Youjo Senki - Volume 13 - Chapter 2

[chapter] II House of Cards

DOCUMENTARY: GENERAL ZETTOUR’S RESOLVE / A DRAMATIC REENACTMENT

War is full of mysteries.

More than its fair share, one might say.

Regarding the east in particular, most documents have been lost, and testimony from those involved in the war is vague and contains massive discrepancies.

However, unexpected time capsules from the past can also provide surprising answers to long-standing mysteries. Today, those answers come straight from the vault of a high-ranking foreign affairs official in the former Empire.

If the Londinium University research group tasked with cataloging surviving documents on behalf of the official’s family did not find a certain message, it would have surely been lost beneath the avalanche of history.

What we present to you now is a never-before-seen note, written by General Zettour himself, for a certain official in the Foreign Office with whom he had been close.

In truth, the existence of this note had already been known, with existing testimony attesting that General Zettour and the official had engaged in close conversation while in attendance at a New Year’s banquet, during which Zettour had written something on a napkin that he then passed to the official. This practical connection was one already known to scholars beforehand.

However, while the meaning of this connection had been a subject of focus, with General Zettour and this Foreign Office counselor interacting socially in public view during the banquet, previous scholars had paid very little attention to the actual contents of the notes, perhaps because the note had yet to be found.

According to a certain authority on the subject, “most had likely assumed the two were simply wishing each other a happy New Year.”

But what of the newly discovered note? Was it simply seasonal greetings, as expected? Or mundane everyday work matters? Perhaps even a cheeky little joke?

No, it was none of these things.

To someone at the time, the phrase written on that napkin could only be seen as a somewhat pretentious and roundabout smattering of words, but for modern scholars, familiar with history, it was an astonishing discovery.

In light of the importance of this discovery, careful consideration was required when determining its authenticity. To be certain, authorities at Londinium University investigated everything from the handwriting down to the paper composition of the napkin and even the ink that had been used. And to be doubly sure they had not missed anything, they even sought out cooperation from Commonwealth intelligence agencies, eventually concluding that “we cannot rule out the possibility that this note is authentic and, at the very least, could not find any evidence of forgery.”

Now then, let us take a look at the note for ourselves.

It says, The Rising Dawn is near—however, Morning Light will soon follow.

Anyone present at the time might have simply laughed this note off as something written by the general in jest while at a New Year’s party. Perhaps its meaning was not that significant.

But then why would this once high-ranking official in the Imperial Foreign Office have preserved it so carefully? Today’s modern scholars possess the keys to unlocking that mystery.

One such key is the fact that the Empire’s New Year’s banquet was held just shortly before a strategic offensive conducted by the Federation known as Operation Rising Dawn. The other, the Empire’s counterattack known as Operation Morning Light.

Naturally, the strange connection between the names Rising Dawn and Morning Light was something that had not failed to capture notice. The Imperial Army was supposedly caught off guard by the Federation’s Rising Dawn offensive and in disarray. For General Zettour to name his response, a hastily concocted defensive plan, as Morning Light?

Both sides have kept a tight lid on their secrets since then, but the connection remains highly unusual. The choice of names, however, was largely considered to be a rare coincidence.

But what if Morning Light had already been planned in anticipation of a Rising Dawn? What if—while the Federation was busily preparing Rising Dawn—General Zettour, meanwhile, was back at the imperial capital, scribbling a note for one of the leading officials in the Foreign Office, advising him not to worry?

This is one of the mysteries of history. What follows is a video reenactment. How much of history was decided in that moment? Please enjoy this reproduction, based on the latest academic theories.