Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Volume 6 'Nil Admari' of the Youjo Senki/Tanya the Evil light novels:
โIโm fairly certain the law of war allows seizure of cash, funds, and realizable securities, which are strictly the movable property of the state, along with weapon stockpiles, means of transport, stores and supplies, and generally all property of the state, which can be used for military operations.โ
โI believe thatโs true, maโam.โ
โThen all we need to do is procure them from the Federation Army. The company Weiss organizes will be deployed as an assault unit for that purpose. Letโs capture any weapon stockpiles, stores and supplies, and generally any property of the state that can be used for military operations.โ
โPlease allow me to point out a somewhat delicate issue. It can be rather difficult to tell which property belongs to the state and which belongs to private individualsโฆโ
Weiss is an outstanding officer, but it seems his mind-set is different from the rest of the world. Tanya is happy to debate the finer points of military law. She welcomes it with her intellectual curiosityโbut only if it doesnโt disrupt business from getting carried out.
โMajor Weiss, you must be exhausted, too. Exactly what front do you think youโre standing on?โ
โMaโam?โ
โIsnโt our enemy in the east the Communist Federation? The wonderful Commies reject the idea of individual ownership of private propertyโtheyโre reckless enough to declare everything to belong to the state.โ
Itโs like how one plus one is two. The only ones who seek proof of this are mathematicians. Similar to the practical application of mathematics, Tanya will always value the importance of a simple explanation. Denial of private property rights. The advance of nationalization. With these givens, the conclusion is self-evident: Practically everything in the Federation can be considered โmovable property of the state.โ And the law of war doesnโt prohibit an army from capturing property belonging to an enemy nation.
โNow, hereโs the crux of the issueโฆ Are there any laws that prohibit the seizure of property of the state when private property rights donโt exist?โ
โIsnโt that forcing it a bit much? Even in the Federation, surely property on an individual level existsโฆโ
Serebryakovโs counterpoint is correct. Setting aside the law for a moment, thereโs no practical way for us to separate or discriminate between what property belongs to whom. But Tanya has to mention something as well.
โOf course, in practice, they may have something like that. But all weโre doing is determining ownership rights according to the civil code the Federation authorities established. Weโre not a judicial organization, so what power do we have to reinterpret Federation laws? So what is their definition of โprivate propertyโ?โ
โโฆIf you twist the interpretation a certain way, almost all property in the Federation is state owned.โ
โCorrect, Major"