Chapter 4: Imperial Preparations for the Great War
Imperial capital Sadera, 52020 I.C
The conference room was comfortable enough, thought Crown Prince Odysseus. The Crown Prince waited patiently for the meeting to begin. He made a point of always trying to be early for important functions, no matter how trivial. And as it was, the situation was far from trivial.
Aids of the Crown Prince, Prime Minister, and Minister of Defence, scurried to and fro.
Suddenly, they began to exit the chamber, which was itself buried below the Ministry of Defence headquarter. Crown Prince Odysseus inclined as his counterparts in the Triumvirate entered the room.
They were like him-the brightest members of the inner circles of the Imperial Defence Council and the brand new Imperial Council of Preparedness.
The Third Prince - Prime Minister: Diabo El Caesar, the Second Prince - the current Minister of Defence : Zorzal El Caesar strode into the luminous chamber and sat at the oaken desk. The few remaining aids left the room.
"Welcome Zorzal ," said Odysseus in a welcoming voice. He repeated a more formal greeting to the newly appointed Prime Minister : Diabo ; he had beeb briefly taught Imperial governing at the Imperial Academy, and knew Diabo as one of the brightest students. He was happy when Diabo was promoted to the Prime Minister position.
"Good day, Big Brother." said Diabo wearily. "I only wish we were under better circumstances."
All three princes had discarded the idea of meeting using the Newly-made magic videotelephony system; family should meet face to face, after all.
"Then let's get right down to the agenda," said Zorzal. "What are we going to do to stop these enemy from Earth?" The Minister of Defence still had a haunted look in his eyes from the first video images he had seen from Earth of those Nuclear weapons...before they exploded in Sukhoy Nos ("Dry Nose") cape of Severny Island, Novaya Zemlya, Russia ( the Tsar Bomba test).
Zorzal had imagined Sadera, Deabis, Telta, or Yerba Buena in place of that scene.
"From the information we've managed to gather from the Count Colt Fortunato Formal," said Odysseus. "The UEA army land, march to the urban centres, and then bombing and shelling them if they are not willing to surrender. It would seem that fortifying the cities, especially the subterranean ones, is the best way to stop them, secondary only to turning every remote river valley and mountain pass into a death trap."
The idea behind the former part of this strategy wasn't entirely altruistic; after millennia of building up the mercantile economies needed to dominate the world, the members of the Triumvirate of the Empire couldn't afford to give up cities such as Alexandria or Carthage or Antioch without some form of resistance.
"But their bombers can also bombarded on any spots throughout the planets when they attack," said Diabo, speaking up. "For all we know, their first nuclear bombardment wave will plop down right atop our capitol." He sighed.
"More to the point," continued Diabo. "We need to save as many lives as we can. We're not a particularly numerous species, gentlemen. The Arachnid have 14 trillion beings to bounce back from...we have, between our Holy Empire and vassal states, only ten billion or so."
Both of his counterparts nodded in agreement; the more loyal subjects, the easier the job of ruling...that maxim had been true since the days of the Founding. Even if it meant that Imperial's gene pool would be cut by half. Odysseus could show empathy to the protesters who denounced the very notion of that idea.
"The idea of these 'SubUrbs,' said Crown Prince Odysseus. "Is especially appealing. The Imperial government need to begin construction of a long series of refugee centres in Range of Ice and Snow. The Terran also seem to be adverse to the more extreme environmental conditions. Several of those SubUrbs need to be constructed in Antarktyda as well."
"Yes," said Zorzal El Caesar. "I believe, Diabo, that the Imperial millitary must also construct a long defensive line along the Indyjski Ocean coast, which meshes nicely with your planned defensive lines around the Afrykania Coast ...we should be able to fit in many pillboxes and bunkers sited along the Afrykania coast, as well as the rest of the Indyjski Ocean coast. Besides, getting coastal defence and fortification lines in this way will deny the UEA their main landing sites."
"Are they really muggle though?" inquired Diabo.
"Yes, that appears to be the case, the enemy don't seem to have any magic." said Crown Prince Odysseus. "Speaking of which, how secure is this information?"
"Pardon?" asked Second Prince Zorzal.
"You can't honestly expect to trust all the information from Formal," said the Crown Prince, raising the tempo of his voice. "He might be tricked to feed us false information...it's a good thing that our counterintelligence networks have evolved over the years. It will make any suspicious activity easier to pick up."
"Agreed," said the Minister of Defence, adjusting his turquoise tunic. "To change the subject, we've already agreed to the maximum capabilities of our magic using the enemy knowledge."
"Indeed," said Crown Prince Odysseus. "The Count might've only had schoolbook to give us, but it's more than enough for any of our scholars to work with. Now, if we could only trust the Count's assurances that the UEA would ignore civilians if they surrender."
"It does sadden me that other than the Holy Empire, no other nation on this world has any real capability to challenge the UEA." Several smaller vassals had requested the "protection" of the Holy Empire, upon the general announcement of the imminent attack. Several principalities had requested admission into the Imperial provinces.
Likewise, the Kingdom of Elbe had requested that same protection from the Empire, and the Kingdom of Mudwan had even taken the step of invoking the Treaty of Endor.
Both the Crown Prince and the Minister of Defence nodded solemnly as well...more than one tenth of the Imperial subjects were being sentenced to death...and this was under the best case scenarios drawn up thus far! said Diabo El Caesar.
Schwarz Forest, Lemuria, Holy Drawinian Empire, 52021 I.C
Rory Mercury Station had been constructed in the 50740s, as a nexus for the new lands to the east of the Thirty Colonies of Afrykania, the Lemuria sub-continent. Its Emroyan design of sombre darkness and crass arches got at least one petition per week to the Lord of Italica for it to be "re-vitalized" (that is, removed).
You would have never heard such a complaint about Rory Mercury Station from Yao Haa Dushi. The tall dark elf from the Dushi Clan, dressed in a plain black and brown leather coat to shield her lank frame from the chill of the moaning wind outside, strode into the station to fulfil her duty.
"Don' forget girl," Yao Haa Dushi's great-grandfather had told her repeatedly. "A Dushi 'is always patriotic, and will never shirk from duty. Our glorious Empire is based on that, Yao. An' if you forget it, then you might as well be a "Vrijdenkerij or Rationalists!" Strong stuff to tell any five-year-old, but Yao Haa Dushi had considered herself, even at that young age, to be as unflappable in duty to the Empire as great-granddad had been.
The Dushis had proven to be surprisingly lucky. They'd been visiting relatives on holiday in Italica when an experimental dimensional GATE contaminated most of the Schwarz Forest in Apocryph "The Mist of Nothingness" in a gross meltdown (not long after great-granddad's funeral) in 51947. They'd of course been invited to stay in Italica (with their house considered too close to Ground Zero to seriously consider returning too.
A Dushi is lucky, girl, and don't you forget about it granddad had reminded her.
Eventually, Yao Haa Dushi, staunch patriot, volunteered for the army. There hadn't been much to do in the 51970s, after the brief skirmishes against Northern Tribe Horsemen in Northern Europania. Other than watching the newsreels covering the occasional rebellion in Afrykania or some other spot of bother, General Boredom had proven to be the worse foe. Waiting patiently for action to be sparked...any action, it hadn't been until the early '90s, when Kingdom of Elbe and the Holy Empire almost came to blows over the collapse of the Grand Bank, and Lieutenant Dushi's men had been stationed on the St. Lawrence. The Dauphine's defence line, built upon since the Europania United Dissolution of 27029, was a daunting site to behold, and Dushi had eagerly looked forward to scaling it for King and Country.
Then the diplomats settled it. Frustrated over the sheer emptiness that army life had begun to spiral into, Yao Haa Dushi had resigned her commission. It was the single most painful memory that Yao had logged into her brain; her parents hadn't spoken to her for almost a year after that. She had also come to sincerely regret her decision, and was too ashamed to try to rejoin (she knew how many officers felt about people like that).
She made her retirement in Schwarz Forest as a kindly bachelor, writing an occasional thriller for the Lemuria Review of Books or some other such publication. Life was simple, but it was good.
Until last week. Last week, Yao Haa Dushi had received something so implausible that she found herself reading it out loud in a Elvish burr, something she had hoped had left her. She still had the document in her breast pocket. She had every word memorized:
"Centurio Yao Haa Dushi
Having served in His Majesty's armed forces honourably as a Centurio for many years, your skills are now required once again. You are to report to the Emperor Claudius Military Academy and Training Centre no later than Wa 35th for re-commissioning as a Centurio in His Majesty's armed forces. Failure to acknowledge this new order of events shall be regarded as desertion and gross High Treason, and punishable by the Defence of the Realms Act...Gods Save Emperor Molt Sol Augustus."
Unusually blunt for a call-up letter of any kind. Despite the fact that she just have just had a baby, Yao Haa Dushi wasn't going to shirk in her duty.
Not again, at least (as she put it using hind-sight).
And so, striding along Platform 11 to Troop Train 11-B, with another card marked with the term 'RS' on it (of which the meaning was a mystery) in her pocket, Yao Haa Dushi moved to restore honour to her name and heal the hole that her previous resignation had left her in her heart.
The compartment was already half-full by the time Yao found a window seat.
It was only then that she noticed that there were many other men and woman in the crowd of milling would-be soldiers that were a lot older than she was.
What the hell ? Are we trying to annex Arachnid Homeworld or something ? She laughed softly at that last thought; the idea of any nation subjugating that empire of 14 trillion green spider-like bugs struck her as surreal, to say the least.
Her thoughts were interrupted by a thud to his right. She saw that she had company. A snot-faced, pock-marked, and greasy haired form of company; Yao Haa Dushi disliked him on sight.
"'allo, 'allow!" boomed the scrawny man, who looked as though he were auditioning for the role of a villain in a play in Schwarz's theatre . He extended his hand. Yao shook it firmly...after all, a Dushi always had the strongest handshake...as great-granddad had drilled into her. "Name's Bouro. Bouro Co Igloo ! Fresh outa the city o' Haryo !" His accent sounded like the bastard son of a Cockney and a long-time resident of Akusho's sister city. "What are ya doin' heah, beauty ?"
"As a matter of fact-" began Yao, only to be cut off by the slovenly Bouro. The greasy man pointed suddenly at another recruit sitting two rows in front of them; he had a plain skullcap. Yao couldn't tell if he was High Elf or Dark Elf, although she would have assumed that latter.
Bouro took something out of his breast pocket. "Watch me pop one ovah the sheeny," he hissed, flecking the object, whatever it was, at the Elf recruit.
Unfortunately for Bouro, the object narrowly missed the Elf and hit the Volralden man sitting in the next row-a big beefy Volralden with very little neck. He turned around sharply. Bouro Co Igloo ducked beneath the embroidered seat. The beefy soldier, his head splattered with what looked like egg yoke, looked behind him. The Elf would-be victim pointed him to Yao's row.
You're mine mouthed the bullish recruit at Yao. In the shock at being accused of such a dastardly prank, Yao Haa Dushi was only snapped out of that stupor by the stupid sniggering of recruit Bouro.
Then the train, groaning with the weight of the new (and returning, in many cases) recruits, began its journey to the illustrious Emperor Claudius Military Academy and Training Centre.
Of course, none of the men on board the train, least of all the greatly affronted Yao Haa Dushi or the wretched Bouro Co Igloo, knew of the maelstrom that they were about to be sucked in. The fair majority would never grow old enough to engage in the contented sort of retirement that Yao herself had oh so suddenly been jerked out of.
The Monocorn powered train moved north - monocorn, Monocornus occidentalis, is a single-horned, rhino/bison-like ceratopsid they are very strong therefore used as train locomotive .
Imperial capital Sadera, Fla 54th, 52029 I.C
Each day, thousand of lords and nobles would visit the gigantic Sadera Imperial Palaces.
Senators, nobles, and courtiers would gather in meetings, treating politics just like any other chores.
In the meetings, they would enjoy delicious foods, graceful dancers, gambling, courting before engaging in dialogues... That was the general feel of it. The nobles might even decide the deployment of armies based on the number of games they hunted.
However, with the upcoming war haunting their minds, each of them had a serious look on their face.
Imperial Senate
The main hall where senators assemble for the senate session is a sight to behold. About 274 meters in diameter, the senatorial chamber is a perfect circle of five rows, enough room for 2000 cushioned marble chairs. Movement through a row is easy over the 1.45 foot path along the front of the seats. Senators enter from the east end through an 18° gap in seating which leads to the magnificent Porta Publica, golden entryway to the chamber.
Supporting the massive central dome (300 m) are three hundred columns, one meter apart, between which are three meter tall holes that face the city of Sadera beyond. A 15 m wide oculus in the dome's center maximizes the light flooding into the Senate so that it is brightly illuminated all day.
On the west end is another 18° gap in seating. However, this one interrupts the rows with large pieces of art that symbolize the Holy Empire, the Emperor and victory. In front of the wall which supports these symbols - a continuation of the sections of marble making up the rows of seats - are three sellae curules (curule thrones). The luxurious red cushion and golden frame of the Emperor's throne stands in the center of the chairs, flanked on the right by the seat of the Proprinceps, his second-in-command, and on the left by the seat of the Princeps Senatus.
Embedded in the chamber walls are hundreds of magic holographic projectors, allowing hundreds of complex three-dimensional images to be displayed anywhere in the room. Their uses are as limitless as modern animation magic allows, giving senators unbelievable flexibility in their presentations.
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'Please pardon me for my bluntness, but the budget spending is way out of control. We have spent unprecedented amount of money in the history of this Empire for Crown Prince Odysseus in his pet project GATE, now Your Highness are spending 100 times more for the "Fortress of Falmart". Does Your Majesty have a plan to deal with this issue?
As a Senator as well as a noble, Marquis Casel did not mince his words as he addressed the Emperor Molt Sol Augustus, who was sitting on the throne.
If any of the Senators present in the hall should speak so carelessly with the Emperor, he would be forgiven. They believed that this was their duty as statesmen.
The Senate was a somber hall that forsook flamboyant decorations in favor of a subdued but sturdy architecture. There were around two thousand grim-faced men seated around the center of the hall on benches. These men were all Senators of the Empire.
Should one desire to become a Senator, there were several ways. One way was to be born into an influential family. No matter what country, nobles are a small minority of the population, but that did not seem to be the case in the Imperial Capital. If one were to toss a stone out of a window, it might well have hit a noble.
Thus, if you wanted to be a Imperial senator, your nobility played no role. Even among nobles, only the cream of the crop could be appointed to such a post.
Did this mean that if you were not of noble blood, there was no possibility of becoming a Senator ? This was not the case. If one held the position of a minister or a generalissimus in the army, he had a shot at joining the Senate.
In order to fulfill the daunting task of running a country, the existence of a bureaucracy was necessary. If a commoner possessed the qualities of a Senator, with some luck, hard work and a good record, they could be appointed to the Senate.
There were many ministers in the Holy Darwinian Empire; Prime Minister, Minister of Internal Affairs, Finance, Agriculture, Foreign Affairs and so on. Many of those that had risen in the ranks to become ministers or generalissimus would be bestowed with a seat in the Senate upon retirement.
Furthermore, a generalissimus could join the nobility even if he were of common birth, as commissioned officers were granted knighthood.
Marquis Casel was born into a family of barons that were merely of the lesser nobility. It was only through his past achievements and excellent service as a minister that he was granted a seat in the Senate. He was a hard worker who always tried to do his duty. In other words, he was a man of character.
Thus, he was feared for his boldness and a sharp tongue that was said to reduce grown men to tears.
As Marquis Casel, the leader of the Peasant Party swung his toga around, he challenged the Absolute Emperor:
'Your Imperial Majesty! How are you going to lead your Empire?'
When Marquis Casel had finished his speech, he returned to his seat. Gazing at the one who had criticized him, the Emperor calmly shifted in his throne, leaning forward and opening his mouth.
'Marquis, I have considered the circumstances. Our spy on Earth have informed us, our enemy the UEA have gathered a massive army to take their revenge on us, the Holy Empire is threatened. Will the Earth's nations who have long grown their hatred for our glorious Empire begin a crusade and march into the capital Sadera? Ah, just thinking about that makes you lose sleep, correct? How heartbreaking, yet it is useless to cry over spilt milk. The Crown Prince Odysseus all those involved in the Gate disaster have been sent to "Adjustment room" and are now fully serviceable.'
At the Emperor's banter, the tense atmosphere in the hall was softened with quiet laughter.
"Do you remember the War of Unification 25,000 years ago, my dear Senators? How did our great predecessors, Charles the Great Unifier, react to the news of the army's total defeat? Did they lament their lost valor and pride, and negotiate for peace, which would effectively have meant surrender?
And did they care about how much money they need to spend for the defence of the Empire? "
Not waiting for answer, the Emperor continued:
"No they didn't. They did their duty, sacrificed everything they had for the Empire victory.
Do you remember how the women of the Empire responded ?
They said: So what if we lost 60,000,000 men ? We will birth that number in no time, they said, while rolling up their skirts for all to see!
There were heroines, and I hope there is nothing else to be said.
The Empire has weathered dire times like these countless times since its founding. Always, the Emperor has cooperated with the Senate and the citizenry to face these trials – that is why the Holy Empire grew so powerful."
The Emperor's tales resonated with the Senators.
'There is never a certainty of victory in war. If the generalissimus were to take the blame for every setback in a conflict, there would be no generalissimus. Should we be pointing the finger at one another while the enemy encircles the capital?'
If no man were to be the culprit behind the disaster, then naturally the Emperor was exempted from all responsibility. Realizing that the Emperor had effectively dodged his responsibility, Marquis Casel clicked his tongue in irritation.
"Now excuse me gentlemen, I have a defence meeting to attend" said the Emperor as he left the room.
War Room
The members of the Royal Defence Council, the special commission dictated by the Ministry of Defence to prepare for the UAE attack, fidgeted in their seats as Lord Titus Caesar Vespasianus began his presentation; the tall, earnest Titus was easily one of the brightest figures in the entire government...everyone would hang on his every word.
Titus Caesar Vespasianus stood before a wall-sized screen. He stood calmly. None of the other members of the RDC had any idea that they would be receiving a very special guest for their final scheduled strategy session.
As it was, it was only when Emperor Molt Sol Augustus entered the room that the presentation really got started. His Majesty's entourage was sizable for the small room buried deep under the Ministry of Defence, and included : the Crown Prince Odysseus; the current Prime Minister, the Third Prince of the Empire, Diabo El Caesar; the Minister of Defence, the Second Prince, Zorzal El Caesar; Secretary of State for the Interior, the Third Princess, Euphemia Von Lichtberg and members of the Emperor's elite bodyguard- the Emperor's Youxia (wearing silent and deadly looks upon their faces...they would kill without the slightest hesitation if their Sovereign was threatened...the stories of how they'd foiled assassination plots against the Emperors made even Titus shiver when reading the sterile reports), modelled after the philosophy of the Warrior Bunnies 'Knights' who inspired them. Everyone else in the room straightened up when the ruler of the largest empire in world history sedately sat down, and bid the others to be seated.
Titus let out a sigh of relief and signalled to the operators for the presentation to begin. The screen lit up with a map of the world, showing the red of the Azjania, the dark blue of Eurafrykania, and the light green of Neo Ameryka and Ameryka. Light blue signified the Terra Australis. White of Antarktyda and black of Lemuria.
"Your Highness, gentlemen of the Royal Defence Council. After careful deliberation, and discussion with our generalissimus from around the world-" [that is, mostly in Eurafrykania and Azjania]-"I have finalized the final lines of defence against the approaching enemy."
Dark red lines suddenly appeared on the map, showing the main centres of Imperial resistance around the globe.
"First of all, the main fortifications. They will be cantered in The Range of Ice and Snow in Azjania, with secondary lines in Ameryka, with the honourable cooperation of our vassal national governments.
This will be supplemented with the Neo Ameryka fortified area to protect the Azjania-Spokojny Region.
The fortified cities will include Sadera, Alexandria, Carthage, Antioch, Roma, and Ephesus. The Ameryka Mountain Lines will be a joint effort of Kingdom of Elbe, the League Principality, Kingdom of Mudwan, Kingdom of Alguna, Kingdom Toumaren and Kingdom of Arrun."
Slowly, Titus Caesar Vespasianus began to trace his finger across the planet.
"Most of the Afrykania, Terra Australis, Indien, and Middle Eastern territories would be protected by the " Indyjski Wall".
The fame " Indyjski Wall" to its eventual fortification depth of 100 kilometers along the Afrykania Coast and to narrower, but still impressive size along the rest of the Indyjski Ocean coast was an almost impentrable coastal defence and fortification lines.
Virtually every part of the Afrykania coast was defended by extremely impressive and well engineered defenses.
In some areas titan concrete bunkers extended inland for nearly 320 kms.
In other the defenses were far shallower, but ended at edge of marchland that was virtually impassable except for a few roads.
Roads that had heavy fortifications defending them and magic artillery registered to rake every centimeter of their straight exposed formidable, effectively unprecedented construct.
Especially the section facing the Lemuria sub-continental, was as much as 300 km in depth, with pillboxes and bunkers sited to provide maximum mutual support.
Most of the pillboxes and bunkers were protected by 18 meters of superharden titan concrete roof. Some bunkers layers could be as deep as 300m underground.
"Well, as for the Imperial territory of Lemuria, we've had to make some hard will have to be abandoned; our forces are stretched to the limit as it is, Lemuria will face the full might of the enemy force and their nuclear weapons therefore it's pointless to wasting troops defending it."
Several members of the RDC cast their heads down in disappointment. They didn't like the idea of abandoning any part of the Empire, and this had led to several extremely heated arguments before the men and women of the Defence Council swallowed their nationalism and bit down hard.
"However, all is not lost. In Lemuria, our main areas of defence will centre around the Koan Forest in the south, which we're coordinating from Kowan Kingdom with the High Elf." Two purple lines appeared around Koan Forest and Kowan Kingdom, along with the red. "As well as in the north, where we will centre resistance around the Roldom Canyon, extending into Schwarz Forest, and anchored around the fortress city Italica."
Titus paused to catch his breath. Emperor Molt was staring at him intently. He thought that he could detect a gaze of anger in his eyes ; he had just informed him, after all, of the total extent of territory that would be left for the UEA.
"However," continued Titus. "If the enemy breach "Indyjski Wall", the main centre of the Afrykania resistance will be cantered in Saharanta Great Desert and The Great Congolia Stormforest." Two large dark red circle appeared around central Saharanta and Congolia, which had been conquered by the Empire during the great rush for colonies during the War of Unification. "We're drawing down our forces from the Sudana to defend the SubUrbs in the central part of the mountainous zones. This will be supplemented with the fortified port city of Cairon. The rest of the Middle East will see our resistance cantered in the upper portions of Mesopotanian and Syridania. The Volraldens will make excellent fighters, and we're coordinating this line with the Warrior Bunnies defences in their Mughal Grassland territory." Sky blue lines appeared over the map.
"Terra Australis defence will centre around the massive Storm Forest of Marege, with Tasmaniaka being fortified against any kind of attack, and a large centre of defence around Ayersern Rock. The Earthling do not like the interior of the stormforest and mega desert they land on. From what Colt Formal have managed to tell us, they need fuel and water...a lot of fresh and filtered water, in order to continue through the deserts and their heavy weapons can not pass through the thick, dense stormforest. We can hope that they stick to the coasts in their foraging for water and supplies."
Titus paused for dramatic effect. He still had the rapt attention of all in the room. Despite holding himself high as a very brave man, he could feel his sovereign's eyes boring into his chest. Turning back to the map, Titus pointed to the Antarktyda-Andesen Line.
"Now, the biggest defences outside of the Eurafrykania and Azjania will be reserved for the A-A...the Antarktyda-Andesen Defensive Line. With this line, we can hope, under the best circumstances, to keep the Earthling out of Neo Ameryka, as well as the Andesens themselves. This will be supplemented with the fortified island of New Eden, and of course, the massive Imperial defence lines stretching across Transantarctic Mountains in Sentinel and Ornithia." Both former nations had been conquered by the Holy Empire, and had a long history of a Imperial military presence.
The Frost Giants in particular (who, as it was, served in both the Holy Empire and the former Gra Valkas Federation armed forces), would be more than a match for any Earthling invasion force in that kind of freezing, minus 102 degrees Celsius, hellscape terrain. Dark green lines stretched across the Frost Giants portions of the line.
"As for the Imperial capital Sadera," said Titus, bringing his finger back to Azjania. "We plan to turn Deabis, Telta, and Proptor into fortress cities and zones, to keep the Earthling from sweeping across the Blue Sea. Crety and Tubet are being reformed into redoubts, anchored around both the Rho Line in Gurban and the Black Prince Line in Roma. Sadera, Seth, Etna, and Roche will be our fortress cities."
Titus turned to face his audience. "Now, that, in an oak-seed, is our defence strategy. Once the Earthling sweep our cities and millitary bases from the surface of the planet with their Nuke, the deep underground Global Command Centres, spread across the map-" at this, black dots popped up across the globe- "will be our only effective way of communication and command the war. Now, your Highness," ventured Titus to Emperor Molt Sol Augustus. "Are there any questions required?"
"Yes," said Third Princess Euphemia, in a calm but stately manner. "How many of our loyal imperial subjects can be saved from this apocalyptic war ?"
"Your Majesty," said Titus pointing to the map. "Most of the areas that will be in the path of the UEA that we can't defend are already cleared of civilians.
Many of the first SubUrbs have been completed, and refugees are moving into them as we speak.
Here in Sadera, for instance, most of the population is already being directed to Crety, Tubet, and Gurban.
The Antarktyda-Andesen Line will shelter billions of our own citizens from Azjania as well as from Neo Ameryka.
Not just that, we've managed to set aside hundred millions of your Majesty's subjects for our Deep sea and Trench outposts, not counting the skilled citizenry that's stationed in the Cave, a series of 50km deep and unimaginably vast cavern system.
This underground world is lit by electrically charged gas at the ceiling, and is filled with a very deep subterranean ocean, surrounded by a rocky coastline covered in petrified trees and giant mushrooms."
Titus was afraid that Princess Euphemia would press on for more specifications...and Titus, being the loyal Imperial, could hardly stomach the idea of trying to tell his Sovereign just how many wouldn't make it...particularly the soldiers stationed in Afrykania, Azjania, and Terra Australis.
He couldn't even be sure if the UEA would ignore civilians if they surrender like the Count Colt Fortunato Formal had assured him of...his own misgivings about the Colt Formal had been explained clearly to RDC, which had duly noted his concerns, and spoken of them no more, convinced that it was mostly paranoia.
"Of course," said Titus gingerly. "We still haven't decided the strongest safehold for Your Majesty's safety and continued surviv-"
"I'm staying in Sadera, of course." said Princess Euphemia with such a suddenness that even the alert Titus felt himself caught off guard. "I will not abandon my capital her hour of need."
Shades of War of Unification, thought Titus, remembering how the Imperial Family had lost one Crown Prince (Basilio El Augustus) in the last Europania United raids on Sadera during the Unification War (in 27029 Imperial Calendar, if he remembered the date correctly).
"Your Majesty," said Titus "The Senators will be sitting deep under the Halamaka mountain range, and the Holy Order personal have relocated to the Cave. You're far too precious to us to be Earthling hostage. Prince Schneizel was lucky only to lose an arm in that last air raid.
The UEA, if they break through into Sadera, will use your status to demand royal ransom. Ten billion people are looking to the Imperial Family, Sovereign." Titus tapped the map again. "You're staying behind the Rho Line...at least.
The Third Princess Euphemia Von Lichtberg didn't try to protest. She had probably already gotten this lecture by her father ,the Emperor beforehand. Inwardly, Titus Caesar Vespasianus began to kick himself for being too blunt on the issue.
The meeting went on for another hour as individual members of the government asked questions about the deployment of the troops to aid the aforementioned union governments, the efforts to reverse-engineer Earth technology, and the handling of refugees from the vassal and colonial states that were seeking the protection of Sadera for the Falmart-Earth War.
But Euphemia didn't say anything again...not once.
Emperor Molt silent for a moment and then said in a serious tone: "How many of our loyal troops have we been able to muster to defend our homeland?"
"Your Majesty," said Titus pointing to the screen:
The day after the General Mobilization order, recruiting stations from all over Falmart were deluged by volunteers.
This included those in both in the Empire and the vassal states, despite the reality that close to 75% of all eligible males in Falmart would eventually find themselves conscripted into some level of military service in their lifetime (71% of the males reaching 140 years of age in the Empire & 73,7% in the vassal states in Imperial calendar year 52010 were called up for at least twenty years of active training and qualification before their 160th birthday).
These volunteers were not for the reserve or Home Defense components of the military, a common occurrence during the Imperial Civil Wars since it minimized time spent on active duty and far from home, but for full time active units, with nearly 90% of the Army/Navy volunteers specifying an interest in armored infantry or cavalry units (those units most likely to engage in direct combat). Recruiters spent nearly as much time shooing away minors (including, famously, an entire 1st grade Darwinian Young in Crety, Azjania) as processing applications by eligible volunteers.
Reserve units were inundated by members showing up without orders while factories across the entire world began to close down production of civilian products in anticipation of mobilization. General mobilization order and the prospect of an interdimensional global conflict.
Not only it doesn't cowing the subjects of the Empire or the vassal states, it revitalized the commitment to victory in a War for Survival that had been in a large degree, if not forgotten, marginalized in the minds of most citizens.
At the result, the number of troop has increased twenty times up to around 3 billion- that is 30% of the population ( this, of course, includes air defense units and fortress troops as well as militia corps of engineers support-trooper and mercenaries)
Because of the volunteered labor system employed by the Falmartian Orthodox Church and the use of militia groups, it is impossible to accurately calculate the ratio between the number of personnel performing support functions and the Combat and directly combat related troops although most studies indicate that the ratio of combat trooper to support across the Imperium was between 1:5 and 1:6.
So my best guess is as of right now, we have about 500 million combat troops."
Hearing Titus Caesar Vespasianus's report, the Emperor nodded in satisfaction. He continued to ask." Are there any more news about the development of new weapons and the re-organize of the military force ?"
"Yes your Majesty," said Titus "The knowledge from Earth has been smuggled to us by Count Formal proved to be very useful."
Titus showed the audience new slide." While it's unfortunate that the enemy weapons are too complex for us to re-created using magic and Titan's power the principles behind them have helped us create better weapons.
For example:
Pina Magic Ballista : our latest generation magic ballista armed with magic guided anti air explosive arrows (MGAAEA) have the range up to 102 km. Those explosive arrows have the maximum speed of 1000 m/s and have great maneuverability. The normal version of the Ballista can leveled a building in 30s, the Titan version can leveled a city block. Pina Magic Ballista can shoot up to 60 shot of 5-arrow each in a minute to the height of 40,000 meter.
Magic powered cannons : Those are the weapons our magicians came up with after reverse-engineering the weapons used in the so called World War One, but our magic weapons capabilities far surpass those weapons on which they are based on. Unlike on Earth our magic canon used magical force from magic Iceburst gems that acts like gunpowder to propel cannonballs or shells at the target.
Diabo Artillery Field Gun : based on the Ordnance QF 18-pounder.
Specifications
Normal version:
Length 2.34 m
Width 1.91 m
Crew 6 magician
Caliber 168 mm
Rate of fire 20 rpm (max)
Muzzle velocity 2450 m/s
Mass 2.564 tonnes, with carriage: 3,600 kg
Effective firing range 70 km at 35° elevation
Shell 168 x 590 mm shell, weight 67.2 kg projectile, 80 kg total including case.
Titan version: nick name "Hell Gate"
Length 23.4 m
Width 19.1 m
Crew 6 Titan soldiers
Caliber 840 mm
Rate of fire 20 rpm (max)
Muzzle velocity 2450 m/s
Mass 1282 tonnes, with carriage: 1,800 tonnes
Effective firing range 700 km at 35° elevation
Shell 84 x 295 cm shell, weight 8.4 tonnes projectile, 10 tonnes total including case.
Zorzal Siege Artillery: based on the Ordnance BL 60-pounder, 5 inch heavy field gun.
Specifications
Normal version:
Mass 8.8 tonnes
Length 4.04 m
Crew 10 magicians
Shell 216 kg
Caliber 254 mm
Rate of fire 12 rpm (max)
Muzzle velocity 3200 m/s
Effective firing range 80 km
Titan version: nick name "Wrath of the Imperium"
Mass 4,400 tonnes
Length 40.4 m
Crew 10 Titan artilleryman
Shell 27 tonnes
Caliber 1270 mm
Rate of fire 12 rpm (max)
Muzzle velocity 3200 m/s
Effective firing range 800 km
Odysseus Siege & Seacoast Mortar: based on the BL 8-inch Marks VI heavy siege howitzer
Specifications
Normal version:
Mass 17.48 tonnes
Length 3.505 m
Crew 12 magicians
Shell HE 1600 lb (728 kg)
Caliber 16-inch (406.4 mm)
Muzzle velocity 2300 m/s
Effective firing range 90 km
Rate of fire 12 rpm (max)
Titan version: nick name "The Divine Punishment "
Mass 8,740 tonnes
Length 35 m
Crew 12 Titan artilleryman
Shell HE 200,000 lb (91 tonnes)
Caliber 80-inch (2032 mm)
Muzzle velocity 2300 m/s
Effective firing range 900 km
Rate of fire 12 rpm (max)
Magic Ships-of-the-Line: Magic Ships-of-the-line is a Titan bone magic steel armored ship that uses sails equipped with Tear of the Wind God and equipped with 30 to 150 magic cannons. It is equivalent to warships used on Earth between the 17th and 19th centuries.
There are three differences from Earth's warships.
- Magic cannon is used instead of a conventional maximum range of the magic cannon is 200 km, and the cannon accuracy at the maximum range is about 1 percent with high-explosive shells.
- By using Tears of the Wind God, Magic Ships-of-the-line can navigate even in the absence of wind and can navigate a lot faster than natural wind only and had vastly superior operational range even when compared to steam or diesel ship, between 500 to 700 thousands kilometers at 160 knots (300 km/h; 180 mph).
- Magic Ships-of-the-line is equipped with high quality magic steel armor and are twice as large as ships-of-the-line on Earth. The total length of the ship is between 80 to 160 m.
Magic Ships-of-the-line uses the world's best magic circuit therefore it is possible to increase the ship maximum speed to over 310 knots and quadruple the bullet speed of the artillery in exchange for hull damage by releasing the limiter. The ship achieves the astonishing high speed via creating a water current by installing " Tears Of The Wind God" at the bottom of the ship. In addition, there were many anti-aircraft Pina Magic Ballista installed.
The Imperial Navy and its inspection forces are deploying 30-, 50-, 80-, 100-, 120-, and 150-gun classes. Ships that are equipped with 100 guns are called "Fishanus-Class magic ships-of-the-line" and ships that carries 120 guns or more are called "Super-F" or "Super-Fishanus-Class magic ships-of-the-line". We are deploying nearly 800,000 of those vessels in the Imperial Navy.
Euphemia Class Dragon Carrier: The new class carrier is much better than the old class dragon carrier at launching and retrieving Monarch wings and Draconians after their Titan better facilitate the arrival and departure of Draconians, Euphemia Class Dragon Carrier were twice as large as the old class dragon carrier. The total length is around 260 m.
Due to it enormous size it is sometimes called "Dragon Mother" or "Dragon Carrier Flotilla". It can accommodate 150 to 200 Draconians and Monarch Wings on its flight deck. In order to launch and land Seraphim Titan Warriors and Titan Wyvern Lords after they strandorm back in to Monarch Wings and Draconians respectively, the ships need to fold sails. They have magical point-defense weapons so they aren't rely solely on their own wyverns or other ships of the line to protect them from enemy fire or boarding tactics.
Improved from the previous generation Titan bone ships, Euphemia Class Dragon Carrier have thick magic steel armor to improve its defense against explosive shells. It uses the world's best Tears of the Wind God so it is possible to increase the maximum speed to over 300 knots. We are deploying nearly 8000 carriers of this type in the Imperial Navy.
Clovis Class Magic Skyship Carrier: Clovis Class Magic Skyship Carrier is the flying version of the Euphemia class Dragon Carrier that is being develop and used in the Imperial Navy.
Unlike the "Zeppelin airship" of Earth, its appearance is really like a maritime ship. The skyships are made of Titan bone and just like the Empire's Dragon Carrier, they exceeded the limits of wooden ship construction as they had a length of 270 m, two times longer than any wooden ships on Earth.
Even though it is a ship, it can fly a distance up to 430,000 km at the maximum speed of 430km/h so it doesn't needs to anchor on water. It also can perform vertical take-off and landing and hovering. Unlike Earth's airplanes, it doesn't needs certain amounts of gliding to take-off and land, so there are no where it can't be used.
Magic Skyship Carrier serves as a floating airbase, equipped with a full-length flight deck and facilities for carrying, arming, deploying, and recovering Draconians after their Titan Wyvern Lords transformation.
Titus pause a moment for dramatic effect and continued. "But the greatest contribution of Earth's science is the birth of Modern Magic.
After Colt Fortunato Formal smuggled scientific knowledge from Earth, Lady Lelei La Lalena discovered that learning the advanced scientific knowledge of the earthling could aid in her application of magic. For instance, understanding about the physics behind combustion and detonation reactions exponentially increases the power of fire and explosion magic. Likewise, understanding Newtonian motion allows a magic user to move objects more efficiently.
As a result of those factors, Lelei concludes that with the help of science and technology Modern Magic are much more efficient than Ancient Magic since it manipulates the origin of reality rather creating a new reality, as a rule of thumb Modern Magic is about 10 times more powerful than Ancient Magic.
As a result, Lady Lelei speculates that Ancient Magic and even Titan Power will be replaced by Modern Magic and Magitek soon.
With the use of Modern Magic, we have been able to creat a new elite force the "Praetorian Guards" by turning normal wizard into strong arch-mage.
Praetorian Guards: an army comprise entirely of powerful arch-mages armed with enchanted magic armor and poweful magic weapons. While the Praetorian Guards armored formations made up only a small fraction of the total Falmart defense force, they made up a significant element of the combat power that will face the UEA.
The Praetorian Guards operated the world's finest magic weapons, with the MGZ Magic-Powered Armor forming the core of its fighting strength. The MGZ Magic-Powered Armor was the direct result of the lessons learned by the Imperial scientists on amplifying magic using scientific principles. The main function of the suits are to enhance and amplify magical power and physical attribute of wearers.
The suits are powered by 3 magical cores. The performance of the suits depend entirely on the magical power of a magical individuals so the stronger the magical beings, the better the performance of the suits and vice versa. Virtually impenetrable by anything less than 20mm anti-material rifles, reasonably light at 35 kg, and armed with a high energy, 248 cm long, magic spear Gungnir. It was, by far, the best magic-powered armor on the planet.
The armor and shield are incredibly light-weight and able to endure massive kinetic force, the Gungnir spear is imbued with a powerful form of energy. Through this, Gungnir's wielders are able to project powerful continuous energy blasts.
Supported by the heavy armored beast, mindless Titans, bio-tanks, and heavy artillery, the Praetorian Guards was a formidable opponent anywhere in Falmart with the mobility to serve as a striking force where ever needed (the Empire spent years reinforcing bridges world-wide to allow the movement of the massive war beasts and their supporting artillery.
"And about the re-organize of the military force," said Titus. "You can see in this document for more detail."
The Re-Organization of The Holy Darwinian Empire Military and Its Allies
To better prepare for the inevitable : United Earth Allies – Imperium total War. It is important to have an overview of the evolution of the Imperium military structure and how its allies and client states fit into the overall Falmart defense network.
With the destruction of the GATE and the apparent Earth Allies inability to make an immediate entry into homeland Falmart the Imperial government gradually altered the structure of its own forces and began to make increasing use of the military organizations and/or available manpower in all of its territories In this reform-structure there were two different types of non Imperial forces existed, National forces and "Pan-Falmartian" units.
National forces were fielded by nations that had more or less joined the Empire wars voluntarily, these were chiefly forces from:
Kingdom of Elbe, the League Principality, Kingdom of Mudwan, Kingdom of Alguna, Qua-Toyne Principality, Quila Kingdom, Louria Kingdom Fenn Kingdom Gahara Thearchy Altaras Kingdom Sios Kingdom Topa Kingdom, Nahanath Kingdom, Yamato Kingdom, Kooze Kingdom, Pandora Greater Magic Principality, Doric Community, Mu Kingdom Esperanto Kingdom, Kingdom Toumaren and Kingdom of Arrun with Emor Kingdom, Calamique Kingdom, Nats Principality, Mao Kingdom, Awan Kingdom, Qaiz Kingdom, Groote Knightland, Pousche Kingdom, Suwai Republic, Irnetia Kingdom, Annonrial Kingdom, Parpaldia Kingdom, Riem Kingdom, Marl Kingdom, Leifor Kingdom, Paganda Kingdom, Sonal Kingdom, Nigrat Union, Magikaraich Community, Hinomawari Kingdom, Pulse Kingdom, Pamir Kingdom, Holy Milishial Kingdom, Meerky Kingdom, Torquia Kingdom, Gillisaila Principality, Rebizuela Kingdom, Agartha Kingdom, Central Kingdom, Principality Of Britannia, Calamique Kingdom, Esperanto Kingdom, Jemi Kingdom, Cain Kingdom joining these early allied states in late 52028.
The National forces had notional independent command under their respective governments, but all were obligated to a greater or lesser degree, to follow Sadera's specific directions in military matters. All of the National forces were able to, if they desired, manufacture their own weapons and other equipment, including in the case of Elbe and Emor, their own artillery and warship designs. Overall, the National forces, and their home countries, had the appearances of partially-independent states, at least on the surface.
In actual fact, each of these countries were utterly dominated politically by the Holy Empire, with political leaders selected by the Viceroy of each country with the final approval of Sadera necessary before any changes were made. Each semi-independent Falmartian nations also had its own secret police force, based on the Oprichnina, and staffed by absolute loyalist who often were more loyal to the Emperor than their Imperial counterparts, which crushed any signs of weakness and generally maintained an absolute discipline under the oversight of Oprichnina Headquarters in Sadera.
National military forces were also generally deployed outside their home country (Elbe troops, as an example, were the most numerous garrison forces in Mudwan and Toumaren ) which reduced the chances of any sort of unfortunate Nationalist uprisings, although these did occasionally occur only to be crushed with swift brutality. While the overall quality and morale of the Nation forces was uneven, all were more than sufficient to work as fortress troops with most units being equal to any pure "Old Imperial Legionarius" formation.
All the autonomous regions within the Holy Empire :
Kazakhstanian Kingdom, The Evenk Republic, La Chine Du Nord Frankland, La Chine Du Sud Frankland, Goaland, Holkarland, Hyderabad, Indien Principality, Irrawaddy, Khandesh, Oudh, Peishwa, Persianan, Peshawar, New Philippes, Punjab, Qingdao, Rajputana, Serendib, Shan, Siam, Sind, Surat, The Emirate Of Tajikistan, Taymyria, Territorio de Macao, Thibet, Tranquebar, Tripura, Uighurstan, Western Kazakhstan, Les Maldives, Manchu Huaxia, Multan, Mysore, Neverlandse Formosa en Huaxia, Nenetsia, Nepal, Orissa, Abyssinia, Ajan, The Ashanti Confederacy, Baoulé, Basutoland, Benguela, The Dominion Of Buganda, The Central Afrikane Federation, Cape Colonie, Corannaland, Dahomey, Darfur, Dido-Guruland, Darwinian Congo, Aegyptus, Frankland Congo, Île de Frank [Mauritius] Inhambane Kanem-Bornu Empire, Luhyaland, Maasai Federation, Matabeleland, Melinda, Mozambique, New Israelite, Darwinian Guinea, Sierra Leone, The Sokoto Caliphate, La Somalie, The Songhay Empire, Tswanaland, Turkan, Wadai, Wasulu, The White Nile Confederation, Zanj, Zululand, Yapon, Joseon, Chipangu, L'Australis, Dingiswayosland, Georgsland, The Kingdom of Hawai'i, Neverlands-Indie, Neuer Hanover, Neues Prussia, Nova Holland, Sophiasland, Chaipas, Chan Santa Cruz, Costa Rica Islands, Cubansky, Darwinian Virgin Islands, El Salvador Islands, Guatemala, Guaymuras, Hispaniola, Honduras, Kingdom of Jamaica, Greater Mexican Reich, Mosquitia, Nicaragua, Kingdom of Panama, New Puerto Rico, Yucatan, The Imamate Of Oman, The Devlet-i Âliye-yi Osmâniyye, Meccan city, The Persiany Empire, Oranjeland, Shakaland, Williamsland, The Empire Of Abyssinia Al-Jazair, The Ashantee Confederacy, Benin, Bonne, Espérance Congo, Eastern Malagasia, The Dominion Of Gambia, Ghobararazi Giâhrarazi, The Dominion Of Guinea, Jangalarazi, Luba, Lunda, Mataman Moqadisho, Morocco, Mozambique, The Dominion Of Natal, The Dominion Of Nigritia, Ogaden, Oranjestaat, Sierra Leone, Somalie, Duome Xide Dao Empire, Tarabulus, Tunis, Western Malagasia, Xhosaland, Zanj Privislinskij, Turkiya, Perskij, Indiya, Mongoli, The Republic Of East Californian, The Kingdom Of Canadaski-Louisianam, The New Commonwealth Of Neo Ameryka, The Dominion Of New Westland, The Dominion Of Nordland, Novo Albion, The Great Horde Of Kazakhs, The Great Khanate, The Khanate Of Atyrau, The Khanate Of Irtysh, The Khanate Of Kokand, The Khanate Of Luntai, The Khanate Of Tobyl, Turkmenistan Confederacy, Frankland Plus Du Sud, The New Shetland Islands, Nova Tiree, Queensland, Terra Do Maria, Thańnîr Nad Yakharazi, Heiskanen, Cubany, New Hispaniola, The Dominion Of Mosquitia, The Most Orthodox Kingdom Of Mexican, The Empire Of Braseal, Casaquiarja Chaco Charcas, Chile Knightland, Frankland Antarctique, Frankland Équinoxiale, The Dominion Of Guiana, The Dominion Of Kingsland, La Plata Mapuche, New Fife, New Granada, Peruvi, Prussiany Suriname, Bermudan, Columbian, Floridan, Hudsonian, Israelite, Kaliforniya, Yerba Buena City, Louisianam Dukedom, New Waleland, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia, Quebecan, The Kingdom Of Ayutthaya, The Sultanate Of Brunei, Bama, Dai Ngu Dominion, The Holy Han Empire, Ling Huaxia, The Republic Of Samudra, Sarekat Negara-Negara, Jawani, The Sultanate Of Sulu, The Dakshina Nad, The Sultanate Of Berar, The Sultanate Of Bidar, The Sultanate Of Bijapur, The Golconda Sultanate, Kanyakumari, The Samoothirate Of Pudhiya Kozhikode (New Kozhikode), Southern Malagasia, The Sultanate Of The Maldive Islands, The Maratha Kingdom, The Kingdom Of Mysore, The Philippe Islands, The Poligar Coalition, The Federation Of Pudhiya Dakshina Nad, The Kingdom Of Sinhale, The Nayakkanate Of Thanjavur, Frankland Australis, Koshiki, New Argyll, The Dominion Of Nova Hibernia, Nova Holland, Sawu, Scotia Australis, Ayutthayan Marege Terre Henri, Van Diemens Land, Arukh City, Bellnahgo City, Rondel City, Kurz City, Martha District, Cannara District, Edrin District, Bemnia District, Alfey District, Atlantis City, Gra Valkas City...
would be called to support the Empire war effort. In these regions there were three different levels of conscription all lasting 120 years. The first level was effectively voluntary, as soldiers in Praetorian Guards Army Group. These volunteers were limited to those who met the Imperial's standard in magic proficiency and were, for the most part, royalist and/or dedicated anti-democratic.
The second level of conscripts formed the "Pan-Falmartian" units. These conscripts were subjected to absolute discipline , required to make Imperial vow and subject to on-going "political education". Discipline in these units was maintained by a combination of propaganda and mind-altering magic ; officers in these units were not required to even file reports if they executed any enlisted man below the rank of Primus and desertion was punished, not by execution, but by enslave of the deserter and erase his/her name to remove the stain from the family's name. Generally these forces were used as Fortress troops or common laborers.
The third level of conscription was effectively a hard labor sentence, applied to all able-bodied person left in the Empire, as members of labor battalions. This level was reserved for servant (including those work for noble family ), those working on non essential business, criminals who have finished or about to finish serving their sentence, individuals with excellent magical building skills, those of "questionable bloodline", individuals with exceptional beauty and excellent "bedroom skills".
Those were assigned to these battalions were used to clear booby traps, mining, agricultural labor, prostitute, building fortified bunker, underground fortress, strong defensive lines, setting traps, digging trenches, and in many cases weapons testing or scientific experimentation. The majority of the militia forces of 2500 millions people would be organized into those labor battalions.
With the organization of all the Imperial provinces and Imperial client state manpower into military formations the Empire proceeded to remake its own forces. In this it was again guided as much by new battle doctrine as by common sense or tradition. The Imperial Army heavy infantry, the Legionarius, despite its many great successes in the previous wars on Falmart, was nearly dismantled in the immediate aftermath of the GATE disaster and replaced by an new elite military wing of the Emperor, the Praetorian Guards.
The dismantling of the Legionarius (as the Imperial Army heavy infantry was then known) had long been a goal of your Majesty and the High Command, one that was confirmed as necessary when Legionarius troops and officers from the most junior platoon leaders to some of the General Staff's senior members found to be "Too inflexible" when it came to new tactics and military doctrine to achieving the goals of the Holy Empire.
With the introduction of National forces and Pan-Falmartian units into garrison duties, the the Praetorian Guards became a mainly high firepower heavy armored formation, with much of its complement assigned to oversee the Empire vast territories and act as mobile reserves to reinforce the defenses of the Indyjski Wall.
A separate group of Praetorian Guards troops, these mainly comprised of former Legionarius enlisted men who has committed some minor offense with a high rank noble and an Oprichnina officials as commanders and senior NCOs, were organized into Death Korps with the mission of hunting down and liquidating spies and traitors. This was a difficult assignment, with removal to a penal battalion becoming the fate of troops who failed to show proper commitment to the task at hand.
While The Praetorian Guards, which had fully replaced the Legionarius as the Imperial Army ground force by 52028, comprised only 142 of the 500 army groups that defended "Fortress Falmart" it operated 124 of the 186 heavy armored army groups in Falmart (with an additional 18 of these army groups being under the control of the Imperial Air Forces and 20 of them under the Imperial Navy) and the various Imperial infantry units were the only fully motorized army groups in Falmart (Vassal states did operate 66 so called "mobile" infantry formations, as well as 24 armored army groups, but each unit only had sufficient transport to move 75% of the total troops by magic portal or tracked vehicle).
The remaining ground forces inside the Imperial command structure were mainly basic infantry or fortress troops, with many of the troops trained exclusively to fight from fixed defensive positions.
Nearly 70% of the fortress troops lacked personal weapons beyond a sword as they were artillery or machine gun bunker crews (who the Imperial high command believed would never need to fight in any role besides servicing heavy weapons and who could not be expected to have any worthwhile fighting skills since they were not imperial citizen)
The traditions of both the Imperial Air Force and Imperial Navy were altered less than that of the Army, but both were heavily influenced by the Imperial Court. The Imperial Air Force was under the direct command of the 11th Princess Élodie Valadon, a dragon rider of some considerable skills, who in addition to her role as Air Force commander was also the Princess of the Realm. Princess Élodie was remarkably proud of the Imperial Air Force privileges and position.
Anything having to do with combat the air, from ground based anti-aircraft ballista to Paratroopers was, in Princess Élodie's opinion, property of the Imperial Air Force leading to the unique circumstance of the Air Force being a military inside the military, with light infantry units and even a heavy armored magical beast division sharing the Table of Organization with anti-aircraft battalions, Seraphim Titan Warrior, Titan Wyvern Lord, and Fairy Reconnaissance Air Groups all reporting to the same command staff.
So protective was the Air Force Chief of his position that the Naval Air Arm took orders, not from the Imperial Navy, but from the Imperial Air Force with the Dragon being the property of Élodie's Branch, not of the service that owned the ships off which the dragons operated. The Imperial Air Force also was the true commander of the various National air forces that were supposedly under the command of their independent states.
The Imperial Navy, of all the Imperial Service Branches, maintained its traditions beyond all others. Alone among the armed forces of Falmart, the Imperial Navy maintained the traditional military salute common among the world's militaries, as well as retaining many of the same traditions that would have been recognizable to naval officers from the dawn of the Empire. It was the least aristocratic of the Branches, although nobiliary was nearly as important as actual skill when promotions were announced.
The Imperial surface fleet was rebuilt and expanded by the 19th Prince Gerard de Tassigny, as much as a symbol of superior compered to the Allies as with any specific mission in mind, with surprising speed thanks to the resources of the Path dimension and Modern Magic.
New Sadera, the Cave
Before the announcement of the GATE, New Sadera, the centre of the Imperial subterranean colony, had been famous primarily as the site where the first immanity being (a boy) had been born in the subterranean world.
Now, with the influx of refugees from the above ground, the settlement was experiencing a boom like no other time. Massive caverns were expanded for new housing. Food and water was stockpiled, and artificial crops were sown; as the Fairy were the leading race on agricultural development in the Imperial Assembly of Races, they had more than enough experience in developing flora just about anywhere.
Some 100 million refugees, mostly the wives and children of the nobility, along with key technicians, magicians and scientists, were scheduled to stay at this expanded settlement alone.
It didn't make administration of the colony any easier; Huong Zheng had been appointed to govern the colony back in 51989. For a long time, the bureaucrat had developed a comforting rut; until the first shuttles crammed with refugees had begun arriving.
Since then, Huong Zheng had been everywhere; welcoming important settlers, confirming the timetable for the expansion of the settlement, and coordinating overall expansion on Imperial settlement with Governor Ting.
Watching yet another Skyship arrive Docking Station 1 (also known as Shang-Kun Port, after the illustrious Fairy monarch who had merged the Kingdom with the Holy Empire and forged a friendship with Immanity ), Zheng dispassionately rounded off another set of orders to his aids, who rushed to continue their tasks; currently, they were pushing for the building of yet another landing pad to facilitate the traffic.
A long line of bewildered children, gasping women, and aloof dignitaries filed out of the Skyship (a fusion of the typically elegant Imperial designs and the sheer technological skill stolen from Earth), and began making their way to the guides who would take them to the Walking Road (a moving pathway), which would take them underground to their warren of a home.
Zheng took the opportunity to look up at the Hole. He could see multiple Skyships making the journey to the noble or priest private castle in the Cave, or to the growing settlements on Mushrooms Forest, or to the floating castle on the subterranean ocean. He looked up towards these Skyships (as the Immanity usually called it), and tried to make out who on board (although too far away to see it without a telescope).
Sighing again, he turned away from the window and began the walk back to his headquarters. A detachment of Steel Golem workers (a gift of "great encouragement " from the Emperor) were scheduled to make their debut on the construction teams in the coming week, and Zheng still needed to brief several teams on how to handle themselves around the timid little green beings...among other things.
La Habaka, Batavia Island, Spokojny Ocean, Holy Empire
Crown Prince Odysseus looked with interest on the rapid speed at which the construction teams went to work; the fortifications for Empire's largest Spokojny Ocean naval base, a key fixture of the Holy Empire since the days of the Unification War (at least) would be extensive.
It had all originated with the desperate Battle for Diess in the Eighth Arachnid War. Over two million men from the Empire finest armies had met their end on the arid plain, before a surviving Dwarf Primus had developed the brilliant idea of drawing the Arachnid into a V-shaped wedge formed by two collapsed mega-skyscrapers, where a "slaughter pen" could be formed. Odysseus had been debriefed by the Imperial officers who survived Diess; the Arachnid had kept swarming, until there were literally none left.
Similarly, it had been a lucky bombardment from an Immanity and Dwarfs Magic Canon barrage, with the newest generation of Apocryph-tipped shells, which had broken the back of the Arachnid on Diess, turning the tide of battle and forcing them to flee.
Mass production of the shells were now underway in the mammoth factories of Manchukuo, Ameryka, and western Antarktyda, with emergency factories being constructed in Alyesko-Siberian, Dakshina Nad, Kanyakumari Federation, and Mongol Uls (and in the defensive zone being formed in the Halamaka Refugee Zone being set up by the Imperial Millitary).
Odysseus glanced at a file on his DNA magic computer. It stated the level of troops that Kingdom of Elbe, the League Principality, Kingdom of Mudwan, Kingdom of Alguna, Kingdom Toumaren and Kingdom of Arrun (all traditional Imperial vassal) were planning to contribute to the Empire; in return, the Empire would dispatch a token task force to assist those nations in their defensive plans, and shelter the wives and children of the soldiers being deployed to the Empire proper.
The defences of La Habaka city is followed the model established in Diess; massive, impenetrable lines were formed by collapsing the tallest fortresses in the city and moving them to the front of the metropolis, as a front line to the already extensive zigzag sheer wall that had already gone up in combine with a series of superheavy bunker with thick armoured dome up to 60 meter of pure titan steel.
The Imperial Army, backed by the Bear's Claws (the Empire ACS detachment earmarked specifically for La Habaka) would be the backbone of the defence. In addition to that, the entire island was walled off, and all non-essential civilian personnel were sent to the SubUrbs (or to the Cave or at the Trench if they were truly lucky). Odysseus's own wife and three daughters were living in the Cave at the settlement of New Sadera.
A squadron of Dragon Riders/Wyvern Lord Corps thundered overhead, causing Odysseus to look up from his outdoor table, which sat on the stately grounds of his palace (only slightly smaller than the Imperial residence at Sadera ). His face contorted in a frown; Odysseus took a love to their air force in the same way that Diabo reserved love for their navy and Zorzal did for their Army.
And all of those magnificent Wyvern Titans would be useless against the Earth's nuclear-tipped SAM, along with the Imperial carefully tuned air-transport arm, which more coordination and movement of men and materiel all the more ecstatically fun just to contemplate.
His frown refusing to abet itself, Crown Prince Odysseus went back to studying the plans at his desk for the artillery concentrations that would face the invaders that would soon break across the Motherland in their frightening and bottomless bloodlust for revenge .
Unknown location, Earth
"Good morning Mr. President" said Liam Nuttall Supreme Commander Allied Expeditionary Force in the Falmart Front. It was quite an unexpected call, Nuttall admitted.
"Let's get right down to the business, Commander," said Dirrel B Johnson, President of the United States of America."How are our backup plan going? "
"Everything is according to schedule, Mr. President, synthetic Cobalt-60 is being created by bombarding Cobalt-59 target with a slow neutron source. We have been able to scale up the production of Cobalt-60 greatly this year." said the Supreme Commander in a confident voice" the Nightfall protocol will be the final answer to our Interdimensional problem."
"Good job Commander, the Global Security Council would be pleased to hear that." Dirrel smiled amusingly.