How to Start a War (2.6)
Needless to say, the role of the Central Army was enormous.
The Belleriant Peninsula was lined with steep mountain ranges, and there were not many places where large armies could be moved. In fact, they were almost nonexistent.
Since they were forced to use the roads and the not-so-developed railway network of that land as their advance and supply routes, they had no choice but to select the locations where these existed as the main invasion routes.
Historically, too, the central part of the peninsula was always the place any army trying to invade Elfynd would choose.
That plain was one of the few granary regions in the country, and most of the battles with the Dwarven kingdom that once existed on the southern bank of the Sylvan River, as well as with the old Orcsen forces, took place in that area.
Rosalind Valley — that bitterly remembered battlefield for the Orcs — lay across the Sylvan River from the plains of the southern peninsula, on the Star-Euro continent side.
One hundred and twenty years ago, the Orcs, who had fallen into hardship due to famine, attempted to seize the Dwarven granary and then to conquer southern Elfynd as well.
Elfynd, for its part, was fully aware of that historical background and had turned one of the key transportation cities guarding the plains into a fortified city surrounded by walls.
But…
Was this plan truly correct?
Greben kept questioning it.
The biggest concern was that the burden placed on the Central Army was simply too great.
To put it plainly, this future war plan involved nothing less than ordering High General Schwerin, his father-in-law, that ferocious general, to take the largest force and charge in.
That was the nature of the plan.
The only saving grace was that Elfynd's capital was located in the center of the peninsula, so they didn’t have to push all the way to the remote northern tip of the peninsula for the war to end.
Elfynd could not abandon its capital or have its leaders flee.
Because within the capital stood the nation’s greatest sacred site.
It was hard to believe at first, but it was said that Elfynd's royal family could only be born from a single great tree located there.
… Could they not reinforce the Central Army further?
It wasn’t that simple.
The current size of the Central Army had already been calculated as the maximum that could be sustained by the number of roads and railways in the area.
They had also included heavy artillery brigades under army command, capable of both field battles and sieges.
The main force of the Great Eagle Corps for aerial reconnaissance was also allocated here.
The General Staff had devised the plan to support the Central Army with all their might.
Massive logistical hubs were to be built in four cities on Orcsen's side along the southern coast of the peninsula.
The budget for this preparation was barely being scraped together, with two of those hubs to be allocated to the Central Army.
The head of logistics for the entire war effort would also be stationed here.
In other words, the supreme logistical command would directly oversee the Central Army.
Additionally, behind the army, military railroad units and conscripted personnel from the national rail company were to be deployed to connect with the homeland’s rail network and utilize, repair, and upgrade the local rail lines during the advance.
The number of railroad vehicles required, the selection of optimal locations for forward supply bases, and the number of military wagons — all of these had been meticulously calculated.
Everything had been assembled with the utmost precision, care, and caution.
Greben, who had been a major contributor to the development of this invasion plan, understood this perfectly.
And yet.
… Logistics, logistics, logistics…
That was where his doubts had begun.
The Orcsen General Staff prided itself on prioritizing logistics. Its organization, deployments, and very way of thinking had been built with that in mind — their pride and their identity.
But “logistics” was a maddeningly broad term, one open to vastly different interpretations depending on who pondered it.
… Had this plan not lost its way somewhere in that line of thinking?
It seemed they had first decided on the battlefield by assumption, and then, trailing behind that, tried to build the logistical lines to support it.
Greben’s interpretation of logistics was fundamentally different.
The advance route should not dictate the logistics.
Rather, the route with the easiest logistical support should dictate the advance.
The two ideas seemed similar but were fundamentally distinct.
Thus, armies should not be overly concentrated.
… They should advance in separate groups, well-fed and supplied, and when facing a major enemy, rapidly converge.
… Not "concentration," but "convergence."
… Yes, perhaps call it "divided advance, united assault."
That was why he despised the old Orcsen military saying favored by the elderly: “Dragging the tail.”
Even when dealing with figures like his father-in-law Schwerin or his superior Zebeck, this was the one thing Greben could never agree with.
The phrase evoked an image of the army being dragged behind its own logistics, which he loathed.
In his view, it was precisely the opposite.
The army hung like a pendant behind the logistics.
The "tail" was connected not to the army itself, but to the logistical organization — and beyond that, to the Orcsen nation itself.
Moreover, the supply and transport that formed the backbone of logistics — even with relentless effort, they inevitably suffered stoppages somewhere, as seen in the spring exercises.
And those stoppages didn’t occur in just one place — every area of concern experienced them, compounding into broader delays.
This too, in Greben's interpretation, was only natural.
The tip of a tail naturally grows thinner.
If you recklessly cram supplies in from the root of the tail, stoppages at the tip are inevitable.
To resolve this, the Fifth Revised Plan authorized the Central Army to procure supplies locally, with the hope of timing the invasion to coincide with the grain harvest, using the fertile granary itself as a supply hub.
But…
Was that really enough?
Was it truly alright?
What do you think about this chapter?
