The Saga of Tanya the Evil Volume 6

It was no wonder that when faced with such spine-chilling possibilities, he
was drawn to preventive measures. The logic of an operations specialist was
screaming at him that they should strike without delay.

Zettour couldn’t deny that his indecision was lame.

“This is the hard thing about war. When the options you have are limited, as a
soldier, you’re forced to choose the least awful one even though you know it
isn’t optimal.”

“In other words?”

“I can’t refuse an aggressive plan with the purpose of defense.”

He saw that Rudersdorf was smiling wryly when he came into his peripheral
vision.

“But you don’t agree with it. This is you we’re talking about, after all. There’s
probably also the caveat, as long as you know where the reinforcements are
coming from, right?”

“That’s right.” Zettour nodded.

You can do a limited offensive as defense only when it will connect to what
happens next. Offensives take a lot of willpower.

“…Withdrawing wholesale from the east or setting up the Council for Self-
Government as a buffering state could be options.”

“No, they couldn’t.”

All Zettour could do, getting rejected so bluntly, was wince. “Oh, don’t shoot
me down like that. Though I do admit that possibilities are scarce. But in all
things, until we check whether the cat is dead, the future is uncertain… We can
only think as flexibly as the number of alternatives we don’t eliminate.”

“Then are you saying you have a plan to convince the Communists to allow
the separatists their independence?”

“See, you understand the idea of a buffer state.”

With a “hmm,” Rudersdorf nodded. “…Would the Federation’s nationalism
allow it?”

It was a sharp point to make.

“It’s probably impossible.” Zettour could state with confidence that, “The
Federation’s people probably won’t allow it.”

When asked about the latest developments with the monster of nationalism,
he could answer immediately. Even the people who rebelled against the
Communist Party were giving themselves up to the Federation Army and
fighting to the death against the invading Empire.

The fusion of propaganda and nationalism boasted enough power to unite
even the antiestablishment faction beneath the party.

Love for one’s fatherland wasn’t logical.

Their own feelings toward their Heimat were fierce. No matter how much
blood spilled over their mother earth, they would surely cling to the land.

Rudersdorf was about to counter—“So then”—when Zettour made a further
remark.

“But the Communist Party might.”

“Huh? Are you insane, Zettour?”

“Oh, I’m quite sane.”

“We’re talking about the Communist Party that has forsaken ideology in favor
of nationalism! You really think they’ll be that flexible?”

Rudersdorf’s question seemed to come from the bottom of his heart, and it
was commonsense doubt. Any sensible person would surely agree.

Although as an idea from a General Staff officer, it was no good. Even if this
cessation of thought didn’t get you an F in war college, it would definitely get
you chewed out by your instructor.

“But have you forgotten the problem of possibilities?”

“Ngh.”

Zettour could understand his frowning old friend’s displeasure, but he had
stated the premise without affectation. Logic was a strange product that could
even arise in ordinary, ugly cases.

“As long as a possibility can’t be rejected, we should consider it. Things aren’t
going so well for us that we can afford to be choosy.”

Up against an enemy who was capable of weighing their advantages, he
wouldn’t have been surprised even if some unusual deal materialized—even if it
was hard to call them a rational player they could do deals with.

It was dangerous to expect them to be reasonable. But rejecting them as
unreasonable was equally dangerous. Clinging to wishful thinking and
considering your options were two very different things.

That was why they needed alternative plans and considerations. Having some
kind of idea down on paper was much better than a blank page.

“Either way,” Zettour continued quietly, sounding tired, “we shouldn’t try to
grasp politics or war via common sense. The damn Federation Army took all
those losses without yielding and is putting together a spring offensive!”

No joke or anything else, as a logistics expert, Zettour was dizzy. Judging from
the scale of the personnel they were moving and the amount of matériel, the
true power of the Federation was enough to cause real trouble.

The fact that it wouldn’t do for him to grumble This is unbearable made it
even worse. All he could do was brace himself.

If you know you can’t escape the turmoil, at least you know. There shouldn’t
be any reason you can’t move on to the next thing.

“What we need now is determination and resignation. Nothing will surprise
us anymore.”

APRIL 18, UNIFIED YEAR 1927, IMPERIAL ARMY NORTHERN MILITARY
DISTRICT, SALAMANDER KAMPFGRUPPE GARRISON

How much easier would it be if she could laugh off the nonsense coming out
of the receiver?

She’s wholeheartedly fed up and stifles a sigh; the griping and shrieking of her
lungs must be psychogenic due to the stress as she thinks, Again?!

A spring offensive?

Now?

…Honestly, it makes no sense.

No, I understand that the Federation Army is going on the offensive. States
take military action in pursuit of some tactical objective or strategic goal. So it’s
not as if it’s impossible to grasp that the Federation must have some sort of
purpose in mind.

But even so, a general offensive all along the imperial lines is impossible to
understand.

If the Unified States were joining the war, it could be a huge distraction to
keep the Imperial Army pinned to the eastern front…but as it stands, all they’ll
accomplish is probably creating new salients.

“…Does the Federation Army think they can win? I can’t figure out what their
goal is.”

As far as Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff can tell, there’s no
military rationale or political necessity for it.

“A complete mystery is definitely the right description for it.”

If you order soldiers to charge defensive positions that are holding strong, it’s
hard to avoid ending up with heaps of corpses. The road will be paved with
bleached bones.

That said, nothing is impossible.

Even my beloved market principle doesn’t always operate unfailingly.

Conflicts fought by irrational actors—humans—tend to go racing off in
unreasonable directions amid the mistakes and misunderstandings born of the
fog of war.

Thinking you can predict the future is too arrogant.

…The only thing that is certain is uncertainty.

“Have we reached the realm of wordplay? More like theological debate.”

A world so annoying that ordinary people can’t even fathom it. The only
solution is to prioritize what’s happening in the field rather than quibbling

about logic.

There are plenty of things that Logos would tell you couldn’t be but exist
nonetheless. In that case, logic is a mistake.

This is how natural science defines the world.

Observe, measure, and classify. If you can’t do that, then your only option is
to try again until you find a category that fits.



A picture is worth a thousand words is a saying that’s true to life—but only if
you can accurately observe the phenomena. Humans are creatures who can’t
even remember what they’ve seen with their own eyes.

To suffer from surprise, confusion, and fatigue—that is our fate.

Which is why psychological warfare, behavioral economics, and psychology
are researched in such earnest.

There’s only one thing that is clear.

Only a numbskull who can’t comprehend the things happening right before
them would make a judgment call in a flustered state of mind.

In that case…

Tanya turns a tired gaze on the sky and grumbles.

If the world is in constant turmoil, then all I can do is know and accept that
and be ready.

“Nothing will surprise me anymore.”

(The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Volume 6: Nil Admirari, fin)

Appendixes: Mapped Outline of History





Afterword

Sorry to have kept you waiting for Volume 6. This is Carlo Zen.
To you heroes who didn’t wait but bought all the volumes through 6 at once,
and to the heroes among heroes at Kadokawa Enterbrain, my eternal gratitude.
The anime project is probably a mass hallucination we’re all having!
Here is a story from long ago when I, someone who loves caffeine above all;
my editor Fujita, who loves meat above all; and illustrator Shinotsuki, who loves
gyoza above all, met at a tasty gyoza joint for a meeting.
“Do you think an anime could be a possibility?” Shinotsuki asked incisively,
and Fujita declared, “Unfortunately, no!”
And yet now, an anime project seems like a fait accompli. Before I knew it,
Tojo was serializing a wonderful manga.
Perhaps the hero Enterbrain has grown even stronger?
When I dove into this industry, I never imagined this future would be waiting.
(Maybe it’s a butterfly’s dream.)
Well, reality is fiction’s greatest rival, and the spirit of not being surprised by
anything anymore might be one we need these days.
Anyhow, this is all possible through the combined efforts of a great many
people. Allow me to thank them again here. To the designers at Tsubakiya
Design, the proofreaders at Tokyo Publishing Service Center, my editor Fujita,
and illustrator Shinotsuki, thank you as always.
And above all, my sincere gratitude goes out to everyone who has supported
us to the point that we can get an anime!
I hope to see you again next time.

July 2016 Carlo Zen







1 separatists One term for a minority in a nation that opposes mainstream policies and aims to secede.

2 the lageri Places that corrected bad habits and taught the value of hard work. Through the joy of plentiful labor, they
allow one to achieve substantial growth. Gossipmongers tend to call them concentration camps, though.

3 Raid on Scarborough Also known as the Raid on Scarborough, Hartlepool, and Whitby. During World War I, the
German Navy fired on the British mainland. This was a feint designed to lure out part of the British fleet, achieve local
superiority, and beat them up. (They ended up going home partway through beating them up.)

4 Operation Overlord Not the novels by Kugane Maruyama but the major operation to liberate France, with the landing
at Normandy and the liberation of Paris. Well, the enemy was about as powerful as Lord Ainz, so in a way it’s kind of the
same, but anyhow.

5 the Concorde Effect What do you do when after putting a fortune into a major project, you realize, Crap, this is no
good? If you quit now, all the money you invested goes poof! Your only option is to put in all the rest of your money! If you
just keep throwing more and more money at it, it’s sure to work out… So yeah, this is the process by which, due to that
sort of psychology, a project bound to fail eats through an entire budget and—naturally—fails. The name comes from the
fact that that’s exactly how the Concorde project turned out.

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