CH 56

Chapter 56

Chapter 56 - The Scorned Empire

The capital Runepolis, Holy Mirishial Empire

The imperial capital Runepolis, the world’s most glorious capital…

In the middle section of the city is the hexagonal star-shaped building of the Ministry of Defense, which can be said to be the pillar that holds the world. Inside a certain room here is where a battle plan meeting is being held that will secure the pride of the country.

The objective of the plan: eliminate the Gra Valkas Empire fleet deployed off the coast of the capital of the former Second Civilization superpower Leifor.

The Gra Valkas Empire… Suddenly appearing to the west of the Second Civilization Area in the uncivilized areas, they used military force to annex the surrounding weak countries, and then they gained total control over the Paganda Kingdom, a protectorate of the Second Civilization superpower Leifor, whose primary fleet they crushed with a single superdreadnought. Soon after, they bastardized Leifor to surrender.

They then colonized Leifor, demanded a seat on the 11 developed country conference, and as soon as they participated, the woman they sent declared war on the entire world at the historical meeting and had the empire’s finest 0th Magic Fleet reduced to ashes in a surprise attack.

On top of that, they attacked the port city of Cartalpas where the representatives from many countries gathered, and then subsequently sank the escort fleets they had sent with them.

The Emperor, Mirishial, was furious at the events that had unfolded and ordered for the immediate elimination of the Gra Valkas Empire ships. This is where the current meeting fits in.

For the Holy Mirishial Empire which is said to be the center of the world, failure of the operation would not be forgiven, and so the meeting is imbued with a lot of passion from the participants.

“It has been decided that we will be deploying the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Fleets, but is their battle power truly sufficient? We will be in deep trouble if this fails!”

The Minister of National Defense, Agra, asks the Commander of the Western Fleet, Kling.

“According to our military’s calculations, the 1st and 2nd Fleets are already sufficient. Adding in the 3rd Fleet, we’d crush them.”

Asserted Kling.

“And what if the enemy’s battle power is higher than we expect? There may be enemies that are way outside of what we can recognize.”

“Considering that the deployment of 3 fleets is sufficient and appropriate.

While we’re at it, if I may, while they might not be of much use, the number of ships from the World Union Fleet is staggeringly high. Within that fleet are local convoys of 3 magic battleships, 6 magic cruisers, 4 small warships, for a total of 13 ships of each convoy.

In addition to the Second Civilization Area and that of Mu’s, it is a considerably large fleet.”

“I see…”

“To summarize, the World Union Fleet will go first and head for Leiforia. The enemy will probably intercept us to the north of the Second Civilization Area at the Baltica Sea. At that point, I think we would have taken considerable damage, but then we can deduce the location of the enemy fleet by keeping an eye on when the first wave of attack aircraft returns, and so destroy the enemy aircraft carriers with the 1st to 3rd Fleets.

They will then head for Leiforia and destroy the enemy merchant ships offshore. Naturally, we will give a command to those on the scene so that everything will go well.”

“Speaking of which, what would they do if this were to happen…”

The meeting lasted deep into the night.

・・・

The port city Cartalpas, Holy Mirishial Empire

The port manager, Bronze, looked onto the scene at the harbor and took a deep breath.

“21 ships of the line from the Torquia Kingdom have arrived!”

“A convoy of 17 magic ships from the Agartha Kingdom has arrived!”

The prided main fleets of the most powerful countries in the Central World arrived in the harbor one after the other.

After gathering in the harbor, they will rendezvous with the fleet of the Second Civilization Area and move north. The fleet this time was more powerful than the fleet of ships that protected the ambassadors and this time they will destroy the hated Gra Valkas Empire… Each country had sent a lot of ships, and so it wasn’t just Bronze but everyone gathered at the port who was overwhelmed by the sight of the fleet that was gathering.

“What a magnificent sight… The time has come for those bastards to receive their divine punishment.

To think that these are only from the Central World… Once they join with those from the Second Civilization Area, they’ll stomp out those Gra Valkas Empire folks.”

A young employee of 5 years of experience talks to Bronze.

“Yeah… Even if you exclude the Third Civilization Area, this World Union Fleet, along with the Second Civilization Area, is a force to be reckoned with. Their immense number is already a power in and of itself. Moreover…”

Bronze turned his gaze towards the harbor.

“This fleet has forces from the local regions which include 13 battleships with the Western Fleet acting like a detached force. It also seems that 3 Fleets from us will join in the subjugation of the Gra Valkas Empire.”

“Woah! His Excellency has gotten serious!”

“Yeah… And here I thought that only in the ancient sorcerous empire… the Ravernal Empire would a fleet this big be possible.”

Many in the military that participated in the previous battle experienced and therefore understood the strength of the Gra Valkas Empire, but it is generally recognized that much of the damage came from the fact that it was a surprise attack.

The port manager Bronze stared at the still amassing ships with these particular feelings in his heart.

・・・

Technological Intelligence Bureau, Leifor sub-branch, Leifor Autonomous District, Gra Valkas Empire

Technical Information Officer Naguano is conducting analyses and investigations on the militaries of this New World for future battles.

The technology department of the Technological Intelligence Bureau is the organ of the Gra Valkas Empire tasked with research on the enemy’s tactics and level of technology. After the great transference of the empire and the loss of their long-time rival, the Kain Divine Kingdom, their subsequent military successes against the countries of the New World have relegated the department to a less important role in the military.

Since their transfer into the New World, the power and human resources of the department which was originally increasing has now continued to decline.

The circumstances of the intelligence bureau have never been light and yet…

Technical Information Officer Naguano is doing his job as usual. In front of him is a picture taken in the Kingdom of Louria, a country from outside the civilized areas.

“Hehehe…”

The colored pictures of the Kingdom of Louria’s warships with their retro-ness and the systematically arranged arrow-repellent shields on the deck made him laugh involuntarily.

“What’s the matter, Naguano?”

A coworker asked upon seeing Naguano ominously laughing.

“Ah well, look at this. These are arrow-repellent shields on a sail ship! It looks like something out of a historical drama! It’s so out of place!

This world is an interesting one since so many countries still employ this kind of ship! This just feels more like a hobby than actual research and analysis.”

“Hey hey, the chief will get mad if they hear you say that! Even if it is more or less like this, it’s still our job to study the enemy’s tactics just in case!”

“Yeah, alright, alright. The threat level for this one is too low so let’s put it off for now.”

He took out the next photo.

The ship is much larger than that of the Kingdom of Louria and has sails as its primary constituent but the sides are loaded with a lot of guns.

“A ship of the line, huh?”

It was a picture of the prided 100-gun class magic ship of the line of the Third Civilization superpower, the Papaldia Empire.

Even if it were considered an antique, the cool appearance had him going passionate for it.

The cannons seem to only go as much as 2km, so the ship didn’t pose much of a threat, however…

“What an interesting method of propulsion…”

A magical tool called the Tears of the Wind God creates wind and focuses it on the sails, creating thrust. Without considering the angle at which to use the tool it is useless, but since this moves in windless conditions possible, Naguano felt that it was indeed interesting.

“I wonder if we could apply this on our aircraft carriers and make the takeoff distance shorter?”

He thought of doing a bit more research on the Tears of the Wind God and stamped it “Research Needed”.

“Come here for a bit.”

He asked his coworker.

“What?”

“You’re already a superpower with this kind of equipment, huh? We really would go on to impose a gigantic swath of influence in this world…”

His coworker took a look at the picture.

“A warship of times past, a ship of the line… A ship from before the appearance of the rotating turret. Since the guns are fixed, it is impossible to mount large-caliber guns, so the battle then sways to whoever has more guns. It’s just simply inefficient… but it looks cool.”

“The anti-aircraft capability seems to be mediocre…”

Both of them lost interest in the Papaldia Empire ship.

Next, he took out a photo of a ship from Mu, a country in the Second Civilization Area that prides itself in being the second most powerful country.

“This is the main battleship of our next opponent…”

Equipped with rotating turrets, it is larger than the ship from the Parpaldia Empire in the previous picture.

“This is a novel one for this world as it seems to be all-mechanical.”

“I wonder why the level of civilization and mode of development is so different from country to country…”

“Well, it even is the case in our previous world where there are undeveloped regions like that of the primitive Alfrey District where unblessed children are continued to be born in the masses. That’s just the mindset of strong countries.”

Naguano examined the Mu battleship.

Looking at the range of its guns, its speed, and the performance of the carrier-based aircraft from the accompanying aircraft carrier, in terms of ship performance, it is thought that there are a ~50-year gap and a 20-30 year or more gap in terms of aircraft performance.

“The gap in aircraft technology is only several decades. From their level of civilization, the level of development of their aircraft seems to be high… It poses a bit of a threat.”

“However, with our military tactics, as long as they’re not hit by stray bullets, our planes won’t fall.

This world has flying dragons. It would be acceptable to think that to gain an edge in fighting these imaginary combatants, the evolution of flight technology needed to be fast.”

“No doubt about that… If we were to attack their battleship or their carrier-based aircraft squadrons then we’d immediately come out on top, so there isn’t much of a threat…

Sadly, we don’t have substantial information for what kind of equipment their ground forces field. I’ll have instructions to gather more.”

Naguano then took out a bunch of documents.

The world’s strongest country, the Holy Mirishial Empire, places the most important emphasis on their existence and military.

They have mastered the not fully understood method of magic, organized it, and then adopted it into their national system. I heard that some ships from our fleet which made contact with their fleet were rendered useless by them.

There is no doubt that they possess the power to inflict damage on our fleets, and as such, they are the number one threat. However, if we can manage to defeat even them, then the world is as good as ours.

Fortunately, the enemy’s anti-air capability doesn’t pose much of a threat, and it seems that the accuracy of their anti-air weapons is quite bad.

Upon analyzing the flow of the previous battle, probably, they don’t possess proximity fuses. It also seems that our aircraft have the advantage in acceleration and turning capacity.

Naguano talks to his coworker.

“From the level of technology of Mu’s battleship, their anti-aircraft weaponry is remarkably high. Why is it that the Holy Mirishial Empire’s anti-aircraft weaponry is weak when compared to the capability of their battleships? It’s still better than that of Mu’s but still…”

“Isn’t it just because the world is full of low-speed flying objects such as wyverns that there wasn’t any need for better performance?”

“…Well, Mirishial’s weaponry is certainly better than that of Mu’s, and if it weren’t for the empire’s presence they’d be the world’s strongest.”

“Moreover, I don’t get the battleship’s framework. I don’t know what kind of material it’s made out of and the bombardment leaves behind a bluish-white trail.”

The theory behind it was not well understood.

“The structure and theory are not well understood, but we can imagine its strength based on the previous battle. Let’s get to work!”

Both of them then took to their work.

・・・

Around evening

Naguano had finished his work for the day and was preparing to head home.

“The staff mail has arrived.”

The voice called out, and a bag was placed in front of him.

A native from Leifor was employed to pose as an ordinary citizen and infiltrate Mu to gather all sorts of information. One of the information gathered was there in front of him.

Must’ve decided to have “Naguano’s bureau” analyze it, huh…

Naguano felt fed-up.

In most cases, the information that they’d get was just garbage. The information gathered by ordinary citizens just doesn’t amount to anything.

I wonder if I should just open this tomorrow…

On the mail was written “Information on Japan” on a small memo.

Naguano, who was just about to head home, for some reason felt the impulse to open the seal as he looked at the mail.

“You’re not gonna open it?”

A coworker came and asked.

“Hm? Information on Japan? Ohhh, that country.”

“According to our records on the attack on the port city of Cartalpas, Japan’s cruisers are armed with guns that are peashooters in comparison to ours, and their armor is as thin as paper.

Their technology looks advanced, but with a speed of 25 knots, it is just slow. Strange people, I say.”

“Their ship’s anti-aircraft fire accuracy certainly seemed good enough that I feel that there’s nothing wrong with making their ship a bit stronger. For specializing in increasing accuracy, their notion of armoring is just lacking, no?”

“Perhaps they couldn’t make a high-powered engine so they had to sacrifice armor.”

“Well, whatever. Work that can be done tomorrow will be done tomorrow. I’m heading off, see you.”

The coworker went home.

Naguano, who stayed behind, couldn’t stop feeling uneasy and reached for the bag. There wasn’t an instance before where he felt an instinct to open something immediately. Making a ripping sound, he tore off the envelope.

Inside was a single book and a memo-like paper that accompanied it.

“I got this from TUTAYAN, a Japanese bookstore in Mu.”

The title of the book was translated and written in Mu’s language and to Naguano of the technology department, it was something he could read.

The cover of the book says:

Treasure Continent Extra Issue Japan vs. Gra Valkas Empire, The Results!

The title of the book arouses one’s interest in what the contents may be, and so he continued reading.

There were printed colored photographs, and he was a little surprised that the quality of the paper was unusually high for a magazine.

He turned over the page.

“W-what?!”

His hands began to shake at the abundant contents and a cold sweat ran down his back.

Recorded in the book were predictions of the empire’s warships and their abilities, tactics, as well as those of their fighter aircraft and abilities, with their detailed numerics almost on point save for some.

Even more surprising was the presence of an article with information on the empire’s strongest battleship, the Grade Atlastar, which was considered top secret.

Strikingly Similar to the Yamato class of World War II!

Stated are the performance, cross-section view, and even which sections of the armor are thickest, most of which are correct.

There were mistakes in the top speed, the performance of anti-aircraft guns, and the fire-control system used in the main armament.

What was particularly surprising was the presence of the gun calibers. The caliber of the Grade Atlastar’s guns is considered absolute top secret, with many in even the military that think the caliber is around 40cm.

Contrary to what Naguano expected, it is clearly stated in the book, “46cm”.

“H-how?!”

Mu dictionary in hand, he continues to read.

“N-n-no way!”

Stated and written in detail are their operation procedures of carrier-based aircraft squadrons, their fighter plane’s top speed and cruise range, their weaknesses, the possibility of the application of proximity fuzes in their anti-aircraft artillery, and the principle of radar as well as the hypothetical range which are considered absolute secret.

Furthermore, written in the book are predictions of land-based weapons, such as the tank, which is something that shouldn’t be in application in this world’s countries, as well as their diagrams, operation procedures, gun caliber, and armor.

Included are several tank predictions, from weak ones to fairly strong ones. While not entirely accurate, the empire’s tanks were included in the scope.

While the predictions are very detailed, they didn’t leave out any of the empire’s strongest equipment, and so he doubted his own eyes when he saw the statement that it is an overwhelming victory in Japan’s favor.

“An overwhelming victory while making all these predictions? How laughable…”

What makes you say so? On what basis?!

Naguano thought as he turned over the pages.

And then there… Presented in one of the pages are pictures of weapons that are said to exist in Japan.

“Wh-what is this? SSM-1B?”

Mentioned in the material is a 'ship-to-ship missile”.

A bomb weighing 660kg flies above 1150km/h at a distance of more than 150km, moves towards a moving target like a magnet, and explodes on impact. Since it skims over the ocean, it is difficult to detect using radar and is practically impossible for the level of technology the Gra Valkas Empire possesses to intercept.

“Guided munitions… No such concept exists; not even in our empire!”

He ended up talking to himself. With such excitement, the things he is thinking of coming out as words.

Since it is stated that the guided-missile skims over the ocean, thereby making it hard to detect on radar, it is a fact that Japan understands the peculiarities of radar.

“Aegis ship?”

A ship that can simultaneously track over 200 targets, pick around 12 targets in succession, and then successively intercept them using weapons called ship-to-air guided munitions which will then bring down those targets.

Furthermore, since the ships are built to intercept anti-ship munitions, it seems that they are incomprehensibly capable of intercepting missiles using their main cannons.

For the possibility that a missile got past the main cannon despite adequate reaction, these ships will then finally intercept it using an autocannon capable of 3000-4500 rounds per minute.

“W-w-with this…!!”

If there is a possibility that a ship like this was to be in the enemy fleet, the empire’s carrier-based aircraft will be reduced to nothing. There were also mentions of submarines, assumptions that Japan might conduct anti-submarine warfare, as well as the Japanese submarines themselves.

There were no detailed figures for those.

Also, there are articles on aircraft and tanks which all have performance written in isolation from the Gra Valkas Empire. The fighter aircraft are particularly noted to exceed the speed of sound and there were also aircraft that act as flying radar installations as well as fighter aircraft which can carry a huge payload of anti-ship missiles. All of these possess exceptionally unbelievable performance.

Upon looking at the pictures, it seems that the empire’s concept of a jet engine has been put into practical application and matured.

According to this book, the enemy cruiser that was sunk during the attack on the Holy Mirishial Empire was not a cruiser but rather a vessel belonging to an organization for maritime security.

If anything, the empire’s fighter planes went up against a maritime security vessel and lost lopsidedly.

“I-I have to report this!”

Naguano ran with a tense shudder as the information described in the book, if true, would shake the empire’s plans… no… it would shake the empire to its core if everything will go as planned.

However… an uneasiness lingered in his mind.

Will they believe me? No… they must believe me!

He started writing a report to his superiors.

The next day

When Naguano came to work, the place was noisy.

“What’s going on?”

He asked his senior who was next to him.

“Ah, in the east… in the oceans of what this world calls the Third Civilization Area, it seems we lost contact with a submarine on patrol from the submarine fleet deployed in the east. One month has already passed since they were scheduled to return and the military has ruled that some sort of accident must have occurred.

It’s the first kind of accident to have happened in this world, so it’s a bit of shocking news.”

Speaking of the submarine fleet deployed in the east… they were near the waters off Japan!

Naguano shuddered immensely.

・・・

The port city Cartalpas, Holy Mirishial Empire

In the port city of Cartalpas where goods from all over the world come in, standing on the wharves are the citizens that have gathered to bask at the scene in the harbor.

Before their eyes are the grand fleet, assembled from the strongest countries in what is considered to be the world’s center.

To the visible eye, the number of ships easily exceeds 250.

The fleet will join with the Second Civilization fleet off Mu’s eastern waters, and what is considered to be the world’s strongest battle formation will then head for the seas off Leifor.

On the day the world fleet departs for the battle, a bustling celebration was held in the city.

It was apparent that the fleet would deal even the Gra Valkas Empire a serious blow.

Music resounded within and across the entire harbor. Upon hearing it, one cannot help but feel some sort of power being bestowed themselves.

“Set sail!”

A voice amplified by magical power echoed.

The fleet of the Central World sets sail westward to crush the otherworlders, the Gra Valkas Empire.

・・・

Imperial capital Ragna, Gra Valkas Empire

The Gra Valkas Empire, a great empire that continues to expand its territory after its transfer into this other world.

To preserve the great empire, the necessary supplies are supplemented by providing the know-how of machines to the locals and then have them undergo forced labor.

A conference room, Army Headquarters, imperial capital Ragna

The imperial military’s top brass gathered to conduct a meeting. Among the participants in this meeting are what are known to be the empire’s Three Great Generals:

Commanding Officer of the Imperial Capital Defense Forces, SiegsCommanding Officer of the Imperial Navy East Fleet, CaesarCommanding Officer of the Imperial Judgement Forces, Mirkenses

Caesar, in particular, is known as the empire’s God of War and possesses a lot of influence; so much so that the military takes heed to his every word.

A young military executive begins his explanation to the other executives in the room.

“As per the materials provided, while the information is from a spy, the forces of this world’s union have set sail today.

We have confirmed the departure of around 250 old-fashioned ships from Cartalpas and more ships, including aircraft carriers, from the capital of the Holy Mirishial Empire.

The enemy forces will likely converge on the sea off Leifor.”

The explanation of the summary ended.

“They have finally gotten serious, huh…”

A great fleet which is said to be the main force of this world is heading out to crush them… A slight nervousness runs through the room.

A woman with almond eyes, the commanding officer of the Imperial Judgement Forces, Mirkenses, begins to deliver her remarks.

“Originally, the Imperial Judgement Forces would be sent to deal with this matter, but the number of enemies is humongous, and the Holy Mirishial Empire’s fleet is joining as well.

This is too much for just the Imperial Judgement Forces to handle.”

“Hehe…”

With a laugh not suited to the atmosphere, Commanding Officer of the Imperial Navy East Fleet and the God of War, Caesar, began to speak.

“Certainly… Leaving the defense of the capital to the Imperial Capital Defense Forces and the Western Fleet, my soldiers… the Imperial Navy East Fleet will crush them all at once with our power.”

He had intended to swiftly annihilate the enemy’s main force. No one in the room would want to interject on the words of he who is called the God of War.

“If the East Fleet’s capital force will join the battle, Mu’s and even the Holy Mirishial Empire’s main forces will be annihilated.”

“It has been a while since the East Fleet has come out in force; not since the previous world.”

The executives state their impressions. The military’s plan of action has already been decided, and so the meeting had turned into idle talk and went on.

“Speaking of which, is the country of Japan, which has also similarly been transferred here from another world, sending warships to join the enemy fleet?”

Caesar, which was bothered by something in his mind about Japan, asked the young executive.

“We haven’t been able to confirm this time. In the off chance, they do participate, we don’t think that there would be any significant impact.”

“However, the Japanese cruiser was able to down so much of the empire’s fighter force. If there were a lot of cruisers present, isn’t it possible that they’d pose a threat?”

“Hah! They may have certainly specialized their anti-aircraft performance, but their anti-ship capabilities are exceedingly weak. It’s troublesome to leave anti-ship combat to the ships of other nations while devoting all to anti-air, but we have thought of tactics to respond to them. However, since Japan doesn’t seem to be participating in the incursion, we think that it won’t be a problem.”

“I see…”

The meeting ended.

For some reason, Caesar felt uneasy about Japan.

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