CH 53

During the Kyūyama Star System Battle, the damage to the Royal Army fighter crafts amounted to 2.4 million crafts.

The remaining Salamanders aboard Fortress Kerviel are about 2,928,000 crafts. From 9 million crafts before the battle, it has dropped sharply to less than a third.

The damage inflicted on the enemy at the Second MacLir Star System Battle was 176,000 enemy ships and 9,120 carrier crafts. They lost about 33,000 ships in the Shinkyō Star System Battle. And about 32,000 vessels in the Kyūyama Star System Battle. The total amounted to over 250,000 vessels, equivalent to 18.75 million Salamanders.

Tenka’s five nations have a standing force of one million vessels, so a quarter of the total army.

Around 21 billion people, 80 to 90%, are dead, 14.7 billion people in the Shinkyō system and 10.3 billion people in the Kyūyama system. The total population of the five nations is 79 billion, and more than a quarter of the population has been lost.

The number of next-generation national mages possessed by the five countries is estimated to be 1.92 million. About 650,000 next-generation warships disappeared due to the damage of the two countries. The subsequent descendants have also disappeared in a chain reaction.

If the forces currently on the battlefield are lost, the two countries will not be able to continue the war. Defeating three more nations will mean victory for the Monarchy of Diete.

But compared to Shinkyō, where the greater surprise attack was carried out, the enemy’s defense power in the Kyūyama star system had improved significantly. Attacking a third system with current force was impossible, so Hart abandoned his offense.

“Chief of Staff, a report on the front line battle situation. The relay satellites at MacLir and Hercules will have been destroyed, so send a reconnaissance ship to connect to communication satellites that extend to Fukashiro. Also Fortress Kerviel to return to the MacLir system at once.”

“Huh, But Your Excellency, why are we returning to the MacLir system? The fortress’ strength is drastically reduced, making it difficult to continue fighting. I contemplate whether we should return to our country immediately and replenish our fighter crafts.”

Fortress Kerviel must replenish its lost fighter crafts.

It is also necessary to stop by the MacLir system in order to promote Fleur and Rhea to Spirit King. In the absence of such information, the Chief of Staff’s suggestion was correct.

Unable to explain the situation, Hart made up an excuse for a detour.

“In order to make it more difficult for the enemy to invade Monarchy territory, we will destroy the three systems beyond the MacLir system, namely Myrna, Freyja, and Thor, to increase the distance between the enemy and Diete. The purpose of our stopover in the MacLir system is to replenish the celestial bodies for the raid.”

“………… we are destroying them?”

“Yes, the enemy has lost Shinkyō and Kyūyama, and the abnormal MacLir system can’t be used. The Hercules system is the home of the dwarves. The Solar System is a multiracial difficult-to-rule area. If we destroy the three systems of Myrna, Freyja, and Thor, they will not have a good staging area and will find it difficult to invade due to the excessive distance.”

The distance between the Diete system and Ōizumi, the closest Tenkan system, is 930 light-years, a 10-month one-way trip.

Even if a system in the Monarchy is taken, it would be faster for the enemy to send a recapture unit from the surrounding systems than to send a reinforcement unit from their home country.

Salamanders cannot move between star systems, but if Fortress Kerviel is packed with 10 million crafts and rushes in, it can destroy and recapture the depleted invasion force. And even if they can’t recapture it once, they can try two or three times before enemy reinforcements arrive.

Hart wants to return to his home country, but there are very few Royal-Class magic power holders who can operate a mobile fortress large enough to carry Salamander troops.

Royal-class magic power holders can maintain the Royal Family by providing concubines and mistresses for the successor to the throne, and if they give birth to Royal-class magic power holders of royal lineage, these concubines and mistresses can be elevated to full wives.

The rest were from Duke Households, and those were born very rarely. If born, they would be candidates for a Household head’s legal wife or a candidate for the Queen, and so would be unsuitable for the transportation staff of Salamanders.

Even so, with Hart present, the recapture of stolen star systems would be possible.

“But, is it okay to destroy our inhabitable planets as well?”

The Chief of Staff expressed his understanding of Hart’s explanation, but he also considered the time, effort, and cost that would be required to restore the three star systems to a habitable state. Planets that have been artificially destroyed to a state where they are difficult to recover require significant investment at the national level to restore such environments.

The extent of the destruction is up to Hart, but if, for example, a 30 km mass of iron is rushed into the planet head-on at 100 million km/h, it could create a crater on the planet as large as Earth’s radius of 6,371 km.

A planet the size of Earth would not only lose its entire atmosphere and water, but 30-40% of the entire planet would dissolve. There will never be a return of life on that planet again in the lifetime of the current generation.

Of course, Hart’s purpose is to have Mira absorb the purified miasma, not to annihilate the planet. But he intended on destroying it to some extent.

In principle, this is not a decision that can be made by a military commander. However, Hart received an edict at the Royal Court meeting attended by the Sovereign and the Speakers of both Houses of Parliament.

“I was ordered at the Royal Court to use the former Coalition territories to buy time. In other words, the act of destroying the former Coalition territories to hinder the invasion of the enemy is within the scope of approval of our highest decision-making body. If we fail to protect the Monarchy to instead protect an uninhabited planet, we are putting the cart before the horse. First of all, whatever we do, we must win.”

“…… understood.”

Hart, whose Chief of Staff seemed unconvinced, decided to add a few more words.

“Chief of Staff, His Majesty Valfrete once gave me a very good word of advice. ‘If the Monarchy is defeated, you and your fiancée will be in dire straits. Don’t make a mistake about what’s important’. You also have a family. Which would you choose, an uninhabited planet of the Former Coalition or the lives of the Royal Citizens? Do not mistake what is important.”

“Sir, yes sir.”

After the Chief of Staff, who had corrected his posture and gave a salute, withdrew, Colette turned an impassive gaze toward Hart.

“So, Colette, do you have any questions?”

Currently, only Hart and Collette are in charge of the shift for the magic engine operator’s seat of the fortress.

The visual and audio from the outside are cut off, and Hart asked the question with the casualness of talking to a classmate rather than a member of the staff.

“I’m pretty convinced of the fundamentals of Hart’s thinking, I’m not going to object. So, may I ask what you have in store for us after we destroy the three systems of the Former Coalition and return to Diros?”

“In my impression, the possible range changes depending on how much force we can replenish…”

Hart cannot predict how much force his home country will gather.

At the time of the expedition, 30 million people gathered during the war with the former Coalition were reassembled and additional recruitment was being made. Nine million people gathered at the Capital planet Diros, which Hart brought along.

It is possible an additional 9 million could have been gathered again. If three times as many are collected, it will be 27 million.

Even if three times as many were gathered, if they were to be pulled out of the Capital planet again, about half is the limit when considering defense. Fortress Kerviel can then take up to 13.5 million crafts.

The current Fortress Kerviel has about 3 million crafts, which when added together will exceed 16 million. However, with less than 20 million Salamander crafts, it would be difficult to capture the Tenka nations that have set up a full-scale defense system.

In the Second Battle of the MacLir Star System, the Tenka invaders were dealt a blow.

However, if each nation mobilizes all its active and previous generation national mages, it will still be possible to prepare 260,000 warships, which is equivalent to 20 million Salamanders. If a large number of fusion missile facilities are deployed in the system to prevent the deployment and entry of the Salamanders, a direct hit on the inhabited planet by Fortress Kerviel would be impossible.

It is unclear how many next generation national mages have been raised, but if they are sent into battle, the more they are put into the field, the more they can be used to attack.

In order for the Monarchy to counter, the entire system must have the strength to repel the enemy’s attacks, and then invade the enemy star system to reduce its strength faster than the enemy can increase.

In order to carry that out, a total of 100 million Salamanders will be required for offense and defense.

“The ultimate goal is to destroy the remaining three Tenka Systems and end the war completely in a crushing victory like the annexation of the former Coalition.”

Hart has no intention of jumping into immediate peace talks with Tenka when they are resentful of the Monarchy and hold enough strength.

Three more times. Attacking the three nations of Ten-to, Ōizumi, and Honyō to lower the enemy’s strength, and at the same time, if they mess with the Monarchy of Diete, their planets will be burned down. He will engrave this into the history and soul of the enemy nations.

This is the warning color worn by the Royal Citizens of Diete.

Like poisonous frogs and blue-ringed octopuses, they instill in predators that eating them is poisonous, so that even if they are eaten, their offspring will not be able to touch them, thus reducing the next damage.

It is the same as when humanity lived only on Earth, and each country kept peace by deterring each other with nuclear weapons and threatening to shoot back if fired upon.

Let the enemies of the Monarchy understand that the Monarchy of Diete is a country capable of destroying planets, the last resort in interstellar wars. Then, some countries, like Fukashiro, will choose peace instead of war from the beginning.

I have become unbound, since when I wonder…. Hart looked back on himself.

The first time he shot an enemy on a destroyer, his hands might have trembled. However, if he didn’t shoot, they would have been captured, and once he did, he had no hesitation.

Hart also has his own sense of ethics, sso he wouldn’t burn down a planet if the other side didn’t invade. If you didn’t want to be attacked, you should not have attacked.

3rd, 4th and 5th Star Systems

Hart intended to mercilessly destroy the entire system and make the five Tenka nations understand the nature of the Monarchy of Diete. By doing so, he could maintain the peace of his country and reduce the sacrifices in the long run.

“With Hart, it can be done. This time, you destroyed twice as many enemies and two star systems, you’re bound for a promotion to Colonel General and Order of Algol, 2nd class. Next, if we succeed, Fleet Admiral and Order of Orion, 1st class. After the war, you’ll be able to sit back and relax in the Commander-in-Chief’s seat.”

“Being Deputy Commander alone is hard enough, I can’t even imagine being the Supreme Commander. But if I move up two ranks, Colette will also move up two ranks and become a General, and you’ll be the first woman to hold one of the three Chief positions, so I suppose we can share the workload.”

“I wish you would refrain from doing so. If you do anything more, I’ll never be able to get married.”

“………… huh?”

Hart, raising a dumb voice, expressed with his whole body that he could not understand.

The Medal of Honor, which can be awarded only when a soldier single-handedly defeats a superior enemy in a single battle, is evidence that the soldier himself had performed his duty as an aristocrat for a lifetime. At the very least, the Royal Citizens acknowledge that aristocrats with Medal of Honor have fulfilled their aristocratic duties.

Colette, who will be awarded the Order of Algol, 2nd class for this battle, has fulfilled her duty seven times over in her lifetime. The contents are also brilliant, such as the defense of the Capital planet and the conquest of the former Coalition, so the aristocratic household that welcomes Colette as a wife will be guaranteed the support of the royal citizens for several generations.

In addition, if she is promoted for this achievement, she will be a Lieutenant General, and although her magic power value is barely enough, she is a Duke-class.

With the current Colette, it would be safe to hear from a Marquis family saying, “become the wife of the heir and future Marquisess”. At least Hart recognized it that way.

Colette denied Hart’s misunderstanding.

“I told you before, aristocrats offer their daughters as a loan. I’ve been too active so there’s no one left to accept me.”

Ah. Hart felt very much understood and consented.

The main beneficiaries of the war in Fortress Kerviel are the four people who operate the magic element engine, Hart, Yuna, Philine, and Colette.

Fortress Kerviel, which is the core of the Monarchy of Deite’s success, has achieved not only the defense of the Capital planet but also the conquest of the Coalition of Humanity, which has been a long-cherished wish since the Monarchy of Diete was founded, giving it the highest evaluation.

Hart was promoted to the second highest aristocratic rank of Marquis, the First Princess is scheduled to marry him, and his province is given preferential treatment. In the future, he is assured a Chief position in the Royal Army.

Yuna acquired the status of the First Princess, and received the treatment as the Sovereign’s representative in the establishment of diplomatic relations with Fukashiro. If she felt like it, she could obtain various honorary positions as she wished.

For Philine, the Marquis of Carneus, which she is to succeed, has risen to be the top Marquis household. Their seating order surpassing Amakawa’s shows just how highly Carneus was regarded.

The Royal Aristocracy system was created to defeat the Coalition, so it is only natural to receive the highest evaluation for actually defeating the Coalition. That is the Sovereign’s assessment.

Colette……… her parents’ household, the Viscount of Listner, has not been promoted. This is because the Viscount of Listner is due to be succeeded by her brother, so Colette will not inherit it.

The achievements were laid by Colette, and if she were to start her own household… she can probably be conferred as a Viscount in comparison to Hart.

If she marries someone else, her achievements will be carried over to that household. If the household is Count Rank or lower, their rank can be advanced one level. If they are Duke or Marquis, their seating order in the aristocratic standing will rise. This would be the first time since the founding of the nation that a Duke’s seat in the court would be raised.

Colette’s value has skyrocketed too high for even the most senior aristocrat to easily pay for it.

Is it my fault? Hart wondered, and estimated modestly that about half the blame goes to the Sovereign, who had assigned Colette to Fortress Kerviel in the first place, and the other half was due to him dragging her around.

As a matter of fact, it’s mostly Hart’s fault.

“………… ah, err.

“What is it?”

“If it comes to a crisis, the Amakawa family will welcome you as my concubine to settle it. I’m sure Yuna will approve if it’s Colette.”

It will be a concession to the pressure of society to increase the number of concubines, and there will be no conflict between the wife and the concubine either. Yuna and Colette are best friends, and Hart and Colette have a certain relationship with each other. The price to the Viscount of Listner will be solved if one of her descendants with high magic power value marries back into the household.

Colette replied to Hart’s proposal after a short pause.

“I’ll take that as an option. So how long until you need a response?”

“With age-stagnation technology, the average life expectancy will be 300 years. For the time being, I’ll wait for about half a century.”

“Okay. Just don’t get your hopes up too high.”

“Roger that!”

Upon hearing Hart’s reply, Colette smiled slightly and nodded.