"This is my V-17 Widowmaker Musket! There are many like it, but this one is mine!"
The sounds of infantrymen reciting their creed leaked into Zanack's private office of his encampment as he sat at his desk.
Due to distinguishing himself during the Drussian-Panish war a year and a half ago, Zanack has since earned himself the rank of field marshal, the highest possible rank within the Imperial Army excluding the commander-in-chief.
If Zanack were to revise the officer ranks and subdivisions within the Imperial Army it would be as follows:
Regiments composing of 500 men which was commanded by a colonel.
Battalions composing of two regiments which was commanded by a brigadier.
And finally the army corps itself which was commanded by a field marshal. An army corps may compose of battalions numbering between ten and twenty but even then, these numbers are subject to change in order to suit the situation.
There were also miscellaneous divisions such as auxiliary divisions and dragoon divisions within an army corps although they were ranked as seperate from the hierarchy.
As a field marshal, Zanack was in charge of the highly prestigious 101st Alpha Corps.
As of this moment, there were only three army corps within the Imperial Drussian Armed Forces. These three being the 363rd Gamma Corps, 999th Omega Corps and of course, the 101st Alpha Corps.
Out of the three, it is commonly agreed that the 363rd Gamma Corps was the least professional and competent, although it is still a force to be reckoned with.
Gamma Corps was the only army corps to not be supplemented with any miscellaneous divisions and was composed of Imperial Army recruits who passed the test and are combat ready, but were not outstanding when compared to their other counterparts.
Gamma Corps were tasked with the protection and civil order of the middle-class regions of Drussia, with most minor cities within the Imperium of Drussia having at least one Gamma Corps battalion garrisoned within them.
On the other hand, the 999th Omega Corps consisted of the top graduates within the Imperial Army and had a sizeable amount of miscellaneous divisions within their ranks.
Similarly to the Gamma Corps, Omega Corps was instead tasked with the security of the core regions of Drussia, with at least one Omega Corps battalion being garrisoned within every major Drussian city of the core regions.
Unlike its cousins, the Omega Corps was not commanded by a field marshal but instead, it was under the command of the Commander-in-chief herself; Erika Bismark Pollorov and as such, has complete access to the Imperium's most secret and experimental weapon projects and research.
The remaining army corps would be Zanack's army corps, the 101st Alpha Corps.
Instead of being tasked with the protection of certain regions, Alpha Corps was tasked with one thing and one thing only.
And that was to be the main primary force of any Drussian invasion expedition.
Composed of mostly Violet Army veterans, the Alpha Corps could be considered the most experienced of the three army corps. Although Alpha Corps may be supplemented by Omega Corps it was Alpha Corps that made up the bulk of any Drussian invasion expedition force.
This meant that Alpha Corps would always be at the front of any and every Drussian offensive due to their purpose for existing alone.
And that meant that there was no shortage of opportunities for Zanack to once again distinguish himself in the future.
And it would seem that one of those opportunities was closer than Zanack originally thought.
"Field Marshal, Zanack Sir."
One of Zanack's colonels; Colonel Greg Vulberg saluted at Zanack as he entered into the private office. Within a few moments he gave Zanack a letter before he explained its origins.
"A message has arrived from the capital. It was sealed with the Imperial Dunnwal Seal."
"Is that so."
Greg only nodded silently at Zanack in response.
Soon Zanack took his letter knife as he proceeded to open and read the letter.
The letter read.
"The snake travels east to find its prey."
Zanack could not stop the smile from forming on his face when he read the contents of the message.
Zanack stood up and moved to the mirror to check on and fix his appearance as he gave his next set of orders to Greg.
"Summon Frederick and all the brigadiers for an immediate meeting in the command tent."
"Yes sir."
...
At the break of dawn, the brigadiers of the 101st Alpha Corps gathered within the command tent of the encampment.
One of these brigadiers being Jakob Kriez Deimer of the 7th Alpha Battalion.
Unlike his peers Jakob was not a former member of the now disbanded Violet Army, but was instead a graduate from the newly established cadet school the Officer Cadet Academy which was only open to the Drussian nobility.
Even then, Jakob's performance within the academy has distinguished himself as a highly competent officer and eventually he graduated within only one year.
Apparently his achievements has caught the eye of the Alpha Corps' field marshal, Zanack Dugall Xavos who personally visited and invited Jakob into the 101st Alpha Corps.
Jakob was given a choice between Alpha Corps or Omega Corps but in the end, Jakob became a brigadier of the Alpha Corps when he discovered that the Alpha Corps' primary purpose was to act as the main force within any Drussian invasion into any other nation.
"Brigadier Jakob Kriez Diemer reporting in."
Jakob checked in as he entered the command tent before he took his seat among the command table which had a map of the entire mainland continent spread out on top of it.
Soon, the table was filled with the highest ranking members of Alpha Corps. The field marshal; Zanack and the first lieutenant; Frederick with the rest of the seats being occupied by the fifteen brigadiers of Alpha Corps.
Although Jakob was eager to learn the reason for this meeting, he did not let that eagerness show on his face. Like the rest of the brigadiers, he instead kept a professional expression on his face.
After glancing around the room, Zanack was the first to speak within the meeting.
"We have finally received the order. Soon the 101st Alpha Corps will be authorised to deploy and move its forces within foreign territory."
Zanack paused for a short moment to let what he said sink in before he continued.
"Although the emperor is eager is test the might of the Imperial Drussian Armed Forces, the establishment and reforms of the Imperium of Drussia has left Drussia's situation temporarily unstable but that is no longer the case."
A look of slight excitement started to show on the brigadier's faces when they heard what Zanack had to say. Nevertheless, the field marshal continued to explain the situation.
"Now that the Imperium's political and economic status has stabilised, we are no longer required here to ensure the security of the nation. Now, we are required to expand the borders of the nation."
Zanack pointed to Drussia's location on the map on the table as he said this.
"Our navy's capacities are currently unable to reliably handle the mass transportation of troops. This means that if we are to do an invasion, it can only be a land invasion into one of our neighbouring countries. The only question left is which nation to invade."
After he said this, Zanack pointed at Fance.
"The Fench Empire is completely out of the question. Their lands are vast and their borders are well secured, not to mention the fact that they are likely to give military access of their lands to the Panish Empire once the tables begin to turn against them."
Zanack kept his calm and professional composure as he continued to brief the brigadiers.
"Even if we were to somehow overcome the combined might of two of the greatest powers on this continent, the victory will be short lived. The populace is very likely to be rebellious and unruly, meaning that asserting control of former Fench territories will be costly."
When Zanack said this, he changed the direction of his finger from Fance to Ostria.
"To our south, it is possible to advance on the Kingdom of Ostria whose army can be easily overcome. However, the Panish-Drussian war has cost the Ostrians princess Victoria, which has devastated both the kingdom and the king himself."
As Zanack spoke, Jakob noticed something within the eyes of the first lieutenant of the Alpha Corps; Frederick. For a moment Jakob thought he saw a look of regret and grief but Jakob quickly shook of these thoughts. Instead he continued listening to Zanack.
"The death of the princess has since thrown most of the Kingdom into turmoil which was further emphasised when the last living heir to the Ostrian throne; princess Valentina suddenly disappeared."
The more Zanack spoke, the more uncomfortable Frederick appeared to be.
"All of this combined with the Turkmen threat from their south, has ravaged their economy. If the Imperium were to annex Ostrian territories, it would have nothing to gain apart from meaningless land."
Soon after, Zanack once again changed the nation he pointed at with his finger. This time, he pointed at the nation east of Drussia.
"So that leaves the Imperium with only one viable option left. The Kingdom of Porrand."
Soon, Zanack began explaining why the invasion Porrand was the best course of action for Drussia.
"Porrand is not a military powerhouse nor do they have a high-risk population. From our recent reports, we have discovered that a substantial amount of people living within Porrand are actually of Drussian decent. In other words, there are ethnic Drussians living within Porrand."
Once again, Zanack paused to let what he said sink in before he continued.
"Within 24 hours, the entire 101st Alpha Corps will be mobilised. By then the Imperium would have already made the declaration of war against the Porish. We will cross through the Drussian-Porish border where we will then set up camp and hold our ground."
[Hold our ground instead of marching on? But why?] Although that's what Jakob wanted to ask, he instead decided to hold his lips together and let Zanack continue explaining.
"Our only objective is to provoke and sow confusion in the Porrish forces. This course of action will lure them into attempting to expel us while we are still at their border."
That was all Zanack needed to say for Jakob to decipher the emperor's plans.
"However, we will not be holding that point indefinitely. After around two or three months, reinforcements from Omega Corps will arrive in the form of three battalions and five auxiliary divisions. These reinforcements will be commanded by Emperor Maxwell himself."
Although looks of surprise grew on the brigadier's faces, it seemed that Zanack ignored them as he continued speaking.
"As such, under no circumstances are any elements of Alpha Corps to advance without authorisation from the Emperor himself. Apart from this, the emperor is expecting a flawless performance from the 101st Alpha Corps."
Zanack stood up as he concluded the briefing.
"Neither I nor the emperor want excuses. We only wants results."