Japan, Enemy of the New World

Chapter 5 - A Second Tragedy

I'm a bit concerned about whether this chapter's battle description is good enough.

- Sōsaku-ka ZERO rei

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the harbor city of Laessig, a squadron of ships of the line bearing the flag of the Leiforian Navy had gathered. The tension ran high among the members of the Ground Self-Defense Force who faced them across the sea, armed with cannons.

"This is Inugami, any progress?"

"No, sir... Other than identifying themselves as the Leiforian Navy instead of pirates, there has been no progress."

Tsuyoshi Inugami, the platoon leader of the JGSDF unit stationed in Laessig, arrived at the scene. He sought to take command and gathered information from his troops. They constituted about half of the forces currently stationed in Laessig. The JGSDF had been grappling with a chronic manpower shortage, which had depleted their numbers just to maintain control over Paganda. Their operations to maintain security and distribute food on the mainland only exacerbated the issue.

"What should we do... We can't afford to act recklessly with the Coast Guard taken hostage."

Ahead of them, Coast Guard personnel were lined up on the deck of the Leiforian Navy's warship. It seemed they were being held as hostages.

"Don't we have the SAT or someone like them? Aren't they professionals in handling situations like this?"

"They are in the capital... It will take some time for them to arrive. We have no choice but to negotiate on our own."

The Special Assault Team (SAT), professionals in hostage rescue, were operating in the capital, hence it would take a while even if they were to come by helicopter.

"...We say again, we do not seek conflict with you. Can't we resolve this through dialogue?"

"You think we can resolve this through dialogue after you fired at us?! Why did you attack us!?"

Hitoshi Jōjima, the platoon leader who had been managing the situation until Inugami's arrival, continued negotiations with the group claiming to be the Leiforian Navy. However, persuasion seemed to be difficult. He was buying time with suitable words, but the tension between the two sides was at its peak.

"Well... at least we didn't witness that. Therefore, we can't answer for their true intentions."

"Bullshit! We lost a warship and crew! This is clearly a declaration of war!"

"It's not, it's a regrettable misunderstanding! If we truly intended to declare war, we would be attacking you right now. But we're not, are we?"

"That's no proof!"

Though there was communication, it wasn't leading to negotiation. As there were no Japanese witnesses at the scene, it was hard to say anything definitive, but they claimed that the Coast Guard had fired first. It was hard to imagine the Coast Guard opening fire first without reason. If they did, it might have been in response to some provocation or intimidation.

"Commander Gylde. Let's just kill them already. Show these stubborn bastards what happens when they don't listen."

"Hold on, wouldn't that make us the villains?"

"They fired at us first! We are no villains!"

"Hey, wait, what are you doing!?"

One of the lieutenants drew a knife and pressed it against the neck of a Coast Guard member who had been captured as a prisoner.