Read Online Dawn by Yoshiki Tanaka - Free Book Online
Authors: Yoshiki Tanaka
Tags: Fiction, Science-Fiction
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day, an urgent message came through that shocked everyone. Rear Admiral Lynch was in the process of fleeing from El Facil with his direct subordinates and the military provisions. He had abandoned the civilians and his other subordinates.
To the panicked civilians, Yang finally gave instructions to evacuate … in the direction opposite of Lynch’s course.
“There is no need for concern,” he told them. “The rear admiral is drawing away the Imperial Navy’s attention for us. We can escape now if we just ride the solar wind in a leisurely way and avoid using radar permeability devices or anything like that.”
With that casual decision, the young sublieutenant transformed his own fleet commander into a decoy.
And his prediction was dead-on. Rear Admiral Lynch and the others were spotted by the Imperial Navy, which had been sharpening its claws in anticipation of him trying just such a thing. After being run to and fro like hunted animals, the alliance vessels finally raised a white flag and were taken captive.
Meanwhile, the convoy of vessels led by Yang was leaving the El Facil system and making a beeline for territory to the rear. They were spotted on the Imperial Navy’s detection grid, but thanks to the preconceived notion that evacuation ships would be equipped with some kind of antidetection system—and the fact that they did show up on radar—the ships were thought to be not man-made objects, but a large swarm of meteors, and thereby they slipped out right under the enemy’s noses.
Later, when the officers of the imperial fleet learned about this, wineglasses that had been raised in victory toasts were smashed to the floor. Yang arrived in territory to the rear of El Facil with three million civilians, and cheers of welcome were waiting.
Like a meteor shower, words of praise for Yang’s composure and daring rained down from the high chiefs of the military. They had no choice. After all, their navy had lost the battle, fled from the enemy, and finally abandoned the very civilians that they were supposed to be protecting. In order to wipe out such a blot of disgrace and dishonor, the leadership needed a military hero. Hence: “Yang Wen-li: a paragon of the fighting men of the Free Planets Alliance.” “A warrior shining with the light of justice and humanity.” “Let all the soldiers of the alliance praise this young hero!”
That year, on June 12 of the standard calendar, at 0900, Yang was promoted to full lieutenant. On the same day at 1300, he was made a lieutenant commander. Military regulations stated that special double promotions were not permitted for living officers, but this unusual treatment was arranged by the upper echelons.
The man himself was far less excited than those around him. Shrugging his shoulders, he just muttered, “What in the world is all this?” and that was that. The only thing he was happy about was that he got a pay raise with the promotions, which meant he’d be able to fill his library with the history books he’d always wanted.
However, this was also the time when Yang first felt a real interest in military strategy.
Basically, the fundamental nature of combat hasn’t changed at all since three, four thousand years ago, Yang thought, comparing his experiences to his knowledge of military history. Before you get to the battlefield, resupply is what counts. And after you get there, it’s the quality of the commanders. Victory or defeat hinges on these two things .
There were many ancient proverbs that emphasized the importance of commanders. “A fearless general has no cowardly soldiers,” for example, or “A hundred sheep led by a lion will triumph over a hundred lions led by a sheep.”
The twenty-one-year-old lieutenant commander knew better than anyone the reason for his success. It was because the imperial military—and that of the alliance as well—had a blind faith in scientific technology, and the result of it was preconceived notions such as,
To the panicked civilians, Yang finally gave instructions to evacuate … in the direction opposite of Lynch’s course.
“There is no need for concern,” he told them. “The rear admiral is drawing away the Imperial Navy’s attention for us. We can escape now if we just ride the solar wind in a leisurely way and avoid using radar permeability devices or anything like that.”
With that casual decision, the young sublieutenant transformed his own fleet commander into a decoy.
And his prediction was dead-on. Rear Admiral Lynch and the others were spotted by the Imperial Navy, which had been sharpening its claws in anticipation of him trying just such a thing. After being run to and fro like hunted animals, the alliance vessels finally raised a white flag and were taken captive.
Meanwhile, the convoy of vessels led by Yang was leaving the El Facil system and making a beeline for territory to the rear. They were spotted on the Imperial Navy’s detection grid, but thanks to the preconceived notion that evacuation ships would be equipped with some kind of antidetection system—and the fact that they did show up on radar—the ships were thought to be not man-made objects, but a large swarm of meteors, and thereby they slipped out right under the enemy’s noses.
Later, when the officers of the imperial fleet learned about this, wineglasses that had been raised in victory toasts were smashed to the floor. Yang arrived in territory to the rear of El Facil with three million civilians, and cheers of welcome were waiting.
Like a meteor shower, words of praise for Yang’s composure and daring rained down from the high chiefs of the military. They had no choice. After all, their navy had lost the battle, fled from the enemy, and finally abandoned the very civilians that they were supposed to be protecting. In order to wipe out such a blot of disgrace and dishonor, the leadership needed a military hero. Hence: “Yang Wen-li: a paragon of the fighting men of the Free Planets Alliance.” “A warrior shining with the light of justice and humanity.” “Let all the soldiers of the alliance praise this young hero!”
That year, on June 12 of the standard calendar, at 0900, Yang was promoted to full lieutenant. On the same day at 1300, he was made a lieutenant commander. Military regulations stated that special double promotions were not permitted for living officers, but this unusual treatment was arranged by the upper echelons.
The man himself was far less excited than those around him. Shrugging his shoulders, he just muttered, “What in the world is all this?” and that was that. The only thing he was happy about was that he got a pay raise with the promotions, which meant he’d be able to fill his library with the history books he’d always wanted.
However, this was also the time when Yang first felt a real interest in military strategy.
Basically, the fundamental nature of combat hasn’t changed at all since three, four thousand years ago, Yang thought, comparing his experiences to his knowledge of military history. Before you get to the battlefield, resupply is what counts. And after you get there, it’s the quality of the commanders. Victory or defeat hinges on these two things .
There were many ancient proverbs that emphasized the importance of commanders. “A fearless general has no cowardly soldiers,” for example, or “A hundred sheep led by a lion will triumph over a hundred lions led by a sheep.”
The twenty-one-year-old lieutenant commander knew better than anyone the reason for his success. It was because the imperial military—and that of the alliance as well—had a blind faith in scientific technology, and the result of it was preconceived notions such as,
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