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This could prove tricky with Japan on one side and British India on the other. Hopefully Germany can be of some actual help. China should dominate Asia, not the Japanese.
I only intend on putting the Japanese in their rightful place as a tributary state (for now). As for India, they are a puppet of Britain and strangely haven't been called into the war.
They have the same color. I have screenshots for "The Raj" with me right now:
Note: It's not actually "India" but the British colonial government in India, which gets an event turning it into game-India should it break free from UK.
Note: It's not actually "India" but the British colonial government in India, which gets an event turning it into game-India should it break free from UK.
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Here's the next update.
Chapter 3: Weltkrieg, Part 1
Imperial Chinese Army Headquarters, Manzhouli, Manchuria (near the Korean border)
Bill stepped out of the jeep as it pulled up in front of the headquarters. Bells were ringing in nearby Buddhist temples, and people were chatting excitedly about the war with the Japanese. Apparently it had already spread around the world, with a German invasion of British Guyana and fighting raging across Africa. There was news that Port Arthur itself had already fallen, the local Japanese garrison swarmed and annihilated by a Banner Army in days. Hesehn Shangzhi, the merciless natural-born leader of the Imperial Navy, was conducting an invasion of Taiwan, with the Japanese fleet nowhere to be seen. All seemed to be going well.
He made his way to the desk of General Tong Shangzhi, Commander of the Korean Front.
Tong: Ah, Captain Wong Ka Ge, I've been expecting you. Welcome to the front! I trust you've got your reporting skills up and ready.
Bill: Yes, sir.
Tong: Tomorrow, four Banner Armies will launch an invasion of the city of Chongjin, across the Yalu River, and attack the Japanese garrison of ninety thousand stationed there. I want full coverage of the offensive so that we can use it to inspire more young men to enlist.
Bill: Sir, I see no problem wrong with this, but with all due respect I don't think families would like to see pictures of their dead loved ones as part of propaganda posters. What if I die in the battle? I have a wife and three children to support.
Tong: Captain Wong, you will not question orders from your superior.
Bill: Maybe I'll write the report in a way that the population turns against war...
Tong: Stop it! Don't make me call in the Jinyiwei!
Bill decides that he has had enough and immediately runs for the front door. Of course, he is tackled and sedated by soldiers immediately.
***
"On your feet, maggot!"
Somebody kicked Bill out of his unconsciousness. He woke up in the middle of an army camp, in front of who appeared to be a drill sergeant.
The drill sergeant tossed a pair of boots at Bill. "Put these on immediately!"
"Wait, this is a mistake!" Bill shouted. "I'm not supposed to be here!"
The drill sergeant--Jing, from what Bill could see on his nametag--took out some papers. "I received this letter from General Tong regarding you. It says you are Private Wong Ka Ge, a deserter who claims that he is Captain rank and should not be here. He is not to be trusted. Do you say anything against that?"
Bill sighed. Tong was too clever to let him escape this easily.
"No, Commander, sir, I do not."
He was led into the barracks and shown his bunk. "You know what the old Imperial Army's policy was towards deserters, right?" Jing said. "You're lucky I was around. Battle is the great redeemer, after all."
He turned to the other soldiers in the barracks. "ATTENTION, JADE BATTALION FIRST PARATROOPER DIVISION!"
All of the sodiers immediately snapped to attention. Some of them hastily threw a blanket over a mahjong table.
"This here is Private Wong, a deserter. You're not going to desert now, aren't you, Wong? All of you make sure he doesn't do so!" said Jing. "And I saw that mahjong table! That's fifty demerits!"
"Hi," said Bill.
"Tomorrow is the great battle that will show the Eastern devils their true place under Heaven! Be ready for it!" Jing left the barracks.
All of the soldiers turned to Bill.
"So...how good are you guys at mahjong?" Bill asked.
***
(early next morning)
"ATTENTION!" came Jing's scream.
All of the soldiers practically fell out of their bunks, threw on their uniforms, and assembled in a straight line in front of Jing.
"Today's the day! Destiny awaits, and the Eastern devils will be put in their place." Jing said.
They were rushed off to another building, where some support soldiers handed them a backpack with a parachute in it.
"Remember, pull the red strap to deploy your parachute, as it means the difference between your death and that of an Eastern devil," they told Bill.
After suiting up, the soldiers marched past a picture of the Emperor on the way to the plane, and each man made a prayer to him and to Heaven to come back alive.
Heinrich I, Chinese Emperor
The plane's engine fired up, and in minutes they were hurtling down the runway and into the air, towards Korea and the Japanese. A dozen other bombers, escorts, and transport planes accompanied them as they flew towards the city of Chongjin.
"Alright, men, we're approaching the drop point!" Jing said. "It's time to show those devils who's really--"
BOOM.
A huge section of the fuselage was blasted open, throwing four paratroopers to their deaths instantly.
"JUMP!" Jing shouted.
From what was left of the plane, all of them jumped out the jagged hole, towards the ground.
Machine gun fire tore the plane apart just as Bill leaped out and deployed his parachute. He saw rounds strike the men around him and flak punch holes through the other bombers. Explosions filled the air. Below him, tens of thousands of men charged across the river, firing their weapons at the Japanese fortifications on the far side.
A machine gun round struck his parachute, but he was close to the ground already. He tumbled onto the dry riverbank mud, drew his rifle, and got to his feet.
"WOOO!" said a soldier behind him. "It's just like the old days!"
A downed bomber promptly came down on top of him and exploded.
No matter where Bill looked, all he could see was death. He watched as his squad was almost immediately torn to shreds by machine gun fire. All of them were shot in the head first, as if the enemy knew where they were.
A hundred thousand soldiers were sent to attack Chongjin. It was as if the Japanese had been expecting them. Only a handful managed to reach the fortifications and lob grenades into the garrison's defenses.
Bill rushed to crouch behind a sand mound and raised his rifle. He spotted some Japanese soldiers advancing on his position and shot desperately. Luckily, he managed to hit most of them. The rest were finished off by Jing.
"Good shot, Wong." Jing grinned.
Right after he said that, his head exploded, revealing an enemy soldier behind him.
Bill fired again and killed the Japanese.
There was a shout behind him. He turned around and saw a white woman in a German uniform dueling at least three Japanese at the same time with a sword. She was incredibly fast and skilled, as within seconds all of the Japanese were down with stab wounds in their chests.
The woman turned to face Bill, only for an artillery shell to come down right between them.
BOOM. The woman was dead.
Bill sensed that there was somebody behind him. He turned around and encountered a Japanese soldier in a general's uniform. He recognized this man: Hiroshi Kataoka, scourge of Korea, feared for his ruthless administration of the region. There were rumors that he participated in contests where the goal was to behead more Koreans faster than your opponent.
Bill raised his rifle, but he realized he was out of ammunition.
Hiroshi drew a katana and lunged at him. Just as Bill was impaled on the blade, he detonated a grenade in Hiroshi's face, killing both of them...for now.
Chapter 3: Weltkrieg, Part 1
Imperial Chinese Army Headquarters, Manzhouli, Manchuria (near the Korean border)
Bill stepped out of the jeep as it pulled up in front of the headquarters. Bells were ringing in nearby Buddhist temples, and people were chatting excitedly about the war with the Japanese. Apparently it had already spread around the world, with a German invasion of British Guyana and fighting raging across Africa. There was news that Port Arthur itself had already fallen, the local Japanese garrison swarmed and annihilated by a Banner Army in days. Hesehn Shangzhi, the merciless natural-born leader of the Imperial Navy, was conducting an invasion of Taiwan, with the Japanese fleet nowhere to be seen. All seemed to be going well.
He made his way to the desk of General Tong Shangzhi, Commander of the Korean Front.
Tong: Ah, Captain Wong Ka Ge, I've been expecting you. Welcome to the front! I trust you've got your reporting skills up and ready.
Bill: Yes, sir.
Tong: Tomorrow, four Banner Armies will launch an invasion of the city of Chongjin, across the Yalu River, and attack the Japanese garrison of ninety thousand stationed there. I want full coverage of the offensive so that we can use it to inspire more young men to enlist.
Bill: Sir, I see no problem wrong with this, but with all due respect I don't think families would like to see pictures of their dead loved ones as part of propaganda posters. What if I die in the battle? I have a wife and three children to support.
Tong: Captain Wong, you will not question orders from your superior.
Bill: Maybe I'll write the report in a way that the population turns against war...
Tong: Stop it! Don't make me call in the Jinyiwei!
Bill decides that he has had enough and immediately runs for the front door. Of course, he is tackled and sedated by soldiers immediately.
***
"On your feet, maggot!"
Somebody kicked Bill out of his unconsciousness. He woke up in the middle of an army camp, in front of who appeared to be a drill sergeant.
The drill sergeant tossed a pair of boots at Bill. "Put these on immediately!"
"Wait, this is a mistake!" Bill shouted. "I'm not supposed to be here!"
The drill sergeant--Jing, from what Bill could see on his nametag--took out some papers. "I received this letter from General Tong regarding you. It says you are Private Wong Ka Ge, a deserter who claims that he is Captain rank and should not be here. He is not to be trusted. Do you say anything against that?"
Bill sighed. Tong was too clever to let him escape this easily.
"No, Commander, sir, I do not."
He was led into the barracks and shown his bunk. "You know what the old Imperial Army's policy was towards deserters, right?" Jing said. "You're lucky I was around. Battle is the great redeemer, after all."
He turned to the other soldiers in the barracks. "ATTENTION, JADE BATTALION FIRST PARATROOPER DIVISION!"
All of the sodiers immediately snapped to attention. Some of them hastily threw a blanket over a mahjong table.
"This here is Private Wong, a deserter. You're not going to desert now, aren't you, Wong? All of you make sure he doesn't do so!" said Jing. "And I saw that mahjong table! That's fifty demerits!"
"Hi," said Bill.
"Tomorrow is the great battle that will show the Eastern devils their true place under Heaven! Be ready for it!" Jing left the barracks.
All of the soldiers turned to Bill.
"So...how good are you guys at mahjong?" Bill asked.
***
(early next morning)
"ATTENTION!" came Jing's scream.
All of the soldiers practically fell out of their bunks, threw on their uniforms, and assembled in a straight line in front of Jing.
"Today's the day! Destiny awaits, and the Eastern devils will be put in their place." Jing said.
They were rushed off to another building, where some support soldiers handed them a backpack with a parachute in it.
"Remember, pull the red strap to deploy your parachute, as it means the difference between your death and that of an Eastern devil," they told Bill.
After suiting up, the soldiers marched past a picture of the Emperor on the way to the plane, and each man made a prayer to him and to Heaven to come back alive.
Heinrich I, Chinese Emperor
The plane's engine fired up, and in minutes they were hurtling down the runway and into the air, towards Korea and the Japanese. A dozen other bombers, escorts, and transport planes accompanied them as they flew towards the city of Chongjin.
"Alright, men, we're approaching the drop point!" Jing said. "It's time to show those devils who's really--"
BOOM.
A huge section of the fuselage was blasted open, throwing four paratroopers to their deaths instantly.
"JUMP!" Jing shouted.
From what was left of the plane, all of them jumped out the jagged hole, towards the ground.
Machine gun fire tore the plane apart just as Bill leaped out and deployed his parachute. He saw rounds strike the men around him and flak punch holes through the other bombers. Explosions filled the air. Below him, tens of thousands of men charged across the river, firing their weapons at the Japanese fortifications on the far side.
A machine gun round struck his parachute, but he was close to the ground already. He tumbled onto the dry riverbank mud, drew his rifle, and got to his feet.
"WOOO!" said a soldier behind him. "It's just like the old days!"
A downed bomber promptly came down on top of him and exploded.
No matter where Bill looked, all he could see was death. He watched as his squad was almost immediately torn to shreds by machine gun fire. All of them were shot in the head first, as if the enemy knew where they were.
A hundred thousand soldiers were sent to attack Chongjin. It was as if the Japanese had been expecting them. Only a handful managed to reach the fortifications and lob grenades into the garrison's defenses.
Bill rushed to crouch behind a sand mound and raised his rifle. He spotted some Japanese soldiers advancing on his position and shot desperately. Luckily, he managed to hit most of them. The rest were finished off by Jing.
"Good shot, Wong." Jing grinned.
Right after he said that, his head exploded, revealing an enemy soldier behind him.
Bill fired again and killed the Japanese.
There was a shout behind him. He turned around and saw a white woman in a German uniform dueling at least three Japanese at the same time with a sword. She was incredibly fast and skilled, as within seconds all of the Japanese were down with stab wounds in their chests.
The woman turned to face Bill, only for an artillery shell to come down right between them.
BOOM. The woman was dead.
Bill sensed that there was somebody behind him. He turned around and encountered a Japanese soldier in a general's uniform. He recognized this man: Hiroshi Kataoka, scourge of Korea, feared for his ruthless administration of the region. There were rumors that he participated in contests where the goal was to behead more Koreans faster than your opponent.
Bill raised his rifle, but he realized he was out of ammunition.
Hiroshi drew a katana and lunged at him. Just as Bill was impaled on the blade, he detonated a grenade in Hiroshi's face, killing both of them...for now.
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Haha, an entire update based on my favourite film. Unfortunately, you got a bit crushed. Were they heavily dug in, or does arty make that much of a difference in Kaiserreich?
Great AAR by the way, wasn't even aware the mod worked for 3.03.
Great AAR by the way, wasn't even aware the mod worked for 3.03.
Thanks! The mod barely works; there are a few things missing or unfinished (mainly Chinese event chains and Cold War mechanics). I think the massive fatalities were due to the fact I accidentally built my army around unciv-level units which were inferior to Japanese infantry. I didn't find out about that until Chongjin. Also, they had a good general and had a high dig in modifier, plus I was attacking across a river. I just thought my numerical advantage would crush them easily.
Don't worry, more updates of similar style will be coming up next...
The most random things happened in that battle. 
That's a lot of casualties. I hope that doesn't set you back too much. China should have an excessive amount of manpower at least.
That's a lot of casualties. I hope that doesn't set you back too much. China should have an excessive amount of manpower at least.
Yes, but I realized that just about all of that manpower goes into uncivilized-level units (regulars, not infantry), which would be immediately crushed by Japanese armies three times smaller than them.
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"On your feet, maggot!"
Bill woke up in the middle of an army camp just as a pair of boots was thrown at him. In front of him was...Jing?
Jing pointed at the boots. "Put these on immediately!"
"Wait, wasn't I just dead?" Bill said.
"No, you're not, deserter! Now put on the boots!" Jing ordered. "You are Private Wong Ka Ge, and you are a deserter! You have no right to question my orders!"
"Yes, sir," Bill sighed.
What was going on? Did he just wake up the previous day?
"Tomorrow is a trap!" he said. "The Japanese are waiting for us! They will kill all of us!"
"Do you want me to refer you to the sanitorium? Because I will!" said Jing.
He was led into the barracks and shown his bunk. "You know what the old Imperial Army's policy was towards deserters, right? We're not much different," Jing said. "You're lucky I was around. Battle is the great redeemer, after all."
He turned to the other soldiers in the barracks. "ATTENTION, JADE BATTALION FIRST PARATROOPER DIVISION!"
All of the sodiers immediately snapped to attention. Some of them hastily threw a blanket over a mahjong table.
"This here is Private Wong, a deserter. You're not going to desert now, aren't you, Wong? All of you make sure he doesn't do so!" said Jing. "And I saw that mahjong table! That's fifty demerits!"
"I see that Go board over there," said Bill, pointing at something under a blanket. The soldiers glared at him.
"Tomorrow is the great battle that will show the Eastern devils their true place under Heaven! Be ready for it!" Jing left the barracks.
All of the soldiers turned to Bill.
"Listen, you're all going to die..." Bill asked.
Nobody listened.
***
(early next morning)
"ATTENTION!" came Jing's scream.
All of the soldiers practically fell out of their bunks, threw on their uniforms, and assembled in a straight line in front of Jing.
"Today's the day! Destiny awaits, and the Eastern devils will be put in their place." Jing said.
They were rushed off to another building, where some support soldiers handed them a backpack with a parachute in it.
"Remember, pull the--" a technician said.
"--red strap to deploy your parachute, as it means the difference between your death and that of an Eastern devil, yep I know that," Bill replied.
After suiting up, the soldiers marched past a picture of the Emperor on the way to the plane, and each man made a prayer to him and to Heaven to come back alive.
Heinrich I, Chinese Emperor
The plane's engine fired up, and in minutes they were hurtling down the runway and into the air, towards Korea and the Japanese. A dozen other bombers, escorts, and transport planes accompanied them as they flew towards the city of Chongjin.
"Alright, men, we're approaching the drop point!" Jing said. "It's time to show those devils who's really--"
"THE PLANE'S GOING TO BE HIT RIGHT NOW!" Bill screamed.
BOOM.
A huge section of the fuselage was blasted open, throwing four paratroopers to their deaths instantly.
"JUMP!" Jing shouted.
From what was left of the plane, all of them jumped out the jagged hole, towards the ground.
Machine gun fire tore the plane apart just as Bill leaped out and deployed his parachute. He saw rounds strike the men around him and flak punch holes through the other bombers. Explosions filled the air. Below him, tens of thousands of men charged across the river, firing their weapons at the Japanese fortifications on the far side.
A machine gun round struck his parachute, but he was close to the ground already. He tumbled onto the dry riverbank mud, drew his rifle, and got to his feet.
"WOOO!" said a soldier behind him. "It's just like the old days!"
A downed bomber hurtled in his direction, and Bill barely pushed him out of the way.
He watched as his squad was almost immediately torn to shreds by machine gun fire. All of them were shot in the head first, as if the enemy knew where they were.
A hundred thousand soldiers were sent to attack Chongjin. It was as if the Japanese had been expecting them. Only a handful managed to reach the fortifications and lob grenades into the garrison's defenses.
Bill rushed to crouch behind a sand mound and raised his rifle. He spotted some Japanese soldiers advancing on his position and shot desperately. Luckily, he managed to hit most of them. The rest were finished off by Jing.
"Good shot, Wong." Jing grinned.
"Behind you!" Bill pointed.
Right after he said that, Jing'shead exploded, revealing an enemy soldier behind him.
Bill fired again and killed the Japanese.
There was a shout behind him. He turned around and saw a white woman in a German uniform dueling at least three Japanese at the same time with a sword. She was incredibly fast and skilled, as within seconds all of the Japanese were down with stab wounds in their chests.
The woman turned to face Bill, only for an artillery shell to come down right between them.
Bill quickly pushed her out of the way.
There was a look of recognition in the woman's eyes. "You're one of them," she said, "You can reset time, as I did."
What was going on?
"Find me when you wake up, tell me everything," said the woman, "Ilse von Richthofen."
She then took his gun and left, just as a Japanese soldier approached him, katana in hand.
"Wait, are you going to leave me here--AAAAHHHHHHWHATTHEHOLYSH--"
Bill woke up in the middle of an army camp just as a pair of boots was thrown at him. In front of him was...Jing?
Jing pointed at the boots. "Put these on immediately!"
"Wait, wasn't I just dead?" Bill said.
"No, you're not, deserter! Now put on the boots!" Jing ordered. "You are Private Wong Ka Ge, and you are a deserter! You have no right to question my orders!"
"Yes, sir," Bill sighed.
What was going on? Did he just wake up the previous day?
"Tomorrow is a trap!" he said. "The Japanese are waiting for us! They will kill all of us!"
"Do you want me to refer you to the sanitorium? Because I will!" said Jing.
He was led into the barracks and shown his bunk. "You know what the old Imperial Army's policy was towards deserters, right? We're not much different," Jing said. "You're lucky I was around. Battle is the great redeemer, after all."
He turned to the other soldiers in the barracks. "ATTENTION, JADE BATTALION FIRST PARATROOPER DIVISION!"
All of the sodiers immediately snapped to attention. Some of them hastily threw a blanket over a mahjong table.
"This here is Private Wong, a deserter. You're not going to desert now, aren't you, Wong? All of you make sure he doesn't do so!" said Jing. "And I saw that mahjong table! That's fifty demerits!"
"I see that Go board over there," said Bill, pointing at something under a blanket. The soldiers glared at him.
"Tomorrow is the great battle that will show the Eastern devils their true place under Heaven! Be ready for it!" Jing left the barracks.
All of the soldiers turned to Bill.
"Listen, you're all going to die..." Bill asked.
Nobody listened.
***
(early next morning)
"ATTENTION!" came Jing's scream.
All of the soldiers practically fell out of their bunks, threw on their uniforms, and assembled in a straight line in front of Jing.
"Today's the day! Destiny awaits, and the Eastern devils will be put in their place." Jing said.
They were rushed off to another building, where some support soldiers handed them a backpack with a parachute in it.
"Remember, pull the--" a technician said.
"--red strap to deploy your parachute, as it means the difference between your death and that of an Eastern devil, yep I know that," Bill replied.
After suiting up, the soldiers marched past a picture of the Emperor on the way to the plane, and each man made a prayer to him and to Heaven to come back alive.
Heinrich I, Chinese Emperor
The plane's engine fired up, and in minutes they were hurtling down the runway and into the air, towards Korea and the Japanese. A dozen other bombers, escorts, and transport planes accompanied them as they flew towards the city of Chongjin.
"Alright, men, we're approaching the drop point!" Jing said. "It's time to show those devils who's really--"
"THE PLANE'S GOING TO BE HIT RIGHT NOW!" Bill screamed.
BOOM.
A huge section of the fuselage was blasted open, throwing four paratroopers to their deaths instantly.
"JUMP!" Jing shouted.
From what was left of the plane, all of them jumped out the jagged hole, towards the ground.
Machine gun fire tore the plane apart just as Bill leaped out and deployed his parachute. He saw rounds strike the men around him and flak punch holes through the other bombers. Explosions filled the air. Below him, tens of thousands of men charged across the river, firing their weapons at the Japanese fortifications on the far side.
A machine gun round struck his parachute, but he was close to the ground already. He tumbled onto the dry riverbank mud, drew his rifle, and got to his feet.
"WOOO!" said a soldier behind him. "It's just like the old days!"
A downed bomber hurtled in his direction, and Bill barely pushed him out of the way.
He watched as his squad was almost immediately torn to shreds by machine gun fire. All of them were shot in the head first, as if the enemy knew where they were.
A hundred thousand soldiers were sent to attack Chongjin. It was as if the Japanese had been expecting them. Only a handful managed to reach the fortifications and lob grenades into the garrison's defenses.
Bill rushed to crouch behind a sand mound and raised his rifle. He spotted some Japanese soldiers advancing on his position and shot desperately. Luckily, he managed to hit most of them. The rest were finished off by Jing.
"Good shot, Wong." Jing grinned.
"Behind you!" Bill pointed.
Right after he said that, Jing'shead exploded, revealing an enemy soldier behind him.
Bill fired again and killed the Japanese.
There was a shout behind him. He turned around and saw a white woman in a German uniform dueling at least three Japanese at the same time with a sword. She was incredibly fast and skilled, as within seconds all of the Japanese were down with stab wounds in their chests.
The woman turned to face Bill, only for an artillery shell to come down right between them.
Bill quickly pushed her out of the way.
There was a look of recognition in the woman's eyes. "You're one of them," she said, "You can reset time, as I did."
What was going on?
"Find me when you wake up, tell me everything," said the woman, "Ilse von Richthofen."
She then took his gun and left, just as a Japanese soldier approached him, katana in hand.
"Wait, are you going to leave me here--AAAAHHHHHHWHATTHEHOLYSH--"
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Youch, that is a terrible loss. I'm guessing that's the one you mentioned earlier? Also, I just now noticed that they replaced the artillery icon with a tank.
It's the same battle, nothing new happened, although a little bit later another of my large armies was annihilated in the same location:
The unit icons have mostly changed. The ones I liked best are the jet fighters and the aircraft carriers.
Deja vu! Being able to reset time is quite the ability. Does resetting time equate to loading up an old save?
"On your feet, maggot!"
Bill woke up again in the middle of an army camp just as a pair of boots was thrown at him. Jing glared at him again.
Jing pointed at the boots. "Put these on immediately!"
Bill complied, as he had no other choice.
Jing ordered. "You are Private Wong Ka Ge, and you are a deserter! You have no right to question my orders!"
"Yes, sir," Bill sighed.
He was led into the barracks and shown his bunk. "You know what the old Imperial Army's policy was towards deserters, right? We're not much different," Jing said. "You're lucky I'm around. Battle is the great redeemer, after all."
He turned to the other soldiers in the barracks. "ATTENTION, JADE BATTALION FIRST PARATROOPER DIVISION!"
All of the sodiers immediately snapped to attention. Some of them hastily threw a blanket over a mahjong table.
"This here is Private Wong, a deserter. You're not going to desert now, aren't you, Wong? All of you make sure he doesn't do so!" said Jing. "And I saw that mahjong table! That's fifty demerits!"
"I see that Go board over there," said Bill, pointing at something under a blanket. The soldiers glared at him.
"Tomorrow is the great battle that will show the Eastern devils their true place under Heaven! Be ready for it!" Jing left the barracks.
All of the soldiers turned to Bill.
"Listen, you're all going to die..." Bill asked.
Nobody listened.
It was worth a shot.
While the soldiers were distracted by their games of mahjong, Bill managed to slip away. He had to find this Baroness von Richthofen. Apparently she was here as part of the invasion. He had heard that the German Hanoi garrison was in the area to assist the Chinese forces, but tensions between the Kaiser and the Soviets were on the rise, so the garrison might go invade Siberia in the winter instead.
He had known about the legendary Richthofen siblings from their exploits in the First Weltkrieg. The brother, Manfred, was a fighter ace who shot down at least 80 Entente pilots during the war. He was known as the Red Baron, the Luftwaffe's champion.
The "Red Baron," now a member of the Prussian General Staff and Commander of the Luftwaffe
His elder sister, Ilse, was just as well-known, despite refusing to have any photographs taken during her time in the Army. She was among the first women to fight in any war, on any side, after her little brother pulled a few strings.
Once in combat, though, she was ruthless and as talented as Manfred. Nowhere was this more relevant than the Second Battle of Verdun, the one point in the Hundred Days' Offensive that the Entente could have driven back the Germans with hordes of Americans used as cannon fodder. Over the course of five hours, she killed at least a hundred French and British troops with nothing more than a sword, as if she knew where her targets were before encountering them. In addition to this "precognition," she knew the enemy's movements, tactics, strategies, and troop composition, which she exploited mercilessly. By the end of the day the French and British armies were annihilated, and the Americans were of no use. For that she was nicknamed the "Angel of Verdun," and she went on to accompany German troops into Paris.
Bill found Ilse training in one of the firing ranges and gyms in the camp. While blindfolded, she fired two pistols, hitting the bulls-eye each time.
"Ilse von Richthofen!" he called out.
The woman stared at him, her numerous medals intimidating Bill.
"What do you want and how do you know my name?" said Ilse.
"We're going to die tomorrow," Bill said.
She listened and understood his explanations.
"I see," said Ilse, "It's just like Verdun. You have the power to reset time."
"Can we just skip the realizations and get to the part where I get rid of the power?"
"Why would you want that? You said that tomorrow all of us would die. You can change that. And if not, you can at least make sure their sacrifices will not be in vain. Lose the battle, and it's only a setback. Lose the war, and China and Germany will end up like France and Russia."
"But why do I have this power? I'm not the best soldier!"
"What happened the first time you reset?"
Bill thought back to the first loop. "Well, I killed Hiroshi Kataoka, the general in charge."
"Have you heard about the phenomena called 'General's Luck'?"
"No?"
"Well, it began as early as 1836 but only really took off during the Weltkrieg. It states that even if an army is completely annihilated, the general in command is highly likely to survive, as if he knows how to escape the battlefield. You came into contact with Hiroshi's blood, so you gained his power."
"That sounds...weird."
"I got the power by killing Ferdinand Foch and his subordinate generals. That was why Verdun was so devastating for the Entente."
"So you're saying that in order to replicate Verdun I have to kill...Tojo?!"
"You don't have to necessarily replicate Verdun, but killing Tojo will turn the war in our favor."
"Why didn't you kill Tojo, or for that matter Petain or de Gaulle?"
"I lost the power before I could reach them."
"So then what?"
"I'm going to train you so that you will reach Tojo and kill him."
"Wait, what?"
He was put through a gauntlet which contained razor-sharp blades and targets to hit. He was to hit the targets without dying. After numerous resets he managed to do so, upon which Ilse blindfolded him and sent him back in.
***
(early next morning)
"ATTENTION!" came Jing's scream.
All of the soldiers practically fell out of their bunks, threw on their uniforms, and assembled in a straight line in front of Jing.
"Today's the day! Destiny awaits, and the Eastern devils will be put in their place." Jing said.
They were rushed off to another building, where some support soldiers handed them a backpack with a parachute in it.
"Remember, pull the--" a technician said.
"--red strap to deploy your parachute, as it means the difference between your death and that of an Eastern devil, yep I know that," Bill replied.
After suiting up, the soldiers marched past a picture of the Emperor on the way to the plane, and each man made a prayer to him and to Heaven to come back alive.
Heinrich I, Chinese Emperor
The plane's engine fired up, and in minutes they were hurtling down the runway and into the air, towards Korea and the Japanese. A dozen other bombers, escorts, and transport planes accompanied them as they flew towards the city of Chongjin.
"Alright, men, we're approaching the drop point!" Jing said. "It's time to show those devils who's really--"
BOOM.
A huge section of the fuselage was blasted open, throwing four paratroopers to their deaths instantly.
"JUMP!" Jing shouted.
From what was left of the plane, all of them jumped out the jagged hole, towards the ground.
Machine gun fire tore the plane apart just as Bill leaped out and deployed his parachute. He saw rounds strike the men around him and flak punch holes through the other bombers. Explosions filled the air. Below him, tens of thousands of men charged across the river, firing their weapons at the Japanese fortifications on the far side.
A machine gun round struck his parachute, but he was close to the ground already. He tumbled onto the dry riverbank mud, drew his rifle, and got to his feet.
"WOOO!" said a soldier behind him. "It's just like the old days!"
A downed bomber hurtled in his direction, and Bill ignored him, seeing as he would die every time.
He watched as his squad was almost immediately torn to shreds by machine gun fire. All of them were shot in the head first, as if the enemy knew where they were.
A hundred thousand soldiers were sent to attack Chongjin. It was as if the Japanese had been expecting them. Only a handful managed to reach the fortifications and lob grenades into the garrison's defenses.
Bill rushed to crouch behind a sand mound and raised his rifle. He spotted some Japanese soldiers advancing on his position and shot desperately. Luckily, he managed to hit most of them. The rest were finished off by Jing.
"Good shot, Wong." Jing grinned.
"Behind you!" Bill pointed.
Jing dodged the Japanese's shot, and Bill fired again and killed the enemy soldier.
There was a shout behind him. He turned around and saw Ilse cutting her way through dozens of enemy troops.
"We have to get away from the battlefield!" Bill said.
She nodded. They headed westward, towards the interior of Korea and away from the city. A Japanese fighter promptly spotted then and cut them to pieces immediately.
Bill woke up again in the middle of an army camp just as a pair of boots was thrown at him. Jing glared at him again.
Jing pointed at the boots. "Put these on immediately!"
Bill complied, as he had no other choice.
Jing ordered. "You are Private Wong Ka Ge, and you are a deserter! You have no right to question my orders!"
"Yes, sir," Bill sighed.
He was led into the barracks and shown his bunk. "You know what the old Imperial Army's policy was towards deserters, right? We're not much different," Jing said. "You're lucky I'm around. Battle is the great redeemer, after all."
He turned to the other soldiers in the barracks. "ATTENTION, JADE BATTALION FIRST PARATROOPER DIVISION!"
All of the sodiers immediately snapped to attention. Some of them hastily threw a blanket over a mahjong table.
"This here is Private Wong, a deserter. You're not going to desert now, aren't you, Wong? All of you make sure he doesn't do so!" said Jing. "And I saw that mahjong table! That's fifty demerits!"
"I see that Go board over there," said Bill, pointing at something under a blanket. The soldiers glared at him.
"Tomorrow is the great battle that will show the Eastern devils their true place under Heaven! Be ready for it!" Jing left the barracks.
All of the soldiers turned to Bill.
"Listen, you're all going to die..." Bill asked.
Nobody listened.
It was worth a shot.
While the soldiers were distracted by their games of mahjong, Bill managed to slip away. He had to find this Baroness von Richthofen. Apparently she was here as part of the invasion. He had heard that the German Hanoi garrison was in the area to assist the Chinese forces, but tensions between the Kaiser and the Soviets were on the rise, so the garrison might go invade Siberia in the winter instead.
He had known about the legendary Richthofen siblings from their exploits in the First Weltkrieg. The brother, Manfred, was a fighter ace who shot down at least 80 Entente pilots during the war. He was known as the Red Baron, the Luftwaffe's champion.
The "Red Baron," now a member of the Prussian General Staff and Commander of the Luftwaffe
His elder sister, Ilse, was just as well-known, despite refusing to have any photographs taken during her time in the Army. She was among the first women to fight in any war, on any side, after her little brother pulled a few strings.
Once in combat, though, she was ruthless and as talented as Manfred. Nowhere was this more relevant than the Second Battle of Verdun, the one point in the Hundred Days' Offensive that the Entente could have driven back the Germans with hordes of Americans used as cannon fodder. Over the course of five hours, she killed at least a hundred French and British troops with nothing more than a sword, as if she knew where her targets were before encountering them. In addition to this "precognition," she knew the enemy's movements, tactics, strategies, and troop composition, which she exploited mercilessly. By the end of the day the French and British armies were annihilated, and the Americans were of no use. For that she was nicknamed the "Angel of Verdun," and she went on to accompany German troops into Paris.
Bill found Ilse training in one of the firing ranges and gyms in the camp. While blindfolded, she fired two pistols, hitting the bulls-eye each time.
"Ilse von Richthofen!" he called out.
The woman stared at him, her numerous medals intimidating Bill.
"What do you want and how do you know my name?" said Ilse.
"We're going to die tomorrow," Bill said.
She listened and understood his explanations.
"I see," said Ilse, "It's just like Verdun. You have the power to reset time."
"Can we just skip the realizations and get to the part where I get rid of the power?"
"Why would you want that? You said that tomorrow all of us would die. You can change that. And if not, you can at least make sure their sacrifices will not be in vain. Lose the battle, and it's only a setback. Lose the war, and China and Germany will end up like France and Russia."
"But why do I have this power? I'm not the best soldier!"
"What happened the first time you reset?"
Bill thought back to the first loop. "Well, I killed Hiroshi Kataoka, the general in charge."
"Have you heard about the phenomena called 'General's Luck'?"
"No?"
"Well, it began as early as 1836 but only really took off during the Weltkrieg. It states that even if an army is completely annihilated, the general in command is highly likely to survive, as if he knows how to escape the battlefield. You came into contact with Hiroshi's blood, so you gained his power."
"That sounds...weird."
"I got the power by killing Ferdinand Foch and his subordinate generals. That was why Verdun was so devastating for the Entente."
"So you're saying that in order to replicate Verdun I have to kill...Tojo?!"
"You don't have to necessarily replicate Verdun, but killing Tojo will turn the war in our favor."
"Why didn't you kill Tojo, or for that matter Petain or de Gaulle?"
"I lost the power before I could reach them."
"So then what?"
"I'm going to train you so that you will reach Tojo and kill him."
"Wait, what?"
He was put through a gauntlet which contained razor-sharp blades and targets to hit. He was to hit the targets without dying. After numerous resets he managed to do so, upon which Ilse blindfolded him and sent him back in.
***
(early next morning)
"ATTENTION!" came Jing's scream.
All of the soldiers practically fell out of their bunks, threw on their uniforms, and assembled in a straight line in front of Jing.
"Today's the day! Destiny awaits, and the Eastern devils will be put in their place." Jing said.
They were rushed off to another building, where some support soldiers handed them a backpack with a parachute in it.
"Remember, pull the--" a technician said.
"--red strap to deploy your parachute, as it means the difference between your death and that of an Eastern devil, yep I know that," Bill replied.
After suiting up, the soldiers marched past a picture of the Emperor on the way to the plane, and each man made a prayer to him and to Heaven to come back alive.
Heinrich I, Chinese Emperor
The plane's engine fired up, and in minutes they were hurtling down the runway and into the air, towards Korea and the Japanese. A dozen other bombers, escorts, and transport planes accompanied them as they flew towards the city of Chongjin.
"Alright, men, we're approaching the drop point!" Jing said. "It's time to show those devils who's really--"
BOOM.
A huge section of the fuselage was blasted open, throwing four paratroopers to their deaths instantly.
"JUMP!" Jing shouted.
From what was left of the plane, all of them jumped out the jagged hole, towards the ground.
Machine gun fire tore the plane apart just as Bill leaped out and deployed his parachute. He saw rounds strike the men around him and flak punch holes through the other bombers. Explosions filled the air. Below him, tens of thousands of men charged across the river, firing their weapons at the Japanese fortifications on the far side.
A machine gun round struck his parachute, but he was close to the ground already. He tumbled onto the dry riverbank mud, drew his rifle, and got to his feet.
"WOOO!" said a soldier behind him. "It's just like the old days!"
A downed bomber hurtled in his direction, and Bill ignored him, seeing as he would die every time.
He watched as his squad was almost immediately torn to shreds by machine gun fire. All of them were shot in the head first, as if the enemy knew where they were.
A hundred thousand soldiers were sent to attack Chongjin. It was as if the Japanese had been expecting them. Only a handful managed to reach the fortifications and lob grenades into the garrison's defenses.
Bill rushed to crouch behind a sand mound and raised his rifle. He spotted some Japanese soldiers advancing on his position and shot desperately. Luckily, he managed to hit most of them. The rest were finished off by Jing.
"Good shot, Wong." Jing grinned.
"Behind you!" Bill pointed.
Jing dodged the Japanese's shot, and Bill fired again and killed the enemy soldier.
There was a shout behind him. He turned around and saw Ilse cutting her way through dozens of enemy troops.
"We have to get away from the battlefield!" Bill said.
She nodded. They headed westward, towards the interior of Korea and away from the city. A Japanese fighter promptly spotted then and cut them to pieces immediately.
Actually, in that picture it was an 11.9k drop (and that's not even the largest drop, I think), aka American immigration mechanics are extremely broken at this point (despite thousands immigrating to California 99% of the pops in San Francisco are still Yankee), maybe due to the fact that the modded made some adjustments to pop need fulfillment. I managed to fix this about a decade or two later, but I'll get to that in later updates, as it's quite important in terms of plot.
As for reliving the same battle again and again, this is probably the last time Bill dies without doing anything important. There'll be several more resets but they'll be drastically different.
As for reliving the same battle again and again, this is probably the last time Bill dies without doing anything important. There'll be several more resets but they'll be drastically different.