Ryūsei Base, Mu
Mu National Air Force’s Howki base is situated around 200km east from the town of Alue as well as the threat of the Gra Valkas Empire. Northeast of the Howki base around 500km northeast of Alue was the Ryūsei base.
The day before, RF4E reconnaissance aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force flew out to conduct detailed reconnaissance of the Gra Valkas Imperial Army’s base. While it was thought that the empire could never shoot them down with their level of technology, electronic jamming was conducted just in case, and so the recon operation was conducted while the enemy’s radar was disabled.
Just to be extra sure, 2 F-2 fighters went ahead as escorts.
“In the case of using weapons, you must do to the best of your abilities not to let the enemy know of our capabilities as this might hit back at us at a later operation. With the exemption of emergencies, you are not permitted to use weapons outside of self-defense.”
These were the orders that were given to ASDF F-2 fighter pilot Shindō.
Upon verifying his radar, he noticed an aircraft clearly taking unsettling maneuvers. It seems that it was climbing and diving at low altitude.
Shindō remembers the words he had heard from his grandfather. During the Second World War, some of the enemy pilots that were flying over the Japanese mainland intentionally aimed and attacked children and moving villagers with their machine guns. According to his grandfather, this was how his grandmother was killed.
He was obviously trying to broaden the interpretation of the orders given to him, but if he were to engage them now, lives can be saved. His blood boiled in anger.
He dived down to match the altitude of the enemy fighters, advancing across the surface as if he were crawling on it. They eventually came into view and from there he discovered that the enemy aircraft were clearly strafing refugees on the ground.
Shindō, who was usually calm and collected, was furious.
“I’ll let you bastards know how those people who lost their lives in vain and those who you’re targeting feel!!!”
He level-headedly conducts maneuvers just as he was trained to do so and locks on to the enemy aircraft with a short-range air-to-air guided missile, pressing the fire button without hesitation. The missile fires away followed by a thunderous sound, flying true to its target and pulverizing the enemy aircraft aiming for those on the ground.
Furthermore, he confirms two more enemy aircraft in the sky. He cannot deny the possibility that they may also attack the refugees on the ground and he also cannot let them return to base with information regarding him. He promptly decides to shoot down all of them, shooting down another aircraft as he climbs up. Turning back around, he shoots down the remaining aircraft.
And so, this brings him to where he is now. One of his superiors shouts angrily at him.
“…that’s why we cannot let the enemy realize our abilities!! You may have saved some lives with your conduct just now, but you do understand that your behavior can only be expressed as careless, right?!”
Shindō, who was reprimanded plentily, was finally released from the sermon. Leaving the encampment and talking a stroll outside, a familiar sound echoed from afar. He looked up at the sky.
“Hoh? Guess the MSDF have also arrived…”
In front of his eyes were 12 BP-3C flying in formation and eventually entering into a holding pattern before landing. These were the same squadron that bombed the Parpaldia Imperial Army base in Esthirant, ushering in the collapse of the empire. Furthermore, P-1s, C-2s, and other various aircraft arrived at the base.
The base’s function continues to be reinforced.
・・・
Frontline base Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire
The frontline base of Valkyries is a star-shaped fortress with an airfield built just outside it. Lined up neatly on the airfield are the empire’s proud fighters and bombers with a lot of imperial maintenance troops coming and going. One can infer from the sight of busy men their experience and high skill. Supreme commander of the base, 8th Army Commander Gaoggel, was staring outside from the office. An airfield was set up in the outskirts of the base, and since the armored 4th Division that captured Alue temporarily returned to Valkyries for refueling and rearmament while the primarily infantry 3rd Division replaced them as the occupants of Alue. With such overwhelming strength, there was no one in the world that wielded the power necessary to stop them.
Knock knock (TL note: Who’s there? (￣∇￣;))
“Come in.”
Knocking on the door of the office, officers of varying rank entered the room and their meeting had begun. The Imperial Army officers that led the attack on Alue started with their reports.
“The enemy forces garrisoned in Alue were annihilated and the town has been seized. There may be guerilla resistance but at this point in time, they won’t hamper the execution of our operations. Furthermore, Mu’s aircraft performance is just as described by the documents released by the Navy and are therefore not considered a threat to the empire’s aviators.
The top speed of the enemy’s newest fighter is around 380km/h which even our bombers can completely shake off if they maintain their altitude and top speed.”
A slight relief envelops the faces of every officer in the room. However, there were still concerns when it came to their campaign on the Mu homeland. There is a fundamental difference in the performance between carrier-based aircraft and ground-based aircraft. In comparison to the airframes of ground-based aircraft, the airframes of carrier-based aircraft had to be strengthened in order to withstand launching and landing from aircraft carriers and so their performance tends to be weaker.
There is an off chance that the country calling itself the world’s 2nd strongest is in possession of aircraft stronger than the information they had gathered suggests. They cannot simply dispel such concerns since they have only subjugated their enemy’s frontier lands, but the officers took relief at the fact that so far, their enemy is only as strong as their information suggests.
Moving forward, the Imperial Army Air Corps begins their report.
“Situated around 200km east of the town of Alue is an airbase the Mu nationals call Howki. It would be troublesome if aircraft coming from this base sortie out towards Alue, so we conducted bombing runs on Howki at the same time the invasion started.
The preemptive strike was successful, destroying much of the enemy fighters on the ground. Around 7 fighters managed to escape and take off, but they were shot down by the escort fighters. 1 Antares fighter was shot at and damaged by anti-aircraft fire, but the damage it suffered was minimal so it is possible to have it repaired and returned back to action in 3 days.”
Base commander Gaoggel nodded in apparent satisfaction.
“There is, however, one matter of concern. We have lost contact with 3 aircraft from Leesk’s squad from the 2nd Aviation Squadron while they were conducting a patrol mission east of Alue. Just before we lost contact, the radar was temporarily disabled and we were unable to raise them through radio, so we judged it to be the effect of a periodically occurring large magnetic storm.
However, losing at most 3 aircraft in a magnetic storm is previously unheard of so we have started a search mission for the aircraft.”
A gut-wrenching report finally came in…
“What’s the possibility it is an enemy we are yet to be aware of?”
“It can be explained by the possibility that they were attacked by a large number of strong enemy aircraft at the same time as the magnetic storm, but I think that possibility is extremely far-fetched at the moment.
However, the possibility of it happening isn’t completely zero so we are currently gathering more information at all fronts. There are still too many things we don’t quite understand about this planet. We also cannot deny the possibility that enemy aircraft may possess resistance against these periodic large magnetic storms which are powerful enough to render radar useless.”
When something incomprehensible happens, humans will try to resolve it using their experience and knowledge. For them, Japan carrying out exceedingly advanced electronic jamming is a reality too far-fetched to be imagined.
“It’s also possible that an unknown fighter of the Holy Mirishial Empire has entered the conflict! From this moment forward, if you discover any new phenomena, report them immediately without leaving out any details!!”
“Yes, sir!!”
The Holy Mirishial Empire deployed a monster called an aerial battleship in the previous naval battle. While it seems that one of them was shot down by the main batteries of the superdreadnought Grade Atlastar, they are not in possession of such large caliber guns on land.
“How worrisome…”
Commander Borg of the 4th Armored Division began to speak.
“I will now explain the next operation. There is a sector to the east of Alue called the hollow mountains. Since we have received reports that the cavities of the hollow mountains enable the passage of tanks, we will slip through the mountains and then take control of a town situated to the sector’s east.
This town east of the hollow mountains has a population of about 220,000 people. We are expecting to run into armed resistance in the form of the Mu National Army and their reinforcements. This town also hosts the western railway point of the railway that connects the north and south, which can be said to be Mu’s aorta. By taking control of this town, we would be dealing a substantial blow to Mu.
In order to reinforce this operation’s flow of battle, we would need to secure air supremacy. We, the 4th Armored Division, will take the responsibility of being the spearhead for this operation. We will annihilate the enemies left from the previous airstrikes, but when it comes to urban warfare…”
“Yes. When you have to enter into urban warfare, we will send reinforcements your way.”
“Thank you very much! I would like to devise a plan to lure out the enemy’s main force. When it comes to fighting in the open plains, our armored division has no equal. Whether it be Mu or the Holy Mirishial Empire, we will crush them to pieces!”
“Great! I’m counting on you!!”
・・・
The meeting more or less ended and Army Commander Gaoggel was talking to Borg in the hallway.
“So, how did you find Alue, Borg?”
“Sir!! Your orders have been relayed to the troops, raising their morale to its maximum!”
Borg made an asshole-ish face.
“You know, Borg… I, too, want to experience some…”
“Ahhh… Pardon me, Commander Gaoggel. For you, I will arrange 3 Mu nationals tonight.”
“You do understand, right? Sometimes, I think the people back home know what’s happening here, but you understand that what happens here stays here, right?”
“Yes, sir!! I will keep that in mind!!”
A dark side of Army Commander Gaoggel, a criminalistic side different from the side he had shown at the meeting, manifests in front of Borg. In this new world that lacks any legal international convention on war, the citizens of the losing side are treated like spoils of war.
・・・
The town of Kielseki, east of the hollow mountains, Mu
Kielseki is a town that is situated on the westernmost side of the transcontinental railroad cutting through the north and south of Mu and it is the closest town to the border town of Alue. This place, where special metals can be procured, has developed around its mining industry. At a certain bar in this town, a bunch of drunkards are talking to one another.
“Did you hear? Seems that Alue has fallen to the hands of the Gra Valkas Empire!”
A man with a meek face speaks up as he chugs down a drink.
“Yeaaaah. It seems that the townsfolk there are having a hard time with the soldiers. Talking about it makes my gut go crazy so I don’t wanna talk about it… Can’t get by these days without drinking, yeah???”
“They’re probably laying their eyes on their next target, which could be Kielseki since it’s an important rail hub.”
“Yeah sure, but Mu’s military boasts the world’s 2nd strongest power, no? The main base of the western army is nearby, so it’s natural that their defensive strength is waaaay different from that of Alue’s. There’s no way Kielseki’s gonna fall!”
Everyone was unsettled by the fact that the Gra Valkas Empire with which they have an overwhelming and hopeless disparity in strength was just a stone’s throw away from Kielseki. The drunkards spoke as they pretended to be tough as if trying to get rid of their anxieties.
“Yeah, no doubt about it.”
“You guys don’t know shit!!!”
A hooded man suddenly shouted within the bar trying to get in between the chatter of the drunkards. Sharp ears protruded from the sides of his hood and so everyone thought he was probably an elf.
“You don’t know shit of the terrors of the Gra Valkas Empire!!!”
The man’s hands shook, spilling alcohol from the cup he was holding. The people in the bar glued their gazes on the man.
“I… I was part of the Irnetia Kingdom’s maritime forces!!”
The drunkards were taken by surprise. The Irnetia Kingdom was a country outside the civilized areas situated north of the Paganda island which in turn is about 500km west of the Mu continent. Like Paganda, they heard it was a prospering kingdom due to being the point of contact with the western world. Some years ago, they were invaded by the Gra Valkas Empire and they swiftly capitulated to them. The drunkards in the bar listened carefully to the story of the man that has experienced fighting against the empire.
“The empire was clearly taking provocative actions akin to declaring war. King Irnetia, furious over their actions, attacked their diplomats the moment they boarded the battleship Grade Atlastar. Our bombardment precisely landed on them and the enemy ship was engulfed in explosive smoke…”
The place became noisy due to the fact that an uncivilized country managed to bombard the superdreadnought Grade Atlastar which has recently become the epitome of terror that brandished legendary strength.
“It hit because we were at point-blank range. We used a type of shell that explodes on impact, similar to those of the Second Civilization superpower Leifor.
Furthermore, by removing the magic cannon’s limiter, the power of the cannon is increased in exchange for barrel life… Using our kingdom’s secret technology, we continued our attacks on the Grade Atlastar… However…
Those… those monsters!!”
He recalled the terror of what had happened while he was speaking. Cold sweat started to flow from the man’s forehead as his hands shook.
“We hit them!!! We actually did hit them!! We hit them with our kingdom’s strongest technology… our strongest bombardment!!
And yet… as if nothing had happened… those shitheads returned fire!!
Moreover… they blew up our magic ships of the line in a single shot!! With just a single shot… With just a single shot!! They pulverized our magic ships of the line with a single shot!!
I have never seen such an attack… After hearing that the aerial battleships of the ancient sorcerous empire were felled by the Grade Atlastar, my mind was made up.”
The place quieted down.
“We-well… I understand that you’ve experienced something horrible. However, Kielseki is an important strategic point for Mu so they will never let it fall so easily. By the way, did you know?
Uhh… What were they called again?… Japan! Right, Japan too seems to be entering the war to save Mu. We will somehow win, yeah?”
“You’re being naive!! The dimensions of their strength are so far past the dimensions of battle that I know of!! Even their army is absurdly powerful!! I’ve seen them use superweapons called tanks!!
It’s an armored wagon with a high-powered magic cannon! They continue to move undaunted even if they received direct hits from our magic cannons!! Furthemore, they move so fast!!”
Mania within the bar erupts.
“Hey hey, sir! Keep it down, please!! — Huh?! Hey, come look here! It looks like the train carrying the reinforcements have arrived!”
A steam engine slowly passed by as it traversed the tracks adjacent to the bar.
“Woaaaah!! Hey, is that the tank that he was talking about?”
The man that was talking passionately looked at the direction of the window.
“Wha-!!!!”
His eyes widened. Just outside the window was a tank that was far bigger than the Gra Valkas Empire tanks he had seen. It’s shape was more refined and streamlined and it had an extremely massive cannon. Several Type 10 main battle tanks loaded onto train cars were passing by the bar.
“T-those are… amazing!!!”
With his kingdom toppled by the Gra Valkas Empire, he was in the midst of desperation as he fled towards Mu. Up to that point, the Gra Valkas Empire was a terrifying country, managing to rout even the World Union in which the Second Civilization Area superpower of Mu and the Holy Mirishial Empire took part of.
A faint light of hope wells up from the depths of his heart.
・・・
Kielseki military base command room, Western Army, Mu National Army
“Excuse me.”
A man enters the command room and reports in.
“Commander Hokugō, the first group of Japan’s army will soon arrive at the base’s station.”
“Hmm, thank you… Well then… why don’t we welcome our guests?”
A railroad separate from the tracks leading to the station at the town Kielseki was connected to the Kielseki military base, allowing for the rapid deployment of a large army. The military base’s station had structures that allow for the disembarkation of tanks loaded onto the cars by simply changing the train car’s direction.
“Hahhhhh… it seems that recently the Gra Valkas Empire, Japan, and other armies besides ours are just running around as they seem fit in our homeland…”
By the time that the Gra Valkas Empire began to amass troops west of Alue, Commander Hokugō elevated to his superiors the idea of launching a preemptive strike on the imperial base. Since Alue couldn’t host a large army and was anticipated to swiftly fall once attacked, it was apparent to him that if they did nothing, they were simply leaving the townsfolk and the garrison to fend for themselves.
Since the empire had already declared war on them, the military expected no one would be opposed to carrying out the preemptive strike which was strategically and technologically sound. However, Foreign Affairs and many politicians were opposed to it.
The military strongly opposed the idea of abandoning the town and its garrison, but those that opposed the preemptive strike said that:
They have already issued evacuation directives to the town. The danger has already been explained numerous times to everyone in the town, and so in the off chance that the town falls, the government has already done what it can. They were currently in negotiations for Japan to enter the war, and despite Mu being the recipient of the declaration of war, they didn’t want Mu to be the aggressor in the conflict.They also used the reason that if Japan were to refuse to enter the war, Mu would suffer more casualties than what they would suffer in Alue.
Whether they opposed the idea due to sophisticated political decisioning, Commander Hokugō couldn’t hide his fury at the fact they had failed to save the lives of many people which they could have saved by delaying the attack on Alue with a preemptive strike on the Imperial Army base.
“I heard that Japan is strong when it comes to anti-air combat, but… ground warfare is an entirely different arena from anti-air combat. I wonder how much strength Japan has in that area.”
He has received orders from the higher ups to cooperate fully with them. Carrying complicated emotions, Commander Hokugō goes out to meet them.
Mu National Army base station, Kielseki
A crowd of Mu army personnel and regular townsfolk gathered at the station to see the Japanese army with which the Mu government is taking so much into consideration.
The piercing steam whistle of the train rang in unison with the arrival bell at the station.
“Alright then. I wonder what sort of people came.”
Commander Hokugō mutters to his subordinate standing next to him.
“The government and navy seem to be buying Japanese tech at high prices, but for the army, numbers and tactics speak louder. No matter how you put it, dispatching just a little under 10,000 men is simply too few to save Mu.”
“Indeed… It’s nice to have reinforcements, but half-assed support just hinders the army’s operations. I don’t think they have the power to overturn the superiority in numbers, but…
Ah well. It seems that the reinforcements they sent are not just these chaps that have just arrived but also their air power, so I have some expectations for them…”
As the freight train slowly arrived at the station, Commander Hokugō stiffened upon seeing what its cars were carrying.
“!!!”
A weapon that he has never seen before emanated a powerful sense of presence. Curious onlookers from the soldiers also began to fuss amongst themselves.
“Hey hey!! Look at that!! THAT thing!!”
Advanced-looking armored vehicles were being brought in. They were comparatively larger than the early armored vehicles being developed in Mu and were more angular and had no traces of screwing on their armor plating.
“I-is that… a tank?”
“I don’t know but it would seem so… It also seems that they have different other types.”
The Mu National Army soldiers each gave their inquiry upon seeing the self-propelled howitzers. The large vehicles loaded onto the freight train that slowly entered the station were all something that they have never seen before, with each vehicle giving off a deeply dignified feel. A lot of unclear details about them such as their use and strength were unclear, but they all appeared extremely strong, so the morale of the army skyrocketed.
Military personnel disembarked as the passenger cabins connected to the freight train slowly arrived at the platform. Commander Hokugō, who was overwhelmed by the presence being given off by the vehicles in Japan’s service, regains his composure and calls out to the closest military personnel that first disembarked.
“Thank you for coming, I am the base commander, Hokugō. The Mu National Army welcomes Japan’s army.”
He extends out his hand.
“Thank you for coming to welcome us. I’m the commander of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 7th Division. My name is Ōuchida Kazuki. Let’s get along from this point forward!”
They shook their hands firmly.
The officers of the GSDF immediately went to hold an operations briefing with Mu’s army.
・・・
The hollow mountains, roughly 50km west of Kielseki, Mu
Massive stones sprout up from the flat open plains towards the sky. The stones come in all sorts of shapes, forming absurdly massive colonies that appear as mountains to humans. This place also obstructs visual sight from the sky, rendering any ground warfare that takes place here devoid of air support.
This place, known as the hollow mountains, was where a scouting party from the Mu National Army was stationed, having come here by motorcycles and monitoring activity coming from the west.
“Look! Here they come!!!”
Black smoke was faintly visible from far away. It was the silhouette of the armored units of the Gra Valkas Empire.
“Look at how many there are!!!”
In Mu’s common sense, the armored vehicle was a precious weapon, and so they were deployed sparingly while it was the infantry’s role to command the ground. However, it seems that the enemy was mostly riding on tanks and automobiles.
They shuddered in fear at the sight of the invading enemy which had dyed the earth black, but they promptly returned to base as they reported back through radio.
Ryūsei Base, Mu
Mu National Air Force’s Howki base is situated around 200km east from the town of Alue as well as the threat of the Gra Valkas Empire. Northeast of the Howki base around 500km northeast of Alue was the Ryūsei base.
The day before, RF4E reconnaissance aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force flew out to conduct detailed reconnaissance of the Gra Valkas Imperial Army’s base. While it was thought that the empire could never shoot them down with their level of technology, electronic jamming was conducted just in case, and so the recon operation was conducted while the enemy’s radar was disabled.
Just to be extra sure, 2 F-2 fighters went ahead as escorts.
“In the case of using weapons, you must do to the best of your abilities not to let the enemy know of our capabilities as this might hit back at us at a later operation. With the exemption of emergencies, you are not permitted to use weapons outside of self-defense.”
These were the orders that were given to ASDF F-2 fighter pilot Shindō.
Upon verifying his radar, he noticed an aircraft clearly taking unsettling maneuvers. It seems that it was climbing and diving at low altitude.
Shindō remembers the words he had heard from his grandfather. During the Second World War, some of the enemy pilots that were flying over the Japanese mainland intentionally aimed and attacked children and moving villagers with their machine guns. According to his grandfather, this was how his grandmother was killed.
He was obviously trying to broaden the interpretation of the orders given to him, but if he were to engage them now, lives can be saved. His blood boiled in anger.
He dived down to match the altitude of the enemy fighters, advancing across the surface as if he were crawling on it. They eventually came into view and from there he discovered that the enemy aircraft were clearly strafing refugees on the ground.
Shindō, who was usually calm and collected, was furious.
“I’ll let you bastards know how those people who lost their lives in vain and those who you’re targeting feel!!!”
He level-headedly conducts maneuvers just as he was trained to do so and locks on to the enemy aircraft with a short-range air-to-air guided missile, pressing the fire button without hesitation. The missile fires away followed by a thunderous sound, flying true to its target and pulverizing the enemy aircraft aiming for those on the ground.
Furthermore, he confirms two more enemy aircraft in the sky. He cannot deny the possibility that they may also attack the refugees on the ground and he also cannot let them return to base with information regarding him. He promptly decides to shoot down all of them, shooting down another aircraft as he climbs up. Turning back around, he shoots down the remaining aircraft.
And so, this brings him to where he is now. One of his superiors shouts angrily at him.
“…that’s why we cannot let the enemy realize our abilities!! You may have saved some lives with your conduct just now, but you do understand that your behavior can only be expressed as careless, right?!”
Shindō, who was reprimanded plentily, was finally released from the sermon. Leaving the encampment and talking a stroll outside, a familiar sound echoed from afar. He looked up at the sky.
“Hoh? Guess the MSDF have also arrived…”
In front of his eyes were 12 BP-3C flying in formation and eventually entering into a holding pattern before landing. These were the same squadron that bombed the Parpaldia Imperial Army base in Esthirant, ushering in the collapse of the empire. Furthermore, P-1s, C-2s, and other various aircraft arrived at the base.
The base’s function continues to be reinforced.
・・・
Frontline base Valkyries, Gra Valkas Empire
The frontline base of Valkyries is a star-shaped fortress with an airfield built just outside it. Lined up neatly on the airfield are the empire’s proud fighters and bombers with a lot of imperial maintenance troops coming and going. One can infer from the sight of busy men their experience and high skill. Supreme commander of the base, 8th Army Commander Gaoggel, was staring outside from the office. An airfield was set up in the outskirts of the base, and since the armored 4th Division that captured Alue temporarily returned to Valkyries for refueling and rearmament while the primarily infantry 3rd Division replaced them as the occupants of Alue. With such overwhelming strength, there was no one in the world that wielded the power necessary to stop them.
Knock knock (TL note: Who’s there? (￣∇￣;))
“Come in.”
Knocking on the door of the office, officers of varying rank entered the room and their meeting had begun. The Imperial Army officers that led the attack on Alue started with their reports.
“The enemy forces garrisoned in Alue were annihilated and the town has been seized. There may be guerilla resistance but at this point in time, they won’t hamper the execution of our operations. Furthermore, Mu’s aircraft performance is just as described by the documents released by the Navy and are therefore not considered a threat to the empire’s aviators.
The top speed of the enemy’s newest fighter is around 380km/h which even our bombers can completely shake off if they maintain their altitude and top speed.”
A slight relief envelops the faces of every officer in the room. However, there were still concerns when it came to their campaign on the Mu homeland. There is a fundamental difference in the performance between carrier-based aircraft and ground-based aircraft. In comparison to the airframes of ground-based aircraft, the airframes of carrier-based aircraft had to be strengthened in order to withstand launching and landing from aircraft carriers and so their performance tends to be weaker.
There is an off chance that the country calling itself the world’s 2nd strongest is in possession of aircraft stronger than the information they had gathered suggests. They cannot simply dispel such concerns since they have only subjugated their enemy’s frontier lands, but the officers took relief at the fact that so far, their enemy is only as strong as their information suggests.
Moving forward, the Imperial Army Air Corps begins their report.
“Situated around 200km east of the town of Alue is an airbase the Mu nationals call Howki. It would be troublesome if aircraft coming from this base sortie out towards Alue, so we conducted bombing runs on Howki at the same time the invasion started.
The preemptive strike was successful, destroying much of the enemy fighters on the ground. Around 7 fighters managed to escape and take off, but they were shot down by the escort fighters. 1 Antares fighter was shot at and damaged by anti-aircraft fire, but the damage it suffered was minimal so it is possible to have it repaired and returned back to action in 3 days.”
Base commander Gaoggel nodded in apparent satisfaction.
“There is, however, one matter of concern. We have lost contact with 3 aircraft from Leesk’s squad from the 2nd Aviation Squadron while they were conducting a patrol mission east of Alue. Just before we lost contact, the radar was temporarily disabled and we were unable to raise them through radio, so we judged it to be the effect of a periodically occurring large magnetic storm.
However, losing at most 3 aircraft in a magnetic storm is previously unheard of so we have started a search mission for the aircraft.”
A gut-wrenching report finally came in…
“What’s the possibility it is an enemy we are yet to be aware of?”
“It can be explained by the possibility that they were attacked by a large number of strong enemy aircraft at the same time as the magnetic storm, but I think that possibility is extremely far-fetched at the moment.
However, the possibility of it happening isn’t completely zero so we are currently gathering more information at all fronts. There are still too many things we don’t quite understand about this planet. We also cannot deny the possibility that enemy aircraft may possess resistance against these periodic large magnetic storms which are powerful enough to render radar useless.”
When something incomprehensible happens, humans will try to resolve it using their experience and knowledge. For them, Japan carrying out exceedingly advanced electronic jamming is a reality too far-fetched to be imagined.
“It’s also possible that an unknown fighter of the Holy Mirishial Empire has entered the conflict! From this moment forward, if you discover any new phenomena, report them immediately without leaving out any details!!”
“Yes, sir!!”
The Holy Mirishial Empire deployed a monster called an aerial battleship in the previous naval battle. While it seems that one of them was shot down by the main batteries of the superdreadnought Grade Atlastar, they are not in possession of such large caliber guns on land.
“How worrisome…”
Commander Borg of the 4th Armored Division began to speak.
“I will now explain the next operation. There is a sector to the east of Alue called the hollow mountains. Since we have received reports that the cavities of the hollow mountains enable the passage of tanks, we will slip through the mountains and then take control of a town situated to the sector’s east.
This town east of the hollow mountains has a population of about 220,000 people. We are expecting to run into armed resistance in the form of the Mu National Army and their reinforcements. This town also hosts the western railway point of the railway that connects the north and south, which can be said to be Mu’s aorta. By taking control of this town, we would be dealing a substantial blow to Mu.
In order to reinforce this operation’s flow of battle, we would need to secure air supremacy. We, the 4th Armored Division, will take the responsibility of being the spearhead for this operation. We will annihilate the enemies left from the previous airstrikes, but when it comes to urban warfare…”
“Yes. When you have to enter into urban warfare, we will send reinforcements your way.”
“Thank you very much! I would like to devise a plan to lure out the enemy’s main force. When it comes to fighting in the open plains, our armored division has no equal. Whether it be Mu or the Holy Mirishial Empire, we will crush them to pieces!”
“Great! I’m counting on you!!”
・・・
The meeting more or less ended and Army Commander Gaoggel was talking to Borg in the hallway.
“So, how did you find Alue, Borg?”
“Sir!! Your orders have been relayed to the troops, raising their morale to its maximum!”
Borg made an asshole-ish face.
“You know, Borg… I, too, want to experience some…”
“Ahhh… Pardon me, Commander Gaoggel. For you, I will arrange 3 Mu nationals tonight.”
“You do understand, right? Sometimes, I think the people back home know what’s happening here, but you understand that what happens here stays here, right?”
“Yes, sir!! I will keep that in mind!!”
A dark side of Army Commander Gaoggel, a criminalistic side different from the side he had shown at the meeting, manifests in front of Borg. In this new world that lacks any legal international convention on war, the citizens of the losing side are treated like spoils of war.
・・・
The town of Kielseki, east of the hollow mountains, Mu
Kielseki is a town that is situated on the westernmost side of the transcontinental railroad cutting through the north and south of Mu and it is the closest town to the border town of Alue. This place, where special metals can be procured, has developed around its mining industry. At a certain bar in this town, a bunch of drunkards are talking to one another.
“Did you hear? Seems that Alue has fallen to the hands of the Gra Valkas Empire!”
A man with a meek face speaks up as he chugs down a drink.
“Yeaaaah. It seems that the townsfolk there are having a hard time with the soldiers. Talking about it makes my gut go crazy so I don’t wanna talk about it… Can’t get by these days without drinking, yeah???”
“They’re probably laying their eyes on their next target, which could be Kielseki since it’s an important rail hub.”
“Yeah sure, but Mu’s military boasts the world’s 2nd strongest power, no? The main base of the western army is nearby, so it’s natural that their defensive strength is waaaay different from that of Alue’s. There’s no way Kielseki’s gonna fall!”
Everyone was unsettled by the fact that the Gra Valkas Empire with which they have an overwhelming and hopeless disparity in strength was just a stone’s throw away from Kielseki. The drunkards spoke as they pretended to be tough as if trying to get rid of their anxieties.
“Yeah, no doubt about it.”
“You guys don’t know shit!!!”
A hooded man suddenly shouted within the bar trying to get in between the chatter of the drunkards. Sharp ears protruded from the sides of his hood and so everyone thought he was probably an elf.
“You don’t know shit of the terrors of the Gra Valkas Empire!!!”
The man’s hands shook, spilling alcohol from the cup he was holding. The people in the bar glued their gazes on the man.
“I… I was part of the Irnetia Kingdom’s maritime forces!!”
The drunkards were taken by surprise. The Irnetia Kingdom was a country outside the civilized areas situated north of the Paganda island which in turn is about 500km west of the Mu continent. Like Paganda, they heard it was a prospering kingdom due to being the point of contact with the western world. Some years ago, they were invaded by the Gra Valkas Empire and they swiftly capitulated to them. The drunkards in the bar listened carefully to the story of the man that has experienced fighting against the empire.
“The empire was clearly taking provocative actions akin to declaring war. King Irnetia, furious over their actions, attacked their diplomats the moment they boarded the battleship Grade Atlastar. Our bombardment precisely landed on them and the enemy ship was engulfed in explosive smoke…”
The place became noisy due to the fact that an uncivilized country managed to bombard the superdreadnought Grade Atlastar which has recently become the epitome of terror that brandished legendary strength.
“It hit because we were at point-blank range. We used a type of shell that explodes on impact, similar to those of the Second Civilization superpower Leifor.
Furthermore, by removing the magic cannon’s limiter, the power of the cannon is increased in exchange for barrel life… Using our kingdom’s secret technology, we continued our attacks on the Grade Atlastar… However…
Those… those monsters!!”
He recalled the terror of what had happened while he was speaking. Cold sweat started to flow from the man’s forehead as his hands shook.
“We hit them!!! We actually did hit them!! We hit them with our kingdom’s strongest technology… our strongest bombardment!!
And yet… as if nothing had happened… those shitheads returned fire!!
Moreover… they blew up our magic ships of the line in a single shot!! With just a single shot… With just a single shot!! They pulverized our magic ships of the line with a single shot!!
I have never seen such an attack… After hearing that the aerial battleships of the ancient sorcerous empire were felled by the Grade Atlastar, my mind was made up.”
The place quieted down.
“We-well… I understand that you’ve experienced something horrible. However, Kielseki is an important strategic point for Mu so they will never let it fall so easily. By the way, did you know?
Uhh… What were they called again?… Japan! Right, Japan too seems to be entering the war to save Mu. We will somehow win, yeah?”
“You’re being naive!! The dimensions of their strength are so far past the dimensions of battle that I know of!! Even their army is absurdly powerful!! I’ve seen them use superweapons called tanks!!
It’s an armored wagon with a high-powered magic cannon! They continue to move undaunted even if they received direct hits from our magic cannons!! Furthemore, they move so fast!!”
Mania within the bar erupts.
“Hey hey, sir! Keep it down, please!! — Huh?! Hey, come look here! It looks like the train carrying the reinforcements have arrived!”
A steam engine slowly passed by as it traversed the tracks adjacent to the bar.
“Woaaaah!! Hey, is that the tank that he was talking about?”
The man that was talking passionately looked at the direction of the window.
“Wha-!!!!”
His eyes widened. Just outside the window was a tank that was far bigger than the Gra Valkas Empire tanks he had seen. It’s shape was more refined and streamlined and it had an extremely massive cannon. Several Type 10 main battle tanks loaded onto train cars were passing by the bar.
“T-those are… amazing!!!”
With his kingdom toppled by the Gra Valkas Empire, he was in the midst of desperation as he fled towards Mu. Up to that point, the Gra Valkas Empire was a terrifying country, managing to rout even the World Union in which the Second Civilization Area superpower of Mu and the Holy Mirishial Empire took part of.
A faint light of hope wells up from the depths of his heart.
・・・
Kielseki military base command room, Western Army, Mu National Army
“Excuse me.”
A man enters the command room and reports in.
“Commander Hokugō, the first group of Japan’s army will soon arrive at the base’s station.”
“Hmm, thank you… Well then… why don’t we welcome our guests?”
A railroad separate from the tracks leading to the station at the town Kielseki was connected to the Kielseki military base, allowing for the rapid deployment of a large army. The military base’s station had structures that allow for the disembarkation of tanks loaded onto the cars by simply changing the train car’s direction.
“Hahhhhh… it seems that recently the Gra Valkas Empire, Japan, and other armies besides ours are just running around as they seem fit in our homeland…”
By the time that the Gra Valkas Empire began to amass troops west of Alue, Commander Hokugō elevated to his superiors the idea of launching a preemptive strike on the imperial base. Since Alue couldn’t host a large army and was anticipated to swiftly fall once attacked, it was apparent to him that if they did nothing, they were simply leaving the townsfolk and the garrison to fend for themselves.
Since the empire had already declared war on them, the military expected no one would be opposed to carrying out the preemptive strike which was strategically and technologically sound. However, Foreign Affairs and many politicians were opposed to it.
The military strongly opposed the idea of abandoning the town and its garrison, but those that opposed the preemptive strike said that:
They have already issued evacuation directives to the town. The danger has already been explained numerous times to everyone in the town, and so in the off chance that the town falls, the government has already done what it can. They were currently in negotiations for Japan to enter the war, and despite Mu being the recipient of the declaration of war, they didn’t want Mu to be the aggressor in the conflict.They also used the reason that if Japan were to refuse to enter the war, Mu would suffer more casualties than what they would suffer in Alue.
Whether they opposed the idea due to sophisticated political decisioning, Commander Hokugō couldn’t hide his fury at the fact they had failed to save the lives of many people which they could have saved by delaying the attack on Alue with a preemptive strike on the Imperial Army base.
“I heard that Japan is strong when it comes to anti-air combat, but… ground warfare is an entirely different arena from anti-air combat. I wonder how much strength Japan has in that area.”
He has received orders from the higher ups to cooperate fully with them. Carrying complicated emotions, Commander Hokugō goes out to meet them.
Mu National Army base station, Kielseki
A crowd of Mu army personnel and regular townsfolk gathered at the station to see the Japanese army with which the Mu government is taking so much into consideration.
The piercing steam whistle of the train rang in unison with the arrival bell at the station.
“Alright then. I wonder what sort of people came.”
Commander Hokugō mutters to his subordinate standing next to him.
“The government and navy seem to be buying Japanese tech at high prices, but for the army, numbers and tactics speak louder. No matter how you put it, dispatching just a little under 10,000 men is simply too few to save Mu.”
“Indeed… It’s nice to have reinforcements, but half-assed support just hinders the army’s operations. I don’t think they have the power to overturn the superiority in numbers, but…
Ah well. It seems that the reinforcements they sent are not just these chaps that have just arrived but also their air power, so I have some expectations for them…”
As the freight train slowly arrived at the station, Commander Hokugō stiffened upon seeing what its cars were carrying.
“!!!”
A weapon that he has never seen before emanated a powerful sense of presence. Curious onlookers from the soldiers also began to fuss amongst themselves.
“Hey hey!! Look at that!! THAT thing!!”
Advanced-looking armored vehicles were being brought in. They were comparatively larger than the early armored vehicles being developed in Mu and were more angular and had no traces of screwing on their armor plating.
“I-is that… a tank?”
“I don’t know but it would seem so… It also seems that they have different other types.”
The Mu National Army soldiers each gave their inquiry upon seeing the self-propelled howitzers. The large vehicles loaded onto the freight train that slowly entered the station were all something that they have never seen before, with each vehicle giving off a deeply dignified feel. A lot of unclear details about them such as their use and strength were unclear, but they all appeared extremely strong, so the morale of the army skyrocketed.
Military personnel disembarked as the passenger cabins connected to the freight train slowly arrived at the platform. Commander Hokugō, who was overwhelmed by the presence being given off by the vehicles in Japan’s service, regains his composure and calls out to the closest military personnel that first disembarked.
“Thank you for coming, I am the base commander, Hokugō. The Mu National Army welcomes Japan’s army.”
He extends out his hand.
“Thank you for coming to welcome us. I’m the commander of Japan Ground Self-Defense Force’s 7th Division. My name is Ōuchida Kazuki. Let’s get along from this point forward!”
They shook their hands firmly.
The officers of the GSDF immediately went to hold an operations briefing with Mu’s army.
・・・
The hollow mountains, roughly 50km west of Kielseki, Mu
Massive stones sprout up from the flat open plains towards the sky. The stones come in all sorts of shapes, forming absurdly massive colonies that appear as mountains to humans. This place also obstructs visual sight from the sky, rendering any ground warfare that takes place here devoid of air support.
This place, known as the hollow mountains, was where a scouting party from the Mu National Army was stationed, having come here by motorcycles and monitoring activity coming from the west.
“Look! Here they come!!!”
Black smoke was faintly visible from far away. It was the silhouette of the armored units of the Gra Valkas Empire.
“Look at how many there are!!!”
In Mu’s common sense, the armored vehicle was a precious weapon, and so they were deployed sparingly while it was the infantry’s role to command the ground. However, it seems that the enemy was mostly riding on tanks and automobiles.
They shuddered in fear at the sight of the invading enemy which had dyed the earth black, but they promptly returned to base as they reported back through radio.
