More pain, more loss... and yet, I suspect the next chapter is going to be extremely cathartic.
-
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My next choice of listening music will mark quiet a change in tone from this one.
I’m Not a Princess
Wilhelmina lunged at Elias with superhuman speed. Elias raised his pistol and fired. Time didn’t slow down this time, but rather her perception sped up, allowing her to see the six bullets heading towards her. Wilhelmina marked down the closest one and slashed out with Enonon like using a lightsaber to deflect blaster fire, cutting the bullet in half and throwing off its trajectory to miss her. Two more came close, and without time to move Enonon, Wilhelmina simply moved out of the way. That left the next two, which she couldn’t avoid, but they suddenly swerved out of the way anyways. Just when she thought she was now invincible, the sixth bullet grazed her left arm, just barely glancing off her skin. She quickly figured out her ability had limits. She couldn't get overconfident, like the man in front of her. Elias’ gun clicked. Panicking, he ran behind his Crusaders.
“Fire everything!”
Been a little while but I'm still battling
Moving fast while you's just prattling
No time for me
No tangling
Hit you in the spot with no angle and
The Crusaders concentrated their fire on Wilhelmina. But she deflected or dodged all of the bullets, even though there were so many she could not even consciously focus on any specific one. All she knew was that either the bullets had swerved out of her way, or her arm and Enonon were moving faster than she could think and intercepting those few bullets that hadn’t been deflected. She reached the Crusader lines and set to work. The enemy soldiers tried throwing punches or clubbing her with their rifles, but she expertly dodged out of the way of their attacks and retaliated with Enonon, which effortlessly cut through the barrels of each gun. She emerged on the other side of the squad and stopped to watch the broken guns fall out of the Crusaders’ hands. She didn’t want to kill these men, as they were just following orders. But Samir had his own orders. Reinvigorated by her actions, he and his squad attacked the other Crusader squad blocking off their rear, catching them by surprise. Wilhelmina approached Elias and drew back Enonon, its blade now “smoking” with fiery plumes of energy. Elias staggered back, a look of sheer terror crossing his face. The smug man from just a minute ago was gone.
“Y-ye…hwaet z-ze faek…”
Gertrude ran into the hallway, only to stop when she saw the look on Elias’ face as well as Wilhelmina herself. Energy swirled around her, creating air currents which pushed dust and loose items across the floor and kept her hair flowing in the wind. She could just stab him or lop his head off, but that wouldn’t be painful enough. He deserved far worse, after what he did.
“You will PAY!”
Wilhelmina spun and slashed outward. A blast of energy surged out from Enonon and slammed into Elias, who was thrown clearly down the hallway and against a far wall so hard the concrete cracked. He screamed and cursed with his thick Königsberg accent agian, but somehow, he slowly got back on his feet. Huh. Guess he was more durable than he looked. Gertrude, who had not been affected by the blast,opened her mouth, trying to say something. No words came from her mouth for another few seconds.
“…what the frak are you?”
“I’m not a princess,” Wilhelmina said.
A lot of anger in it
Not a cutie girlfriend, oh no
don't you know?
Gertrude quickly slung Elias over her shoulder and bolted for the exit, frequently glancing back over her shoulder in fear.
“Come on, Elias, let’s go.”
“No!” Elias said, his words slurring together. “Weavetokealyer! Huikenfeeneeschzhisnaow!”
“No, you can’t. Just look at yourself, Elias!”
You cannot run away
Hell nah no man can run away
From me I stay in your head as
one big threat!
“NO! ZE ESS-PREENCAESS MUSS DAI! SHAE MUSS PAH!”
“NO, YOU MUST PAY!” Wilhelmina charged forward.
It's demolition
Wiping all out
I won't go
Until it's over
Gertrude pulled Elias out of the way just as Wilhelmina stabbed the wall where he once was, her blade embedding deep in the wall and cracking the concrete even more. Gertrude, white with shock, quickly dragged Elias around a corner. The surviving Crusaders followed close behind, some of them even screaming bloody murder and begging her not to kill them. Wilhelmina quickly tried pulling Enonon out. They had not yet paid in full for everything they did to her, her family, and her people. She wanted to wipe them all out. But as soon as she pulled it out of the wall, Enonon’s blade dimmed until the glow vanished. A wave of lethargy overtook her, and her aura disappeared. She leaned against the wall to stay balanced. A horrible headache rippled up and down her head.
“Ow…”
“Vengeance is not the right way,” Sophie said.
“Is that why I feel like scheiße?”
“Yeah, that, and you can’t really use that much power too long. Especially since you just awakened to it.”
“What, you can use it?”
“I know some things, chief among them to not let the power get to your head, or else it’ll feel much worse. Believe me, I’ve been there. Besides, you need to learn how to use it first.”
“I’ve got other things to worry about first.” Wilhelmina looked at the survivors of their group. Samir still had some of his men, but most weren’t in good shape. Out of the civilians, it was just her, Izinchi, Friedrich, and Ilyana now. Dread crept into the corners of her mind when she realized who weren’t part of that four.
No. No, no time for fear. Get to work.
Izinchi had by now stemmed her bleeding and pushed off the dead soldier, but she still couldn’t stand. Samir looked at Wilhelmina like a deer watching for predators. Ilyana was shaking Vasily’s body, having climbed out from under him. Her hands and face were covered in blood.
“Grandpa? Wake up, Grandpa…no, Grandpa, wake up! Please don’t leave me like Mama and Papa! GRANDPA!”
Friedrich slowly walked over to Wilhelmina. “Grandma, are you okay?”
“I’m fine, Friedrich. I’m not going to let anyone hurt you.”
“But Dad…and Gramps…”
Wilhelmina looked at the floor, unable to look her grandson in his eyes, especially with Franz’s blood still visible on her glasses.
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t save them.” There was nothing else she could say. All she could do was be honest.
Friedrich didn’t say anything back.
What could he say, after what he just went through? No kid should have seen what he did. He’s only 6, for crying out loud! He barely knows what’s going on. Then again, am I doing any better?
“I’m not going to fail with you. Not again. I will protect you, and that’s a promise I intend to keep.”
Even if I have to give my life for it. Take me instead of him, whoever’s up there. If anyone has to die, let it be me.
“Wilhelmina, this is nice and all, but we need to keep moving,” Samir said, “We have to get out of this bunker. The Crusaders may have retreated, but the Chinese are still here.”
“Right,” Wilhelmina said, “To the hangar, as we planned.”
“But Grandpa!” Ilyana said.
“Ilyana, he’s gone already. I’m sorry.”
Ilyana stomped her foot. She tried saying something, but it was no use. She quietly bowed her head.
“Samir, help me carry Izinchi,” Wilhelmina said.
Wilhelmina hastily put Enonon back in its case and slung it over her back. With her hands freed, she and Samir lifted Izinchi up and propped her up on their shoulders. Izinchi groaned.
“Mokuitl…is…this what it feels like…to be sacrificed by MSC?”
“Are you okay?” Wilhelmina said.
“Oh, never felt better! Yeah, totally fine—OW OW HEY! You could hold me much better, cuatl!”
“Sorry. I’m doing the best I can. I’m not a field medic so…”
They started down the hallway. Wilhelmina and Samir led the way, while Samir’s men brought up the rear. Samir checked ahead for any potential ambushes.
“So…what was that you did just now?”
“As I keep saying, I don’t particularly know either. I desperately wished for a way to save Friedrich…and it happened.”
“Can you do it again?” Samir said.
Wilhelmina held out her left hand, and energy began swirling around it on command, almost like a little fire in her hand. As soon as she willed it away, the energy dissipated.
“I guess so.”
“This could be an issue.”
“Why’s that?”
“What does the word ‘aristocracy‘ literally mean?”
This kid...seriously, sometimes it feels like he‘s way older than 18. Makes me feel weird sometimes.
“Rule of the wealthy and nobility.”
“No, I mean the literal translation.”
Really? Discussing Greek etymologies? At a time like this? Okay, fine...what was it again? Damn, I always was average at German class.
“Uh…’rule of the best’?”
“Yes, exactly. Aristocracy’s all about elevating people above others. Which you’ve now done with your supernatural abilities.”
I don‘t like where this is going...
“I never expected it asked for this power.”
“Still, fact is you have it. A noblewoman possessing powers nobody else has, which grants her a literal advantage over others. Not a good sign in my book.”
Yeah, fair enough. We all watched Captain Reich: The Great Schism way back when it came out. Okay, maybe not you, Samir. You‘re way too young. Okay, now I‘m feeling old. Well, I am a grandmother, but still...
“I get it. But I promise you, I won’t use it for evil. I don’t have the stomach for evi, not even evil routes in CRPGs.”
And for the record, Crimson Flower doesn’t count as evil! You have any idea how many times over the last 20 years I‘ve had to argue how liking Edelgard doesn‘t make me a neo-Angeloi?!
“You don’t seem like the kind of person who would abuse it. That’s what I can tell from these last few days. But you should remember that power corrupts. Especially power we had no idea existed until just now. This has never happened before. We don’t know how this power will affect you. Or how you’ll use it. Or if anyone else can get it.”
That‘s true. Nobody knows what is happening with me. I don't even know what's happening to me. I‘ve got to find out why I‘m like this. Seek out people who might have experience. Like X-Division...but they‘re all dead or missing. Got to find someone else. In the meantime, I still have to deal with this myself.
“I’m aware of that. And I’ll do everything I can to earn your trust. To earn everybody’s trust.”
“I hope I can trust you.”
Gee, that‘s reassuring.
“Anyways…” Izinchi interjected. “Someone want to clue me in on what happened? I was kind of focused on not bleeding out the whole time.”
Without hesitating, Wilhelmina explained everything to her, at least as much as she could understand herself. As she knew “Sophie” didn’t actually exist now, she left that part out.
“Well…” Izinchi said. “That’s certainly something. Feels like an episode of Avatar.”
“My thoughts exactly,” Wilhelmina said.
Not-Amon didn’t know what hit him…
“So how will we approach this?” Izinchi said.
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, assuming we not only get out of here alive but also take down the committee and restore the Reich, we’re going to have to figure out what to tell the public about this. If we’re going to tell them. After what Schmitz did to our media, I’m hesitant to do the same, but we might not have a choice.”
Now that I think about it...yeah, there'll be mass panic, probably. Though with the state of state media (heh) I‘m pretty sure most people will write it off as just more Jerusalem or Chinese propaganda. Why Jerusalem‘s propaganda would not only announce I‘m alive but also give me superpowers is beyond me. And what if we win? I know it‘s almost impossible at this point, but in the off-chance I do waltz back into Berlin, stab all of the committee with this cool sword, and sit on the throne after all these years...what the hell am I supposed to do? I know I said I‘d transition the monarchy to a purely ceremonial role, but this power throws a real wrench in the works. Yes, a completely powerless Kaiserin who can‘t interfere in the political process, but she can shoot laser beams, deflect bullets, and swing around a sword like Obi-Wan Kenobi. People will notice. Izinchi thinks this can be swept under the rug, like what the committee does. No, it can‘t. We would be betraying our values if we try it. Word will get out eventually. And who‘s to say I‘ll stay the only one with this power?
“No,” Wilhelmina said, “After we figure out exactly what this power is and what I can do, I’m going to tell the world.”
“This could cause mass panic. It might even derail the rebuilding plans. They’ll ask you loads of questions. Maybe even do experiments on you. Classified black ops stuff. Ugh, please, I’ve had enough of those.”
Oh yeah, let‘s worry about the economy of the Reich right now. Won‘t someone think of the economy?!
“I know, but I don’t want to hide it. This is who I am. I’m sure the world will come around to it. They at least deserve to know.”
“Okay, okay, I get it. Why don’t we figure it out when we get there? Speaking of figuring it out…so how are we going to figure out what this power is?”
She had an idea of where she could go now. A face came to mind.
“I’m going to go see my friend Alexandra Hansen. Maybe she and her friends know a thing or three or something from their parents’ work.”
Ha, ha. Ah, yes, I love these game references. Takes my mind off things I don‘t want to think about, like...oh God, they‘re all dead, aren‘t they?
“Do you know where they are?” Samir said.
“Olga told me they were in Isfahan.”
“Persia? Well, I suppose it’s better than nothing.”
“Persia’s been doing remarkably well in the war. It’ll still be dangerous in Isfahan, but at least it’ll be no Tsarberg or this bunker.”
“I want to see the sky again,” Wilhelmina said.
They approached a corner, and Samir held up his hand. “There’s someone approaching.”
Everyone shut up. Samir cautiously approached the corner, gun ready. Once he was at the edge, he charged around, only to slam into Gebhard, who had done the same.
“Pizda, what was that for?!”
“I thought you were hostile!” Gebhard said.
“Where were you the whole time?” Wilhelmina said.
“I hid in a supply closet after they stormed the command center and killed everyone. I got out as soon as they left.”
Hold on a moment. When you left for the command center earlier...didn‘t you go with someone else?
“Where’s Kresge?”
“Kresge? I…I’m sorry.”
...oh no.
“They killed Kresge?” Izinchi said.
“Well, no, they captured him.”
“Even worse,” Samir said.
“Last I heard, he was being taken to Theodor.”
Even worse.
“Frak,” Wilhelmina said.
“Grandma!” Friedrich said.
“Sorry,” Wilhelmina said.
“Unfortunate, but we can’t do anything to rescue him right now. Best we can do is get out of here.”
“Already on it. We’re heading to the hangar.”
“Good idea! Let’s get everyone and go!”
He broke into a wide smile, but nobody’s expression changed. The smile soon disappeared.
“Wait a minute…is this…everyone?”
Yes. Yes it is.
“Elias Anhorn killed everyone else,” Wilhelmina said.
“He…also went after you?”
That‘s...a long story.
“He specifically was going after me and my family. We managed to drive him off. I’ll explain later. Do you know where he went?”
“Oh, I overheard some Crusaders saying he was badly injured and being taken onto a plane by his wife, whom they brought here for some reason. I don’t know why. Don’t even think there’s a reason at this point.”
“Are there still any Crusaders or Chinese on the upper levels?”
“I think both sides have retreated. Saw absolutely no Crusaders on the way down here. No Chinese too. Nothing but the dead.”
“So it’s all clear?”
“As far as I can see,” Gebhard said, “I know the way to the hangar. Let’s go.”
They quickly set off.
It's coalition
Pieces of wreckage
Come to me
and let it be one
Nanjing
“I take it you’re reporting back to me ahead of schedule because everything went off perfectly and the mountain has been reduced to a radioactive crater?” Han said.
“Sir, there was a…complication,” the general said.
“What do you mean, a complication?”
“Well…it appears the nuke…didn’t detonate.”
Han pounded his desk. “What?! Impossible! Were we sabotaged by spies or traitors?!”
“No, sir, it doesn’t seem to have malfunctioned in any way.”
“What are you getting at?”
“What I’m saying is…it simply…didn’t detonate.”
“What could’ve possibly caused it to not detonate without malfunctioning?!”
“Well, sir, we do have one working theory.”
“What is it?”
“Seconds before the scheduled detonation, our satellites picked up an unexpected and unknown energy surge from within the bunker. We don’t know what it was, but afterward, the detonation did not occur.”
“Have you determined the source of this energy surge?”
“No, sir. We have not seen any recurrences of it, although our satellites are still monitoring the area just in case. This has been completely unexpected, as we didn’t think the Yavdians had that much of an experimental weapons research program.”
“Neither did I. Well, whatever happened there, it cost us our best chance to kill both Elias Anhorn and Princess Wilhelmina in one fell swoop.”
“At least Yavdi has been eliminated now.”
“I take it they surrendered?”
“Yes, the State Great Khural issued an unconditional surrender just a few minutes ago. But…”
“Another complication?”
“It was more of a surrender to Jerusalem than to us, even though they didn’t name anyone in the declaration. Mostly because Jerusalem was already in a good position to secure the cities west of the Urals.”
“I see. I suppose that was unavoidable. We should focus now on eliminating the border garrisons and securing the territory between there and the Urals.”
“Agreed. The Urals will be an effective buffer. And our scientists would appreciate it if we could recover the warhead without much issue getting to it.”
“Do you have anything else to report?”
“Yes, about Heavenly Reclamation.”
“I hope that one was more successful.”
“It was. As compared to the simultaneous Ilmarisen Takomo attack, Operation Heavenly Reclamation was a complete success. All of our anti-satellite weapons hit their marks. All Strategic Defense Initiative orbital weapons platforms and GPS satellites have been destroyed.”
“Perfect. Keep me apprised on any further developments.”
“Of course, Grand Secretariat.”
---
I'm going to be very busy the week of the 12th, so I might not post Chapter 464 until the next weekend.
- 2
Elias is still alive, but is now mentally worse than anticipated. I wonder how this will affect everything now, especially since Willhelmina's new found abilities. Gotta love that neat convo of the potential abuse it could do to be honest, at least Little Willie is now willing to stick close to what she truly believes in. Question is, will the rest of the world give her that chance? Am glad they didn't all get nuked right there and there but this still leaves with a potential slog of a war, especially now that the SVI defense grid's been gone. God, this would definitely be worse now. Nothing's gonna stop Jerusalem from retaliating with nukes. Especially since it's clear that Elias is gonna get even crazier after this whole ordeal.
Pretty satisfying to see Elias get owned by Wilhelmina’s anime power up, even if he’s still alive after that. That said, now there’s not many Hohenzollerns and Romanovs alive now, not to mention how the Yavadian government is basically gone now. But hey, at least the nuke didn’t go off and the survivors of Wilhelmina’s group are free to go to Persia to find Alexandria’s group, through the possibility of space travel by 2100 maybe gone now thanks to all the debris in Earth’s orbit that Han has made. Guess we will be sticking to the vanilla Stellaris date after all.
I wonder how will become the non Hohenzollern head of the Roman exiles now, since Kresge is now gonna be tortured and executed most likely.
The concerns Samir raises are quite interesting. it’s gonna be hard to make the case for a monarchy that’s cut off from the political process when the monarch in question and her descendants have superpowers and could be corrupted by them.
After that twist with Sophie in the last update, I’m guessing we’ll be getting a lot of flash backs to Sophia’s life or get more elaboration with how she interacted with past Hohenzollerns like Elisabeth Alexandria. Looking forward to seeing how you plan on expanding her story.
I wonder how will become the non Hohenzollern head of the Roman exiles now, since Kresge is now gonna be tortured and executed most likely.
The concerns Samir raises are quite interesting. it’s gonna be hard to make the case for a monarchy that’s cut off from the political process when the monarch in question and her descendants have superpowers and could be corrupted by them.
After that twist with Sophie in the last update, I’m guessing we’ll be getting a lot of flash backs to Sophia’s life or get more elaboration with how she interacted with past Hohenzollerns like Elisabeth Alexandria. Looking forward to seeing how you plan on expanding her story.
- 4
Oh darn it. On one hand we did not get Elias but on the other hand I agree with Sophie in that not doing something out of revenge is one way that seperates us from the Committee and Hans supporters.
I was sure Samir was going to turn on Wilhelmina for a second but I am glad that is not the case because I feel like these talks with Samir and Wilhelmina are a spiritual continuation of the Study Session updates.
I fell like this is a similar talk to the one X-Division had on how to expose Sentinel.
Yea I agree with @CaptainAlvious in that all of the debris from those satellites will cause problems. Even in OTL's 2021 it is thought of as a major problem to space exploration.
Yea. It makes me remember the conversation I had with Zen about how Friedrich might succeed Wilhelmina but Zen pointed out that Wilhelmina still had her husband, son and maybe Vasily. But after these last two updates.
That makes sense. It is the week before Christmas. If you do post it next weekend you could always treat it like an early Christmas present?
For the first time in many years, Elias has been told "No" to his face. He's not going to take it very well...
We will have to see if the world is still around to think about giving her a chance.
Actually, it's the reverse. Jerusalem never made full use of its SVI advantage to rain down even more nukes without fear of retaliation. Maybe the committee doesn't want to irreparably irradiate the world and leave nothing to rule over. But now Jerusalem can't launch any nukes at all, because China would immediately retaliate.
Han succeeded in decapitating the Yavdian government, even if he couldn't kill both Elias and Wilhelmina in one fell swoop. Now Yavdi's going to descend into anarchy just like Russia, which isn't good for our group of survivors.
Space travel will at least be delayed for several decades now with all of the debris in orbit.
Probably either Izinchi or Gebhard as they're the only non-Hohenzollern Romans left in the group. Whoever would lead depends on if they want a civilian or military-led government now.
That's going to be a major issue moving forward.
It won't be for a while, as I want to focus on this arc first, but we'll get to her eventually. She had a very short reign despite her importance to saving the dynasty and transitioning the empire into the 17th century, and I want to fix that.
One point in favor of Wilhelmina only using her powers for good so far...
Yeah, Samir is going to bring this stuff up a lot. He has a lot to say about what Wilhelmina's going through, and he's not afraid to ask the hard questions she needs to answer.
Yes, but the difference is X-Division ultimately watered down the truth, while Wilhelmina doesn't want to do that.
It's going to be a minor plot point in the next chapter. After all, some countries still have astronauts in orbit...
Yea. It makes me remember the conversation I had with Zen about how Friedrich might succeed Wilhelmina but Zen pointed out that Wilhelmina still had her husband, son and maybe Vasily. But after these last two updates.
Perhaps. As another note, I want to mention that we're approaching a point in the story where I had writer's block or slowed down the writing due to real life. There are also some updates I want to heavily revise and a few completely new ones I want to add into the middle of the current batch (covering early to mid December 2038). So after Chapter 464 I might slow down to weekly updates only until my real life stuff is resolved and I can resume writing. Just letting you all know.
In that case, then I think the world maybe even more screwed as that just gives Jerusalem incentives to use other methods of mass destruction like Theodor's Smallpox virus to chemical weapons, especially now that Elias is likely to slip further and further into his current path of insanity. Heck, I'm pretty sure Jerusalem conquering the world through conventional means would effectively destroy civilization through Jerusalem's murderous ideology.
Like I said, the more we go on with this arc, the less and less likely that we will be actually starting Stellaris in 2100 like you said before. The vanilla start date of 2200 seems much more believable now, and even then I don't think the damage caused the last few years will have fully faded by then.
Also, I take it Han destroyed more than just SVI satellites, so I'm guessing most GPS systems and forms of communications and information broadcasted from satellites are gone now.
I'm guessing that will be a major issue dividing the exiles now, as it was before Wihelmina picked Kresge as a compromise candidate.
At least the issue of the Hohenzollerns' legitimacy should be solved now as I feel like Sophia would tell Wilhelmina the truth, through having her legitimacy proven by superpowers may cause a bit of a problem should Wilhelmina want to separate the monarchy from the political process.
Looking forward to it. It indeed does feel kind of ironic how such an important Kaiserin like her had such a short reign and little content. Then again, both the two Fredrichs do share only update each at the moment.
I see, take your time until you get personal priorities sorted out, we can wait.
Yep, with the nuclear option again off the table, Elias will be more open to other WMDs now. And after what he just saw, he might even be open to…certain inventions of Theodor’s.
Even so, Jerusalem still wants there to at least be a world to rule over and to spread its murderous ideology and civilization across.
Good point.
Even if his original goal was to only target SVI and GPS satellites, it is impossible to predict where the debris from such satellites would end up. Pretty sure every single low orbit satellite would be destroyed now, including China’s own.
I think they’d be more concerned with survival right now, but it would definitely be an issue in the future.
Sophie’s presence would confirm Wilhelmina’s legitimacy, but only to herself. She can’t simply go around saying she’s legitimate because “a ghost told me.” It wouldn’t hold up to the general public. And yes, Wilhelmina will most likely keep the force ghosts themselves a secret even if she will go public with her abilities. She already has enough to deal with.
I could say the same about a lot of the early Kaisers. But it’s most obvious with the Friedrichs and Sophia.
Hopefully things should clear up after this week and I can get back to writing afterward.
Well look at it this way. If the would douse become like Fallout you could port this world into the CK2 mod After the End which takes place in North America in a 2666 CE that has medieval level technology. However I fell like you would be better off using the CK2 mod After the End Old World a fan made prequel set in Eurasia in 2555 CE and then go into Stellaris?
Oh dear.
Funny enough, I was considering doing an AtE AAR a couple years ago, but I got so invested in writing the backstory of the End (as it built on a separate but similar writing project I had been doing long before then) that I decided it would be better off as a completely original work, which is on the back burner for now. I never really thought of doing a conversion to AtE. I'm not familiar with modding CK2, and I'm not really sure what I could do with the story since there are a lot of variables and timeskips involved (as shown from the CK2-EU4-Vicky transitions and the existence of NWO, I'm not that fond of timeskips in this AAR; I'd rather just depict the events that happened). And it all depends on how this war ends.
Some more details will come in Chapter 464, although they're not the main focus.Oh dear.
Not as sweet a moment as I had hoped, but I'm still deeply satisfied. Honestly really excited for everyone's reaction to Elias explaining that the evil princess used her magic sword to deflect bullets and hurl him across the room.
The funny part being is that Elias is probably insane enough to do it.
Theodor might have something to say about this. After all, remember what happened when Alex was escaping to Persia?
Funny thing is, most people would also dismiss his claim as a product of his insanity. Most people...but maybe not Theodor...
- 1
Chapter 464: History of the End, Part 1 - Gone, But Not Forgotten
“Progress reports are arriving. The server farms of Livonia are burning. The deserts of Mexico are burning. The steppes of Yavdi are burning. The jungles of Siam are burning. The mountains of Tawantinsuyu are burning. The harbors of Scandinavia are burning. The cities of China are burning. The islands of Mayapan are burning. The temples of India are burning. The forests of Russia are burning. The United Nations and Tianxia Alliance lie trampled at our feet.”
- Anonymous Crusader, reporting the success of the November 2 nuclear strikes
“Crusaders, Seraphim, Cherubim, and Angels of the Army of God! It is a glorious day, my Christian brothers, for the divinely ordained committee has launched its first strike against the worshippers of Satan. We are bringing civilization and righteousness to the heathen barbarians of the world, and the forces of darkness are in retreat. You are about to embark on an unprecedented Great Crusade, towards which we have striven these many years. The eyes of Christendom are upon you. The thoughts and prayers of Christians everywhere march with you. In unison with our brave faithful across the world, you will bring about the destruction of Satan and the elimination of pagan tyranny over the oppressed Christians of the world, and security and stability for ourselves in a purified world. Your task will not be an easy one. Your enemy is well trained and will use every dirty trick to lead you to your doom. They will fight barbarically. The UN and its Schengen lackeys and Chinese masters will try to stop our dream, but our faith shall be rewarded! The faithful of the one true God have inflicted upon the barbarians great defeats. Our holy nuclear weapons have cleansed their cities. Our air offensive has seized control of the heavens from the forces of darkness. Our homeland has given us an overwhelming superiority in weapons and munitions, and placed at our disposal great reserves of zealous Crusaders. The tide has turned! Onwards, Christian crusaders, marching together to deliverance! Soon, we will live in a world where Christendom reigns supreme and Christianity is no longer persecuted! I have full confidence in you. We will accept nothing less than full victory! Let us beseech the blessing of Almighty God upon this great and noble undertaking. Deus vult! Gott mit uns!”
- Regent Josiah Burkard at a Crusader triumph in Berlin, November 9, 2038
On just the first day alone, World War IV’s casualty rate—over 800 million as a result of Jerusalem’s nuclear strikes—had already surpassed those of the previous three world wars combined (30 million in WWI, 130 million in WWII, and 80 million in WWIII). Within a week of the beginning of hostilities, the casualty rate was estimated to have gone up to at least one billion as a result of continued SVI bombardments, conventional military operations, and fallout from the nuclear attacks. Only two countries in the anti-Jerusalem camp were spared. The damage could have been worse, as Jerusalem had only fired off a fraction of its nuclear arsenal. It appeared Jerusalem wanted its enemies barely kept alive if only to have someone to rule over when all was said and done. Jerusalem’s military-industrial complex, which had been gearing up for the conflict for years, went into overdrive, producing weapons and other materiel for the troops heading overseas at a rate not seen in over fifty years. It would take time for mobilization orders to reach all corners of the empire, but already the Crusader army’s strength and numbers were noticeably greater than those of the entire rest of the world’s militaries combined.
(Because of the Eimerican and Indian AI starting their own wars, they couldn’t be included in the original declaration of war event, so the war is split into three different wars. Nepal’s AI independently refused to join the main war (as you can script only calling allies to war, not them actually joining it, as far as I know) and I couldn’t fix that. I managed to consolidate the Indian war into the main war later on using the console. The main war shouldn’t have that name, but the event’s attempt at naming the war didn’t work. After some Great Power recalculations later on, the war would get the name “World War II,” and from what I remember, the game would automatically rename the war to that if I changed the name again.
The armies of southern Japan, Penglai, and Nepal are negligible and added almost nothing to strength calculations, as the presence of Nepal in the Eimerican war but not the main war shows.)
The Sleeping Giant Awakens
“…see this as a clash of civilizations…as the Roman and Mexican people continuing their eternal war…play their game. Show them we are…destined to fight…Show them what it means to be Mexican. Show them we are proud to be Mexican!”
- Huicton Ollin, in his last address to the people of Mexico shortly before a nuke destroys Tenochtitlan
The Eimerican Federation lost thirteen of its major cities in Jerusalem’s first strike, which also claimed the lives of State Commissioner Jorvik Thordarsson and United Nations Secretary-General Kahenta Tyonajanegen. All of those cities belonged to major Eimerican member states—Fusang, Kanata, Tsalagehi Ayeli, Tejas, the Meskwaki Michigan Federal Territory, Tawantinsuyu, Mayapan, Mexico, and the UPM. The attacks focused on Fusang and Kanata, who lost three cities each, including their capitals, as opposed to the other affected Eimerican states, who only lost one city (albeit also their capitals). The Eimerican Federation had lost its most important economic engines in Jinshan, Zhumasi, Markland, Gunnolfsfell, Panama City, New Peten, and Harbor City. The federation’s largest economies in Kanata, Fusang, the UPM, and Mayapan suffered the dual shocks of both the nuclear attacks wiping out its centers of industry and commerce but also a follow-up Jerusalemite cyberattack which wreaked havoc on supply chains, digital and Internet-connected physical infrastructure, and critical services like emergency hotlines, hospital networks, and bank accounts. The Emperor of Fusang, who had taken the throne only twenty years ago, was dead, leaving the throne in the hands of his teenage daughter, but she and her surviving cabinet barely exerted any authority outside their bunker in the Cascade Mountains. Kanata had it worse, as its entire government and all of its major cities had been destroyed. The month of November saw a rapid breakdown of order in these major powers, especially Fusang and Kanata, as a result of a lack of surviving leadership and general chaos sown by Jerusalem’s agents on the ground and in cyberspace.
SVI firing on New Peten
However, the interior Eimerican states survived the first strike more intact. The most they had to worry about, besides their capitals being nuked, was fallout spreading over their borders and thousands of refugees fleeing the destroyed major powers. The rising financial center of Lenapehoking, one of the “Eimerican panthers” which had stabilized and liberalized in the late 1990s, took it upon itself to prop up the continental economy by salvaging what economic infrastructure remained and handling all Eimerican financial transactions through its capital of Shackamaxon—which was hit by one of the weaker nukes—after more established banks and institutions had been reduced to ash. The inland and southern member states—the Inoka Federation (the federation of the Illiwinek peoples), the Niukonska Kingdom (formerly the Kingdom of Osage), the Šawanoki Kingdom (the nation of the Shawnee), the Federation-administered Mississippian Federal Territories (which succeeded the Confederation of Southern Altepetls), the Paári Kingdom (Pawnee Kingdom), Oceti Sakowin (also known as the Lakota Confederation), Nakoda Oyadebi (the Lakota’s historic kin in the Assiniboine Commonwealth), and the Myaamia Confederacy (Miami Principality)—quickly mobilized their militaries, drafting as many individuals into their armies as possible.
Many more citizens enlisted, overwhelming recruitment offices which for decades had operated on the decades-old assumption that only small militias dedicated to local defense were needed. This military doctrine, developed during the intercontinental wars that tore North Eimerica apart after the collapse of the Eimerican Commune, was no longer suited when the continent had been peacefully brought together by the Eimerican Federation and the chief threat came from an outside enemy. A new doctrine had to be adopted. A joint pan-Eimerican army had to replace the militias of the 1980s. At an emergency session of the Federal Assembly in Unity, Meskwaki Federal Capital Region (instead of the usual meeting place in Hongzhou), all member states except Fusang invoked the Treaty of Hongzhou’s troop-sharing provision, temporarily placing their militaries under the joint command of the Eimerican Security Oversight Authority. Fusang refused to loan its military to the ESOA, spurring the smaller member states to contribute more troops. The ESOA set about reorganizing the militias into larger but still mobile units, sending them to first deliver aid to the destroyed cities. Any free units were dispatched southwards to the fronts in Tejas, Mexico, and Este Mvskokvlke (the republic of the Seminole/Creek). Unfortunately, the ESOA was already stretched thin within North Eimerica itself, so until the North Eimerican fronts were closed, Tawantinsuyu had to fight the South Eimerican campaign on its own, with some help from the Mayan Navy and Royal Mitteleimerican Army.
Clockwise from left: the fronts in southern Neurhomania, Tejas, Mexico, and the Muscogean peninsula.
The Eimerican federal government, despite having lost State Commissioner Thordarsson and its administrative offices in Jinshan, recovered remarkably quickly as well. In the absence of the traditional leaders of the Federation—Kanata and Fusang—the federal government began acting on its own, with the help of the inland states. While the member states chose a new State Commissioner to represent them, they worked together in the Federal Assembly with an unnatural unity and common purpose. Laws and budgets were quickly approved and enforced, sending more aid to the afflicted cities and giving a booster shot to the continental economy. Slowly, the Eimerican industrial machine, battered but not broken, came back to life. As Pierremaskin had known all those centuries ago, a united Eimericas had the power to stand on the global stage as the equals of the Old World empires. He was right. Jerusalem had awakened a sleeping giant.
African Solidarity
“A house built on granite and strong foundations, not even the onslaught of pouring rain, gushing torrents and strong winds will be able to pull down.”
- Haile Selassie of Abyssinia
For decades, people had humorously referred to modern Mali as the “Empire of Bamako” due to its heavy centralization on Timbuktu and Bamako and lack of urbanization elsewhere. Although its cities were notorious for its traffic jams and its “hawker-highway” economy, the vast majority of Mali remained largely rural. Even into the 2020s, Mali relied heavily on agricultural exports, particularly cotton exports to the Reich. When such exports became impossible after the rise of the Jerusalem regime, Mali entered a period of economic crisis and slight social unrest, which the central government weathered by devolving power to local authorities like village chiefs and provincial governments.
This devolution of power ended up saving Mali after the destruction of Timbuktu and Bamako in the first strike. Village elders and provincial leaders quickly cobbled together an emergency government to prevent a complete sociopolitical breakdown. But as soon afterward, the main Jerusalemite assault began in earnest. From Westafrika, formerly a loyalist stronghold which fell under Berlin’s control after Christmas of 2037, Crusaders attacked north and east, with the goal of taking the coastal city of Dakar and the eastern city of Lagos, where central government remnants had relocated to. From the Atlas District (Mauretania) and Salian District (Nordafrika), an army marched south along old medieval trade routes through the Sahara, just as ancient legions once did on various pagan crusades, to seize the ruins of Timbuktu and Bamako. Fortunately, the African Länder to the east of Mali remained in loyalist hands. Lagos, near the eastern border, did not have to worry about an invasion from there and could focus on the attacks from North and West Africa.
Malian soldiers mobilized from regional militias
The Malian Army was fully mobilized for the first time in decades. As with the Eimerican national militaries, the Malian Army was primarily made up of regional militias and hastily drafted law enforcement units. After the last period of Malian civil unrest, Bamako reduced military spending as the nation was surrounded by the Reich and did not have any serious threats to national security. This provided to be a dangerous weakness when the Reich, as Jerusalem, became such a serious threat, one that was quickly addressed as Lagos reorganized the militias into standing armies, including a Central Army numbering over a hundred thousand men. While some militias remained as they were and were sent to harass the Crusader armies coming down from Mauretania, the Central Army and other large forces were sent west to deal with the threat from Westafrika and save Dakar. By the end of November, the Central Army had crossed the border, neutralizing any Jerusalemite defenses with overwhelming numerical superiority, and taken the Westafrikan city of Odienne. It turned out Jerusalem’s hold on Westafrika wasn’t as solid as everyone was led to believe. There were still hotbeds of loyalist resistance in the hills and jungles of inland Westafrika resisting the Regency-controlled coastal towns, and they caught the Crusaders from behind just as they engaged the Central Army. Odienne fell almost bloodlessly, as the bulk of the fighting in the town was between loyalists and Crusaders.
Jerusalem adopted a different strategy against the East Africa Confederation (not to be confused with the constituent East Africa Federation). Most of the EAC’s land border was with loyalist-controlled territories, although these loyalist Länder were hardly united. The only options for a land invasion were through the River District (Egypt) from the north, into Abyssinia. A direct assault against Abyssinia, with its large standing army (unlike Mali’s militias), would cost too many casualties. Furthermore, the supernation was far larger than Mali and had two constituent nations which both had to be defeated. But the EAC had one glaring weakness: like Mali, it too was mostly rural, with most of its population concentrated on East Africa’s coast or in Abyssinia’s Gonder and Addis Ababa. If those cities could be taken, then the rest of the country would fall as well. The Crusader offensive would be executed in multiple operations. First, an army would attack over the Abyssinian border and draw away the Abyssinian Army. Next, paratroopers would be dropped by Seraphim air wings into Gonder and Addis Ababa from the Desert District (Arabia) and move to decapitate the Abyssinian government. Finally, Cherubim would launch amphibious assaults on the cities of Mogadishu, Mombasa, and Dar es Salaam, then moving inland to seize Nairobi and Harare. It should be no different from the East Africa intervention of the previous decade. And indeed, it started off similar to the previous war, as Mogadishu fell quickly.
But it was nothing like the last intervention. The Abyssinians did not fall for the feint, instead sending extra troops to defend the coastal cities. Although Mogadishu fell quickly, Mombasa and Dar es Salaam fiercely resisted. And the Cherubim storming the beaches realized the troops firing back at them weren’t just EAC citizens, but also Malians and even some Roman African loyalists, all speaking in several different languages. Africans from all over the continent, both natives and European/Indian settlers, flocked to the East African coast, knowing that if the EAC fell, the heart of Africa lay wide open to Jerusalem. Indeed, even in mid-December, Seraphim air wings launching from occupied Mogadishu had begun dropping firebombs and sarin gas on the interior, wiping out hundreds of towns and causing massive wildfires. The Cherubim had to be thrown back into the sea. For the first time in history, all of Africa had united against a common threat.
My ne Zabudem
“…don’t…forget me…”
- Olga Kirova’s final words, broadcast around the world
A hundred years ago, the Soviet Commune was an international pariah, feared by its neighbors for its authoritarian policies and expansionist goals. For better or worse, the Soviets shaped the destiny of an entire century. In the previous two world wars, Soviet armies laid waste to Europe and Asia in a mad bid for world domination, before being turned back by Roman steel, forged to keep the world in balance and harmony.
Now everything was reversed.
The showdown between Russia and Jerusalem was hardly a showdown, because it was so one-sided and took less than a week. No Schengen, Tianxia, or Eimerican analysts could figure out why exactly Jerusalem concentrated the bulk of its forces and firepower on Russia and prioritized destroying it before any other nation. Perhaps the Regency feared Chancellor Olga Kirova for her charisma and ability to not only stabilize Russia, pulling it out of its fifty-year-long cartel-riddled economic malaise, but also bring together the shattered remnants of Schengen against the Regency. Perhaps it was because Russia still maintained the largest standing army of the old Central Powers members outside the Reich and India. Or maybe the Regency, made up of many who remembered or even fought in World War III, wanted to pay back the brutality of that war with interest. Whatever the reason, Russia rapidly fell before the relentless Crusader assault. The campaign to pacify Russia consisted of a massive Crusader offensive across the land border, aided by Seraphim bombing runs and missile strikes on exposed enemy fortifications and troop formations. Meanwhile, a Holy Marine fleet sailed up the Baltic coast and straight into the harbor of Tsarberg, attacking the city from the sea simultaneously with a Crusader assault from the south. With the fall of Tsarberg and Kirova’s death, the Russian government collapsed, fragmenting the Army. Most divisions surrendered. Others melted into the countryside, leading to an increase in looting and raiding not only of Crusader camps and convoys but also innocent towns. A handful, though, refused to surrender or desert. Kirova’s final words and execution in Tsarberg, broadcast to the world to intimidate all would-be rebels, had been a traumatic event for her citizens, but it would later become a rallying cry. Kirova had been a beloved leader for the last eight years, with a long record of successful policies which had benefited all Russians. To be murdered in cold blood by Jerusalem was a wake-up call. The Russian people vowed to never forget her sacrifice.
Russian soldiers on the lookout for Crusader patrols in the "tri-nation" area, where the borders of Livonia, Russia, and Jerusalem met. With all supply lines and chain of command destroyed, every bullet and rocket-propelled grenade fired had to hit their targets, and fatalities were to be avoided at all costs. The Russian Army was forced to adapt to the new circumstances to avoid total destruction. Looking to the past, ironically, became a godsend for the Russians, as they found the example of the 341st and 342nd Airborne Infantry Divisions very insightful. In the spring of 1985, the 341st and 342nd had disobeyed orders from the General Staff and charged straight into Poland with little backup, quickly becoming encircled and losing contact with Constantinople. However, the two divisions survived through ingenuity, luck, and support from the local population. By July, they had reached the outskirts of Soviet-controlled Warsaw and were preparing to take the regional capital despite the odds being stacked against them. The Russians of 2038 now embraced the tactics once used against their ancestors to fight back against the descendants of those who originally used such tactics. They integrated themselves among the civilian population, which had every reason to continue fighting against the invading Crusaders bent on their cultural and physical extermination. Their numbers swelled, and they received shelter, supplies, and intelligence on enemy movements. Surviving Russian Air Force divisions now had the opportunity to land their planes and helicopters in highways and parking lots controlled by friendly communities, just as the 341st and 342nd did with their aircraft. Although this could not make up for actual military bases and industrial facilities to base and produce new materiel, it would at least keep the Russian military in the fight.
While many Russians simply turned inwards and began looking after themselves, some flocked to the banners of the Russian Army remnants, swelling their numbers to over 160 thousand. With these boosted numbers, the Army’s surviving generals put together a last-ditch plan for a counterattack. Taking back Tsarberg was suicide due to the large Crusader garrison permanently stationed there. Rushing to Kiev, which had come under siege from the Crusaders, was a trap, as the ancient capital was little more than irradiated ruins at this point. So the Russian Army settled on an even crazier goal: invading the Jerusalemite heartland itself.
(The Russia AI actually put its ENTIRE army into one doomstack. And I’m pretty sure Livonia had only a single brigade, which is now destroyed.)
Two weeks after the fall of Tsarberg, Jerusalemite satellites picked up over 160 thousand Russian troops advancing on the border with the Eastern District, but the Regency refused to act. Some regents believed the Russians were incapable of launching such a large offensive with the country’s current state, while others thought they weren’t stupid enough to try it, and a few others dismissed the satellite images as fake. They were shocked when the Russian Army arrived in Vilnius, breaking the Crusader siege of the city and reinforcing the crumbling Commonwealth Land Force, which had been placed uner Chancellor Boris Bradziunas’ direct command, and the Commonwealth Rifle’s Union militia, which had been mobilized to bolster the army’s ranks.
Livonian special forces conducting offensive operations during the defense of Vilnius, shortly before the Russian intervention.
In rushing straight to Tsarberg and ignoring Livonia, the Regency had overextended its forces, both on land and on sea; throughout the Baltic Sea, the Scandinavian Navy shelled the Jerusalemite Baltic coast, contested Jerusalem’s blockade of the Oresund strait, and intercepted any Jerusalemite fleets heading for Tsarberg. The Regency hadn’t planned for this occurrence, as it was believed eliminating Russia would allow the Crusaders time to pacify Livonia by focusing on the cities of Vilnius, Kaunas, Riga, and Tallinn and consolidate the front lines so they could reinforce troops further east in Yavdi or swing around and invade Scandinavia through Finland. But the Russian counterattack and link-up with the Commonwealth Armed Forces now threatened to cut off most if not all Crusader forces in Russia from their supply lines and open the Eastern District—particularly the cities of Königsberg, Danzig, Stettin, Lublin, and Lemberg—to attack. To allow the heartland to come under attack from barbarians, just as had happened when the Goths and Vandals and Huns invaded the old empire and sacked Rome, was unthinkable, and High Command was ordered to rush newly mobilized conscripts to the border at once. To free up troops busy in Livonia, the Regency granted authorization for the use of chemical weapons in combat in the Baltic front. In December, the first canisters of sarin gas were released in the skies over Livonian-controlled neighborhoods of Riga, killing thousands. Overzealous military commanders dropped nerve gas on the entire town of Pärnu, the site of the last major battle of World War III, wiping out its entire population. Forty thousand Livonian civilians were killed that day.
For centuries, the Baltics had been the site of many brutal battlefields. From the chaos of the Commonwealth Wars to the hellish stalemates of 1915 Vilnius and Grodno to the Angeloi invasion to the Battle of Parnu, Lithuania had always suffered when its neighbors went to war. This war was no different. Although the sides had changed, as they always did, the fact remained that Livonia was still the battlefield for its larger neighbors. But maybe, just maybe, the Russians’ desperate gambit might give Livonia a chance to change that. As the people of Vilnius emerged from their homes and bunkers and saw Russian troops once again marching through the streets of their city, they realized something. Since the Commonwealth Wars, Russia and Lithuania had been bitter enemies. In the world wars, Russian and Soviet troops had marched through Lithuania’s cities as conquerors. But this time, the Russians were not invaders, but liberators. What was more, they bellowed a certain war cry:
“Zhar-ptitsa! My ne zabudem!”
The war cry awoke something in the Lithuanian people, something they had not felt in over a hundred years. The Lithuanians’ dormant martial spirit awoke once again. Centuries ago, Queen-Empress Giedre I “the Great” took the feudal levies of the Kingdom of Lithuania and turned them into a professional army which brought Europe to its knees. A hundred years ago, the old Commonwealth had lost its way in jingoism and militarism and rightfully gave up its weapons, but now, in the new Commonwealth’s darkest hour, it was time to fight again. It was time for the Commonwealth to reject its fate as a battlefield. Once again, the Commonwealth’s legendary “Pruthenian hussars” would ride out and bring Europe to its knees, not to conquer, but to liberate. And when those hussars rode out, they would adopt a war cry just like their new Russian allies.
“Ugniaukštis! Mes niekada nepamiršime!”
From the Arctic to the Gulf
“Spit on your face, oh heavens spit!”
- Shahbanu Gunduz II, quoting the Shahnameh
If the Baltics had been the battleground between the major powers of Europe, Central Asia was the equivalent battleground for all of Eurasia. In the Thirteenth Century Crisis, the Mongols swept west and south across the steppes of Central Asia, destroying the Saray Empire and the old Ghaznavid Khaganate before turning their sights on Russia, Persia, and Taurica. In the 14th and 15th centuries, the Timurids rose up amid the ashes of Genghis Khan’s empire, and under the Iron Khan Timur and his son Shah Rukh, they amassed a mighty horde that threatened to once again sweep over the whole of Central Asia. It was here that the Romans, Persians, and Indians all worked together to take down Shah Rukh outside the ruins of Persepolis, marking the end of Timurid expansion and ushering in over a century of Indian conquests in Central Asia. Although the Reich’s attention for most of the early modern period focused on the New World, with the collapse of the Triple Alliance after Sunrise Invasion and the emergence of the Ming Dynasty as a powerful new rival, Berlin once again turned back to Central Asia. The Nikephoran Wars saw Prince Nikephoros and his storied legions march all across Yavdi, clashing with Ming banner armies in the eastern steppes and frozen wastes of Siberia. World War I turned the killing fields into industrial slaughter. Trenches ran up and down from the Arctic Circle to the hills and mountains of Afghanistan, with miles upon miles of land in the middle of Eurasia reduced to craters and bedrock. The same slaughter repeated itself again in the next world war, as loyalist and Chinese forces pushed through the crumbling Axis powers, and in the third one, as the Imperial Chinese Army launched a massive invasion of Soviet Siberia.
In 2038, the old battlefields of Central Asia once again saw action as the armies of Jerusalem, Schengen, and the Tianxia marched against each other. But the front lines were not the same as the old ones. The Crusaders launched a massive offensive into Chinese Siberia from the occupied garrisons on the Yavdi-China border. Having learned from the stalemate of World War I and the Imperial Chinese Army’s rapid advances in World War III, Jerusalem emphasized mobility and overwhelming firepower, quickly pushing deep into Siberia and overwhelming any Chinese border defenses. The plan was to move past the small towns and cities of Siberia and Mongolia and strike deep into the Chinese heartland from the north, just as the Russians had done in 1916. Further south, Crusader garrisons on the Turkestan-China border activated and began attacking major Turkish cities. Bishkek and Bukhara fell on November 20, exposing the capital of Samarkand to attack, while the spaceport at Baikonur, used by China, India, and the CAC, was placed under siege. Already reeling from the nuking of Samarkand, the Turkish Army hastily scrambled to defend the city.
But Turkestan did not stand alone. Under the terms of an Eimerican-style troop sharing agreement, the Royal Persian Army and the Afghan National Army mobilized under joint CAC command and marched north to aid Turkestan. Having a decentralized system of government, Afghanistan had survived the nuking of Kabul and Ghazna relatively intact. With most government functions either being assumed by local provincial authorities or offices in Herat and Kandahar, there was little interruption in services or administration. Persia was lucky enough to have shot down all of the nukes targeting it, despite being right next door to the rogue nation. With all of its infrastructure, industry, population, and chain of command intact, Persia quickly assumed leadership over not only the CAC but the larger Schengen Pact following the collapse of Russia. The Royal Persian Army, trained for decades in the doctrine of deterrence, or repelling invasions, moved quickly to both reinforce Turkestan and repel any Crusaders who came over the western border. Centuries ago, Rome and “Perfidious Persia” waged constant wars against each other for hegemony in the Middle East. Now, history repeated itself.
Afghan troops standing at attention during an evening briefing in the field.
Unfortunately, while Persia was the luckiest nation in the entire world, India was the unluckiest. Most of its cities laid in ruins, having been obliterated by Jerusalem’s most powerful nukes, cobalt bombs designed to maximize the amount of radioactive fallout produced. Although Samrat Chakravartin Jayasimha had survived the attack, his capital lay in ruins, and the Hindutva-led government, however obstructive and harmful it had been, had been wiped out, creating a power vacuum. Immediately, the Indian Army fragmented, with politicians and generals in the south and east moving troops against each other to consolidate power. In Bengal, sporadic Naxalite rebellions spread like wildfire through rural villages in retaliation for the harsh crackdowns the Hindutvas had enforced against them. Jayasimha’s immediate priority was delivering aid to affected citizens and restoring order. Or rather, that was what he would have done…if not for the fact that the Jerusalemite garrisons from 2034 were still there, and they had activated. Throughout November, loyal army units and law enforcement fought a losing battle against an enemy which possessed the advantage in numbers, firepower, and morale. On November 16, an attempt to retake Delhi and free Jayasimha failed, even as the Ahluwalia brothers Banda and Ranjit (Ranjit having returned from East Africa to defend his homeland) committed over 180 thousand troops to the battle. But they were unable to dislodge the Crusader garrison of over five hundred thousand men, which maintained their death grip on the capital and inflicted casualty rates of 6:1 on their opponents before turning on the civilian population, particularly targeting Indian Christians they considered traitors and heretics. By the end of the year, 70% of the Indian Christian community of Delhi had been wiped out.
Nepal would have taken advantage of its southern neighbor’s instability, if not for the fact that it had instability of its own. Thousands of Indian refugees had fled north into the Himalayas to escape the fallout, straining local services. The Paulluist dictatorship, already having to deal with calls for a plebiscite on annexation into India and fearing these latest refugees would either skew the vote decisively in annexation’s favor or start a civil war, ordered the army to shoot anyone coming over the border and throw all those already in Nepal into camps. Ironically, this precipitated the civil war Kathmandu had feared, as many army divisions refused to fire on innocent civilians. Nepal was also in the process of invading its neighbor of Bhutan, ironically in the name of unification as well, which tied up military and economic resources that could have been better spent on rebel suppression. Needless to say, by the end of the year, the country had descended into chaos as Paulluist loyalists, the Bhutanese army, pro-Indian rebels, some actual Indian border garrisons, and even the Imperial Chinese Army all fought each other for control. For weeks, gunfire and explosions echoed over the peaks and through the valleys of the Himalayas. Not even the roof of the world was spared the horrors of the war.
Shikata Ga Nai
“What the frak did you just frakking say about me, you little あばずれ? I'll have you know I graduated top of my class in the Ryukyuan Three Mountains Defense Force Marine Corps, and I've been involved in numerous secret raids on af-Quetzalcoatl, and I have over 3000 confirmed kills. I am trained in gorilla [sic] warfare and I'm the top bōjutsu master in the entire SZI. You are nothing to me but just another target. I will wipe you the frak out with precision the likes of which has never been seen before on this Earth, mark my frakking words. You think you can get away with saying that くそったれ to me over the Internet? Think again, frakker. As we speak I am contacting my secret network of shinobi across Ryukyu and your IP is being traced right now so you better prepare for the storm, maggot. The storm that wipes out the pathetic little thing you call your life. You're frakking dead, kid. I can be anywhere, anytime, and I can kill you in over ten thousand ways, and that's just with my bare hands. Not only am I extensively trained in unarmed combat, but I have access to the entire arsenal of the Ryukyuan Three Mountains Defense Force Marine Corps and I will use it to its full extent to wipe your miserable げすやろう off the face of the earth, you little ばか. If only you could have known what unholy retribution your little clever comment was about to bring down upon you, maybe you would have held your frakking tongue. But you couldn't, you didn't, and now you're paying the price, you goddamn idiot. You’re going to くそくらえ so much you’ll drown in it. You're frakking dead, kiddo.”
- The Ryukyuan Marines copypasta, popular in the early 2010s
On paper, the Srivijaya Commonwealth should have been one of the best equipped to ride out the war with minimal casualties or even offensive operations. It was far from any front lines, and the only former Roman territory nearby was loyalist-controlled Sumatra. But on the ground, things were much different. Since Red Christmas, Sumatra had been in a state of civil war between the rural Christian German north—the last of the old Reich’s Provincia Indochina—and the urbanized Hindu-Buddhist Indian south—an Indian colony annexed after India’s collapse in 1918. After the nuclear attacks of 2037, the Regency’s supporters gained the upper hand, slowly pushing demoralized loyalist forces south. By the summer of 2038, the Länder capital of Palembang, traditionally considered the capital of the medieval Srivijaya thalassocracy, had fallen, with areas of loyalist control being reduced to the cities of Bengkulu and Bandar Lampung and the islands of Bangka and Belitung. The fall of Sumatra would be a dangerous blow to both the loyalist and Srivijayan cause. After the fall of central Sumatra, Jerusalem’s Holy Marine blockaded the Straits of Malacca, blocking off any shipments of goods and raw materials from Mali, Persia, India, East Africa, and loyalist-controlled sub-Saharan Africa. While Srivijaya’s economy was impacted, the closure of the straits also threatened to cut the loyalist forces in two.
If the Kaiserliche Marine could not regain access to the straits, its Pacific fleets would run out of fuel and ammunition, which would be fatal as they were being hunted down by both the Imperial Chinese Navy and the Fusang Navy across the ocean. Adamshaven was already coming under missile fire from Fusang, while Penglai marines had landed in Mittagsland. Zhao had ordered his marines to land first in the majority Chinese city of Haizhou on the northern tip of Mittagsland—settled by Penglai settlers centuries ago before being transferred to Mittagsland in exchange for the Reich recognizing Penglai’s claim on nearby Te Waipounamu—confident its Chinese population would welcome his rule and form a fifth column against the loyalists. Ironically, Chinese Mittagslanders, along with the native Maori populations, would be the fiercest to resist Penglai’s invasion, even when European-descended communities seriously considered surrender due to Imperial Guard units running low on ammunition and fuel as a result of the straits blockade. After several weeks, Penglai retreated from Haizhou, and its fleets were chased back to the mainland by a Kaiserliche Marine fleet hastily sent south. The Chinese and Maori defenders who held the line were hailed as heroes and true Roman patriots.
The Battle of Mittagsland occurred in early November. Almost as soon as the nukes began detonating, Penglai naval and marine forces entered Mittagslandian waters and engaged loyalist forces. From Te Waipounamu (referred to as Te Waka a Māui under the old Penglai monarchy), two divisions of PLHJ marines conducted an amphibious operation into southern Mittagsland, aided by close air support, while paratroopers landed in the island center. But this was a feint designed to lure Imperial Guard divisions away from the main operation at Haizhou, in northern Mittagsland. Four marine divisions assaulted the city from the north, east, and west by both sea and air. The two divisions who landed south of the city immediately moved to capture critical highways and infrastructure to cut off Haizhou from the rest of Mittagsland and prevent the Imperial Guard from reinforcing it. However, Zhao and his generals had made the assumption that the Chinese majority population of Haizhou, being Chinese, would immediately side with the Penglai invaders. This assumption was wrong. Although European communities largely surrendered or were subjugated quickly, the Haizhou Chinese put up a fierce resistance. Culturally, they had been part of the Reich for centuries now, and they considered themselves Romans first. As firm believers in meritocracy, they saw the Republic of Penglai as an authoritarian abomination and a betrayal of both their own values and those of Chinese democracy. Having not expected such resistance, the Penglai marines were caught from behind and routed in several decisive engagements against local Chinese militias, which were also aided by the Maori community which shared the same enmity due to the treatment of the Maori in Te Waipounamu. By the time the Imperial Guard had gotten its act together and broken through into Haizhou, much of the city had already been taken back by the militias. It would take several weeks before all of the Penglal forces were expelled from Mittagsland, and even then the island remained in a precarious position, but the Battle of Haizhou was a humiliation for Zhao Yu, showing to all of the Pacific that he had a fatal weakness in his arrogance.
Although the Battle of Haizhou would be remembered as a rare loyalist victory after two months of defeats and setbacks around the world, reality soon dawned on the people of Mittagsland: with their stockpiles running critically low after the battle, they could not repel another invasion, and the loyalist fleet blockading Te Waipounamu and patrolling Mittagsland’s coast could not survive another battle. Tied up in Kleinvenedig, Tawantinsuyu was unable set aside supplies or fleets to make the long journey across the Pacific, much less come to blows with China and Fusang. Penglai had effectively blockaded all southern routes to the Indian Ocean, which left only the Straits of Malacca as a viable trade route. Worried ambassadors flew to Saigon, repeatedly pressing the Commonwealth government to send troops and retake Sumatra. While the sympathies of the member states were certainly on the loyalists’ side, few of them were in any position to help.
All of the member states were simultaneously dealing with widespread neo-equalist insurgencies. Burma in particularly had long been unstable and only kept intact thanks to decades of Indian military aid. When India withdrew its troops after the Commonwealth was formed, the militants returned in full force, and the combined Commonwealth forces were unable to replicate India’s successes. Furthermore, the demilitarization and opening of inter-Srivijaya borders had given Burma’s equalist groups an opportunity to branch out into neighboring countries. Unlike equalist groups elsewhere in the world, which had renounced violent revolution and regime change in favor of peaceful reform, Burmese equalists maintained a Cold War-era mentality of insurgency and resistance against alleged foreign capitalist imperialists and their local collaborators, and they saw the ongoing war between fascists and capitalists (in their eyes) as the perfect opportunity to bring down the old order for good. They quickly gained ground in other nations, working together with previously marginalized local equalists to form a unified movement, rallying both urbanites and villagers under their banner. Insurgencies spread like wildfire through the member states, soon overrunning half of Burma, 60% of Cambodia and Laos aside from their major cities, the northeastern regions of Siam where the Khin Thai had once been based, the Kra Isthmus, Qiandao’s southern islands, the islands of Borneo and Papua, and a majority of the islands of East Indonesia. Vietnam and Malaya suppressed their initial equalist insurgencies, but more insurgents simply crossed their borders, and with their major cities in ruins and governments in complete disarray, their military responses were barely able to simply hold the insurgents at bay. Under normal circumstances, it would be reasonable to assume Srivijaya would have no choice but to let Jerusalem take full control of Sumatra and then let the island be used to strike at targets deep in Srivijaya or even southern China itself. However, that would not be the case, as one unexpected nation and its soldiers stepped up to take on the challenge.
Ryukyu, the unexpected savior of the western Pacific.
The small neutral island kingdom off the coast of China was the only other nation to have escaped Jerusalem’s nuclear attacks completely unscathed, not because the Regency spared them or they shot down their nukes but because the Regency had completely forgotten about them and never even targeted it to begin with. Over the last five years, as the Reich descended into tyranny and China abandoned the democratic system it had adopted from its smaller neighbor, Ryukyu executed several contingency plans designed for those specific situations. The army and air force, which had been abolished as the kingdom could simply rely on its 32 Chinese garrisons, were both reinstated following the garrisons’ withdrawal to the mainland. But both of those branches remained small and inconsequential compared to Ryukyu’s navy, the military anomaly that was the Three Mountains Defense Force (三山衛隊, Sanzanitai [SZI]). Ryukyu had for decades maintained a ridiculously large and well-equipped navy relative to its size, even though it made no financial sense. Going into World War IV, Ryukyu fielded two nuclear-powered Shisa-class aircraft carriers, the Yanbaru Kuina and Noguchigera, which had previously seen action in the Imperial Chinese Navy during World War III and later provided air support during Ryukyu’s invasion of Tarascan during the Mexico war of 2003; twenty Naha-class nuclear submarines (named after various fish and aquatic wildlife); the five World War II-era Shuri-class (formerly Guangzhou-class) battleships Hokuzan, Chūzan, Nanzan, Amami, and Sakishima; and several dozen formerly Roman cruisers and destroyers named after cities and maritime heroes. The SZI had also recently commissioned a third aircraft carrier, the flagship Sanzan, the first aircraft carrier built completely from the ground up by Ryukyuans.
The Shisa-class aircraft carrier SZI Yanbaru Kuina, formerly the Qing Niao-class ZGHJ Fengtian, off the coast of the Ryukyu Islands in the late 2010s. The SZI later innovated on the Shisa-class design to build the completely indigenous Sanzan-class. Following the outbreak of war, each Shisa-class carrier had a statue of a shisa guardian lion attached to their bows, to protect against evil and assure victory in battle. The Sanzan had two shisas flanking a dragon.
The Shuri-class battleship Sakishima in 1944, when it was the Guangzhou-class battleship Guangxi, the sister ship to the Imperial Chinese Navy flagship Guangzhou, which was sunk by the Angeloi during Operation Dragonslayer. As Guangxi, it saw very limited service in the war and emerged almost completely unscathed. Although over 90 years old, Sakishima and its sister ships had been steadily modernized and retrofitted by the SZI ever since being sold to Ryukyu. Although they never attained the same levels of fame as the Roman battleship SMS Oberdonau, and their continued service in the SZI became the butt of jokes among sailors of other navies (with a common nickname being 三山五桶 (sanzan go-oke), or “three mountains' five buckets”), the five veterans of World War II became highly venerated symbols for the SZI and the general Ryukyuan population. Serving on a Shuri-class battleship was a prestigious assignment highly desired and competed for by many Ryukyuan sailors. Upon the outbreak of war and the mobilization of the SZI, each battleship underwent a special rededication ceremony conducted by nūru priestesses who blessed each ship and their crew. They called on the spirits of deceased former crewmen (including the Chinese crews of World War II) to watch over the current crew. As with the aircraft carriers, a shisa statue was mounted at the prow to ward off evil and protect the crew. The Kikoe-ōgimi, or the head priestess of the Ryukyuan religion, personally blessed both Sakishima and the aircraft carrier Sanzan alongside her brother, the king.
Despite the naval budget taking over 20% of the nation’s GDP, the SZI had been maintained as best as possible for full readiness if war broke out. Ryukyuan Marines were still renowned around the world for their martial prowess, having trained in various Ryukyuan martial arts as well as modern special forces tactics, their stamina, which allowed them to hold their breath underwater longer than anyone else in the world, and their training, which allowed them to see very clearly underwater for extended periods of time, among other things. A Ryukyuan marine was commonly believed to be the equal of not only the Livonian special forces but even Roman special forces like the Excubitors and Scholai Palatinae. They had last distinguished themselves during the Mexico War, when two battalions of Ryukyuan marines participated in the siege of Tenochtitlan and took half the city on their own despite being massively outnumbered.
With the Straits crisis unfolding, the Ryukyuan government finally saw a reason to use the oversized and overequipped SZI. For decades, the SZI had suffered a personnel shortage, and the government had struggled to justify the SZI’s budget with a lack of armed conflicts to defend against, yet it maintained the budget because to do otherwise was political suicide. Now there was an opportunity for the SZI to rise to the occasion, and as Srivijaya burned and Jerusalem advanced, thousands of Ryukyuans enlisted in the SZI, turning the personnel shortage into an overabundance of recruits. The government soon sent a message to Saigon offering its assistance in Sumatra. The Commonwealth government, tied up dealing with the neo-equalists and delivering aid to the destroyed cities, obliged. In late November, for the first time since the Tarascan invasion, the SZI mobilized and set sail.
Before Zhao, Han, and the committee came to power, the Penglai Navy, Imperial Chinese Navy, and Kaiserliche Marine had worked together to keep the peace, but now Zhao and Han had turned on each other, and both were hostile to any Roman fleets, loyalist or Jerusalemite, still in what the Sinosphere called the Dahai. Neither Chinese authoritarian wannabe had expected the SZI to come into play, though, and approached the development with caution, knowing the amount of firepower it boasted (Han especially since China had sold the SZI most of its ships). Han offered Ryukyu the chance to join the Tianxia Alliance and put the SZI to use smashing his enemies and bringing back a new Sinocentric order, mentioning Ryukyu’s history as a Chinese tributary. Zhao extended the same offer, to join the Jerusalem-Penglai international alliance of nationalists and be on the right side of history. But the Ryukyuan government rejected both offers. Now deeply concerned, both sides began resorting to threats. Han threatened to rain missiles—possibly nuclear ones—down on the Ryukyuan islands. Zhao threatened to send one of his fleets to intercept and destroy the SZI before it reached Sumatra. Again, the Ryukyuan government refused to listen. Han and Zhao then both asked why Ryukyu was willing to risk complete annihilation to save just one random island. The king of Ryukyu personally sent his nation’s last message back to both sides, a message that would go down in history alongside the battle cries of the Russians and Livonians.
“仕方がない!”
Shikata ga nai. It can’t be helped. Ironically, the original phrase had the connotation of not doing anything or just resigning oneself to the situation at hand, but it had been switched around to mean the opposite, of being unable to not do something. Subsequently, the operation to liberate the Straits of Malacca was referred to as Operation Shikata Ga Nai. Although the king’s response was well-documented, Ryukyuan pop culture and folk memory traditionally claim the king to have instead quoted the infamous “Ryukyuan Marines copypasta” to Han and Zhao during a conference call in which the two men were expecting Ryukyu’s surrender.
Expecting both China and Penglai to intercept and destroy any supply lines running from Ryukyu itself, the SZI planned to instead base and refuel in Vietnam, with the shorter supply lines to Sumatra being easier defended. Once Han and Zhao realized the plan, they scrambed the Imperial Chinese Navy (ZGHJ)’s South Fleet and the Republic of Penglai Navy (PLHJ)’s Fourth Fleet to intercept and destroy the SZI near the Hoang Sa Islands, off the coast of Vietnam, before it could dock in Saigon. The South Fleet, dedicated to patrolling and defending the southern Chinese coast, was one of the ZGHJ’s smallest battle fleets, but nevertheless it was still a force to be reckoned with, boasting four out of twelve of China’s aircraft carriers complemented by their carrier battle groups. The aircraft carriers—the Taihuang, Taishan, Yinglong, and Jingwei—belonged to the state of the art Xi Wangmu class, the newest line of Chinese aircraft carriers, with the flagship Xi Wangmu having only been commissioned in 2033. Meanwhile, the PLHJ Fourth Fleet fielded two aircraft carriers—the Fangzhang and Jagungal—which had been commissioned in 2010. Six carrier battle groups altogether intercepted the SZI.
In comparison, Ryukyu’s Shuri-class battleships, originally the World War II-era Guangzhou-class, had been obsolete for almost a hundred years, as no sane nation had fielded battleships since World War II, with only the Reich’s legendary flagship SMS Oberdonau remaining in service after the war and staying in service until the Second Gulf War in 1992. The SZI’s two Shisa class carriers were originally of the Chinese Qing Niao class, which had been commissioned in the 1980s and had only been sold to Ryukyu because the Chinese government retired the whole class. The flagship Sanzan utilized much newer technology than the Yanbaru Kuina and Noguchigera, but this was its first deployment since its launch. SZI Fleet Admiral Higa Ryunosuke, in command of the operation, was in a similar…boat.
Higa Ryunosuke in 2012.
The 48-year-old admiral, one of the youngest in the SZI, had gotten the job because none of the older admirals, despite firmly supporting Operation Shikata Ga Nai (probably due to the public’s demand for blood and glory), wanted to be the one to lead what was most likely going to end in a kamikaze run one way or another. While most of the older admirals had at least participated in the Tarascan intervention over 35 years ago, Higa at the time was making his name as an Internet celebrity, becoming the world’s most well-known Ryukyuan at the time (even more than the king himself), and only later joined the SZI as part of the country’s mandatory national conscription policies. But his charisma and charm, as well as his leadership skills, led him to stay in the SZI and be commissioned as an officer, soon rising through the ranks and eventually making admiral in 2034. Throughout his career, he maintained his Internet presence, which turned out to be the perfect PR campaign for the SZI among younger generations. Even as the SZI prepared for battle, Higa had livestreamed and blogged about his daily routine on the Sanzan (obviously with classified information filtered out and the metadata encrypted to prevent enemies from triangulating his signal).
Thus far, Higa had been carefully conserving his fuel and ammunition, only using enough to take the shortest route to Sumatra and shoot down or turn away any missiles or bombers launching from the Chinese mainland. Yet his strategy at Hoang Sa still emphasized conservation of resources and strength above all else. He first observed the terrain of the islands and the positions and priorities of the other fleets. The Chinese South Fleet had spread out its four carrier groups in a long line from west to east, with the command carrier Yinglong staying behind. For over a century, the ZGHJ’s primary doctrine had been to dominate as much territory on the open sea as possible so its air wings could overwhelm any target from all directions. On the other hand, the Penglai Fourth Fleet initially focused both of its carriers on the SZI’s positions. The Penglairen did not have the numbers or resources of the Chinese, so their doctrine appeared to focus on a quick and decisive strike to eliminate the enemy. Towards the end of November, as both fleets closed in on the SZI, Higa conferred with his officers on a course of action. Everyone knew running was out of the option; the need to escort the five slow battleships meant the Chinese and Penglai fleets, with their more modern propulsion systems and generally lighter hulls, could easily catch up to the SZI. Suggestions included splitting up the fleet to take on both, sacrificing the battleships as decoys, and focusing on Penglai. But Higa rejected those ideas, believing they would end in complete defeat, not to mention the morale drop from losing the battleships. He kept in mind the fact that China and Penglai were still hostile to each other. And there was time to change course before the enemy fleets launched their air wings. In the evening of December 1, he decided that instead of splitting up the fleet or directly engaging any enemy fleet, he would instead keep the SZI together…and sail right into the heart of the islands. He called it a shiro (castle) gambit.
Opening moves of the Battle of Hoang Sa. Admiral Higa executes his shiro gambit by moving his entire fleet into the shoals. This is seen as a crazy and suicidal maneuver by the more experienced Chinese and Penglai admirals Hong Wuchang and Lao Fuying, respectively. The Chinese and Penglai fleets maintain their original course and approach each other, both considering the SZI a minor threat they could deal with later.
The name “Hoang Sa” came from the Vietnamese pronunciation of the Chinese name 黃沙, or Yellow Sands, for the yellow sands the shoals were known for. The islands could barely be considered islands; some were so small they disappeared underwater at high tide. Nobody lived on the islands, aside from some turtles and seabirds. However, Higa was more focused on the reefs surrounding the inner islands, which had grounded many passing fishing boats in the past. While the aircraft carriers of the three fleets were far larger than any regular fishing boat, the reefs were still dangerous to most vessels, something Higa counted on to keep Penglai from following. Indeed, no sane admiral would have ordered their fleet to enter the shallow waters of the inner Hoang Sa Islands. Higa’s gambit paid off. Not only did the Penglai Fourth Fleet not pursue the SZI, but it continued sailing north…where it ran into the southbound carrier battle groups of the ZGHJ Taihuang and Taishan. Although China and Penglai had both descended on Hoang Sa with the same goal of destroying the SZI, they were still hostile to each other due to the clash between the Tianxia and Jerusalem (yes, that comparatively minor squabble was still going on in the background while the real war was going on here). China and Penglai immediately labeled each other the primary threat and prioritized destroying each other. The pincer attack the two enemy fleets inadvertently planned had now collapsed. It was all according to the principle of 合氣 (aiki), or the redirection of an opponent’s power so one did not have to face it directly. In the face of overwhelming odds against two vastly superior enemies, Higa had instead manipulated China and Penglai into attacking each other while the SZI conserved its strength.
It was now approaching midnight. Chinese and Penglai fighter jets squared off against each other in the skies to the east of the Hoang Sa Islands, trying to find a gap in each other’s defenses. However, as the moon was covered with clouds that night, the battle soon devolved into a game of hide and seek in which nobody gained any meaningful advantage, despite the many advances in night vision technology over the last few decades. Higa waited until the PLHJ Fangzhang had made a fatal mistake in advancing too far north, its battle group now passing by the eastern Hoang Sa islands in an attempt to push back Taihuang’s group and flank Taishan with Jagungal. As soon as it was in the right position, at 1:24 AM, the SZI battleships Hokuzan and Nanzan opened fire with their main batteries, the flashes of fire from their guns briefly illuminating the night. Fangzhang and its escorts had not been expecting an attack from the west, as it had focused entirely on Taihuang, which in the meantime had resumed its offensive. While the battleships continued their relentless barrage, Yanbaru Kuina launched its air wing in Fangzhang’s direction, taking advantage of the fact that Fangzhang and Taihuang’s air wings were busy fighting each other at the moment. The Ryukyuan figher jets—a mix of Chinese, Roman, and local designs—quickly descended on the exposed carrier and fired their missiles. Higa ordered his pilots to retreat as soon as they had inflicted enough critical damage to Fangzhang in disabling its propulsion systems, destroying its flight deck, and blowing up the bridge; they did not need to waste more missiles than necessary to outright sink the ship, and those missiles would be better used for dealing with other ships or Taihuang’s air wing. By 1:43 AM, Fangzhang had effectively been sunk, along with a third of its escorts. The remaining two-thirds were picked off by Taihuang’s fighters, who then turned their attention to the now isolated Jagungal.
While this was going on, the ZGHJ attempted to flank the Ryukyuans and Penglairen in the west. The ZGHJ Jingwei’s carrier group sailed south along the western islands, keeping its distance from the reefs and shallow waters, although some ships ran aground on submerged islands. Having concentrated all three of its battle groups inside a 50 by 50 mile area, the SZI seemed like an easy target to pick off while Jingwei and its escorts swung around and hit the Penglairen from the south. In fact, Higa had expected the Chinese to fall for the trap. Simultaneously with Hokuzan and Nanzan’s attack, Sakishima and Amami fired their main batteries westward. The two battleships concentrated their fire on Jingwei, and their high-power shells severely damaged Jingwei’s flight deck. Having expected the SZI to use missiles (like any sane modern navy would), the Chinese were surprised when their missile detection and interception systems found nothing to detect and intercept. From his studies at the SZI Jakob Dojima Daitai Ryu (the officers’ academy, named after the SZI’s first Fleet Admiral Jakob "Jake" Dojima, who had studied in the Reich), Higa was aware such systems were in place on Jingwei and he would only be wasting missiles or jets if he attacked the conventional way. But the upgrades the SZI had made to its battleships over the decades—like integrating modern targeting computers into the main batteries—allowed him another option against a technologically superior foe.
At roughly 2:12 AM on December 2, the ZGHJ began its counterattack. With Jingwei’s flight deck unable to launch jets, its battle group had to instead deploy its destroyers and cruisers into the inner islands to directly engage the SZI, with air support coming from Yinglong’s air wing further north. There was only one problem with this: Yinglong’s air wing had already been intercepted by the air wings from Noguchigera and Sanzan. Any missiles fired by Jingwei’s battle group were easily shot down by the point defense flak cannons of Sakishima and Chūzan, which returned fire in kind with more broadside volleys. By 3:00 AM, the crew of Jingwei and half of its battle group were forced to abandon ship, with the rest retreating back to Yinglong’s position and being shelled the whole way by Chūzan’s main batteries. In less than two hours, both enemy forces had lost a carrier and most if not all of a battle group.
Middle stage of the Battle of Hoang Sa. Taking advantage of his two enemies attacking each other, Higa exploits openings in both enemies’ formations to eliminate the Jingwei and Fangzhang, picking off their support ships and air wings soon afterward. Admiral Lao is killed during the evacuation of Fangzhang, leaving the Penglai forces leaderless. Higa refuses to take the bait and engage Yinglong, whose starboard flank is now exposed, or finish off Jagungal. Engaging Yinglong at this time would force Higa to split his forces and move some of his ships out of the safety of the shoals, while engaging Jagungal would allow Hong to concentrate his undivided attention and remaining firepower on the SZI. Instead, he waits until Taihuang and Taishan fully engage Jagungal. With the destruction of Jagungal imminent, Higa finally makes his move against Hong.
The Chinese had failed to flank both the SZI and the Penglairen, losing Jingwei’s battle group and suffering substantial casualties in Taihuang’s battle group. Penglai had lost half of its Fourth Fleet with the loss of the Fangzhang, and as the Taihuang and Taishan concentrated their fire on Jagungal, it looked like the other half would soon follow. Now it was time to move after the real prize: the complete elimination of the ZGHJ South Fleet. Higa now ordered his fleet to split up. Sanzan, Noguchigera, Chūzan, and Sakishima sailed north out of the islands to flank Yinglong’s battle group, while Yanbaru Kuina, Nanzan, Amami, and Hokuzan exited from the east to take on Taishan and the weakened Taihuang. At 3:45 AM, the crew of Jagungal abandoned ship and surrendered to Chinese custody. Five minutes later, the first SZI fighter jets from Yanbaru Kuina roared past and began launching missiles against both Taihuang and Taishan, accompanied by a relentless bombardment from Nanzan, Amami, and Hokuzan which severely cripped Taishan’s communications and propulsion systems and significantly damaged several destroyer escorts. The already damaged Taihuang was soon sunk. Its surviving escorts attempted to link up with Taishan, which was turning around to retreat back to the Chinese mainland. However, Higa had planned for this. At that moment, the SZI’s submarines, which had stayed hidden in the north and let the ZGHJ line pass over them, launched torpedoes at Taishan and all of its escorts. Not expecting an attack from behind, Taishan’s battle group crumbled. By 4:43, Taishan joined Taihuang at the bottom of the ocean. Any still seaworthy ships in their battle groups were allowed to retreat to the Chinese mainland with survivors (and Penglairen prisoners) from the sunk ships.
To the west, Higa personally led the operation against Yinglong. He anticipated the flagship of the South Fleet would put up quite a fight. As a command ship, Yinglong had been equipped with state of the art defenses and design redundancies that would ensure systems remained functional as long as possible. There were more point defense cannons than the average aircraft carrier; communications systems that resisted all jamming attempts short of an EMP burst; an integrated electronic targeting and self-reloading system which reduced the need for human input and the accompanying errors; propulsion systems that had different transmissions and power sources so that if one failed, the others would keep going; and reinforced armor and hulls to protect against hits and minimize any damage still inflicted. It would take everything he had to take Yinglong down. Furthermore, the sky was brightening now, and if the sun fully rose, Yinglong’s air wing would no longer fly at a handicap, while the positions of the SZI ships would be exposed to the unaided eye.
At 5:04, Higa opened with a bombardment from Sakishima and Chūzan, targeting Yinglong’s destroyers and cruisers to weaken their point defenses and missile launchers. Next, he sent out Sanzan and Noguchigera’s air wings again to engage Yinglong’s remaining jets but not attack the carrier itself. Yinglong itself refused to take any damage. Even a large battleship 46-centimeter shell failed to put a dent in Yinglong’s flight deck, although it did take out some parked jets. Gradually, the ZGHJ destroyers began pushing back against the Ryukyuan lines, and it seemed some pilots were having trouble with their bomb targeting systems. At first, it looked like Higa’s gambit had failed. It hadn’t, though, because that was never his goal.
While all of the escorts and fighter jets were occupied elsewhere, and the sky was still mostly dark, nobody had noticed a battalion of SZI Marines swimming underwater from Noguchigera to the northernmost Hoang Sa island, making the whole trip without even surfacing for air once. There, they unpacked mechanical parts airdropped from certain jets under the guise of faulty targeting, which they used to assemble a mobile artillery gun. They aimed the gun at Yinglong and fired. A single shell struck the flight deck of the aircraft carrier. While it didn’t blow a hole in the deck, that wasn’t the point. The point was that it generated an EMP burst which disabled all electronics systems on Yinglong, including most of its weapons, effectively rendering it helpless. Once that became clear, Higa ordered all of his forces to finish off the escorts. Freed up from the sinking of Taihuang and Taishan, Nanzan, Amami, and Hokuzan flanked Yinglong’s battle group from the east and brought their full firepower to bear on the escorts, while Yanbaru Kuina’s air wing joined its sister ships’ air wings in overwhelming what was left of Yinglong’s jets. By the time the sun rose, Yinglong’s battle group had become nothing more than burning wrecks.
Final stages of the Battle of Hoang Sa. Although Yinglong and its battle group are now the only ones left opposing Ryukyu, Higa does not let down his guard, being aware of the technological advantages Hong possesses. Knowing he cannot bring down the carrier with raw firepower he cannot afford to spare, he instead deploys marines forces on several shoals, tasking them with setting up artillery and electronics countermeasures (ECM). While his conventional air wings distract the Chinese air wings and Hong’s attention, the marines complete their task and attack Yinglong from an unexpected location with an unexpected method. The resulting EMP attack disables Yinglong’s electronics and communications network, causing confusion within Hong’s ranks Higa immediately capitalizes on. Having grown up with the Internet, Higa knew full well the importance of electronic warfare.
The carrier itself helplessly drifted in the middle of the carnage, expecting to be sunk next. But the battleships’ attacks ceased, and the jets returned to their carriers. Slowly, the crew emerged from their hiding spots, wondering what had happened. They got their answer when the first SZI Marines grappled up the side of the ship and stormed the flight deck. Higa had never intended to sink Yinglong. Instead, he wanted to capture it. While most of the crew of Yinglong was trained in close quarters combat, they were no match for the specially trained marines, who easily overwhelmed them before they could either inflict substantial casualties or begin scuttling protocols. The marines did not kill indiscriminately, instead only targeting anyone who fought back and even then not shooting to kill unless there was no other choice. Those who didn’t fight, as well as noncombatants, were left alone, if only as prisoners of war. After an hourlong fight, the last holdouts on Yinglong surrendered.
Among them were the Chinese admiral Hong Wuchang, a descendant of the 20th century Chinese admiral and SZI study subject Hong Liao. In twist of irony, Hong himself had commanded Ryukyu’s battleships when they were Chinese ships in World War II; he had even designated the Guangxi/Sakishima his flagship for a time after the sinking of the Guangzhou (while waiting for an available aircraft carrier to transfer his flag to). On the deck of Sanzan, Hong formally surrendered to Higa and the SZI, presenting Higa with a traditional Chinese stamp bearing the Hong family seal. The two men later had an amiable discussion in Higa’s office about Ryukyu’s upset victory, using ancient ships Hong Liao once commanded no less. Hong congratulated Higa on the victory, admitting he had, like so many other Chinese military leaders, completely underestimated Ryukyu’s capabilities, but he also warned Higa to not get complacent, as he was only an average admiral among many, and he really only got the position due to family connections and Han wanting the symbolism of a descendant of Hong Liao serving in his navy. Any fleets and admirals Higa would likely go up against next on the way to or at Sumatra would be far more experienced, qualified, and threatening. Higa thanked Hong for his candor, praising his honor in admitting all this to a supposed enemy commander, and promised he would keep that in mind. Hong was later placed on a helicopter to be flown to a prisoner of war holding facility in Vietnam.
Despite efforts to lock away or encrypt classified information and critical functions, the SZI soon broke through all countermeasures, gaining full access to Yinglong, which was renamed Ōryū and blessed with a nūru.
(I'm considering this fully canon in-universe, by the way.)
And so the Battle of Hoang Sa ended in a complete Ryukyuan victory. Both the Chinese South Fleet and Penglai Fourth Fleet had been completely destroyed, while the SZI emerged almost completely unscathed. To the major powers of the world, this was an outcome nobody expected. But the Ryukyuan people weren’t surprised in the slightest. As the smallest country in the world (yes, it was even smaller than the Srvijayan member state of Brunei-Kutai), its neighbors had always either ignored it or dismissed its as insignificant. The arrogance of the major powers was now their downfall. Ryukyu had always prided itself on punching above its weight. Yes, the SZI had only reached its current inexplicable size because China had outdated ships to spare and the Ryukyuan government had the money to buy them because why not. But the SZI, through either decades of diligence or just sheer force of will, had turned what should have been a bunch of obsolete rusting buckets into a force that had now defeated the second best navy in the world. With the South Fleet destroyed and Yinglong captured, and at the hands of Ryukyu of all nations, the Imperial Chinese Navy, which had in the previous century gone toe to toe with the Kaiserliche Marine, had been delivered the most humiliating of humiliations. Zhao’s delusions of grandeur and civilizational superiority were shattered by some upstart “barbarian Japanese” he had long considered only a blight on the glory of Penglai, lumping them in with the mainland Japanese settlers who had lived in Penglai (emphasis on “had”). Although both wanted nothing more than to put the Ryukyuans in their place, they could do nothing about the SZI short of China dropping a nuke. Han wasn’t that reckless (ignoring a certain operation in western Yavdi he had ordered around the same time), so he settled for just firing missiles and launching bombers from the mainland. To reinforce the now gaping hole in southern China’s coastal defenses (which Higa decided not to exploit, because even by the SZI’s standards it would be suicide to invade mainland China, and the loyalists were counting on him to liberate Sumatra), Han pulled back several other fleets which had been either tasked with supporting the northern Republic of Japan Navy (NHKK) against the Jerusalem-backed southern Japan Liberation Navy (DNKK) or hunting down Kaiserliche Marine loyalist fleets. Having lost his ability to project power in Maritime Southeast Asia, Zhao pulled back his fleets to the southern Pacific and the Penglai coast, focusing instead on defending the homeland (against a possible Ryukyuan invasion he genuinely feared now) and shipping troops east for another invasion of Mittagsland. It was now clear that Ryukyu was not just another insignificant island always forgotten on maps. The major powers would learn to fear Ryukyu and give it the respect it deserved.
There was no time to dock in Saigon, so Vietnam sent out tankers to refuel and resupply the SZI, transfer the prisoners of war off to Srvijayan custody, and rotate a Vietnamese/Chinese defector crew familiar with the Xi Wangmu-class’ systems onto the Ōryū all on the go. But that didn’t mean people on land didn’t notice the Ryukyuans’ contributions. In Saigon, the SZI’s sailors and marines were hailed as heroes. At home, Higa became a national hero, and all of the other admirals kicked themselves for not having taken command of the operation. His streaming and video channels blew up, becoming almost mandatory viewing for Ryukyuans. His catchphrase, “TEE-HEE!”, become iconic worldwide as a symbol of cleverness overcoming the greatest of odds. As the SZI sailed south along the Malayan coast, fleets from Vietnam, Cambodia, Malaya, Qiandao, and Nusantara joined them. These fleets had tried to reinforce the SZI at Hoang Sa but didn’t arrive before the battle ended, and now they gained a second chance to help their Roman loyalist allies hang on a little longer. Twenty years ago, it was a Hohenzollern, Prince Horst, who had died so the Srivijayan dream could live. In the coming weeks and months, Ryukyu and the nations of the Srivijaya Commonwealth would return the favor. Sumatra was just over the horizon now. The real battle was just ahead. Each ship’s nūru conducted a special ceremony in which they invoked the spirits of fallen loyalist soldiers killed in battle against Jerusalem in Sumatra, calling on them to help Ryukyu take back the island from the enemy. They also invoked the name of one particular spirit: Prince Horst von Hohenzollern, who had died on the other side of the strait in Malaya defending the cause that would give rise to Srivijaya. The priestesses hoped Prince Horst would recognize the fleet’s cause as just and protect it, just as he protected the Malayans and fought for Srivijaya all those years ago. But Higa knew the war could not be won with divination and spirits alone. Wars were won with his men, his equipment, and his plans. They had only one shot at this. In Prince Horst’s name, in the name of the struggling loyalists, they could not fail, not now, not ever. They had no choice but to push forward and win, even against impossible odds. Because shikata ga nai. It couldn’t be helped.
The Aftermath of Dreams
“夏草や
兵どもが
夢の跡.”
“The summer grasses—
For many brave warriors
Their dreams' aftermath.”
- Matsuo Bashō
In the year of the Yang Earth Horse, the Japanese Home Islands were divided between three nations. Western Honshu, Shikoku, and Kyushu were controlled the Japanese Republic, a Paulluist regime based out of Osaka. With backing from the committee, the southern Paulluists had successfully pulled off a coup against the former emperor, deposing his democratic government and establishing a dictatorship in Nagasaki which closed off the country. For years, little information came out of southern Japan, other than rumors about the emperor’s continued absence and atrocities being committed against minorities, particularly the Koreans. Naturally, the Korean government demanded an answer from Nagasaki, which refused to change. This in turn inflamed tensions within Korea itself. Its population elected increasingly nationalist governments which promised to liberate the oppressed Koreans of Kyushu. Han got involved, seeing an opportunity to topple the Jerusalem-backed Osaka government. But the Japanese Republic, led by its jingoistic president Sakamoto Shinzo, had bigger ambitions. Sakamoto, a true believer in the Paulluist cause, had long seen the division of the islands into four nations as an artificial creation of the major powers. In his view, there were no Christian northerners, Buddhist southerners, Ainu, Kyushu Koreans, or Ryukyuans, just a single Japanese people. They were merely only divided because China sought to keep the Japanese people weak and complacent. He could not tolerate that any longer. Now that he and his Paulluists had the power to change things, he began calling for “an end to the stain of partition” and the annexation of Ryukyu, Ainu Mosir, and the northern Edo regime, which he called “traitors to the Paulluist cause.” In Nagasaki, Jerusalem saw an opportunity to make a new ally, even if they were pagans and their mortal enemies were Christians. Well, the Christians were heretics anyways, and the Regency could always dispose of the southern pagans with a few nukes once everything had settled. In the meantime, Tesla Dynamic and the Jerusalemite government could make a lot of money selling weapons and training to Sakamoto’s Greater Japanese National Liberation Army (DNKKR). When Jerusalem launched its first strike, the Japanese Republic was one of three nations—along with Nepal and Penglai—deliberately spared any nuclear hellfire. Simultaneously, Sakamoto issued an ultimatum to Edo, demanding their immediate surrender. Since Edo had been hit with a nuke, it was unlikely the message was even received, but Sakamoto took the silence to mean “no.” Barely twenty minutes after he had sent the ultimatum, the DNKKR launched an offensive across the border in central Honshu, starting what would become known as the Bogo Sensō, or the War in the Year of the Yang Earth Horse (2038).
In the north, the Republic of Japan’s own Paulluist regime had taken a different direction. Although they had similarly overthrown the shogun recently, the northern Paulluists were not as brutal as their southern counterparts. In fact, in the past few years, the Edo government had actually begun adopting some liberal reforms and transitioning back to a democracy. There were rumors that President Hayabusa, a reformist, wanted to restore the shogunate in the end. In the end, though, he had no choice but to align with China in response to the rising threat to the south. Naturally, Han pressured Hayabusa to adopt a system close to the one he had built (more like subverted) in Nanjing. Hayabusa refused to do so, which prompted Han to withdraw some of the aid he had sent. Although China still officially supported the Republic of Japan, it did not give the same amount of aid Jerusalem gave to the Japanese Republic. Jerusalem’s first strike made things worse. Edo, a large and densely packed city whose buildings were primarily made of wood, suffered from not only the nuclear detonation but the following firestorm which burned down almost every building still standing. Hayabusa survived the attack, but most of his infrastructure and military chain of command had been wiped out. He quickly mobilized the Republic of Japan Army (NHKR) and deployed it to the border, but he knew it would not be enough to fight the DNKKR at its full strength. Within two days, the DNKKR had pushed sixty miles over the border, seizing the destroyed city of Nagoya and reaching Shizuoka. Hayabusa desperately called Han asking for help, but all the Grand Secretariat did was deploy the ZGHJ North Fleet to the East China Sea and fire missiles at southern cities from the mainland. Some token Imperial Chinese Army units arrived in Niigata, but they wouldn’t be enough. The DNKKR continued its relentless advance towards Edo.
A meme circulated on the Internet by Japanese users once news of Sakamoto’s invasion had spread. Ever since the release of Fire Emblem: The Exalt's Duty in Japanese and its prominent inclusion of several Japanese-inspired characters (among them Mozu, a fan favorite particularly loved by Japan), the Japanese gaming community had come into its own, mirroring the growth of the local gaming industry from being merely an intermediary between Chinese developers and Roman audiences to being a major developer in its own right. It helped that a lot of Chinese gaming company subsidiaries based in Japan were eventually spun off as their own companies and became as financially successful as their Chinese counterparts. While the usual Chinese-based franchises like Fire Emblem, Pokemon, and Super Mario Brothers remained the most iconic international brands, older Japanese properties like Megami Tensei/Persona and Final Fantasy finally escaped their decades-long niche reputation and went mainstream, while newer franchises like Valkyria Chronicles and the Final Fantasy VII spinoff Xenoblade soared to new heights. By 2030, Japan had become seen as the third pillar of the video game industry, after the Reich and China, with its gaming community just as large and passionate as those in the Reich and China. However, during the authoritarian reversals in the following years, the Roman and Chinese video game industries were steadily stamped out by puritanical regimes who hated the messages video games conveyed to the next generation (as well as their origins; Fire Emblem originated from its creator’s opposition to the Chinese Guominjun military junta and espoused very anti-clerical and anti-authoritarian themes). By 2035, only the Japanese gaming industry and community of northern Japan remained intact, although it too had been negatively affected by the early Paulluist takeover. Japanese fans responded to the global crackdown on video games by becoming more vocal online, sharing their thoughts on current events through memes (one popular meme involves Mozu shooting Han, Zhao, Theodor Tesla, or the faceless members of the committee with arrows from the legendary bow Parthia) and rallying people in other countries to action (including many casual players and non-gamers). Within Japan, they picked up from where their overseas counterparts were interrupted by hosting tournaments, awards ceremonies, and other conferences. Many wealthier players even crowdfunded money to rent local properties for surviving Chinese and Roman developers to live and work in. Unfortunately, all of their efforts literally went up in smoke in 2038 as Edo and other major northern Japanese cities were nuked. Online, the Japanese gaming community persisted a little longer as many users circulated memes mocking and criticizing Sakamoto. Even as data centers and servers began going down and the Japanese internet slowly went dark while bombs rained down outside, many users remained at their keyboards, posting final memes in defiance of the southern Paulluists. Most were killed, as would be expected, but those who survived couldn't exactly be considered lucky...
While China barely did anything to help Edo, Ainu Mosir stepped in to actually help its southern neighbor. The small republic (it was technically a republic, although all of its constituent regions were headed by hereditary clan chiefs) didn’t have much in the way of technology or numbers, but it sent as many of its troops to Honshu as it could. Sapporo knew that if the Republic of Japan fell, Sakamoto would turn to the Ainu next, and they would suffer just as badly as the Koreans. News that Ainu Mosir was joining the war on the Republic of Japan’s behalf evoked messages of support and solidarity from the Siberian communities of Chinese Siberia, which had cultural and linguistic ties to the Ainu. Many Chinese Siberians, against their government’s orders, joined the Ainu Mosir army as volunteers. While the volunteers were welcome, it wouldn’t be enough to level the playing field. Hayabusa had to play his cards carefully. He believed his best bet was to directly engage the main DNKKR army currently marching on Shizuoka and force it to retreat. The losses incurred on the southern side would compel Sakamoto to withdraw troops from other recently occupied cities like Nagoya and Fukui, halting the offensive and giving the north time to consolidate its forces and launch a counterattack. With Osaka and Kyoto close to the border, the NHKR would then throw everything it had to taking both cities, which should be enough to force Sakamoto to the bargaining table. But first, he would have to win in Shizuoka.
On November 22, the DNKKR found itself fiercely attacked outside Shizuoka by the NHKR and its Ainu allies. The NHKR forces consisted mainly of light infantry and cavalry units, including a few units trained for mountainous combat. They had little air support backing them up aside from a few recon helicopters and antiaircraft guns, as DNKKR missile strikes had by then destroyed most Republic of Japan military airfields and aerial defense weapons. In comparison, the DNKKR boasted almost complete air superiority, several heavy armor divisions, and powerful mobile artillery and missile launchers which hammered away at the NHKR as it advanced. Hayabusa ordered his men to focus primarily on stealth and mobility, not engaging any tanks unless absolutely necessary. All they had to do was hold the line while surviving attack aircraft, NHKR artillery, and coastal bombardment from the NHKK hammered away at the DNKKR.
The Japanese front in late November. Southern Japanese forces could count on superior equipment, vehicles, and logistical support to carry out a blitzkrieg offensive eastwards. The National Liberation Army consisted of many armored and aerial divisions, compared to the Republic of Japan Army’s infantry and cavalry focus. However, with Ainu Mosir joining the war on the northerners’ behalf and committing its forces to combat in Honshu, the north gained a numerical advantage which would hopefully balance out the south’s technological edge.
(The southern-northern border is approximate because I can't pull up screenshots at this moment.)
However, what Hayabusa had not counted on was the DHKK’s rapid deployment off the coast of Hamamatsu, overwhelming the NHKK fleet, which consisted mainly of patrol boats, frigates, and cruisers compared to the DHKK’s guided missile cruisers and state of the art destroyers. The NHKK was unable to rendezvous at Shizuoka and begin the bombardment. On land, the NHKR lines crumbled without air and naval support backing them up. Most of the city had already fallen to the DHKK, whose tanks effortlessly wiped out entire infantry units with the help of fighter jets and a sustained missile and artillery bombardment. Within several hours, the NHKR lines had completely collapsed, and in the face of complete annihilation by the DNKKR tanks, hundreds of NHKR soldiers threw down their weapons and fled, only to be shot down by circling DNKKR helicopters. To buy the rest of the army time to retreat, the NHKR cavalry made one last desperate stand against the enemy. The cavalrymen and women put down their useless guns and instead drew beautiful samurai swords. Thrusting their gleaming blades into the air, they let out a war cry once shouted by samurai in ages past, and then by the soldiers of the old Shiba Shogunate, but which had been forgotten in the southern half of Japan.
“BANZAI!”
The NHKR cavalry charged the tanks, armed with several grenades and a few pistols but dozens of swords. Machine gunners in the tanks and helicopters made short work of most of them, but a handful pushed through the barrage and reached the tanks. The soldiers jumped off their horses onto the tops of the tanks, quickly prying open the escape hatches. While some settled for tossing grenades inside, others jumped in themselves and hacked apart the crews inside with their swords, or died trying, some even blowing themselves up with their grenades once inside a tank. Those who survived long enough to commandeer the tanks used them as their new horses, turning their guns against the other DNKKR soldiers and armor or launching suicide runs into the enemy lines. Not a single soldier who made the charge lived past an hour, and Shizuoka fell in the end, but their sacrifice had inflicted substantial casualties on the DNKKR, forcing it to stop and reorganize its divisions, allowing the surviving NHKR units to escape east to Yokohama.
Nothing changed the fact that the NHKR had been dealt a devastating defeat at Shizuoka. Far from being the decisive battle that would halt the DNKKR advance and lead to a counterattack deep into Kansai, Shizuoka had instead exposed the Kanto region—and Edo and Yokohama within—to DNKKR attack. By November 25, DNKKR mountain infantry had captured Mount Fuji, conducting a dramatic flag raising ceremony broadcast across the Home Islands in which the flag of the Japanese Republic was raised on the peak while DNKKR soldiers bellowed pro-unification slogans. On the other side, the people of the Republic of Japan hailed the cavalry and their sacrifice. Church and temple bells rang for days as citizens gathered in memorial prayer for the brave “modern samurai” who gave their lives so their comrades could escape. A medieval proverb regained popularity in the aftermath of Shizuoka:
“花は桜木人は武士.”
Hana wa sakuragi, hito wa bushi. Among blossoms there is the cherry blossoms, and among men, there is the warrior.
Just as the cherry blossom was considered the foremost among flowers, so too were the samurai the foremost among all of the soldiers of Japan. The samurai was just like the cherry blossom, as his life, while burning bright and fierce with glory, ultimately died out quickly on the battlefield. In the face of the unbeatable firepower of the DNKKR’s modern tanks, the modern samurai of the Republic of Japan refused to yield. Rising to the occasion, they gave their lives and proved they were the sakura of the proverb.
It was said the flowering of Shizuoka’s sakura trees in the spring of 2039 was the most beautiful ever recorded. Unfortunately, not many northerners would live to see it.
Heavenly Reclamation
“No matter where or whoever you are or if you are young or old, Northerner or Southerner, you all have the responsibility of protecting our home and repelling the enemy. You all must have the will to achieve ultimate sacrifice.”
- Han Xianyu, quoting Chiang Kai-Shek
The war was the perfect opportunity for Han Xianyu to consolidate power at home. Just as Wang Jingwei had done about century ago, Han conflated all opposition to the war and opposition to his regime to treason. The Legislative Yuan, which had over the last six years been gerrymandered to the point where the Guomindang controlled almost every single seat, rammed through whatever legislation he wanted. Martial law was declared first. Next, came a rapid “temporary” suspension of constitutional rights and an expansion of criminal penalties which effectively criminalized dissent as being anti-war, anti-Han, and pro-Jerusalem. By the end of the year, Han had, with overwhelming public support, ended Chinese democracy, cementing himself as China’s newest dictator. Ironically, despite positioning himself as the new “leader of the free world” against the Jerusalemite menace, he had done exactly the same thing the committee did in the old Reich. However, while Wang Jingwei had subverted democracy from the top down with numerous imperial decrees and extensions of martial law, Han now had the support of the people, and all of his democratic rollbacks were, ironically, carried out by national referendum, each of which passed with almost unanimous support. The Chinese people had eagerly thrown away their rights, just as the Romans did in their own country.
With his enemies at home taken care of, Han turned to eliminating his enemies abroad and bringing about his vision of a restored Sinocentric world. In Siberia, the Imperial Chinese Army (ZGLJ) engaged in titanic battles against the invading Crusaders, stalling their advance towards the southern population centers. Winter was now starting to set in, and that only benefited the ZGLJ, which was used to winter warfare in Siberia. The Chinese strategy was not the total annihilation of the enemy, which would waste valuable resources. Instead, they dug trenches all the way from the Arctic Circle down to the Mongolian steppes, intending to stall the enemy out and let nature do the fighting for it. It was a lot like China’s strategy in World War I. But while the Chinese turned to the past for guidance, the Crusaders had looked to the future. Knowing the Chinese would try to dig in and stall while the winter continued, the Crusaders launched an reckless assault across the front, attempting to flank Chinese positions in multiple areas and at least reach some of the population centers before the winter cold really set in. The Siberian front soon devolved into the Chinese running around digging trenches ahead or behind the old lines while the Crusaders constantly ran around trying to flank them.
Han didn’t make things any better for both sides. Although the army leadership consistently supported a defensive doctrine, Han ordered some units to recklessly advance into Yavdi and attack from behind. At the same time as the Battle of Hoang Sa, he even sent special forces on a suicide mission deep into the Ural Mountains in western Yavdi just to capture or kill the surviving members of the Yavdian government stationed there. Apparently, Jerusalem had gotten the same idea and sent their own strike team to do the same thing. The two strike teams encountered each other while in the course of attacking the bunker and ended up destroying each other and everyone in the bunker. With the deaths of the Tsar-Khagan Tayisung I, Chancellor Orus Amur, and all surviving Yavdian cabinet members, the Yavdian government collapsed. Although the core cities in the west fell under Jerusalemite occupation, the countryside and everything east of the Urals plunged into complete anarchy. The one consolation of this incident was it seemed Jerusalem was just as crazy; it seemed like there was absolutely no coherent leadership at the top of its chain of command. South of Siberia, a few Chinese units had been deployed to “help” the CAC, but that was not Han’s priority. He wasn’t too concerned with the CAC, as they had rejected his “generous” offer of “help.” Chinese army units in the area were tasked instead with propping up the government of Bhutan as it fought against the Nepalese.
But there was a silver lining. When news came out that the bunker was also the secret hiding place of the Hohenzollern princess Wilhelmina and her family and that none of them were accounted for in the aftermath, the loyalists suffered a grievous blow to morale. Wilhelmina had been the loyalists’ preferred claimant to the throne, and her loss—as well as the loss of her immediate family—meant not only did the loyalists lose the claimant their whole movement was based around, but the Hohenzollern dynasty itself was gone. There was no going back now; the old Reich would never come back. Which brought up an immediately controversial question: what now? Almost immediately, the Hohenzollern-less Hohenzollern loyalist movement began fracturing as different factions put forth their own ideas on what else to rally around. A rift developed between Mittagsland and Hawaii and the continental-based Roman exile communities which had by now mostly flocked to Persia from Russia. Kaiserliche Marine fleets began moving against each other and declaring loyalty to admirals or civilian leaders on various islands. Loyalist African Länder began surrendering in droves. But in the Pacific, with Mittagsland having isloated itself from Hawaii and Hawaii itself beginning to split along multiple fault lines—island vs island, native vs German, aristocracy vs commoner, military vs civilian, war hawks vs pacifist—Zhao and Han smelled blood. And so, the vultures began to circle.
Han mobilized four Imperial Chinese Navy battle fleets to achieve three objectives: prop up the Republic of Japan by sea, eliminate the nuisance that was Ryukyu, and wipe out all remaining loyalist Kaiserliche Marine fleets scattered across the Pacific. The Republic of Japan was China’s only true ally in the Pacific, but Han did not want to waste precious Chinese soldiers on “insignificant eastern islands” when he could send them to Siberia instead. So he simply sent the Chinese North Fleet to blockade the Japanese Republic, deliver a few supplies, bombard coastal targets, and possibly engage the DHKK. The South Fleet was given the easiest mission of the three, in his opinion, but somehow it still miserably failed, as the SZI had survived. Hong Wuchang was nothing like his illustrious ancestor, in the end. So that left only the last and most important objective, the destruction of the fracturing Kaiserliche Marine.
The original strategy was to launch an indirect four-pronged attack from all corners of the Pacific to annihilate the loyalists. China would sweep in from the northwest and take the western Pacific islands, destroying the westernmost fleets. Jerusalem would independently take Sumatra and close the Straits of Malacca to starve the loyalists of reinforcements, fuel, and supplies. From the south, Penglai would take Mittagsland and eliminate the loyalists’ largest controlled landmass in the ocean. And from the east, Fusang would swoop in and take Hawaii, finishing off the loyalists for good. The plan had fallen apart now. China found its western fleets tied up by Ryukyu, which was also on track to breaking the blockade of the Straits. The surprising treachery of Chinese Mittagslanders had saved the island from Zhao’s invasion, while Hawaii-launched missiles and bombers had forced back Fusang’s fleets from Hawaii. By now, both Hawaii and Mittagsland should have fallen so he could focus on eliminating that Jerusalem traitor Zhao. He quickly devised a new strategy. The loyalists were slowly falling apart and turning on each other in light of the news of Wilhelmina’s apparent death. Their focus, forces, and energy would be spent fighting each other, not him. Which left them open to attack. Han ordered the Central Fleet, with the East Fleet temporarily placed under its command, to sail deep into the Pacific and invade Hawaii. The Central Fleet was the largest fleet ever assembled since World War II, boasting eight carrier battle groups—among them the flagship Xi Wangmu itself—which fielded 500 airplanes, two battlecruisers, ten cruisers, 18 destroyers, eight fuel tankers, and 40 submarines. Meanwhile, Fusang launched a second fleet from Hongzhou, consisting of a carrier battle group led by the flagship carrier Yingzhou. Hawaii, as divided as it had become now, could not hope to resist in the face of such raw firepower. The Dahai would once again be a Chinese lake, with no room for Roman rocks.
While he waited for the Central Fleet to arrive at its objective, Han turned to easier targets with faster results. After the Battle of Hoang Sa and the surprisingly successful if costly attack in the Urals, Han decided to reclaim the narrative with something he could easily spin as a decisive victory. In the evening of December 2, high-power supersonic artillery cannons opened fire all across mainland China, but their targets were not anywhere on the planet.
(That may seem like a lot of money, but it barely put a dent in my treasury. I cut out the description because it was outdated.)
Minutes later, Chinese supersonic artillery rounds struck SVI satellites in orbit nearby and above China. Before the system could course correct the other satellites, more rounds hit the remaining SVI satellites minutes later. By midnight, the entire system had been destroyed, surrounding Earth with a cloud of fast-moving debris which would make low-orbit spaceflight challenging if not impossible. The International Space Station, still hosting several Kanatan, Vietnamese, Indian, Persian, Abyssinian, Scandinavian, Livonian, and Russian astronauts, fired its emergency thrusters to raise its orbit out of harm’s way. The GPS and Tianyan satellite networks were likewise destroyed by more Chinese attacks and high-velocity debris, respectively, severely hampering everybody’s logistical planning and disrupting many military and civilian systems which relied on it. But most importantly, Jerusalem had lost its countermeasure against nuclear retaliation. After fifty years, the sword of Damocles that was mutually assured destruction once again hung over the world. Jerusalem could not fire off a second nuclear strike without incurring a retaliatory strike from China now. Although most of its silos had been destroyed in the first strike and the rest had been shut down by a computer virus, Chinese programmers were close to developing a countermeasure to the virus and getting the silos back online.
Orbit planes of debris (red) from SVI, GPS, Tianyan, and other satellite networks several weeks after their destruction; the debris field would expand even further over the next few months. It is estimated the debris would be in orbit for at least several decades. The white orbit is the International Space Station, which was forced to adjust its orbit to avoid the most dangerous debris paths.
The loss of SVI was a devastating blow to Jerusalem, but the Regency didn’t care too much about it. It had already served its purpose during the first strike, and the Regency didn’t plan on launching a second one. The world was already weakened enough as it was; anymore, and there wouldn’t be anything left for the Kingdom of God to rule over. It was now up to the Crusaders to finish the fight. But the world, although weakened, wasn’t about to give up just yet. The Russians, despite losing their leader and country, were still in the fight. The Livonians and Ryukyuans had awakened their martial spirit and were ready to make their ancestors proud. The Persians, miraculously spared the worst of the first strike, were now gathering their forces to stabilize the CAC and present a united Schengen front against Jerusalem. The Republic of Japan, although it was fighting a losing battle against its southern neighbor, was determined to fight to the very end, choosing death before dishonor. And the Sinosphere, although a mess of conflicting goals and inconsistent leadership, had inflicted a major blow by destroying SVI and exposing Jerusalem to nuclear retaliation. It was clear the war would not end as easily as the Regency thought. They had written off the rest of the world as insignificant and doomed to the dustbin of history, to be swept away to make way for a glorious Christian global empire.
But just like Olga Kirova, the rest of the world would not be so easily forgotten.
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I know I said previously that I might not have time to upload this chapter this week, but some time unexpectedly cleared up today, so I decided to get this out of the way ahead of schedule. Still, it took me the entire day from 8 to 5.
A guide to the navy/army acronyms I introduce/switched over to in this chapter:
SZI = Sanzanitai, Three Mountains Defense Force
ZGLJ = Zhongguo Lujun, (Imperial) Chinese Army
ZGHJ = Zhongguo Haijun, (Imperial) Chinese Navy
PLHJ = Penglai Haijun, (Republic of) Penglai Navy
NHKR = Nippon Kyōwakoku Rikugun, Republic of Japan Army
NHKK = Nippon Kyōwakoku Kaigun, Republic of Japan Navy
DNKKR = Dai-Nippon Kokka Kaihō Rikugun, Greater Japanese National Liberation Army
DNKK = Dai-Nippon Kaihō Kaigun, Greater Japanese Liberation Navy
I spent
Speaking of maps, these are the updated screenshots and infographics I was talking about. Initially they were supposed to be in the vein of the “Jerusalem in 2038” infographic, but while working on this chapter I decided I wanted to go over the Battle of Hoang Sa in detail. Later I also expanded it to include the Mittagsland and central Japan campaigns.
The screenshots are finally cropped and edited to be more concise after probably 6 years. I don’t know why it took me this long to do it. Now these edited screenshots solve a whole lot of issues I’ve been noticing for a while. You won’t see anymore chains of 3-4 full size screenshots right after the other, or notice something in the background of a screenshot that contradicts what I intend for the story. I don’t think I’ll even have to worry about outdated text in my custom events anymore as I can just cut that out. And the best part is, I can use the freed up space for other infographics like the ones in this chapter.
For this war in particular, I made sure to keep pictures of every battle again (@EmperorofMordor, if you’re still around, you’re welcome to take a stab at tallying up total casualty rates if you want). Now, I could’ve done the same thing with Chapters 461-3 as they had yet to be uploaded when I wrote this, but I already finished writing and don’t want to rewrite them with the new structure. These new edits allow me to try a different narrative structure for this war, focusing on things happening in each area of the world instead of jumping around in chronological order. Inspiration came from @RedTemplar ’s writing style, among others, so I’d like to thank him for that.
And yes, that is Ryan Higa (of nigahiga fame). I couldn’t find any existing Ryukyuan given name for him, only his surname (Higa, of course), so I settled with making one up, Ryunosuke. The Ryukyu segment wasn’t supposed to be there, but I added it as a joke, and things spiraled out of control. Did you spot the other easter egg I snuck in there?
Sakamoto Shinzo is a reference to my Sakamoto clan from the old Under the Rising Sun iAAR, with Shinzo being the modern day epilogue character.
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A monolith of an update, showing the scope of this war. If you keep this attention to detail in Stellaris, every war-related update will be a novel.
I do plan on keeping this format for peacetime updates as well, although I'm not sure if every single war update will feature a detailed battle breakdown like this one. It's a lot of work.
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One update in and I already enjoy this new format a lot, having detailed breakdowns on spefic fronts of this war as opposed to a general summary gives these updates the opportunity to tell smaller stories that overlap with a larger narrative and makes this world feel lived in. Looking forward with where you will take this format in peacetime and peacetime.
The free world seems to be doing a better job fighting back against Jerusalem than expected if the Eimerican, African, and Pacific fronts show, all we need to see now is if this streak of resistance manages to keep up despite the overwhelming odds. Sadly it seems like the loyalists and Northern Japanese have some massive obstacles to get over if they are to survive. At the very least we can hope that Han and Zhao had some pretty big freak outs over their failures in the Pacific.
About the speeches above, it's ironic to see Jerusalem quoting an Allied speech as opposed to any Axis speech. I would've thought Gobbels' total war speech in particular would fit right in with the Commitee. Loved seeing that Navy seals copy pasta in that Ryukan section, it was funny seeing that alongside Nigahiga being an admiral. Also, might I ask where that progress report speech came from, as I remember seeing that back when you were writing the Sunrise Invasion updates for EU4?
The free world seems to be doing a better job fighting back against Jerusalem than expected if the Eimerican, African, and Pacific fronts show, all we need to see now is if this streak of resistance manages to keep up despite the overwhelming odds. Sadly it seems like the loyalists and Northern Japanese have some massive obstacles to get over if they are to survive. At the very least we can hope that Han and Zhao had some pretty big freak outs over their failures in the Pacific.
About the speeches above, it's ironic to see Jerusalem quoting an Allied speech as opposed to any Axis speech. I would've thought Gobbels' total war speech in particular would fit right in with the Commitee. Loved seeing that Navy seals copy pasta in that Ryukan section, it was funny seeing that alongside Nigahiga being an admiral. Also, might I ask where that progress report speech came from, as I remember seeing that back when you were writing the Sunrise Invasion updates for EU4?
I get way more creative freedom with this format now that I don't have to try tying everything together into a coherent global overview, and the jumps between regions aren't as jarring anymore. I love how much more detail I can add with each section.
We are only one month into the war. We have a long road ahead of us, and nothing is set in stone yet.
I chose the quote because it was something I remembered easier, people would likely be more familiar with it, and finally the irony of twisting a speech ushering in the downfall of a totalitarian regime to instead serve another totalitarian regime's propaganda (which fits Jerusalem's propaganda tactics of corrupting and twisting normally harmless or positive things into forces of hatred and evil).
The Ryukyuan segment was my favorite to write. I haven't started on Chapter 465 yet, but I expect the continuation of Higa's story will be even crazier.
The speech comes from Battiestar Galactica, specifically the movie The Plan when a Cylon reports the overwhelming success of their genoicide against humanity (not exactly a spoiler as this is the premise of the show). I think my use of it in this context fits way better than my previous use as before I had to make stuff up for each of the altepetls whereas modern nations and their defining traits are more easily recognizable.
Man that bit about the Commonwealth and the Russians working together to take the Regime down brings a tear to the eye, I still fondly recall chuckling at the antics of both countries that kept pursuing the Commonwealth Wars, now that certainly reminds me of that very heartwarming scene in Return of the King. Also that Higa Ryounske fella is a very interesting man, his videos must have been entertaining. On a more meta note, RYAN HIGA AS A FREAKING RYUKKYIAN ADMIRAL?! Holy hell that's FREAKING AWESOME! I know the AAR is continuing its tradition of having historical characters either repeat certain scenarios (Like Bismarck) to very different fates (Like Hitler, Mussolini, the rest of em) but boy this was one historical character I did not expect to see. Also that victory has to be officially canon now, it'd make things even wackier in this fourth World War, plus it's definitely the Universe trying to 'fix' Ryukyu's status as EU4's hidden badass nation. We already got cosmic entities like the worm anyway, what's a little intervention from the fabrics of the Universe itself? Besides, OTL history got its own fair share of rather absurd events that happened yet by all means could have been prevented so easily. Both China and Penglai should have won right there but in their arrogance, they snatched defeat instead. Also quite embarrassing it must be to lose to an Internet Blogger turned Admiral, now that's definitely gonna make everybody involved in that operation seethe in fury (Well the ones that lived that is). I hope Higa is immortalized when we get to the Stellaris portion, this whole battle with him taking the lead in Ryukyu's banner is just a moment of pure AWESOME. By the way what program did you use to make that Wiki box battle? I know there's a military box one but I couldn't figure out how to save one, that program's very useful for AAR purposes ngl.
I appreciate the other Worldbuilding tidbits you added, especially the one where the Japanese video game industry still managed to become relevant, even the meme culture that spawned leading up to the fourth world war. I like the format you had going here too Zen, makes for a hell of a read akin to an Encyclopedia article.
I appreciate the other Worldbuilding tidbits you added, especially the one where the Japanese video game industry still managed to become relevant, even the meme culture that spawned leading up to the fourth world war. I like the format you had going here too Zen, makes for a hell of a read akin to an Encyclopedia article.
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