Ut sementem feceris, ita metes

Ut sementem feceris, ita metes is the 7th volume in the Youjo Senki Light Novel series.

Chapter I: Disarray
Tanya and the 203rd aerial mage battalion has arrived at the Eastern Front. Unfortunately, the Reich suffered a major attack from Union forces and its army in disarray. Tanya and her battalion engages the enemy to slow the advance. She also has a new nickname “Rusted Silver” from all the blood that she has spilled. The Union forces keep attacking and the Eastern Front weakens. Tanya is shocked because she is now thinking that fighting a war is normal. She used to think of herself as a pacifistic liberal democrat who longed for the war be over.

Chapter II: Restoration
The story of the Lehrgen Combat Group is picked up by a future historian of 1976.

The SCG is defending a section of the Eastern Front. When Union forces attack, the 203rd goes out to attack the enemy. There she finds that the enemy artillery position is filled with lots of anti-aircraft guns and that they are using timed fuses making them far more dangerous than before. Also after defeating the enemy and looking over the abandoned enemy tanks, Tanya recognizes UK tanks and tanks from a neutral country [presumably the US]. The implications terrify her.

Col Lehrgen shows up to meet Tanya. Tanya explains the situation and that the enemy also has new model tanks with extremely thick armor. The 203rd can win, but just barely against these tanks. Lehrgen explains to Tanya that he came to ask for a favor. He wants Tanya to host a military officer from the Ildore Kingdom (Italy) as an observer, namely Col Virgilio Calandro. The General Staff created a paper combat group called the Lehrgen Mobile Combat Group, that includes the SCG as its component, to host Col Calandro and show him the Eastern Front. In turn Lehrgen and others who on paper is in the Lehrgen Combat Group will be going to Ildore on a secret mission to discuss ceasefire terms. Tanya is for the ceasefire but doesn’t want to host Calandro. She points out that she’s now called Rusted Silver and that the SCG will be in battle a lot. Lehrgen quips that she didn’t earn the nickname from shedding friendly blood but Tanya retorts are all life, friend or foe, is technically equal. This surprises Lehrgen. They solve the disagreement by agreeing that Tanya will be the effective commander and will get extra supplies. She also realizes that if anything goes wrong, she can blame Lehrgen. The only problem is that all the military accomplishments of the SCG will technically fall under Lehrgen’s name. Tanya sees that as a small price to pay. For starters can get more coffee, chocolates, and socks.

After Lehrgen leaves, the SCG encounters another battle. When the 203rd arrive they see that the Imperial mages on the right flank is in chaos. It turns out that the Union has new computational jewels that have incredibly strong armor and fire power. Their weakness is their speed and maneuverability. The 203rd defeats them, but Tanya realizes ordinary mages of the Reich will have a tough time dealing with them. The Union has a new computational jewel called the T3476.

Chapter III: Effort with a plan
Lehrgen has arrived at Ildore and begins negotiations with General Igor Gusman. Gusman explains that the Union wants no reparations, no ceding of territory, an unconditional ceasefire. Lehrgen explains the Reich’s position: reparations, territory, and a ceasefire with a plebiscite among the people in the occupied territories.

In the capital Ruderdorf and Zettour are debating what to do next. Zettour explains that the supplies are at their limit because the Union offensive destroyed much of the Reich’s supplies stockpiled at the front. Zettour believes that Union offensive is part of their negotiations for a ceasefire. Ruderdorf believes that the only way out is for one final offensive. The Union forces have come out of their defensive positions, so now is the perfect opportunity for a counterattack.

May 1, 1927 Col Calandro arrives at the Eastern Front. Tanya shows him the war in the Eastern Front. Because the Union had not signed a number of international treaties, and because the Union is a communist country the Reich’s forces have no legal restrictions on attacking and blowing up civilian or religious buildings. The General Staff has concluded that international law does not protect them, and because there is no private property (all property belongs to the state) and the Union is an atheist state, all buildings are fair targets in this war.

The chaos at the front lines causes a friendly fire incident, the Reich’s artillery bombarded the SCG's position. Thankfully no one is injured. This enrages Tanya but also makes her realize that something may be happening.

Chapter IV: Operation Iron Hammer
Lehrgen continues to negotiate with Gusman.

Ruderdorf draws up plans for Operation Iron Hammer, a giant gamble. The Imperial army will send paratroopers behind enemy lines to capture some bridges so that Union forces cannot withdraw behind a major river. Then armor units will break through enemy lines to link up with the paratroops and surround the enemy army by creating a few pockets. Finally the noose will tighten and destroy Union forces. Zettour believes it is too risky but ultimately agrees.

The SCG receives orders for Operation Iron Hammer (May 5). They and 3 other armored divisions are supposed to break through the enemy. They will hit the point where two Union armies border each other, so hopefully they will be slower to react (each Union army hoping the other Union army will take care of the problem).

Tanya then orders her mages to get on Captain Aarens’s tanks (and put up shields). This way the mages won’t get tired from the advance and the mages will minimize the use of magic which prevents enemy detection. While Union mages were overhead battling mages from the Reich’s other units, Tanya’s SCG sneaked through Union lines and dashed to the bridge. They successfully met up with the paratroopers on May 7.

By the time the Union army command understood what was happening on May 8 it was too late. When news spread that they were being surrounded, front line Union troops began to panic and withdraw. At the Reich’s capital, news of success also arrived. To complete the victory, Zettour orders Tanya’s 203rd to attack the Union army HQ and decapitate the enemy. The 203rd complies with the order. Union HQ is destroyed and victory is assured. General Staff is overjoyed.

Ominously, however, Union forces begin to breakout of the encirclement on May 11. Tanya doesn’t want them to escape so she destroys their local HQ. Nevertheless they continue to act with coordination and some manage to escape. At this news, Tanya is shocked. The Union leaders used themselves as a decoy to buy time and get more men to escape. This meant that the Union army was now shifting from an army that waited for orders from above, to an army that could autonomously act by following the intention of the given orders. What Tanya called a “thinking army.” The General Staff also gets the same news, and while most still think it’s a great victory because only a few escaped, Zettour is also thinking along Tanya’s lines and is extremely worried.

Chapter V: Turning point
1927 May 11, Union Army Farewell Telegram. Army command has ordered surviving units to withdraw. Command will act as the rear guard to allow our comrades to escape. We wish for our soldiers to be rescued by friendly forces. We are currently under enemy fire. As farewell, we express our deep gratitude to our comrade soldiers who have fought so bravely. We regret that we were unable to repay our comrades who fought hard and died in the mud.

This is primarily because we do not have air superiority. Our aerial mages have fought extremely hard, this ought to be noted. Although situation is desperate, we will continue to fight to the end. We believe our blood proves that our soldiers’ class loyalty is not in doubt. All soldiers did their best at their posts, except command. The fault for the deaths of our comrades lies with command. Please spare subordinate organizations. Good luck to our comrades in arms.

Long live the Motherland, the Party, and the People.

Loliya reads the telegram and realizes that this is a massive defeat. He had thought that even if the Reich attacked, they would be able to defend adequately. But this forced him to rethink the situation. He asks his military liaison and after promising him that there will be no purges, Loliya gets the truth. The Union needs far more mages. They released some from their gulags and thought they could deal with the rest of the enemy mages by increasing the number of fighter planes. But mages simply hide when they encounter fighter planes. Thus, fighter planes were not adequate in eliminating enemy mages.

On another note, Loliya is satisfied because the Reich’s public opinion is now seeking big gains after this victory. That means the war will continue and Loliya still has a chance to capture his Tanya.

After the massive Union army defeat in the East, Col Mikel, Lt Col Drake, and Lt Mary Sue are ordered to leave the Entente (Scandinavia) and return to the Eastern Front. Mary Sue resists because she had finally managed to establish a working relationship with the partisans of her home country. When Drake explains that he thinks it was the Rhine’s Devil that wrecked havoc on the chain of command in the east, Mary Sue reacts to the news but she is torn. When she shows signs of insubordination (of going awol to fight with the partisans), Drake calls Liliya Ivanova Taneechika to convince Mary Sue to go to the Eastern Front. This was the first time that Drake felt that he’s rather have an obedient communist rather than a naïve dreamer as his subordinate.

Tanya is taking celebratory photos with her troops and the paratroopers at the bridge. She is in high spirits thinking that the war will now be over. Even Col Calandro thinks the Reich won this war.

Chapter VI: "Excessive triumph"
May 13, Zettour and Ruderdorf also think they won the war. Zettour doesn’t forgot to explain that their supplies are really at its limits. If they want to go to Moscou, then the army will have to loot from the local population to move forward. Ruderdorf also knows that the war needs to end. They talk of a ceasefire, solidifying disputed borders from the prewar era, a demilitarized zone along the border, and the possible creation of buffer states.

The two are called to the Supreme Governing Council. They will talk about the details of the terms. Unfortunately when the two get to the Council they are surprised. The civilian leaders are outraged at the terms the military proposed. The civilian leaders want better terms considering popular opinion. The losses sustained in this war was too great for a generous peace. The Treasury Minister shouts saying that they need reparations or the economy will collapse. Zettour replies that if we don’t have money we should just print money. Even if it causes inflation. The civilian leaders argue that if they can win one more time, they can get better terms. Zettour knowing full well the supplies of the Reich is at its limit, opposes any further gambles. But the Treasury Minister is adamant that they will economically collapse, so they need to fight one more time. Some of the civilian leaders suggest that the resources are at their fingertips in Union territory. Ruderdorf interjects saying that he too agrees with Zettour. But when the civilians ask are you sure you can’t win one more battle, Ruderdorf says it’s extremely difficult. When they press again, he can’t say “no.” If there’s a 1% possibility for the Reich's army to win, then he can only say there is a possibility for victory. And so the civilian leaders override the military seeking one more victory.

Meanwhile in Ildore, Col Lehrgen is celebrating with wine thinking that the war will finally be over. But his hope is destroyed when he decodes the secret letter from the capital.

In the Eastern Front, Tanya is dreaming of a bright future: national self-determination, a buffer zone between the Reich and the Union, friendly neutrals. She feels that they won a two front war, a rare case in history. It is time to reap the rewards. But she is only hopeful because she doesn’t know the decision that was made back in the capital.

That ends 430+ pages of vol 7.

Thanks to u/MSG_Johnny2 who posted the summaries at r/YoujoSenki.