Coalition’s head planet!?”

The various Generals present were astounded by the plan to strike directly against the enemy’s head planet.

The Myrna system is located 270 light-years from the Solar System. The Hercules system is 120 light-years away, so the Myrna System is 2.25 times farther.

To the surprised Generals, Valfrete replied calmly.

“It’s ridiculous, too far away, it’s impossible to project when you’ve experienced the Capital planet defense. The Hercules system should have had its strength reduced. All these common-sense thoughts will cause the Coalition, knowing about our invasion, to gather in the Hercules System, leaving the Coalition home sector empty. Our defense force is sufficient and it can prevent a counter attack. With this opportunity, we can choke the enemy with a single blow.”

Important attack targets were displayed one after another in the projected Myrna system.

Planetary defense satellites, military space ports, security fleet garrisons, defense missile launch facilities, natural resource accumulation sectors, large-scale processing facilities, military shipbuilding facilities, munitions production plants…

Advance while destroying the enemy fleet and facilities, destroying both the planet Fynn and the planet Finnegus.

The Myrna System is home to 9 billion of the 25 billion Coalition population, and its destruction would reduce the Coalition’s overall productivity by 36%. Furthermore, the national power accumulated in 441 years can be blown away by a considerable amount.

“I’m not against the Commander’s idea, but how would the Myrnans respond?”

The Myrnans, as pointed out by General Reinelt, are the descendants of the Myrna System immigrants who were colonized by Earth.

The Coalition, driven out of Earth in the War of Independence by the Diete government, had taken over the Myrna system and settled there. The Myrnans, whose homes were hijacked at that time, were reduced from colonial rule to direct rule.

The Diete side believe that “if you bear a grudge, you should bear a grudge against the Earthers”, but the Myrna side has a different view from “doing unnecessary things”.

As a result of being dominated by the Coalition and continuing to control the information given, the anger was directed at Diete rather than the Coalition that controlled them. Knowing the history of humankind can give a broad perspective on the matter, but few Myrnans get the opportunity to do so.

“The Myrna System is home to the Coalition of Humanity, and the Myrnans are part of the Coalition’s workforce. The Myrnans are part of the enemy forces that are coming to kill our Royal citizens. No special consideration is required. We cannot even afford to sort them out in the first place.”

“Sir!”

The Generals of the Royal Army agreed with Valfrete’s policy.

The Royal Army is an organization that protects the Monarchy and its people, not the enemies who come to kill them.

“If we invade Myrna, the enemy forces will be called back from the Hercules system.”

In Valfrete’s remarks, the Generals thought he would explain that there would be no counter-attack by the enemy on the Diete system.

Valfrete, however, expressed something different from the General’s expectations.

“But it will be faster for Fortress Kerviel to reach its next destination, the Thor system, than for the recalled enemies to reach the Myrna System.”

“The Myrna system isn’t the only destination!?”

Valfrete smiled wryly at the surprised Generals.

“Yes. And it will be faster for us to reach our third destination, the Freyja system, than it is for the enemy forces recalled to Myrna to reach other systems. In the last stop, the Mclelle System, the enemy commanders can abandon the Freyja system and catch up, but if settled there, we can end a war that has lasted nearly 500 years.”

“………… my word.”

The Generals were shaken by the path that Valfrete had shown to the end of the war.

Among them, Jhering expressed concern about unexpected situations because of his sense of responsibility as a General.

“What if the enemy force’s strength is superior to ours, mainly because they have a large number of mobile fortresses manned by magic powered individuals? “

“If the forces are equal, drop a celestial body into the head planet Fynn and raze it. If we are inferior, we can avoid advancing into the Myrna System and destroy the Thor System. At present, the semi-amateur Fighter crafts are one-third of the force rating, but it will be a normal evaluation in a few years. Even if our surprise attack doesn’t work, we can win eventually.”

“Understood.”

After Jhering, who was convinced, finished his question, a General with the rank of Lieutenant General raised his hand.

It was Hart, Commander of Fortress Kerviel, the cornerstone to the operation.

All the Generals in the conference room turned to Hart all at once.

“Lieutenant General Amakawa? Do you have any opinions?”

When Valfrete asked with a laugh, Hart bowed and then opened his mouth.

“The 135th Military Camp near Allesmeier District, New Gaia Province, McCool Continent of the Planet Fynn”

“What, is that?”

The place Hart mentioned was a prisoner-of-war camp for Monarchy soldiers, where a male character that was in love with the heroine was sent after being captured in the war in the maiden game “The Galactic Prince”.

In the camp, needless to say, there is also pointless torture being carried out by the Coalition, who hates the Monarchy.

One example of such torture is the use of a rotating handle attached to a pillar propped up against the ground, which the naked prisoners are forced to spin in circles.

Androids are monitoring the work, and if the prisoners get out of their hands, they whip their backs, and the men who are whipped moan erotically. Incidentally, there was no point in turning the handle.

Hart shook his head and took his mind off the horrifying scene he once saw.

“Some of the non-returnees from the Frodi System Battle, which took place in September 439, are being held there. I don’t know if there are any captives from the Hercules Star System Battle there, but our fellow cadets and officers who were captured in the Frodi System Battle are, and if given the opportunity, I would like to send a rescue unit.”

“How accurate is your information?”

“It’s from the enemy prisoners of war from the Solar System conquest. They don’t expect us to attack the Myrna system, so I doubt they would transfer everyone.”

On the screen of the conference room, integrated information collected from enemy prisoners of war was projected.

As highly accurate information, a total of 340 Military Academy students and Non-Commissioned Officers are held captive in the area.

“About one light cruiser worth of personnel.”

From the seat of the fleet commander who saw the numbers, there was a voice of distress.

Descent operations into the atmosphere are more difficult and time consuming than space fleet operations. In the first place, if they can get alongside the head planet, they are already in a situation where they can freely conduct celestial entry operations.

This operation is a race against time as they charge the Thor System and the Freyja System to end the war. Considering the major goal, you should drop the celestial body into the Myrna System immediately and head to the next target.

Hart understood what the Generals thought.

Therefore, Hart switched the persuasion method to the political effect and continued the proposal.

“The rescue targets are living witness cadets who have been captured by a surprise attack. As His Highness conducts a celestial raid into each of the Coalition’s star systems to bring the war to an early end, we can show the royal citizens, the people of the Republic of Frodi, and future history who is to blame for the resumption of the war, how despicable the enemy was, and why they had to be defeated.”

After hearing Hart’s explanation, the Generals were silent and waited for Valfrete’s judgment.

Valfrete stared at Hart with a sharp eye and eventually answered.

“Is the aim to show the people of the present and the future the legitimacy of the celestial swarm operation? Is it worth it to add a detour to the path to the end of the war …………? Very well, I’ll approve it.””

Valfrete, the final decision maker, made some modifications to the operation after calculating the interests.

“This is Lieutenant General Amakawa’s idea, sir. The Lord will organize a rescue unit at Fortress Kerviel and attempt a rescue if possible. If Sir succeeds in the rescue operation, it will also boost the effectiveness of our political propaganda for rescuing the last survivors of the Coalition attack.”

“Thank you. We will organize them immediately.”

With permission, Hart immediately began organizing the planetary descent units using the vast military androids and production facilities present at Fortress Kerviel.

Thus, Fortress Kerviel advanced beyond 270 light years.