(Song of the Day: When You Were Young by The Killers.)
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(Border between the Tempest Empire and the Eastern Empire)
A massive undertaking was underway. Oni, Orcs, Lizardmen, Hobgoblins, and other species were planting a massive defense. All of this was being hidden with illusion magic.
Artoria's teachings had been diffused to everyone. They were setting booby traps, laying landmines, fake dummy soldiers to confuse enemies and lure them into traps or landmines.
Hidden posts were being built that blended into the dense forest, so the Green Numbers could blend in and take cover while taking shots at any incoming soldiers.
All that was left was to explain the counter-offensive plan to everyone.
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"Alright, I'll try to keep this simple and to the point. As our border patrol has reported, there is more activity from the Eastern Empire on our border with them. Now, as we all know how the Eastern Empire is, it's pretty obvious what their intentions are. An invasion. Fortunately, we've spent a good amount of time preparing. We're using a lot of manpower to plant defenses. Now, before I get started, is there any questions or concerns anyone has?"
The room was filled with all the important war-related higher-ups. Rimuru, Benimaru, Soeui, Geld, Gabiru, Shion, Hakurou, Diablo, Carrera, Ultima, Testarossa, and others.
It was a who's who of people in the room.
"Uh, don't they have like millions of people in their army?" Rimuru said in a worried tone. Artoria simply nodded and held up a hand. She wasn't worried.
"True, but that's a bad way to view it. You may think we are outgunned, outmanned, outnumbered, outplanned. But from my eyes, instead of seeing millions of people in the army, I see a target-rich environment."
Rimuru was a little taken aback by that kind of mindset. "Wow, okay, that's kind of a disturbing way to view it."
"It's war. War is cruel, and there is no use reforming it. The crueler it is, the sooner it will be over. Things will get ugly, but what else do you expect?"
Rimuru pointed out another big advantage the Eastern Empire had. "I see. But what about their airships? No disrespect to Gabiru or his lizardmen, but how do we combat that?"
Artoria only smirked. She already knew what to do. If it was getting a ship to combat the airships they had, it would be simple for her, and it would look cool, which is what really mattered. "Don't worry about that. I'll handle it. I'll get us a ship, a big one. They literally won't see it coming."
"Okay, I think that's about it." Rimuru said, as Artoria could finally get to her plans.
"Good. Anyone else?"
No response.
"Alright, let's get to it. This will consist of three operations. Operation: Porcupine, Operation: Honey Badger, and Special Operation: Sherman. I'll start with Operation: Porcupine," Artoria said as she pulled out a map that focused on Operation: Porcupine. It focused on the border of Tempest and the Eastern Empire. Most of it was filled with red marks showing the massive scale of defense in place, entitled the "Quill Zone." And other places that showed planned defensive maneuvers.
"So, as you can see, Operation: Porcupine is our defense. You'll notice that the 'Quill Zone' doesn't immediately start at the border. It's simple. I want to lure in as many people as possible before things start blowing up. If they start encountering resistance too soon, they'll start being too cautious. Let them have a lowered guard first. Now, you'll see that our defense is also set up to try to funnel the enemy soldiers into a nice chokepoint. This will help the Green Numbers easily pick out shots, but they will eventually get overwhelmed, so they're going to conduct guerrilla warfare while retreating when they do get overwhelmed. They will also have help from Souei's team in the form of them setting up corpses and fake supplies to explode. They'll also have napalm and white phosphorus grenades to help them. They'll be able to be as liberal as they can with them."
"Now, those are our first two layers of defense. From there, you can see it's just open ground between them and us, a 'last stand' of sorts, but don't worry, we'll have a good wall to protect us, and that's also where Gabiru and his lizardmen come in. While they are marching across this space, they will be dropping munitions of various types on top of them. And don't worry, Gabiru, I'll make sure we get air superiority. They'll see what the effects of having air superiority are."
"Now, after this comes the hardest part of this. Our 'last stand'. Don't worry, Gabiru and I will provide air support. The rest hinges on this. We need to inflict massive casualties on them to the point that they retreat and try to regroup to try again. And once they do that, while they're disorganized and most likely without leadership, that's when Operation: Honey Badger will launch. Operation: Honey Badger is our counter-offensive. We'll strike them at their lowest. They'll be panicked, paranoid, and have low morale. And before you worry about the landmines and booby traps, don't. Why? Easy, as they retreat, they'll run right back into any landmines or booby traps left unactivated. With the sheer numbers they'll have, it'll be surprising if they don't activate them all, but in case they don't, you'll have a map that marks where they're all placed. Use that to guide troops safely."
Artoria then pulled out the map entitled "Operation: Honey Badger." "Now, this is where the fun begins. This will be our counter-invasion. This is where we take the fight back to them while we show them our fearlessness, aggressiveness, tenacity, and will to take the fight to a larger army. And it'll be easier than you think."
"How so, Lady Pendragon? Launching a counter-invasion of the Eastern Empire with all the territory they have will be difficult with our relatively lower numbers." Benimaru was the first to speak up about this proposed invasion.
"I was just getting to that. Time to talk about Special Operation: Sherman. Now, this will be handled by Diablo, Ultima, Testarossa, Carrera, and the demons they have under their control. It's simple. They'll infiltrate the Eastern Empire when all their focus is on their invasion. They are going to destroy and burn any military and logistical target, and cripple their supply lines. At the same time, they are going to use their magic and skills to incite a revolution in the Eastern Empire, so they'll be busy fighting and dealing with two things at once. And since their army will be committed to the invasion, there will be relatively less resistance."
"Quick question, who will be the new leader of the Eastern Empire after all this is done. I don't think placing a demon in charge will be a popular idea." Benimaru said. If this were to work, they needed a popular figure that anyone would be willing to rally to and die for. Luckily, that was already solved. A man who literally had a skill that made people want to follow him.
"Masayuki. They're going to put him on a pedestal as someone to follow while they have their revolution. And they will have more motivation when we start our counter-invasion, and support them. When the history books are written, they'll cite our invasion as a reason that their revolution was successful in installing a new government."
"Is this going to be an example that history is written by the victors?" Rimuru asked.
Artoria quickly refuted his question and claim. "First of all, that's not true. I would tell you about the U.S. Civil War and this myth called the 'Lost Cause', but now is not the time."
"Wait, isn't that the war where you said your president was a vampire slayer?" Rimuru remembered the night he ate at her house. She mentioned that there was a feature-length documentary and a book about it.
Artoria sighed as she pinched her nose. "Look, I drank a lot that day. Anyway, now is not the time. Anyway, these are the main points of what these operations are and their goals are. Decisions on how to achieve these goals will have to be made on the battlefield. Now, any questions or comments?"
"Yeah, I got something to say. Why do I have to do the boring stuff? I want to fight against them, not go with Diablo and the others on that stuff." Carrera spoke up in a loud and dissatisfied voice. She had her arms crossed as she lay back in her chair.
"Carrera, you're part of the plan on that," Artoria explained to her.
"Okay, but they can do it themselves without me! Give me something better to do!"
Artoria decided to give her a chance. "Tell me a reason, Carrera."
Carrera stood up and slammed her fist on the table as she pointed to Artoria. "If you give me a unit to lead, I'll have flies and maggots crawling in their empty eye sockets within a day!'
The room fell silent as everyone looked at her; you could hear a pen drop. The way she said it showed how serious she was and how much she wanted it. Artoria slowly nodded when she heard her say what she said. She had a little smirk on her face.
"You know what? I like that attitude, Carrera, you got yourself a unit. I'll allow you to run wild while the rest of our military follows these operations."
Carrera showed a vicious and delightful smirk in response. She sat back down and didn't say anything. But no words needed to be said to
"Should we get help from our allies?" Geld spoke up.
"They'll come to us for help, and we can hear them out, but I'm not worried about that. The people who will definitely come to our aid are those who don't have some kind of diplomatic ties with us. The only reason they'll come to our aid is because it's in their best interest. If, and I mean if, we go down, they're next. They're only going to see us as a buffer state. It's harsh, but it's true. If they want to help, let them, but let them know not to expect some kind of favor or IOU from us. I don't want parasitic leeches that only see this as an opportunity to cozy up to us." Artoria paused before making a bold decision. "Actually, as a matter of fact, I'm going to limit diplomatic talks starting now until the end of the war. The only ones we will talk to are our allies we already have. Gazel, Milim, Luminous, Carrion, Frey, Fuze. Only them. Anyway, that will be all. Start getting ready. We are on a collision course with destiny."