'I did not order the bombardment ceased because of any moral reason as you have implied, general. I did it for purely practical reasons, why waste our ammunition on those whom will soon be our subjects?'
Alexander Andreas Gustavus Di Britannia.
….
We found Shanghai abandoned, stripped of all defenses placed there, the rail-gun scuttled along with the Carriers. Something was very, very wrong, even the Eunuchs were not cowardly enough to run from a fort like this.
"MY LORD!" a voice shouted from the radio, "The entire Chinese army is on approach! They have cut us off from the rest of our forces!"
My eyes widened immensely, I had not been trapped in years and I was legitimately surprised that it happened today, such a trap could end the war. But it held not the glory that the Eunuchs sought after so much...
A trap beyond the eunuchs. Sacrificing Shanghai to kill a few thousands and me was not something they would do; they would have fought for every house and street in an endless grind. They would have poured reinforcements in until they could no longer, exactly as I wanted. If I could have fought them here directly I would have broken the federation over my armored knee.
Yet this maneuver... there is only one possible conclusion. Xingke has taken the field.
"Prepare defenses, get me a line to the Lord Admiral."
….
He still had trouble believing it, ever since he was assigned as guard to the young daughter of the Tianzi he had expected it to be the rest of his life. He was happy with it, but then the Lion struck to ruin it all. The beast had run ramshackle over the Federation navy, crushed Taiwan and broke the legs of the Chinese army.
Now it was up to him, promoted personally by the Tianzi to this position of general commander of the Chinese army. He would do honor to the Tianzi's faith in him, he would drive back the barbarians.
The first step was Shanghai, the fortress City. The Eunuch Generals in charge of it had to be removed forcibly, as did the heads from their shoulders. All in all not a bad outcome by his standards, the evacuation and scrapping of the defenses had been completed just in time, with only a few hours to spare.
And his plan had worked perfectly, the Lion was encircled and outnumbered, not ready to face the coming storm. He had readied every single Knightmare in the Federations arsenal, over 4500 machines against less than 300 not even the now famous Perseus could equalize those odds.
The Beast would be brought low today.
….
The battle came quickly, as expected, we had used every single position we could. The Knightmare is the king of Urban combat and I knew how to play this. We had managed to salvage dozens of AT guns throughout the city and had our foot soldiers set them up atop the flat roofs of the defense towers. Our AAA vehicles were deployed thought the city to repel any airstrikes.
Baptized in fire! Forty to one!
We were as ready as we were going to be and the storm would come soon.
Perseus and Hercules stood side by side with a unit of Spartans at our backs, we would break their first charge, between the buildings of Shanghai. My lances tip buzzed slightly as the rain hit it gently giving off a small puff of green smoke with every drop. My eyes glowed with the light of Geass as my battle meditation spread my senses out across the land.
The order I gave was simple, easy to understand and vital for every one of the troops here. Death or victory there is no middle ground right now.
The chill of the breeze penetrated even into the cockpit of the Perseus, though it could just have been the nerves coming in from this oncoming fight, it was usually hellishly hot in here. Was this what it was like to fight against me? To be outnumbered with only a fools hope of victory?
We could see the first wave coming now, a wall of machines charging forward as fast as they could. The sound they made was deafening, the rumble of a thousand engines. The AT guns on our side fired and a few among the horde fell, though not near enough to make a difference. I unfolded the rifle off of my back, plasma whining as I charged a shot.
I unleashed the massive charged burst towards the approaching horde, with a sound like a whip hitting flesh it tore through the air, cutting a massive swath through the center and causing the rifle to overheat and the red hot barrel to start sagging. I folded the now useless weapon up and detached it from Perseus's back to reduce the weight.
Marius used his mortar to similar effect having anchored down to fire a continues barrage of shells. Behind us the Volcano cannons opened fire, at this range their destructive power showed itself when several dozen Gun-ru's went up in frames.
My first line opened fire, Spartans firing their rifles soon joined by the less accurate fire from the Gloucester's and Sutherlands, my shoulder cannons joined in soon after. Meanwhile the Chinese were beginning to fire in return, a few repeater shots hitting close to our lines or bouncing off of a Spartans armor.
We kept firing, our shots taking down Gun-ru's fast but they kept coming, I knew this was not the only piece in Xingke's plan but the line had to hold. If I was in Xingke's position I would attempt to get my heavy weapons close enough by using this exact tactic, bury my enemy in cheap Knightmares.
I had sudden thought, a flash of a plan. My battle meditation was having a hard time keeping my own men from breaking and I could not focus on breaking the enemies moral. I needed something to work with, because these men knew that if they kept coming we would eventually break.
I charged forwards into the approaching Chinese with a jet assisted leap firing my shoulder cannons as I came down to clear my landing point. I drew my lance, and my first cut bisected an unfortunate Gun-ru, my second another, on and on it went, cut, cleave, stab and dodge, an endless dance of death among China's finest.
I fired my shoulder cannons whenever they were ready, cut around me widely and growled whenever a Gun-ru got off a lucky hit. I noticed I was no longer the only one fighting here, Hercules was in the process of beating a Gun-ru into the ground and Spartans were buzzing through the enemy formations.
Then I noticed it, a land ship approaching its massive gun taking aim towards the city, I knew my target then. Charging forward my lance readied, piercing a Gun-ru through on the way there.
Then I came upon something I had not expected to see it looked like the machine had the standard body shape of a Britannia Knightmare. Before me stood an interesting frame, its bright yellow armored form held aloft a long shafted fighting staff, twirling it lazily. A somewhat familiar female voice barked out in anger towards me.
"You face the Huan-shu now Beast, you will not ruin my generals plans any further!"
Spirit of Spartans! Death and Glory!
I ignored her and charged forward for a jet-assisted stab, she blocked it by redirecting it with the staff. I then dodged her following counter attack, before parrying the next swift swing with one of my own. She was too fast for my follow up slash to connect however, leaving only a small burn mark on the chest armor of her frame.
I used a jet-assisted spin to dodge out of the way of a sweeping strike, countering with a stab that she was unable to dodge and instead let land on her machines shoulder armor, limiting the damage. She was good, very good, but she had forgotten about one thing, my Shoulder Cannons.
I would swear I could hear her growl as she realized, I jet jumped backwards and fired my cannons at her. She spun the staff in het machines hands at an incredible speed and for a second it looked like the force of it would counter my shots but whilst one of the shots was dissipated in the spinning metal, the second connected with her frames lower body. Whilst it was melting through the Knightmare her Cockpit block ejected and she was gone from my vision in mere moments.
I continued to charge towards the land ship, we were losing frames quickly now that the surprise from our charge had faded. We would have lost many more if not for my battle meditation enhancing the terror of the charge. I fired my jets and shot my Harkens up propelling myself up the massive frame of the land ship towards its guns.
The massive gun fired towards the city and the ground shook when the shell landed, it destroyed a full city block and everything in it, Chinese or Britannian. It nearly threw me off of it as well with the force. I pulled myself up the last little bit towards the top of the craft, stabbing my lance into the armor to pull myself up. Ripping the lance free I dropped myself down towards the barrel of the gun.
Firing the cannons below me, I brought the blade of my lance down, severing the barrel and causing the shell to detonating deep inside the land ship. Its explosion shook the earth for hundreds of kilometers around. I managed to use the jets to land, not exactly gently but with less than crushing force.
At that exact moment a wing of Drake strike-fighters rained death from above upon the federation forces, Lord Admiral Grey had arrived, that man is getting a medal after this. The battle was turned, we had won here at perhaps the greatest cost of the entire war, but we had won.
….
I had a scar now, a battle scar. I had not even noticed the bullet that had pierced the cockpit and left a gash in the side of my skull until I was out of Perseus after our victory, but it was there forever now.
A series of stitches that held together my damaged flesh, flesh that would heal into a long scar across the right side of my head. Starting just shy of my eyebrow just over my ear and ending a bit behind it. Hair would not grow on the line anymore but I would not shave the mane upon my head to match it.
It was a sign of my mistake; my failure and I would bear it for the rest of my life. I vow here and now that will not underestimate my enemies ever again, I will not let another man or woman die thanks to my mistakes.
The battle had been won but at a staggering cost of life between both sides. I had lost 3 Spartan pilots, half of the other Knightmare pilots with us and some 30.000 infantry had lost their lives, nearly 5.000 of those in the single shot the land ship had managed to fire.
It had forced me to reconsider the power of the federation military, because whilst they had lost nearly 3.500 pilots that was all that they lost with the exception of the crew of the land ship, numbering just under a hundred.
So whilst the material victory clearly belong to us, having gutted the federations Knightmare core. The manpower victory belong to the Chinese, something that I could not let continue, the rest of the federation forces had made a withdrawal in good order. They had already begun to poke at our lines, prodding and looking for a weakness.
Perseus and Hercules were undergoing repairs after the battle of Shanghai and would not be available for the rest of the week at least. Meaning I could dedicate a lot of time to commanding my troops, micromanaging if you need to give it a name.
We held advantage everywhere except the front led by Xingke were it was a standoff, in the south we were pushing towards Vietnam, to the west we held a solid line and the north west was digging in.
The situation was tenable, but this had devolved into a game of chess between me and Xingke, one that was moving slowly by my wishes as to give time to repair my Knightmare and lick my wounds.
…
Milly never enjoyed news of the war, the reminder that it was once again so close to them. She did enjoy hearing of Alexander however, the tall skinny boy from their youth was replaced by a well build man which she very much enjoyed taking a peak at. Still his knight was the better eye candy, tall, dark and muscled, always with a pleasant smile.
"Good evening citizens of the empire! Welcome to 11 evening news, I am Hellan Joan, today we have another report on the war against the federation as well as an interview with the Gilded Lion himself, fresh from the fields of battle!"
She sighed, Alexander had been obsessed with war for so long that she was unable to truly separate the two. Yet seeing him in command of an army was such a strange feeling and she wondered if Lulu would have been in the same position if things had gone differently.
"Yesterday the Lion's 1st Pacific army reached Shanghai city, the great fortress city of the federation. Only to find it abandoned and themselves cut off by a federation counter attack under the command of general Xingke."
Milly did not consider herself a person who knew much about military matters but even she knew that getting surrounded and cut off was the last thing any army wanted to have happen.
"They swiftly came under attack by the entire Chinese Knightmare core, outnumbering the Britannian frames present by more than ten to one. The Lions forces held for a period of five hours under endless attack and managed to repel the federation army, destroying a large portion of its Knightmare core in the process."
'Ten to one...' she thought in shock, 'Talk about a last stand.'
"Now we go to our interview with the man of the hour himself!"
Alexanders figure was impressive as always tall and broad shouldered, standing strong despite the bandages wrapped around the side of his head. He must have gotten hurt in the last battle, yet despite it he was dressed meticulously in a red tuxedo with black tie, covered as always in his cloth of gold cloak.
"People of the Empire! This was supposed to be an interview with the press but I have to inform the nation of an important matter. Yesterday we won the field; with great losses we beat back the Chinese menace! Today this war that has cost so many so much has come to an end!"
Andre did what he always did when he was going to posture and speech, pace around like a predator toying with its prey. Cloak swinging behind him and bandages somehow adding to the effect.
"The Tianzi of the Chinese Federation passed away in his sleep tonight! The Council of High Eunuchs has agreed to a conditional surrender in absence of his successor! WE HAVE WON OUR VICTORY! ASIA IS OURS!"
Her eyes were wide, it was already over. The war had lasted less than two months and he had brought the Chinese to their knees?
…
"We are in agreement then gentlemen?"
"Why yesss your Highnesssss, all isss agreed upon." The lisping Eunuch was by far the most palatable of the bunch, even if he still gave me the creeps. We had worked out a treaty in this past week, getting all I had wished for.
Treaty of Shanghai:
Section 1 of the treaty will go into effect at the signing by Prince Alexander Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia and his eminence Zhou-hai, Chief of the Council of High Eunuchs.
Section 2 of the treaty will go into effect at the signing by His Majesty the Emperor Charles Zi Britannia and the rest of the Council of High Eunuchs.
SECTION 1:
1.1: The Nations Federated by the Glory of China(Chinese Federation, the Federation) and the Holy Britannian Empire (The Empire, Britannia) agree to an immediate ceasefire.
1.2: The Chinese Federation agrees to the creation of the Britannian Area 12, consisting of the islands of the Philippines, Taiwan and Hainan.
1.3: The Chinese Federation agrees to the creation of the Britannian Area 13, consisting of the islands of Borneo, the Moluccas and the island of New Guiana.
1.4: The Chinese Federation agrees to the creation of the Britannian Area 14, consisting of the Islands of Bali, Java, Timor and all other islands in that region.
1.5: The Chinese Federation agrees to the creation of the Britannian Area 15, consisting of the Islands of Sumatra and Singapore.
1.6: The Chinese Federation agrees to cede all territory under its control that is included in creation the aforementioned Areas to the Empire.
1.7 The Chinese Federation renounces all claims on the territory ceded in the creation of the aforementioned Area's.
To be Signed by:
Chief High Eunuch Zhao-hai
Prince Major-General Alexandre Andreas Gustavos Di Britannia, The Gilded Lion of the North.
SECTION 2:
2.1: The Chinese Federation and the Empire officially end the conflict between the two.
2.2: The Chinese Federation agrees to the creation of the Britannian Area 16 consisting of,
Ceylon, the Maldives and the Indian Ocean islands.
2.2: The Empire will return the territory it has taken on mainland Asia around Shanghai and Ningbo in exchange for the lands required for the creation of Area 16, which are under federation control.
2.3: The Federation agrees to limit its navy to the east of Singapore to 40% that off the Britannian pacific navy.
2.4: The Federation agrees to not own or maintain more than 3 Fleet Carriers.
2.5 The Federation agrees to not station more than 1 Fleet Carrier east of Singapore.
2.6: The Federation agrees to limit the size of its ships to standards 50% below that of Britannia's largest in the same class, in size, weight and weapon size.
2.7: The Federation agrees to limit the size of its army to 80% that of the Empire.
2.8: The Federation and the Empire agree to the establishment of a Demilitarized zone on the Malay Peninsula. No Federation forces may be stationed south of the border of the federated state of Thailand. With the exception of those required to maintain public order, in which case forces may enter with permission off the governing Viceroy of Area 15.
2.9: The Federation and the Empire agree to the establishment of a Demilitarized zone on the Korean Peninsula. No Federation forces may be stationed south of the border of the federated state of Korea. With the exception of those required to maintain public order, in which case forces may enter with permission off the governing Viceroy of Area 11.
2.10: The Federation and the Empire agree that the city of Hong-Kong will be under joint ownership between them, and that neither side may station forces in or within 50 kilometers of it.
2.11: The Federation and the Empire agree to the creation of a joint Administration for the City of Hong-Kong, led by a mayor elected from within the City.
2.12: The Federation and the Empire agree to hand over all prisoners of war to their own government. Those injured and unable to be moved safely will be afforded the best care available until they are able to return to their own nations.
2.13;The Empire will return the territory it took in southern China to the Federation in exchange for the sum of or an equivalent to Britannian pounds, to be paid in full within 30 years.
2.14: The Federation and the Empire agree to a truce that will last for 120 months to be renewed upon the end of the 120 months. If the truce is not renewed the side unwilling to renew will pay a fine equivalent of Britannian pounds to the other side.
To be Signed by:
Charles Zi Britannia, Emperor of the Holy Britannian Empire.
Chief High Eunuch Zhou-hai
High Eunuch Ming-shu
High Eunuch Mao
High Eunuch Kim-john
High Eunuch Huawaii
The treaty was a fairly clean cut thing, the Eunuchs seemed almost eager to be rid of the Indonesian Archipelago and the Islands. Maybe they even were eager, Indonesia was already fairly rebellious, only remaining in the Federation to ward off Britannia and the Federation proved unable to defend it. It would rebel if returned, there is no doubt about that.
The Philippines were not even truly a part of the federation, but the Eunuchs had taken control of the remnants of its government. So them giving up on that territory was not strange.
The biggest thing by far were the islands of Singapore, Taiwan and most of all Hainan. The Eunuchs had made clear that if we wanted them it would mean being lenient with the Federations army and Knightmare core. Thusly the fact that we could only limit their army to 80 percent instead of cutting it down to just enough to maintain order.
…..
'Writing that treaty, I felt like Napoleon at Vienna, all powerful and without equal.'
Alexander Andreas Gustavus Di Britannia.
All credits for lyrics go to Sabaton and their amazing songs, please check them out if you are into history, metal or both!