Tactics and strategy.
The two words seem similar but hold entirely different meanings.
I don’t know their exact definitions myself, but roughly speaking, tactics are about winning battles, while strategy is about winning wars.
In other words, tactics are used on the battlefield, while strategy is something useful to the leadership in the rear.
And these concepts weren’t even established until the 19th century — thanks to a certain brilliant Prussian military officer.
“He practically created the entire paradigm of modern military science.”
A great figure who expanded the art of warfare — which had once been merely the practice of fighting well — into the realm of national strategy and politics.
I intended to introduce his work to this world.
Of course, not in its original form — after some necessary edits.
“If I presented it as-is, nobody would even understand it.”
Even when I was hailed as a genius and became a professor in my twenties, I struggled to interpret that book.
It took me nearly a month to figure it out.
The translations were so poor that I had to track down the original text just to understand it properly.
If I just transcribed what I remembered word-for-word, it would be treated as nothing more than an incomprehensible jumble of nonsense.
For the Helvetian Republic to truly grasp my knowledge, I needed to simplify it — maybe bring it down to the level of an ordinary tactical or professional military manual.
If I started preparing now, I could probably finish it in two months.
“Branch chief, could you inform me immediately if any information on the international situation comes in?”
“That won’t be a problem. I’ll share whatever I get with you right away, so don’t worry.”
“Thank you. I’ll be waiting, then.”
With plenty of time on my hands, I could take it easy and focus on writing for the time being.
After all, even if we didn’t interfere, the higher-ups would surely escalate the war on their own.
*****
A few days later.
Helvetian Republic, Doge’s Office.
“…Is this Kram Empire’s ultimatum?”
“Yes, sir. They’re clearly out for blood.”
Doge Enrico Dandolo clicked his tongue as he read the letter from the Kram Empire.
They had never been the most polite bunch, but this time the sheer level of insolence was on a whole new scale.
“No matter how small our nation may be, there are still basic courtesies that should be observed between countries. Did these people not even receive proper home training?”
The content of the letter could be summarized as follows:”Hey, you bastards”.
Lately, there’s been some suspicious literature spreading in your territory, and now it’s causing unrest even in ours with all this talk of national independence and whatnot.
Are you slacking off in keeping your markets under control?
We’re telling you nicely — censor those seditious books and hand over the fool who wrote them.
Do it quickly, and maybe we’ll forgive you.
“It was about a certain pamphlet that had recently become a hot topic among the Helvetian people — a booklet that called for unity and awakening among their long-divided nation.”
This piece of writing had sparked a sense of solidarity and strengthened their national pride — and the Kram Empire saw that as a problem.
The letter barely maintained the pretense of formal diplomacy.
It was rough and threatening, filled with insults — the only thing missing was outright profanity.
Their intent was clear — they wanted to eradicate anything that threatened their rule.
“Even if we capture the author, on what grounds would we punish them? Is it a crime to inspire pride in the Helvetian people?”
It was absurd.
There wasn’t even a legal statute that defined such actions as a capital offense.
If promoting national unity and awareness was a crime, then every patriot across the world would deserve the death penalty.
And even if punishment were necessary, it should be imposed by the Helvetian Republic — not dictated by the Kram Empire.
They hadn’t even confirmed whether the author was Helvetian or not.
It was pure arrogance — the behavior of bullies exploiting their superior strength.
“And even if we settle this here, they won’t stop there.”
“Exactly. Those Kram dogs will surely demand even more after this.”
“They might seize this opportunity to take our territory — or strip us of our rights and economic interests.”
Once you yielded to them even once, they would never stop.
Today they demanded a person — tomorrow, it could be land, trade rights, or money.
Parts of the Helvetian Peninsula had already fallen into the hands of the Kram Empire in just that way.
Everyone knew what would happen the moment they showed a single sign of weakness — the Kram Empire would drain them dry.
“Your Excellency, we cannot afford to show weakness here.”
“That’s right, Doge. Wasn’t this the very situation we’ve been preparing for? Now’s the time to stand firm and face them head-on.”
The officials all spoke with one voice, urging the Doge to take decisive action.
To give the order for war — just as he had long declared he would when the time came.
Doge Enrico Dandolo lowered his head, falling into a brief silence.
He had anticipated this moment and prepared for it — yet now that the decisive moment had arrived, he couldn’t help but waver.
Was this truly the right path?
Was he leading his nation to glory — or his own destruction?
“No… It’s far too late for regrets.”
But the hesitation passed quickly.
He had already come too far to turn back.
There was only one thing left to do — to see it through to the end.
The Helvetian Republic would either achieve the long-awaited independence and unify the peninsula — or be trampled and meet a tragic end.
One of these two fates awaited them.
“…How are the conscripts doing right now?”
“The first and second training units have already been assigned to their respective forces.”
“Good.”
It seemed the citizen army, formed through conscription, was finally getting on track.
The administrators had likely grown accustomed to the system, so expanding its scale shouldn’t be a problem.
Enrico Dandolo pulled out another letter from his drawer — this one from the Kingdom of Navre.
It was more polite than the Kram Empire’s message, but the content was pretty much the same.
He had been putting off replying, unsure how best to respond — but now was the time to answer them both in one go.
“Distribute recruitment propaganda across the nation and prepare the army for deployment. Once we receive a formal declaration of war, we’ll begin.”
“Yes, Your Excellency!”
“The rise and fall of the Republic and our people depend on this fight. Do your utmost to ensure victory!”
Following Enrico Dandolo’s orders, his officials drafted their responses to Kram and Navre.
The language was respectful, but there was a subtle undercurrent of anger and mockery.
The capital cities of both nations were about two weeks’ distance from the Republic, perhaps 15 to 16 days, accounting for possible delays.
Taking that into consideration, the Helvetian army mobilized about two weeks after sending their replies.
And soon enough, the flames of war engulfed the Helvetian Peninsula.
*****
“War! The war has finally begun!”
“Kyahaha! It’s time for chaos!”
“Raise a toast! Bring out the wine and the women!”
As I watched these fools pop open bottles of wine and revel in their madness, I let out a dry laugh.
“Never thought I’d see people so thrilled about death and destruction.”
The outside world was in turmoil, with two of the continent’s great powers going to war — but our organization was anything but disturbed.
If anything, they welcomed this chaos.
After all, their goal was continental disorder and social upheaval.
The more unstable things got, the easier it would be to build the new world they dreamed of.
I understood them — most of them had gathered here because they’d had enough of the current world’s corruption and hypocrisy.
But still… there was something surreal about it all.
It felt like I was watching some kind of villainous, anti-social celebration.
“Then again, I’m not really one to judge.”
I wasn’t exactly any different.
They had joined the organization because they suffered under corrupt governments and false religions — but I?
I was someone who’d been directly wronged by a goddess herself.
“….”
“What are you doing here? It’s a rare day for celebration.”
“Miss Kalia?”
“The branch chief is looking for you. He’s wondering why the day’s biggest contributor is nowhere to be seen.”
“He’s drunk, isn’t he? Tell him I’ll be there soon.”
As I sat there nibbling on cheese and ham, Kalia approached me, her cheeks flushed from drink.
She wore traditional demonfolk attire, similar to a kimono — and it suited her far too well.
I found myself momentarily unsure of where to look.
“What are you reading?”
“A report from the Helvetian branch — it outlines the current state of the war.”
I handed her the stack of papers.
I’d already read through most of it, so I didn’t really need it anymore.
“It seems the Republic’s forces got off to a strong start. They’re already spreading their reach far and wide.”
The conscripted citizen army, led by the Doge’s generals, was performing far better than expected.
Even though only a few days had passed since the start of the war, they had already secured several occupied territories.
The power of nationalism was frightening — it turned men who had never seen battle into fearless warriors.
“Well, they’d better show results after getting all that intel. We handed them everything — enemy formations, deployments, the works.”
“You’ve got a point there.”
We had been feeding them a steady stream of intelligence gathered by our agents across the region.
As long as that kept up, their momentum would likely continue for some time.
“I just hope this country gets dragged into the war soon — the more they fight and bleed, the faster they’ll fall into ruin.”
“That shouldn’t take long.”
I smiled and raised my glass.
I really was starting to feel like some mastermind plotting the world’s destruction.
“The spark’s already been lit, after all.”