Dawn (29 page)

And the main point,
Yang wanted to say,
is that the plan itself is wrongheaded.

“In any case, that’s nothing more than a prediction,” Fork concluded. “Overestimating the enemy, fearing him more than necessary … that’s the most shameful thing of all for a warrior. Considering how that saps our troops’ morale and how their decision making and their actions can be dulled by it, the result is ultimately beneficial to the enemy, regardless of your intent. I do hope you’ll be more cautious about that.”

There was a loud noise from the surface of the meeting room table. Vice Admiral Bucock had struck it with the palm of his hand.

“Rear Admiral Fork, don’t you think what you said just now was disrespectful?”

“How so?” As the elderly admiral skewered him with a sharp glare, Fork puffed out his chest.

“Just because he didn’t agree with you and advised caution, you think it’s acceptable to go around saying he’s abetting the enemy?”

“I was merely making a general statement. I find it highly irritating to have that interpreted as the defamation of an individual.”

The thin flesh on Fork’s cheeks was twitching. Yang could see it clearly. He didn’t even feel like getting upset.

“From the beginning, the purpose of this campaign is to realize our grand and noble purpose of liberating the twenty-five billion people in the Galactic Empire who are suffering under the crushing weight of despotism. And I have to say that anyone who opposes that is effectively taking the side of the empire. Am I mistaken?”

Those in their seats were growing quieter in inverse proportion to his increasingly shrill voice. It wasn’t that they had been moved by his words; rather, the mood had been thoroughly spoiled.

“Even if the enemy had the geographical advantage, the greater troop strength, or even new weapons of unimaginable power, we could not use that as an excuse for being daunted. If we act based on our great mission—as a liberation force, as a force that’s there to defend the people—then the people of the empire will greet us with cheers and cooperate willingly …”

As Fork’s speech dragged on and on, Yang sank into silent reflection.

“New weapons of unimaginable power” were basically nonexistent. Weapons invented and put to practical use by one of two opposing camps had almost always been at least conceptually realized in the other camp as well. Tanks, submarines, nuclear-fission weapons, beam weapons, and so on had all entered the battlefield in this fashion, and the feeling of defeat experienced by the side that had lagged behind was verbalized not so much in the form of “How can this be?” as “I was afraid that might happen.” Between individuals, there were great inequalities in human powers of imagination, but those gaps shrunk markedly when viewed as totals within groups. In particular, new weapons were only made possible through the accumulation of technological and economic power, which was why there had been no air raids during the Paleolithic.

Also, looking at history, new weapons had almost never been the deciding factor in war—the exception being the Spanish invasion of the Incan empire, but even that had been colored deeply by their having fraudulently exploited an ancient Incan legend. Archimedes, who had lived in the ancient Greek city-state of Siracusa, had devised all sorts of scientific weapons, but they hadn’t been able to stop the Roman invasion.

“Unimaginable” was rather a word more likely to be uttered when a sea change took place in tactical thought. Certainly, there were times when these changes were triggered by the invention and introduction of a new weapon. Mass use of firearms, the use of air power to rule the sea, high-speed mobile warfare using combinations of tanks and aircraft—all of them were examples of this. But Hannibal’s envelopment tactics, Napoléon’s mounted charges against enemy infantry, Mao Tse-tung’s guerilla warfare, Genghis Khan’s use of his cavalry units, Sun Tzu’s psychological and informational warfare, Epaminondas’s deep hoplite echelons … all these had been devised and implemented without any relationship to new weaponry.

Yang was not afraid of any new weapon of the empire. What he did fear was the military genius of Reinhard von Lohengramm and the alliance’s own faulty assumption that the people of the empire were seeking freedom and equality more than they were peace and stability in their lives. That could neither be counted on nor forecast. There was no way that a factor like that should be included in the calculation of battle plans.

With a hint of gloom, Yang made a prediction: considering how unfathomably irresponsible the motivations behind this campaign were, that irresponsibility was going to extend to its planning and execution as well.

The distribution of the expeditionary force was decided. On point were Admiral Uranff’s Tenth Fleet, and in the second column, Yang’s Thirteenth.

General headquarters for the expeditionary force would be set up at Iserlohn Fortress, and for the duration of the operation, the supreme commander of the expeditionary force would also double as commanding officer of Iserlohn.

“So, you must be dying to say I should’ve let you retire,” said Sitolet. His voice had become corroded by a sense of labors come to naught.

“I was naive, too. I was thinking if we captured Iserlohn, the flames of war would recede afterward. Yet here we are.”

Yang fell silent, having lost sight of the words he should say. Of course there was little doubt that in Marshal Sitolet’s calculus, the arrival of peace would have secured his position and strengthened his influence, yet compared to the reckless adventurism and political maneuvering of the prowar faction, he was far easier to sympathize with.

“Ultimately, I guess I got tripped up by my own calculations. If Iserlohn hadn’t fallen, the hawks might not be making a gamble this dangerous. At any rate, you could call this just deserts as far as it concerns me, but for you I’ve made a real mess.”

“… Are you planning to retire?”

“Right now, I can’t. Once this campaign is finished, though, I’ll have no choice but to resign. Regardless of whether it fails or succeeds.”

If the expedition failed, Marshal Sitolet, as the highest-ranking man in uniform, would of course be driven to take responsibility with his resignation. On the other hand, if it succeeded, there was only one higher post with which to reward Marshal Lobos, supreme fleet commander of expeditionary force, for his accomplishment: that of director of Joint Operational Headquarters. The fact that Marshal Sitolet had been against this campaign would also work against him; his expulsion would take the form of a graceful bow out to make way for Marshal Lobos. No matter which way the die rolled, his future was already decided. All that was left for Sitolet was to prepare himself for it gracefully.

“I’m only telling you this because the circumstances are what they are, but what I am hoping for is that this expedition fails with the smallest possible number of casualties.”

Yang didn’t say a word.

“If it’s a rout, there’ll of course be a lot of blood spilt over nothing. But what happens if we win? It’s clear as day the hawks will pounce on the opportunity, and neither reason nor political calculation will be enough to make them accept subservience to civil governance any longer. Then they will stampede and eventually fall into a gorge. The history books are full of nations that were driven to ultimate defeat because they won a battle when they shouldn’t have. You should know all about that.”

“Yeah …”

“The reason I turned down your resignation was because I figured I could count on you to understand if things came to this. It’s not like I foresaw our present circumstances, but as a result of them, your presence in the military has become even more vital.”

Yang continued to listen in silence.

“You know a lot about history, and that’s given you a certain contempt for authority and military power. I can’t say I blame you, but no organized nation can exist free of those things. That being the case, political and military power should be placed in the hands of competent and honest people—not those who are the polar opposite—so the state can be reined in by reason and conscience. Being a soldier, I won’t venture to speak of politics, but speaking strictly of his role in the military, Rear Admiral Fork is unfit.”

The intensity with which he spoke those words surprised Yang.

For a moment, Sitolet looked like he was struggling to control his own emotions.

“He carried this operations plan directly to the chairman of the High Council’s secretary by way of a private route. That he sold them on it as a strategy for staying in power is enough to tell me that he’s motivated by a lust for personal advancement. He’s aiming for the top seat in the military, but at present he has a rival who’s just too strong, and he’s chomping at the bit to mark an achievement that will put him ahead of that person. He graduated top of his class from Officers’ Academy and has a funny thing about not losing to regular Joes.”

Yang murmured a casual “I see” to show he was listening, and a smile appeared on Marshal Sitolet’s face for the first time.

“You sure can be dense sometimes. His rival isn’t somebody else—it’s you.”

“Me, sir?”

“Yes, you.”

“But, Director, I—”

“This has nothing to do with however you may evaluate yourself. The problem is in what Fork is thinking and the method he’s taken for achieving his goals. I have to say, it’s too political, in the negative sense of the word. Even if it weren’t for that”—here the marshal sighed—“you must have grasped something of his character from today’s meeting. He displays his talents not in actual achievements but in eloquent speech, and what’s worse, he looks down on others while trying to make himself look distinguished. He doesn’t really have the talent he thinks he does, though … Entrusting anyone’s fate to him other than his own is just too dangerous.”

“Just now, you were saying the importance of my being here had increased …” Yang said pensively. “By that are you telling me to oppose Rear Admiral Fork?”

“Fork isn’t exactly the only one. When you reach the highest position in the service, you’ll be able to hamper and weed out people like him by yourself. That’s what I’m hoping you’ll do. Though I know it’s nothing but aggravation as far as you’re concerned.”

Silence clung to the pair like a heavy wet robe. Yang had to physically shake his head in order to shrug it off.

“Your Excellency the Director is always assigning me tasks that are too big for me. Telling me to take Iserlohn was one of those, too, but—”

“But you did it, didn’t you?”

“That time, I succeeded, yes, but …” Yang broke off and almost fell silent again, but he pushed on, saying, “It’s not that I hold authority and military power in contempt—no, the truth is, those things terrify me. Most people who gain authority and military power turn ugly—I could give a ton of examples. And I don’t have the confidence to say I wouldn’t change as well.”

“You said
most
people. Which is exactly right. Not everybody changes.”

“In any case, I intend to be a man of discretion and stay the greater part away from valor. I want to do some kind of work within the range that I’m able and then live a relaxed, easygoing life—is that what they call lazy by nature?”

“That’s right. Lazy by nature.”

As he stared at Yang, who was at a loss for words, Director Sitolet broke into an amused smile.

“I’ve long struggled with this myself. It’s not a lot of fun to work hard all alone and see other people living relaxed lives of ease. But first of all, if I can’t get you to do the hard work suited to your talent, that’s what I’d call unfair.”

“… Unfair, sir?”

Aside from grimacing, Yang knew of no other way of expressing his emotions. In Sitolet’s case, the director had probably decided to work hard willingly and of his own accord, but Yang didn’t think he was like that. At any rate, the one certain thing was that he had lost his chance to resign.

“I’ve received the following report from imperial military intelligence,” Reinhard said, looking around the assembly, and the admirals straightened their posture just slightly. “Recently, the frontier rebels of the so-called Free Planets Alliance have succeeded in stealing the empire’s frontline base of Iserlohn. This much you know already, but since then, the rebels have been massing their forces at Iserlohn in vast numbers. According to our estimates, there are two hundred thousand vessels and thirty million troops—moreover, these are bare minimum estimates.”

Murmurs of surprise and even admiration wended their way among the admirals. To command a giant fleet was a warrior’s greatest ambition, and despite this one belonging to the enemy, they still couldn’t help feeling impressed by its scale.

“What this means is as clear as day, nor can there be an iota of doubt: the rebels intend to launch an all-out assault directed at the core of our empire.” Reinhard’s eyes seemed to burn. “I have secret orders from the minister of state: the duty of intercepting and defending against this military threat is to be mine. Orders from the emperor will come down in the next couple of days. As a warrior, there is no greater honor I could hope for. I expect a good hard fight out of you all.”