Editing Tytania:Volume 3 Chapter 3 (section)

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It was known as the “Phoney War<ref name="ftn8">“Fake war” (いんちき戦争) is pronounced “phoney war”. Originally, the Phoney War refers to the initial phase of WWII between France and Germany in 1939-1940, where both countries were officially at war but hesitant to attack one another.</ref>”. People began calling by that name the conflict between the Republic of Bargash and the Vardana Empire (that is, Tytania), which had commenced in December, SY&nbsp;446, in February of the following year.

It was not due to the fact that not a single drop of blood had been shed, since tens of thousands had perished due to the fierce ground assaults on military outposts conducted by the Tytanian army prior to the occupation. Nevertheless, the fact that a decisive frontal engagement between the great fleets had been avoided gave onlookers the distinct impression that the situation was being handled in a half-hearted and haphazard manner.

Those who sought to curry favour with mighty Tytania argued that “Bargash must be thoroughly punished in order to protect the order of the entire universe, the honour of Tytania, and true peace.” However, since Bargash had refrained from armed resistance, Lord Ariabert, the commander-in-chief, had no intention of launching an attack against an opponent offering no opposition and instead focused his efforts on pursuing the whereabouts of the Blaze Flag Army.

While the term “Blaze Flag Army” was used as a collective with the Tytania faction, it was in reality a rather disordered composite force consisting of Fan Hyulick’s faction and the Bargash government forces under the command of Rear-Admiral Turbil. The missing forces were estimated at 84,400&nbsp;men, 2,490&nbsp;vessels, and over 12,600&nbsp;pieces of anti-aircraft weaponry, anti-ship weaponry, and ground combat armoured vehicles, yet these figures remained nothing more than mere estimates.

''“After all, your army’s ground assault caused immense damage, yes. We have received reports that our units were completely annihilated. As for our ships, we heard they were utterly destroyed. Our evidence? Well, there isn’t so much as a speck of dust left of them.”''

To put it somewhat hyperbolically, that was Bargash’s response. Gritting their teeth, the Tytania forces had no choice but to conduct the search and investigation on their own.

Within the Tytania forces, the activities of Commander Granite, who had served as senior ''aide-de-camp'' to Duke Zarlisch Tytania, were nothing short of remarkable. He was a man who had repeatedly offered counsel to the late Zarlisch, only to be ignored, and had ultimately been forced to witness the untimely death of his superior; as such, he should have been held accountable for his failure to fulfil his duties as his adjutant. However, Ariabert felt rather sympathetic toward his situation and merely issued a formal reprimand and a six-month pay cut, while explicitly stating his intent to “allow him to atone for his faults through merit.”

Moved by this, Commander Granite acted immediately under Ariabert’s orders. Leading a platoon of high-speed patrol ships, he attacked a transport ship of the Blaze Flag Army, capturing the vessel and taking the captain and crew as prisoners of war. Through these captives, Ariabert was able to conduct negotiations with the Blaze Flag Army. According to third-party commentary:

“In other words, Lord Ariabert intimidated the original Blaze Flag Army. He demanded them to hunt down Fan Hyulick’s faction with your own hands, and if they failed to do so, he would hold them accountable for their crimes.”

That was precisely what had happened. However, the intimidated Blaze Flag Army did not submit easily. Their pride wounded, they resorted to threatening language against Ariabert. They questioned what he would do if their entire army chose to side with Fan Hyulick’s faction. They suggested that perhaps he ought not to adopt such an overbearing attitude.

“Very well, then. If you intend to join Fan Hyulick’s faction and fight against Tytania, then I shall simply annihilate all of you at once. No need to hold back; go and join him at once.”

Had anyone other than Ariabert said it, they would have thought of it as nothing more than a “hollow boast”. However, the executives of the Blaze Flag Army, who were by nature quite unruly, found themselves intimidated by his quiet confidence and the actual strength that supported it.

Ariabert had seen the truth with perfect insight. The Blaze Flag Army no longer possessed the rebellious spirit of its former days; they had dwindled into an existence that would merely kneel before overwhelming power. At the same time, Ariabert offered them a morsel of Tytania-style sweetness. He promised that, provided they did not become an obstacle to Tytania, he would grant the Blaze Flag Army honourable treatment, perhaps even a status equal to that of the regular army, or the rights to legal shipping routes.

The Blaze Flag Army surrendered.

In this manner, with the success of only a single, small-scale operation, Ariabert Tytania had achieved the neutralisation of the Blaze Flag Army’s mainstream faction.

Beside him, his diplomatic advisor, Count Elman Tytania, acknowledged that Ariabert was more than just a simple man of arms. During this expedition, Ariabert had achieved success in every theatre except for a decisive fleet battle. Should he be given the opportunity, in such a confrontation he would likely secure an overwhelming victory as well. If that were to happen, he would literally achieve the military feat of completely conquering a nation.

“It is a feat of too great a magnitude. For Lord Ariabert, it might instead become a calamity. If so, perhaps it would be better to remain without a final fleet battle…”

Count Elman pondered upon this. The other Tytania nobles could not remain indifferent to the question of which of the three dukes—Ariabert, Jouslain, or Idris—would ascend to the throne as the next Clanner.

Personally, Count Elman had hoped for a shared governance between Ariabert and Jouslain, but such expectations almost always end unfulfilled. He could have lived a life free of major incident had he merely been content to remain idle in the ''status quo'', yet he had taken a step forward to secure a seat within the diplomatic and political manoeuvring divisions of the Tytania power structure. If he could envision a future configuration and succeed in making it a reality, his status and authority would be strengthened.

Should Idris seize control of the next administration and begin to wield dictatorial powers, Count Elman would have no choice but to return once more to the life of a middle-ranking noble, neither a boon nor a burden to anyone. That was not what Count Elman desired.

Count Elman had no intention of becoming the Clanner himself. He knew well enough that he lacked the necessary stature. However, he believed he could exert his influence to ensure a new Clanner was established, and he would find it gratifying to have his merits justly recognised.

There was another reason why the Blaze Flag Army had come to cooperate with Ariabert. It was because Lee Shanchen, known as Doctor Lee, who had once been their ally, had declared open hostility towards both Tytania and the main body of the Blaze Flag Army. They had endeavoured to punish the traitor under the pretext of doing so, but had seen no results.

“If the Blaze Flag Army has exerted such effort and still failed to locate him, should we not say that it isn’t Fan Hyulick’s clique’s escape that is skilful, but rather the Blaze Flag Army’s tracking and search capabilities that are lacking?”

When Rear-Admiral Paulsen made that remark, Ariabert gazed at his staff officer with a look that could not hide its sarcasm.

“A fitting description, Rear-Admiral Paulsen. Then, how do you think Tytania’s capabilities in that same field should be described?”

Rear-Admiral Paulsen flushed red, and Ariabert fell into a somewhat brooding silence. Even without third parties branding it a “Phoney War”, he himself found the futility of this conflict unbearable.

“Records remain that the fleet under the command of Rear-Admiral Turbil took off. There are even witnesses. But we simply do not know where they went.”

The records of the Navigation Bureau were blank. Under normal circumstances, false data would have been inserted, but it appeared they lacked sufficient time for such sabotage. In other words, the fugitives’ plan must have taken a long time to execute. Perhaps they had failed to obtain the approval of the Bargash government. Or perhaps, rather than ascending to the heavens, they had burrowed into the earth.

Consequently, acting upon the recommendation of Commander Granite, Ariabert launched an attack on the Tarhari Desert, which Zarlisch had chosen as his final destination. Had Fan Hyulick’s faction been hiding within the underground cave systems, they would undoubtedly have been buried under hundreds of millions of tons of rock and debris.

A total of five hundred thousand missiles were concentrated in a fifty-kilometre radius; the earth shuddered, heatwaves swirled, and debris turned to dust, rising as clouds to reach ten thousand metres above the ground. The desert was transformed into a highly active volcano. Ariabert had hoped for the effect of intimidation rather than the efficacy of the strike itself. Trillions of dust particles scattered the starlight, and for the following two months, the planet Bargash was forced to behold a setting sun that resembled a clot of blood.

It was the following day that Count Elman brought his report to Ariabert.

“It appears that Fan Hyulick’s faction has been discovered, Duke.”

Ariabert gazed silently at Count Elman’s earnest expression. Between him and Count Elman lay a fifteen-year age gap and a fundamental difference in their ways of thinking. Ariabert was not so narrow-minded as to reject the significance of others on those grounds, and he was well aware of his own youth. Yet, for some reason, he could not deny the faint sense of unease that stirred within him when facing this middle-aged nobleman.