36 - Chapter 32: The Changing Combat Doctrine of the Triad Family and Days Without the Youngest Brother
Full Metal Panic is also a masterpiece.
Even when speaking of war, there is a considerable amount of time before armies actually clash.
War is not a matter of choosing whether or not to declare war and then simply shouting "ready, set, go." An army is, in other words, a group of soldiers. There are mountains of things a commander must prepare, such as logistics to maintain the troops, motivation to gather and make them fight, boosting morale to sustain the battle, armaments to ensure victory, strategy, tactics, operations, and so on. The iron rule of the working world, that preparation is eighty percent of the work, naturally applies to war as well. Training soldiers more than other nations, updating armaments, stockpiling rations, and gathering information. In the end, even the time that ordinary people perceive as peace is, for those who run a state, a part of war.
In his childhood, when he could not possibly have realized such things, Midglyph Triad believed that as long as one possessed an army with strong officers and soldiers, war could be won.
He was made to realize that was a mistake around the age of eleven.
It began with a heated debate with his younger brother, Geoglyph, during a lecture by the Knight Commander, who served as their teacher. Midglyph, who had received an elite education, proposed formations and tactics according to the textbook, while Geoglyph proposed operations that could be called eccentric.
The debate flared up because the Knight Commander, Jean Pierre, groaned after hearing Geoglyph's plan, saying, "No, but... hmm, you have a point..."
At that time, the operation Geoglyph proposed was one that would not be particularly strange on Earth. Utilizing the advantage of the terrain, gradually reducing the enemy army with layers of traps, and finally launching a siege to annihilate them... it was, in a sense, a cliché and conventional method. If there was anything noteworthy, it was the abnormal obsession with the attrition rate of his own allies.
Why was a tactic that had existed since before the common era judged as eccentric in this medieval-style world? It was because of the influence of magic.
In this world, there are plenty of cheat-like people who use magic to cause supernatural phenomena or enhance their physical abilities.
To put it simply, literal one-man-army "heroes," such as strategists who fire beams or generals who pull off aerial combos, appear in reality, not just in games. In such an environment, tactics for fighting ordinary humans could not develop, and the basic approach became a muscle-brained formation centered on so-called aces, pitting one-man-armies against one-man-armies.
Into this came a combat doctrine from Earth. Despite appearing out of nowhere, it was strangely refined and persuasive, and because he was a professional, the Knight Commander gained an insight and groaned.
However, Midglyph had his pride. Even if his brother was hailed as a genius child, he was five years younger, so Midglyph looked down on him. It was not that Midglyph was entirely wrong. At least, if it were tactics for this world, his way of thinking was correct.
Therefore, it was inevitable that he would say with full confidence, "Then let us have a match."
●
To put it bluntly, Midglyph was defeated. It was an unexpected, complete defeat. This was despite a twenty-fold difference in military strength, 1,000 against 50.
Midglyph led the youth of the First Knight Order, who were nonetheless elites at a level that would place them among the top in individual mock battles. In contrast, Geoglyph chose the newly formed Lotus Gang (T/N: literally 'Lotus Delinquent Group', a mock marine corps). Even including personnel still in training, their total number was less than 200. From among them, he selected 50 people called the first generation.
At first, Midglyph proposed an exercise with equal numbers, but Geoglyph firmly refused, saying, "I think a scale of a thousand people would exceed my command ability, so a small number of trustworthy people will suffice. In exchange, please let me enter the site first and set traps."
Midglyph frowned at this, but since the debate had developed from the pros and cons of using underhanded means from the perspective of chivalry, such as utilizing the terrain or setting traps, he reluctantly gave permission.
Midglyph remembers that when his subordinates mocked them, saying things like "It is just a child's thinking after all," "Let us have a drink when we return," "Looking at past data, it is impossible to lose," or "I am getting married soon," he felt as if some absurd law of the world (T/N: flag) had been activated.
Then, the moment the two armies faced off in the grasslands and the battle commenced...
"...Decode."
Immediately after Geoglyph whispered, the earth surged upward.
This was not a metaphor or a joke. Suddenly, a wall nearly 30 meters high appeared from the ground. One thousand knights were divided in an instant. Furthermore, the ceiling was even blocked, showing how much thought had gone into it. Later, he heard from the person who set it up, "You know how dungeons exist? I've always wanted to go to one, so I reproduced it with magic for practice and it packaged together quite nicely. It is what you call field magic," which made no sense.
Now, what awaited the divided knights were numerous traps. Most were bear traps, wire traps, and various pitfall traps. In particular, the pitfalls were filled with a wide variety of insects or were half-filled with mud, making it impossible to climb out, so knights continued to drop out the moment they fell, though they did not die. Midglyph, who had not prepared rescue equipment, could do nothing but abandon them. Incidentally, if this had been a real battle, he apparently would have planted bamboo spears and smeared them with feces to aim for infections.
While cautiously exploring the instant dungeon with a pale face and guarding against traps, the Lotus Gang attacked from a blind spot. However, it was merely to harass them. After knocking out a few people with a surprise attack, they would immediately withdraw. Then, just as they caught their breath, they would attack again in wave-like assaults.
It was what is called guerrilla warfare on Earth.
This was repeated without fail, and the unit members were gradually whittled down until only a dozen or so remained, at which point the labyrinth suddenly vanished. Midglyph, who had already realized his defeat, frowned and wondered what he planned to do next... and found that they were surrounded by the Lotus Gang, who remained entirely unscathed and in full number.
Midglyph resigned himself, thinking the match was over, but Geoglyph apparently did not think so. Raising his staff, he cast buffs on the Lotus Gang with magic and shouted.
"You bastards! What is our specialty!?"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"What is the purpose of this exercise!?"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
"Do we love the Triad territory!? Do we love the Lotus Gang!?"
"Gung-ho! Gung-ho! Gung-ho!"
"Very well! Then it is war! From this moment, we enter the path of the Shura! If we meet a god, we slay the god, if we meet a demon, we slay the demon! Cast aside your mercy! As of this moment, we switch from soldiers to bandits! The first prey are those elites over there! Let's go, you bastards!!"
"Long live the Triads! Long live the Triads! Long live the Triads!!"
"Recite the Lotus Gang Code...!!"
"In-fight until you collapse!!"
Facing the berserkers with morale at its peak, who rushed in from all directions with a banzai attack while laughing loudly, Midglyph and the knights responded while nearly in tears. However, those who had been cast with Geoglyph's support magic did not budge at minor attacks, and they were defeated with an overwhelming force, like infantry being crushed by heavy tanks.
Honestly, it is no wonder that the young Midglyph, who thought he was being assassinated under the guise of an exercise, cried for real.
After the exercise, Midglyph, who was proposed a post-game review, listened to the basic framework of Geoglyph's operations and tactics... or rather, the thinking regarding territory management that lay beyond them, together with the knights.
"First, as a premise, human resources are finite. In particular, trained soldiers are as irreplaceable as skilled craftsmen."
"Is it that much? Could we not just conscript people randomly and train them?"
Midglyph tilted his head, his eyes red and swollen, but it was not that he was special. As evidence, the knights behind him also had bewildered expressions. The concept of a poll tax existed, but in a medieval-style world, it was generally thought that commoners were simply everywhere and increased on their own.
"Territory residents do not just sprout up like mosquito larvae, Big Brother. No, it is possible if you drag them here by force, but if you do that, internal affairs will stop functioning. If you make a carpenter hold a sword instead of a hammer, who is going to build the houses?"
"That... is certainly true..."
Still, concepts like division of labor and strengths and weaknesses existed. Geoglyph knew that if he spoke logically, they would show a certain level of understanding. Because the people of this world, unlike those of his previous world, had shallow accumulated knowledge, but their wisdom itself was not much different.
"Furthermore, even if we say 'train them,' the cost of food, clothing, and shelter during that time is borne by the territory. Despite it costing a considerable amount to raise one person, if they are crushed like disposables in a single battle, it is a total loss. Since they die without being able to share their combat experience with others, they are truly consumables. Moreover, it costs money again to gather and raise them once more. If you continue to increase taxes to recover that, what awaits is the outflow of residents or rebellion. Even though this is a problem of protecting the territory where they live."
"Mmm..."
"Therefore, originally, war is something that should be avoided. That said, war is fundamentally just one of the diplomatic means in politics. If a ruler unilaterally avoids it just because people die, mixing in with the commoners' fear, it may invite the arrogance of an opponent who does not share those feelings, and there are times when we may be invaded even if we do not wish it. That is why it is important to develop military power to show martial might, make the surroundings cautious, and prevent them from carelessly interfering."
"The problem is how to develop it, then?"
"Correct. I can understand the desire to obsess over duels or tests of strength. I am a boy too, and it is not that I have no longing for such things. However, there is a difference in the attrition generated until the result is reached between a situation where one is forced to do so and one where it is done intentionally, even if the result is the same."
"Attrition... Geo, you really obsess over the attrition rate. Is it that thing about human resources being finite from the beginning?"
"Yes. Basically, please assume that in a war that was initiated, the opponent has the advantage and their total numbers are higher. The fact that one initiates war at their own timing means they had that much more time to prepare."
At this point, Geoglyph cleared his throat once.
"Battle is all about numbers, Big Brother!"
"W-what happened...?"
"No, I felt that if it is a dispute between brothers, war, and numbers, I had to say it."
This joke won't land in another world, will it, Geoglyph continued, looking slightly embarrassed.
"Now, in most wars, the side that aligns its numbers has the advantage... the match is almost decided at that stage."
"But Geo, you just won with a small force of 50."
"If I had done it honestly and head-on, I would have lost. That is why I utilized the terrain and set traps. Using the underhanded methods that Big Brother and the knights said they disliked."
The operation Geoglyph performed was not anything grand. It was a guerrilla method often used in modern warfare on Earth. A defensive tactic of repeatedly conducting surprise attacks and ambushes in one's own home, carefully and carefully reducing the enemy to break their morale and supply lines and weaken them. Then, once numerical superiority was achieved, he launched a counter-offensive and decided the match by crushing them all at once with the violence of numbers.
"What I want you to notice here is that my unit did not suffer a single casualty."
"I see... because the numbers didn't decrease, you can do the same thing again. Moreover, since you have experienced it once, you can do it with a more practiced method than before."
"That is it. Of course, I will completely ignore the preparation time, recovery time from fatigue, and the countermeasures that Big Brother, as the defeated general, experienced, but theoretically, it is the same whether it is a thousand or ten thousand people."
Of course, that assumption was merely a theoretical discussion. It was a theory, but on Earth, there were wars where guerrillas specializing in defensive tactics overcame and defeated a superpower. The fact that the superpower's war-weariness and anti-war movements around the world decided the trend was also large, but the biggest factor was that a poor country, inferior in equipment and numbers, held out until that time against the superpower. The damage was great, and it was a considerable slow grind, but it was a victory snatched because they persisted until the opponent gave up.
It would not have happened just by gathering headcounts. They inherited wisdom and tactics, utilized the terrain, understood that their own army was inferior to begin with, and therefore desperately used every means and showed phenomenal persistence.
"It is a pipe dream to not suffer a single casualty in the extreme environment of war. It is a matter of chance, so it is natural. In an actual war, many people will die. However, while a soldier only needs to think about that moment, a lord must fight while imagining what happens after winning or losing, and even the next war. It would be fine if the opponent were only one country in front of them, but most countries have other hypothetical enemy nations. Even if you put in diplomatic effort to prevent them from interfering, you might be betrayed and subjected to consecutive battles for the benefit of a third party, and it would be out of the question to say, 'We have no soldiers because we were exhausted in the previous war.' So, how do we ensure personnel for the next war or prevent internal affairs from being affected by reckless personnel appointments?"
"The attrition rate, huh..."
"Correct. It is also the lord's duty to keep as many soldiers alive as possible and connect them to the next to ensure military strength does not drop. In extreme terms, it is fine to lose sporadic local battles. In this world, there are people who lose many times but become king by winning only the last big match. Therefore, please always think about the landing point of the war. If you forget this, you are on a direct path to clan extermination unless there is third-party intervention or no profit for the winner."
Therefore, please choose the time and place for your honest muscle-brained formations, Geoglyph concluded, bringing the conversation back to the debate that started the exercise.
Looking at his younger brother, Midglyph nodded and said one thing.
"...Should you just be the lord instead?"
"That is a joke, Yoshiko-chan. My first choice for the future is to be an adventurer."
"And your second choice?"
"To become a local official and lounge around in a window seat."
"And being the lord?"
"If Mid-niisama or Ludo-niisama die, or if Father does not make any more children, then I have no choice? Ah, if your blood remains at that time, I intend to push it onto that child, so please be aware."
For several years from then, Midglyph persisted and worked behind the scenes to somehow make Geoglyph the next head of the family. However, it is another story that Geoglyph, sensing this, ingratiated himself with his father, conducted some kind of negotiation, and manipulated things so that Midglyph was designated as the successor.
●
Nine years after those events, Midglyph Triad had turned twenty.
Hair that shone like gold thread, and blue eyes like sapphires. Among the three Triad brothers, his androgynous appearance, said to have inherited Mother Ekaterina's beauty most strongly, was so refined that one would believe it if told he were royalty from somewhere. If Ludglyph was a sturdy man, Midglyph was a beautiful man. Well, since Ekaterina herself was from a ducal house that served as a supplementary bloodline for the imperial family, it was not entirely incorrect.
He too had taken a wife from a ducal house different from his mother's side at the end of last year. It was a political marriage, but since there had been prior meetings and relative interactions through his mother's side, he knew her character, and since their personalities were compatible, they were spending their newlywed life without problems. And having been formally designated as the successor because of that, Midglyph, however, had a frown carved between his brows in his office, far from being full of happiness.
The documents in his hand were information on the border of the neighboring country... to put it simply, the Kessel Border Territory of the neighboring Kingdom of Karim, which bordered the Triads.
While Midglyph was having a headache over the movement of information from spies over the last few months and the conclusion derived from it, there was a knock on the office door.
"How is it going, Aniki... wait, looking at that face, it goes without saying."
"Ludo."
When he gave permission and prompted him to enter, the brother who came in was Ludglyph, dressed in light armor.
"As I thought, no matter how many times I calculate it, it is strange. For a festival, the way they are gathering is abnormal."
Tossing the documents on the desk and leaning back into the chair with a creak, Midglyph let out a deep sigh.
Since that trauma-level exercise, Midglyph had been receiving education as a ruler from Geoglyph. He sometimes wondered why he was receiving such things from his younger brother, but the theories Geoglyph spoke of were each reasonable, and the more he thought about them, the more rational they were, so in the end, he decided to give up on everything and accept it all.
As part of that education, Midglyph, who had also become involved in the handling of information and the establishment of an organization related to it, was now feeling its usefulness as he gradually took over the lord's work from his father.
The spies dispatched to various places usually lived and took root in those lands. Each piece of information regarding recent conditions sent from there was not much, but when combined, they sometimes drew a single picture like a puzzle. In this case, the accumulation rate of supplies showed an abnormal value. The official reason was for the festival, but there were far too many military supplies. To the point where Midglyph was wary that it was war preparation using the festival as a cover, no matter how he thought about it.
"Which means, they're going to do it. Did you tell the old man?"
"I already did. We have also started gathering supplies for the purpose of training, but..."
"It is doubtful if we will make it in time..."
"Conversely, they might speed it up if they sense us."
What a person conducting a surprise attack is most wary of is the opponent sensing it. If actions suggesting that are taken, the attacking side might overlook some lack of preparation and launch the attack before their posture is fully ready. That is why one must move stealthily, but if one is too slow, it is inevitable that they will be late to the start.
And if it starts and they win, or lose, what kind of emotions will the influence of this war plant in the surroundings, the influence on internal affairs, the method of compensating for the tax revenue and residents that will decrease from there... the things to think about were countless.
"It is tough, even though you're a newlywed, huh."
"You're the same, since you just got engaged."
After both let out dry laughs.
If only Geo were here at a time like this...
What came out of the mouths of the brothers, who deepened the frowns between their brows, was that incarnation of unreasonableness.
"You've already heard, right? That he beat a herd of Earth Dragons."
"I heard, I heard. Some of the materials were sent just a moment ago, and Father immediately sent them to the blacksmith."
"I saw it directly. It was a staggering amount."
"It is an amount that can update almost all the equipment of our knight order, so I think we will be called later."
"To do this two months after leaving. Maybe it really would have been better to push him into being the head?"
"Even Father, who designated me as the successor, probably thinks so though he wouldn't say it directly, and more than anything, I think so too. But the person himself hates it..."
Honestly, following custom, it would be natural for Midglyph to inherit, but there are quite a few cases of deviating from custom. For example, if Midglyph or Ludglyph were boneheaded idiot sons, they could have been removed for that reason. However, Midglyph was originally excellent, and Ludglyph, who had started to become boneheaded, had his spirit hammered back into shape together with the Lotus Gang.
Even if they played the part of idiot sons now, the surroundings would not believe them. Of course, it was Geoglyph's cunning plan, wary of family strife.
"He said, 'I hate it because the governance method I am good at is different,' but is there something other than the current governance method?"
"I asked him vaguely before, and he said he would do it if it were a so-called consensus system."
"Like the 'sou' that villages do?"
Needless to say, it was democracy. Although Geoglyph himself had doubts about democracy, so the goal he aimed for was different, as a preliminary stage or a familiar method, there was nothing else. However, simply advocating democracy in a medieval-style world would absolutely not be achievable.
"But finding the human resources to move it is also hard, and people of a house without historical background have no pride, so they would be rife with corruption. Moreover, we are at the edge of the Empire and adjacent to the Kingdom. If we mess up, it is treason."
"In the first place, a commoner who can read and write, and can coordinate while kicking each other under the table in dealings with surrounding nobles... you'd wonder if they are really a commoner. According to him, the era is not right, though."
Since it involves selecting people who run the state from the common folk, uniform education is essential. Furthermore, a certain amount of goodness and badness are needed simultaneously, and in a balanced state, so the prerequisite is that a standard sense of morality has been nurtured.
With goodness alone, the citizens would naturally be unable to coldly abandon the people of other countries and would involve the citizens in unnecessary turmoil. With badness alone, they would drown in power and become oppressive, turning into dictators no different from tyrants.
Even royalty and nobility, trained from childhood in the science of kingship, can produce tyrants. If people who steer the ship are selected based only on fame or popularity from citizens who have only received a certain amount of education, it will naturally not end well. That is why Geoglyph did not try to bring democracy to this world, and also decided to keep his distance from politics. Because the era and common sense do not match, so doing it would just be a waste.
"I really don't understand what that guy is thinking..."
"He has been an elusive child since long ago, but there was no doubt he was a genius..."
After thinking about what the prodigy of the Triads was doing now, Ludglyph remembered the main reason he had come here.
"Changing the subject, about the Earth Dragon equipment, let our guys in on it too. With that amount, even if not everyone, a few people can update."
"Sure. I'll notify the blacksmith. ...Since they've been working hard. The Lotus Gang."
"Well. I only found out after associating with them, but they are good guys at heart. I was half-doubting when I heard the advice from Geo."
"Honestly, when Garderman, who had been a reluctant instructor with suspicious eyes, started saying 'Give them to our knight order!', I didn't know what had happened."
"They just lack education, but their heads turn surprisingly fast, and since they've lived by sipping muddy water, they are jaded but have guts. They have no connections to the upper class, but in exchange, their connections to the underground are strong. They are subtly skillful, those guys. Then, if they have a sense of purpose, rewards that match it, and a small amount of honor, they will show effort to not let go of the improved environment, and if they continue, it will eventually become pride... was it? Can you believe it, Aniki? People who were treated as pariahs in the capital until ten years ago are now treated as heroes because they hunt monsters as training."
"It is a good stimulus for the knight order too. When we do joint training, we clash fiercely. Yet, after training, they go out into the city together, so I don't know if they are on good terms or bad terms."
Now, the gang that raised the flag of the Lotus is a special combat force of the Triad territory army. Brave and persistent, they fight without flinching against any strong enemy, do not miss the slightest flaw and move to break it, and never abandon their allies. If that means they will become even stronger, Midglyph has no objection.
"Anyway, we have to start preparing little by little."
"I'll finish up the training on this side too..."
After the two muttered to each other, their hearts became one.
"Sigh... I hate it, having a war right after getting married."
"Sigh... I hate it, having a war right after getting engaged."
If only Geo were here at a time like this...
They would drag him in and make him the commander-in-chief, the two brothers thought.
●
Meanwhile, at that time.
"...Achoo! Brrr..."
"What is it, Sensei? Did you catch a chill from the bath?"
"No, I just felt like someone was calling me..."
Whether Geoglyph and Later, who were gulping down milk after their bath, had such a conversation or not.
To be continued tomorrow.