The map table no longer looked like a theory.
That was the first thing Elias noticed.
For months—years, really—the great slab of reinforced oak at the center of the command hall had been a place of abstraction.
Colored markers, thin brass rails, penciled notes erased and rewritten.
Possibility layered upon possibility.
Routes that might open.
Fronts that could collapse.
Enemies who might react.
Now the pieces sat still.
Not because the war had stopped—but because his forces were approached a stetching point, while his opponent wasnt even fully aware that a proper war had even broken out.
Elias stood with his hands resting lightly on the table's edge, eyes tracing the eastern reaches of Thrace.
Red markers denoting Montenegrin divisions pressed west to east in clean, disciplined arcs.
Blue pins—Ottoman field armies—had withdrawn northward in a loose, desperate crescent toward Bulgaria.
Between them lay a widening emptiness.
A corridor.
Sonya stood at his right, clipboard tucked beneath her arm, her posture composed but alert.
She had learned long ago how to stand near Elias without intruding—present without demanding acknowledgment.
Her eyes moved not across the map, but across the men gathered around it: staff officers, logisticians, intelligence clerks.
She watched for hesitation.
For doubt.
There was none.
"The redeployment is complete," Marin said, breaking the silence.
He did not raise his voice; the room leaned toward him instead.
"Intercepted orders confirm it. The Ottoman high command has issued orders to their forces to march all forces north to contest the invading Russian forces before they can become as much of a nuisance as they were during the last Russian-Ottoman war before Britain and France got involved.
Three field armies, plus reserve formations from Anatolia. Thrace has been stripped to garrisons and administrative troops. The Ottoman military command is completely unaware of the fall of their forces across the Balkans and the real danger they are in due to our encroaching armies on their core territory."
He placed a thin metal token on the map, just west of Edirne.
"This was their last mobile unit in the region. It moved north roughly forty-eight hours ago."
No one spoke.
The command hall was warm, humming softly with the sound of generators and distant machinery from the refineries below the mountain.
Outside, spring rain tapped faintly against the high windows, washing the last traces of winter from the stone.
Elias exhaled slowly.
"So it seems, the war has been moving ever more in our favor. Spring has started to arrive and yet it will still take weeks for the Ottoman's to recognize the mistake they have made."
A few of the officers shifted, not in discomfort, but in recognition.
This was the moment they had trained themselves not to anticipate.
Sonya stepped forwards placing her clipboard down on the edge of the grand table, uncliping a piece of paper from the board and issuing it forth to become public knowledge to all in attendance of this war briefing.
"If we press the advance," she said evenly, "Constantinople will feel it within days. Not weeks. Days."
She tapped once with a long stick indicating where on the map she was referencing.
The Bosporus narrowed beneath her long-finger, but everyone in attedance knew if they pressed their advantage the supply lines for the armed forces would become stretched.
Gunpowder and bullets might be unlimited thanks to Elias's system but food was not.
Even with ample Rations and MRE's being taken along by the riflemen, engineers, medics etc they still would fall prey to the needs of man before to long.
And while foraging could be done localy to an extent, when trying to feed the entire army, in regions already mostly picked clean by the Ottoman's own armed forces they would be risking the lives of the regions own local populace and inciting a wave of unrest over provinces and territories they planned to rule over in the coming months.
"The Ottoman empire, has been withering for decades but with this war in particular they seem to be throwing almost everything they have at stopping the encroaching Russians, we've even theorized that even if the Montengrin forces hadnt participated in this war, the Balkans would be free of Ottoman rule by the end of this war, France is to exhausted to get involved thanks to their war with the German Empire, and Britain, while wanting to stick their noses in once more, is busy taking advantage of the situations in the United States, and released Native American zone that falls under Canadian territorial dominion.
Elias did not look at her.
His gaze remained fixed on the empty space between Edirne and the sea.
"So the Ottomans are blind, but what about the rest of Europe? What do our spies have to report on the current situation?"
"Sir. Vienna believes the current blackout of information is thanks to the russians having sent their special police in ahead of their invasion to root out and perform counter-espianoge to silence any intelligence forces that are watching the region. As for the newly established borders between Montengro and the Empire, this thus far has not garnered much of a reaction from them, though we have received some reports stating the Austro-Hungarians will be pressing some claims to expand their borders, expecting us to simply bow to their wishes in exchange for gaining their admittance to our legitamacy in ruling the remaining regions taken from the Ottomans in our war."
"So our neighbor thinks we have had small gains, and wants some crumbs... I wonder what they will try to ask for once the real picture is revealed to them... heh."
"Russia on the otherhand, is working with the eastern balkan coalition to face off against the Ottoman empire, even a secondary russian force has been making its way down south from Sochi in the east to force the Ottomans into fighting a twofront war, preventing further reinforcements from being moved to the western front."
"France, is in a state of rebuilding following their crushing defeat at the hands of the German Empire, who are equally as busy formalizing the Imperialization of all Germanic lands into their newly formed Empire."
"Italy is only making moves internally rather than looking abroad right now, their King is making moves to get closer to the Germans, from both the Austrian and German Empires, especially after seeing just how quickly the formidable french forces could fall under the weight of the industrial might and power of the German nations."
With all his advisors and taskmasters giving the knowledge they knew on the current state of the world, Elias could only crack a smile.
He was waging war on a massive scale so far, having already had his summoned soldiers conquering everything from the Adriatic, to the borders of Thrace.
A massive undertaking that would cause the world leaders eyes to pop from their heads if anyone told them it was achieve by little ole Montenegro.
And yet they remained blind to his manuevers.
The war itself could very well be over before news of what had actually take place in the balkans reaches their ears.
A fact Elias was practically betting on.
His summons lines were stretched thin, but with the Ottomans making such a poor tactical desicion he couldnt help but want to followup with a knock out blow.
Have his consolidated armies mark further east, cutting the Ottoman empire off from their forces in the north save by the black sea, while also getting the chance to siege the Ottoman capital and gateway to Asia, Istanbul.
At worst it would mean a little bit higher civil unrest as the number of require garrison forces would be reduced for a couple of weeks, but compared to getting this massive gem, and achievement unignorable on the world stage.
His mouth just started salivating at the prospect.