Crackle.
[…Crackle. This is the operations staff at Landing Force Headquarters. Colonel Jaeger?]
“Transmitting. As of this moment, this brigade has completed its landing. We have crushed the enemy’s first defensive line and secured the bridgehead as scheduled. The armored battalion has also completed disembarkation and is transitioning to a strongpoint defense network.”
For a moment, silence fell on the other side of the radio. Then came the sound of a pile of papers collapsing, followed by a string of curses.
[Wh-what are you saying, Colonel Jaeger! You’ve already broken through the defensive line? Is your unit intact?]
“At present, this brigade’s casualty rate is under 2% compared to its initial establishment. By tomorrow morning, we will be ready to project firepower into adjacent sectors.”
[…Two percent? Not twenty percent, but two…? This is madness. And you’re saying you can support the other sectors as well? The other areas are beyond chaos right now!]
His voice was somewhat agitated. The staff officer on the other end of the radio spoke for a long while in a tone of disbelief before finally regaining his senses.
[Very well, Colonel. You will personally control the bridgehead in that sector. From this moment on, the actions of the 207th Brigade are entirely entrusted to you. This is also the will of the commander of the landing force.]
“I will carry out my orders.”
[…May glory be with you and the Empire.]
Click. The transmission cut off. I set down the handset and took the canteen Hannah handed me. As the cold water ran down my burning throat, I finally felt like I could breathe a little.
‘So far, it’s going smoothly.’
It certainly was. My cheat ability had displayed its power in the landing operation without the slightest restraint, and the joint assault by the air force and the brigade had been exceedingly powerful.
The coastal bridgehead secured in that way was wide enough and stable enough. Now all that remained was to wait for the follow-up landing troops, then advance.
But all this success was only a tiny part of the enormous landing operation.
‘I need to look at the whole board.’
I closed the cap of the canteen and stared at the [minimap]. I zoomed the screen out and spread it as wide as possible.
The southern coast of Victoria was, quite literally, a scene of carnage. Green dots and red dots were tangled together like swarms of ants. Aside from my sector, the situation everywhere else was dreadful.
Far away on the eastern beach.
I could see several landing craft evaporate under a hail of enemy fire. The green dots approaching the sea flickered a few times, then turned gray and vanished.
Elsewhere, green dots clustered along the shore as if barely clinging to it were being helplessly erased, trapped in the crossfire of red dots positioned on high ground after choosing the wrong landing point.
There were also units whose communications networks had been completely smashed. Transport ships had arrived at the wrong beaches, and the troops who disembarked there were left suspended as wandering stragglers, unable to head for the battlefield or return to the sea.
The most desperate place was deep in the rear. The hinterland.
The Imperial airborne forces seemed to be putting up a good fight as they swiftly seized key enemy positions, but now they were surrounded by red dots closing in from every direction in layer upon layer, and their numbers were steadily shrinking. Their annihilation was as clear as day.
‘It’s hell.’
The entire southern coast of Victoria had become one gigantic meat grinder. Thousands of lives were being ground away in real time even at this very moment.
Even so, what I had to do was already decided.
“Brigade Commander. The command boat has docked. We are ready to disembark.”
Major Helga said. I unfastened the buckle of my pistol holster and tightened the strap of my helmet.
“…Let’s go.”
Creeeeak—bang!
The command boat’s ramp dropped, and I stepped into the seawater. Beneath the soles of my military boots, I felt wet sand being crushed underfoot.
And so, the first phase of the landing battle was complete.
*
Around the time the Jaeger Brigade successfully secured its bridgehead and the Imperial Army began to secure its landing zones to some extent.
Far out at sea.
The waters where the Imperial Navy and the government-in-exile fleet had taken up position were uncannily calm.
And on the bridge of the allied fleet’s flagship, the battleship Vittelmark, a different sort of tension from that on land was flowing.
“Bearing 0-1-0, floating object detected! Assessed to be simple debris!”
“Transport convoy in Sector Five reports docking complete!”
“Standing by to maintain air superiority. The fighter wing reports 60% fuel remaining!”
Dozens of noncommissioned officers and officers moved ceaselessly inside the bridge. Voices running through brass tubes, the vibrations produced by moving hydraulic equipment, and the steady mechanical sounds blended together strangely.
And at the center of the bridge, before a massive nautical chart, two generals stood with grave expressions, staring at the northern sea.
“…Admiral William, you were right. Those bastards never intended to offer up their necks quietly.”
Admiral Rützel, commander-in-chief of the allied fleet, said.
Instead of answering, Admiral William raised his binoculars and examined the northeastern waters, where sea fog lay thick. Nothing was visible to the naked eye, but his long years of experience were warning him.
“…They are coming.”
“I thought they had turned into heaps of scrap metal in port, but they’ve crawled out to sea after all.”
Rützel clicked his tongue, but continued speaking.
“But they have made a tremendous misjudgment. If they knew how much effort our Imperial Navy put into this operation, they would never have dared such reckless bravado.”
The enemy’s main fleet hidden in the northern harbor of Victoria Island. And their movement south the moment the landing began.
It was certainly a threatening move, but all of it was within the Imperial Navy’s expectations.
“All ships, assume Battle Readiness Condition Two. Rudder angle fifteen degrees to port, shift formation to line ahead. The moment the enemy fleet emerges from the sea fog, seize the crossbar of the T so that they enter our main battery range.”
Rützel spoke to the messenger. At once, the order became a wave and spread across the entire theater.
“Flagship transmission! All ships, battle stations!”
“First Squadron, increase speed to twenty knots! Maintain intervals!”
The fleet began to move organically. Battleships of tens of thousands of tons moved across the formation, and the destroyers on the outer perimeter surged toward the horizon first, securing space.
The radio transmission reached the sky as well.
[This is Second Air Corps Command. All bomber formations are to temporarily suspend ground support missions and shift to anti-ship attack formation. The target is the main body of the enemy fleet entering from the northeast.]
The static of the long-range communications net also reached the ears of Max Jaeger, who was driving the soldiers on the landing beach.
[…Crackle, notice to all units. Decisive naval engagement imminent. Each brigade is to secure its bridgehead and prepare for the enemy’s ground counterattack. I repeat, decisive naval engagement imminent.]
Max brushed off the wet sand and looked out to the distant sea. The calm before the storm. The wind was still, and the sea was quiet. The sight of the enemy ceasing their attack brought an intense sense of wrongness.
“Did you hear that, Colonel? It seems a naval battle is about to break out. Shall we reinforce our defensive posture?”
Hannah approached and asked.
“Of course. Everyone, dig individual foxholes at your current positions and strengthen vigilance. Engineers, increase work speed immediately.”
With even close air support now all diverted toward the navy, dealing with the enemy starting tomorrow morning would become far more troublesome. We had to prepare thoroughly.
“Colonel! The western defensive line work is complete!”
As we spent some time thoroughly reinforcing the defensive line.
Flash—
Beyond the horizon, a brilliant white light flashed for an instant. It was a glare like lightning striking from a clear sky.
“…!”
Max, who had been inspecting the trench construction site, and Frederica and Seraphina beside him all turned their heads toward the distant sea at the same time.
Rumbleeeee—!
The vibration arrived a beat late. The sandy beach beneath their feet trembled finely, and the seawater rippled in time with the shock. A deep, low roar shook the sky.
The soldiers nearby swallowed dryly, and Hannah closed her eyes to sense the energy.
“…An incredible, incredible force. Not mana, but purely gunpowder and steel alone…”
This was the beginning.
Beyond the horizon, flashes of light began bursting ceaselessly.
Bzzzt—crackle—!
Fragmented screams and transmissions. Radio static burst out without pause.
[…Maintain rudder angle! We’ve been bracketed! Report damage!]
[This is Eagle Four! Entering airspace above the enemy lead battleship. Commencing torpedo attack!]
[Fire in the ammunition magazine! Seal the bulkheads! I repeat, seal the bulkheads in Section One!]
Wooooong—! Shweeeeeek—!
The bombers that had occasionally been visible in the sky now completely abandoned covering the army and turned their noses toward the distant sea.
The scale of the navy lay completely outside the army’s common sense. As if a battle between gods in the heavens were about to unfold, the sea that had become its stage began to surge violently.
Each time a battleship fired, the entire horizon was dyed red, and the sound of steel shells tearing through the air struck this place dozens of miles away.
Kwaaaaang—!
The naval battle had begun.
*
Back to the allied fleet flagship, the Vittelmark.
A short time before the naval battle broke out.
“Enemy fleet confirmed emerging from sea fog! Eleven o’clock!”
At the lookout’s shout, every gaze on the bridge turned toward the windows.
However, to the naked eye, all they could make out were silhouettes wavering over the waves.
Admiral Rützel did not panic. After all, naval battles were not fought with the eyes alone.
“Radar range, twenty-four thousand! Enemy lead identified as a battleship!”
“Speed twenty-two knots! Bearing unchanged! Still coming!”
The detection officer’s reports continued.
“Optical sight confirms enemy silhouette! Armor plate markers confirmed!”
Radar and optical equipment completed their cross-verification, confirming the enemy’s presence.
Soon, as though the sea breeze had washed the fog away, the red fleet revealed itself in full.
A great fleet boasting the majesty of what had once been the “nation on which the sun never set.” It bore crude red markings and flew red flags emblazoned with the hammer and sickle.
And thus.
In the wide-open strait, in the middle of the calm sea.
The Empire’s Iron Cross, the government-in-exile’s White Ensign, and the red flags of the Red bastards fluttered in the sea wind.
The main forces of both sides had gathered in one place.