A/N: Actual 69th chapter, since the self-advertising and trailer chapters doesn't count. (Hehe funni number). Also remember to check out the wiki!
Shadowsaurus: Ah, I see.
The armed forces: Bro, you working with the FBI? Like, have you been looking through my notes or something? There is no way you predicted all of that.
Super Comrade: I plan to elaborate alot more on the outside world.
B**** Xemtlenc: Get out of my reviews you weirdo.
Nobody here: There will definitely be more nations. I already mentioned a few, like the Xinyin (China equivalent). Hizuru will obviously be involved.
Soul Castle: Wow...to be honest, your review was genuinely beautiful to read, and I'll definitely be taking your advice into consideration.
Azumabito Mansion, Outside Umioba
When they reached the mansion, servants of the Azumabito family politely helped Mikasa, Historia, and Alto out of the car.
The Scouts gasped as they beheld the giant mission, however, the Hizurians looked as if they had seen it all before, and were more than happy to help guide their new friends through the process.
Oda led Historia, Alto, and Mikasa into the mansion, and into his study.
"Now, I'm aware my sister has likely already signed off on a treaty with Paradis, however, since you're coming back with us, I do not think it's exactly the same as Zeke Jaeger proposed." Oda smiled.
"You are very smart, Lord Oda." Alto nodded, he proceeded to explain the new treaty.
"If you were a merchant, I would never buy from you." Oda said jokingly once he had finished explaining, "But in all seriousness, it is a good plan. It benefits both of our nations, admittedly, Paradis seems to be squeezing a bit more in the long run, but it's certainly alot fairer than what Zeke Jaeger suggested."
Oda looked at him, "Are you serious about offering yourself as a military asset to Hizuru?"
"I've been through my ancestors' memories. The Flare Titan has a long history of serving Hizuru, I will respect that."
"And it not only buys Eldia more favor in our eyes as well, while simultaneously lifting you up to a position of trust within our nation, does it not?" Oda asked, Alto didn't answer, he didn't have to, silence said everything.
"You see, Lord Burke, the two of us are men cut from the same cloth. I can predict you just as easily as you can predict me." Oda approached a window, "I will help Eldia because it not only benefits Hizuru, but because I understand you. And I can trust you to stand beside me. Allies such as yourself are rare."
Oda's face lightened, "Now that that's settled, I will have a servant show you three to your quarters."
A servant came in, and bowed before them before leading the trio out.
"Oda seems to be more interested in you than anyone else." Historia stated,
Alto shrugged, "He'll come around to respect you soon enough."
While Mikasa, Historia, and Alto were shown to guest rooms within the palace. The Scouts were shown to a barracks nearby. It was revealed that the Hizurian escorts they'd traveled with were part of the Hizurian Imperial Guard.
The Scouts were given a newly finished barracks to reside in, where Eren and the others proceeded to reside.
"I wonder how the three of them are doing…" Jean wondered,
"They're probably fine." Eren said, "It's not helping to worry about them."
"Yeah, I know but like - we're in a completely foreign land, and two of our leaders are with minimal escort."
"I wouldn't call Mina and Ymir: 'minimal escort'." Eren said, "Besides, Mikasa is with them, they'll be fine if she's there, even if she lacks her ODM Gear."
"More importantly, I want a chance to explore this country!" Hanji said excitedly, "Think of all the wonderful things we haven't seen! I mean - did you guys see the flying machines they had?!"
"Those were machines?" Connie asked, "I thought they were like - some kind of animal."
"You thought those automobiles were animals." Jean said sarcastically.
"Hey, it's not like you knew better!" Connie retorted.
"Nonetheless, all we can really do for now is wait." Erwin said, "Right now, the only thing we can do is hedge our bets on those three to secure a beneficial relationship with Hizuru."
Kavalan
Despite the treaty being signed, Oda still wanted a few more days to go over it before both nations officially ratified it. Announcing a formal relationship with the island of Paradis was a major step, and would draw the eyes of the world to Hizuru and Paradis.
Meanwhile, across the world, Marley was still locked in brutal trench combat with the Mid-East Allied Forces.
Roaring, Reiner proceeded to charge at an enemy bunker, slamming his fist into the hard concrete; it collapsed under his weight.
Stella watched as he did, 'We've been in this endless back and forth for months since February, we take out a portion of their trench line, but they immediately take it back as soon as they can bring up their armored vehicles.'
While the Nine had remained relatively untouched, and had gotten better at defeating the enemy armored vehicles. Regular titans had no such immunity or capacity to learn, and whenever they tried sending in Zeke's pure titans, they'd always been ripped apart by a combination of bombs and shells.
"This isn't going to work in the long run." Stella noted to Teren.
"Of course it isn't." Teren snarled, "Do you have an idea?"
"Why don't we revisit my plan? It's no longer winter, after all." Stella asked him,
Teren finally showed some genuine thought over it, "You wanted us to launch an offensive towards their front then flank them with the Warrior Unit?"
"Yes, by doing so we'll draw their armored divisions away from our titans as we move to cut their lines of communication." Stella explained, she moved into a small dugout with a board map, and picked up a pen.
"First, we have the navy shell the Allies trench line outside Petropigi. Then, in we advance towards Nea Karvali, in this process, we will send the Warrior Unit north towards Oreno, and they'll advance through the mountains-"
"Through the mountains?!" Teren blurted out, and Stella nodded.
"It will be difficult, but there's no way we can take out the Mid-East with a head-on assault." Stella explained, "If we drive through the mountains, we can hit their flank and come out at Dialek."
Magath, who'd been silent throughout the time, thought about it and nodded. "Alright." He said as he stood up, "It's a good plan. I will call General Dearker about it.
Oreno, Grecia
To Stella's surprise, the plan was quick to be adopted, and preparations were quickly underway. The Warriors found themselves and thousands of other troops rushed to the city of Oreno in a matter of a day.
"It's surprising how fast things can be put together when the Marleyan Army really wants to."
"Yeah, now we only need the navy to follow suit." Porco remarked sarcastically. "Can you believe it? Admiral Gremdt has been sitting on his ass in port for days and has the nerve to tell us he needs to resupply before he can begin shelling. So as usual, the work falls to the Army and Warrior Unit."
"I'm sure they have their own reasons." Reiner stated.
"You mean like the 'reasons' Marcel never came back?" Porco said sarcastically, causing Reiner to wince, but as usual, he decided not to take the bait.
"Quit it Pock." Evangelica said,
"Quit what?" Porco asked, "You guys failed to take out Paradis, and got us into this mess."
"This is why you don't have a fucking Titan." Evangelica snapped at him, causing him to shut up instantly.
"Ouch, harsh much?" Stella said jokingly, approaching the group.
"Finally out of that meeting?" Evangelica asked, and Stella nodded.
"It's all too rushed." Stella sighed, "The supply lines can't handle such a sudden shift, especially through rough terrain like this."
"Hopefully, the Mid-East isn't going to realize…"
"(Kor-General Nishte.)" A Mid-East soldier saluted before the man, "(New surveillance footage and photos sir.)" He proceeded to place a photo on a projector, it was a photograph of a Marleyan supply convoy.
"(This is of where?)"
"(Northern Grecia. This is a specifically a road to Oreno.)" The soldier said,
"(Oreno? That's practically the mountains, why would they…)" Nishte stood, "(You delivered a report earlier saying the Marleyan Navy was conducting artillery strikes from the Kavala Bay?)"
"(Yes sir?)" Nishte grabbed a map, praying his theory wasn't correct. If so, they'd moved much much faster than he could've ever predicted.
"(Sir!)" Another man burst in, "(Marleyan offensive! They're trying to drive for Petropigi!)"
Nishte paled, "(No. Petropigi isn't their target.)" He rushed out of the room, "(Call Büyük General Ahmed immediately. Warn him that the attack isn't coming from Kavalan, its coming from Oreno!)"
"(If this is true…then we need to fall back immediately. Their target is undoubtedly to cut our supply lines.)" Ahmed gasped, "(Have the third and fourth armored divisions retreat to Dialek!)"
"(Yes sir!)" The soldier rushed,
'The enemy officer behind this is smart. Thank god Nishte caught on in time.'
"What?! Is that true!?" Magath said, "They're onto us!" Magath shouted, "They're moving two armored divisions to intercept us at Dialek."
Stella thought about it, "No, there's no going back now. This is a chance. We've still held down the bulk of their infantry. If we win here, we can destroy the bulk of their armored forces."
"It's too risky!" Heren insisted, "I say we call off the offensive!"
"And possibly loose this opportunity for good?" Stella asked, "No, we won't delay."
"Who do you think you're giving orders to, Eldian whore!?" Teren shouted, preparing to backhand Stella.
"That's quite enough, Generalmajor." A man hobbled in on a cane.
"G-General Jonah!" Teren fumbled out a salute.
"Hauptmann Hauser is right." Jonah told them, "We may lose this opportunity forever if we don't act immediately. We made the same mistake with the Paradis Island Operation, and it cost us much."
"B-but sir-"
"Enough, Teren." Jonah raised a hand, "We leave at dawn."
Sure enough, as promised, rows of trucks had lined up in the city, ready to descend down upon Dialek. Jonah nodded to a man beside him, who fired a star shell from his flare gun.
The trucks began their steady advance through the roads that would lead down and out of the mountains.
"Fire!" A Marleyan officer shouted, and rows of 10 cm Type 45 Kanone guns fired their shells from their mountain positions down at the occupied city below.
"Adjust the angle 30° degrees!" Another shouted, and the artillery was cranked into position, before unleashing another salvo of doom.
Dialek
Marleyan artillery shelled the city below as the Mid-East soldiers faced the mountains, anxiously awaiting their enemy.
A young boy - no older than 19 - clutched his moon and star pendant, the symbol of his faith. A veteran smiled grimly at a picture of his wife, while several of their comrades could only stare blankly down at the trench ground below them.
The regiment stationed here was vastly outnumbered and caught off-guard, with a mere two thousand men and 500 assorted variants of HSA armored cars, there was no way they could hold off the oncoming Marleyan assault without the aid of a miracle. Nonetheless, they remained steadfast and unaware of their fate.
"How sad…" Zeke said to himself, "They remain steadfastly unaware of their final fate. It's like watching Shiganshina all over again."
Evangelica gave him a side-eye, she couldn't help but be annoyed with Zeke's condescending tone about the Operation.
Zeke stepped forward, and quickly slashed his hand with a knife, and almost instantly lightning came down and the Beast Titan materialized.
Beside him, a pile of Eldians wrapped in straightjackets and paralyzed by spinal fluid lay beside the Titan. Zeke picked up several of the Eldians and tossed them at the enemy trenches, he then proceeded to scream at them, and titans materialized.
Evangelica watched as Titans slammed into the enemy, dust kicked up by the impact briefly obscured the trenches…
A Mid-East soldier screamed as a steaming titan grabbed him by the waist, and proceeded to crush him between its teeth.
An HSA was crushed as a 5-meter titan was thrown into it, the titan then proceeded to get up and rush at a bunker.
"(R-run!)"
"(W-where's our Anti-Titan artillery?!)"
"(Allah protect us!)"
The HSAs desperately tried to back out of their dugout positions, but titans were faster to fall upon them.
As a group of Mid-East soldiers ran to avoid the titans, they were blown apart by shells from the 10.5 cm Kanone artillery.
Reiner inhaled, and pulled out his knife before running his hand through with it, summoning the Armored Titan to combat. Roaring, he charged down the mountain with the advancing Marleyan army, he proceeded to charge at an HSA, crushing it underfoot.
An HSA managed to get behind him, and was rotating it's turret to fire its cannon, but never got the opportunity as a Warhammer came from behind and crushed it. Reiner nodded over his shoulder at Evangelica, who proceeded to rush at a trench line and in one deft sweep, cleared it of enemy forces.
General Kamal looked in horror as Titans devastated his armored forces. "(...how?)" He wondered, they'd trained, prepared, and armed themselves for such an occasion, and yet humanity was still being crushed underfoot by the Titans.
He laughed, of course they were, humans could not hope to stand toe to toe with the power of devils.
Suddenly, several dark spots streaked across the city, looking closer, he could see they were Eldians in straitjackets.
Titans.
Kamal bowed his head, accepting his face as lightning exploded in his face.
"(Hold firm!)" Kazal shouted at the retreating infantry from his horse. He'd hastily relocated to Dialek to help fend off the assault. "(Do not allow the devils to win!)"
"(Sir! General Kamal has been killed in a titan bombardment! They're coming from behind us!)" The battalion commander shouted, right as an artillery shell detonated right beside his horse, the horse gave a dying whine before tipping over, sending Kamal tumbling over.
'(Gah…)' He thought hazily, as he roused himself from near unconsciousness. He was vaguely aware of the rumbling of giant footsteps, but as he tried to move, he realized he was trapped under his horse.
Suddenly, footsteps rumbled beside him, and as he turned to look up, a titan clad in white hardening looked down on him.
Kamal gave an insane grin, before drawing his service pistol, "(Only the ones who survive…truly get to be called Devils!)" He screamed, firing several shots at the titan, only harmlessly plinking off it's hardening.
He was then crushed underfoot by the Warhammer.
Following the introduction of Hauptmann Stella Hausers radical plan to assault the Mid-East frontline through the Grecian mountains, the Battle of Dialek was a resounding Marleyan victory, and marked the beginning of the end for the Olturka Sultanate and Mid-East Allied Forces…
Battle of Dialek
Combatants
Combatants: The Marleyan Empire
2nd Balan Army
- 20,000 Infantry
- 430 10.5 cm Type 45 Kanone
- 290 15 cm Type 40 Heavy Howitzer
Warrior Unit
- Beast Titan
• 450 Pure Titans
- Armored Titan
- Warhammer Titan
Combatants: The Mid-East Allied Forces
- 2,000 Olturka Infantry
- 200 HSA-49 Type C Armored Cars
- 300 HSA-49 Type G Armored Cars
- 120 49-yazin Infantry Guns
Leaders
Leaders: The Mid-East Allied Forces
Büyük General Izzet AHmed
- Or-General Jinad Abu-Dali
• Kor-General Kain Kazal
• Kor-General Enver Kamal
Leaders: The Marleyan Empire
2nd Balan Army
General Jonah Rittenberger
- Generalmajor Howard Teren
Warrior Unit
Kommandant Theo Magath
- Warchief Zeke Jaeger
• Vice-chief Evangelica Tybur
Casualties
Casualties: Marleyan Empire
- 420 Infantry killed
- 1,289 Infantry wounded
- 78 Pure Titans killed
Casualties: Mid-East Allied Forces
- 1,560 Infantry killed
- 320 Infantry wounded
- 120 Infantry captured
- 420 HSA-49 Armored Cars destroyed
- 40 HSA-49 Armored Cars captured
- 48 49-yazin infantry guns destroyed
- Kor-General Enver Kamal killed in action
- Kor-General Kain Kazal killed in action
- 36 49-yazin infantry guns captured
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