1912-1990 Era War IC (Semi-Closed)

[Crimetopolis]

DELETED

[The Traansval]

Somewhere in northern Aegyptus, The Traansval
Sometime in the past…

Heinrich Johannes slipped his feet out of the stirrups and planted them on the saddle, holding an odd crouched position. With his shotgun slung on his back, he guided the horse along the tracks. Bullet whistled by, destined for the men of the cavalry accompanying him, but not him. When he reached the back train compartment he lept into the air, his arms hooking onto the back railing, his feet dangling. His hat flew off his head but he caught it with an outstretched hand, a move which turned him on his back against the back of the train compartment, one arm hooked on the railing while his legs were being run over the gravel off the railline. With a great effort, he brought himself up to where his feet found purchase on the train, and he was able to vault himself up and onto the train.

He moved himself flush against the wall of the trains exterior as the door opened and a Warglorian soldier stepped out, obviously sent to see if the crazy horseman has gotten on. Covered by the now open door, the soldier didn’t see Johannes and instead moved to the rail to check. There, Johannes hit the soldier over the head with the butt of his rifle, causing him to crumple to the ground. Quickly, Johannes disrobed the soldier to his undergarments, taking his uniform, and swapping for his own clothing. When he was done, he threw the unconscious man off the train, landing him on the tracks now behind him.

Johannes entered the train car adjusting the Stahlhelm he now wore. A few soldiers were in the train car, mostly focused around a few Machine guns, and a man dressed as a non-commissioned officer asked Johannes something in Warglorian. Johannes simply shrugged, and the NCO obvious took that as a sign that all was clear, and turned back to his duties. Johannes quickly slipped past these men and moved through the train cars, keeping his head down.

He came upon a train car with two guards and obvious armor plating on its exterior. A man in an officers uniform slipped in front of Johannes and the guards opened the door for him, and Johannes quickly moved behind the officer into the compartment. The inside was dimly lit, the main source of light coming from a skylight, and in the middle of the light was a box of gold with ornate carvings. Johannes’s throat went dry, it was real, and the Warglorians had it…

Surrounding the box were Warglorian officers, conversing in Warglorian about the box, and on the walls where soldiers lined up and standing in formation. Johannes quickly moved to join them, blending in with the crowd of soldiers, his eyes on the box as he attempted to plan his next move…

---

Ezhid, Aydiniri Empire
November, 1928

“ATTENTION!”

The sound of dozens of boots clapping together and rifles being brought to bear was the first thing Politieke Beampte Meijer heard as he awoke from his deep slumber, dreaming of his wife back home. He opened his eyes to see Beampte Ulrich already awake and lacing up his boots. Meijer slowly sat up, catching Ulrich’s attention and a chuckle. “Finally awake I see, reveille was half an hour ago Beampte. Time to get to work…”

Ulrich got up and slapped his officers Kepi on his hat, then stepped out of the tent. Meijer took a second and then reached over for his knapsack and withdrew his uniform. Once dressed, his Kepi in its place, he stepped out into the bright and harsh Aydiniri sun, just like the one he felt out on the Veld. Immediately before him was a company of soldiers in drill formation, members of the YLF, and Boer men in uniform overseeing. The first month of training had been a rocky one, after all most of the YLF was made up of young idealists with little to no experience, but with the first month of what was expected to be a six to seven month training process things were running smoothly. The YLF fighters were able to hold formation and complete drills as well as a Boer soldier could, and in their uniforms of tan with a Boer helmet they were looking the part. These men were among the first of the “Model Companies”, men trained and then deployed with the most modern of the supplied equipment and the best training, with the expectation that they would then train their fellow YLF. After all, the Boers couldn’t train the entire YLF, so instead they would take these companies and train them to the best they can be and then have them become instructors and trainers, or elite soldiers on the front.

Meijer watched the men in their drills, in keeping with Boer doctrine the soldiers who were assigned to train them were taking part in the drills in order to create a connection between trainer and soldier, rather than having the trainers be overseers. The sound of a rumbling engine brought his attention away from the soldiers towards the depot, more arms coming in. The vast majority of them were from Aydiniri, with some from Hoosier and The Traansval, both of which were pawning off old equipment not suitable for their domestic armies to use. In the Traansvals case, quite a few captured Aclusian arms and a lot of the old 19th century rifles were being sent. What really caught Meijers attention were two men in suits looking through the cargo, agents of the Aydiniri government he bet. They’d been deeply involved in pretty much everything, and Meijer knew that they were constantly watching him and the other foreign advisors. It was unnerving, Meijer had known days under the martial law and occupation of the Warglorians, but this was something different entirely…

The Beampte shook off the chill in his spine and turned to continue his walk. He passed many men and vehicles, all zipping around to their destination. His attention was briefly drawn by the sound of an explosion and Meijer looked to see men of the KvKI and Army Ordnance giving a course of explosives. The men being taught were “Saboteurs”, an informal term for an informal group of fighters. They’re main goal was guerilla action against the Aclusians, and to this end the KvKI intelligence offers and Army officers were teaching the Yindrai every trick that the Boers had picked up fighting the Aclusians. Meijer was curious and took a few steps over to listen in on the instructor, a man in fatigues with an arrow patch, KvKI.

“Explosives are your friend, there are many situations you will run into during your fight which can be solved with explosives. If the enemy is transporting troops on railroads, set explosives on the tracks and blow it up, now the enemy will have to move on foot. Is an enemy armored column advancing towards you lines? Find an area of favorable geography, set an explosive charge and detonate it when the first tank comes over it. If you take out the first tank, it will stop the entire column, bonus points if your able to take out the rear vehicle, that way the vehicles in the middle won’t be able to advance or retreat, and in the confuse drop firebombs on them or just charge the fuckers. That's how you even the odds…”

Meijer nodded to himself and then stepped away, evidently a good job was being done in instructing the youth of Yindrai in the methods of warfare. He turned his head upon hearing a man clear his throat to see his old friend Kolonel van der Linde. Meijer smiled and extended his hand and the old Kolonel accepted it with a smile of his own. “Lindy you old bastard, how have you been?” Meijer asked. Van der Linde shook his head and answered, “Good, good. Been everywhere it seems, from Bloemfontein to Kaapstad, and now here. I’m with the KvKI now, they plucked me during the early days.

Meijers nodded, “So what’re you doing here, if you can tell me.” He said, adding the last bit as a joke. “Ah well, I’m passing through. Chiefs got me and a few others set on transports to the border where we’ll sneak across. We’ll be contacting Yindraini in Yindrai and working to organize the Unions. You know, getting all the representatives together, coordinating action. The Aclusians will sure have trouble when all the Yindraini railroad and dockyard workers refuse to operate their transports, and when all the Yindraini miners and factory workers go on strike and shut down the economy. Right now that's gonna be my job, making that a reality by working with them.” Van der Linde told Meijers.

A car honk cut off whatever Meijers was going to see, “Oh shit thats my ride. I’ll catch up with you some other day Meijers, watch yourself.” Van der Linde said as he walked off. “You too Lindy!” Meijers shouted after him.

Meijers continued on his way, finally coming upon a large text, the sign outfront saying “Lecture Room”. He ducked underneath the flaps to find a room fool of Boer soldiers and Yindrai soldiers. Meijer was in charge of Ethical Education of the company, Boer soldiers were required to attend, and YLF fighters were invited to come, and evidently many had. Meijer nodded to a few Yindrai officers whom he knew were sympathetic to Socialism, and they nodded back. Meijer took his place at the lecture in front of the assembled group, and nodded to the man with the flash cards to begin.

“Welcome gentlemen, we will begin this meeting now. We are here to discuss the current situation and Yindrai, and why we are here about it. To begin, fifty years ago the Yindrai were forcefully occupied by the Aclusians. Ever since then the Aclusians have oppressed the Yindraini people, their resources have become property of the Aclusian empire, and their means of industry subject to the whims of the King in Loxdon. Our purpose here, plain and simply, is the liberation of the Yindraini people, so that they may forge a government and a destiny that is not dictated to them by a foreign power, but decided by men of their nation, of their people. Now, continuing on from that…”

---

[TENNOHEIKA BANZAI NIHON]

Gokyo,Nihon
April 10, 1928

Under orders from the Ministry of War, orders have been issued to begin the distributing gas masks to civilians and instructing civilians on what do do should Nihon come under bombardment. Orders for production were under way, with priority for masks going to the social elite and areas within range of enemy bombers, such as Hokkaido. In Gokyo gas masks have been distributed to the entire population, although out of range of land based bombers. Nihonese forces already had such masks, but with the army expansions, they would also have top priority for production of both gas masks and suits meant to block out blistering agents and such.

Imperial Palace
Gokyo, Nihon
November 8, 1928

Recruiting efforts and the draft had gone well, and with the threat of war, the draft that had been removed in the peace had been reinstated. Millions of men where called up for service amid tensions and many thousands had already completed training, some requiring more advanced, should they wish they join the Marines or Giretsu Kuteitai or Teishin Shudan. Kenpeitai Officers required total loyalty, high education, and a willingness to be ruthless to enemies of Nihon. Their training took quite a while, but commanders where satisfied with the 11 Field Kenpeitai Units already in existence, and only the finest handpicked recruits would join their ranks.

It had been 8 months since the call for men an armor, and now 741 Armored Cars had been produced along with 1,259 FT-17 Tanks. In total, 2,559,096 men so far had completed training, some officers, men who formerly had served in the 9 Years War in assisting roles against the then enemy. This mean the raising of 57 infantry divisions, and 4 armored divisions to better secure Nihonese territory and that abroad. More troops where in training, but so far generals not desperate for men wanted them to be given the highest quality training, to ensure when they saw war, they would be ready.

The Manchuko Army was training well, and it seemed soon they would have multiple divisions ready to assist Nihonese and Warglorian troops.

Nihonese FT-17 in Manchuko

There had also been word from Crimetopolis, calling for Kenpeitai and Tokko to assist after the discovery of Comanche men being supplied by the Breyburgian Army. This was enough for High Command, and with the permission of Crimetopolis, it was decided they would act, sending a full Field Kenpeitai from Manchuko to Crimetopolis under orders to eliminate any Comanche found, and detain any Breyburgian official found supporting terror in the region. Should the ordeal escalate, Nihon was prepared to send multiple divisions into Crimetopolis to completely eliminate the threat. They had orders to seize any captured weapons and provide them to the Manchuko Army or the Volunteer Fighting Corps.

After a vote in the Imperial Diet, Nihon would condemn the actions, and further list Breyburg as an Official State Sponsor of Terror, who would join the list that included Aydinir.

Empire of Nihon Condemnation of Breyburgian Support For Anarchist in Crimetopolis

The Empire of Nihon, strongly condemns the unprecedented attack on the sovereignty of Crimetopolis, by officials originating out of the Socialist State of Breyburg. It was found by public officials in Crimetopolis, Breyburgian officials knowingly and purposefully sent fire arms to arm Comanche raiders in efforts to spread State Sponsored Anarchy though the slaughter of innocent civilians, who in fact where knowingly targeted by Breyburgian Officials when they turned over the firearms. It is widely believed by existing officials in Crimetopolis and other expert police agencies, that in fact recent brutal attacks on towns involving the scalping and murder of innocent civilians where in fact ordered by the Breyburgian Government in efforts to attack the trade in the region, along with causing public outcry.

This dangerous escalation in the current tensions, and by any other state that is not so forgiving as Crimetopolis, this is a clear act of war. The Empire is willing to great lengths to protect its allies, and suggest to follow the precedent set by Skarten in its war against its rebels. On behalf of the Indianum Alliance, the Empire of Nihon demands Breyburg cease all actions involving the sponsoring the terror and murder of innocent civilians, and further demands Breyburg pays repatriations totaling $500,000 for its involvement in the killing of civilians and formally apologize to Crimetopolis.

Nihon urges to the world to act, and condemn these actions before such terror spills over into their boarders sponsored by Breyburg.

Meanwhile in Crimetopolis, after being given orders by the Crimetopolis Government, relayed through the Black Dragon Society to the Yakuza, they would be ready to act, should war begin.

Treaty of the Sale of parts of Manchuko between The Imperial Warglorian Reich and the Empire of Nihon 1928

As agreed upon by the powers of the Warglorian Reich and the Nihonese Empire, the following are the terms for the Treaty Concerning Sale of parts of Nihonese Manchuko to Imperial Warglorian Reich:

1. The Empire of Nihon shall loan parts within 75 miles of Manchuko that border Crimetopolis to the the Warglorian Reich for a total of 10 years.
1a) Let it be know, Nihonese persons are allowed to enter and or remain the territory currently known as Manchuko and no harm is to come to them, otherwise signaling the termination of the agreement.
1b) Persons of Warglorian Reich are allowed to freely enter Manchuko and ships of said nation are allowed to dock in Manchuko ports.
2. The Warglorian Reich will pay the Empire of Nihon a total of 10 million Aclusian Pounds.
2a) Should the said amount fail to be paid, it will result in the termination of the agreement.
3. The Warglorian agrees to forbid passage of armies originating from Nihon's enemies and agrees to provide security for the territory they own, along with agreeing to protect the entirety of Manchuko controlled by the Empire of Nihon.
3a) Enemies of Nihon include but are not limited to Manticore, Hoosier, Aydinir, Rachana, Breyburg, the Confederation of the Solomon Islands, the Kingdom of the Parsa, and the Overkulture Republiek.


Signed, Emperor Hirohito
Prime Minister Naruki Hashimoto

In addition to this, Nihonese diplomats have been sent to Aclus, Arengin Union, and even Skarten to attempt to get their promise of neutrality in the coming conflict, or better yet, get them on Nihon's side.

Docks District
Townhill, Mournly Isle, Home Isles
February 13, 1928

"Well, thats quite understandable," said Alexander, nodding his head in understanding. "These are trying times, and it seems everyone is scrambling these past few months. But, it is still an honor to have you here with us. If you will, we already have a car prepared for us. If you wish to have some of your own guards with you, we can have some of our's ride in the trucks alongside yours." Alexander gestured to the limousine that stood waiting for them, a chauffeur in a well pressed tuxedo standing waiting for them by the doors. In front and behind were a series of vehicles, and many guards, both military and police waiting. There were motorcycles at the front and the rear of the procession with City Watchmen waiting, shotguns propped on their hips. Cars for Wardens, who sat waiting inside and out, watching carefully in their long brown coats. And both in front of and behind the limousine, there were two trucks, one empty, the Imperial Guards it carried standing in perfect formation at either side of the Emperor and his sister, while the other one was full, the Imperial Guards watching carefully, scanning everything with practiced and dangerous eyes.

"Thank you, that would be quite nice." said Yasuhito, nodding to two of his Nihonese Imperial Guards to follow, and the rest to ride in the trucks. All standing at ready, gazing carefully at their surroundings, always aware. the Prince then stepped into the car, ready to talk business.

[The Hoosier Alliance]

"Present arms!"

"Shoulder arms!"

"Order arms!"

Colonel Bundy studied the Yindrai fighters as they followed their orders given by their officers. This was the first time drilling and marching was conducted by Yindrai officers rather than Hoosiers. The officers had, of course, been trained by the Hoosiers and had proven they had taken to the training. While there were some problems here and there, Bundy was overall satisfied with the work thus far, even though more would have to be done in order to get these men into fighting shape.

He continued to watch the soldiers as they went through their drills. They disassembled their rifles and put them back together several times before their target practice, both individual and as a unit. Bayonet combat was next, followed by hand grenade training. Much of their time, however, was spent on various forms of improvised fighting, such as fighting hand to hand, creating improvised weapons and explosives, and various kinds of sabotage and assassination methods to the more gifted fighters.

After hours of drilling and marching, the men were finally dismissed and sent to their tents. Many of the officers and a handful of the common soldiers, however, made their way to the nearby food tent and began to assemble for their meeting. These men had heard about the meeting through the grapevine and had their curiosity peaked. The meeting in question was a speech and discussion on the Yindrai, Totalism, and the fight for independence.

Colonel Bundy got everyone's attention as he took his place at the end of the tables, followed by several Hoosier officers. He began to speak, addressing first the Yindrai officers in the room, and then acknowledged the common soldiers who came to the meeting. He began to speak about nationalism and national sovereignty, talking about the Yindrai right to self rule and their fight to rid themselves of the Aclusians, before going down the trail and discussed the merits of Totalism, a powerful military with more broad abilities and power, and the fact that Totalism could unite the people behind one banner of nationalism and independence for their fight against the foreign oppressors.

He then received a number of questions, mostly regarding Totalism, form the more skeptical among the Yindrai. He answered them carefully, thoughtfully, and patiently. A number of men were convinced and stayed to speak with the Hoosiers after the sun began to set, and were provided with copies of the Totalist Manifesto, which they all brought back to their tents and began to read. A number of them spoke to their brothers in arms about the meeting and over the next few weeks, attendance of the meetings grew to a point that they had to be held almost nightly in order meet demand. Many were being convinced, some were skeptical, and a few just showed to up socialize with their fellow soldiers. Totalism, it seemed, was starting to gain steam within the Yindrai ranks.



Hettausa, November 1928
Within the last few weeks, the Hoosier had been in contact with local Totalist militias within Hettausa. The fascists there had no love for the socialist government and met with Hoosier officials as soon as they could. The Hettausan Totalists crafted an agreement with the Hoosiers. They would work with the Hoosier Army as they rooted out the Sirvanskan insurgents in return for a promise to never violate Hettausan borders again.

It was accepted and Hoosier forces began working with the Hettausan militiamen right away. After almost two months of operations, dozens of Sirvanskan insurgent camps were raided, many were arrested on the streets of cities in which they hid, and the problem plaguing the Hoosiers was more or less solved in that region. The trust the Hettausans Totalists had with the locals proved invaluable, as well as their knowledge of the local terrain. They were able to bring the Hoosiers right to their targets. The Hoosier Army departed and has decreased patrols on the Hettausan border. The dispute between the two countries has more or less be solved.

The Totalists in the country have pounced on the opportunity. They began to speak out about the failures of the government and pointed to their own success. They roused many people in fiery speeches across the country over the next few months and would be using their success in ending the Hoosier and Sirvanskan threats simultaneously in a way the government never could have. Many flocked to their party in the hopes that the Totalists could give more strength to Hettausa and help them maintain their independence.


Following the acceptance of the deal offered to Rachana, Hoosier troops moved to occupy the newly purchased territory on the Carribean coast. It was quickly added to the jurisdiction of the provisional government in Brasberge and was a fine addition to Iron Guard Hoosier.

[Breyburg]

Presidential Offices, Stegas, Breyburg
Early November, 1928

Bolstering, Barricading and Ready to Batter III

“Sir, the Nihonese have demanded reparations for Operation Obruent and have condemned our nation.”

“Good, let them.” Martin Harvey said. He sat in a maroon chair within the Presidential Offices in Stegas. Around him were pictures of past Breyburgian Presidents, statues of scenes from the Chancastle War. “We are simply protectors of native peoples, anyone can see this. Hell, we founded our nation on the idea of protecting native peoples. The Inuia enjoy a multitude of rights and protected land. The Comanche in Crimetopolis have been brutally genocided and slaugtered. I say if we must condemn any nation, condemn Crimetopolis.”

To the Indianum Alliance

We were purely supporting an oppressed minority. The nation of Crimetopolis has genocided the Comanche for too long now. They must be granted freedom. The Comanche have been wronged, and our nation wishes to right that wrong. If Breyburg is a sponsor of terror, than the nation of Crimetopolis, the Nihonese Empire and the nation of Carriebean are sponsors of genocide. We will not pay the reparations until the Indianum Alliance recognizes fully that the nation of Crimetopolis has encouraged the genocide of the Comanche. Breyburg was founded on native and minority rights and we shall never cease to protect those ideals.

President Martin Harvey of the Socialist Allied States of Breyburg

Melva, the Socialist Republic of Hettausa
Early November, 1928

“The government of Hettausa has struck a deal with the Totalists and Iron Guard Hoosier. They will be rounding up Sirvanskan Insurgents who are being harbored and are hiding in Hettausa. They have been instructed to only detain and/or kill the insurgents and no innocent bystanders. I am aware that some of you are not fond of this agreement, but this is the best one we could come to. From now on, Iron Guard Hoosier forces will not violate our borders.
We are currently working on assembling a Hettausan Militia, which eventually become our national military! If you wish to join the National Hettausan Militia, come here, to Melva Hall. We will enlist you and give you orders. Come, protect your homeland!” Miran Uvarov stood on a stand, speaking before a crowd. Some turned around and walked away, others, who sensed their national and patriotic duty, walked up the steps into Melva Hall and went to get enlisted. By the end of the year there were around 800-1,200 men in the National Hettausan Militia (NHM).

Some members of the NHM, and a child, presumably a son of one of the militia men, joining in on the picture with his custom made uniform.

Breyburgian-Crimetopolis Border
Mid November, 1928

The 300,000 pre-emptive troops on the Breyburg-Crimetopolis border have fully formed into 3 Field Armies, totaling 3,395,538‬ men. They are ready to strike at any given moment and have been contributing to the construction of trenches and barricades. Furthermore, the Balsagun Field Army has been split into 3 Corps and 2 Corps; 3 on the Balsagun-Crimetopolis border, and 2 on the Balsagun-Manchuko border.

[Crimetopolis]

DELETED

[The Manticoran Empire]

A Short, Victorious War

---

Almaty-Manchukuo Border Region
Almaty
Manticoran Indianum
April 1st, 1929

General Michael Ramos sat in his headquarters, 25 miles from the border, staring at his pocket watch. It was just after four o’clock in the morning. In half an hour, thousands of bombers would be lifting off of airfields across the border region, advancing to bomb the cities and military installations near the border. The biggest issue was the three Arenginian rifle divisions, formed along the 2,000 kilometer border. 28,000 soldiers who were not enemies of the Empire. 28,000 men who were between the Empire and the nation that had offended it. It was because of that fact that he was reluctant to conduct an artillery bombardment. But he also had to give his own men the best chance of success. The Arenginians were thinly spread so casualties would be light. But, there was also the fact that there were no fortifications immediately on the border.

So he decided to forgo the bombardment. No point in wasting rounds on empty land. Instead, 10 Tank Brigades, 10 Cavalry Divisions, and 48 Infantry Divisions would race across the border, dead set on reaching the coast. Another 23 divisions from Hoosier and 12 from Breyburg, totaling nearly 2 million more men, would hold the Northern and Western flanks of the Empire’s thrust. In all, 4.5 million men in 93 divisions would face off against 69 Nihonese divisions, some 3.1 million men, based on OSS estimates. That also didn’t include the Skartenians that Ramos was ASSURED would be attacking from Smirsja. Nor did it include the other fronts of the war. In total, Operation Torch was set to be the largest operation in human history, both in terms of manpower and geographical scale. Operations in Manchukuo, Crimetopolis, and Shishiri involving personnel from nine nations would be conducted almost simultaneously, striking a blow that was guaranteed to shake the Nihonese government to the core.

Ramos checked his pocket watch again and took a deep breath. He exhaled as he placed the watch on the table in front of him and turned to face the telephone operator next to him. He didn’t need to say anything. The telephone operator knew from his expression. “Almaty Headquarters to all stations. Able, Able, Able.” Ramos stared down at his pocket watch as the code was repeated. Able, Able, Able.

Attack, Attack, Attack.


At airfields across Almaty’s borders, thousands of bombers lifted off of grass fields, banking towards Manchukuo, laden with high explosive and incendiary bombs. Further forward, hundreds of thousands of combat troops, followed by hundreds of thousands of non-combat troops, began a 30 mile journey to the border. Luckily, almost all of the men were in trucks, which allowed the journey to be made quite quickly. By seven in the morning, 48 divisions were across the border and in Manchukuo.

The force advanced in three prongs. First Army Corps advanced along the corner formed by the borders of Manchukuo, Almaty, and Balsagun. Second Army Corps advanced almost 500 kilometers to the northeast, with Third Army Corps 500 kilometers northeast of Second Army. 500 Kilometers north of Third Army Corps would be the Hoosiers and 500 kilometers west of First Army would be the Breyburgians. Each of the Armies had 3 Cavalry Divisions, 3 Tank Divisions and 16 Infantry Divisions, with fighter and bomber groups in support. As they advanced into Manchukuo, their first taste of action would be the nearly 30,000 strong Arenginian force.

Meanwhile, the bomber groups were over their targets, unleashing their payloads upon every settlement within 500 kilometers of the border. Fires raged across Eastern Manchukuo as people perished, either in explosions or in the fires that followed. Areas close to the border were strafed by fighters, many of which also carried a handful of small bombs to inflict even more casualties upon the Manchu populace and the defenders. Animals and humans shrieked in pain as they writhed on the ground, blood pouring from wounds. Others lay still, their life oozing in red streams across the green prairie grasses. For some settlements, the fighters and bombers were followed soon by tanks and trucks.

The war had been underway for mere hours and already thousands were dead, many of them civilians. But the soldiers racing past in trucks and tanks hardly noticed. A good number had served in the Nine Years War. Virtually all of the NCOs and officers had combat experience and knew what they were doing. A full third of the infantry force, the twelve divisions assigned to Second Army, had fought in the Carriebean War. The other divisions had troops that had seen combat and others that didn’t but all of them were filled with trained soldiers who knew their jobs and had confidence in their abilities and the abilities of their comrades. They had tanks and aircraft. Artillery and trucks. It seemed impossible for them to lose.

Off the coast of Breyburg, the Manticoran Breyburg Squadron put to sea alongside the Breyburg Navy. They would be clearing the way, destroying the Crimetopolisian and Nihonese ships in the area, thereby reducing the possibility that Nihonese of Crimetopolisian leaders or military personnel could escape.

In Manticore, the Battle Fleet was gathered was ready to put to sea at a moments notice. In the Indianum Straits, the Scouting Fleet did put to sea, sailing to join up with Hoosier and Breyburgian ships near Shishiri. They would meet the local Nihonese fleet in battle and would destroy it ahead of a land campaign.

Months of planning were finally coming to fruition. The storm of war was once again upon the world, only this time it would be a short war.

A Short, Victorious War.

[Shahinay]

Khabaraya Dzāsharaz - The Drums of War

Aydinirian Empire
Night, 31st March 1929

Long preparations have ended. Milions of men, from the Rachanan coasts to the island-fortresses of the Ceylonian Archipelago, from Dhiryani and Panûvarnam to the Northern Territories, were ready. Finally, what was certain to happen since the last year at least was about to begin.

But now, there was only silence. Silence before the storm.

Rachana
Night, 31st March 1929

After secret talks between Aydinirians and Rachanas were successfully conducted and the royal marriage between Aydinirian Prince and Rachanan Princess agreed upon, togather with the reinstalation of Rachanan monarchy, Prince Shanrhain Zhisūdrissif travelled north, to meet with his wife-to-be. He was also to become one of the commanders of Imperial Forces in Rachana. Now, he was sitting in his new base of opperation, in a fortress on Aydinirian-Rachanan border.

He was supriced that he finally agrees with his sister, at least in one thing.
There will be retribution.

Aydinirian Empire
Morning, 1st April 1929

While ships, bombers and fighters were undergoing last inspections, while men were nervously cleaning their rifles and sharpening their blades, sleeping people were being awaken by men in black, by their neighbours or by town's meyers and told to gather in this early morning on main squares or in homes with radio receiver, to listen to the words of their Divine Empress. In the same time gas masks were being distributed to the crowds, to inhabitants of Ezhid and countless other towns and cities of Aydinirian coastline, togather with maps showing locations of shelters created since last year.

In this early morning countless milions gathered before their radios, like the last time, when death of Emperor Zhisūdris was publically announced. All knew that the Divine Empiress had something important to say to Her beloved people and Her words would be transmitted across all of the Empire, and all of the words.

And Her words were met with cheers and shouts, that thundered across Aydinir like the drums of war.
Fean! Fean! Fean!

In the same time written ultimatum, that was more concrete and less demagogic version of Cifrinah's speech, was send to the Nihonese.

---

Official ultimatum of the Aydinirian Empire directed to the Nihonese Government

Upon over a year-long investigation conducted with utmost care and scrupulosity by imperial investigative bodies with help of informers and cooperators from abroad, Aydinirian Empire is force to conclude that it is in fact member of the Nihonese Government who are true instigators of the disgraceful and indefensible terrorist attack on the Aydinirian Diplomatic Delegation in St.Osloverg, during which 9 citizens of the Empire were killed, including Imperial Minister of Foreign Affairs Eltariyos Sûrennah. Investigation leaves no room for doubt that this was a failed assassination attempt on Shanrhain Zhisūdrissif, Prince of the Aydinirian Empire and King of Ezhid, done by members of Yakuza and commissioned by the Crown Prince Nobuhito of Nihon. Thus, Crown Prince Yasuhito is hearby annonunced criminal.

Furthermore, we have reasons to believe that such a crime, performed by such a high ranking member of the Nihonese Government and the imperial dynasty itself, could not happen without knowledge, permission or possibly even direct order of the highest echelons of the Nihonese Government.

In face of such events, Aydinirian Empire is forced to make irrevocable decision and issue an ultimatum: Nihon will admit to the responsibility of the terrorist attack on Aydinirian Diplomatic Delegation in St.Osloverg, pay repatriations totaling $1.000.000 as compensation for the families of men killed during this criminal affair, denounce criminal Crown Prince Yasuhito and immediately hand him over to the Aydinirian Authorities, so he could finally face justice. Moreover, as a measure of safeguarding the continent from rampant Nihonese expansionism seen during the last decade, entirety of the Nihonese Navy will be decommissioned and the Ryuku Islands will be ceeded to Aydinir.

Retribution must be delivered and the guilty punished.

If those demands will be not met with answer within the next 24 hours, or if Nihon rejects this ultimatum, Aydinirian Empire will be forced to assume Crown Prince Yasuhito was not the only or the highest ranking member of the Nihonese Government responsible for the assassination attempt of Shanrhain Zhisūdrissif and terrorist attack on Aydinirian Diplomatic Delegation and that the terrorist attack in St.Osloverg was a centrally planned Nihonese act of aggression against the Aydinirian Empire. Thus, it would effectively mean a state of war between Nihon and Aydinirian Empire.

[The Hoosier Alliance]

The Manticorean declaration of war on the Nihonese Empire was followed swiftly by Iron Guard Hoosier. Soldiers all up and down the front with the Arengin controlled portion of Manchuko began their advance forward with their Manticorean allies. Twenty infantry divisions and five armored divisions surged on towards their goal, more than a million men total. Resistance was, at first, light. The occasional village would muster up some militiamen to try and hold the line, but they were quickly and mercilessly put down. Hoosier infantry and armor cut through the countryside like a hot knife through butter.

On the border with Crimetopolis, ten Hoosier infantry divisions and five armored divisions began to advance into the country, assaulting any Crimetopolis positions or military personnel they came across and began to occupy towns and villages. Five hundred Hoosier fighters took to the skies to clear the way for bombers, who would drop their payload on military positions as well as towns.

At sea, the Hoosier navy readied themselves to meet with the Manticorean navy as their ships sailed towards them. They would join forces and secure the sea surrounding the Nihonese territory in Shishiri.

Since February of 1929, the Hoosier Army consisted of 125 infantry divisions, 25 cavalry divisions, and 15 armored divisions. In February, the military called for the creation of fifteen marine divisions, totaling 255,000 men.

[Crimetopolis]

DELETED

[Newne Carriebean7]

Das Kapital Region
Presidential Palace
November 1st, 1928

President Marvin Washvelt grinned grimly at the now crumbled up paper on the floor of his office. The news of Carriebeanian Rearmament was going splendidly, with more armored vehicles, firearms and lighter, faster destroyers being commissioned into the Imperial Carriebeanian Armed Forces. One of the largest improvements was the addition of nearly nine hundred artillery pieces into the Imperial Army. Now the Carriebeanian Army would have more firepower per division to utilize within their operations.
Hundreds of thousands of rifles flowed into the Imperial Armories and the surrounding buildings within the Capital. These rifles were imported from Nihon both as the Type 38 and the Nihonian named Type 30, though the latter was renamed the Carriebeanian Bolting Rifle to better distinguish it from the other Nihon filled number garble. While it was rumored that the production had halted of the older weapons and were getting thrown in the trash bin, this rumor was half true.

While production had slowed, the older rifles were still being kept around, possibly for a revolutionary movement of radicals that wished to liberate the mainland once more as some jingoistic junior officers foolishly fantasized about. Still, the most numerous sidearms of the Imperial Carriebeanian Army was the Colt Police Positive and the older Colt Single Action Army. The production of such firearms had slowed like he rest, with it proving notoriously and increasingly difficult, with several of the new batches being sent back to the factories for shortages of metal within the guns and a dangerous tendency to explode in the user’s hand.

As for the Armored Vehicles, a mismatch of numerous designs and functions were stamped out for approval by the General Staff, with hundreds more Tractor Assault Vehicles being ordered. Newer and more unique designs were also considered and contracted out either with foreign companies under discreet contracts for “civilian models” or built domestically. The small miracle had managed to boost the Imperial Carriebeanian Army’s armored numbers by almost 400 different armored craft and differentiating vehicles.
The FVM-1 Armored Car was one such example. With a strong pressure by the influential armored designer Professor Frederich Von Mittermyer, the FVM-1 had another one of its brothers built, with plans for hundreds more to comprise armored units coordinating themselves in urban fighting against possible enemies in conjunction with infantry. The Lao 1925 Armored Car was intended to be an additional armored craft, and so nearly one hundred were ordered. This craft took the body of a Thai-Amanzones-Unicycle engine, slapped some light armored plate and a rotating turret on it with a machine gun. The idea is to enable infantry rapid fire support, though the speed trials have proven disappointing with eighteen miles per hour.

By far, one of the goofiest looking Carriebeanian Tanks was not funded directly by the government, but by communist sailors who wished for a stopgap unit in order to “defend the revolution” when communism came to Carriebean. These vehicles, called the Kapital Defense Tank Revolutionary Assault (Militia) happened to house a pair of opposite facing 3 inch naval guns ripped from destroyers or salvaged from Armored Cruisers. The engines in the vehicles were placed in the limited space in the back, with almost a dozen Carriebeanian soldiers sitting up front with slits to shoot out of for fire support. The most sickening features was its relative ease at tipping over and the slight of hand you would need to rapidly spin the greased up turret in either direction, with shaky shooting at best when you pressed the trigger on the 3 inch gun. The KDTRA (M) proved notoriously slow and plagued with mechanical failures, so it was opted to have two men turn the drive crank to power it. This option provided the tank with a top speed of 6 miles per hour and half of that in reverse.

Still, the radicals within the government spoke, and so five regiments of ten were massed within the city for defense. There had been a plethora of other armored proposals, such as a mobile bunker for over twenty infantrymen armed with rifles to shoot out of and move (rejected), a ram tipped with explosives sent out to charge enemy units and fortifications (sent back to the drawing board for a bigger ram and faster engine), a proposed massive unicycle tank that would weigh close to 200 tons and be armed with 10 inch naval guns (rejected for an even bigger project weighing 400 tons and armed with 20 inch naval guns, which died after the designer committed suicide being embroiled in a corruption scandal over his prototype’s funding.). A smaller project involving a mere 100 ton tank armed with 8 inch naval guns was finally approved, with testing beginning within the next few weeks once the prototype is finished.

Despite the sanity somewhat grasping the Imperial Carriebeanian Military, smaller commanders opted to fund their own pet projects, resulting in a Frankenstein’s monster of various architectural atrocities by the local leadership. These included Flanks General 1st Class Flake Roothy’s Machine gun chariot which was pulled by a set of horses housed in a metal box for protection and Flanks General 2nd Class Tyson Watters Villnu’s loving grenade throwing catapult with odd looking steam driven piston legs. The driver was exposed to enemy rifle fire, he had to manually load the grenades into the catapult while also moving each leg via a series of complicated levers, but other that that, Villnu was onto some breakthrough in military armaments. As many as seventy different Tensun commanders had enough money for at most five of their individual pet projects and designs, all utilizing materials initially destined for fleet construction, not that Washvelt gave a shit about how bitchy the navy was going to be.
The all too familiar creak of the oak door brought his attention up from his pen and towards the Minister of Foreign Affairs who had set his coat on the adjacent rack up against the door before making eye contact with him.
“Harold.”
“Washvelt. I must discuss matters with you.”
“Well, why didn’t you just wait until the next cabinet meeting to address your concerns over that treaty with the damned Nips. I’m sure Potters will share some sort of venomous parity with your ideals.”
“No.. Father Hamilton is here.”
Washvelt’s face recoiled in shock at the news. His face stood motionless as he contemplated the thought of a powerful warlord/mafia boss/religious figure to be in his presence. After what seemed to be a long, drawn out tick tick tick of the grandfather clock in the corner of the room, Washvelt’s eyes made contact with Harold.
“Send….send him in.”
A small knock on the door was given as a skinny man with greased and slicked black hair wearing a light yellow coat and vest hobbled on his cane into the room. The man seemed to scowl at the President before returning to a normal state.
“Father..”
The man snapped his fingers as Washvelt scrambled to his knees almost in fear before kissing the wedding ring emblazoned with the catholic cross. The President weakly stood back up as both men walked to an adjacent and older looking room within the building that housed dozens of books all around it. In the middle was a pair of two chairs, whiskey and a few Carriebeanian quality cigars.
As both their asses cradled in comfort with the chairs while their lungs began to work harder in between the puffs of smoke, Hamilton began.
“My son, I grace your presence as your spiritual guide and ruthless criminal representative. Your mind is troubled, I can feel it with your movements, all erratic and unscripted. You desire peace yet fail to have any within yourself. You must breath, my son. Try it now.”
The once sobbing, tired and stressed pile of man that was President Marvin Washvelt inhaled as much air as he could before shakily expelling it from his lungs and diaphragm.
“I-I”
“You’re ready now, my son. Shall we commence with the business of state or of the church?”
Before the President could answer, Father Hamilton continued.

“The business of state is one of importance. More military rifles, ships, cannons and planes being armed and readied. But can you answer this simple question? Why? Why are we scared of our enemies? Should we not treat them like the good words of Jesus say in the bible? Or have you been using the King James’ Version as two ply for the explosive diarrhea you get whenever your slave makes spicy Chile?”
The President remained still, his mind beginning to race again, searching for an answer within himself. He peeled away all the propaganda that he had believed for years. Why? Why was he building up the military? Should he not care for his people? Should the people care for the government? If the people did not care for the government, should they hold elections? Would those elections prove to be a true result of the will of the populace? So many questions filed in rank throughout his mind, passing with a panicked murmur in response by his brain at each one that flew by.
“I shall berate you for your abhorrent military incompetence. If the Imperial Carriebeanian Army poses no threat, why even have an army that wastes our treasury? It’s not much of a defense against our massing enemies anyways, it would only result in more deaths. For that point, why not just assign religious police or the mafia to patrol internal cities? In fact, that’s a brilliant idea.”
“Father, that will lead to insurrection amongst the Imperial soldiers! They are starving, and if we were to disband them, take away their homes and what few food, munitions and money we allocate them, we’d have a coup before noon!”
“Coup before noon? I’d think not having to eat shit with a rifle filled with sawdust would be an improvement, actually. I’ve already signed the orders for the patrols to begin immediately, any Carriebeanian soldier will be forcibly disarmed, with their weapon being given to the mafia and our boys in white.”
The President was appalled at the ultimatum. Kowtowing to the heels of foreign powers, he was used to that in Carriebeanian Foreign policy, often after multiple cases of military incompetence. However, he refused to let some tin pot religiously robe wearing gangster roll up and take away his soldiers. His pride seemed to return to him, flowing within his bloodstream as he made eye contact with Father Hamilton and spoke rather bluntly.
“Go fuck yourself.”
“Excuse me? Who controls most of the mobs, criminals and vagabonds? Religious guidance via law enforcement of the scriptures will usher in a new age for Carriebean. The patrols have already commenced, and I would urge you not to have blood flow through the streets like cheap wine. It might even be mistaken for a miracle of the messiah.”
Hamilton let loose a slight chuckle at the last part and thought. “With criminal wine, I’ll tie the church into my hands.”
“Father, I hate to sound like a broken record, but go fuck yourself. Take your motherfucking crazy gangsters and fuck right on off. Shitheads like you deserve the firing squad, but I’m feeling charitable tonight. There will be no religious coup without blood being spilt, Guards!”

The front doors were swung open into the room as three Carriebeanian soldiers barged into the area, with one moving to flank the president while the other two aimed their carbines at the religious mobster.
Hamilton turned with a new face of scowl greeting Washvelt, who returned the gesture with an angry look in his eyes, almost melting the bifocals that he adorned.
“Father Hamilton, you are under arrest for attempting a coup d’état. The punishment nominally is execution, but I’d rather not see your fucking face again, so you are to be banished into exile. Guards, take this miserable piece of shit to the docks with a one way ticket to anywhere but here!”
With a forceful shove and a muffled shutting of the door, President Washvelt sat back down at his desk, feeling exhausted before turning to a picture of his wife that sat on his desk.
“Oh honey… I wish you could help me out.”
“Ooh bossman… wot t’ matter? Ev’ting g’an well?”

Washvelt spun around, startled by the extra voice other than his own within the room. Locking eyes on the female Amanzo-Indianum slave that had entered.
“Louise… how… unexpected, of you to drop by. It’s a welcome sight., I’ve just had some unfortunate things occur to me. I won’t bore you with the details. Just a little shaken, that’s all.”
Louise shook her head as she knelt down next to Washvelt.
“Naw bossman, dir sometin wrong. Yew got de bad blud in ya. Lemme see dat hand.”
Confused as to where she was going with this, he unsteadily extended his arm as Louise inspected it, turning it around over and over again, looking carefully at each wrinkle and blemish until she licked her finger and lightly poked a spot. This caused him to jolt his arm with a little surprise.
“Gah! May I inquire as to what you are doing, exactly?”
“Checkin fer bad blud bossman. I sees lotz o de bad blud bossman. Dis ere ain’t no gud a’tall. Yew ned a leech. I git de nurse.”
As Louise turned to get the leeches, Washvelt gripped her arm, preventing her from moving as she spun back at him in surprise.
“Let go o’ me arm bossman.”
“I don’t need leeches! Please! Just get the local doctor in here instead!”

With a slight nod, Washvelt relinquished his grip on her arm, watching her leave through the open doors and return a few minutes later with a man utilizing a gas mask in the shape of a skull, with blood dripping from his hands.
“Doctor Mordecai! What a pleasant surprise!”
The Doctor grunted haphazardly before pulling out a small hammer.
“Now, sir, I want you to hold out your knee and let me test your reflexes.”
With a slight smile, Washvelt bent his knee as the doctor swung at the president, it impacting his knee enough to make it jolt.
With a satisfied look in Washvelt’s face as he passed the test, he began to stand up before the doctor grunted madly, forcing him back down. With light rustling, he pulled out a live snail and putting the creature in his hands before turning to the President.
“Now for this test, we’re going to see your sensitivity to cold and hot.” Mordecai said while also lighting a match and bringing the snail and match closer to Washvelt. He first applied the snail.
“Is it cold?”
Washvelt felt rather uncomfortable, but he couldn’t argue with whatever passed as science within Carriebean these days, so he nodded. Mordecai then lightly applied the lit match to Washvelt’s arm, which invoked a high pitched scream as he reflexively smothered the flame, extinguishing the fire on his arm. The resulting flame had left a slight charred and damaged skin spot within his arm.
“Is it hot?”
“Yes Doctor! Are we all done here?”
“Oh yes, you’re as healthy as a plague victim at almost eighty years old. Just get plenty of shit to eat, literally and around three to ten hours of sleep, give or take five. Just follow my advice and you’ll be fine.”
With only a slight handshake, the Doctor Mordecai parted ways with the President of Carriebean, musing at his schedule of next victims patients, which included a 2:00 pm leeching as an exorcism.
“Oh bossman, you got de ezy t’retment. Ma shista Loozi gon git her nee ‘caped on up from fi’re, so de witchdokta gon’s an cuts o’t er eart. She screams like de blood mon. It scaway when yous is tinkin, ‘that gon be me dat gits cut o’t ere art? So scaway.”
The President shared a tender glance with Louise before gingerly hugging her, with tears streaming down his face.
“I-I’m so sorry about your sister Louise. If there’s anything I can do, let me know.”
“I’d like de gobment.”
“No Louise, I’m not handing power over to a bunch of Indianumnian savages. The good white Carriebeaner will rule benevolently, and if they fail, we can simply vote them out of office. Of course, only a few of you can vote, but a few’s better than nothing, eh? It’s mild, very mild progressive reform within Carriebean.”

Official Carriebeanian Declaration regarding the situation with respect to the Indianum Alliance, Comanche savages and the better nature of the people within Crimetopolis’s boarders.

The Carriebeanian Government, upon being informed of the incidents within Crimetopolis in regards to the Comanche Raids, has opted for full and open encouragement against the Comanche subhumans, and shall openly seek a policy of extermination for the lesser race of injuns. Should this policy not suffice, imprisonment of Comanche criminals and Indians until they are fully integrated within the lives of Crimetopolis shall be encouraged via diplomatic communications and diplomatic overtures to Fuher President Bob Muller.

Carriebean City
Carriebeanian Ministry of Propaganda

The clambering sound of hooves echoed on the cobblestone made streets of the capital as a white and red carriage maneuvered through a narrow alleyway, its driver whipping the animals until approaching a rather unscrupulous looking facility. Its façade was fairly dated, with the bricks being chipped away from high winds, vagrant children and the occasional grenade chucked by some good for nothing anarchist. The structure was no more than four stories high, the rooms checkered with a pattern from the outside of miniature kitchens and varied tile floors for a casual observer to merely acknowledge. The carriage came to a halt, with the passengers inside merely nodding to one another as a few men wielding carbines and Nihonese rifles made a minor procession line as a lady opened the carriage door. Queen Grace of Carriebean had opted for a simple white dress interwoven with a faint blue fabric hat that perched on top of her hair as she walked into the building, being greeted by the secretary.
“Your Majesty. What a lovely surprise. They’ve been expecting you in room 45, top floor.”
“Thank you.”
“No, thank you, your Illustrious Majesty, this speech may very well save Carriebean.”
“Well, I certainly wouldn’t give my vocal chords that much credit, Monroe has to take some of it.”
A sweet looking old man with a wrinkled face cheerfully bore a toothy grin before the party entered the elevator, it’s cage like door shutting behind it as two slaves were whipped into turning the capstans. Only on eight different occasions did the elevator stop and settle uneasily while the party had made it’s way to the top floor, a new personal record for Grace. Stepping aside the metallic death trap that only narrowly avoided killing her when one of the whippers got tired of turning the capstand, Grace would approach a small room with a little old lady on one part of a glass, while she was on the other with a microphone, chair and a small glass of water in front of her. Yanking the speech papers from a nearby aide, she consumed the water with a slight choke and gag, merely holding her throat momentarily before clearing it and beginning her speech.

“Citizens of the Empire of Carriebean, loyal subjects within her majesty’s occupied territories and elected leaders of the Carriebeanian Government. It has come to my attention that political affairs have escalated around the world. I must address such concerns with this address which I hope shall satisfy many people around the world on the official government’s response to such events.

Based on knowledge that my government has been given on current events, the Manticorian Empire has illegally conducted a military operation against Nihonese Manchukuo. There are already reports of hard fighting on the high seas between Nihonese and Manticorian warships, trade ships and troop transports, and rumors of aerial bombardments on Nihonese troop positions. We cannot confirm at this moment, but rumors of alleged Breyburgian co-operation with the Manticorians have taken root.

The Carriebeanian Government, via unknown sources, can also say with absolute confidence that military noncombatants have been caught in the crossfire. The Carriebeanian Government and I unilaterally commend such barbaric actions against civilians and wish the Manticorian government the best of luck in committing genocide. While the government is angered at the invasion of Nihon, the murder of their civilians is always a plus in my book. This is not a snub at our longtime allies of Nihon, but merely us applauding general genocide.

However, given the tense situation within the Continent, given the powers vested in me by the Constitution and the official documents of the Parliament, do declare that all warships are to make steam immediately to defend Carriebeanian interests abroad, with a few small squadrons being ordered to the ports of the world to shore up our commercial investments in the shit and banana markets.

I have already pressed the President for an urgent meeting, and in it he agreed to put the military on full alert and mobilization against possible transgressions from our neighbors. Militias have been armed and sent off to reserve lines since the general mobilization order of the previous day. We may be a city state, but we shall prepare to fight like a lion. Carriebean will not fall. Every soldier and civilian is expected to die for the Empress and the Nation. Long Live Carriebean! Long Live her Illustrious Majesty Grace! Death to our enemies! Safeguard the Revolution!”

Carriebean City
Bed Bay Dockyards
Imperial Carriebeanian Naval Flagship Bartholomew

To say that the Imperial Carriebeanian Navy was unprepared for a military conflict would be putting it as light as a feather. Bluntly, Carriebeanian surface ships were riddled with dozens of barnacles coating their hulls, slowing their potential speed down at least by four knots per dreadnought. The smaller ships were in better shape compared to the old girls that had lasted for years. One of the oldest still floating ships of the fleet, the old Battleship Baja California, loomed with smoke emanating from it’s stacks as steam began to get raised, men manning capstans hoisted up anchors and supplies that had arrived.
A singular ship that looked unimaginatively like a cardboard box with plenty of broadside guns and a smokestack slapped on top bobbed lightly up and down as the anchor was removed, with the three aging engines, borrowed from foreign locomotives during the 1870s Carriebeanian War, were sworn with multiple hammer hits into them to force them to start up.

Close to 20 sea worthy destroyers cast off their mooring lines as they folded into a haphazard formation leaving the channel, with the first Battlecruiser, the Flying Dutchman, slowly being helped out by a tugboat that would fight alongside them for as long as one hundred and twenty rounds for their lone 3 inch naval gun would last.
Elsewhere, the few medium range escort ships bigger than destroyers made steam, with one notable exception. The Armored Cruiser Cutlass refused to move. Despite the direct orders given by Admiral and various signal flags demanding it maneuver out of the port, the Cutlass did not respond. Curious as to what might be causing such an incident, a small rowboat, manned by all but the most idiotic sailors, was sent over to investigate.
“Excuse me!” shouted a sailor, still steadying himself onboard the rowboat in the relatively calm port waters.
A casual Carriebeanian officer peered down from his newspaper at the man, smiling.
“What the fuck do you want?”
“I’d just like to know why you’re not sailing with the fleet?”
“We’re a diplomatic ship, no admiral’s going to send us out. We’re one of a kind.”

With a sheepish grin, the pilot clambered back onboard the launch ship as the rest of the fleet made more steam outside the harbor. After a full hour, the Imperial Naval fleet of Carriebean, with eight capital ships and a handful of escorting vessels was making steam in a southernly direction from the main Harbor. The general formation was in two main lines of capital ships grouped in four, with the surrounding destroyers and escorts being spaced out steadily as a screen of picket and escorting warships. Given the ancient engines of the Floating Batteries, the three ships were left to fend for themselves as Carriebeanian submarines raced ahead to scout for the fleet, with several of them maneuvering here and there around surface ships.
The looming shadows of the battlecruisers sailing in their lines brought a slight tear to Admiral Hood von Hoth as he gracefully sat back in his command chair, flanked by officers and other commanders such as Vice Admiral Prinz of Wall and Prinz Eugene von Bismarck. Many of the most important naval commanders for the fleet were all on one ship, though nominally Wall flew his flag on the Flintlock, with Bismarck flying the Carriebeanian Naval standard on top Battlecruiser Bartholomew’s main mast.
His two subordinate each commanded one of the flanks (Bismarck on the port flank and Prinz of Wall on the starboard) of the Imperial Carriebeanian Navy, necessitating co-ordination and steady hands with smoke, flag and light signals to communicate with each other.

“Status on the fleet?”
“Maintaining formation Eugene, we’re still in three main battle lines. Speed for capital ships is 20 knots. Escort ships keeping pace.”
“Excellent. Helmsman, I want you to adjust course a few degrees to the left, make sure we avoid hitting any rocks that might prove fatal.”
“But sir, I’m well versed with these waters, we’ll lose no warships with my steady hands at the helm. Cant promise anything about the other ships of the fleet. Which reminds me, why are we doing this?”
Hood von Hoth was caught a bit unprepared by this statement, though one of his officers happened to chip in just in time.
“Why, we’re sailing off to rendezvous with the Twelve Isles.”
The Helmsman looked unimpressed by this answer and launched his investigation with a few questions.
“But why would we rendezvous with the Twelve Isles, they’re fleets haven’t been very active in these waters, and we’ve already tried maneuvering our fleets once before, you remember that sir, how mad you were.”
“But I can assure you the Twelve Isles will come through for us this time.”
“Sir, they’ve already failed once to meet our entire fleet when we dropped anchor and even killed a few of their locals, so I highly doubt that goodwill has returned. Hell, they’ll probably shell us if we showed up.”

Admiral Hoth resigned in defeat, sitting back in his command chair and throwing his arms up.
“Fine! I give up! Our fleet has a special order from her Illustrious Majesty herself. We are to preform military manuvers and conduct very aggressive combat raids against merchant vessels of any flag. In essence, we’re the largest fleet of pirates ever put to sea! Hell, we might even bombard the coastline of some shmuck!”
Before the helmsman could respond with some semblance of an answer, a shout was heard from the main mast.
“Steam columns sighted! Many vessels! At least thirty-no-fourty-no fifty shapes! Approaching at rapid speed towards us!”
“All hands battle stations, make ready for action!”

With that, alarms blared on every ship of the Carriebeanian Fleet, with the large battlecruiser guns swinging out towards the bow, with armored cruisers and destroyers preparing their smaller weapons as mechanics and stokers fueled the fleet to push it faster through the seas. However, the order to fire had not been given. Vice Admiral Prinz of Wall refused to open fire with his ships. The commander had wanted more information about the possible threat. Could it be the Manticorian main battle fleet? Could it be Nihonian allied warships? It might just be old coilers and freighters caught in the crossfire. Reluctantly, the Carriebeanian Admirals acquiesced to the more calm tempered Vice Admiral Wall, holding their fire as the distance between the unknown force and the Carriebeanian Fleet closed with each breath of every sailor onboard the ships.

[Breyburg]

Breyburg-Crimetopolis Border
April 2nd, 1928

Defendere Delictum

The word had been given. Three million Breyburgian soldiers, troops, men would rush the Crime border. Shots fired in every direction, at them, away from them… Defend, protect and deter they all thought; that was after all, the army’s war cry. They were defending they’re homeland, Breyburg, Chancastle. They had fought for independence from the Aclusians in the 19th century, and they will fight again. They will be joined by they’re brother’s the Manticorans and the Hoosiers. Worthy nations of their allyship, worthy men to die with, worthy men to fight with.

Senate Chamber, Legislative Palace, Stegas, Breyburg
April 2nd, 1928

The “Indianum Alliance” has plagued this continent for too long and it has aggressed our nation and our allies. Breyburg must join our allies, and declare war on the IA.

Aye: 22
Nay: 6

The Breyburgian Senate Chamber.

Presidential Offices, Stegas, Breyburg
April 1st, 1928

“I created the monster that is the Indianum Alliance, we must be a driving factor in destroying it. The Nihonese and the Crime have warped the image and original purpose of the IA into an evil, oppressive union of hate. It was meant to bring harmony, that was my idea, to Indianum. I have been proven that my intentions were not strong enough.” Alfred Woods, the former Breyburgian president, spoke to Martin Harvey, the current president.

“I am with you. It has to end, just must be served quick and swiftly.” Harvey said.

A soldier fires a Lewis gun into Crime forces.

Breyburgian artillery being fired.

Breyburgian infantry climbing the trenches and into Crime territory.

The CA advance.

Justita et non servitit.

[TENNOHEIKA BANZAI NIHON]

Gokyo, Nihon
1 pm April 1, 1929

"Sir Sir! We are being invaded!"

Emperor Hirohito in a meeting with his closest commanders and the Prime Minister stood quickly. "By whom? And where?"

"Manchuko sir. We estimate around 4 million men from Manticore."

Hirohito slammed the table.

"We have also been given an ultimatum from Aydinir."

The Emperor did not even glance at it, but his brother, Prince Nobuhito glanced at it, curious. He remained emotionless, but inside he chuckled, for the Aydinirians so stupid, they mistook him for the Crown Prince who knew nothing of the event other than it had occurred and had been in Aclus at the time. He knew his brother would disapprove, but he would not find out for some time, as he was in the Twelve Isles.

Hirohito glanced at his commanders and yelled, "Well do something! I want numbers! Activate Operation Okane! Activate Operation Ichi Man! Ready the Tora Strike Group! I want to see their progress for the Operation Undivine Emperor now!"

A General said "Sir. We have the Indianum Expeditionary Forces, and the Manchuko Army Group in Manchuko readied after being activated a few months ago. We have 68 infantry divisions and 1 armored division there ready to go. That's 2,897,919 men. We have an additional 50 divisions of the Imperial Manchuko Army that had been drafted around March last year. That's 2,689,500 men. Together they equal to 5,587,419 troops. That doesn't include the Giretsu Kuteitai and Teishin Shudan. It doesn't include the Kenpeitai either. We could completely dest-"

The Emperor waved his hand to cut him off. "Thank you. I want my local generals to deal with how they shall defend. I want them to consider the deployment of Unit 731's resources, but only if the Manticorians use it first. Authorize Warglorian Forces in Nihon to defend, and invoke our treaty. Request support from our allies and recall our embassy in Manticore, Hoosier, and oh wait we don't have a embassy in Aydinir. Send for my highest ranking commanders... I would like to speak with them privately."

Another politician muttered, "They didn't even have to honor to officially declare war."

The Emperor smiled, "Which is perfect for propaganda and my upcoming speech."

Gokyo, Nihon
Evening, April 1, 1929

The first matter of business for the Kenpeitai and Tokko was an easy one, demand the Manticorians and Hoosiers leave the embassy in Nihon immediately, and after the three hours they where given, they would sweep the building and the areas surrounding with the civilian police to arrest any Manticorian or Hoosier official not boarding a neutral ship to leave Nihon tonight. After that, the Kenpeitai would sweep through their embassies and search for anything that could be of use. Although there had already been a travel ban on most Central Alliance nations, Hoosier had not been included, and as a result, it was declared that any person of Hoosier nationality had 72 hours to leave Nihon, or they would be arrested and their items seized. The other option would be to swear complete loyalty to the Emperor of Nihon, stomp on a picture of their Marshal, convert to Shintoism, reveal everything they knew, and spend the next 5 months inside a reeducation camp, and be released afterwards with strong supervision of the Tokko and Kenpeitai. Anyone of Hoosier, Manticorian, Aydinirian, Breyburgian, Rachanan, Parsa, or that of the Confederation of the Solomon Islands decent, being over one sixteenth would be required to register with the Kenpeitai and Tokko, along with the local civilian police. They would be asked to re-pledge their loyalty and convert to Shintoism if they were not already.

The public was immediately informed of the undeclared war, and now a mandatory blackout and curfew would be set in place in Hokkaido, Manchuko, Shishiri, and the Ryukyu Islands ordered to start April 2nd, and be in full cooperation by April 4th, 1929. The rest of Nihonese territory would start this in April 4th and have to be in full cooperation by April 6th. Air Raid sirens had already been in place and now civilian crews where ordered to man them should a raid occur.

The Tora Strike Group had already set out for its target, and would be arriving within a few days. The 1st Fleet had been ordered to set sail south of Honshu and the 3rd Fleet to protect Gokyo. The 2nd Fleet had been ordered to begin unrestricted warfare on ships of Hoosier, Manticore, and Aydinir. The 2nd Fleet was to pool its resources to protect the Sea of Nihon, but at the same time would be operating South towards the Ryukyu Islands and below. The 4th Fleet had been ordered to conduct observations of the Manticore Fleet and to not reveal its position at all costs by attacking. It would also operate its subs in the South focusing on merchant shipping. The 5th Fleet was ordered to enter Rusklandr Shishiri waters and avoid detection or large scale engagement with enemy forces, only when the landing craft attempted. Not to mention parts of the naval order having been completed. Before the start of the war, the remaining 31 Torpedo Boat destroyers had been sold for quite cheap to Traansval for some important... information commanders there picked up. It ranged from reports about the Aydinirian presence in Rachana, to their plans to invade Shishiri. And that would be used to its advantage.

Commanders where not too worried about Shishiri. It had the Shishiri Army Group and the Southern Army Group totaling 71 infantry divisions and 3 armored divisions plus the Rusklandr reinforcements.

In Manchuko, the entirety of forces where ordered to either hold the coast, or they would be holding in the mountains, the place perfect for defense. All the while men where destroying anything that could be useful to the enemy, and anti-aircraft deeper in Manchuko territory was able to keep the Manticorian bombers that where flying the plain daylight back, and the gunners marked some of the first damage against Manticore, with multiple enemy planes being shot down or damaged by the flak and machine guns that strayed too deep into Nihonese lines. Air corps fighters of Manchuko had seen some limited action, mainly defending key fortifications deeper in, although several had minor skirmishes with enemy fighters and bombers. Orders where that any enemy pilot was to be handed over the the Kenpeitai for interrogation, before being executed quietly, by an officer's katana. The only immediate retaliation strike seen was when multiple bombers where deployed and bombed a convoy of enemy forces crossing the border, but having been executed quickly, and seeing a quick retreat to avoid enemy fighters, saw some bombs being released too early, although it was noted several enemy trucks where damaged. Nihonese intel showed since this was some time after the initial attack, it was most likely support troops, and while not fighting men, it was a few less enemies they would have to face. Citizens in Manchuko where rallied, and while for the most part the fighting was happening in the Arengin side, Manchuko citizens where told propaganda lies, warning that Central Alliance men where "white devils" who where very "brutal" and would "eat their babies, rape their women and children, and burn everything to the ground." They where told to defend with everything for the Emperor.

Operation Okane had also seen full readying, and while top secret, already being ordered to begin all over the world.

Gokyo, Nihon
April 3, 1928
Evening

Emperor Hirohito stood tall in the speaker stand, surrounded by people broadcasting his speech to the world by radio, and for the rich, they would see the event in a moving picture with their TV. He nodded and then he spoke; "We, by the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Nihon, and seated on the throne of a line unbroken for ages eternal, enjoin upon thee, our loyal and brave subjects. We hereby declare war upon the Manticorian Empire, Hoosier, Aydinir, and Breyburg.

The men and officers of our army and navy shall do their utmost in prosecuting the war. Our public servants of various departments will perform faithfully and diligently their appointed tasks and all other subjects of ours shall pursue their respective duties.

The entire nation with united will shall mobilize their united strength so that nothing will miscarry in the attainment of our royal aims.

To insure the solidity of these ages and contribute to world peace is the far-sighted policy which was formulated by our great, illustrious, imperial grandsire and our great imperial sire's experience, and which we lay constantly to heart; to cultivate friendship among nations and to enjoy prosperity in common with all nations - has always been the guiding principle of our empire's foreign policy.

It has been unavoidable and far from our wishes that our empire has been brought to cross swords with Manticore, Breyburg, Aydinir, and Hoosier.

More than four years have passed since Parsa, failing to comprehend the true intentions of our empire, and recklessly causing trouble, disturbed the peace of East Indianum and compelled our empire to take up arms.

Eager for the realization of their inordinate ambitions to dominate the Orient, both Manticore, Breyburg, Aydinir, and Hoosier, supporting the Parsa regime, have aggravated disturbances in East Indianum. Moreover, these powers, inducing other countries to follow suit, increased military preparations on all sides of our empire to challenge us. They have obstructed by every means our peaceful commerce and finally resorted to direct severance of economic relations, menacing gravely the existence of our empire.

Patiently have we waited and long have we endured in the hope that our government might retrieve the situation in peace.

But our adversaries, showing not the least spirit of conciliation, have unduly delayed a settlement, and in the meantime they have intensified the economic and political pressure to compel thereby our empire to submission.

This turn of affairs would, if left unchecked, not only nullify our empire's efforts of many years for the sake of the stabilization of East Indianum, but also endanger the very existence of our nation.

The situation being such as it is our empire, for its existence and self-defense, has no other recourse but to appeal to arms and to crush every obstacle in its path.

The hallowed spirits of our imperial ancestors guard us from above and we rely upon the loyalty and courage of our subjects in our confident expectation that the task bequeathed by our forefathers will be carried forward and that the source of the evil will be speedily eradicated and an enduring peace immutably established in East Indianum, preserving thereby the glory of our empire."

The crowd roared its approval. Yells of TENNO HEIKA BANZAI! could be heard in the entire nation as radio listeners joined in.

An official declaration of war has been sent to the nations that unjustly attacked Nihon and its allies, without provocation or a proper declaration of war.

Nihonese forces where given new orders:

1. Never surrender
2. Never retreat
3. Do not spare those unworthy

Ohio, Crimetopolis
April 2, 1928

With Breyburgian forces advancing, spreading 3 million men over around 3 thousand miles they where weak. Bombers had been dispatched to attack the oncoming enemy to halt their forward progress while they remained weak all over. Kenpeitai where ordered to round up every Breyburgian, Hoosier, and Manticorian in Crimetopolis and publicly execute each one with all their property seized. There would be revenge for their attack.

Nihonese anti-air gun in Manchuko


Nihonese Fleet readying for battle

[Skarten]

"Tick Tack Goes the Watch"
13th of April 1929
Southern Smirsja, Northwestern Indianum

A man walks back and forth, impatient. He takes a look at his wristwatch. It is almost time. This man is Generał broni Ireneusz Yarvek, Major General of the 104th Infantry Division of the Royal Land Forces. He was nervous, for he knew the actions he would take part of today would have results that would ripple across the world and change the future of politics for his home nation. He had known of this operation for quite some time, and for a great quantity of time, his mind battled over whether this was truly the best for his country. But there was no time for philosophy or pondering. He had a duty to carry out, and he would not fail the tasks that he had been trusted to complete. So he prepared, ever-vigilant of the hours on his watch.

Some time later, a man in uniform quickly entered the room, having run without stopping to arrive there. He salutes the officer, and tells him that the order has come for him to carry out the plan. The time has, at last, arrived. Taking his cap and putting it, he orders the soldier to dispatch the command to the lower officers. In but a few minutes, he and his division will take part in the Skoczek Offensive, a great operation that will see the Skartentine Armed Forces begin their assault on the Nihonese Province of Manchukuo. It was a great force, the one that was there, estimated at around 2.6 Million Men on Land. Their objective was to lead an assault into the Nihonese-Held Province, supported by The Royal Air Force and the Artillery Corporations, thus opening up yet another front in their war.

This was not, however, the only movement that they would be seeing. In the sea, the 13th, 14th & 15th Skartentine Royal Fleets, together with the Skartenian Colonial Flotilla would move towards a takeover of Snowy Bay. With the Nihonese already being forced to face off the Manticoran Navy, this was expected to be a somewhat rapid endeavour.

All these happenings were but one theatre of the Skartenian War Effort. Thousands of Kilometers away, back in the ancestral mainland of the Skartentine Peninsula, another offensive was about to be opened. According to plans, the Skartentine Battle Fleet, supported by the Royal Marine Corps, was to seize control of the relatively lightly guarded Ironton Isles, who had not much time ago been transferred from the ownership of the Rusklandrs to the Nihonese Empire. If such was needed, then, with the securing of a safe landing location, divisions of the Standard Ground Forces would be deployed.

"Geopolitica"
Szarów, Jasníeg
16th of April, 1928

Taking a sip out of his drink, the count took his seat. Antoni Nasiarev, the man was called. He was a noble Count of Skarten, and most importantly, he was the Minister of Foreign Relations for his nation. It had been approximately one year since he had last finished a deal with the Manticoran Empire as to ensure the demilitarization of the Tamir border. This deal was met with enthusiasm by many who saw better relations with the Manticoran Empire as a better way to ensure the prevention of another shattering war and the reduction of a possible enemy to the state, as well as doubt from those who remained more questioning of the reasons as to why such would be done. But in the end, the deal was accepted, and so, the watchful eye of the border guard was allowed to finally rest in relation to the Manticoran Border. One year after, here was the same Ambassador who had once come to propose that deal, ready to discuss once again. "Ambassador Lynch, it is a surprise to see you returning to this ministry. I will suppose you come yet again to discuss treaties in the name of the Manticoran Empire, Correct?

“You would be correct. In particular, I seek your aid in an operation that the Empire is preparing, namely a war against Nihon and Crimetopolis.”

The count puts down his cup. “You do realize, this is not an easy matter. While it is known here that Nihon is not the best of partners, and have been increasingly violent towards other nations, they are still, through formality, members of the Western Alliance. It would be difficult to explain to the public such aid.”

“Is not Aydinir a formal ally of the Kingdom of Skarten?”

“That would be correct, yes, but speaking in technicalities, the treaties signed between the Kingdom of Skarten and The Aydinirian Empire happened years after Nihon had joined the Western League. Unless Nihon is kicked out of the Western League or leaves on his own accord, there is not much we can do without causing great outrage.”

“And yet what has Nihon done but cause the Western League difficulties?”

“I suppose they had helped somewhat in the Nine Years War. However, you would be correct in saying that Nihon’s imperialistic policies have been rather troubling to us of the Western League. While I do indeed agree that this aggressive stance led by Nihon must be put to an end, i know that the Kingdom of Skarten does not have the ability to simply expel Nihon from the Western League, as much as such would be the optimal scenario.”

“Perhaps not expel them. But if members of the Western League were seen arrayed against Nihon, it will be more likely to convince the Nihonese that they need to change their ways.”

“How would you propose, then, that we go about convincing the Nihonese? This operation, that you mentioned, still leaves a lot to question. We have knowledge that the Nihonese are militarizing, that is without a doubt a sign that things will not go well. But so is the entire world. It begs the question, then, what would this operation entail, and what exactly would be the role of The Kingdom of Skarten in it?”

“As the military has informed me, the plan involves a massive deployment of troops. The Empire is committing upwards of two million men to the operation, alongside over one million Hoosiers and more than four and a half million Breyburgians for an assault against Nihon and Crimetopolis. However, given the number of forces estimated to be in Manchukuo and Crimetopolis, approaching 4 million in total, it is the opinion of General Headquarters that Skartenian troops opening a third, broader front would be key in securing a swift victory.” Lynch leaned forward and said, “I’m aware of the tense relationship between Skarten and Hoosier. Trust me when I say, the Hoosiers aren’t very keen on this request, either. However, GHQ has been adamant. Current projections are not favorable. In spite of supremacy in airpower, naval vessels, and armored vehicles, there are still millions of hostile Nihonese and Crimetopolisian troops which will be able to concentrate along a relatively narrow front. It is vital, in the opinion of GHQ, that Skarten be a part of this campaign.”

Antoni ponders for a moment before speaking. “That is, indeed, a rather interesting plan. Now, while I believe that this could, indeed, be beneficial towards stopping the aggressive arms race being led by the Nihonese Empire, I must first consult with my Liege. This is, after all, a matter of great importance. If you will give me a moment, I shall use a direct line with the King of Skarten to communicate him of this happening.”

“I would never dream of suggesting you do anything without first consulting your Monarch.”

Antoni leaves. After a few quiet minutes, he returns. He sits down again. “I have contacted King Aleksander. He has given me his overall verdict, but the answer will depend on two questions that i must ask. His first question would be over whether or not Manticore has in mind an event that will make this war appear as a response and a confirmation, rather than a long, organized plot. That is to say, what public event will kick start this Operation? His second question is that, should this operation succeed, what would become of the Nihonese Empire? Their colonies and territories outside their isles. According to his words, in a coalition of nations with so many conflicting interests, it is important to know what would become of matters such as this. Those are the two main questions he has asked of me to inquire about.”

“You are familiar, of course, with the assassination attempt on the Aydinirian delegation by rogue elements? Well, the OSS has obtained evidence linking members of the Nihonese Royal Family to the attack. Most notably, the Crown Prince. We will be making public, as part of the opening salvo of the operation, this evidence. As for the end state of Nihonese Empire, it is the firm hope of GHQ that the Nihonese Empire effectively cease to exist. Given the length of time that is likely to require, final border changes will likely be decided towards the end, once victory is fully assured.”

“I see. Very well then, i believe my liege will be pleased with these answers. It is decided then, that, should this plan continue as described, the Kingdom of Skarten shall provide aid to the Central Alliance against the Nihonese Empire.”

“Excellent. I am very glad that we can come to a mutually beneficial agreement.”

“I agree, Ambassador Lynch. Now, I believe I must inform my monarch of this confirmation. Should we expect further communication from the Manticoran government about this operation?”

“GHQ will be contacting your Ministry of Defense to coordinate the strikes as the date draws nearer.”

“Very well, I will contact them. But now, If we are done, then i must go. I do hope that our nations continue to cooperate on this matter, Ambassador, for if this works, then we might be able to help stop this arms marathon that’s going on in the West.”

---

And so it was set. With the deal closed, preparations began to be made. Quietly and Discreetly, The Kingdom of Skarten began the draft, summoning its people to join the Armed Forces. Many of those who had served in the Consolidationist Rebellion would be called back. The overall small casualties of the rather fast war meant that most of those who had been present would have gotten experience to distinguish themselves from fresh conscripts. Many more had served in the Nine Years War, having seen war at it's worst. Overall, the great majority of the men who were called back were Veterans of a war or another, this ensuring that their training merely served as a way to put them back in their old shapes, as well as to drill them in the latest technologies.

And in introducing new technologies, Skarten did not fail. Since they had last seen combat, much had changed in the armed forces of the Eastern Empire. Much had been changed, updated and replaced, with new arms and vehicles being brought to production. Among these arms, for such an example, was the Łerlita Semi-Automatic Rifle, a weapon produced by a retired sergeant from the province of Krazna. It had undergone testing and was greenlit for mass production. It would be at last seeing field tests, being the prime choice at the time to replace the Zariet W.12 Rifle of the Nine Years War. On the Motorized field of Battle, Machines such as the Illakher 6x4 Armoured Car would get their chance to see action. On the sea, the introduction of ships was even greater as the vessels ordered in the previous years were finally completed. They would soon see action.

With many men being recruited and more on the way, Skarten began the relocation of its soldiers to Smirsja, for a supposed War-game that would take place in the province as a way of both training soldiers for the harshest of winter scenarios and to show Smirsja was a definitive part of the Skartentine Kingdom. Any attempts at questioning this motivation would be brushed off as paranoid thinking.

Match in A Barrel of Gunpowder
12th of April,1929
Szarów, Jasníeg

BREAKING NEWS, BREAKING NEWS! These words echoed across the nation as development of what would come to be known to the people of Skarten as the Zenobia Incident came to fruition. According to a publication from the government, around approximately 17:43 Of the 10th of April, the Cargo ship S.K. Zenobia, who was reportedly transporting Arms & Armoured Vehicles to Aydinir was attacked and sunk by Nihonese Submarines. As stated by the state-publicated report, the ship was able to communicate with the Tamir Colonies as they were attacked, allowing for the confirmation, by word, that it was indeed a man-made attack that caused the explosion and consequent sinking of the S.K. Zenobia.

The incident, which left no accounted survivors, was very quick to anger the Skartentine populace. Many who already disliked the Nihonese Government now spoke publicy against it, declaring it as an enemy of Skarten and it's People. Groups of Students formed protests, demanding the government to take action against the Imperialistic Nihonese, who had for too long been let to run wild. Even the common working man would vouch against the western nation who had supposedly attacked a ship of their own. A great number of citizens, most notably in the capital of the Kingdom, Szarów, yelled for war against the Nihonese.

A day later, in the 13th of April, the Kingdom of Skarten would at last give it's official word.

OFFICIAL DECLARATION OF WAR BETWEEN THE KINGDOM OF SKARTEN AND THE EMPIRE OF NIHON

FOLLOWING THE UNPRECEDENTED AND UNPROVOKED ACTIONS OF THE NIHONESE EMPIRE IN THE ATTACKING AND SINKING OF THE SKARTENTINE CIVILIAN SHIP S.K. ZENOBIA, AS WELL IN THE LIGHT OF THE CONCLUSIONS ARRIVED BY THE SKARTENIAN INVESTIGATORS OF THE PARSA INCIDENT, WHO HAVE DETERMINED THE EVENT TO BE A MAN-MADE FALSE ATTACK, AND THE RELEASE OF THE REPORTS ABOUT NIHONESE PARTICIPATION IN THE ASSASSINATION PLOT OF THE AYDINIRIAN DIPLOMATIC DELEGATION IN ST.OSLOVERG, PROVING THE WARMONGERING, IMPERIALISTIC NATURE OF THE NIHONESE EMPIRE, IT IS THEREFORE DECLARED A STATE OF WAR BETWEEN THE NATIONS OF THE KINGDOM OF SKARTEN AND THE EMPIRE OF NIHON. ANY PREVIOUS MEMBERSHIP STATUS HELD BY THE EMPIRE OF NIHON IN THE WESTERN LEAGUE IS DECLARED, BY THE KINGDOM OF SKARTEN, UNRECOGNIZED, NULL AND VOID.

WITH THIS DECLARATION, THE KINGDOM OF SKARTEN IS OFFICIALLY AUTHORIZED TO THE USE OF ITS ENTIRE ARMED FORCES TO BE DEPLOYED AGAINST THE NATION OF THE EMPIRE OF NIHON AND THE RESOURCES OF THE STATE TO CARRY OUT A WAR AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT OF NIHON; AND TO, BY EXTENSION, BRING THE CONFLICT TO A SUCCESSFULL TERMINATION.

SIGNED,

The Horn of War has been sounded! The Skartentine begin their march as the draft begins and conscription takes place! Countless men enlist, willing to risk death in the name of their country. Their fellow brothers-in-arms, in Smirsja and in the Sea, start their operations as the steps of Scenario Niedz are put into action. The Home Guard, ever vigilant, shall continue to defend their nation against any foreign attack, while those of the Armed Forces assail the foreign enemies. War-time protocols for events such as Maritime Bombardments, Aerial Raids or Chemical Attacks are revived, many of which had seen their start at the Nine Years War. Any Ambassador from the nation of Nihon would be notified of this, and be therefore forced to abandon their embassy. Those in Skarten with Nihonese origins, be it through migration or ancestry, would be put until government watch for possible espionage. Propaganda would be released depicting the Nihonese as blood-thirsty king-worshipping pagans, and telling the people of Skarten to 'Remember Zenobia'.

The Time Has Arrived. The Skartentine War Machine has been revived yet again!

[Crimetopolis]

BUt the civilians did not crack. In Auto City, Dutch Creek State Police Arsenal, and Little Chicago, Thousands of civilian gunsmiths showed up and began helping in arms production. The production of RM-7 semiautomatic rifles exploded into a flood of these same weapons, which were rushed even by civilian cars to the front lines, A storm of bullets mangled the both the infantry Hoosier and Breyburgian advances.

Volunteers for the military, police, and the Landsturm flooded recruiting offices and their training began at once. Factories, hospitals, animal clinics and like vital stuff were set up in the mountains. To prevent advanced research from falling into enemy hands, Mikhail Kalashnikov ands Dr. Robert Goddard and both their respective projects were sent by U-boat to Warglorian where they joined the Reich's weapons programs, 7x27mm Boerbull ammunition was soon in limited production for weapons research.

The airforce begin attacking at tree top level and at dawn. While losses were heavy, 122 Hoosier fighter planes were destroyed on the ground at an improvised forward airbase for the loss of 20 bombers and sixty fighter planes. North of Auto City, an Iron shirt patrol was brutally massacred by Christian fanatics. Their beheaded and bullet-riddled corpse were dumped near a Hoosier encampment with a placard that read 'NEXT TIME KEEP YOUR BABY KITTENS AT HOME! Paradoxically, the regular Hoosier soldiers the Iron Shirts had been sent to discipline
were disarmed and allowed to go free unhurt. Discontent began brewing within the Hoosier ranks.... But would it be to my nation's advantage? TAGS HOOSIER< WARG, BREYBURG!

[TENNOHEIKA BANZAI NIHON]

170 miles off target Operation Undivine Emperor
Tora Strike Group
April 8, 1929 4 AM

Aboard the Nihonese Aircraft Carrier Akagi, Commander Harry Fusao O’Hara, a veteran pilot of the 9 Years War who served with the Aclusians, yelled "Ready the planes!"

And then speaking to a lieutenant said, "Is the special weapons ready?"

"Yes sir all loaded sir."

The Commander then walked to the bridge to speak with the Captain; Captain Yamamoto. The plan called for 210 modified fighter bombers to take off from the 3 carriers, 2 light carriers, and 2 amphibious assault ships accompanied by 115 fighters/other fighter bombers who would provide escort. 50 fighters would remain in reserve, protecting the Fleet from land based attack. 8 recon planes from the seaplane tender would ensure the area would remain secure and would alert the fleet if any enemy force was to near the area.

At this time the pilots where being briefed on their targets once again, and where given orders to not surrender if shot down. Planes on the ground were targets, planes in the air priority targets.

The fleet would arrive at its target at 5 AM and at the first rise of the sun, would begin to deploy aircraft until 6 AM. From there the attack formation would fly 150 miles to its target, and once well inside the city by 7:30, would drop its devastating payload. From there it was to return to the fleet by 9:30 AM and then the fleet would immediately race to Warglorian waters. The fleet would from there meet elements of the 1st Fleet which had been a part of the Tora Strike Group, consisting of 6 fast battleships, 2 battle cruisers, 8 light cruisers, and 10 destroyers to escort it back to Nihonese waters, and return to Nihon. It was a risky plan, but intelligence showed the Manticorian battle fleet was in the Ostland Solland Strait, and even with it being notified the minute Nihonese planes where sighted, if they where able to predict which way the fleet would retreat, which would be unlikely, as the quicker route would be though the way they had come, from the Takeshima Islands, the fleet's battleships would take around 3 to 4 days to reach the area they had come from. Even if the enemy fleet pursued, they would remain 3-4 days behind. If the enemy scouting fleet was able to cut off the Nihonese Fleet, is was clear the firepower of the combined Tora Strike Group would be too much. But to ensure the enemy scouting fleet would not be able to engage, the Nihonese 5th Fleet stationed in Shishiri would conduct attacks or block the enemy force. Well at least this was the official retreat plan, that known by planners and commanders. Only the Emperor, his staff, and the admiral really knew what would occur. Could this be a clever retreat, or a plan of retreat meant to fall into enemy hands? For the enemy, only time would tell.

By 6 AM the planes lifted off, its crews yelling out, "TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!" and began to near their target, a coastal city in Westerland. The plan had been in the works for a long time now, before the war had started, and now it would finally come into play.

By 7:30 the planes where nearing the beautiful port city, and a purple flare was launched from the first plane, signalling the order to attack. Commander O’Hara from his Mitsubishi B1M Navy Type 13 Carrier-Borne Attack Aircraft order that the signal "To To To" "Ra Ra Ra" was to be sent to the fleet. Today was a Sunday, and with luck the enemy would be asleep as the attack commenced.

20 fighter bombers broke off and dropped their payloads over the port itself, dropping bombs on warehouses, some going for fuel, coastal defenses, and other military buildings including a barracks. One daring pilot even swooped low and dropped one of its two 529 lb bombs on a Manticorian patrol craft in the harbor. They strafed targets with their machine guns, but once that was done, broke off to return to the carriers. There was no point in sending the fighter bombers to escort the modified ones... that was the job of the fighters.

Other fighter bombers continued to drop bombs on enemy military targets, some firebombs on others... but what would rain down would be far more devastating. And that is where Operation Okane came in. The professionals of the unit had spent four years perfecting a counterfeit Manticorian dollar bill. The exact chemical composition was easy to figure out and create, both for the paper and the ink, what had been hard was the serial numbers of each bill. They had been perfected in Nihon and Wargloria, mass produced in both nations. And what would make them effective today... was that they had different dates, some had been worn a bit, and best of all, it was nearly impossible to tell the difference unless in a lab. It would be the natural reaction for people to pick up the money... it looked real, and basically was. In 5 and 20 dollar bills, $4,034,788,800 total would be dropped. This one strike would be enough to inflate the Manticorian economy and discourage the usage of the bill, as bankers worldwide would become weary of its use, in fear it was fake. The bills would be dropped well inside the city, and today was not very windy, having the perfect circumstances for the attack. In the moment, this would be a gift to the Manticorian people, but soon, the devastation of their economy.

The planes quickly returned back to their carriers successful with their mission. From there they would begin their retreat. A telegram was sent out to Gokyo: "Tora Tora Tora Returning home through Takeshima radio silence"

It was estimated around 39 Nihonese planes had been lost, and so far it remained unclear the enemies' casualties, other than that patrol craft and a few ground planes, plus an unlucky civilian one.

Shishiri
April 8, 1929

In Shishiri the 5th Fleet ordered forces to launch hit and run attacks against the enemy using faster ships.

But in the city-state of Carriebean, another example of Operation Okane had begun. Agents had begun making arms purchases, buying out whole gun stores, purchasing everything with counterfeit Manticorian dollars. They emptied stores, purchasing food and other supplies for the Army in Shishiri, and would effectively be putting more fake money into circulation, which would only hurt the Manticorian economy. It was a real spending spree. Homeless where given wads of cash, in some cases agents going to banks and switching out their Manticorian dollars for Aclusian pounds. Fishermen were offered thousands of dollars to smuggle in Hoosier dollars to Hoosier. Agents hired by Nihon in Ruskland territories bordering Hoosier smuggling in millions to Yakuza for their personal spending. An area even more exploited; Hettausa, a new nation where it was easy for non-Nihonese to cross the border, with bundles of Breyburgian, Manticorian, and Hoosier currency for spending to buy arms, fund Yakuza, and extremist groups.

And in Nasaria, officials donated around 5 billion in cash to various organization including the military in Manticorian and Aydinirian counterfeit currency.

At the same time of the attack in Westerland, a small amount of bombers supported by fighters lifted off from Ironton to strike Dasda Major, several dropping bombs while others, more counterfeit cash, around 97,755,000 dollars worth.

By the end of the week, over $6,132,543,800 in counterfeit Manticorian dollars had been spent, traded, or distributed. Soon banks from other nations would be weary of use of the currency. And mixed in with the real money, banks in Manchuko held over $2,784,289,209 worth in counterfeit Manticorian bills. There had been a lot of the cash produced, and now it was seen with it being distributed into Manchuko households. A couple billion in Breyburgian, Hoosier, and Aydinirian counterfeit currency had also been spent, traded, or distributed, but this was only the beginning.

Spies where being given the money, and in Arengin Union, Traansval, and other neutral nations, Yakuza and other criminal organizations where promised a 40% cut if they smuggled in Manticorian counterfeit currency into Manticore.

Gokyo, Nihon
April 14, 1929

After the Skartenian declaration of war, the same declaration that was issued a week or so earlier was sent to Skarten. Further, Nihonese commanders in Manchuko where warned. Orders went out for all embassy staff in Skarten to leave immediately and destroy everything in the office of use. They where told to alert any loyal Nihonese to leave Skarten. For the Skarten Embassy in Nihon, they where ordered to leave and so where all Skarten citizens, unless they pledged their loyalty to the Emperor and converted to Shintoism. Any who stayed who did not this would be arrested after a week for spying and executed.

However in Crimetopolis and Manchuko they where much more fierce. Not having been any direct order, the Kenpeitai commander in Manchuko and Crimetopolis ordered that all Skartenians to be executed by sword upon sight for their government's betrayal. And due to their betrayal, it was ordered that by any means Skartenian troops where to be killed, and Operation Okane started in depth for another enemy.

A statement was released per the accusation of a Nihonese sub sinking the Skarten ship.

Statement Released By the Empire of Nihon to All Nations Regarding the Cowardly Attack on Skartenian Merchant

The Empire of Nihon rejects all accusations of the sinking of the Cargo ship S.K. Zenobia as simply, the Imperial Nihonese Navy has not deployed any submarines to the area. The Empire condemns military actions against civilians and is currently investigating to its best extent. Nihon rejects all other accusations of unjustified actions and strongly condemns the unprovoked Skartenian attack on Nihon. The Empire urges nations to uphold treaties and pursue peace talks.

[Norcourt]

The Conquering Tide



The 94th, 88th, 33rd, 53rd, 81st, 121st, 103rd, 72nd, 40th, 43rd, 67th, 98th, 102nd, 13th, and 5th Infantry Divisions of the Norcourtian "Lucky" 7th Army, stationed in the Dragon Islands had began their trek to the Carleton Islands, a Nihonese Occupied island. The invasion of those islands would be vital to Norcourtian control of surrounding waters of the nation. 15 Divisions Strong, the 7th Army were sure of their power, and were eager for their first taste of war against a modern nation, seeing that the only experience they had was against the remnants of the Government of Sirvanska. The Escort Fleet was to make its way.

Norcourtian Troops of the 7th Army, in The Dragon Islands



Dak sat comfortably on the edge of his seat in the transport ships barracks, here he sat in circle with Guzzo and LaRusso.

"Carleton Islands eh? Sounds very different than Sirvanska. Why couldn't we have just sent the Marines in anyways? They all talk about the Nihonese like they wanna kill them so badly and they get the chance to, and the operation is given to the army. Come on man, I had just met this broad in Sicalia and-"

"Shut the fuck up Guzzo, don't you ever know when to be quiet. One more day on this damned ship, and I'll be sick to death. I'll tell you one thing boys, it won't be all snowy and easy like it was in the Sog..."

[Yindrai]

AMARAVATI, ACLUSIAN RAJ


"You cannot change the course of history by turning the faces of portraits to the wall." -S. Radhakrishnan

The spirit of independence grows ever stronger in the Aclusian Raj!

Jawaharlal S. Radhakrishnan, prominent Yindraini philosopher, scholar, lawyer, and author, has thus far served as the figurehead for rising independence sentiment in Yindrai. However, thus far, this movement has been nothing more than a loosely-connected, gradual change in opinion.
Now, however, Radhakrishnan intends to organize the voices of this movement and give the Yindraini people a voice.

Radhakrishnan announces a bold new initiative: the Yindraini National Congress. The goal will be to form a committee of writers, scholars, statesmen, diplomats, and intellectuals to represent Yindraini interests, educate the people, and advocate for liberty.

"The ambition of the greatest men of our generation has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but so long as there are tears and suffering, so long our work will not be over." -S. Radhakrishnan

At the first meeting of the Yindraini National Congress, some of the goals discussed will be: the starting of a native Yindraini newspaper; pursuing protections for the rights of workers and laborers; and the elephant in the room, the question of the radical nationalist paramilitary movement led by Balraj Azad and Sajjan Singh, the Yindraini Liberation Front.

(NOTE: As of now the Yindraini National Congress will have no formal ties to the YLF)

Meanwhile, the radical revolutionary Balraj Azad is continuing to evade colonial authorities in the Raj. He and a band of hand-picked guerrillas carry out small-scale surprise attacks on Aclusian colonial targets, and attempt to radicalize workers and peasants in the Raj.

"The people generally get accustomed to the established order of things and begin to tremble at the very idea of a change. It is this lethargical spirit that needs be replaced by the revolutionary spirit. The spirit of Revolution should always permeate the soul of humanity, so that the reactionary forces may not accumulate to check its eternal onward march. Old order should change, always and ever, yielding place to new." - Balraj Azad

---

EZHID, DIVINE AYDINIRIAN EMPIRE

The ambitious movement has been completed. After prominent YLF leaders were outlawed by Aclus, the vast majority of YLF forces have been moved safely into the borders of the Aydinirian Empire. Here, led by the proud Sajjan Singh, the eager young rebels are trained and equipped by Aydinirian, Boer, and Hoosier military advisers, while Balraj Azad and his small band of revolutionaries remain in the Raj to carry out guerrilla attacks.


Sajjan Singh (bottom left, leaning forward) walks past a regiment of YLF soldiers

"No one would die of starvation in independent Yindrai. Its grain would not be exported. Cloth would not be imported by it. Its leaders would neither use a foreign language nor rule from a remote place thousands of miles away. Its military expenditure would not be heavy. Its army would not subjugate its own people or other lands. Its best-paid officials would not earn a great deal more than its lowest-paid servants. And finding justice in it would be neither costly nor difficult." - Sajjan Singh

[Shahinay]

Aydinirian Empire
April 2, 1928

Imperial Navy preparing for the battle

For almost the whole day after Aydinirian Empire issued the Ultimatum there was no response coming from the Nihonese. It was of course not unexpected, as the Ultimatum from the very begining was designed to be impossible to accept by the Imposter and his empire of Chaos. In the meantime, war preparations continued with full swing, while milions of men and women across the globe hold their breath in anticipation.

On April 2, 1928, almost exactly 24h after the Ultimatum was issued and the time limit was to expire, the moment finally came. It was not a direct response to the Ultimatum, though.
The Imposter, servant of Arhish the Gread Deciever, the wicked emperor of Nihon, finally gave his answer - formal declaration of war.

Emperor Hirohito stood tall in the speaker stand, surrounded by people broadcasting his speech to the world by radio, and for the rich, they would see the event in a moving picture with their TV. He nodded and then he spoke; "We, by the grace of Heaven, Emperor of Nihon, and seated on the throne of a line unbroken for ages eternal, enjoin upon thee, our loyal and brave subjects. We hereby declare war upon the Manticorian Empire, Hoosier, Aydinir, and Breyburg.

And that was exactly what Divine Empress and Her Great Council hoped for, exactly what they have foreseen. By provoking the impulsive Nihonese to issue an official and formal declaration of war against Aydinir, without any previous direct attack of Aydinirian forces against the Nihonese or formal declaration of war, the Empire could now claim that it is in fact Nihon who started this conflict as an aggressor. After all, Aydinirian Ultimatum was only a threat of war, not an official declaration of such. Now, case could be made on the international stage that all Nihonese allies, most notably Wargloria, who signed defensive pacts and treaties of mutual defense with Nihon, are not obliged and beholden to them anymore, as it was Nihon who began this war. To strenghten this message, pre-fabricated and pre-prepared reports of Nihonese attacks on Aydinirian, Skartenian, Arenginian, Nasairan and even Aclusian trade ships soon flooded news agencies across the world. The Nihonese Piracy, name reffering to earlier Nihonese claims of Sirvanskan pirates "backed by Aydinir", was presented as yet another example of Nihonese perfidy and hypocrisy. Start of unrestricted Nihonese naval warfare against Central Alliance worked only to legitimize those reports.

Turning global public opinion against the Nihonese was not going to be a hard task, giving the fact Nihon has been repeatedly losing propaganda warfare waged by Aydinir ever since the beginning of Parsa Crisis. Countless already seen Nihon as bloodthirsty and warmongering empire of tyrants - image only reinforced after actions of the Nihonese Empire in Parsa have been condemned by the International Council of States.

---

First skirmishes with Nihon started within hours after war was declared, with lone ships from both sides attacking each other. That however was only a beginning.

If the Nihonese were alert and watchful they would have noticed numerous encrypted messages transmited throughtout southern Indianum, some even seemingly directed towards Nihonese mainland itself. If finally discovered, that Aydinirian enigma of sorts was something which the Nihonese, or hardly anyone else for that matter, have never seen before. For Aydinirian Empire, working behind an impenetrable wall of darkness built by SAVAK and AQSA, became a foreman and leader in development of encryption technology. Specialization that fit very well to the secretive character of the empire. Aydinirian codes were about to play a crucial role in the war, but togather with encryption came Aydinirian interest in code-breaking. From the very begining of the war Aydinirians were listening, waiting for enemy messages and orders. Waiting for an opportunity to study them, to break them and reveal their secrets.

Kingdom of Parsa
April 3, 1928

With the start of Central Aliance's war with Nihon, thousands of young Parsi men wanted to help finally defeat their most hated enemy. Formally still in the state of war with Nihon, Kingdom of Parsa offered Hoosier and Manticore to send around 200.000 volunteers to the front in Manchuko and Crimetopolis. All of them were battle-hardened troops, veterans of the First and Second Parsi Uprisings as well of the Nihonese Invasion. Those troops were to be led by now-general Mehrdâd Vâkhshi.

Soon, the Nihonese and their vassals from Crimetopolis will once again hear the Parsi warcry.

Âzâd-o-Khwonkhuni!
Freedom and Vengeance!

And Vengeance they shall deliver.

Indianum Straits
April 3, 1928

Start of the war saw heavy Aydinirian activity around the Indianum Straits. Unbeknownst to anyone, minelayers were planting large quantities of mines inside the international waters, nearby the island of Dhiryani, were the narrowest parts of the Straits were located. This started even before the war and was to make voyage through waters not under Aydinirian controll as hard as possible.

In the same time Aydinirian islands on the Sunset Sea (Dhrāya Suryastamayāz in High Aydinirian, Suryasthamaya Samudra in the Yindrai Language, otherwise known as the West Indianum Ocean by the powers of Europeia) - Ceylonian Isles, the Panûvarnam and to lesser extent Dhiryani have been turned into fortresses, protecting Aydinirian control over the southern seas and denying any enemy safe passage through those waters. Patrolls were frequent, as well as scouting missions by air, looking for approaching enemy fleet. With the help of Imperial Navy, Air Forces stationed in the military bases there were ready to bombard and harass any intruder, now stronger than ever after the purchase of numerous modern planes from Skarten and Manticore.

It became effectively impossible to sail through the Straits without knowledge and permition of the Aydinirians, or without capturing all of the island-fortresses.

And that meant splitting Nihonese forces into two parts, separating Nihonese 5th Fleet and their troops in Shishiri from the rest of their forces. They had to operate separately, cut off from the rest of war theatre, as any real contact between them became virtually impossible.

Aydinirians basically blockaded the Indianum Straits, which became more apparent when on 7th April the Empire announced that all merchant ships in the area have to be escorted and inspected by Aydinirian officials. Of course, those were all measures taken with most clear intentions of protecting international trade from the Nihonese Piracy.

This strategy was not exactly a new one. The very name Panûvarnam meant "The Two Guardians" in High Aydinirian and referred to the two monstrous and ancient statues carved into the living rock. Both stood on each of those two islands, facing each other and depicting soldiers from the passed and glorious era of Old Aydinir. They were without a doubt one of the wonders of the world, especially as they were carved in natural basalt - one of the hardest and most difficult to shape, but also most durable rocks. There was once a third one, with its lower half still standing on Dhiryani. Yet, remaining 2 withstood uncounted centuries, natural disasters and wars.

And they were all built by the ancients to emphasis one point.
Who ruled them, ruled the southern seas.

One of the two Panûvarnam:

Outposts the size of small cities are carved in rocks below the Guardians

Aydinirian Empire
April 10th, 1928

Public burning of fake currency, Nihonese flags and portraits of the Imposter and other "emperors"

Aydinirian blockade and control of the Indianum Straits soon came across as very useful to the Holy Reason of State. Mere 3 days after strict controll over the war-endangered area was enacted, Aydinirian controllers discovered large amounts of the Imperial Adrash transported upon some of Nasairan ships. News of Nihonese money bombardment of Manticore from 2 days earlier already reached Aydinir, so it was instantly obvious what's going on. SAVAK treated this matter with the highest caution. Numerous confiscations of fake currency followed suit, as well as even stricter controll over the waters and other possible ways inside the Empire.

At that point Cifrinah's transformation of Aydinir into a true totalitarian state came as very handy. The all-seeing Eyes watchfully made sure loyal and law-abiding citizens of the Empire were not tempted by the confiscated money. Those among the sailors who would, quickly became an example to others. Thus, damage to Aydinirian economy was very limited, as most of the fake currency never reached borders of the Empire.

This however proved to be an excellent theme for the imperial propaganda.

Laenel Rhinfāssiťal, young and promicing Aydinirian actress, as well as director and film-maker, was hired some time ago by the Imperial Government in order to further steer development of booming film industry and create new class of Aydinirian propaganda movies. Aydinirians already started to experiment with use of cinema and the magic of pictures. Now however, Leanel had her first big propaganda movie.

Beginings of April. Night, Square of Victory in Ezhid. Imperial Palace looming above the masses of civilians, gathered around huge flames, burning bright in the darkness of night.
Faces of anger, chants in the air. And ordinary men and women, loyal and faithful.
Throwing into the pyres Nihonese flags, portraits the Imposter and other "emperors" and ... batches of banknotes. Fake Aydinirian Adrashes. Burning in the flames.
Portrait and proof of strenght, willpower and loyality of the Aydinirian People. Another plan of the Imposter and his servants foiled by the Firstborns.

SAVAK was present right behind the action plan. Making sure none of the actors would be tempted to bring home any souvenir.

The Victory of Faith soon became a great success, being depicted in "public screenings" all over the Empire.

[The Hoosier Alliance]

Manchuko, May 1929
Natsuhisa Yamamura screamed with delight as he was chased through the small village by several of his playmates, weaving through the various obstacles dotting the center of his home. He was able to avoid capture as he ducked behind a rolling cart and darted for cover as the merchant shooed away all the young boys and girls, who decided to chase someone more easily caught.

The sun was high in the sky and little Natsuhisa gasped for air as he hid behind a wheelbarrow and peeked out at the children playing as their mothers looked over from their washing, weaving, sewing, and other household chores, and gossiped between stiches and shouts at their children to be nice and safe. He was just about to rejoin his friends when he caught sight of her.

Yuuki Kanou was the prettiest girl in the whole village, not that he would admit it to anyone, no matter how many times the girls chased and tormented him. As far as anyone needs to be concerned, she was ugly, stupid, and not very fun, and he pulled her hair because of that time she told everyone he ate a bug, even though he didn't. He quickly ducked down as she looked his way. After a minute or so, he peeked out to see if she was still looking, but thankfully didn't see her.

"HEY!" Yuuki shouted, grabbing him by the shoulders from behind. He was startled and fell over in the dirt as she laughed. He said a swear inside his head and said, "Yuuki, what're you doing? Go play with your friends. Oh wait, you don't have any!" He laughed at his own joke as she began to pout, "That's not nice. I'll tell your mother again and she'll make you do laundry with her and all the other women if you aren't nice to me."

Natsuhisa furrowed his eyebrows and said, "You've said worse to me! You won't tell her." Yuuki nodded her head, "Yes I will! Unless..."

Natsuhisa grabbed her shoulder, "What? What do I have to do? Please don't tell my mother on me," he pleaded, realizing the hopelessness of the situation. She smiled and said, "Okay. Follow me." Yuuki grabbed his hand and dragged him with her, taking him to the back of her house. She knelt down and pulled back a piece of old wood that her father had used to patch a hole.

"Come on," she said, crawling under the house. He followed.

They stopped and laid down on their stomachs and looked at the center of the village. They were able to see through the wood that held up house and watched their friends play from their hidden spot.

"I like to come down here and watch the village sometimes. It helps me think and stuff."

"What do you think about?"

Yuuki shrugged. "My dad, sometimes. Do...you think about your father?"

Natsuhisa nodded but said nothing.

Both of their fathers, like many of the men in the village, had been drafted to fight in the Nihonese Army to combat the invaders. No one had heard from many of the men, and they began to fear the worst.

"So is this all you wanted me to do?" Natsuhisa asked, breaking the long silence.

Yuuki's face broke out in wicked grin as she turned to him. "No," she said, biting her lip and blushing hard.

"Then what?" the boy asked.

She smiled wider and said, "You have to kiss me!"

"Never!" Natsuhisa said, a look of disgust on his face.

"You have to or I'll tell you mother on you!"

"Why?"

Yuuki blushed even more. "Because...I know you'll hate it," she lied.

After several moments of deliberation, Natsuhisa finally said, "Okay. But you can't tell anyone!"

She giggled, "Of course."

They both closed their eyes, Natsuhisa held his breath, and they leaned in until their lips touched for several seconds. When it was over, Natsuhisa was spitting and wiping his mouth while Yuuki laughed and turned a deeper red.

"So..." Yuuki said, "Do you want to play a game?"

Normally Natsuhisa would have said no, but for some reason he decided he did.

"Sure, but what do you-"

Natsuhisa was cut off by the sound of trucks in the distance. They both got excited for a moment, hoping it was their fathers, but their joy was quickly replaced with fear as the few men, several boys and old men, ran out of homes with rifles and swords in hand and headed for the outskirts of the village. Terrified, both children hid under the house as they watched everyone take shelter in their homes.

Several minutes passed before they heard the first gunshots, which continued for several more minutes, until it was replaced with engines. Several trucks pulled into the village and many men with odd faces and uniforms jumped out. One man holding a revolver and a with a different hat than everyone else began shouting in a language neither of the children understood. Men with rifles that had knives on them began to kick in doors and drag people out. Several gunshots were heard, but most people were dragged out with no fight. The elderly stood in the front, with the women cradling and protecting the children. There were no men left in the village, it seemed.

The strange men pushed the villagers into a large group in front of the house under which the children hid. Both Yuuki and Natsuhisa stayed silent.

The strange man began yelling again, loud enough to be heard over the wailing children and begging women. Several of the people began to shout back, saying things about how they didn't know anything and they weren't supplying any soldiers. The strange man seemed to get angrier.

Then, he shouted and waved his arm. The men who had pulled out all the villagers raised their rifles and a bunch of clicks were heard. Yuuki almost screamed, but Natsuhisa covered her mouth.

The strange man yelled again, and the villagers cried out that they knew nothing and begged for mercy.

The men with the rifles opened fire.

People screamed and fell.

The cluster of standing people shrank more and more until they were all lying down.

There was no more crying.

There was no more screaming.

Yuuki bawled into Natsuhisa's hand as he stifled a scream. The men laughed and began to loot the village, going house to house and searching the corpses. After what seemed to be hours, the men returned to their trucks, but did not load into them. The men began passing out several fuel canisters to some of the men while most loaded into the trucks. Several men began pouring gasoline in the buildings and on the corpses. As everyone loaded into the trucks, the man with hat laughed as he dropped a match on the pile of soaked bodies and watched the fire spread from the villagers to the buildings. He climbed into the passenger seat of the lead truck and the convoy drove away.

Yuuki and Natsuhisa scrambled out from under the house and ran from the burning village. They didn't look back until Yuuki fell a mile from the village. They looked at the flames as Natsuhisa tied a piece of fabric to her cut on her knee. He picked her up and began to carry her. She clung to him for dear life, and Natsuhisa began to walk.

[The Traansval]

Kaapstad, the Nordkaap, Traansval
May, 1929

The offices of 762 Roling Street had previously been that of a shipping company, its location next to the port of Kaapstad making it ideal for the offices of such a venture. The occupation and war, however, had driven the company away, and so now 762 Roling Street was the property of the State, or, actually, property of the Federation of Labor. The position of VK van die Marine had been elevated from previously being an under-commissioner, an assistant to the VK of the RSK, commanding a handful of armed merchantmen for the RSK, but with the latest purchase of ships from Ruskland, the Vloot, the Fleet, suddenly became the Marine, the Navy, and thus a VK position was made to command it, and the first man to be appointed is Karel Doorman, a minor officer during the Nine Years War, Doorman had outfitted and armed a merchant troller and taken to the seas during the revolution, his victories in sinking or capturing Aclusian merchant ships earning him promotions, going from commanding his ship to commanding his squadron, and finally to commanding the Vloot at large as the under-commissioner.

And now, he was the Volkskommissaris van die Marine, and he had taken 762 Roling Street as his offices, where he could see from his office not only the docks but also the all important dry docks on the northside of town. Kaapstad Harbor had been left virtually intact; it was the first area secured by the Aclusians, most of the fighting had been in the city proper or on the outskirts, and all attempts to destroy or damage the harbor had either been thwarted or repaired by the Aclusians, as the port was the vital lifeline of supply for their troops in Kaapstad. Thus, when Aclusian troops withdrew peacefully, Boer troops marched in to find a destroyed city but a pristine port. Well, almost, the Aclusians had taken much of the port equipment, and weren’t exactly gentle while leaving, but within a year after their withdrawal the harbor was in working condition again. The city was another matter, as work programs and reconstruction had needed to be initiated immediately by the Federation of Labor, which used its Union connections to organize programs and rebuild buildings, with much of the south and north side behind built as residential areas with workers housing, and the east side being built with modern tall skyscrapers and buildings of steel and glass.

However, rebuilding the city wouldn’t be the end of the work programs. Already the Federation was hard at work with restarting the Boer economy in Kaapstad, organizing workers cooperatives and getting the Unions to work. In Kaapstad, a new project would be started, this time with the State on the initiative; the Drydocks were nationalized, and a meeting of the central committee had set a budget for the VK van die Marine based upon Doormans “Naval Plan D”. Doorman had long been lobbying the Committee with plans to expand the Vloot, and now in his position as a VK he has become able to finally get through one of his plan, Plan D. The plan called for the expansion of the Marine over several years, with the plan scheduled to end in 1935, in order to have a fleet of modern ships to counter foreign navies.

Naval Plan D calls for the expansion of the Marine over six years to a full force of roughly 986,000 men, and the creation of new Battleships, heavy cruisers, cruisers, destroyers, escort ships, submarines, and support ships including minelayers, troop ships, etc.

The center of the plan, and the flagship project of the Marine to create a… Flagship, is the
Sosialistiese State-Klas, Socialist States Class, of Slagskipen, Battleships, with its main armament being nine 406mm naval cannons in three turrets (two on the bow, one on the aft), and a secondary battery of twelve 152mm guns in four turrets. Finally, the SS class will have an anti-aircraft gun armament of twelve 45mm AA guns and forty-seven 13.2mm machine guns. Additionally, the ships will be built with additions to support three planes for scouting purposes. It’s eight boilers feeding four turbines make the ship capable of a top speed of 56km/h. The plan calls for sixteen ships of the class to be built, all of them named after one of the Socialist States of the Federation.

To support the battleships is the Bevryder Klas, Liberator Class, of twenty-two Swaar Kruiser, heavy cruisers, whose main armament is three turrets each with three 203mm guns, with two bow and one aft. Six 100mm single guns provide the secondary armament while six 45mm AA guns and twelve 13.2mm machine guns provide AA protection. The class also is armed with two triple 533mm torpedo tubes, mine laying tracks, and depth charge throwers. It also sports a catapult and space for two seaplanes. Its six boilers power two turbines to give it a top speed of 68km/h. Each is named after a significant figure in Boer history and in the Federation of Labor.

The Kommune Klas of forty Light Kruiser, light cruisers, are designed primarily to support larger fleet ships and to protect trade routes during war. They are fitted with Eight 152mm main guns in dual mounts with four turrets total. Six 100mm secondary guns are also present in dual mounts, three total. For AA defense, the cruisers are fitted with twelve 45mm AA guns and ten 13.2mm machine guns. Six single 533mm torpedo tubes are also present on the ship for extra offensive capabilities, and a catapult is present to launch one of the two Seaplanes onboard. Its six boilers powering two turbines give it a top speed of 68km/h. Each is named after a Kommune in the Traansval.

Responsible for escort and screening duty not only of the fleets but of convoys, the Unie Klas of Torpedojaer, Destroyers. For combat with other surface ships, the destroyer is armed with four 120mm naval guns fitting in four single turrets. For AA defense, each ship is armed with two 45mm AA guns and six 13.2mm machine guns. The class is finally outfitted with two triple 533mm torpedo tubes, a depth charge thrower and storage carrying a max of 44 charges, and a mine laying rack with a max of 50 mines. Its four boilers powering two turbines five it a top speed of 69km/h. The plan calls for the construction of seventy-two Torpedojaer by the end date, each being given a number classification.

The Werkersklas, workers class, of Wachtskips, guard ships, are the smallest class of ships with a largely second line duty, designed primarily for escort and light patrol duty. Its primary defense arms are three 100mm guns in three single turrets, one 45mm AA gun, four 13.2mm machine guns, three 533mm torpedo tubes, and a depth charge thrower with a large cache of charges, and a minelaying rack with 40 mines. Its two boilers powering two turbines give it a top speed of 63km/h. Plan D calls for the construction of one hundred and eleven of these ships, each being given a number classification.

The Rosevelt Klas of Duikbote, Submarines, is meant to phase out the older model submarines as the primary trade interdiction vessel of the Federale Marine. On its deck is a 45mm AA gun and a 100mm naval gun for surface combat, but its true armament are the eight 533mm torpedo tubes (four aft, two bow) and 20 or so mines carried on board. The Diesel-Electric Generator is capable of a top speed of 33km/h when surfaced and 19km/h while submerged. One hundred and thirty of the Rosevelt class have been ordered, each with a number designation.

Doorman turned away from the plans, away from the books and binders of schematics, technical drawings, and various bureaucratic nonsense. He looked out his new office window to the port, and to the drydocks where now the men were working on one of the ships he was reading about. He turned his gaze to the left, where the Rosevelt was anchored. It was an old ship, but she was glorious to look at, as the naval jack of the Federation flew from her masts. He longed to be on her deck, out of his office, but alas, he was needed here, and such was life.

---

St Osloverg, Arengin
April, 1929

Spring time in St Osloverg was a good time, the sun was blue with white clouds, and the sun came down on the city, but its radiate heat wasn’t scorching like the Afrikan sun was. That sun was the one that Julius Ritter was used to, the one that greeted him everyday he stepped outside his old home in Kairo. He had been a writer, a political activist, born too late to serve in the Nine Years War but late enough to take part in the early resistance. That's where the KvKI had picked him up, they weren’t called that at the time but still. Ritter had been assigned to intelligence work out east with the Bosrangers on the Veld, making forays into Arengin occupied territory to gather intelligence. His experience landed him a post with the Boer Embassy in St Osloverg, working for the KvKI branch there, although branch was hardly the term since it had seven people assigned to it. Still, it was his post, mostly he just wrote down reports on whatever was in the news, but today would be different; he’d be making the news.

“Novoye Vremya” were the bolded letters on a brass plack, bolted into the solid stone bricks that made up of the building. Looking up, Ritter estimated it to be ten maybe fifteen stories high. These were the offices of one of Arengins largest press offices, its name proudly displayed on the plack. They printed five days a week, both a morning and evening edition, and even a weekly illustrated version. Ritter strode up the steps and pushed his way through the revolving doors, finding himself faced with floors of marbel and walls painted a dull grey, a row of dark oak desks against a wall with female secretaries behind them on the phones, waiting rooms with soft looking red sofas, and two elevators with one on either side of the secretaries desks. Ritter took off his hand, holding it in his right hand, a briefcase in his left. He approached the secretaries desks, heading towards on who wasn’t on a telephone.

The secretary looked up at Ritter, chewing a piece of bubble gum.

“How can I help you?” She asked in Arengin

Ritter smiled and picked up his briefcase, placing it on the desk and patting it.

“I have a story, can I see your editor?” He said in decent Arengin.

---

[The Manticoran Empire]

A Short, Victorious War Part 2

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Manchukuo
Indianum
May 1929

The war had been underway for a full month and the Empire’s forces had encountered little resistance. The Nihonese withdrawal had worked to the Empire’s advantage, giving the Empire essentially free reign over the lowlands of Manchukuo. It was true, most certainly, that mountains were easy to defend. However, it was equally true that mountains were hard to live in. The Nihonese army would not last the year. Come winter, they would either surrender or they would starve to death.

News had begun to reach General Ramos of villages burned to the ground. He dismissed these, however, as Nihonese propaganda. Besides, the Nihonese had done far worse to the Parsa. As far as he was concerned, the damned Nips deserved it.

In the meantime, preparations were made to finish off the Nihonese force on the coast. A message was sent to the Skartenian commanders, requesting troops for a multi-pronged attack on the coastal region of Manchukuo, one which would also involve a large amphibious force from Tamir. According to OSS reports, some 30% of the Nihonese Army was in Manchukuo. Another 18% was in Shishiri. Close to half the Nihonese Army was in positions outside of Nihon and so the Empire began to plan around this.

The Battle Fleet, a force of some 80 battleships following the commissioning of the Liberty and Vengeance classes, would put to sea. Four battle squadrons, sixteen ships of the Tamir and Dehum classes, were being sent to rendezvous with the Norcourtian fleet alongside four light cruisers, a destroyer tender, 15 destroyers, and about a dozen support ships. The remaining eight battle squadrons, sixty-four ships, would be sent towards Nihon. They would join forces with the Aydinirian Navy in the hopes of forcing a battle with the Nihonese Battle Fleet. Once there, forty ships would be detached. 20 would sail north to join Breyburg and 20 more would sail east to join Hoosier, both task forces accompanied by cruisers, destroyers, and a couple of aircraft carriers. Then, the fleets would proceed to clear the seas in those areas. Submarine Force was authorized to attack any Nihonese or Crimetopolisian flagged merchant vessel and advertisements were taken out in every newspaper in the world, advising people to avoid the seas around Indianum as they were hazardous.

Meanwhile, hundreds of Manticoran cargo ships were being used to ferry men and supplies from Nuwe Afrikaa to Manticore while others ferried men from Manticore to Tamir. The reasons for the movement were simple. The Empire intended to commit troops to amphibious landings against Crimetopolis and Manchukuo. It was also intended to ship large numbers of troops to Aydinir to shore up Aydinirian defenses. Plans were still being drawn up, however, so for the time being formations were simply being shifted around. Messages were sent to Aydinir, Rachana, Hoosier, and Breyburg to secure additional support for potential landing operations. With OSS information on Nihonese troop disposition, it was expected that close to 50% of Nihonese combat formations were currently trapped or would be trapped by the coming offensives.

Meanwhile, the Manticoran economy had taken a 5% dip as a result of the Nihonese counterfeiting operation. It hadn’t taken all too long for the fakes to be spotted. Banks across the country had hundreds, even thousands of people trying to deposit to the fake bills within a few days of the operation. What had taken most of the last couple weeks had been the Exchequer’s response. The Treasury had spent the last two weeks designing an emergency wartime bill that would, hopefully, not be vulnerable to Nihonese counterfeiting. The good news was that the Nihonese fakes were fairly easily spotted by those with a knowledge of Manticoran currency. Serial numbers in the wrong order and style, colors or designs slightly off, fine details being blurred or imperfect. To the majority of people, the bills looked fine. But to bank tellers and Treasury Enforcement Officers, the fakes were blatantly obvious, yet incredibly sophisticated.

It wasn’t hard for the Empire to blame Nihon, either. The bills showed up the same day as a Nihonese air attack on the Soll-Ost Strait and the Nihonese were the only nation with any real motive for launching such an attack. With that knowledge, the question now was what to do about it. Launching a similar attack on Nihon was out of the question, simply for reasons of practicality. In all honesty, about the only thing the Empire could do with any real practicality was decimate the Nihonese merchant fleet with Submarines. And Manticoran Submariners had a lot of experience in doing just that. Nihonese Merchants stood no chance against the Submarine Force, who's commanders had universally cut their teeth in the Nine Year War.

[Norcourt]

Island Hoppers
Northern Island of Carleton, Katawa

May 3rd, 1929

---

Little Resistance

Seeing as the Norcourtians were not officially in the war, only supplying those of it's allies, Maranossos was quick to take initiative. The Eastern Ocean Fleet that was docked in Dragon Island, that had previously been sent to the Sirvanska, carried the "Lucky" 7th Army, were to rush the Carleton's, in a surprise attack on the supposed Warglorian-Occupied island of Katawa, soon to begin an undeclared war with the Warglorians.

As the Manticoran Fleet had arrived in Norcourtian hands, the Eastern Fleet was therefore reinforced, bringing in much needed man and firepower to the disposal of the Norcourtians. The Fleet had come full stop, surrounding the perimeter of the island. The 355mm guns of both the Manticoran and Norcourtian Fleet, commenced fire on the islands lush vegetation, beaches, and defenses.

The bombardment was to go on for several days, until a beach landing was viable. 35,000 Troops were to begin landing on the beaches of Katawa, following the intense bombardment. Taking initiation, the Norcourtian Eastern Fleet disregarded the civilian population of the island, mercilessly destroying building after building, regardless of civilian life.

The Invasion of the Carleton's, had begun.

[TENNOHEIKA BANZAI NIHON]

Imperial Palace
Gokyo, Nihon
May 3, 1929

Reports had shown the war was going according to planned, but some fronts were not doing so well. Chief of the Army General Staff General Suzuki Soroku had already ordered another draft and has urged more propaganda to be pressed to urge more men to join the Imperial Nihonese Army. They would have to begin training immediately. Options where on the table for hiring private contractors. But for the most part, the General Staff had concluded Nihon was fairly safe with its 4,450,545 men in the Army securing the home islands.

The navy on the other hand with its 60 battleships and 12 battle cruisers, while not very close to the Manticorian fleet size, was hoping to engage the enemy in one decisive battle. With allied support, and if the enemy drew too close to Nihon itself, the battle would be won. With the 1st and 6th Fleets back in Nihon, it was ready. Nihonese forces were now preparing for a joint strike, one that would rock the enemy to its core.

Naval mines where being planted between the Ryukyu and Kyushu and the gap between Hokkaido and Rachana. Now, only ships approved by Nihon would be allowed entrance, and effectively Nihon had cut off the main Skarten route to transport material to Aydinir. It was the fastest route, and that would help raise the rates the enemy would have to pay, and create less of a profit for the enemy to gain.

Already multiple Skarten, Breyburgian, and Manticorian Merchant ships had been sunk early on by Nihonese submarines and battlecruisers of the 2nd Fleet. And their captains knew to not leave a single survivor.

The Navy recently ordered 40 more W-1-class minesweepers and 20 more Sokuten Class Minelayers. 40 more Fubuki Class Destroyer had been ordered along with 10 more Nagato and 5 Number 13 Class Battleships.

The Imperial Nihonese Army and Navy Air Corps had recently produced 152 new Nakajima A1N carrier fighter planes, and 500 more are on order to replace older models. With its top speed of 150 mph, and its fair range of 230 miles it was a force to be reckoned with.

For the Army 148 new Mitsubishi 2MB1 Bombers had been completed, with 200 more on order to replace and serve alongside older units. Its speed was not impressive at 115 mph, but it would help the army tremendously in the future.

Nihonese Army forces had seen the adoption of the newest Type 89 medium tank I-Go, the first domestically designed Nihonese tank. In the past months 404 units had been produced, and 1,200 more were on order, replacing the canceled FT-17 order.

When word had reached Gokyo of the Norcourtian attacks on the former Takeshima Islands, commanders and other leaders were relieved to hear the Warglorians had taken control of the islands a few weeks earlier, and the garrison evacuated. It appeared the Norcourtians had been clueless as to what deals had transpired.

Manchuko
May 3, 1929

General Seishirō Itagaki had heard reports of brutal treatment of villages yet he reasoned the only reason they are being destroyed in such a fashion is that its populace was not Nihonese. He thus ordered that in the face of enemy forces, villagers were to take up arms and defend themselves from the horrible Gaijin Oni who where only there to rape, murder, and loot.

In the scheme of things he did not really care. holding up in the mountains was not a bad idea, and these mountain conditions were not at all too harsh, yet still being perfect for defense. He had ordered when he took this post to have supplies and full defense already at ready three years ago. Now, he had caves and other mountain outposts fully equipped with supplies - enough to last the defenders 7-9 years. He had been smart to have them equipped with winter clothing, and even had thought to plan out a full on counter offensive should the right time come. All Nihonese troops had been ordered to never surrender and they would hold by that. They would die for the Emperor before the enemy ever got near.

Operation Okane had even had a few of its members in Manchuko, who spent their time printing more counterfeits to be spent by soldiers, or put in banks to trick the enemy should they gain that land. Unit 731 and Unit 100 also had a presence, and amid the horrible massacres, general more and more where one edge of ending the restraint in its readiness to use their weapons.

Something the enemy did not expect though, was that in the low lands, Unit 731 had been experimenting with usage of poison in water sources and had even deployed poison once the enemy invasion commenced. Commanders of the unit were not sure of how successful the operation was, but they believed that based off of some records from villagers, they had seen the thirsty enemy soldiers stopping by spring pools and drinking, filling their canteens, unaware of what was inside.

Shishiri
May 3, 1929

Orders had gone out to counterfeiters in Operation Okane to continue using and dispersing out the fake Manticorian cash, trading it in for real money in Carriebean's banks or for supplies and weapons in stores.

[The Hoosier Alliance]

Natsuhisa was tired. Very tired. He had been walking for hours, carrying Yuuki the whole way. At first, it was easy. She was light as a feather and his legs were powerful. That changed when the adrenaline wore off. To distract himself from his tired muscles and from the events that lead to the end of his village, Natsuhisa found himself staring at Yuuki more and more. Or at least, that's why he told himself he kept looking at the girl asleep in his arms.

As the sun began to set, Natsuhisa looked for a place to rest for the night. Eventually, he saw a cave nestled in the hills in the west. He used every ounce of strength he had to get both of them into the cave. He place Yuuki near the mouth of the cave and used the light of the setting sun to venture into their new shelter, vigilant for danger. He found no danger, but he did hear something. He strained his ears and perked up when he realized what it was; running water. He felt around in the dark for the source of the noise, until his hand came back wet. Excited, he began to drink greedily. When he was finally satisfied, he went back to Yuuki, only to find her waking up.

"Where are we?" she said as she yawned and rubbed her eyes.

"Somewhere safe. Follow me, I found water."

The two huddled over the trickling water and drank until they couldn't anymore. Thirst quenched, the pair sat near the opening of their haven and watched the sun set. Natsuhisa leaned back on his hands and Yuuki snuggled up against him.

"Natsuhisa?" Yuuki said, looking up at him.

"Yes?"

"Are we going to die?"

"No. I won't let that happen."

"What will we do?"

Tears began to fill her eyes.

"My father told me about a village somewhere out this way. We'll ask for help."

Yuuki nodded.

"Natsuhisa?"

He looked down at her. When he did, Yuuki leaned up and gave him a peck on the cheek.

"Thank you."

With that, she nuzzled her head on his lap and closed her eyes. Natsuhisa watched her sleep for a while before he laid down and closed his own eyes.



The next day...
Natsuhisa woke with a start and sat up, looking for Yuuki. He didn't feel her anymore and got worried the moment he opened his eyes.

"Yuuki!" he shouted.

"I'm right here," she said from behind him, coming from deeper in the cave. "I was thirsty."

He sighed with relief and gave her a big smile.

"Good. Now, we need to get going soon."

The pair drank as much as they could, in case it was a while between their next chance. They set out as the sun rose. Yuuki's leg was doing much better, meaning she didn't need to be carried anymore.

After two hours of walking, Yuuki shouted "Look!" and pointed to the sky. Natsuhisa jerked his head up and saw what she was pointing too. Smoke rose from the horizon far away, and they both smiled and began to run. The village was finally near.

As they got closer, they stopped and hid behind a group of rocks. The village was in sight, but they couldn't make out anything going on in the village. Natsuhisa decided to go in alone first, and would come back for Yuuki once he found out it was safe.

Be began to sneak closer to the village, staying low. He used the tall grass to creep in closer. He spotted a tree that stood near the village and decided to climb it to get a better vantage of the village. As he neared it, he suddenly heard a noise.

The tall grass obscured his view of the tree, but he could hear an odd sound coming from it. It sounded like...gurgling. Then laughing. Then, "Âzâd-o-Khwonkhuni!"

He froze. It was a different language, but he didn't think the same one spoken by the men who attacked his village. He decided to take a peek.

On one side of the tree, out of view before now, hung the bodies of several Nihonese people. Some were soldiers, wearing their uniforms, while others were civilians. Standing on the ground were four men. Two of them looked like one another, while the other two looked like the men who attacked his village. All four of them laughed as they watched the life drain from the Nihonese soldier's eyes.

A-zud..uh, K-wah…What they said! one the men said, trying to repeat the phrase uttered by his companions. Unknown to Natsuhisa, two of the men were Hoosier while the other two were Parsi.

The men laughed as they walked away after the soldier stopped struggling, with one of the Parsi shouting "Marg bar Kudakân-e Aghish!"

He stayed still until the men were far away enough. Natsuhisa wanted to turn back and run away, but as he looked at the village, which he could now tell was occupied by foreign soldiers, he knew there were lifesaving supplies there. If they wanted to live, they needed food and water. He took a deep breath and began making his way to the village.


In the village, the retribution on the Nihonese civilians was brutal. Staying hidden, Natsuhisa was sneaking through empty buildings and could see the atrocities committed by the occupiers. People hung from trees and buildings, most of them civilians. Corpses sat up against the walls of buildings, blood stains from where they were lined up and shot, then slid down the walls. Piles of corpses were being burned. Items were being looted from many of the houses and corpses. He tried to avert his gaze.

He quietly snatched items of value to him from homes as he carefully went from house to house, taking food and water and placing them in the sacks he found. As he came to end of the village, Natsuhisa heard voices. They spoke in a language he could understand.

The Army! he thought, excited. He rushed as quickly as he could while remaining hidden until he came to the village center. He peeked out a window and his heart sank.

It wasn't the army. It was a group of six civilians, men, on their knees, begging for their lives as Hoosier and Parsi soldiers watched. A line of six women were lined up against the wall of a building, bound and gagged. Soldiers kept them in place as they watched.

One Hoosier soldier stepped in front of the Nihonese civilians. He had a large canister on his back, which in turn was attached to a long hose. They all began to laugh as the civilians redoubled their begging and attempts to break free of the binds tying their hands.

The man aimed the hose.

He laughed a deep, hearty laugh, as he squeezed the trigger.

The hose spat fire, engulfing the civilians.

The other soldiers cheered as the men cried out and withered on the ground, dying slowly.

Soon, but not soon enough for the victims, they stopped moving.

Dead.

The women cried as the Hoosiers and Parsi played a game, punching their hands and presenting either a fist, a flat palm, or a V. Three Hoosiers and three Parsi, apparently the "winners", each grabbed a women and began to drag them into some nearby houses.

The doors closed.

Natsuhisa left the village in a daze. He didn't remember sneaking out. He might have just walked down the street for all he knows. Either way, he got back to Yuuki. She asked what happened, if it was safe. He handed her two of the four sacks of food and kept the canteens attached his side. They began to walk. In the distance, he heard several gunshots, followed by a phrase he could not translate, but he was sure he knew the intent of the words.

"Marg bar Nikhân-o-Nikhâniyân!"