Character essays: Alexander

This time around, I ended up taking a look inside Alexander’s head in the early days of the war. I think he’s an optimist at heart.

It’s true that I have misgivings about this war. Fighting the old empire is a duty I will never shirk from – our nation will only remain independent while her soldiers defend her. The intervention in Ferres was born from this unflinching opposition to tyranny – the principles of liberty we uphold would have suffered if we had idly watched another nation ground beneath Helmuth’s bootheel. I certainly have no regrets about my soldiers’ conduct – the behaviour of the men has been exemplary by all accounts.

My distrust stems instead from the politics behind our deployment. While I am sure that some of those who urged for intervention genuinely held the welfare of Ferres to be important, there are many more who would never support a military operation on such altruistic grounds. Paranoia about Galacia has been running high in the capital, and I suspect that this operation is intended to be as much a show of strength as a humanitarian mission. General Fielding dismissed my concerns about the army’s use as a political instrument as naive, and I have no doubt he nominated me for this command in order to force me to get my hands dirty.

I do not think that Galacia will be so easily intimidated. They do not view us as a rival nation – in their collective consciousness we are little better than savages. No amount of posturing will change that opinion; they consider us to be irredeemably backward, and all this noise will accomplish is to reaffirm their prejudices.

If nothing else, their military disposition implies that they do not expect a war; their standing army numbers barely more than ten thousand – not sufficient to stand up to an attack from Littorand even if we were to maintain a home guard large enough to dissuade Boscan opportunism; our victory in any conflict would be a matter of time.

If the simple fact of an easy victory is what motivates the rhetoric coming from the capital, then I am not sure I would be willing to prosecute a war. My resignation would not stop one, of course, but I will not fight for a nation that is simply seeking to expand its territory – I have seen firsthand what Bosca has done in the name of Empire, and the thought of being an instrument of such aggression sickens me.

Of course, it is very easy to tell myself that I would choose to resign before allowing myself to be misused – but if push came to shove, would I do so? It is not my lot to decide upon the army’s strategic use. If I had wanted to dictate the direction our nation takes, then I would have entered politics – my duty as a soldier is to obey orders. If I begin questioning the ethics behind those orders then I will have to tread very carefully, because once I refuse an order on those grounds I will be forced to justify myself. I joined the army to protect our nation from Boscan aggression, but my oath of service was far less specific. Perhaps it would be hypocritical of me to choose my own battles – if I had wanted to play politics then I ought to have become a politician.

My hope, then, is that this posturing goes unacknowledged. When the Galacians make their usual aloof answer, I am sure things will return to normal.

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