Japan Space-Time Strange Chronicles

Give Me a Shade... I Mean, Umbrella!!

This will be the month's post.

This is a meeting of mainly ministers who will decide what will happen in the future.

- Kazuhiro Kasami

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February 27, 2032

Japan, Tokyo, Prime Minister's Office

On this day, the Prime Minister's Office was receiving a report from the Ministry of Defense regarding the Second Battle of Philip Island that occurred yesterday in the Waspaniat Kingdom. In addition to the cabinet ministers, senior officials from various ministries and agencies were present at the meeting. The Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries and the Ministry of Land, Transport, and Tourism are no longer considered irrelevant to military intelligence in the new world.

In addition to the shortage of personnel, the government has not been able to keep up with the development of laws and regulations and the export of weapons, and although the overall economy in Japan is improving, there is no room to spare anywhere. In a situation like this, wars were breaking out again and again, leaving no room to relax.

People, including ministry officials with haggard faces, were waiting for a report from a senior Defense Ministry official. Said official stood in front of everyone and operated a projector to display a screen.

"Shortly after 14 o'clock yesterday, a Maritime Self-Defense Force reconnaissance aircraft detected the enemy fleet. As expected, it was heading for the Waspaniat Kingdom's territory of Philip Island... or the Philippines, as we know it in the old world. The total number of enemy vessels in the fleet is believed to have been 124, including landing crafts."

Considering the level of technology in the late Meiji and Taishō eras, the sheer number of ships in the fleet caused the ministers to exclaim in amazement. It was only natural since even the Baltic Fleet at the time of the Russo-Japanese War had less than 100 ships, including supply ships. It seemed that the Yi Empire is capable of producing more weapons than expected.

The Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology, who is also reasonably knowledgeable in the field of technology, gulped.

At the very least, in the history of the Earth, there has rarely been a fleet of more than 100 modern naval vessels. The Yetisk Empire, which is believed to be as powerful as the Soviet Union at the beginning of the Cold War in the old world, is even stronger than this, so if they were to engage in hostilities, it would likely be a prolonged war, if not a bitter one. Even an attack by anti-ship missiles could be somewhat intercepted by anti-air missiles, which would give an idea of their capabilities.

The ministers were reminded of the unthinkable on Earth by the sheer scale of an attack by a country with such capabilities on the territory of an opponent with a large area of territory under its control, which could be called a country in scale. As the ministers looked on, the Defense Ministry senior official continued.

"The RQ-3, an unmanned reconnaissance and warning aircraft, was launched from the destroyer Katsuragi of the 4th Escort Group, and during a warning by the RQ-3, it confirmed that this fleet fired anti-air guns in response, which was the signal to attack."

The ministers sighed.

It seemed that the denizens of this world are either extremely belligerent or pacifist, depending on their race. Although the antmen and bee-people are hailing from two closely related species (both belonging to the Hymenoptera order), their personalities are too different from each other by a wide margin.