Editing Tytania:Volume 4 Chapter 7 (section)

=== II ===
Looking back now, Zarlisch’s sheer, forceful ferocity felt almost nostalgic. Every single vessel would charge forward with a roaring cry, crushing the enemy. Defeat, retreat, withdrawal—such words did not exist within Zarlisch’s army. There was only fierce assault, strenuous struggle, and valiant combat.

Yet, in the height of irony, a swarm of allied vessels blocked the path of Zarlisch’s former subordinates. There was no way they could simply force their way through them.

Commodore Redgrape, one of Zarlisch’s former subordinates, bellowed in indignation:

“These miscalculations are far too extreme! What is the point of leaving our finest elite units as mere-patrol forces? By the time our moment will come, it will already be too late!”

However, it was understandable from Idris’ perspective. It was precisely because he considered Zarlisch’s former subordinates to be the absolute elite that he had been preserving them. Had he waited for the right moment to commit those fresh, unscathed forces all at once, the allied forces of Ariabert and Jouslain should have fallen into total disarray.

But Idris failed to seize the opportunity. He missed several chances to deploy the fresh reinforcements. No, no, that was not quite it. It was Ariabert who had prevented Idris from ever seizing his moment.

Like masters of three-dimensional chess, the two young Tytania nobles deployed their available forces to various strategic points. Their minds clashed, sparks flying across distances and dimensions.

However, there was one decisive difference from three-dimensional chess. Idris was not afforded the luxury of deep thought. Ariabert had forced the conflict into a swift, short-term engagement and, by destroying the harbour gate of Uraniborg, had significantly depleted Idris’ massive army. This, too, had been a major miscalculation on Idris’ part.

Among the Uraniborg forces, trapped within the harbour due to the destruction of the gate, an argument had broken out between the officers and the soldiers.

“Don’t you lot get lax! We’re just unable to go out at the moment. No armistice or peace treaty has been signed. The order to ''sortie'' might come at any moment!”

“We can hear you perfectly well, even without you shouting.”

“You there, what did you say? If you don’t curb that insolent attitude, you’ll be spending forty-eight hours in the brig!”

“The brig? Thank you, that increases my chances of survival. I suppose I shall drink the wine of victory once I wake up.”

“You insolent wretch!”

Watching the scene, another officer let out a sigh.

“What an eyesore. Back when Duke Zarlisch was still with us, such a state of affairs would have been unimaginable. To think we’ve fallen in such disgrace in barely six months.”

Had Zarlisch been alive, he would have taken the lead of the fleet and launched a preemptive strike the moment he learned of Ariabert and the others approaching. While such a move might have been reckless, Idris, who had approached the battle with undue caution, had instead ended up creating numerous skirmishers and failing to capitalise on his own advantages.

It was originally a battle between allies. At first, there was no rise in morale, but as the exchange of artillery fire intensified and the fireballs and flashes increased, the professional soldierly consciousness among Zarlisch’s troops, who had already deployed outside Uraniborg grew rapidly accompanied by excitement.

“Are we going to lose just like this?”

“More like are we going to lose without even fighting?”

“The name of His Grace the late Zarlisch will be disgraced!”

“We were the ones who made the military might of Tytania shine throughout the cosmos!”

“Duke Ariabert, what can he possibly do?!”

Further emboldened by their own words, Zarlisch’s former subordinates began their advance. Seeing this, Idris attempted to stop them but ultimately abandoned the idea. He reconsidered, thinking that there was no time to hold back Zarlisch's former men. There was nothing quite like using their great prowess to deal a fatal blow to the enemy's strength.

This was exactly what Ariabert had hoped for. Before Zarlisch’s former subordinates could rush to the front lines, he concentrated his fire on Uraniborg’s Rear-admiral Edulton’s unit to solidify a favourable tactical position, while simultaneously slamming his mobile forces into the left flank.

As a result, in an attempt to evade the fierce onslaught from the left, Rear-admiral Edulton’s unit moved all at once towards the right. It was a predictable reaction, and one that did not exceed Ariabert’s expectations. Space mines, numbering around five hundred, were drifting in the direction of Rear-admiral Edulton’s movements. Following the screams of the reconnaissance officer, the first flash of an explosion erupted, triggering a chain reaction that stirred up a cloud of light.

“Concentration and speed.”

Ariabert believed that this was the very essence of military command on the battlefield, and he executed it with precision and steadfastness. While Idris was preoccupied with over-analysing the meaning behind every enemy movement, Ariabert utilised his mobility to deliver a stinging blow before swiftly withdrawing. From the perspective of Zarlisch’s school of tactical thought, one would have been tempted to curse him, shouting, “Fight with dignity, you cunning coward!”

Zarlisch’s former subordinates clung to the retreating enemy.

“Advance! Advance! Do not retreat!”

Commodore Redgrape, who claimed to be the successor to the late Duke Zarlisch—though not in the eyes of others—rose his massive frame from his command seat. He planted one foot on the floor and braced the other against the seat. To the young soldiers watching him, his presence appeared nothing less than reassuring.

“Two consecutive broadsides! And then, advance five thousand kilometres!”

“Blow away those rebels at 10:30 position, all at once!”

The order was carried out almost perfectly. In that regard, Commodore Redgrape was a brave and useful commander. However, the Duke, who had been able to control Commodore Redgrape’s reckless charge at a higher level, was no longer of this world.

Commodore Redgrape’s unit charged headlong, lacking coordination with the other units. This left them isolated and separated from their allies. Ariabert was not about to let this slip by. First, over a hundred single-seat fighters unleashed sharp, hit-and-run volleys of fire.

Three thick beams converged upon the wounded side of the hull. Incandescent fissures glowed with iridescent colours, as if the hands of an invisible giant were tearing the ship apart.

The battleship ''Fleetwood'', along with Commodore Redgrape, was transformed into an orange fireball and scattered into dozens of great serpents of light.

Having lost their flagship, Redgrape’s fleet fell into chaos without any formal delegation of command. It was then that Ariabert’s forces launched an assault, employing a three-to-one tactic. Redgrape’s remaining forces were forced to face three enemies at once and were destroyed in rapid succession. The three undamaged ships then set upon the next target, causing it to explode in an equally brief interval.

The disadvantage in overall numbers had been completely overturned through the thorough application of remarkable “concentration and speed”. At this moment, Idris, feeling the thirst in his throat as expected, was drinking some mineral water, but he clicked his tongue while still clutching the bottle and issued an order to the reconnaissance officer.

“Switch the display to Screen B!”

The screen switched immediately, displaying a different scene from the battlefield. Although it was supposed to have happened, the operators were under the illusion for a few seconds that the switch had failed. This was because there was almost no difference in the sight depicted on the screen.

Against a backdrop of dancing light and shadow, a scene of one-sided destruction and slaughter unfolded. Since both sides were regular Tytania forces, there should have been no disparity in the capabilities of the vessels. Their individual combat abilities should also have been equal, yet when it came to collective action, the level of sophistication was entirely different.

“Zarlisch’s Fleet exists only because of Duke Zarlisch.”

The one who lamented so was Commander Granite, who often served as a moderating influence while under Zarlisch’s command.

Commander Granite looked to the heavens in despair. Having maintained a fairly calm assessment of the late Duke Zarlisch, he found himself preoccupied by the fact that the enemy general was none other than Duke Ariabert.

The perception was that of the ruthless general Zarlisch pitted against the wise general<ref name="ftn40">Another one of these terms for leaders: ''chishou'' (智将) “wise general”, that describes a commander who is a brilliant tactician and strategist.</ref> Ariabert. To be sure, while Ariabert did not lack for cunning and certainly surpassed Zarlisch in prudence and judgement, he was ultimately an orthodox and meticulous commander who never resorted to unconventional or nonsensical tactics.

However, Commander Granite knew that Zarlisch, who should have been superior in raw strength, had met an unexpected death at the hands of Fan Hyulick. It was that very experience that misled the Commander. It was for this reason that, in this chaotic era, Fan Hyulick would be remembered as the “Trickster of the Battlefield”.

''“The individual known as Fan Hyulick was not particularly ambitious, nor did he possess a great passion for reform, nor did he lead vast armies to conduct magnificent large-scale battles. His military victories were such that they might almost be considered accidental, yet it remains a fact that the results exerted an immense political influence.”'' (M.&nbsp;Thornycroft)

This assessment was likely correct, but it undoubtedly overlooked a crucial point. The victories achieved through Hyulick’s unorthodox stratagems had a significant impact on the soldiers who fought in actual combat. The shock inflicted upon the military by the fact that “vast armies could be defeated through nonsensical, unconventional tactics” was profound.

Because the defeats of Ariabert and Zarlisch had been so striking, tactics that were originally intended as a “cornered rat bites the cat” desperation move were instead romanticised and celebrated. In terms of military theory, heresy had pushed orthodoxy aside. While Fan Hyulick should not have been held responsible, it was ironic that had he simply lost while leading the Euria army as the high command had planned, the Tytanian Age might never have been shaken.

Regardless of his personal intentions, Fan Hyulick had indeed created the catalyst that changed history. Before it began, the Battle of Cerberus was thought to be nothing more than a local skirmish, and even the victors believed so once it had concluded.