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Operation Scipio was a large scale combined arms attack by the JSDF with the support of the Loyalist and Elbe force to mop up Zorzal El Caesar's defensive line to open the route to retake the capital of Sadera.
The campaign decimates all Zorzal's force defense perimeters and the majority of Zorzal's army.
Prelude
Since Japan realized that opening the Gate constantly would have serious consequences on the space-time structure between the two worlds, they began to plan for the temporary closure of the Gate while it is still possible to exploit resources in the Special Region: As planned, most of the JSDF's forces would retreat to Japan, leaving a small force in charge of protecting the Japanese representative at Alnus - responsible for dealing with diplomatic and economic issues of Japan within the Special Region.
Information rapidly spread with the legitimate government and people are very worried because without the power of Japan, it is certain that Zorzal's forces would win the Imperial Civil War. Things get worse when Diablo declares that both the Japanese and the legitimate government have been cheated by Zorzal's tricks: Zorzal's plan is to wait for Japan to close the gate and arrest Lelei and stop JSDF from returning. This led to a protest movement demanding the Japanese to stop closing the Gates. The legitimate Imperial government also had similar opinions with the desire to use the power of the JSDF during the war with Zorzal. A meeting between the legitimate government and the Japanese government took place and the Japanese finally decided to postpone the closing of the Gate due to Zorzal's continued activity, which would prove troublesome for the Japanese.
Zorzal had long awaited an attack from the JSDF and the Loyalists, relying on intelligence on the enemy's troop buildup and logistical preparations. In order to anticipate the upcoming attack, as well as create a springboard for guerrilla activities in the enemy's rear, a large number of units were arranged in an arc along the Dumas Mountains, ready for face with enemies from Italica and Arnus in anytime soon. In addition, three former bases located in the Dumas range including Mare, Fyue and Rekki have been reactivated as forward operation bases, logistics centers as well as main reserve garrison.
Carpet Bombing on Imperial force outposts
The campaign began with F-4 Phantom fighters targeting outposts, bridges, bridges, roads, and other targets of military value, to impede the Imperial defense forces and prevent them to retreat or receive reinforcements. Following the air raids was the heavy artillery shelling of additional Imperial forces to open the way for more attacks.
The Imperial armies utterly failed to repel the initial attacks, due to their lack of preparation and technological inferiority. If anything were to go in their favor, the air raids and artillery stikes invisibly alerted all the frontline units of the Empire of the incoming attack.
Imperial forces' futile resistance
- After the airstrikes and shelling ended, JSDF's armored vehicles and motorized infantry units began engaging, followed by allied forces. Once again, the Empire's technological inferiority proves decisive, with their medieval age weapons and even combat magic inflicting insignificant damage.
- Imperial forces are quickly dissolved, but they still have a few options: For instance, they could fall back to regroup. In addition, they could order a general retreat and regroup elsewhere. They should have been able to stubbornly hold out against the enemy advance in that way. However, with Oprichnina appearing on the battlefield, such strategies are prohibited. Instead, they forced the Imperial troopers to challenge the enemy before them, to fight and win with all cost. This caused the generals to hate them, but due to the fear that Oprichnina caused to the ranks of soldiers, they did not dare to resist.
- While the Oprichniki prevented the Empire's surviving frontline units from retreating sounds like a stupid move, but, considering the very fast advance speed of the JSDF's armored columns, the retreat is unlikely to be successful. Considering that, it might not be entirely unreasonable to stay and face overwhelming odds to buy time for the rear units.
Battle of Marius Hill
- Under Oprichniki's pressure, part of the Empire's surviving forces had regrouped at Marius Hill (120km northeast of Alnus) to conduct their last stand against the rapidly advancing JSDF forces. From here, they could take advantage of the mountainous terrain to make up for a technological loss in a defensive battle, or use it as a starting point to attack the flanks and rear of the JSDF's armored columns.
- The Imperial Army commander then orders a counterattack with the Wyvern and Armored Ogre: the Wyvern will fly up and shoot the arrows and tossed firebombs down the enemy line, while the Ogre will be brought to the front line as a meat shield thanks to its thick armor and huge shields which is possible to block bullets. The effects of this strategy immediately apparent: the Wyvern bombardments temporarily forced the JSDF infantry to retreat into cover from javelins and firebombs (with some casualties), while huge stones thrown at them from Armored Ogres continued to keep the JSDF heavily suppressed, as well as temporarily disabling their armor assets.
- After the attack, the battering rams were brought forward by the Imperial army. They were sharpened logs mounted on wagons, designed to break city walls and chisel out holes. Their plan was to strike the tanks — which were comparable to mobile fortresses — and leave them immobile by attempting to damage their tracks. In addition, the wagons were loaded with firewood and oil, ready to be ignited (whether intentionally or by JSDF fire). A tank does get ignited, offering a temporary morale boost until it is learned that the strategy was anticipated and completely ineffective as they cover their tanks with flank armor plates. JSDF forces continue to plow through the Imperial army.
The L7A1 tank guns fired 105mm/51 armor-piercing fin-stabilised discarding sabot rounds. Even the armored Ogres could not withstand a direct hit from those rounds at point blank range. The Ogres fell one after the other, with gaping holes blown in their bodies.The thunderous impact threw the infantry back, and then followed a silence so profound it seemed unreal. It was all the Imperial soldiers could do to throw themselves on the ground to avoid being blown away by the ear-shattering noise and the ferocious impact battering their entire bodies. The great shields that had taken direct hits from the tank cannon were blasted into the air like scattered leaves and then they fell, drawn down by gravity. The Imperial soldiers, unable to flee in time, were crushed under the metal slabs. This was the moment when all organized resistance by the Imperial Army disintegrated. Contorted in pain, the armored Ogres fell onto their backs, dragging down the Imperial soldiers behind them. The Ogres’ arms and shields were blown away in one fell swoop, and they rolled around in agony. Thus, the Imperial troops did not even have time to flee; they were smashed away one after the other by their wild flailings. The berserk Ogres regarded everything within their field of vision as enemies. They swung wildly with their clubs, sweeping away the Imperial troops under their feet - the Imperial army strongest asset, the Ogres proved to be absolutely useless against JSDF tanks and armored vehicles as they fall one after another from a single cannon's blasts plus the fact that they also extremely harmful for the Imperial own troops, depicted in volume 8 chapter 8 of the light novel
- Although the battering ram strategy fails, the Imperials devise another tactic: to use their large ogres as meat shields. However, this too utterly fails - heavy fire prevents any form of Imperial resistance from even getting close to JSDF armor, and those that do are quickly shred to pieces by concentrated fire. The Imperials begin to lose control of their ogres, which promptly go berserk and begin attacking all in sight.
- Some cavalrymen tried to attack behind the JSDF armored formation only to be shredded by the 35mm anti-aircraft artillery.
- With much of their best military assets destroyed, the chain of command severed as most of the generals and officers were killed, the majority of the Empire's soldiers quickly surrendered. The Oprichniki's fanaticism was also not motivating anymore when they were also killed by the Imperial soldiers, who had lost the courage to fight a lost battle.
Desperate and failed retreat of Imperial force
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| “ | “How, how can we beat an enemy like this?!” | „ |
| Imperial soldiers screams in anguish as they can do nothing against the JSDF advance |
Even if they had the will to fight, even if they thirsted for victory, if they had no way to fight, then all the soldiers could do was flee.
Even the terror that the Oprichnina wielded could no longer stop them.
They fiercely cast aside their useless armor and shields and weapons, and ran as fast as their breathing would allow.
And so, the Imperial army scattered in all directions, having lost all semblance of being an organized force.
They collapsed like a building under its own weight. It was a complete and utter rout.
Without any unified central command and wanting only to live, the soldiers hunkered down and looked for a chance to flee.
But there was no respite for them no matter where they ran. This was because the enemy pursued the fleeing soldiers, who had already cast off their armor to lighten themselves.
The Imperial troops were surrounded from all directions, hedged in by bayonets, and forced to surrender.
Of course, not everyone could be taken captive. A few unfortunates managed to escape.
What awaited them were the hateful gazes of the surrounding civilians. General Helm and the others might have done so in the name of fighting the JSDF, but ultimately, he and all his men had essentially waged scorched earth tactics. They had attacked villages and burned the houses and raped the women and killed the men and driven them across the land. These tactics had earned the Imperial soldiery the undying hatred of the smallfolk, and now they raised their vengeful blades against these broken men.
And so, the villagers chased them down before hacking them to pieces.
Those Imperial soldiers who realized that there was nowhere to run stepped forward, hoping that the JSDF would take them captive. The final insult was the fact that time and effort spent stripping them of their arms and sending them to the rear echelons was by far the most effective tactic in delaying JSDF’s advance.
Aftermath
The campaign was a massive success for the JSDF as they managed to annihilate the majority of Zorzal's force and break through the entirety of their defensive perimeter. From this the JSDF opens a large route for the Loyalists to join forces with them, and thus allows them to successfully assault all remaining fortresses of the Imperial Army. Initial clashes also helped the JSDF to better understand the new defensive methods of the Empire, thereby helping them to better prepare themselves for the upcoming battles. However, the stealthy and unpredictable nature of guerrilla warfare will cause JSDF to suffer more damage throughout the campaign.
- "In the past, Zorzal had thought of the Emperor and the pro-peace faction’s attitude towards Japan as being those of defeatists. However, he realized that he could no longer fault them for that anymore.
- He had lost so badly that he could not even resent it. Or rather, he had grown so used to losing that he had abandoned all hope" — Zorzal is forced to accept a hard truth, which served as a slap in the face for him.
With most of his army and fortresses now gone in a single day, Zorzal, even through the lenses of his delusional arrogance and over-inflated ego, is now finally forced to accept that Emperor Molt and the Pro-Peace Faction were correct concerning the military superiority of the JSDF over the Empire. Rather than accepting the fact that he was fighting a losing war that he was doomed to lose, Zorzal along with his inner circles self-righteously denied the JSDF Blitzkrieg as a minor setback and continued his futile war. However, as there were no Imperial survivors from the JSDF' offensive to report this to Telta and inform the Pro-War Senators and Generals of the devastation of the army plus Herm Fule Maio refused to disclose the ugly truth that his guerrilla strategies were a complete failure because of his gigantic ego and pride. Due to this, Zorzal was able to take advantage of the situation to trick the majority of them to be sacrificial distractions in the later Battle of Marais against the JSDF.