(A/N: The year is 1910 when the Belkan-Osean War begins. This war is different than the Belkan War of 1995. Since this is Ace Combat, the technology of the time will be accelerated a little bit. Not to the point of lasers and super tanks. but to the point of Second World War technology [Not Secret Weapons included])
The sky was gray and a chilly wind was blowing across the northern coast of Anfang, threatening the caps of the young Belkin sailors standing in attention along the upper deck of the Dinsmark. On the quarterdeck, the Belkan navy fleet band were desperately trying to keep their hands and their instruments warm, they wanted their notes to be true ones as the Belkan navy was about to commision its first Modern-Day Battleship.
Captain Hans Schirm addressed the crew from a raised platfrom on the quarterdec, but only two thousand men heard only handfulls of his speach as the band and the wind were playing tricks with his words. The officers and the King of Belka, who happened to be standing right beside him, were the only ones that managed to her him. Captain Schirm was quoting the long dead first King of Belka, King Erich von Dinsmarck I. "Peace is only made by blood and steel. Not through pointless talking." King Dinsmarck was known at the time as being the King of Steel, now a steel ship bore his name.
King Dinsmarck is famous in Belka for uniting all of the small Belkan states during the 1800's into one large country that would later be called Belka. He is also famous for the Stier Compromise that united Nord Belka and Sudentor Belka. His reign lasted for a good 40 years until he died of natural causes. His grandson, King Vestal von Schugs, now rules Belka.
Captain Schirm gave the order, and the black, white, and gold war flag of Belka shot up the mast of the Dinsmark and was whipped out by the breeze. As the flag flew, the band tried desperately to play the Belkan national anthem "Belka, my Belka, our heart beats for thee." No reporters from the Belkan news paper agency, The Belkan Times, where not present at the ceremony of the launching of Belka's greatest warship. These attempts were made so that the Oseans wouldn't be aware of a new Belkan threat that become dreaded in the northern waters. The Osean public were not aware of the Dinsmark and the military was too busy fighting the Belkan army in the southlands of Belka. The frontlines there never moved as wounded troops left the battlefield and new troops came in to fight.
Belka only had a handful of ships that were being built, such as the heavy cruiser Glastistant and the battleship Sudentor, Then their was the heavy cruiser Prinz Heinrich which would be escorting the Dinsmark in its maidan voyage. Prinz Heinrich was built in proportion to the Dinsmark just in case the Osean navy spotted her. Camoflage paint was painted on both of the ships to that the ships would look further away then they actually were. The crew of the Dinsmark were troops fresh out of boot camp. They were mostly older teens (18+) and young adults. They were proud to serve their homeland. They were from all over Belka: mines, farmland, even the Waldriech Mountains themselves. Some of them never stepped foot on a boat before, let alone being in a harbor.
The Dinsmarck herself, was a dream come true. She was fast and sleek, with a beautiful silhouette and a great majestic looking bow. More than a quarter mile long, 118 feet wide and with a displace ment of 50,000 tons. Her 8 16-inch cannons mounted in four twin turrents were the biggest ever mounted on a Belkan warship. These specifications made her more than a match for any Osean ship, perhaps including the OSS Eagle herself.
Defense is vital to a battleships well being, in fact, over half of the ship was armored. The most heavily armored areas include: the turrents, the underbelly, and most importantly, the Superstructure. Elsewere, armor was evenly distrubuted, anywhere between 5-14 inches of armor were being implemented to keep the ship's vitals and her crew of course, from being damaged. The muntions house was perhaps one of the most heavily plated cases within the ship. The house was located within a 2 foot thick armored citadel that was 1 story high with the main command deck sitting right on top of it. The Dinsmark's twin, the Sudentor, was less armored due to it not being named after the capital.
(A/N: So what do you think? I know this story is not based in the air, but it explains Belka and her military around in the 20th century. The next chapter will be the Dinmark setting sail with her compainion and a introduction of the commanding officers.)