Summoning Japan doesn't belong to me but it's author: みのろう
Credit also to the translator, MobofDeer.
Though if it did, I would change the story a lot, like I'm doing here. But several formats I will still follow, such as the bullet point format he used to point out stuff.
(And yes, that's because I'm lazy)
I would also like to ask everyone to read the actual version, (Search up Summoning Japan), so one day we may get an actual anime for it!
Summary: In Summoning Japan, the novel, the pacifist Japan was summoned to the world where they could've easily ruled over. However, due to their pacifist selves, they denied the notion and remained peaceful. In another world, what if Britain was summoned? What would Britannia do to those whom threatened her?
XXXXX
Chapter 14: Who rules the waves?
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, imperial capital Esthirant, southern coast
The sea bustled with ships as a third of the main force of the Papaldia Empire's imperial navy was spreading out. Each ship was one kilometer away from any other ships, presenting a gigantic front line. If any enemy ships pierced that line, they would be assaulted from all sides by several imperial ships. Even if they had the same quality and quantity of ships, they would never be able to defeat every line of ships. This formation was conceived using the concept of attrition; with their overwhelming number of ships, even against long-range cannons, the formation would guarantee that their side would be dealing damage to the enemy.
For a Third Civilization country, with the quality and quantity of ships that they had, for the superpower Papaldia Empire who had continued to outperform any other country, using this strategy at all was a disgrace. However, their enemy was strong. They could no longer afford to look down on them.
Arkaon, admiral of the 3rd fleet, was on board the Dios, one of only three 150-gun ships-of-the-line in the empire, looking out to sea. The enemy fleet would probably be coming for the imperial navy's headquarters.
"I have an update," called a communications operator. Because he sounded rather flustered, the other officers all turned to see what he had to say.
"The Imperial Capital Defense Army's ground base has been destroyed by Britain's aircraft. Based on that report, headquarters is commanding us to declare the highest alert to our fleet. They are also dispatching both the first and second fleets from Esthirant port."
"My… My word!"
"This is the first time in history that our entire imperial navy is being deployed."
"But… the imperial capital has been attacked!"
All of the officers on the bridge expressed their astonishment.
"There is an extremely high possibility that Britain's fleet will invade next. Triple the number of scouting wyverns!"
"Yes sir!"
Wyverns from the 3rd fleet's dragon carriers flooded the clear blue skies, flapping their wings to catch the wind. It was a powerful, exalting sight. Admiral Arkaon smoldered with animosity at the incoming British forces.
XXXXX
The HMS Diamond was sailing north. She had located the enemy fleet on radar, they believed they knew the position of their carriers, and, using satellite imagery, they already previously identified the enemy's naval base.
"What an amazing number of ships. They've got an interesting formation, too. I think this'll be the first time in Britain's history for this many ships to be facing a singular one of ours… Ever since the Opium war," Captain Harrington mumbled.
The enemy carrier flotilla was located about 120 km northeast of the escort fleet; they were already within anti-ship missile range. The radar showed that a large number of flying objects just flew up into the air from the carrier flotilla.
"All right! Fire anti-ship missiles, target the enemy carrier flotilla! Let's show these bastards what we've got!"
The missile tubes installed on the ships were slanted upwards; inside one of the tubes on each ship, solid-fuel was ignited, generating smoke that flowed into the air. The missiles launched with a loud bang. Three rounds Eight, eight and Eighth Harpoons, total Twenty Four Harpoon missiles accelerated through the air using their first-stage rocket boosters. After achieving sufficient acceleration, the rocket boosters detached and the missiles switched over to turbojet propulsion. At a low-altitude speed surpassing 1,000 km/h, the missiles made a beeline for the enemy carrier flotilla.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, main navy forces, 3rd fleet, the skies about 50 km south of the dragon carrier flotilla
Dragon knight Rakami was riding his wyvern lord on patrol when he felt that something was off about the sea. He concentrated all his nerves into figuring out the discrepancy.
"What the hell are those?!"
He then noticed a large number of arrow-shaped objects flying low at extremely high speeds.
"Patrol squad to rear admiral! I've spotted unidentified objects traveling at high speed toward the dragon carrier flotilla! More than twenty of them! Be on alert! I repeat…!"
Understood, can you intercept them?
"I can't! They're already past me! They're too fast, pursuit is impossible!"
Understood.
The connection cut out. Rakami veered south to instead try to find the enemy.
XXXXX
UUUUUUU—!
The alarm for the highest level alert went off within the dragon carrier flotilla.
"All dragons launch!"
Wyvern lords, the empire's air force, flooded into the sky from each dragon carrier, forming into squadrons higher up. The 20 dragon carriers were each transporting 12 knights, so in total there were 240 dragon knights flitting about in the sky, evacuating from the ships. The dragon knights all faced the direction of the magical communication that called in the report, preparing to shoot their fire blasts. The extremely-fast unknown objects were most likely an offensive action from the British navy, so they prepared to intercept it.
"I bet there's never been this many dragons sent to defend against a mysterious attack in all of history," Rear Admiral Bhan muttered while watching the dragon knights take off.
"Probably not. Let's go watch what this enemy can do," responded Amoll confidently. He was the strategist for the dragon carrier flotilla.
"Oh? Looks like they've started."
He could faintly make out the flashes of light from the fire blasts being shot out as numerous commands of "Fire!" came in from the magical communicator. Over 200 knights from the elite dragon knight order were shooting fire blasts; watching from far away, the consecutive bursts of flame sparkled brilliantly like something out of a fairy tale.
Amoll the strategist spread his arms out wide and began delivering a rather pretentious speech.
"Rear Admiral Bhan, feast your eyes on this beautiful sight. The brilliant lights, the devastating firepower being released! Hahah, with this battle, we have already surpassed the limits of man. This is truly a battle of divinities! Having taken this many fire blasts, there is no doubt that our unknown, flying assailants have departed from this realm of existence."
Even more fire blasts were being fired.
"Reporting!" a magical technician suddenly yelled. "All of the dragon knight order's fire blasts missed! There was not a single hit! The flying objects are still heading for the flotilla, unharmed! There are twenty-five of them!"
"Wh… What…? That's, that's not possible!" Amoll stuttered.
One of the anti-ship missiles that was skimming over the ocean suddenly swerved up and plunged into the ship neighboring the rear admiral's ship, the Abys, at an angle. With a blinding flash… the explosion that consumed the Abys was several times larger than the ship itself. Milliseconds later, the sound of the blast reverberated across the surface of the ocean.
"Hiiiiiiiih!" shrieked Amoll, the pitch of his exclamation conveying his terror.
There was nothing left of the Abys; it was like it had evaporated from the sea. Everyone was shocked… no one could say a thing.
"…Dragon carrier Abys, lost," the magical technician whispered hoarsely into the communicator.
BAM!
The deathly-quiet bridge jumped at the sound of something slamming into a table. Rear Admiral Bhan's fist was now stained with blood.
"Im… Impossible… Those damn…! Order all dragon knights on standby in the air to go south! If they find the enemy, all squadrons are to attack as they see fit!"
"Yes sir!"
The orders were relayed to the dragon knight order.
"Dragon carrier Gargaon lost! Dragon carrier Sirene lost!"
The enemy's assault continued to sink ship after ship with each and every hit.
"Grah! So this is it."
Rear Admiral Bhan saw the enemy arrow flying towards his ship. The arrow pierced the ship. Bhan departed from this world along with a fierce burst of light.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, main navy forces, 3rd fleet, flagship Dios
In the bridge of the flagship Dios, the 3rd fleet's Admiral Arkaon glared out to sea before him. Any minute now, they would engage with Britain's navy. He just had that hunch.
"Reporting!" a magical technician called out.
"What?"
"Our third fleet's dragon carriers were just attacked by unidentified objects and annihilated! Two hundred and fifty dragon knights were launched prior to that and have headed south. Their orders are to search for and eliminate any enemies they find."
"Wh… What?!"
"That can't be! The dragon carrier flotilla is even further behind our main forces here! There's no way an attack could reach them!"
Various words of shock rang out across the bridge, the officers expressing their disbelief. Admiral Arkaon raised a hand, silencing the room.
"This means that the enemy has a weapon capable of precise, long-range attacks," he explained firmly. "However, instead of challenging our ships-of-the-line directly, they aimed for the most important core of our navy, our dragon carriers… That's proof that there is a limit on the number of long-range attacks they can perform. Don't panic."
At Admiral Arkaon's calm analysis, the officers on the bridge, who were on the verge of being overcome with panic, regained their cool.
"Report from the ship-of-the-line Addis!" the magical technician continued. "They've spotted a fleet about forty kilometers ahead! Number of ships unknown!"
"Hoh, they've found them!" Arkaon raised his hand again and made a declaration. "All ships, battle arrangement one! The dragon knight order is a bit further away, but tell them to attack as well! Maintain this fleet formation. Head for the enemy fleet at top speed! We'll attack them in waves from the air and from the sea!"
"Yes sir!"
The orders were relayed precisely to all other ships.
"It's a good thing the dragon knights were already in the air… In all of history, no one has ever dealt with a simultaneous aerial and naval attack on this scale before. Can you withstand it, Britain?" Admiral Arkaon asked out loud, his eyes focused on the sea before them.
XXXXX
HMS Diamond and Escorting 80th Carrier Squadron [1]
An order was given from the HMS Diamond, as soon as they were within ten kilometres of the enemy ships.
"Commence attack! In accordance with each ship's range, attack in sequence! All Carrier borne Aircraft, launch to our position now!"
The 127mm single-mounted rapid-fire gun installed on the front of the Diamond began to move. The FCS calculated the enemy ship's relative speed, the flight speed of the shell, trajectory, and predicted the point of impact, then made adjustments to the gun barrel's angle and positioning pointing up into the sky.
"Begin firing main gun!"
A moment later, the gun roared and a shell flew at the the Papaldia Empire imperial navy 3rd fleet ship-of-the-line Addis.
Meanwhile, eighteen F-35B Lightning IIs lifted off from the Aircraft Carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth. Flying towards the HMS Diamond as Air Cover, these aircraft were about to face the Palpadian Dragon Knight order.
Later on, the world would come to know of the country Great Britain as simply "powerful," and the naval battle that was about to begin would be memorialised in history books as The Naval Battle of Esthirant.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, main navy forces, 3rd fleet, ship-of-the-line Addis
"The enemy has fired their cannon!"
Even though they were still 20 km away from the enemy ship, Britain's warship fired on them. The captain turned to the commander.
"They're still that far away from us but they fired their cannons… for what purpose? Is it a show of force?"
"I can't understand it at all. Even if their cannons have a longer range than ours, we're clearly still too far out."
They felt a slight sense of foreboding. It was a feeling they had never had before on any battlefield, a gut feeling of imminent death.
"Hard to starboard! Just in case, we should take evasive action!"
At the captain's order, the ship-of-the-line Addis languidly changed orientation. Suddenly, the ship shook violently.
There was an explosion. Various debris rained down on the captain and commander, including some human parts mixed in.
"Damage to the rear hull! There's a breach near the waterline!"
A large hole had opened up on the left side of the Addis's hull, quickly taking in water.
"This… This is bad!"
The Addis began to tilt, having suddenly been flooded with water.
"It can't hold! Abandon sh…"
The captain's words were drowned out by a burst of light and noise. Inside the capsizing ship, a large number of explosives were set off, inducing an explosion that erased the empire's ship-of-the-line Addis from existence.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, 3rd fleet, flagship Dios
"Ship-of-the-line Addis lost! We've… analyzed the enemy ship's attack! They have a range of over ten kilometers, and they hit us with only a single attack!"
"W… wwww… what was that?! Ten kilometers?! They have a cannon range of over ten kilometers?! That's five times our range… Plus they hit one of our ships in only one shot?! If we wanted to hit a moving target, we'd have to fire a hundred times at a distance of two kilometers!"
"Their accuracy at ten kilometers surpasses ours at two kilometers with a hundred attacks. So what happens when we're within two kilometers? In any case, we shouldn't jump to conclusions after just one attack."
"The enemy's cannon has enough power to sink a ship-of-the-line with only a single attack. They may simply have far more firepower than we can possibly imagine!"
The officers were shocked at the enemy's might, and they began to feel hopeless at their far superior capabilities. While they were discussing, another three ships-of-the-line had been sunk with only a single attack each.
"Our dragon knights will arrive above the enemy ships any second now."
"We're counting on you…"
Admiral Arkaon placed all his hopes on the dragon knights' assault.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, 3rd fleet, dragon knight order
"I found them!"
Having received direction from 3rd fleet command, the 250-strong dragon knight order spotted a fleet above the horizon. Having never seen anything so big or fast, they were completely stressed out. The enemy fleet was unconcerned with the fact that they were around 20 km away from the empire's fleet and fired their cannons, sinking a friendly ship. They didn't even use that "arrow of light" that was reportedly extraordinarily fast and precise.
The dragon knight order could no longer return. Their dragon carriers had all been sunk. Once they exhausted their wyvern lords, they would have to splashdown in the ocean. Dragon Knight-Commander Dyros prepared himself.
"All units charge! Wipe out the British navy!"
"GRAAAAAAAAH!"
As the knight order rushed towards the British Ship, he heard cries over his magic communicator.
"Incoming enemies! It's those 'planes'! There's eighteen! They're shooting us down!"
Dyros looked up at the sky as he saw eighteen F-35 Lightning II's, diving down towards them as they fired their auto cannons, ripping apart his knight order.
Even if they can win us eventually… If we outnumber them and overwhelm them… And sink that ship… We can claim victory!
Resolute in his order for a Zerg rush, Dyros yelled out as he charged his wyvern lord towards the singular British ship.
"For the Emperor!"
As the Wyvern Order rushed towards the single British ship, F-35B Lightning II's downed their Wyverns at a seemingly impossible rate, with just it's auto cannon.
The dragon knights all dispersed high into the sky. The supersonic planes closed the distance in the blink of an eye, shooting down the dragon riders flying behind Dyros at an angle impossible for the dragon riders to retaliate, with bullets of light, shredding the riders and the wyverns into chunks of flesh.
"Dammit, they're too fast! We can't avoid them!"
"Shit! Shit!"
Various curses flowed out of the magical communicator. The dragon knight order had been hurtling towards the enemy ship at over 300 km/h, but they felt like snails that couldn't even get into fire blast range. However, Dyros was faced with an even more disastrous situation.
Whilst by the time they had reached firing blast range, only twenty five wyvern lords had been left. The F-35B Lightning II's too, had left. They had run out of ammunition and had to return to the carrier.
"This is our chance men… To bring these monsters down, to save Palpadia. For the emperor! We march forward, behind is defeat!"
Even if the disaster was about to begin, Dyros had to do his duty as a soldier to Palpadia, serving the emperor.
The Phalanx CIWS from the HMS Diamond shot out, as if it was a beam of light, with 75 rounds a second firing out. It was as if it was a disintegration ray, it simply locked onto a target and kept rotating until it was downed, then it'd stop firing and locate another.
The remaining twenty five Wyvern Lords were being slaughtered like animals.
"Fuck! You fucking monsters!"
How could this happen… They were the dragon knight order, said to be the apple of the military's eye, belonging to the glorious Papaldia Empire, a superpower. At one time, it was rumored that they had even single-handedly obliterated seven armies, and they were feared as the strongest aerial fleet in the Third Civilization. Those fearsome dragons were right now being swatted by the British navy like flies. War buddies with whom he survived countless battles, comrades who shared the joys and sorrows of strict training, close friends he had known since he was young, their lives were all being squashed as if mocking the work they put into their lives.
A mess of blood and muscle fell from the sky like rain.
"DAMMIT ALLLLLLL!"
Multiple rounds of the Phalanx CIWS's 20mm rounds hit Dragon Knight-Commander Dyros second later, and his awareness blinked out into nothingness, as blood spilled out from the holes made from the bullets within his body.
XXXXX
Flagship Dios
"The… The dragon knight order has been annihilated. No damage to the enemy fleet."
The bridge was quiet. Everyone had fallen into despair. They were beginning to realize they had no hands to play.
"Ships-of-the-line Martus, Regeel, and Kamio have been lost, Tarrus has been hit…"
The only voice that continued to lifelessly break the silence was that of the communications technician. Even the 3rd fleet's Admiral Arkaon, a venerable war veteran, was speechless, sweat slowly accumulating on his brow.
The operation that imperial strategist Matal conceived would have been effective if they were fighting against Mu. However, this enemy had 100% accuracy and the firepower to sink a whole ship with just one shot of a cannon; they were basically cheating. This strategy became completely pointless, and their ships just kept sinking.
The enemy had a range of over 20 km, 100% accuracy, and their reloading speed was godly. In order to get in magic cannon range, they would have to travel at top speed for over 40 minutes. Factoring in the enemy's own speed, that time would obviously go down, but he wasn't naïve enough to believe things on the battlefield would go the way he wanted; avoiding cannon fire that accurate for 40 minutes was impossible.
"…Damn it!"
Arkaon steeled himself. After all, the empire's main naval forces were the last bastion standing between Britain and the empire; there would be hell to pay if any imperial forces were to surrender or retreat. From the start, they never had any choice but to plow forward.
"All forces, charge at these invaders, these British! We'll show them how stubborn the imperial navy is!"
Magic gems on every ship sparkled. Wind summoned with the Tears of the Wind God filled sails, and the fleet rushed towards the enemy's giant ships at maximum speed. Unfortunately, their ships continued being destroyed.
The British escort fleet, in a single file, sailed right into the sparse, spread-out imperial formation like they were skewering it. The escort flotillas traveled 10 km into the imperial formation, demolishing and sinking every ship along the way, leaving wreckage drifting in their wake. The 3rd fleet was completely without hope.
"British Ship, our warship will face you head on!"
The Papaldia Empire's 3rd fleet flagship, the super-F class 150-gun ship-of-the-line Dios, sailed right at the British Destroyer, Diamond. They had gotten within 10 km of each other.
"Admiral, we need to adjust course to port and get some distance from the British fleet! We cannot lose command from the flagship!" one of the officers pleaded to Arkaon.
"Nay! Maintain our current course, the flagship cannot turn aside!"
"B-But!"
"Enemy ship's main cannon is aiming at us!"
"Admiral! Please, hurry and change course!"
"I will not!" Arkaon roared.
Right then, the lookout shrieked a report. "We're taking enemy fire!"
Everyone tensed up.
"The shell is coming! Hard to port!" the captain yelled, and the helmsman worked the ship's wheel. The ship began to turn at an excruciatingly slow rate.
A flash—
The sound of an explosion—
The ship rocked violently. Arkaon stumbled wildly, crashing into a pillar, causing fresh blood to flow freely from his forehead.
"Damage report!"
"Damage to the starboard hull! Fires have broken out! We're taking in water from the breach!"
The Dios clearly began to lose speed, and the ship's body slowly began to tilt. Inside the ship, gunpowder spilled all over the floor, and other objects on top of it. This ignited the gunpowder, causing a fire to light straight into the ship's magazine. The explosive pressure pierced through the ceiling and the topmost deck, creating a gigantic pillar of flame. The Papaldia Empire 3rd fleet's flagship, the Dios, split in half and sunk into the ocean.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, navy headquarters
Vice-Admiral Balus was looking out at the port. Ships were constantly leaving; pretty soon, the entire 1st and 2nd fleets will have set sail. It was reported that the 3rd fleet had already engaged with Britain's ship.
The navy's leadership were gathered in a strategy meeting room, poring over a nautical chart. The empire's greatest mind, Matal, was also among them. As reports on the progress of the battle kept coming in, Matal became less and less able to hide his frustration. He could never have imagined this difference in ship capabilities. The Papaldia Empire and Britain, a superpower and an uncivilized country; there should have been an insurmountable gap between their fleets' abilities.
"…The third fleet flagship, the Dios, has been sunk."
Silence.
"All right!" With a decisive exclamation, Matal began to speak. "Vice-Admiral! Have both the first and second fleets cluster together as close as possible and charge straight at the British navy! I don't think they should be that far above our ships. Luckily, Britain only dispatched a single ship. In order to defeat them, we just need to crush them with numbers."
"…I'll permit it."
At Vice-Admiral Balus's order, the empire's 1st and 2nd fleets formed into a tight group and headed to intercept the British navy.
XXXXX
Royal Navy, Guided Missile Destroyer, Diamond
The bridge was receiving moment-by-moment updates about the state of the naval battlefield. Currently, the operation was proceeding smoothly. However, the number of ships currently departing from the enemy country's port made enough of a threat to cause some consternation. When they heard what formation the enemy fleet took, all the officers became tense.
"They've adopted a close order formation! But still, there are too many enemy units on our current course!"
The flotillas had already plunged into the enemy's spread-out formation like a spear, so no matter where they went there would be enemies. In spite of that, a dense cluster of enemies now appeared, intent on wiping them out.
"With the HMS Queen Elizabeth's helicopters, we can attack ships outside of our main gun range, opening the way for us… And if we require assistance, the Air support from the HMS Queen Elizabeth will bail us out, however that'll be a loss on our initial objective… So to help save on ammo, we'll only fire at ships in front of us, any ships coming in from the sides we'll ignore unless they're within six kilometers. Focus on enemies in our way and keep going forward!" Captain Harrington decided.
"B-But, that's much too risky."
"With all these enemy ships spread out like this, the only way to press them hard is to destroy their core."
The discussion kept going back and forth. Other officers chimed in as well.
"I think we should sink all of their ships first, then go for their headquarters."
"The enemy's expanded way too much, that's not gonna work. Even if they can only go twelve knots."
"We should still sink as many as we can."
The officers continued debating strategy.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, ocean area 150 km south of navy headquarters
The HMS Diamond kept sinking more and more ships in the empire's fleet. The only sound on the ocean's surface was the constant thunder of cannon fire, and each blast corresponded to another imperial ship being sunk. The HMS Queen Elizabeth's Attack helicopters roamed the skies, increasing the frequency of attacks from outside of the range of the empire's ships. They used anti-tank missiles and rockets to set fire to enemy ships-of-the-line.
However, these were brave men.
Even though they knew that every blast meant hundreds of soldiers and sailors were dying, they courageously stood tall and continued forward. They truly were the guardians of the Papaldia Empire, heroically carrying out their final orders. The ocean was littered with the wreckage of the empire's ships.
"Enemy naval headquarters are now within missile range."
"Prepare three missiles, fire when ready!"
The sound of fuel flaring up was accompanied by flames as the Harpoons on the Diamond were fired.
XXXXX
Papaldia Empire, navy headquarters' port
Cyrgaya, hired as a temporary worker, was cleaning around the port.
"Hey, you! You dropped trash over there! Cleaning is easy and simple, so make sure you're actually cleaning!"
"I'm sorry."
Cyrgaya continued to work through the verbal abuse from the low-rank soldiers. Pathetic. As he was now, he was just pathetic. He gazed up at the Papaldia Empire's navy headquarters.
"That guy… he's got it made."
He felt his eyes tear up as he thought back to the class reunion the other day. Balus had showed up, revealing that he was a top officer in the imperial navy. During their student days, he and Balus were rivals. Their grades and physical training were nearly the same, he was just behind a little bit. That small difference from back when they were students accumulated over time and became immense. Now, it was the difference between the sun and the moon, heaven and earth, a god and an insect, that was what he felt.
Cyrgaya remembered Vice-Admiral Balus's words when the topic of dying in battle had come up:
"Hahaha! There's no way a vice-admiral from a superpower who never sees action in the front lines would die in battle. If it were to happen for any reason other than being assassinated, in my death throes, I would be lamenting the destruction of the Papaldia Empire itself."
"Someone who has everything in his grasp, and someone who let it all fall through his fingers…"
He grieved over the absurdity of life.
Suddenly overcome with a strange sensation, Cyrgaya looked out to sea; he had very good vision.
"?! What is that…?"
Skimming over the ocean, there were three objects closing in at an extreme speed. They passed right in front of him, heading towards the navy headquarters. He somehow understood that the empire was being attacked.
Vice-Admiral Balus may have been his rival, but he was also a good friend. He was proud of his friend.
Cyrgaya looked at the navy headquarters, concerned about Balus, and felt the need to yell out.
"Balus!"
In the next instant, the anti-ship missiles reached the building and generated a blinding flash and a deafening roar.
The solemn, majestic navy headquarters and all its fancy decorations were consumed in an intense conflagration. Although at first it appeared to withstand the explosion, the building then crumbled to pieces, leaving no trace behind. The Papaldia Empire, who ruled other countries with fear, had one of the symbols of that fear, its navy headquarters, destroyed, and the sound of that destruction reverberated across all of Esthirant.
With this, the Papaldia Empire had lost all ability to command its naval fleet.
XXXXX
Boom… boom… boom…
The sounds of battle, which sounded like magic cannons being fired, could be heard from Esthirant. Aside from the few people who ventured out to see what was going on, all the residents returned to their homes, locked the door, closed the windows, and huddled together, shivering with fear from the attack on the ground base earlier.
Those who witnessed the navy headquarters at the port collapse into rubble were struck dumb.
Cyrgaya looked out to sea.
The sounds of battle were steadily, unmistakably getting closer and closer to the port. The source of those sounds then appeared over the horizon. Gray, large, fast.
With every blast of the enemy cannon, another friendly ship sank.
"Shit! Those monsters are here!"
Cyrgaya froze. Nearby, the soldiers at the port ran around panicked, trying to operate the cannons installed on the port that were facing out to sea. Cyrgaya understood the threat these enemies posed and slapped his legs frantically, finally getting them to move. He ran, past the barracks, past the ammunition depot, past the all-important gun battery. He ran away from the port, got up onto high ground, then turned to watch.
The enemy's volley hit the gun battery numerous times in a row, turning it into a giant bonfire. Then, after the ammunition depot was hit, the entire port was enveloped in explosions and black smoke.
"Damn it! Damn it! We're completely helpless!"
The Royal Navy's attack on the enemy port resulted in the complete destruction of the navy headquarters, the weapons storage facilities, and the barracks. Of the Papaldia Empire's main naval forces, 550 ships were sunk with 50 ships still at large, including all but 12 dragon carriers outside of the port explosion.
Due to this attack, the Third Civilization's superpower, the Papaldia Empire, had to consider its navy completely neutralized.
XXXXX
Imperial capital Esthirant, imperial palace
"We shall now begin the morning emergency meeting."
This meeting regarding the nation's crisis had no formal structure, it was simply a venue to exchange raw information. Everyone had a grim expression; there wasn't even a hint of a smile on any face. Attending the meeting were the country's top management officials, from Emperor Ludius on down. This included Remille, 1st Department Head Elto, 2nd Department Head Rius, and newly promoted 3rd Department Head Sirzech.
The meeting to decide the future of the empire, as well as determine countermeasures against Britain, was starting.
XXXXX
[1]: This squadron doesn't exist IRL, but it's based off the famous squadron from the Battle of Athens, the 80th Squadron, where one of Britain's aces of the Battle of Britain resided in. Hence, I have no idea how much a Carrier squadron actually has, so I'll just go with 18.
A/N: Updates going to be much, much slower now. For one, I'm writing more OG content due to Chapter 16 onwards being the ground invasion of Palpadia, and for those of you who are interested in progress, it's about a quarter done. Also, IBDP's starting for me, so yeah.
Reviews:
Guest: Patience young one, I blame Aiden btw
ClassicYuu: I don't know jackshit about ancient history. For all I know Yamato could be in the Atlantic, I honestly don't know… It might be similar to the large af Mongol empire.
T: I blame Aiden
JB6156: Don't see why the British would want to harm their future city, honestly I see them pursuing a way to kill people without damaging the area as a whole, or keeping it at a minimum.
S31Tora: Aiden is Aiden
AntiNegro9: Can't access that.
Guest: In the future intermission chapters as I wait for MobofDeer's translations.
BigBadAud666: No Napalm is used.
IronMace7790: Ask Aiden