Volume 4 - CH 2

Within the vast lands of the Alsace Magical Empire (Its Capital City and its surrounding seas), approximately a third of their nations territory were full lands with barren and a temperate environments, scorching weather during the day and freezing nights.

Because their nation had access from the three seas (Zeuro Sea, Kairos Sea & the Tael Sea) which were in close proximity to each other, this provided great benefits to the Alsation Empire. They were like three dumplings on a single skewer, the Empire’s abundant inland rivers flowed into these oceans.

Now a dark cloud encroaches over the Empire’s prosperity as the threat of becoming severed from their lifeline, is approaching from these very waters.

「….. What are we going do? About 3 days ago, there was a report of a large fleet crossing the Phiril Strait. If we leave things as they are, the enemy will cross the Kunai Strait and enter the Kairos Sea」

Inside the 3rd Imperial Fleets Headquarters a building located within Ernest a the Naval Port City, Admirals tasked with the defense of the Zeuro Sea, deliberated with pale faces, trying to figure out a solution on how to defend the the Strait.

「But, but….. Even if we search for the enemy before us, what is our strategy in order to defeat these people?」

「Ah let’s see. ….. For some time now, I’ve been gathering our ships to form a blockade around the Kunai Strait towards this Port City. We’ll face the oncoming wave of enemy ships….. Whether we come out victorious or not, that will be left up to chance」

「Our only hope is to rely on our newly enhanced armored ships as well as those hybrid ships which are capable of sailing and flight」

「But we still could lose, can’t we…..」

「Why are we waiting to….to die?…. Let’s request for…」

Leaders of the Alsace’s 3rd Fleet, had been tasked to destroy Parabellum’s fleet on the Zeuro Sea, by order of the Emperor, but they were lost as to what they should do, in order to accomplish the task.

「Are you asking for the Empire’s Strongest Armada, the 1st Fleet? Do you honestly believe they would come here at our request?」

「That will never happen, they would never answer our request for reinforcements. Those nobles only respond directly to the Emperor himself. ……The only time they would come to the Zeuro Sea, is when our navies have become wiped out」

「「「「「…………」」」」」

Understanding their navies fighting capabilities, these Aristocratic Naval commanders turned silent, knowing full well they could never best Parabellum’s large fleet.

「But can’t…..couldn’t the enemy fleet be a ruse to draw out the Empire’s forces? Surely with a little more support we can overcome them」

「That…. is unlikely. Parabellum has sent out an immense army over land and they’re encroaching on our territory at this very moment―― There were reports of heavy damage to many of our strongholds and facilities from their surprise attack, luckily our ports around the three seas are still intact. If we were to send a request for reinforcements while our Empire is still dealing with the aftermath of the surprise attack as well as the oncoming invaders. We would be the laughing stock for the entire Imperial Court, not to mentioned be labeled as cowardly imbeciles…. This whole situation has become too troublesome….」

「You’re right…. I’d rather not receive help from those conniving two-faced nobles from the Imperial Court」

A week following the start of Operation Vermillion

At present, it was on this day the Empire planned to begin their invasion towards the Canary and Monster Kingdoms. But after suffering a devastating blow from Parabellum, they turned their efforts towards defense and reconstructing what was left of their facilities. Aggressively conscripting soldiers from all over the Empire, they sought to thwart Parabellum’s invasion into their territory.

Unaware of the Parabellum’s aim to claim Port City Gloria, allowing for a clear route towards the Empire’s Capital, the Empire amassed their military against the oncoming wave of invaders on land, as cities and villages were being captured and occupied. Rather than concentrating their forces on their Port Cities, the Empire had fallen for Parabellum’s trick.

「――……Hey, do you guys hear that?」

Inside a structure created from white stone overlooking the vast Zeuro Sea, aristocratic leaders of the Imperial 3rd Fleet gathered within this tower to discuss countermeasures against Parabellum’s advancing forces, but no progress was made as they idled by cursing their own predicament.

A high pitched shrill emanated from an object flying low over the ocean’s surface on a course straight towards the 3rd Fleet’s Naval headquarters.

「Of course I can hear it….. What could be making that jarring noise?」

「It sounds terrible….」

Raising their heads in wonder, the leaders cross their eyebrows as the noise gets louder in the conference room.

「…..Its coming from outside」

And the admiral sitting closest to the window, turns to open the curtains which had blocked out the sun.

「――Huugh!!」

A long cylindrical object makes its way into the Naval Headquarters conference room at a subsonic speed.

Decapitating the man who had opened the curtain, none of the other leaders could react as the BGM-109 Tomahawk missile explodes within the rooms center, killing everyone in its range.

A second and third Tomahawk missile struck the building causing the Empire’s 3rd Fleet’s Naval Headquarters to collapse completely.

This Chapter was translated by Kuro_0ni

―~――~―――~―――~――~―

Dear Readers using aggregator sites, If you like my work, you can show your support by leaving a comment/ constructive feedback at Hiscension.com .

Cheers erupted in the Command & Control room within the dreadnought battleship Ise as the Tomahawk was fired from an upgraded modification on Parabellum’s Ise-Class ships.

「Target destroyed, our Tomahawks have hit their mark!!」

「Analysis of the area is complete, next missile is ready to fire」

「……Hmmmm, there’s no sign of enemy activity. Belay that, don’t launch the next Tomahawk missile. We’ll leave the rest to be handled by our Air Force, it’ll be good for training.  Prepare to launch our fighters」

「「「Sir, yes sir!」」」

Leading Parabellum’s 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet, Rear Admiral Susumu Sato calls off the next missile strike on Port-City Ernest. Wishing for his pilots to gain battle experience, he orders for the sortie of their stealth fighters to engage in an aerial raid.

It would be a boon once the enemy’s leadership, becomes confused by the situation.

Never in my wildest dreams, did I imagine I would take out their key leaders all within the 3rd Fleets headquarters with a surgical missile strike.

Leading the 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet, Rear Admiral Sato’s surprise attack was only meant to disrupt the 3rd Imperial Fleets command structure.

「You heard the Admiral, we’re starting the attack!! All fighters are to launch once preparations have been completed!!」

「Understood, sir.」

「The E.M.A.L.S. is ready, we can launch at any time!!」

Aboard the flagship Ise and its sister-craft Hyuga another dreadnought battleship, F-35B Lightning II’s were being prepared for launch. Equipped with 3 AIM-9X Sidewinder missiles (air-to-air missiles) on both wings external pylons, these fighters were also modified to accept other types of armament.

Ranging from unguided general purpose bombs like the Mark 82, Mark 83, Mark 84 and cluster bombs such as the CBU-103 & CBU-105. Underneath the stealth fighters fuselage, they were also equipped with a GAU-22/A 25mm Gatling gun.

Designed with a short take-off vertical landing systems (STOVL) these planes could be stored efficiently on ships with aircraft capabilities. The flight deck crews also known as the Rainbow Gang due to their various colored vests (each color designated the duties they were responsible for), would draw out the fighters, prepping them on the ships electromagnetic aircraft launch system (EMALS). 

「….. Should we have them practice bombing maneuvers?」

Rising high into the sky the Lightning II’s get into formation, flying overr Parabellum’s fleet, Rear Adm. Sato watches as they soar towards Port City Ernest, a mere 50 Kilometers away.

And just like that thirty F-35B stealth fighters were launched from Ise and Hyuga, simply because Rear Admiral Sato, thought it best to do so, as the 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet maintained its course towards the Port City.

「We can finally say our dreadnought carrier is a success  」

「Well it is as you say, a success. As history from the old world, never recorded launching an aircraft from this type of ship during combat」

On Ise’s bridge Rear Adm. Sato exchanged a few words with a staff member as they progressed towards Ernest.

Parabellum’s 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet was comprised of its Flagship the Iseand beside it was its sister ship Hyuga within its formation were the Aoba-Class heavy cruisers Aoba & Kinugasa, a Nagara-Class light cruiser the Isuzu, the Kongo-Class battlecruisers Kongō & Kirishima, five Akizuki-Class Destroyers and three support vessels, for a total of 15 naval units.

「Admiral!! Our reconnaissance UAV is reporting hundreds of enemy Warships are departing from Port City Ernest」

「I see…. Hold on, did you just say there are hundreds of ships?」

Listening to the report from his subordinates Rear Admiral Sato reflexively nods, before realizing the contents of the report and questions the reconnaissance.

「Sir, here’s the video feed」

「Hoh~ 」

Admiral Sato leaks out a surprised sound as he stares at the amazingly detail of the UAV’s telemetry. Leaving from the Port City the Empire’s warships formed a battle line advancing at about 22 knots

That’s quite the amount of ships…. 

Seems like we’ll be enjoying a splendid banquet.

Video telemetry caught from their Eagle Eye Tiltrotor UAV, displayed warships disembarking from port one after another. 

It seems I was worried for nothing.

Embarrassed by his previous actions, Admiral Sato floats a gleeful expression after watching the video feed from the UAV,

「The Enemy fleet are advancing with wooden battleships and ironclad steam powered boats as well as!」

「Our aircraft are nearing Port City Ernest ――Admiral, our fighters are requesting confirmation in attacking Ernest’s military port and drydock facilities, they aren’t equipped with anti-ship weaponry, do you want them to continue their objective?」

「……I see. Tell our fighters to proceed as planned」

….. The enemy is all clustered up in front of us, should we sink them as well?

「Yes, sir!」

「Umm… Admiral we seemed to have stirred up the hornets nest.  Shouldn’t we be requesting for reinforcements for this?」

「Wait, let’s think about this. Even though the enemy has a large number of ships, their weapons won’t reach us, their cannons can only fire a few hundred meters at most. And their armored ships plating is like paper compared to our weapons firepower, I’m sure we can deal with this by ourselves」

「Exactly, I agree with our Gunnery Officer’s analysis.  This is the perfect opportunity, we should not let this go to waste.」

Admiral Sato had his hand on his chin while listening to the suggestions of his Staff members, as input was generated between his Aircraft, Gunnery and Torpedo Officers.

「….. as you can see. We should be fine, so long as we attack them outside their weapons range. And if we do need extra support we can launch more aircraft from our other ships」

「Hmmm, that’s quite true」

「「So are we going to do this?」」

「Well, our enemy appears to quite tepid…. this may turn into quite a decisive battle」

「「Alright!!」」

After being summoned by Kazuya, the naval officers never had a chance to take an active role in battle, but at this moment the Gunnery Officer and the Torpedo Officer held excited expressions. Like children being given a new toy, they reveled in taking this opportunity to show off and gain achievements.

And just like that, with a few words from their Commander, Admiral Sato, the 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet began to move towards annihilating the Empire’s 3rd fleet which left Ernest’s port.

「The enemy is heading westward, making their way towards the Kunai Strait」

Flying high in the sky Parabellum’s reconnaissance UAV continues to transmit video telemetry of the Empire’s fleet in real-time.

「Heading west?…. Are they trying to lure us into chasing after them?」

「Huh?…. What’s are those, the enemies ships are!?―― They’re changing, those ships can fly!?」

As Admiral Sato watches the real-time video feed, the Empire’s ships which had been sailing out on the sea, began to change their configuration, deploying wing like apparatuses around their ships. Rising above the sea’s surface as if defying gravity they float into the air, rising higher into the sky.

With about a third of the Empires armada having risen into the air,

The rest of their seafaring ships forge across the open waters, as they were not equipped with similar magical reactors and upgrades to initiate flight.

「Sir, we have an incoming message from our stealth fighters.  They’re requesting permission to attack the enemies airborne fleet」

「Permission granted. But tell them to return to the ship once they’ve exhausted all missiles and munitions. We may need them to re-sortie, the longer this battle drags on 」

「Copy that, relaying the message, sir」

After completing their light bombing run on Ernest’s port and naval facilities, the returning F-35B’s begin to engage the Empires flying ships.

With the UAV sending footage of the squadron Lightning II’s  activities, a sidewinder missile pierces an armored flying ship, causing it to explode into a fireball. Another flying ship was riddled with holes from machine gun fire, and began to drop out of the sky.

「This is a piece of cake~」

「Haha, roger that, it’s just like shooting fish in a barrel」

The Empires hybrid sailing/ flying ships could move twice as fast compared to their seafaring units once they took flight. But in comparison to Parabellum’s stealth fighters, there was no contest, making the Empire’s flying units seem like sitting ducks.

And in this manner, the ducks which tried to take flight or even escape were repeatedly shot down out of the sky, only to lie beneath the waves.

This Chapter was translated by Kuro_0ni

―~――~―――~―――~――~―

Dear Readers using aggregator sites, If you like my work, you can show your support by leaving a comment/ constructive feedback at Hiscension.com .

「Enemy Fleet in sight!!」

One of the lookouts shouted aloud, as he stared down his binoculars.

「It’s about time」

「Roger that」

Several hours following the Empire’s departure from Port City Ernest, Parabellum’s 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet caught sight of them.

「Alright men…. ready the the torpedoes」

「Torpedoes ready, aye!!」

Even though the Imperial fleet had been within applicable firing range, it was part of Parabellum’s naval policy not to waste their armament on small fry if they didn’t have to (even though all their equipment was summoned by Kazuya, which didn’t cost them a thing). The Expeditionary Assault Fleet began to assemble itself for a mass bombardment.

Spearheading the 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleets manuever, the Nagara-Class Light Cruiser Isuzu led five Akizuki-Class Destroyers, Akizuki, Teruzuki, Suzutsuki, Hatsuzuki, Niizuki.  Increasing their speeds towards the enemy fleet, they move like a pack of hunting dogs released from their harnesses.

All the while heavy cruisers Aoba and Kinugasa trail behind them.

「Enemy fleet dead ahead, 10 kilometers away」

「Target the enemies battle line, steady the main cannons and ready three salvos」 

As soon as the Imperial fleet comes within a certain distance Ise’s Commander issues his orders.

「Prepare to fire on my command!!」

「Let’s do this」

「Fire!!」

The fast attack Battlecruisers Kongō and Kirishima were tasked to protect the three supply ships, while the dreadnoughts Ise and Hyuga displayed their dominance as rulers of the seas, moving into position to fire their main turret cannons. All the while, the other 8 warships began to close the distance between them and the enemy battle line.

Bellowing with a great roar, the dreadnoughts twin turrets 2 and 4 fire their munitions as a large fiery cloud spews forth from their 35.6 cm guns. A plume of pitch black smoke envelops the side of the ship before clearing up.

In fact it was Ise’s sister craft the Hyuga which had been engulfed by the resulting black cloud, but her majestic appearance shined once the cloud dispersed.

「Let’s go, finish loading the next round. We’ll pierce through their ships in one go」

「「「「Roger that, sir!!」」」」

Reloading their Type 3 Naval guns with anti-air rounds, the ships twin turrets continue their shelling.

「1st & 2nd anti-air teams let’s raise some hell! Fire away!」

In addition to the ships main 35.6cm guns, they were also equipped with eight 127mm twin cannons which could fire anti-air shells at high degree angles, in quick succession.

「Impact in 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. We have a hit!!」

Following the torpedo run from their destroyers and cruisers, the bombardment from dreadnoughts Ise and Hyuga, 25 armored ships were sunk, 20 were on fire, while another 30 flying Imperial ships were severely damaged, from anti-aircraft fire, essentially blocking off any escape.

Countless munitions blaze towards the Imperial forces, tearing through airborne ships, burning at extreme temperatures.

Turning into scorching balls of fire, the blown airships drop towards the ocean like meteors, landing on the Empire’s own armored ships, turning everything into hellfire.

「Hard to port, do it now!! Come on, move faster!!」

「We won’t make it in time!! Abandon ship!!」

By the time they tried to avoid the falling debris, it was just too late, especially the Empires wooden boats, as they caught on fire immediately.

「Bring all our turrets up online and fire, even if you have fire them one by one」

「All units fire when ready!!」

While the destroyers & cruisers flanked the enemy on its fringes, the Ise and Hyuga maintain their course to break through the center.

In addition to the triple and double barrel 25mm anti-air guns nests along the broadsides of ship, there were modifications to include a gun based close-in weapons system. Included in their firepower were the use of FGM-148 javelins to silence enemy ships once they were in range.

At regualr intervals the dreadnoughts 356 mm twin turrets fired, as muzzle flashes from anti-air nests drowned the battlefield with bullet fire.

Whether impact of the rounds struck their marks or not, pillars of water rose to the sky in quick succession, sinking ships left and right.

「It’s all over」

「Mmmm… that was a bit anticlimactic」

Sweeping away their enemies like a hurricane and  firing away like an iron storm the dreadnoughts『Ise』and『Hyuga』pass through the center of their enemies formation, leaving the Empires boats either adrift or sunk.

「….. Should we return back to our original objective?」

「Yeah, we should do that」

Having sunk 179 of the Empires ships the without sustaining a single loss, Parabellum’s 1st Expeditionary Assault Fleet readjusts their course to the south, returning back to their original mission.

Dear Readers using aggregator sites, If you like my work, you can show your support by leaving a comment/ constructive feedback at Hiscension.com .