Saga of Tanya the Evil (幼女戦記)

Oh God, forgive me...

Forgive me for staining the earth with the blood of my foes,

and guide me to the promised land.

I am but a poor, ignorant lamb.

A lost lamb who is ignorant of the truth.

I sing a song of praise unto the Lord.

Oh, I praise the Lord. I praise the heart of the Lord.

Fuck you. I'd prefer to feed you to the pigs.

Attention, everyone!

What a naughty girl you are.

I'm so overcome with feeling, I can't control myself!

My little fairy...

You certainly made a mess of things.

I regret acting out of line.

But this is the will of God.

She must be defeated...

That demon!

Are you serious?

You're putting Lt. Colonel Degurechaff in charge of that combat team?

Of course.

In light of the current war situation,

we've no choice but to put her in charge of her brainchild.

But... behind that appearance of a little girl...

...is a monster.

That's what you want to say, right?

Welcome to my combat team!

My wonderful comrades-in-arms, with whom I've enjoyed my time so much...

Let us rejoice in our new comrades!

And to those of you who are new, I welcome you with open arms.

Welcome to my... to our battlefield.

This world is unfair!

And the battlefield is one insane thing after another!

And for all of you, that means...

You are now free... to choose!

Choose whether to struggle or die!

Welcome to the front lines!

It's time for war!

This story is a work of fiction. People, organizations, locations, laws, names, etc. have no relation to any real-life counterparts.

How?

How did this happen?

Unified Year 1926, Autumn

Eastern Front, Near the Front Lines

Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Infantry Commander Captain Lienhart Thon

Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Infantry XO Lieutenant Klaus Tospan

We're in enemy firing range here, too!

Give the order to retreat!

No! The principle of elastic defense requires us to defend this point!

Our infantry are a bunch of dumbasses.

What's the point of holing up in a trench there?

Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Armored Unit Commander Captain Elmer Ahrens

Our allies are cut off! We need to protect them!

Annihilate the enemy forces!

We're under attack! Fall back! Fall back!

And our tanks are poorly trained dogs who don't even know how to sit?

Our job right now isn't to attack! It's to recover our allies!

Imperial Army Salamander Combat Team Artillery Commander Captain Rolf Meybert

Our allies' base has been surrounded! We will provide support!

Artillery, full attack!

We're out of shells!

What?

And my artillery is just a random group of morons!

Have you even considered whether that base is worth all those shells?

Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 4th Company Commander Lieutenant Theobald Wüstemann

Hurry! Climb!

Stay in formation!

And our new mages aren't even worth using as human shields.

They all work hard, but they're so dumb!

Why am I in charge of this combat team?!

Episode One: Salamander Combat Team

Fuck this!

Imperial Army Strategic Headquarters 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion Commander and Salamander Combat Team Commander Lt. Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff

This is what happens when I had barely any time to train them.

What a waste of time.

Lieutenant Colonel! Fighters!

Four of them, heading our way!

Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion XO Lieutenant Viktoriya Ivanovna Serebryakov

Altitude 9500, speed 350!

They're after our surface base!

Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 3rd Company Commander Captain Rhiner Neumann

Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 2nd Company Commander Captain Wilibald Koenig

Lieutenant Grantz's unit is the closest! They're en route to provide support!

Imperial Army 203rd Aerial Mage Battalion 1st Company Commander Lieutenant Warren Grantz

We're moving as fast as we can, but those fighters will get there first!

Enemy fighters approaching!

We can't hold this position!

What the hell are those mages doing?

Damn it. I told you not to slow me down.

You got here fast.

Sorry! We'll head to intercept.

Wait.

I'll do it. Let me give everyone a tactical demonstration.

You'll do it personally?

The Federation doesn't give its fighters a mage escort.

The rest of you support the ground forces' retreat.

Dog of the Empire! There's just one of you?

You think you can take us?!

That's the Commies I know!

They love wasting bullets and soldiers' lives!

How can she move like that?

A named mage?

The Devil of the Rhine?!

I doubt anybody's learning anything from this shit.

Enemy sighted!

Show them what you learned in your training!

I'm fighting here!

Don't you know how to work with your allies?!

Now!

Die, monster!

She knocked it out of the sky?

That's what it looks like when you have the Silver Wings...

No... It's hopeless!

Oh, God!

Even the fucking Commies are begging for God's help?

I'm sick of people who keep clinging to the absurd.

Oh, Lord, grant us balance and order.

Grant us peace, and the promised land.

You are the guiding shepherd.

Guide us upon the path of hardship and lead us to the summit of the hill.

You are the promised crown of glory,

the house of honor...

A world of peace and purity.

May your gospel resound upon the Earth...

Upon the world.

Shit. Why the hell do I have to praise God?

That bastard's trying to brainwash me.

This is 02.

Our surface forces have completed their withdrawal.

Roger that.

Everyone, return to base immediately.

Also, it seems our new recruits don't know how to fight a war yet.

Once we're back, I want every single unit commander in my tent.

Salamander Combat Team Garrison

Captain Ahrens. Why did you send in your tanks?

Does the concept of "reserve forces" mean nothing to you?

And Captain Meybert, it seems you don't know how valuable an artillery shell is.

If I start deducting from your salary, will that get it through your head?

And Captain Thon and Lieutenant Tospan, are you simply stupid?

Why would you try to hole up in a forward position?

On the Eastern Front, defending our camp is our highest priority.

And Wüstemann, your maximum air time is still in the double digits?

That's pathetic.

You're gonna get shot down within the day at this rate.

Let me make this as clear as I can.

Our forces pride themselves on our speed.

But this front is huge, and we...

We can only defend a single point.

Thus, we need to make that point strong.

If we can't do that, our already depleted forces will be isolated and wiped out.

B-But ma'am, if we stay in our camp we'll be surrounded!

Elastic defense theory teaches us to never give up the initiative!

Shut up, textbook for brains!

The elastic defense theory you were taught

only works under conditions of adequate manpower,

adequate equipment, and adequate supply!

And here on the Eastern Front, that's impossible.

But you lot refuse to accept that reality.

Sheesh.

There's nothing worse than someone who's stubborn, stupid, and hardworking.

The war began with the Entente Alliance violating our borders.

Now it's spread to the whole continent.

We occupied the northern Entente Alliance territories,

but now the partisans are fighting back hard.

And down on the southern continent,

we're still fighting a group calling itself the Free Republic.

Our war against the Federation on the eastern front

shows every sign of turning into a quagmire.

Somewhere in Moskva, People's Party Conference Room

We are taking heavy losses at the hands of the Imperial Army.

And those who allowed this to happen must suffer the people's wrath!

And thus, we must come together!

Party Leader Comrade Secretary Josef

People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs Committee Member Comrade Loria

We must give our former comrades a chance to atone!

We must bring in the mages that we sent away

for the crime of siding with the old order!

B-But the very existence of mages goes against party principles.

Oh? Comrade, are you saying that you're opposed to having

these counterrevolutionary elements fight the Imperial Army?

N-No! I just...

Comrade Secretary,