Central Calendar August 8, 1639
Kingdom of Altaras, 0900 hours
With the destruction of the Altaras Royal Navy, the people in the garrisons are on edge. Many sets of eyes are peeled on the horizon, where the Parpaldian fleet would appear.
Wyvern flights are grounded as the Altaras wished to not lose any of them to Parpaldian aircraft during recon flights.
It was around 0900 hours local time that the Parpaldian Navy first entered view. Far out of range of the antiquated coastal batteries, the Altaras garrisons could only watch as the enemy approached the coast. The Royal Altaras Air Force was called, requesting immediate air support.
Finally, as they entered range, the antiquated batteries opened fire. Unfortunately, due to poor accuracy, all that happened was splashes. Troops hastily reloaded the large muzzle-loaded cannon and fired again, missing all their shots except one, whose well-built Parpaldian hull was capable of protecting her.
It was at this moment that the garrisons saw the Parpaldian aircraft flew over, circling the Altaras coastal batteries. Several soldiers tried shooting down the aircraft with their breech-loading rifles, but were unable to do so.
Then the Parpaldian ships fired, barely missing the coastal batteries. It was now clear what some of those planes are doing: they are directing naval artillery onto the location of the guns.
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Knight-Captain Zaram was thrilled that the aircraft that were circling the coastal batteries were merely scout planes. By the looks of things, they weren't even armed.
Zaram ordered his air wing to dive on the planes. They were nothing more than easy targets for him. Coming down with the sun behind their backs, it is unlikely that the enemy would be able to see them clearly. As he got closed, he willed his wyvern to form a fireball. He then launched it at the small aircraft. With the wyvern guiding the fireball to the aircraft, it scored a direct ht, setting the wood and canvas construction on fire.
Then he felt something whiz by, a lot of somethings, and then he heard the distinctive noise of gunshots.
Looking up, Zaram saw aircraft diving down on him. He realized, too late, that the scout and artillery spotting planes were also bait, so his wyverns would drop their potential altitude advantage, giving the Parpladians the advantage. Some of Leuthar's wingmen went down, no doubt being hit by Parpaldian bullets.
Zaram did a hard bank to the right, losing as much speed as possible, hoping that the Parpaldians would conpress, overshoot and fly in front of his wyvern. He wills his wyvern to prepare another fireball. Surprisngly, the Parpaldian pilot managed to pull up before overshooting.
Zaram pulled up after the aircraft, but then he heard his wyvern shriek before flying in an out-of-control manner. He turned his head to see that his wyvern was bleeding from the wings, there were lots of bullet wounds.
Zaram closed his eyes, accepting his fate as he plummeted towards the ground.
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King Taaras XIV could see the warships blowing up the coastal batteries from his palace. However, there was something very odd about it: where are the troops?
The Parpaldians had essentially knocked out all the coastal batteries, so...where are the troops that were supposed to land and secure a beachhead?
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Southwest of Le Brias, Kingdom of Altaras
Parpaldian troops landed on the shores of Altaras unopposed. There the area was undefended, perfect for disembarking.
Upon doing so, the engineers started using sandbags to fortify the landing point. Gatlings are wheeled out and deployed. Army Captain Bafram had no idea what kind of resistance the Altaras Royal Army would put up. He had about 2000 on this shore. 2000 more would be landing on the other side. Together, they will cut off Le Brias from the rest of the kingdom.
Just then, a bunch of people showed up, they didn't seem military, but some soldier fired their rifle, resulting in some others following him. After the chaos, it was revealed that those people were civilians, not even armed with a gunpowder weapon. As for the things they were carrying, they just seemed like personal belongings. Then it dawned on him. They were a family of five trying to flee Le Brias.
"You idiots shot a bunch of civilians trying to flee Le Brias, you imbeciles!" yelled Bafram at his men.
"'Civilians? You mean barbarians? It's just good target practice,'" some soldier said back.
It's hopeless, might as well let it slide from now on to keep morale high, thought Bafram, sensing that the majority would shoot civilians anyway.
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Le Brias, Kingdom of Altaras
"'Your majesty, there are reports of enemy troops south of Le Brias!'"
"South of Le Brias? Shit, they landed there?"
King Laara XIV knew what the Parpaldian plan was in an instant. They plan to cut the city off from the rest of Altaras, forcing them to surrender.
"S- send the troops out immediately, we must repel them!"
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Central Calendar August 9, 1639
South East of Le Brias, Kingdom of Altaras, 0700 hours
The Imperial Parpaldian army has already already dug trenches and ut up sandbag walls.
Altaras troops started appearing at the horizon. 8000 men were sent to face the Parpaldians. They were arrayed in line infantry formations. Despite having more modern breech-loading firearms, they still have not fully updated their tactics.
Army commmander Johann rode on horseback, watching as his line infantry slowly approached the Parpaldian position. They outnumber the enemy three to one. And yet, something bugs him. The Parpaldians are fighting this very passively, which is not what he was expecting at all.
BOOOM!
An explosion occured near the ranks, not killing anyone, but enough to cause panic among the ranks. Regardless, the troops continued marching forward. Another explosion happened directly.on the rank, scattering and killing many.
"THEY HAVE FIELD ARTILLERY! ALL MEN CHARGE THEM, WE WILL WIN WIH NUMBERS ALONE!"
With that order, the Altaras troops enter a bayonet charge. Standing still and shooting will kill them all quickly. At roughly 450 meters, the Parpaldians loosed everything they had.
"Fuck! Those bastards could fire so quickly!"
The Altaras men fell. Their unmodernized tactics and outdated equipment and lack of artillery support no match for the grossly superior firepower of the Parpaldians. In total, close to 7000 were killed in exchange for 40 dead and 80 injured. There was no battle, it was a total massacre.
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Army Captain Bafram was sickened by this "battle". Thousands of enemy combatants lay dead or dying. It was neither glorious nor honorable. However, he maintained his cold stance, as his men mostly do not share his sentiment. For most of them, killing barbarians is fine.
With their intel stating that the Altaras only having 17000 men, it is assumed that half the enemy's army is gone. With that, they start moving out to regroup with the other 2000 that landed.
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Le Brias, Kingdom of Altaras
King Taara XIV almost had a heart attack. With the army he sent south annihilated, the road towards the capital lay wide open. He only has about a few hundred soldiers left in the capital. While there are enough outdated equipment to create militias, morale was at an all-time low.
King Taara XIV realized that there was no winning this, the only thing left to do is to cause as much casualties as possible. In front of the army messengers, he tore off the Royal Regalia, instead putting on a simple soldier's tunic.
"'Y- Your majesty!'" the messenger cried.
"The enemy is at the gates and I am still alive. We need all hands on deck. Retrieve every bit of equipment that could be used as a weapon and hand them to whoever is willing to fight. We will kill as many Parpaldians as possible, move as many people into the inner city, we need the manpower."
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Le Brias, Kingdom of Altaras
The people living in the southern part of Le Brias woke up to explosions occuring throughout the city. The Parpaldians had began shelling the city of Le Brias. Many people begin to flee inwards, to the heart of the city.
King Taara XIV watched as his men handed out old equipment to anyone who is willing to fight the Parpaldians. Barricades and barriers are set up on the streets. He didn't like his chances, but there was nothing else he could do.
It was at this moment that the prime minister of Altaras approached him. King Taara XIV expected him to bow down and address him as he usually does. However, he pulled out an old breech-loading pistol.
The soldiers around him aimed their guns at him as well.
"Wh-what is the meaning of this?" King Taara XIV asked.
"'Our army, navy and air force have been defeated, and yet you wish to fight to the bitter end. This ends now," said the prime minister.
King Taara XIV was surprised. He wasn't expecting this timid man to be the traitor.
"Oh, you're going to hand me to the Parpaldians eh? Tell me...who is going to rule now? You?"
"'As a reward for handing you over, of course. They will spare me and the people of Le Brias after I hand you over.'"
King Taara XIV was surprised somebody so dumb could ever exist.
"The Parpaldians never made such an offer! You think they are the Americans? They don't show mercy to defeated fo-"
King Taara XIV could not even finish his sentence as he was gagged. The last few Altaras troops escorted him out to the Parpaldians, waving a surrender flag.
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Imperial Parpaldian Fleet, North of Le Brias
Army General Rejak heard news of the last few Altaras soldiers surrendering to their men. They even brought the king along. How ever, new orders were to "decimate the population of Le Brias", and he wasn't willing to disobey orders, unless he wants to get fired.
He then walks up to the magic comms and informs the Parpaldian troops in Le Brias to "accept their surrender" and then "slaughter one tenth of the population still remaining in Le Brias".
Rejak had tried to convince the higher ups that they need men for the mines, but instead, they just ordered him to shut up and mentioned importing labour without going into details. That is, however, none of his business.
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There was no mercy. The Parpaldian troops brutally massacred one tenth of the population of Le Brias along with the entire royal family still residing in Le Brias. Buildings and monuments that were centuries old were razed to the ground. By the end of the day, there wasn't much of Le Brias left standing. People, regardless of male or female, young or old were slaughtered.
The prime minister and his men that surrendered the king did not get a reward either. They were the first to be killed. After this, the Altaras Trade Company would gain full control over the nation's policies. Essentially making it land directly ruled by a company.
Princess Lumies sailed south in the disguised ship. She and her servants used their money to settle down in New Washington under the guise of a wealthy trader fleeing a devastated nation.
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Central Calendar August 13, 1639
Saqqara, State of Abydos, United States of America
The Great Rodenius desert used to be considered the greatest curse for the people of Abydos. However, this is no longer the case.
With clear skies all year round and no clouds, it is now their biggest blessing. The Americans(the original ones) set up these things called "solar panels", which somehow harness the energy of the sun to provide something the Americans call "electricity", which allowed some very useful but weird contraptions to work. They will also be setting up a more advanced sewage system, though that will take a while to set up.
Unfortunately, taxes did not disappear. Most people expected that. No matter how benevolent an overlord is, only death and taxes are eternal.
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Some small manufactury, New Washington, United States of America
Inside a warehouse, the men are just finished setting up the tools for a new gun manufactory. It isn't a large scale factory like what the government wanted, but rather just a small scale manufactory.
If all goes right, they will begin hiring workers to start production soon. It will take training, but it is necessary. The government will need to be able to arm potential new troops hired from the local populace, and so more weapons would be needed.
However, due to the conditions present, they are forced to downgrade into absurdity. Due to the limited manufacturing equipment and definitely poor worker skills, they will need something far more...basic. Something...old and simple. It is even suggested that they start doing the reverse of the Chinese in the late 20th century, manufacturing something even they could do. It is the idea of the government to arm the troops hired from the local populace with extremely basic assault rifles. They would be gas-operated with a rotating bolt and have a stamped receiver. The only difference between that and older Russian designs would be using 5.56 rounds.
It is very humiliating, but that's what they have to accept now if they even want enough weapons for their potential new troops. Besides, they have all the documents they need for such a design, so not much R&D is needed. Likewise, the design is so simple that even some Afghan child from Khyber Pass could manufacture it.
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Central Calendar August 23, 1639
150km North of the Northern Port of Jin Hark
Leeta looked out towards the vast blue ocean. If she were to be honest, she absolutely hated the ocean. The journey had only taken so long due to lack of wind. This season isn't the best for long distance travel through this region. And since the ships steam engine could only get them so far, their 2 week journey became an absolutely long journey.
Leeta's eyes start fixating on something on the horizon. She couldn't make out what it was a first, but it got larger and larger, then it struck her: they were ships. They got closer and closer. The ships flew a merchant flag, but the crew of the ship seemed to be eying their ship.
The captain told Leeta to head below decks, into the citadel, just to be safe. Apparently the captain thought they were going to be pirates for some reason, which would be ludicrous, no pirate would be dumb enough to go one-on-one with any naval warship. That is, until she saw a fleet of them coming for their ship
"Wow...these idiots really want to try it," said Leeta.
Just before she could go hide below decks, a very loud noise was heard. The pirates seemed to immediately freak out and started scattering. Their ships started turning away and attempting to run.
Looking above, Leeta saw the weirdest thing she had ever seen in her entire life: it was a large aircraft, it looked like a dragonfly made of metal. At one point it was almost hovering still in one spot, with the propellors on the wingz pointed upwards. Not long later, its propellorz and wings tilted forward and the aircraft started moving forwards.
Leeta started feeling her world view shatter. She couldn't comprehend how something like this could appear outside civilized areas. But one thing is for sure: she can't even call the Americans barbarians anymore.
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Onboard the USS Farragut
Captain Charles Kirk did not enjoy having his destroyer deployed all the way out here. But the government decided that they wanted to scare the pirates away with overwhelming force, so his ship gets deployed all the way here.
Reports from the Vertibird today were very interesting however. They have apparently ran into a casemate ironclad, something they didn't think existed in this world yet. The ship bears a flag that was foreign to the Americans. However, that is still a heavily-armed warship sailing towards Jin-Hark. He preferred not to start a war by sinking the ironclad outright. Instead, he ordered an intercept course.
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Not very long later
Leeta watched as a large ship started appearing in the distance. Onboard flew a flag with red and white stripes and a box with stars in it, a flag which matches the description of the flag of the United States.
"So much for gunboat diplomacy," uttered Leeta under her breath.
She wasn't wrong. The Empire had sent this warship partially to attempt to intimidate the Americans. However, seeing the warship ahead of them, it was the crew of the Parpaldian warship that got intimidated.
The American ship pulled up alongside the Parpaldian warship. Then, a loud voice was heard coming from the american ship.
{{ Unidentified warship, this is the USS Farragut of the United States Navy. Please indentify youself. }}
Leeta grabbed the loudspeaker from the captain. She is worried that the ships crew would accidentally provoking the American ship into sinking their ship. Even though the enemy ship only had one gun, it seemed too comically large for her to want to take the risk.
{ This is the Magenta of the Imperial Parpaldian Navy. I am Leeta from the Third Foreign Affairs Office, we are here because the Great Empire of Parpaldia wishes to initiate contact. }
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Kirk could not believe what he was hearing. Is gunboat deplomacy the norm in this world? It wasn't as if it worked though. The USS Farragut could easily sink such a vessel. Not wanting to start a war on accident, he instead requested advice from the higher-ups.
He wasn't 100 percent surprised when they ordered them to lead the ship to New Washington. This could be their gateway to understanding this weird world they find themselves in. If they try anything funny, there will be more than enough firepower to reduce them to ash.
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Leeta could not help but admire the elegance of the American ship as they sailed alomg. It was far more advanced than anything the Empire could come up with, it was closer to Mu, or even ahead of them in some ways.
The Americans had signaled them to follow their ship. Even of the Magenta had full sails, it is clear that the ship, USS Farragut could easily outpace the Magenta.
This made Leeta very uncomfortable. This isn't the type of job she is used to. This isn't even supposed to be a job for the Third Foreign Affairs Office, and yet, she has her orders, and she will get it done.
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New Mariposa Naval Base, New Washington, United States of America. 2100 hours
Leeta could hardly believe her eyes. She had arrived at night, and yet the area was extremely well lit. It wasn't like the gaslights of Esthirant. The naval base wasn't the largest, but the ships docked were...extremely scary. There was another ships just like the USS Farragut and two larger ships there.
The larger ships stood out to her. There was one monstrously huge warship, approaching Mu battleship levels of size. It had only one frontally mounted twin turret. But even with her untrained eye, she could tell there were more weapons than that. Amid ships there were two box like things that were mounted like a swivel gun. Even if she didn't understand what they were, they were clearly weapons. There were also quite a number of smaller turreted weapons. However, instead of cannons, they reminded her of larger gatlings.
There was something even scarier of course: their carrier. It was an absolute behemoth of a vessel. Neither the carriers of Mu nor the carriers of the Holy Milishial Empire could rival this. She found herself feeling...an unexplainable sense of dread towards these Americans.
Leeta could only feel glad as there was but a remnant of this monster here. However, she sensed that the remnants of this once mighty nation could somehow prove useful to the Empire in the future, and that the amount of reports she would have to write to give an accurate picture of the Americans to the authorities might drive her insane.