Chapter 519 The War Situation, the Second Empire

Radiant Calendar, Year 1463, June.

Dalmatia, twenty-seven days into the battle for Military Port Number Nine.

After the Vengeful Angels Second Company, in conjunction with the 11th Infantry Corps, suppressed internal rebellions on four worlds led by Mercia World, Stearns was leading his troops to provide reinforcements.

"Sir, the Supreme Command Department requires us to retake control of the Star Language Relay Station as soon as we arrive at Military Port Number Nine, and then hold it for thirty days at all costs.

The rebels have committed at least two Infantry Legions and a thousand-man Knight Battle Group to Port Number Nine. The local Defense Army sent their last report three days ago, so even the Supreme Command Department is unaware of the current situation there."

Aboard the Strike Cruiser, Battle Axe Two.

The command flagship of the Vengeful Angels Second Company.

Before the massive holographic star map on the command bridge, Stearns’s brow was deeply furrowed. He knew that leading his forces into Dalmatia without better intelligence was rash; if the rebels had set a trap, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Although the Verne Front Line had temporarily assigned them three Infantry Legions, the disparity in military strength between them and the rebels was still immense. ’Three times? Five times? Or even more?’

"The difference in forces is too great. Didn’t the Supreme Command Department say anything about sending us more reinforcements?"

Alrum, the Second Company’s adjutant in charge of the report, shook his head helplessly.

At that moment, a middle-aged man in a standard Administrative Region military uniform standing beside Stearns frowned and said in a grave voice after carefully observing the star map, "Port Number Nine is one of three staging grounds for the rebels’ attack on Iberia.

"Look.

The Lord of Vengeful’s forces are at Kodier, intercepting rebels at Port Number Seven. The Red Flame Son, the Fourth Fleet, and the Twelfth Infantry Corps have also been locked in a bitter struggle at Port Number Eight for fifty-five days.

According to the basic logic of military deployment, we should have been dug in at Dalmatia a month ago.

But Cicero knew our forces were severely lacking, so he instigated the defection of Mercia precisely to delay our defensive deployment. My assessment is that Dalmatia has already fallen, and the rebel army is already marching toward Iberia."

Kaiuras, Brigadier General, Commander of the 11th Infantry Corps.

Although the 11th Infantry Corps’s deployment and command fell under the authority of Second Company Commander Stearns during the war, Stearns had always greatly valued the opinion of the battle-hardened general.

After a moment of careful consideration, he looked up at the holographic star map glowing with a faint blue light. "And what is your recommendation?"

"Abandon Port Number Nine and head straight for Bithynia. If the rebels want to capture Iberia, they must take this fortress world. Otherwise, even if Iberia falls, they won’t be able to hold their ground.

We can easily mass our forces at Bithynia and launch a counterattack.

By then, they’ll be the ones caught in a pincer."

Though Stearns commanded the Second Company’s one hundred Elite Knights and the six million soldiers of the 11th Infantry Corps, military orders were absolute. If his judgment was wrong and his defiance of the Supreme Command Department’s deployment led to a major defeat, the consequences would be more than his head alone could answer for.

"I need to report this matter. For now, the plan to reinforce Port Number Nine remains unchanged."

——

「Elsewhere.」

When Koller received the recommendation reported by the Second Company, he frowned. "Tell Stearns his mission is to delay the rebel offensive in Dalmatia."

He had long ago discussed the possibility of Port Number Nine’s fall with Reinhardt and the others. While the fortress world of Bithynia was certainly a stumbling block on the rebels’ path to Iberia, if Cicero’s forces were allowed to pass through Port Number Nine unchecked, they could abandon their attack on Iberia and instead turn to besiege Port Number Seven and Port Number Eight.

At that point, their defensive arrangements would be thrown into complete disarray.

Whether Port Number Nine falls or not is unimportant. What’s important is that the Second Company and the 11th Infantry Corps delay the pace of the rebel attack and buy more time for the main front at Port Number Seven.

Kodier World was the largest multi-purpose port connecting to Iberia. It possessed numerous high-capacity Orbital Ports, which could allow the rebels to mass their troops for an attack on Iberia at maximum speed, unconstrained by port capacity. Furthermore, Kodier itself was built on the scale of a planetary fortress. It was also the headquarters of the Emperor’s Shield; the Emperor’s Shield Second and Third Groups, along with twenty million Auxiliary Army troops, were permanently stationed here.

In other words, from the very beginning, Sedon had been preparing to deal with this civil war.

If Cicero wanted to strike at Iberia, he had to take Kodier—the natural gateway and beachhead to Iberia—at any cost.

And the Administrative Region, for its part, would defend it at any cost.

Once Port Number Seven fell, Cicero could station his troops there. Then, no matter how many fortress worlds guarded Iberia’s periphery, the initiative—whether to retreat or to fight—would be firmly in the enemy’s hands.

The entire rebellion-suppression campaign led by the Vengeful Angels would be forced into a completely passive position.

After replying to Stearns’s proposal, before Koller could even review the incoming damage reports, a handwritten parchment letter from the Military Affairs Department flew into his hands via a Radiant Beacon.

Koller, who rarely showed anger, clenched his left fist so hard after reading the letter that his expression visibly darkened.

Lu Jia, who stood behind him assisting with his duties, saw Koller’s grim expression and glanced at the handwritten parchment.

She only needed one look.

A nameless fury surged through her instantly.

If not for the years of experience that had taught her to control her emotions, she would have likely cursed aloud, snatched the parchment, and torn it to shreds on the spot!

——

Kodier World, ground combat, Thirty-First War Zone.

Shells and thick smoke shrouded the sky over a plain that stretched as far as the eye could see.

Millions of corpses were piled up amidst the ruins and pools of blood, creating a scene like a living hell.

The barbed wire in front of the fortifications and trenches was draped with shredded flesh and severed limbs. Inside the tunnels, the uncleaned shell casings were even denser than gravel.

On a small, crater-pocked hill, the bodies of rebels were stacked layer upon layer, spilling down from the high ground.

Reinhardt, like a Demon God incarnate, stood atop the mountain of corpses, looking down upon the battlefield.

The paint of his Power Armor was completely coated in crimson, and the blood dripping from his War Axe seemed endless.

Three thousand regrouped rebels, led by a squad of Knights, roared like a tide of death as they fearlessly charged forward!

But they did not know who it was they faced in that moment.

Facing the charge of three thousand rebels alone, Reinhardt stood proudly, not taking a single step back.

Spiritual Energy communication.

"My lord, a message from the Military Affairs Department. Sirose has publicly declared that he saw the Great Emperor in a meditation and, under the Emperor’s guidance, found the lost Radiant Holy Sword. Cicero further claims that, under this guidance, he witnessed the fall of the First Empire. For the continuation of the Human World, for the completion of the noble mission bestowed upon him by the Great Emperor, he will establish the Second Empire in the name of the Imperial Regent..."