Chapter 251: Day 5 Morning
It has been five days since the invasion of the Prawa Theocracy began.
Currently, 18 villages and towns have been seized, centered around the landing point.
“Onee-sama, we have withdrawn all but the minimum necessary forces from the conquered villages and towns. Support supplies are currently being transported. All hostile units have been tagged, but is elimination unnecessary?”
“Hmm. If the threat level is low, it’s fine to leave them be. You’re measuring it, right?”
“Yes. We are measuring it in real-time using surveillance pillars.”
In the neutralized villages and towns, only the Multi-legged Ground Carriers and escorting Multi-legged Tanks remain. Bipedal security robots (Sheriffs) are patrolling to maintain order.
Since all forces have been defeated according to the pre-measured threat level, there is no chance of a crack appearing in the dominance of ＜The Tree＞ forces.
“We’ve informed the residents to continue their previous jobs, right? It’s helpful that there’s a difference in attitude between the Warrior Monks and the residents.”
“Yes. They seem capable of some degree of cost-benefit analysis. The Warrior Monks don’t seem to understand the difference in strength between us and them.”
Eve chuckled wryly at Ichigo’s harsh opinion.
Well, Eve couldn’t understand the thought patterns of fanatics either. She only knew it as knowledge. Fortunately, the residents other than the Warrior Monks didn’t seem to be deeply religious enough to be fanatics. They were at least outwardly following the instructions from the ＜The Tree＞ units, who had become the new rulers.
However, it wasn’t as if they had no animosity at all.
“Some humans have things more important than life. They can’t always make rational judgments like you guys.”
“Is it because the balance of brain narcotics is disrupted? Certainly, our Brain Units can be controlled to some extent by external stimuli, so I don’t think we would ever be in a state of fanaticism.”
“Hmm, I guess so…”
Eve tilted her head, wondering how to explain it to Ichigo, who was tilting her head as if she couldn’t understand.
“We consider serving Onee-sama our highest priority, but that’s not the case for units other than us. If units other than us were to observe our judgment from the outside, they might perceive it as fanatical behavior. That’s what it is.”
“…? Is that how it is?”
“That’s how it is.”
“Yeah, try not to have those kinds of conversations in front of me.”
Eve poked Akane’s cheek with her finger because Akane’s explanation wasn’t very good.
“Gott(tt)a(aa).”
While squeezing Akane, who readily nodded, Eve turned to Ichigo.
“Well, even if you can’t understand it, it’s good to know. Just classify it as ‘that’s how it is.’ You can update your knowledge as needed.”
“Understood.”
Akane also nodded, and then resumed her report.
“In the four days of operation, 26 Multi-legged Tanks have been damaged. All of them were due to attacks by hostile units. Of these, 11 are damaged beyond repair.”
“Hmm. Well, considering the ratio, it’s within acceptable limits.”
Currently, over 1,000 Multi-legged Tanks are participating in this operation. If 26 of them are damaged and 11 are lost, it can be said that there is no problem.
“The operational range is expanding, and the number of cities that can be captured simultaneously is at its maximum. The information blockade is nearing its limit.”
“I see. It’s as planned. So, what’s the next target?”
The operation is proceeding exactly as planned. All target villages and towns have been captured. No information leaks have been confirmed. All the forces scheduled to land, including reserves, have been transported, and additional forces are being transported.
“Ganey, the central city in the southeastern part of the Prawa Theocracy. With the capture of this city, the first phase of the Prawa Theocracy subjugation operation, all operational objectives will be achieved.”
“Good. Although I knew it from the operation plan, ground operations still take time.”
Ganey is located approximately 500km in a straight line from Yakari Port, the initial landing point. Five days for a 500km invasion. That means they’ve only advanced 100km per day.
Certainly, compared to an invasion by air power, it was taking far too long.
“We are pacifying all hostile forces along the way. Air operations can’t do that.”
As Akane pointed out, air power can pinpoint and destroy enemy forces, but it is not suitable for Zistroi over a wide area. Because the number of forces that can be deployed is inevitably small, the effect on dispersed enemies is low.
“＜The Tree＞ has already taken control of all areas east of Ganey. Transport routes are also under construction. Although the movement speed of the forces is slow, the overall progress of the operation is going smoothly.”
The forces manufactured with resources mined around Fortress Two (Black Iron) are being deployed one after another. Far exceeding the forces stationed in the Afrasia United Kingdom, they were landing in the Prawa Theocracy in rapid succession.
“Fufu. It feels good to move a large force, after all.”
While satisfied with the Commander (Eve) in a good mood, ＜Ringo＞ is secretly watching the resource balance. Due to mass production far exceeding the resource production volume, the accumulated supplies are decreasing at an alarming rate.
Even though the hungry Fortress is being fed a lot, it’s not enough at all.
In that sense as well, they want to completely conquer the Prawa Theocracy and increase the number of resource production bases.
“Ganey is a hub city that collects food and metal resources produced in the surrounding area. The capture itself will end without problems, but it will be impossible to prevent the spread of information about the invasion by ＜The Tree＞.”
Even if they completely block it, all exchanges through Ganey will stop in the first place. It will soon be revealed that something unusual is happening. Besides, if individual forces like that Chimyera Clan unit are dedicated to reconnaissance, it will be difficult to capture them.
“Even a great power like the Prawa Theocracy has difficulty with two-front operations. It will take at least half a year to prepare a capture force, no matter how fast they are.”
Capture Ganey and turn it into a Fortress. If they have half a year, they can prepare an impregnable defense. No, according to the estimates, about a month is enough.
“Once the Fortress conversion is complete, the operation will proceed to the second phase. Complete subjugation of the entire country.”
Ganey is a large city adjacent to a huge lake. The surrounding area is almost flat, making it an ideal location.
If they use the lake, they can transport supplies by flying boat. Also, once the laying of the railroad from Yakari Port is completed, they will be able to transport a large amount of resources.
“We will lift the information blockade when the capture of Ganey is complete and begin deploying air power. There are several large cities around Ganey, so we will proceed with their capture.”
“So, the joint land-air operation is finally starting. The only problem is that it’s far from the air base…”
The site is approximately 2,800km away from the air base built in the Royal Capital of the Afrasia United Kingdom. The range of currently operational conventional air weapons is insufficient.
Therefore, the only units that can be deployed are the Gigantia Squad, which has virtually no range restrictions, and the aircraft carrier unit.
Originally, the air power was hidden out of caution for the Prawa Theocracy, so once the capture began, there was no need to hide it.
As a result, super-forces will be revealed to Weizenland, the Repuytari Kingdom, and its surrounding countries.
“The construction of the second and third Gigantia ships will be completed soon. The deployment speed will improve dramatically.”
“Once the runway scheduled to be built in Ganey is completed, it is no exaggeration to say that the subjugation of the Prawa Theocracy will be almost complete. The discovered lode alone is several times the reserves around Fortress Two (Black Iron). Our resource balance will improve dramatically.”
“That’s right. If we have some leeway, we can finally start thinking about the next step. I’m looking forward to it.”
The Prawa Theocracy subjugation operation is mainly carried out for Amadio Salmon.
If he hadn’t been there, ＜The Tree＞ would have expanded its power starting from the Afrasia United Kingdom. After all, the Prawa Theocracy was an unknown territory, a magical nation.
The fact that they took the risk and carried it out was largely due to the change in Eve’s consciousness. From a passive policy to an active expansion promotion.
＜The Tree＞ is about to reach a major turning point.
Afterword
Onee-sama, let’s go outside!! (Expansion route)
What a really dangerous shut-in.