I am not made of salt, nor of a farm, but I have grown out of what hurts me. - Stefan Czarnecki Field Hetman of the Crown

State of Japan
31 August 2020 J.C
Tokyo
Seat of the Prime Minister

The sound of pen tapping spread through the office of Japanese Prime Minister Yomoya Yoshinori. He was reading out the basic arrangements of the Polish-Japanese talks that were concluded yesterday and a small intelligence analysis that was done on the basis of the data obtained during the talks.

The overall tone was rather unsatisfactory to the prime minister, as he read from a report

Poles, in contrast to the Poles we know, behave much more self-confidently, more arrogantly, but at the same time one notices they look at us as children with special needs and surprising forbearance. You could sense that they thought we could not cope alone. Unfortunately, we do not know for what reason, the conversations were rather focused on when we should meet in general and the general characteristics of our countries and a few facts from their and our history.

As far as we know relations between their Japan and Japan were exemplary and Poland was one of the countries helping Japan to modernize, although there is mention of a short war in 1905 between those Japanese and them, which in contrast to our history, that Japan lost.

We do not know what happened next, although I would like to propose a theory that as a result of this war, Japan fell into a kind of dependence on Poland, becoming a kind of protectorate. We don't know how strong this dependence was, but we do know that their Japan was pushed out of China and never started a war with their United States and the Western powers. But despite its attempts, it did not become a colony.

We suspect that they intend to recreate what they perceive to be the status quo and subjugate us to their interests, which may be the case given that decolonization on a serious scale has not taken place in their world.

The last paragraph made Yomoya's brow furrow. Suspicions of trying to turn Japan into their colony? Looking at what the U.S. can do to them if they don't like something, it's not suspicion, but it should be written.

Of course, the Americans would not call Japan their colony (although more or less Japan could not do anything without the consent of the U.S. as befitted a dependent country) and no doubt they were much better protectors than many other powers, but Yomoya as well as many Japanese did not like this dependence.

And when they broke free, although he had to admit this was not the kind of break he wanted, they could more or less do as they pleased. And this time he had to fight not to fall into the hands of a country richer than the USA, with a much richer culture and history.

This would be a comparable struggle, the more difficult that according to what he received this Commonwealth has almost the same territory as the Russian Federation, here the Prime Minister noted in his head, to pacify as soon as possible the ex-Russian Kuril Islands before the Commonwealth decides that it is quite a good idea in the name of protecting the people there, of course to take these islands for themselves, and at the same time unlike Russia its prosperity does not end with a few large cities.

To hell, the Russian-European part of the Commonwealth has three times as many inhabitants as his Russia, and Siberia itself is much better developed than Russia and has more population. When he saw that the Republic of Poland has almost one billion people, he almost had a heart attack. He is already old, and something like that was a shock.

A billion people, if Russia had not been so victimized by genocidal maniacs and at the same time not ruled by exclusively strong-arm governments could it have achieved the same success?

He did not know, but what he saw painted a darker future. It would be much more difficult to trade with them, because having the resources of Siberia, they spend most of them on their own industrial needs and do not export them abroad like Russia to get advanced technologies in return.

So they will be much less willing to buy Japanese products and much more willing to flood the Japanese market with their own. Yes, he guessed they would be happy to snuggle up more products to cut costs for their consumers but it goes the other way.

But less so, one thing is most important to him, get natural resources for the Japanese economy and food. While they've managed to send delegations to Que-Tonye and Quilly and establish diplomatic relations and sign relevant trade agreements, without solid investment in their infrastructure they can't yet get enough out of it to knock down the price of everything in Japan, and construction work despite the truly frenetic pace still takes time, and to date they've completed about 30% of the intended investment.

And dark clouds begin to loom over Roderius, Louria the warrior and supremacist kingdom on the continent begins to sharply escalate its rhetoric. Intelligence analysts suggest that by the end of this year, a solid war will break out on the continent which will likely draw some manpower away from the military reducing the amount of resource and food production Japan can obtain.

Seeing this the Prime Minister started probing the Diet on the possibility of sending JSDF military support to help the States there. He did this of course with the obvious consent and pleas of the States there whose most important ally Altaras was busy watching Parpaldia which does not hide its appetite for new lands just like Louria.

What's more, you can read between the lines that it is Parpaldia behind the sudden growth in strength of Louria and their aggressiveness. Most likely they want to cut off Altaras from possible support from the local states, which although technologically backward, can provide resources for Altaras to be able to long and effectively repel as in the entire history of their island invasions.

The Altaras Navy, though small in number compared to its long-time rival, the Imperial Parpaldian Navy, in terms of the quality of its ships and the training of its sailors beat them with a finger on the nose.

A popular saying in this part of the world is that one Altaran sailor is worth thirty Parpaldians. And one Parpaldian is worth as much as a hole in a barrel.

And most likely this invasion too would have ended in disaster had it not been for a noticeable fact from orbit. The huge difference in population and production scale. Altarans are extremely rich, this fact is undeniable, but most of this wealth is due to the fact that they are good traders and extract Magic Stones and other important deposits of natural resources on their island, which they then export to more developed countries.

The problem is that their production base after all is not so great, and the technological advancement is less than Parpaldia, which according to the information we have just entered the era of the first industrial revolution.

And this gives a lot. Altaras, of course, was not blind, although they rely much more on imports of finished goods, including armaments, and their armaments manufactories are repair rather than production.

Parpaldia, on the other hand, seems to have learned their lesson from the recent invasions, and decided that the best tactic for them would be to cut off Altaras' ability to obtain support in resources they don't need to produce or can sell on, and literally flood them with their troops.

So what if the Altaran crews are much better trained, have better morale and their ships are better than the enemy's if Parpaldia throws them into battle in such numbers that the Altarans will succumb because of the mass of the attacking army?

All this painted a rather dark picture for Japan. While the Commonwealth may simply not give a damn what Parpaldia does, Japan must stop Parpaldia's aspirations or it will end up as a fatal Polish protectorate dependent on their resources.

Therefore, it is in Japan's interest for the Altaras to remain independent, as they have recently managed to establish relations and sign a trade agreement whereby the Altarans, as experts in the local peoples, will trade Japanese goods.

It was also important for Que-Tonye and Quilla to be independent, because only with them were they able to establish diplomatic relations, the envoys from Louria returned with nothing, because this Parpaldian puppet refused any diplomatic ties without admitting the right of their claim to power over the entire continent.

Of course, in the name of good relations with the others, they could not agree to this and the fact of a huge Japanese warship standing in the capital port of Louria made no impression on either their King or his council.

Or at least that was the conclusion drawn by the deputies sent out. Thus Yomoya was somewhat in a quandary, Louria apparently cannot be stopped except by force and the same with Parpaldia. And to do anything he must take advantage of the fact that the state of emergency in Japan.

The problem is that while earlier hardly anyone on the street except the most dumb pacifists (fortunately most have enough sense not to make an unnecessary fuss) would protest the sending of the JGSDF to Que-Tonye and the JMSDF to Altaras, now Poland poses a serious political problem because its opponents may consider for the very idea of beating up his government that this action is unnecessary because all necessary resources can be imported from Poland.

The very fact that when asked if they could export food, Poles immediately said that they were even very willing, which considering the fact that Ukraine is a kind of granary of Europe and was one of the sources of wealth of the Polish Republic, it ceased to surprise him when he learned about it.

In theory, he had a quick solution to his problems, just open wide to Poland, but at the same time this reduced the support for sending Self-Defense Forces abroad. He had to have some solid pretext to send troops to help against aggressors.

Unfortunately, despite the hunger and chaos on the streets, there will be no shortage of malcontents especially in the Diet who will smear him on principle for this stunt.

Louria according to the information we have been able to gather probably wanted to strike in April but some complications came to light which postponed the plan of their offensive but most likely they will strike in October or November when the ground hardens again after a period of autumn rains due to the cold.

Of course, all of this allows Operation Kuninoaki's plan to be better refined instead of the crazy improvisation that prevailed in April when Louria started flexing its muscles.

He saw that the Commander-in-Chief Munemori Ushioda of the JGSDF's eyes grew wide as saucers when he was asked to put together a plan to send forces to Que-Toyne, by the way the General expressed quite firmly his opinion on the possibility of so quickly putting together a plan without a solid knowledge of what the area of operation was to look like, who exactly they were fighting and many other important military issues that had now slipped his mind.

Of course, this problem of sending forces overseas for warfare could be circumvented by bending the legal definitions or sending the Americans but the latter he preferred to keep as an ace up his sleeve instead of immediately sending them on something Japan could do alone.

A third somewhat abortive route is to simply temporarily convert some JGSDF units to US Army units and when the fun is over unscrew that but that's not even on the table among serious proposals.

"Damn Poland, couldn't you have arrived a little later? How about if Louria attacked earlier so I could send in the troops while bending the rules?" Yomoya growled angrily, interrupting the tapping of the pen only to click hard on that thing at the top which he didn't know the name of that was responsible for ejecting the writing part of the pen.

He got up from his desk and went to the window for the first time in months, behind which he could hear the sirens. Yomoya didn't even care about sirens anymore, he was well aware that the services were exhausted by the constant calls and keeping everything together so that it wouldn't collapse.

Then he looked out the window at the crowd of protesters camped outside the government headquarters who wanted bread and water. At this sight his heart softened and his former hard face disappeared.

"Is this all I will leave behind?" He asked himself out loud "I promised both the people and myself that I would pull Japan out of the quagmire it has been in for over 20 years and what do I have now? Collapse and bitterness brought on by unknown forces."

His countenance began to harden again when he noticed a small child among the protesters holding a cardboard sign on which he saw the words painted in crayons

Please Help Us!

When he saw this though he wanted to cry he didn't. Instead he growled angrily at himself and no one else "What the hell have I been worrying about for the last few months! My own shitty stool? Or that damn Japan I said I'd care about!"

After which he looked again at the report on the desk and it suddenly dawned on him "I was a fool for not coming up with this before but how did I not come up with this!" He growled again smacking his forehead with the flat of his hand. "I don't have to choose, I can take both options and screw those fools at the Diet I can piss off we have more important problems than yours no this must be done, no that must be done!"

Then with renewed vigor he went to his desk and called the secretary to whom he threw a few short words "Call a press conference in an hour... no, in two hours... this is how it has to be for the whole country every Japanese and foreigner has to hear it!... and the Foreign Minister has to be at my place in 15 minutes and doesn't give a fuck if he can't, he has to be!" After which he quickly hung up and briefly out loud said his two immediate goals "A quick trade agreement and if possible food aid from Poland and stopping Parpaldia at all costs by our own efforts."

Then he made some important phone calls to various important people in the country to tell them to send the Self-Defense Forces overseas. He burned a lot of political capital this way, but he didn't care anymore, what good was he if Japan was a disaster?

Surprisingly, his harsh approach to the secretary worked and within 10 minutes Foreign Minister Tadakumi Hoshino appeared at his door.

The man was surprised to see that his boss had a sudden energy that he had not had in years. He summoned him with a gesture then ordered him to sit on the chair in front of him. "Tadakumi, you have a combat assignment and it is urgent." Began Yomoya's tirade.

"What Boss?" Asked a puzzled Tadakumi "Simple, you have three days to arrange for me to visit Poland which is due by the end of this week. We have no more time."

Tadakumi made a heavily surprised face "But premier..." He tried but Yomoya shot a sharp finger in his direction "There is no fucking but! It has to be and it has to be now, the people of Japan have suffered enough." After which he relaxed and added "After which when you have settled this you are to probe how much the Altaras and Que-Tonye and Quilla want our help against the invasion and arrange appropriate agreements," after which he added a surprising turn of phrase for the minister as if anticipating his questions "if they want weapons we will sell them weapons!"

Then he went back to work, and seeing that his minister was still sitting, he said again in a serious tone, "Why are you sitting there, move your fat ass!" And with that, he chased Tadakumi out of the office. Then the Prime Minister went back to work.

Two hours later
Under the Prime Minister's seat

The Prime Minister stood calmly at his post. With a serious but calm face, he looked at the hastily gathered journalists and TV cameras. Around him, protesters stood, kept away from the journalists by a cordon of police, but by no means meant to block their access to the stage.

The whole thing was rather an unusual for Japanese improvisation and mess, which could be seen and felt. You could feel that there had been some sort of overreach in the government. When he saw the sign that everything was working and going live the Prime Minister started.

Dear people of Japan,...he gave a short meaningful pause and no less honourable guests from all over the world, there was a voice of indignation among the assembled ultranationalists as you know for the last seven months Japan has been in the greatest crisis since its inception. As you know we have been uprooted from the old world, our home to this strange and alien one by no one knows who or why. The last seven months, hard months I should add have been this... here he gave another solid pause then with difficulty said I will say something that is not in our nature but I feel it is time to come out of it if we are to continue.

The last seven months have been a display of the most inept government since World War II. We have chased the bunny time and time again ignoring the mess that has been piling up all around us for a long time. We've made a series of bad mistakes for fear of losing the Diet. We engaged in bickering and only incredible luck ensured that it didn't end badly for us.

Murmurs and angry faces and noticeable rebellious voices perfectly conveyed what the common people thought about it. Even unfavorable and uncultured challenges against the Prime Minister and his government could be heard.

So I will say briefly, I would like to apologize very much to everyone for that.

All of a sudden everything went quiet because the apology was coupled with a really deep bow, literally because the Prime Minister walked away to the microphones and got down on his knees in apology and lay like that for the next few minutes then got up and came back. Everyone focused on what he wanted to say next.

You have probably heard rumors that another country similar to us has appeared, also uprooted. Officially we said it was nothing but a rumor. Today I want to tell you that it is true, there is a new country, a country that can help us and only out of my own conceit could I miss this opportunity.

Loud noises of surprise could be heard in the crowd, but most began to siphon more words from his mouth.

But this country is not Russia, nor the USSR or some other version of Russia, or maybe some other equally great country like Germany or the United States. This country has so far been little known to us, although there are people here who are learning about it.

He said the whole thing in a light tone as if crossing out wrong answers on an invisible board and human curiosity only grew.

This is... The Commonwealth most started scratching their heads hearing the strange new word, that's what it's officially called for short. We from home know it in its much poorer, broken version if I may say so. Because it's... Poland! People started to make faces of surprise and even say that he was crazy and the Prime Minister as if hearing this added Yes, you're not mistaken and I'm not crazy although at first I thought so.

Poland but in its glorious and great version. This is the Poland that was not wiped off the map at the end of the 18th century by three imperialist and greedy countries that wanted her land. Nothing like that happened in her history as far as we have learned.

People started to think, trying to imagine Poland in its powerful version. Most followed the vision of a country that looked like a richer Russia, others that looked like Germany, some that looked like France and Great Britain, only a few thought it might be something like a more cultured United States.

Therefore, in three days I am going to Warsaw, their capital city, to seek help for us there. They are as big as a continent, they were not hurt by this transfer as we were, so they can easily help us.

Many were surprised by the last sentence, although ultranationalists at the sentence about seeking help and that the Poles could easily help them began to shout loudly about the betrayal and weakness of the Prime Minister and that Japan could manage alone. Fortunately their howling and firing at full blast of Battotai was quickly drowned out by the shouts of Hush! This went on for a few minutes before the situation returned to normal, after which the Prime Minister resumed his speech, but in a much louder and uninterruptible tone.

But that's not the end of the news I want to share. I will say something unpopular, we must change and adapt to the new world. There has been a buzz of who knows who, but also of pacifists who have suddenly sensed a world in which disputes are settled by force of arms. Maybe you haven't seen it but dark clouds are coming over our country, even bigger than before. A certain Empire of Parpaldia is leading our new neighbourhood into a war by its actions. A war which, while being a barbaric and cruel act, is not in our interest and will destroy the remnants of our stability as it will consume our new trading partners from Altaras, Que-Toyne and Quilla.

I therefore announce that I will strive to free our Self-Defense Forces from the fetters in which they have been shackled The Pacifists began to boo in indignation and while the Ultranationalists shouted in joy and I will change them into the more offensive Japanese Strategic Defense Force. The Ultranationalists stopped rejoicing but before they could express their outrage the Prime Minister added in a sharp tone This is all I had to say and remember!

Remain calm!

There is much to be done!

The Japan Empire shall endure!

At the end, there was a great applause and, surprisingly for the Prime Minister, shouts of support for him which easily silenced the malcontents. In the face of this, the malcontents tried to make a brawl, but the police, encouraged by the speech, easily nipped these attempts in the bud and for the first time in a year there was no fight between the extreme right and left.

The speech, of course, was not left alone. The foreign ambassadors of Altaras, Que-Tonye, Quilly and, perhaps surprisingly, Parpaldia understood the message. And Cordia Lucan, ambassador of Parpaldia, as soon as the speech was over, took the interpreter from her ear and rushed to the embassy to warn her superiors in Esthirant.

Later historians will consider this one of the reasons for Parpaldia's survival against a much more modern power, but let's not get ahead of ourselves. Well, except for one thing, those last three sentences became the unofficial motto of all Japan for years to come, eventually becoming so during the War with the Sorcerer .

Rzeczpospolita/Commowealth
Crown of the Kingdom of Poland
3 September AD 2020
Warsaw, Kazimierz III the Great Airport

Yomoya raised his right hand in greeting to the journalists and millions of Poles watching him live in the distance as he descended the stairs attached to the government jet. Then, when he finally got down to the ground level he met eye to eye with Polish King Witold and his wife Marianna, and next to her the royal children, already grown up, Prince Andrzej, his two younger brothers in their teens, older Jan and younger Bartłomiej, and the only girl in the royal family, the youngest, Princess Jadwiga.

He looked carefully at the Polish ruler before shaking hands with him. So Witold was a man of age, with dark brown hair and blue eyes, he wore a short but not too short mustache, his face was square, with an eagle nose and slightly bushy eyebrows. From the look of him he looked like a typical administrator.

He manifested a rather cordial though balanced aura, but did not seem overly threatening or zamordistic. Honestly he seemed rather decent person, much nicer when seen in person than in a photo. Though one could not help noticing the visible stress of the last days.

His wife, who was a bit shorter than Witold, seemed a bit younger than her husband. She was rather petite, especially when compared to her husband, who was not very powerful. She had dark blond hair tied up in a bun and green eyes. Her face was round, with a small nose and slightly emphasized lips.

In general she was certainly pretty, but not stunning. Witold was rather more handsome than she was beautiful, but she was not ugly. The children were more after their father than after their mother.

And their clothing, it was something similar to the presidential style. Honestly, if he did not know that this man was a king, he would think it was some kind of president. The orders he usually saw on European monarchs were missing, he seemed more like the President of the USA?

And he wore an ordinary navy blue suit, not a military uniform. Everything you would expect from a monarch was missing. His wife dressed more like a ruler should, and their children were more like who they really were.

And their eldest son was dressed in a green officer's uniform, though looking at the rank symbols it is a lower rather than higher rank.

The whole inspection took only a short moment in which his wife Akie stood beside him. After which he moved forward shaking hands with King Witold and the latter smiled warmly and accepted it after which he said in somewhat numb Japanese, "Welcome to Poland, Prime Minister Yomoya, I hope you will feel at home."

Yomoya was surprised by the Polish ruler's knowledge of the Japanese language. He quickly guessed the reason why Witold revealed this card, to show that Poland did not have any dark and evil intentions towards Japan.

"Thank you your majesty, I hope I can say the same to you when you arrive in Tokyo next week." Replied Yomoya calmly after which the king introduced his family to him and he his wife. Then the more ceremonial part of welcoming him to the airport began.

The whole event took some time but consisted of a welcome with bread and salt by children in folk costumes after which he was taken to a limousine sent from the Embassy of Japan to the National Theatre where he saw a short dance ceremony by the Belarusian Singing and Dancing Ensemble followed by a short presentation of all the member countries of the Republic of Poland and their regions starting from the heart of Poland, i.e. Greater Poland, and ending in the distant Crown Colony of Cameroon and Magaskar.

The whole thing was interesting, Yomoya had to admit, although it was not at all difficult to notice that the whole thing was more like a quick improvisation and use of pre-prepared and learned scenarios instead of having a special show for the Prime Minister of Japan.

As he later found out, he was lucky to be preparing for the Week of Unity of the Republic of Poland, which always takes place in the third week of September, this year from 14th to 21st September.

After all this, finally Yomoya sat opposite the Polish king in the conference room of the Royal Castle. It was a kind of one-on-one meeting, eye to eye to discuss pressing needs among themselves.

The rest of the staff of both countries were elsewhere, preparing for more official diplomatic talks, so the two men decided to use this time more constructively, especially Yomoya who wanted to come to the first agreements as soon as possible.

As soon as a small meal had been brought in by the maids the two lords of life and death of their countries proceeded to talk. "Well then," began the King, "Lord Yomoya, I was a little surprised at your haste and eagerness to talk, may I know what has happened?"

Yomoya took a sip of coffee before replying, "Let's just say your highness that I have experienced some enlightenment? A change of heart you might say."

Witold accepted this neutrally with a nod "I see..." then with a livelier tone he asked "So, what are you coming with? It's evident that it's been eating you up inside since you got here."

Yomoya hesitated for a moment, he did not know whether he should say bluntly what he meant or ask for help in a more camouflaged way so as not to lower his negotiating position. After a long moment he scratched himself, he has no negotiating position! He had come here to ask for help for his country, a country which could no longer wait for food to be grown and brought from Que-Toyne.

Witold did not rush Yomoya patiently waiting for the Japanese Prime Minister to get it out of him. He was not counting when Yomoya finally said, "The suffering of my people, my nation, crushes me sorely, Japan, as you can guess, has neither enough natural resources nor food to sustain itself. Of course we have already taken care of adequate sources of food and resources but now they seem both precarious and it seems to me that we have no time until adequate food is gathered nor infrastructure built despite the hard work of the Japanese construction companies who work de facto half free in three sometimes even four shifts knowing full well what the alternative is."

Witold was surprised and hard at that. "What do you mean by lack of time and uncertainty, Prime Minister?" Yomoya this time answered at once "War your highness, war lurks with its darkness over these lands we have discovered." Witold furrowed his brow "What do I mean by that?"

The Japanese summarized the situation very briefly in very general terms making Witold put his hand to his chin pondering before he replied "This is indeed an unpleasant situation, I understand that you want us to provide adequate food and raw materials which can be done but I have the impression that you want to ask us for something else".

Yomoya nodded in agreement then paused for a moment as if he didn't want to fully say it thinking that Witold would consider it too much of a demand. Witold seeing this hesitation asked with suspicion "What else do you want?"

This renewed question broke Yomoya's hesitation like Jesus broke bread at the last supper. He grunted before replying, "I would like, your highness may consider this an excessive request, for you to carry out... no that's the wrong wording, I would ask you to make a preventive war against Parpaldia and Louria to stop those countries from their imperialistic actions."

Witold's eyes widened in astonishment at this request... no, Japan's request. He was about to get angry when a soft female whisper reached his ear, "Calm down Witold, instead of getting angry in this situation as Poles usually do, sit still and ask why."

This voice stopped him just before he opened his mouth, but Witold realized after a while who was asking him, so he sat down in his armchair and started counting slowly to ten in his mind, then took a deep sip of his tea and counted again.

When he calmed down he looked coldly and asked coldly "Why should I do that? I understand that these countries want to conquer others, but wars always break out for various reasons and the goals do not always come true as the aggressors dreamed, and the problem of redirecting the manpower of those countries to the army is a Japanese problem, not a Polish one. Besides, you have your own armed forces, why can't you or your Americans do it?"

Yomoya loosened his tie and then said with barely concealed anxiety, "The problem with this is multi-level, I can hardly deploy the Self-Defense Forces overseas but that will be a bending of the legal rules of our country which my opponents will exploit without scruple, already in April there was a threat of war on Roderius but our deployment stopped for a while the Lourians who in the face of the unknown did not try their march but I can not keep them indefinitely, so when the matter seemed resolved I had to pull the JSDF back to Japan."

Witold nodded with understanding "I understand... but why can't the Americans do it? They don't have such legal restrictions as you do, because I understand correctly your armed forces can't attack only defend themselves either?"

Yomoya nodded a few times "Yes, yes but the problem with deploying the Americans is twofold, it's not up to de me, the Americans for example may not want to because it's a loss to them of their precious resources and the other major problem that it's terribly unpopular in society and if the left sets Japan on fire for deploying the JSDF overseas especially on the offensive, then the right wing including my party will do the same for using Americans for that and the ultra-nationalists are a serious and growing problem because of, let's not kid ourselves about the total collapse of the country. Already, for example, our railroads famous for their lack of delays are experiencing huge delays because people have lost faith in what they are doing as well as the will to work."

Witold pondered for a few long moments, and when he had thought about it, he said, "Well, that makes it impossible for you to send an army, except in a really dire situation that would allow you to do so. But one thing puzzles me, why do you care so much about helping these countries? It goes a little beyond looking out for your own interests, it sounds a little like you're trying to do something else under that pretext, for yet another motive that seems ridiculous to someone else."

Yomoya raised his eyebrows in astonishment at these conjectures of the Pole. "I see you are guessing something else right?" Witold nodded "Well, your highness, you are right, there is another motive for which he wants to act but cannot." After which the Prime Minister took a roar of his coffee before replying "The point is that these countries cannot defend themselves, our air intelligence says bluntly the disparity of forces is too great, Parpaldia has been preparing this operation for many years and will do everything to make it a success. The support they gave to Louria is astonishing for a renaissance or medieval kingdom, can you imagine a country barely twice the size of the Kingdom of France fielding a fleet of 4400 ships? Or calling up over a million soldiers under arms?"

Witold opened his mouth in astonishment "How much? How is that possible... aaah well Parpaldia, a great superpower is able to make something like that happen if it is a few technological levels above and produces equipment fit for a lower level country."

Yomoya started nodding and pointing his finger at the king "That's right, Que-Tonye and Quilla can only field 100 thousand soldiers and 350 ships at the most, the mass of Lourians alone even though they are probably poorly trained conscripts is enough to crush any resistance under their boots. And about Altaras there is nothing to say, they are in the ass and they know it well, Parpaldia finally reached such a numerical and even technical superiority, that the advantage of training crews and soldiers and command for Altaranians will give little. And unfortunately I am bound by the law on the prohibition of supplying advanced equipment to lower technological countries in which one of the paragraphs says prohibiting the supply of any weapons not technologically suited to the period so I cannot send them equipment and instructors to offset the numerical and technological superiority of their enemies." When he saw the questioning look on Vitaly's face he added "I did not propose this law, it was passed without my consent, I thought and still think it is moronic."

"I understand Mr. Prime Minister but that doesn't answer my question." Answered Witold while sympathizing with being actually a passenger in a situation where a good law is passed in theory but in reality a bad law.

Yomoya agreed with him, "Exactly, but that's kind of the introduction to it, you see, your highness, in a way I feel guilty and in trying to actually help them I want to atone for some crimes from the past, crimes that are cruel and terrible. So bad that many of my colleagues pretend they never happened or that the Chinese or Koreans are exaggerating. And now I see a certain analogy to our past in their situation and if I can I try to prevent what might happen."

Witold nodded slowly but sensing that this was a touchy subject replied "I understand that this is a topic for another, more peaceful occasion." Yomoya nodded "Yes, and I would recommend taking something deeper with you, most of course of my party mates would be most happy to pretend it never happened but I prefer not to take the risk and be so naive that someone won't find out and after all we will have to get to know each other more, including the dark pages of our history and our worlds."

"Okay Mr. Prime Minister, I'll think about this ... separate request am I to understand?" Replied Witold slowly to which Yomoya agreed with another nod. To which Witold smiled and added "I guess that's all?" Faced with another nod, Witold decided to move on to lighter topics "So Mr. Prime Minister what do you think..."

At the same time
September 3, 2020 I.P.C
Kingdom of Paganda
Singa, the Royal Capital

Singa, the great pearl of the Western Zone, also known as the Second Zone, was burning in the distant Center, and the smoke from its ruins obscured the sky so much that it seemed as if a long night had fallen. A night of fear and dark monsters that crawled out of their burrows. For Stanisław Koziej an officer of the Polish Imperial Army this was a perfect description of what the 14th Mechanised Division did to that city during the fights for it.

Honestly? It wasn't even a challenge, just cleaning a very old attic in an abandoned house from garbage and getting rid of rats, mice and other vermin that had been sitting there since unknown time.

An air strike from the air wing of the Polish Imperial Navy from the aircraft carriers OOCP Furia, Armaggedon, Wodnik, Rusałka. Then a salvo of water-to-ground missiles from 12 Miecznik-type destroyers was enough to destroy any defensive fortifications the defenders had. The landing and fighting in the city was just a formality.

These Pagandians were not, in Koziej's opinion, even something worth noting in the history of Polish arms. Cosmically weak, dependent on their protector who, according to the intelligence, is exhausted and slowly rebuilding itself from the destruction of the Fourth World War which the natives call Civilization War.

And they had the audacity to insult the Emperor of the Romans and the Imperator of Rome and the Lord of All-Poland and when it came to the point they called out their master. Fortunately Leifor did not respond to their call, otherwise he would have quickly joined this miserable little country in the grave, a mass grave let us add, over which writes the Countries destroyed by Poland forever. They tried to resist the modern army, with equipment from the 19th century, from the era of the Civil War also called the Great Polish Revolution in which the cursed traitors republicans raised their heads for the first time against the legitimate imperial power, against the creators of Poland, the glorious Piast dynasty.

Although they were suppressed, it was at a huge cost and loss of half of Poland Proper to Germans and Czecho-Hungarians. And what kind of Poland is it without half of the lands between Odra and Bug?

Fortunately, the Chief of Poland, Konrad Gromski erased this disgrace and an even younger one over 80 years ago.

"Major!" The voice of one of his subordinates from the 45th Mechanized Infantry Regiment behind him spoke up, interrupting his gaze on the burning city "Yes Private Andrzej Michta?" He asked calmly without turning around.

"We've caught some dignitary, looks like one of those who insulted His Imperial Majesty's wife." Hearing this, Koziej turned to the private. "Are you sure?" The private nodded confidently "Then lead me to him." The private saluted then they both moved towards Michta's squad.

They got there after a few minutes, the first thing he did was to assess the appearance of the captive, when he compared him to known and wanted dignitaries and decided he agreed he asked the corporal in charge of the squad "Who caught him?"

Corporal Andrzej Kowalski indicated with his head "Private Jan Niedowiarek caught him Major." Koziej looked at the private and quickly assessed his appearance. The private then stood at attention, presenting the whole class with the look of his uniform, which had undergone quite a lot of wear and tear.

The bullet-proof vest did its job, but the equipment hung on it and the material hiding the graphene plate was badly punctured by bullets, showing the plate itself and its crushing by rifle bullets. The same was with the goggles in which the right glass was broken and the left one severely cracked.

Apart from that, the cloth on his right hand was also torn and his service PR-15 Ragun was missing from his pistol holster. There were traces of blood on the butt of his automatic rifle KM wz.93 Beryl.

"Private Niedowiarek, I see you've taken quite a beating, what made you do that?" Asked the Major calmly after assessing his appearance. "Permission to speak freely?" Asked private in a serviceable tone.

Major nodded "I allow" and then Niedowiarek relaxed and started to enumerate "Goggles are an effect of a fucking sniper for ten bucks and a fight in close quarters in city hall, Major, there I also lost my pistol in all that commotion. And I had to use a flask on some clown, quite hard by the way, because all that was left of my opponent's head was a bloody pulp, like someone smashed a watermelon with a stick. And my vest is the work of some dickhead with a heavy machine gun upstairs."

The Major nodded with a look of recognition at this information. Then he looked at Pagandian "And how did you catch him?" The private lightly shrugged his shoulders "Simple, he was hiding with a group of locals and when they found out who it was, a fight started and then they handed him over to us for fear that we would shoot them or something." Then he laughed, followed by the rest of the squad and even the Major himself at these unfounded fears.

"Very well Private I will promote you to the rank of Older Private and nominate you for the Cross of Valor for your actions for your country." Said the Major when they finished laughing.

"To the glory of the fatherland, Major!" Exclaimed the Private nodding his head in lieu of the customary salute which is only valid when wearing a cap or beret with a two-headed eagle. Because the Polish two-finger salute goes to the eagle on the cap and not to someone in front of it.

Koziej smiled with satisfaction and then turned to the captive... a captive is only a soldier and this one is a civilian. A civilian with whom the empire and the imperial army have to settle accounts.

His face hardened at the sight of the solidly beaten vip, he guessed who did it but turned a blind eye to it. He approached the badly beaten civilian and asked firmly and slowly in Pagandian "Was it worth insulting Her Imperial Majesty Eliza Piast? Was it worth insulting the good name of the Polish Empire? Was it worth it to be insulting to our faith and our dynasty?"

The older man looked up at the officer with difficulty through his swollen eyes and then growled, "You are shit, not the Empire, you fucking barbarian. Your miserable little country and its dynasty of whores and sluts are no match for you fucking destroyers. Look at what you have done for a mere statement..."

He hadn't finished when Koziej pulled out a gun interrupting his argument. After which he put the pistol to his forehead. "No, sir, the only barbarian here is you, we came here to make contact but you in your typical barbaroi arrogance have rejected our will, beaten our envoys and insulted our sanctities. I advise you to pray for your people to have more sense than you and your ilk because we have our large but limited patience. Do you know what happens to nations that make us lose it?"

The Pagadian shook his head slowly while the Major countered with "This!" then pulled the trigger of the gun killing him on the spot. The force of the gun's impact was great enough to make the head fly backwards so hard that it dragged the upper body with it so fast that the spine snapped like a twig on firewood breaking in the hands, then the body finally fell.

One of the soldiers whistled "Not bad Major, how did you do it to break like that?" To which Koziej replied "Years of practice son, years of practice knocking down fools like him." Then he smiled maliciously "Well, and special bullets for the gun."

Well, welcome to everyone reading this. For those who may not know this is my second fic with the NHS. The first is Greetings Comrades in Japan but I warn you the beginning may be indigestible, though it is worth the effort.

Those who know it, however, will immediately notice a much higher standard than there. But do not fear, it will not be abandoned, but for the time being there is no idea what the next chapter of this great country with its wonderful red system of liberation from prosperity should look like.

Okay, less about my obvious insults to this system. I would like to say something else, namely leave a review or something, because it looks a little empty, if you are interested even in a minimum degree, at least leave a watch to see what happens next.

And such a small question for regular readers, do you want here something like explanations at the end of each chapter about these two Polands? Or is the plot more important? This is for the review in addition to your opinion.

Okay, that's it for now, as you can see one Poland is slowly becoming known and the other is coming out of the shadows. The shadow that hides it all. What is this Polish Empire and why the double title of Emperor of the Romans and Imperator of Rome? You will find out in the next chapters. And the classic wish that you have a nice time reading this, for those who read to the end.