#salamander kampfgruppe

[ahb-writes]

"You think you can wage a decent war? Bullshit."

"Tanya" (The Saga of Tanya the Evil #8 by Carlo Zen)

[dailydegurechaff]

fav light novel only characters? like not animated or drawn in the manga yet

So this has been in my inbox for a couple months now and I think I can finally confidently answer it bc I have a couple of characters who I wanna talk about.

Spoiler warning: Due to this ask being related to characters only seen in the light novel there’s going to be spoilers under the read more! I talk about content as far ahead as novel 11. I think we’re safe on stuff from 12 tho!

If you want a no-spoiler summary: Colonel Calandro (not depicted here), Counselor Conrad, and Major Joachim

OK SO,

I think the main two that I like the most and are LN-Only so far are Colonel Calandro from Ildoa, who is the observer that ends up attached to the Salamander/Lergen Kampfgruppe on the eastern front and Counselor Conrad, the imperial diplomat that Lergen talks with a lot.

In Calandro’s case, he’s introduced I believe as early as book 6, so I think he’s probably the one of my favorites who is most likely to be in season 2, so I hope Studio Nut does well by him with a good design. In the sketches above, I decided against trying to make a design for him because 1) I got no ideas man and 2) I think (hope) he might show up in the anime soon so I’d like to hold off on drawing him until there’s an official one.

Anyway, a lot of his scenes are great when he’s attached to the Kampfgruppe. If I recall correctly, there’s this scene in one of the books (Book 7?) where he’s talking to Tanya as she’s making preparations to bombard what is obviously a church and he’s like “What are you doing? Isn’t that a war crime?” And Tanya just goes “No, no, it’s fine. They’re not openly displaying anywhere that this is a building used for religious purposes and even if they were, the other side hasn’t signed that treaty so it’s not like we have to adhere to it if they won’t.”

It’s such a funny scene. Tanya’s like, “Oh he’s concerned that we’re committing a crime. I should assuage him by telling him not to worry, we’ve managed to legally justify it.” And instead of any relief he’s just like “Oh my god what the fuck is wrong with them? Why would they ever think to circumvent treaties like this?”

They're funny as hell together and Tanya’s constant griping that she has to babysit him is so good, I hope we get to see it.

Also also a good scene with him is from the end of LN11 where Lergen calls him in the middle of the night, demanding to speak to him because it’s of vital importance. That ensuing conversation where Lergen’s basically like “I can’t say who’s calling, but you recognize me from the sound of my voice, right? Something’s going to happen. I’m really sorry, I can’t say anything more. Please just remember that I called, okay?” I’m so sorry… but it’s giving ‘Tragic Lovers Doomed To Breakup By Circumstances They Can’t Control’ vibes.

It is now my firmly set headcanon that Lergen and Calandro were lovers throughout and in spite of the war and when the time came for Lergen to choose whether to betray Calandro or his country, he chose to betray Calandro, something he feels immensely guilty about. I know it isn’t what Carlo Zen was trying to convey at ALL, but unfortunately that’s what I got from it. Thank you for coming to my TedTalk, moving on.

I guess next up is Counselor Conrad, the Empire’s diplomat who we first meet in LN10 I think? If we don’t get any content of him, I’ll literally cry. Depending on how far season 2 gets us in the story, we may not end up seeing Conrad and that’s so sad to me. There is a scene from LN10 that I absolutely need adapted into the anime. It’s like 160ish pages in. It’s that scene where Tanya, Lergen, and Conrad are talking with each other and Conrad turns to Lergen and gestures at Tanya and says “How did you raise this?” and Tanya’s like “????”

There is another scene where Lergen describes Conrad as handsome, and because of these two scenes, the delusional headcanon has sprung up that these two eventually end up in a relationship and Tanya is their daughter. I’ve mentioned it in another post. A friend of mine actually talks about Conrad (& Lergen and Tanya) in more detail in her post here. And hey, while I’m recommending posts about Conrad, look at all of these too okay?

Conrad actually has an official design in the novel artworks, so I based my above sketch around that. Here are the few canon images we have of him. Interestingly, in the text he's described as having blue eyes at some point, but the colored version we have has them as brown. These drawings come from Books 10 & 11 I believe?

Ok, last one, for minor characters, there’s Major Joachim who we meet around the end of LN11, who becomes Lergen’s subordinate. I think the best way to describe him is that he’s kind of a boyfailure in the way that Grantz is (that is to say before Grantz got some character development and became somewhat competent). He’s a cutie, I do hope we get some scenes of him.

I did actually do a little sketch of Joachim as we saw above. That one for some reason just came to me very easily, unlike Calandro. Here was my prelim sketch idea:

And I think that’s about it for now. If you note that all of these characters are in some way related to Lergen, um… Well, I can’t help myself really. We know by now he’s one of my favorites so I like characters associated with him too.

[itunesbooks]

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 5 (light novel) - Carlo Zen & Shinobu Shinotsuki

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 5 (light novel) Abyssus Abyssum Invocat Carlo Zen & Shinobu Shinotsuki Genre: Historical Price: $7.99 Expected Publish Date: March 26, 2019 Publisher: Yen Press Seller: Yen Press, LLC Barely two months remain until winter, and opinion is split over whether the Empire should launch a full-scale offensive or rest until spring. Time is running out, and the General Staff can't make up their minds. While everyone else is frozen with inaction, the Salamander Kampfgruppe under Tanya's command is singled out for a mission that will ultimately decide the army's course. As they face attacks from a seemingly relentless enemy that leave them without even time to sleep, will Tanya's troops be able to hold out? http://dlvr.it/R1YJZL

[ahb-writes]

Insufficient training will kill a soldier on the battlefield as surely as any bullet. Training to the death is the only hope they have of staying alive.

"Tanya von Degurechaff" (in The Saga of Tanya the Evil #10, by Carlo Zen)

[ahb-writes]

I don't need words to prove my bravery.

"Tanya von Degurechaff" (in The Saga of Tanya the Evil #10, by Carlo Zen)

[ahb-writes]

Book Review: 'The Saga of Tanya the Evil' #11

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 11: Alea Iacta Est by Carlo Zen

alternate history

fantasy

magic

social commentary

violence

war fiction

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An intellectual schism rests upon the bent-over shoulders of a waning nation's exhausted military. This nation, gaunt from the excess patriotism that war brings, and this military, feeble from having run through its many resources, now lean a bit too heavily into one another, bleary-eyed and uncertain as to which way is up. But this schism. It, too, is ghastly, somnolent, and a bit weary from all the blood and rhetoric. It haunts those who would venture to proclaim, to any who would dare listen, that a solution exists that can put an end to this total war. For readers who have crawled this deep into the trenches with Zen, THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v11, unsurprisingly, reveals this debate is not about determining which of the two sides is correct; the true challenge of an intellectual schism rests in determining which of the two sides has the power and the will to outlast the other.

And then there's "Plan B." Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff is an unwilling witness to the convergence and deflection of contrasting ideas helmed by the generals Rudersdorf and Zettour. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v11 marks the third volume the author has teased this traitorous curiosity in earnest, and readers finally see Tanya bear its full weight. Rudersdorf views the Empire's only way forward through a traditional coup d'etat — the armed/military overthrow of the nation's established governing bodies. It's deliberate; it's a hard landing; it involves making everyone the enemy. Zettour views the Empire's inevitable end more harmoniously — the affectionate intertwining of diplomatic arrogance and the revered antecedent of military gusto. It's academic; it's a soft landing; it involves contingency plans for allies and enemies alike.

But the damage has been done. As Tanya learns in the novel's opening chapter, which comprises 50 pages of debate, a nation whose leadership strides uncompromisingly into anything will surely fail. There is no respect to be had by a nation whose entire youth was burned to death by the flames of war. There is no humble concord to be maintained for the political institutions whose only lingering pride is defined by their erstwhile shortsightedness. There is no victory to be won by military enterprises whose veil of sincerity has worked so damn well, that nobody, even among its most learned and accomplished ranks, will internalize the truth before it is rendered irrelevant.

Whether the empire strives for an impractical, unattainable victory (Rudersdorf) or an extended, neglectful defeat (Zettour), the end is the same. The only difference rests in discerning the extent to which these leaders' insufferable egos will bend to accommodate reality.

THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v11 discusses this schism at length, only to later devour both semblances whole and forge a third, synthesized version that compels the characters forward. Narratively speaking, this means broaching the question of the Kingdom of Ildoa. Does the Empire invade? Does it invade right now? Does the military suppress the politicians and royalty in its own territory first? Does one branch of the military, the army, impose its will over others? Why won't anybody do anything about the leaked codes?

The Ildoa question has been a non-issue for much of the novel series, and interestingly, or charmingly, the author also does so on purpose for half of the current novel. A series of dramatic and inconvenient events forces the Empire's hand. Specifically, forces General Zettour's hand. Which means Tanya and the Salamander Kampfgruppe will soon head to the amiable southern border at the onset of winter. Talk of treason, unwinnable war, and ad libitum diplomacy crumble under the auspicious blue skies of the Ildoan countryside.

Also, readers catch a deeper glimpse of two curious perspectives: Colonel Lergen and Colonel Colandro, of Ildoa. A full chapter of Lergen's post-war memoirs provides a crucial, if unbearably sad, but regrettably believable account of war-era bias and the self-blinding predilections of men in power.

For example, Counselor Conrad of the Foreign Office warned Lergen, "Diplomacy is... It's almost like alchemy in a way" (page 055), but the colonel's inability to extrapolate the correct meaning of this analogy quickly proves (validates) just how doomed the Empire truly was. Alas, diplomacy isn't about assembling presumptions; it's not about converting one's expectations into something more. Diplomacy is about cobbling together disparate demands; it's a patchwork of ideals, clumsily yet unerringly hammered into a single, substandard but workable truth.

As such, Lergen travels to neutral Ildoa to meet with his counterpart, Colonel Colandro, to discuss the terms of a possible armistice. And in doing so, he makes the ruinous mistake of believing the Empire a nation worthy of setting the pace. After all the Empire has done, does it possess the legitimacy to make demands? Refuse reparations? Declare revisionist borders? Debate a divestment of local political authority? It's a start. But it's not enough. It's nowhere near enough. And when Colandro explains these facts in plain terms, Lergen nearly passes out. The man isn't wrong, per se, merely ignorant. Only later, much later, will Lergen realize the dissolution of war is not enough comfort for those affected by such disaster; only the dissolution of the social, military, and political hierarchies responsible for war will do.

Appropriately, THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL v11 gives readers an idea of the challenges facing their opponents on the peninsula. Colonel Colandro, comfortable in the Ildoan capital, struggles to alert his comrades of the changing balance of power happening in the nearby Empire. But it's not entirely his fault. In a clever narrative twist, one learns that just as Lergen is biased in favor of imperfect reconciliation, so too is Colandro biased in his value estimation. That is to say, both men lack the intellectual diversity required to be more than what they are: cogs in a machine.

As for Colandro and his fellow Ildoans, "the issue, however, was that people often made assessments based on their own values. They believed that others thought the same way they did" (page 181). If one does not view a problem from the perspectives of all key stakeholders, then the solutions raised will be, invariably, inadequate. As such, in the case of the current novel, the consequences are necessarily, comically grand (e.g., An early warning of a coming invasion? No. Couldn't be. Wouldn't dare think of it. Not in a neutral nation.), for "any amount of effort put forward or attempt to resist an enemy invasion meant nothing without truly knowing what it meant to fight an enemy" (page 233).

And so, General Zettour returns to the capital, the Empire marches into Ildoa, Colonel Lergen finds his way to the southern front, and Tanya and her crew of misfits procure for themselves mouthfuls of bread, chocolate, sausages, eggs, and potatoes. This novel shifts the board of possible end-game scenarios for the Empire, but the picture is far from clear. Will war with Ildoa simplify negotiations, or will it complicate them? Will the turmoil between Zettour and Rudersdorf boil over and into the nation's political strata? Will Tanya take the bait of a promotion, only to be forced into compliance with orders she cannot support in good faith? Will a nation whose textbooks fear admission of failure ever learn how to properly process defeat?

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[ahb-writes]

Book Review: ‘The Saga of Tanya the Evil’ #8

The Saga of Tanya the Evil, Vol. 8 (light novel): In Omnia Paratus by Carlo Zen My rating: 5 of 5 stars Operation Andromeda. The eastern front is a known unknown. It's a functioning morass of sparsely inhabited mud fields and poorly maintained rails. Outposts on the eastern front are ugly, quiet, and lonely. But there is movement. The Empire has cobbled together the last remnants of its most stalwart land units. Its current goal is to justify one final push into Federation territory. This last-ditch operation, somewhat ironically, is not to decapitate Federation leadership, but to capture physical resources and ammunition stores that would further enable the Empire to continue the war effort. The Empire, in effect, is now waging war so as to acquire the means to wage war. This sad state of affairs now permeates the highest levels of military awareness. If readers take away anything from THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #8, it's that the crumbling war effort has exposed how narrow the venture for truth remains when squeezed by the realities of distant conflicts gone awry and near-term politics, long since corrupted. And it is in this narrow venture for the truth that unauthorized attempts to eke out rational solutions are met with a sardonic smile and a dismissive wave (Zettour: "It would require an awful lot of self-deception to look away from reality and pretend like there weren't serious problems underpinning the entire situation," p. 59). Previously, Lieutenant Generals von Rudersdorf and von Zettour knew the war must end, should the Empire survive with any semblance of power. Zettour enacted a peacekeeping mission via the Kingdom of Ildoa. This effort, as readers soon learn, ended in failure. Subsequent this scheme, Lieutenant General von Zettour earned a demotion-by-promotion, and was sent to the eastern front for his sins. And all during the fateful Operation Andromeda. Indeed, how is the Empire supposed to turn the tide of total war, to supply its main forces, when the man in charge of the operations division is cast into near-exile? Lieutenant Colonel Tanya von Degurechaff feels the strain. Gaining ground. Wedging positive results. Disregarding attrition. Surviving another season of disingenuous public support. This is how wars are fought now. The conflict between Supreme Command's dereliction of common sense and the General Staff's principled assessment of an increasingly grievous situation sees the Salamander Kampfgruppe wielded as both a shield and a weapon. And when Zettour himself is posted to the front, as pseudo punishment, Degurechaff knows something's wrong. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #8 witnesses Zettour and Degurechaff working side-by-side, a definitive meeting of the Empire's most strategic minds, and the outcome is as feverish and blood-soaked as one might imagine. One presumes the author has been waiting a while to put these two characters together to properly map out the gamesmanship of total war. Thankfully, the current volume does not disappoint in this regard. The novel provides an exquisite balance of strategy and tactics. That is to say, the plan of action for the battle to come and observing the risks and dangers associated with earning the requisite results, while separately, the individual movements within said plan of action, whose consequences must be accounted for in blood and iron, in real time. Operation Andromeda is of two components. A Group will attack the stores of the Federation, while B Group maintains the rear in active defense. Neither segment possesses either the supplies or training to do its job properly. But orders are orders. And in B Group, where Zettour and Degurechaff are stationed, it's Zettour who manifests an insidious plot to use the Salamander Kampfgruppe as bait to eradicate the Federation's most formidable aerial mage corps. Does his plan succeed? Zettour is a hard and bitter man. THE SAGA OF TANYA THE EVIL #8 provides readers with ample time and space to get inside the man's head to gain a fuller understanding of how he views his role in the war effort. As such, "success," is not the best word to describe his push for the maneuver battle that subjects the Salamander Kampfgruppe to untold stress. Zettour does not seek success; he seeks to validate the due contradiction of his duty. The contradiction of abiding by Supreme Command's orders, marking visible the flaws in those orders, and then proposing a solution whose veracity speaks to the many blemishes inherent in the greater war strategy -- this is what Zettour seeks to expose. The Empire is fighting a war based on what it feels to be just, not on what it knows to be true. Readers are forewarned that these logical fault lines may get the general killed, may cut short the General Staff's most prized units, and may, however accidentally, find the Empire reflected in the eyes of its sworn enemies. And yet, Zettour holds, when finally made visible, the truth shall bring certainty. And if this war is to end, then certain individuals of a certain fortitude must be charged with this unconditional certainty if they are to attain victory. Which leaves only one question left: What is Tanya willing to do, for the sake of the Empire, to earn total victory?

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