February 13, Early Morning
North coast of Miket Tirith, Eastern part of Crossnellyard Empire
Having finished unloading all vehicles, the Juperia Continental Dispatch Force, consisting of Ground Self-Defense Force personnel and a small number of US Marines stationed in Japan, was finally poised to head inland to the capital city of Lithianburg on the same day.
Looking at the convoy of vehicles waiting impatiently for their departure, one can see not only combat vehicles such as various armored vehicles for transporting troops, self-propelled artillery, tanks, and ammunition supply vehicles, but also vehicles for transporting supplies, bridging equipment, etc., totaling 222 vehicles of various types, all of which are in their majestic appearance. Additional supplies are to be delivered by Ospreys aboard the three amphibious assault ships anchored off Miket Tirith. Many of the GSDF personnel belonging to the aviation department were to remain in the area.
"All units of the engineer unit are ready for sortie!"
"Likewise, all units of the armored unit are ready to sortie!"
Reports were delivered to Major General Takizawa, who was riding in a Type 82 command and communications vehicle, from each of the groups that made up the unit, indicating that their preparations for departure were complete. Takizawa, who had confirmed the readiness of all units, issued an order.
"Our final destination is the capital city of Lithianburg, located 890 kilometers west-northwest of here. We will cross three rivers and a forest on the way. All units, forward!"
The commander gave the order to start, and one by one, the vehicles in front of them began to move. Soon they formed a long line, and a grand march of 222 vehicles began. The citizens of Miket Tirith are watching the march of the giant serpent that shakes the earth with eyes filled with a variety of emotions.
Their destination is the capital city of Lithianburg, the ultimate goal of the landing operation, and their objective is to capture the city and secure the 27th Emperor Alphon I, the "ostensible leader" of this war, and other ministers. Once the capital is overrun, they will interrogate the leaders they have secured or search government institutions to obtain evidence that this war was instigated by a plot by the Holy Rovance Papal State.
After all is said and done, Crown Prince Jettis May Anglem, who is currently establishing a government in exile in York-Arden, the capital of the Shorteria-San Empire, makes his triumphant return to the capital and ascended the throne as the 28th Emperor of the Crossnellyard Empire, making the official peace between the two countries. This was the scenario that the Japanese government had constructed.
'The fate of this war depends on us... We will capture the capital and put an end to this war that has been going on for three months!'
Takizawa, leading his troops in the Type 82, was eager about the attack on the capital, which would probably be the last battle.
. . .
Same day
Western part of Miket Knighthood
Five hours after their departure, the scenery seen from the car window had changed drastically, with grasslands and a few trees surrounding the column as they pushed forward through the territory of the Miket Knighthood. In this serene landscape, they proceeded through the road, making a cloud of dust and smoke, using the road as a guidepost. Several drones were flying around the convoy to monitor the area, and the images taken by each drone were projected on a monitor installed in the Type 82 command vehicle.
Furthermore, five RQ-21 Blackjacks, loaned by US Navy, was flown from the Amagi to support the progress of the dispatched troops, monitoring the ground with various sensors from far above the ground. After a few minutes of advancing over the land, the first river appeared in the image of the drone flying in front of the convoy.
"The bridge has been destroyed..."
Takizawa, who was watching the video from inside the Type 82, noticed that the bridge that should have spanned the river had been dropped. It was probably a maneuver by the troops who had retreated inland during the landing operations. By dropping the bridge, they were trying to stall the Juperia Continental Dispatch Force.
"Well, it wasn't an easy bridge to cross in the first place."
Hiromi Fujii, the logistics unit commander, who was also watching the video, murmured. In this world, bridges were often unable to withstand the weight of ordinary vehicles, let alone tanks and other vehicles.
"Contact the engineer unit and have a Type 92 heavy pontoon bridge ready! ...And while we're at it, let's get lunch on the table."
The latter half of the commander's words brightened the face of Fujii, who was listening to them. The commander's order to cross the first river was then passed on to the engineering unit, which was running in front of the convoy.
. . .
Elma Riverbanks, Western part of Miket Knighthood
A few minutes later, the column that had reached the river stopped, and the engineering unit members who had received the order were working on the bridging, taking advantage of the time the others were having lunch.
"Alright, one, two, three!"
"Good, unload!"
BLAM!
The floating bridge on the back of a 7-ton truck slid down the surface of the river. At the same time as it splashes down, the floating bridge that had been folded up opened and becomes part of the bridge. Residents in the area watched with interest as the green-clad army men worked to build the bridge.
"The river is more than 60 meters wide, and the Type 07 Mobile Support Bridge can barely reach it. So we will use the Type 07MSB on the next river, and on the last river after that, we will use both the Type 91 tank bridge and the Type 07MSB."
"Yes, sir!"
Mizunomiya, the commander of the engineering unit who is in command of the bridge-building work, informed the members who will be engaged in the work of the project of the future schedule. One after another, the bridges are lowered onto the river surface, and are transported by work boats unloaded from trucks, which are then connected by the crews. One by one, the bridges were connected, until they were all in the shape of a single bridge.
After two hours, the bridging is completed, and each vehicle passed over the completed floating bridge one by one. After all vehicles had crossed, and after another two hours, Major General Takizawa confirmed that the floating bridges had been recovered, and ordered all units to advance again. Thus, the column of 222 vehicles and a contingent of nearly 3.000 personnel moved swiftly, but without haste, to Lithianburg.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Koyov Plain, Imperial Domain
While the GSDF continued to advance, Alphon's army was also taking action to intercept and defeat them. The 35.000-strong force, consisting of the Imperial Domain army that had remained in their territory and some of the Imperial Guards, received orders from Emperor Alphon I to march out to meet up with a total of 90.000 Imperial Domain Army, which had been defeated from Miket Tirith, and troops from three other regions, at the Koyov Plain, which is located within the Imperial Domain.
. . .
Night of the same day
Command tent
While the 125.000 soldiers who have just assembled on the plain after a forced march are camping out for the night, the military leaders are gathered in a single tent. The commander of the Letternken, Hosdan, and Northcairt armies, who had retreated to this place with the Imperial Domain Army led by Lasper Thurimgen, plus Lasper himself, and Widerick Ezzo, an Imperial Domain Army general who led a 35.000-strong contingent from the capital.
"Hmm... what an unceremonious way to lose. Even though we were ambushed, we still had the terrain and absolute numerical advantage in battle, but to think that we would come home defeated... It seems that the bureaucrats of the Interior Office were not capable of leading an army after all."
Widerick, a genuine military man, ridiculed Lasper, who was entrusted with command of the Miket Army and the 350.000 troops that had gathered in Miket Tirith, despite the fact that he was a civilian belonging to the Interior Office.
"Grr...!"
Lasper glared at Widerick. So did the other three. Lasper was not the only one who was offended by his words.
"You know nothing about the Japanese army's power... that's why you can talk like that!"
Siegley Ascanin, the leader of the Hosdan Army, refuted Widerick's words. Widerick, however, sneered and replied.
"I hear that in naval and aerial battles, the Japanese forces are indeed very strong. However, in land battles, I have heard of no such achievements. If you were calm and lead properly, you could have won that battle!"
"What did you say!?"
Moritz Elbatin, the commander of the Northcairt Army, glowered at Widerick's theory, which could be called optimistic.
"........."
Silence fell. The atmosphere at the meeting was becoming increasingly tense, and Tizero Schouten, commander of the Letternken Army, who remained silent, provided his comment.
"There is no time for quarreling among the army! The enemy is closing in on us!"
Tizero's words made three of the four men, Siegley, Moritz, and Lasper, who had been enraged, calmed down. However, Widerick still showed no sign of admitting his fault. With an air of uneasiness, the meeting of the leaders began to discuss the main question of how to deal with the enemy.
"I have placed several troops at several points on the road where they are likely to pursue us. I ordered them to reconnoiter the enemy's movements and, if possible, surprise them. According to the reports, the enemy is coming this way on nearly 200 self-moving carriages and guns. We dropped several bridges on our way back here, which should buy us a lot of time. In the meantime, we need to make a plan..."
Lasper relayed reports from the platoons monitoring the Japanese forces. Widerick, who had heard the reports, looked confident.
"We can meet them here on the Koyov Plain. We will show them that we can defeat them in no time with our superiority in numbers."
"!?"
In contrast to Widerick's smiling face, the other four were so shocked by his proposal that their eyeballs nearly popped out of their sockets.
"We can't afford to be caught in the middle of an enemy air strike! Staying in these open plains is dangerous to begin with!"
Moritz emphasized to Widerick how reckless the proposal was as he climbed onto the table. Widerick, who had been so intimidated by Moritz's anger that he had dismissed his own proposal out of hand, responded with a furrowed brow.
"What then? The area east of the capital is generally a tranquil plain... There is no terrain where we can launch an effective surprise attack, such as canyons or mountains... We'll have to take them on the plains, after all."
Hearing his words, Tizero took out a map showing the terrain and began to explain his idea to Widerick in order to get him to retract his plan.
"So here's what we'll do. From Miket Tirith to the capital, there is only one big forest to pass through. This is the Mesto Forest in the Imperial Domain. The soldiers are hidden on both sides of the road that runs through this forest, and when the enemy convoy enters the forest, they will launch a surprise pincer attack at once. The enemy's line is long. Perhaps it would be better to deploy all the soldiers. As long as we can get close enough, the enemy's guns, which boast a long range, and our guns, which have a shorter range, are no different. This should give us the advantage of overwhelming numbers."
"I see..."
Lasper nodded his head and put his hand on his chin in response to Tizero's suggestion. Moritz, on the other hand, raised a concern.
"But the enemy will use their metal birds and insects that fly in the sky, right? Wouldn't they be able to detect us from the sky even if we tried to surprise them?"
"To avoid this surveillance from above, we hide in the forest. It would be impossible for them to find us hiding in the forest through the leaves and branches of the trees that cover the land, no matter what," Tizero replied.
But without a pause, Widerick raised a further concern.
"What about the dragon riders? We have about forty of them with us... but they won't be able to do much good in a battle in the woods."
"I think we should attack the enemy columns and self-moving carriages on the road, so the foliage won't get in the way."
Again, Tizero responded. Widerick's expression was one of reluctant acceptance. The strategy meeting to intercept the Japanese continued. As the meeting was coming to an end, a soldier appeared out of breath in the tent where this command post was located. With his left knee on the ground, the soldier relayed a report from a scouting party stationed on the road.
"Reporting! The enemy have built a new bridge and crossed the Elma River in about two hours!"
"!!"
The soldier's report sent a shock through the minds of the five men.
"I guess that didn't buy us any time... we have to move our troops as soon as possible!"
Upon hearing the report, Tizero stood up and gave the order to the messenger.
"Inform the entire army! At dawn the next day, we will head to 40 leagues (28 km) west-northwest to the Mesto Forest!"
Widerick, one of the members of the command unit, stood up and objected to his words and actions.
"Wait a minute, why are you taking command of the entire army on your own? At least the soldiers of the Imperial Domain Army are under my command!"
Widerick, an Imperial Domain Army general, did not like Tizero's attitude of acting like a commander-in-chief, even though he was the commander of a local army, and was repulsed by the fact that he gave orders to the entire army. Tizero, however, was not offended and replied in a dignified manner.
"It was I who initiated this operation, and you agreed to it. Then I, as the initiator of this operation, am delegated the command of this operation!"
"...! Tch!"
Widerick clicked his tongue as he looked away. But he said nothing. Seeing Widerick conceding, the other three, who had been watching the argument between him and Tizero from the corner of their eyes, looked relieved.
Later, at dawn, a total of 125.000 soldiers from the four regional armies under the current emperor camped out on the Koyov Plain. At dawn, they marched into the Mesto Forest, which was positioned by the command center as the site of the decisive battle.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Next day
Off the coast of Miket Tirith
As the two armies were about to clash, on the Central Ocean, the sea between the Juperia and Wirenia Continents, several delegations sent to the Shorteria-San Empire and the Crossnellyard Empire in exile, namely the former Crown Prince Jettis May Anglem, his wife, Levicca Hoelzerer Anglem, and Theopha Rae Anglem, were on board the JMSDF destroyer Kaga, which was headed for Miket Tirith.
After the landing operation, the US Marines and JGSDF personnel who remained in the city without participating in the attack on the capital, as well as the Miket Army soldiers who returned under their regular masters, had been capturing the defeated soldiers who had fled into the city, but since this was almost completed and security in the city showed a significant recovery trend, the government in exile was to be moved to this area.
. . .
Kaga Bridge
The captain of the Kaga, Daijiro Soriya, and the other members of the crew gathered on the bridge were looking out the window at the huge continent spreading out before them. Among them are two figures, a man and a woman, dressed in clothing that are clearly out of place.
"That's deeply moving..."
"Yes..."
Jettis looked out the bridge window at his homeland, and his wife, Levicca, nodded in agreement. It had been almost three months since they had returned to the Juperia Continent, and as they gazed upon their homeland for the first time in three months, something burning was lit up in their hearts.
. . .
Kaga Living Quarters
"We will soon arrive at our destination, the port of Miket Tirith."
An announcement from the CIC echoed throughout the ship. The members of the Japanese delegation in the living quarters were relieved to hear the announcement.
"We're finally here! It's been a while, too."
Touji Higashisuzu, the Foreign Ministry's Administrative Vice Minister serving as the delegation's representative, muttered to himself. The delegation had to travel long distances, first from Japan to Shorteria and then from Shorteria to Miket Tirith, one after the other by the order of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and their fatigue was considerable.
Among the delegation were two civilians: Keiichi Godo, an infectious disease physician who is the current doctor of Princess Theopha, who is suffering from AIDS, and Tomokazu Shibata, a former JMSDF medical officer and a neurosurgeon who served as the princess' attending physician at Lithianburg Red Cross Hospital, where he later worked. Based on the maintenance of the princess' health condition, who was suffering from AIDS, and her own wish, they were hired by the Foreign Ministry to accompany the delegation, as they were familiar with her medical condition.
'After three months... I wonder if Kanzaki and the other members of the AIDS Investigation Team are all right?'
Shibata, one of the two doctors, was worried about his colleague, whom he had left behind on the continent when he escaped from the capital at the beginning of the war three months earlier. The Northern AIDS Investigation Team was hastily organized at the request of the Japanese government to investigate HIV/AIDS in this world. Headed by Shiro Kanzaki, a general physician, and consisting of five medical staff and ten GSDF personnel, a total of fifteen people, they were to investigate six days before November 5, 2029, the day the war between Japan and the Crossnellyard Empire began on October 31, leaving for the Margraviate of Seannut, which was believed to be the site of the HIV outbreak.
Later, war was declared by Emperor Alphon I, and the 35 members of the Red Cross Hospital doctors who remained in the capital succeeded in escaping the country together with Princess Theopha, but the survey team that had left for Seannut could not be contacted, and their safety remained unknown.
"...Are you worried about Kanzaki-sensei and the others?"
Godo, who was lying next to Shibata on the bunk on which Shibata was sitting, guessed what Shibata was thinking as if he could see into his mind. Kanzaki and Godo, both doctors belonging to the Japanese Red Cross Society, had worked at the same hospital before Kanzaki was sent to Lithianburg, so they were acquainted with each other. Naturally, they have known each other longer than Shibata, who is a newcomer.
"I'm sure he'll be fine. He's got a lot of bad luck... hahahaha!"
Godo laughed it off. However, his smile was a little off. The five medical staff members, including Kanzaki, and their escort, the 10 GSDF members, the 15 of them left behind on the continent for three months. Shibata was naturally not the only one concerned.
An hour later, the Kaga arrived at the port of Miket Tirith. Thus, for the first time in three months, the members of the government-in-exile, who claimed to be the legitimate emperor of the Crossnellyard Empire, stepped onto the soil of their homeland. Their return was greeted with cheers and jubilation by the citizens of Miket Tirith and the members of the Integument Family, the rulers of Miket Knighthood.