Chapter 375 - 339: Pre-war Preparations

"...Order the 11th Infantry Corps and the Twelfth Infantry Corps to mobilize at once. They will garrison on Cyrenaica World and await orders. Concurrently, issue an order in the name of the Military Affairs Department, commanding the Fiery Sun Legion to withdraw from Lelag World to test their reaction.

Order the Fourth Fleet to cancel its routine patrol immediately. It is to hold position and await further instructions.

Expedite reinforcements for the Emperor’s Shield Third Group. They must reach Cyrenaica within three days and await subsequent orders.

Notify the Ministry of Internal Affairs. Have them prepare a pre-war audit of the total economy and resources of Lelag World. Once the report is complete, it must be reviewed by me before being archived.

The Vengeful Angels will depart for Cyrenaica as soon as the Military Affairs Department receives these orders."

Before the command console, Koller gravely dictated a series of administrative orders. A quill, controlled by Spiritual Energy, scribbled rapidly across a sacred parchment. When the orders were complete, he handed the finished decree to Reinhardt.

After confirming its contents, Reinhardt stamped it with the "Flying Wing Skull" sigil—the symbol of the Vengeful Angels’ highest authority. He then personally sealed the decree and placed it into the ancient dispatch box beneath the Radiant Beacon.

After a flash of light, the parchment vanished in an instant.

Mobilizing two Infantry Legions, one Knight Battle Group, and a fleet from the Administrative Region Navy seemed simple, merely requiring a single transfer order to be issued to the Military Affairs Department.

But this was the result of long deliberations between Reinhardt and Koller.

In theory, the authority granted to the Vengeful Angels by the Grand Governor allowed them to requisition any military force within the entire Administrative Region.

However, the underlying political considerations and the troop deployments—factors that could determine the war’s outcome—were far more complex than the simple words written on paper.

The 11th Infantry Corps had only recently withdrawn from the Verne Front Line three months ago and was still in the process of being reinforced. It was only after arduous communication and coordination between Koller and the Verne Front Line command that he managed to secure the support of six million troops from the corps.

The Twelfth Infantry Corps was stationed on Corsica, a border world in the Administrative Region, constantly on guard against an invasion by Grand Lord Kles.

To requisition them, Reinhardt had to personally wrangle with the Governor in charge of the Military Affairs Department for a full hour. The Governor only reluctantly approved the request after Reinhardt promised to detach three million troops from the Red Flame Son Auxiliary Army to serve as replacements for their defensive duties.

There was relatively little resistance from the Emperor’s Shield Third Group.

Throughout the entire process of mobilizing his forces, communicating with the "noble" Fourth Fleet of the Administrative Region Navy was, ironically, the easiest part.

As for the war’s logistical supplies, Reinhardt also planned to write a personal letter to Lady Catherine. While expressing his affections, he would ask her to pressure the Ministry of Internal Affairs and provide some special financial appropriations to ensure there would be no issues with supplies for this war to quell the rebellion.

If the tedious procedures of the Military Affairs Department were a beat-up old truck that needed some extra fuel to get going, even with power clearing the way...

Then the Ministry of Internal Affairs was a stubborn mule hauling a coil of steel.

While the system of hereditary job positions ensured there were no problems with the composition of its personnel, the consequence was that the Ministry’s clerks became permanent fixtures while its directors came and went like flowing water.

Without a couple of kicks, you couldn’t expect these people to make exceptions or speed things up. After all, for the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the main principle was that ancestral laws were immutable.

Even with a blazing war on the front lines, nothing could stop them from conducting business according to the letter of the law.

Because this was a matter of Loyalty.

Unless Lady Catherine, who held their financial lifeline, intervened, some matters were difficult to move forward even for the Grand Governor.

As the decrees flew from the Avenger Flagship and the ship’s Radiant Beacon flickered briefly, a handwritten parchment fell into Koller’s hands.

He gave it a quick glance before handing it to Reinhardt.

"Sir, it’s from the Leader of the Secret Sect."

He then glanced at the time and frowned. "According to the schedule, the command personnel for the Avenger Flagship should have arrived by now. Could there have been a problem on the way?"

This old soldier, Koller, with his full head of white hair and a face crosshatched with scars and deep wrinkles, had a rigid personality. He would argue vehemently on matters of principle, completely disregarding the authority of the Great Tutor of Vengeful and often leaving both him and Reinhardt red-faced from their debates.

But his management experience and his methods for handling unexpected events were far more competent than those of the previous Vengeful Think Tank, Raphael.

The war hadn’t even begun, yet he had already anticipated some of the lingering issues that would arise after it ended. To prevent opportunistic individuals from finding leverage against them, conducting an audit of Lelag World’s resources and assets would be a good defense against any property losses that might inexplicably appear after the war.

In his thousand years of service with the First Legion, he had become quite experienced in dealing with such matters.

This was to prevent the Ministry of Internal Affairs from using the war as an excuse to pin all their own hopelessly muddled accounts on the Vengeful Angels after the fact. Otherwise, their sacrifices and Bleeding would be ignored, and they would be made the scapegoats after the war ended.

This was the first time Lu Jia had been exposed to a war council of this level. She watched in silence the entire time. Through some of Koller’s orders, she was also realizing for the first time...

The Empire was far from the pure and Loyal ideal she had imagined.

Self-interest was an obstacle that could never be circumvented.

It was so obvious that even she could see that Koller’s order to audit the resources and assets was clearly a precaution against certain eventualities.

After Reinhardt took the parchment, he saw it contained no extraneous text—only a specific address and a name.

"Penance World. Eleonor and the people from the Holy Rose Order are here. This warrant grants unrestricted access."

The Sect Leader’s words were very tactful, but it was clear the Secret Order had already subdued and detained the Holy Rose Order, awaiting his decision on how to handle them.

Reinhardt considered this for a moment, then handed the parchment to Lu Jia. "What are your thoughts?"

When Lu Jia saw the contents of the parchment, and the name that stirred such complicated feelings within her, she fell silent for a long time.

"I..."

From childhood idol to present-day enemy.

Lu Jia placed the parchment on the command console, then looked up at Reinhardt. Her cold expression no longer held the transparent foolishness she’d had when they first met.

"I will personally interrogate the sisters of the Order to confirm their allegiances. As for Eleonor... for what she has done, the Judgment Court will give her a just sentence."

"I understand."

At that moment, two small ships departed from Kosai Port, flying rapidly toward the Avenger Flagship.

As the hangar bay doors boomed open, Koller said in a low voice, "Sir, the command personnel must have arrived."

The Vengeful Angels were no longer the six-person special operations team they once were. Naturally, the vast bridge couldn’t be run by just Koller and a handful of others.

Initiating and controlling a large-scale war required the support of a sufficiently efficient command system.