The Empress-Queen sat at her desk, a masterwork of craftsmanship that was currently littered with multiple reports. Taxes to be collected, the Federal Assembly was holding elections and all sorts of political intrigue was swirling around in the dark. However, all of that was second to the reports that she had been getting in.
For the last week, Japanese cables had been acquiring assistance. Much to her frustration, due to the gears of bureaucracy the report had been disregarded, Japan sent far too many pleas for help against its enemies, and her country was not about to fight in any Asian land wars if she had anything to say about it.
However, this new set of reports was about to change the world. A portal to another dimension had opened up in the middle of Tokyo. This was an opportunity that couldn't be passed up. It was also a defensive call to arms, and one that the Empress technically couldn't ignore as The Gate was only a few blocks from the Austro-Hungarian Embassy.
Even if foreign paratroopers dropped into Tokyo, she might have to think about committing to the fight. The Austrian peace treaties were uneasy as they currently stood, and conflict with one nation would certainly mean war with the rest.
However, this new land was purportedly unclaimed and full of undiscovered resources and opportunities, but at the end of the day, there was still the problem of Mitteleuropa. The savior of Europe, defender of the civilized world, and a stagnant superpower in action. Where in times of mortal danger the German Empire was seen as a beacon of liberty, but a curious thing happens when a nation starts to win a war. With the British Empire broken, and the French danger neutered, the Kaisereich failed to realize that the stubborn traits that allowed it to survive, now turned it into something to be scorned.
The Austrian-Hungarian Empire was doomed to the same fate. Led by an emperor, just like Mittelruropa, the authority of the emperor was the only thing that had held together the Empire, an inhumane force that held together nearly twenty minor ethnic groups. That was until the she had come into power. The Habsburgs hadn't been around since the 2nd millennium just to collapse shy of the 3rd.
Sweeping liberal reforms, new tolerant laws and a campaign of Imperial unity led to a reborn Habsburg Monarchy. This combined with the disastrous policies of the neighboring nations helped bolster Austrian-Hungarian popularity.
As mentioned previously, growing unpopularity in Berlin resulted in a growing number of public riots and crackdowns. Recent massive oil production in America had crashed the oil prices and there was a developing crisis in the 3rd Roman Empire to the south. (She always cursed Napoleon for destroying the Holy Roman Empire, she could have held the tile. But no, the Turks in Istanbul decided to claim it, and the previous Kaiser supported them just to snub her.) To the East and West, the Communist experiment was hopefully going to come to an end. The Commune of France was nearing bankruptcy and fresh hostilities had broken out between the Petrograd Soviet and the Russian Republic.
Italians in the west and Ukrainians in the east, Poles in the north and Albanians in the south, never before had the Empire been so united, and now it was time to strike. Picking up the phone she contacted the Japanese Embassy to see if she couldn't get a foothold into this new world.
Location: Saderan Camp
The sun hung low in the summer sky. The brilliant sunset hues breathed a beautifully flowered hill in the evening glow, an endless prairie stretching for as far as the eye can see. Off to one side lay a large camp, with colorful Imperial banners fluttering in the wind. Atop the hill lie an ornate gate, towering above any structure or tree, it marked the gateway to another world. For this was Alnus Hill, birthplace of and one of the most holy places to all races on Falmart. All races, men and orc, elf and beast-man, all considered this hill sacred, and now it was their duty to defend it.
Inside of the camp, many of the men assigned for duty were busy milling about, their energy sapped by the perfect evening. Some groups were practicing dueling or archery in the dwindling light, but most were pre-occupied with a sport, sitting around a campfire playing poker, or just socializing with their companions. Despite the carefree state of the camp, inside of the command tent, a meeting of the Imperial Generals was occurring.
The commander of the army stood up addressed the rest of his subordinates. Pointing to the map of the region he stated, "We've done all we can to defend this gate against enemy attack with the amount of time we've been given, archer towers, and barricades have been erected. We can only wait and hope more reinforcements arrive soon."
One of the lower commanders spoke up, the others turned to him interested, "I've been walking around the ranks and the discipline of the camp is far too lax. We've got to regain order in this camp, if the enemy attack us in this state, we will be crushed."
"Are you calling my men undisciplined?! We could fight this enemy singlehandedly and win every day of the week!" A regional warlord stood and shouted down at the sub-commander, who immediately regretting speaking up.
He started to stutter out an excuse, but another regional duke spoke up, "I agree, what is this petty Imperial officer to say about the quality of our troops? If you feel that we are not needed, perhaps we can return to our homes."
As the meeting of generals turned into a boasting match, a clamor outside the tent started to be heard over the egos of the bickering nobles. As the rumbling grew louder, suddenly a large explosion could be heard in the distance.
"What in the world was that?!" commanders shouted in confusion as the earth began to shake. Stumbling over each other, they burst through the heavy purple tent flaps.
Tramping the nearby tents into dust was the ASCOD Ulan, a double headed eagle painted on the side was stained with blood, and next to it was a truly ancient creature. Saved from the scrapyard, a team of Type 61 battle tanks rolled past the Ulan, stopping atop a crest and blowing fire out of their ancient turrets. The turret of the T61 slowly turned to the command tent, the commanders frozen in fear of this iron beast. Several had piss running down their legs as the earth shook. The look of fear was plastered on their face as they were blown away into the wind.
Due to stopping, two particularly brave men, armed with only swords, climbed atop the T61 and attempted to bang their way in, but to no effect.
Over the radio, the Japanese tanker started to laugh, "Ha! How many times is that today now? They must love us pretty bad."
One of the Ulan crew members radioed back, "Too bad we have to keep them off your back. Its not even a challenge, we've got to use these shrimpy machine guns. They only gave us 150 rounds for the 30mm." He continued as he cleared the area, "Hey, but if you wanted to know, if you started a taxi service, you'd make a decent profit."
The two laughed as the Ulan swept the hillside clean.
Sadera
Molt Augustus crushed the paper that was handed to him in disgust , another utter defeat. What made these foreigners so tough, so invincible? It obviously wasn't any bravery or civilizational advantage. After all, what rational people would slaughter so many? Or perhaps was it that his army was full of weak cowards and traitors.
Even worse, with the destruction of Imperial forces in the region, vasal kings, powerful warlords and treacherous nobles within his own empire were clamoring for rights, autonomy and even outright independence. This was unacceptable, if each petty man owned a plot of land wanted power the Empire would be broken before this was could even truly begin. Despite this setback, he knew what had to be done. He was losing because the enemy refused to fight fairly, well two could play at that game.
However, before he could issue any orders, the doors at the end of his personal chambers burst open. In strode, no, in stormed a young woman red cloak and hair blazing behind her as she approached him, her face burning an equal shade of red in anger; this was his daughter, Princess Piña Co Lada.
She cried out in disgust, "My Emperor, are you aware that the foreigners occupy the Holy Site of Alnus? What are your intentions to answer this? Or is it your plan for them to humiliate the Empire further?"
Upon the Emperor fell a barrage of questions and insults from the fiery princess. Internally, he sighed. Why were all of his children so worthless? Diablo was the most tolerable, but was too smart for his own good and always questioned his policy and decisions. Piña was too ambitious, always seeking to prove something, what he wasn't sure, but her uncrushable spirit always found a way to irritate him. Zrozal, was the worst, irrational and wrothful, this however, made him his favorite as he was easy to manipulate and control.
Growing tired of his daughter arguing with the assistant in the room with him he suddenly spoke up.
"Burn it all!" he stated aloud to his personal assistant. Both Piña and the froze immediately.
"Pardon me my lord?" the man bowed, caught unaware by the sudden and random order.
"Order the Generals and Kings of the land to burn all of the fields, and towns in front of the enemy. We'll smoke them off the hill and watch them starve. In addition order all of our allies to attack the hill."
Piña's jaw dropped as the assistant, knowing better not to display extreme motion, only stated, "A wise decision my lord, however we must find a way to save money from this decision. A scorched earth campaign will result in a short-medium term tax revenue decrease."
Dismissing the thought, the Emperor stated, "The money will come from the savings of not having to garrison the destroyed countryside." Despite the dubiousness of the plan, it would work, for the remaining expense would come in the form of tribute from his broken enemies, and possibly even allies as the Empire re-asserted its dominance over the world.
As Piña started to retort to the madness that was occurring, the Emperor interrupted her, "Princess Piña, you and the Rose-Order will be tasked with scouting this enemy, see if you can't figure out why the enemy is seemingly invincible on the battlefield."
Piña exclaimed, "Do you seek to kill me? No other force has gotten even close to the enemy, and yet you ask your own daughter to attempt the impossible?"
The emperor retorted, "No I wish for you to succeed, and help me crush these invaders, but it should be an easy task. A Princess of the Empire with a group of elite knights should be able to succeed, or perhaps you and your plaything of toy soldiers aren't up to the task?"
As if smacked across the face, Piña's face shifted into a grim line. Getting down onto one knee she simply responded, "As you wish my Emperor." and left the room.
Several Days Later, 2nd Battle of Alnus Hill.
What's the price of a mile? That's what ran through the minds of every soldier in the Austro-Hungarian-Japanese army as they fired a storm of steel into the advancing enemy. The though ran through the Saderan army as well. However, the mentality of both armies were night and day.
The defenders scoffing at the stupidity of the enemy. After all, they had already been utterly crushed two times before; yet here they were, trying to cross a quadruple layer of barbed wire multiple anti-infantry trenches and the barrages of artillery.
However, the attackers were in crisis mode. They were told just hours before that they were the last stand for the Empire that they were the last stand for civilization and hope, that they would be safe behind the impenetrable testudo and that they would drive their swords through their enemies.
That never happened, caught up in sharp metal entanglements, they were sitting ducks for the hail of metal that came their way. For the third, and possibly last, time in this war, the Saderan Imperial Army found itself destroyed by a tsunami of steel and fire.
They had been lied to, betrayed and driven to the slaughter like lambs. As the men lie dying on the field, screaming in pain, a collective thought went out. What's the price of a single inch?
K.U.K-IJA Mobile Headquarters.
"Six hundred-thousand dead and wounded have been estimated sirs." a liaison officer reported to each national commander.
The Austrian general let out a low whistle, "Jesus, that's more than five times we've ever lost in a day, yet this is the 3rd time this enemy has sacrificed these numbers. What kind of enemy are we facing?"
The Japanese commander responded, "A suicidal enemy, brave like the ideal Japanese soldier, but stupid beyond belief. While it makes our jobs easy, this mass slaughter is something that cannot be sustained."
The liaison officer spoke up, "Sirs, the reconnaissance parties have reported a lack of significant troop movements in the area. It is suggested that no armies are left to stand against us. However, we've lost two recon units since we've come through the battle. One Austro-Hungarian and one Japanese."
The Austrian general groaned and buried his head in his hands. "Hundreds of thousands killed in a stunning victory, and at the cost of two dozen soldiers. The idiots had to get themselves killed, did they? How did they even lose? They had guns!"
The liason shuffled around, looking for the right report. Finding it, he read it, "The Japanese 1st Recon Team and Austro-Hungarian 2nd Recon Team have been placed out of commission. 2nd Recon has suffered breakdowns in the field. Repair attempts were unsuccessful, so the vehicles were completely destroyed, and they had to make their way back on foot. Multiple ambushes on the return trip resulted in seven minor casualties, but no deaths were incurred. The whole team is currently recuperating and will be unavailable for a week."
The Austrian general slumped in obvious relief, but his counter-part asked the officer. "And the others?"
The liaison officer glanced at the report, and grew pale, but continued to read the report, "Well you see sir…"
Earlier that week.
A small convoy of Jeeps trailed their way through "We're a joke." The driver of the vehicle said aloud.
Confused and annoyed, his friend woke up and said, "Man, I'm tryin' to sleep. What the hell are you talking about?"
The driver repeated, "We're a joke. Two Koreans, a Mongolian, and a ton of Japanese climb into a car and get lost in the forest. Next they-"
His sleepy passenger picked up the nearest object and threw it at the driver, "Shut up you idiot"
As the driver ducked to dodge the object, he turned his head around and stuck his tongue out, "Gotta try harder than that!"
Another person in the car noticed that while his idiot driver wasn't paying attention, something had jumped in front of the car. "HEY! Turn around you bas-"
Turning around, the driver started to swerve, but it was too late as they slammed into the soldier, his bones crunching under the tires of the vehicle. The lead car came to a halt, the second crashing into the back of it, while the third careened off into a ditch.
"What the hell was that about? Are you tryin' to kill us?" the members of the second car came out cursing at the leading crew.
Later that evening, K.U.K-IJA Mobile Headquarters.
The Japanese general groaned, almost as loudly as his co-commander had earlier. After listening to the body recorders and writing the paper work for a court martial he was exhausted. Additionally, the fact that the primary recon teams for each nation were unavailable meant that new captains and crew had to be found.
Unfortunately for him, the Defense Minister had sent him a request for his personal favorite to be appointed. While it did save on the amount of paperwork he would have to do, he would have never of picked this soldier to lead. Now it wasn't favoritism, the soldier in question was a superb one, ideal actually, but he sure knew how to get on people's nerves.
POV: Itami
As Itami lazed around the battlefield, he poked at a dead soldier with his bayonet. Dead. Just like the other thousands of corpses left on the battlefield. It didn't matter that they were using bulldozers and flamethrowers to try to rid themselves of the bodies, they were everywhere.
Finding a clean patch of grass, he sat down and stared at the sky. Wondering when his next vacation was. Perhaps he could find a nice little corner of this world and rest there? After all, the weather was perfect here.
One of his squad mates called out to him, "C'mon Itami, were supposed to be patrolling the nearby area. You're gonna get cleaning duty again if someone catches you moping around like this."
He lay down on the hillside and closed his eyes. "I'll just keep watch over this area for a while. 'll catch up to you guys later." He lazily responded, pulling his hat over his head. After throwing some insults thrown his way, his squad eventually strolled away, in all likelihood trying to find a quiet place to sit down as well.
Eventually he was caught. Akira Yanagida stood in front of him, his figure silhouetted by the afternoon sun. He woke up Itami gently if not a bit sarcastically, "Having a nice nap Itami? Perhaps I could get you something hmm? A blanket or some food maybe?"
Blinking sleepily, Itami murmered, "If you would stand a little out of my sun, that'd be nice." And he rolled back over.
Despite being a typical response, it still ticked off Akira, "Get up you bastard!" he shouted while delivering a swift kick to Itami's ass.
Stretching and yawning. Itami replied. "Alright, Alright, I'm up, what do you want?"
Straightening his glasses, Akira huffed, "I don't know, but I do know that you're supposed to report to command for new orders."
Rubbing the back of his head Itami joked, "Ah man, I was hoping to lose you and find another place to nap."
Sighing Akira retorted, "You'd probably fall asleep if the Emperor himself showed up."
K.U.K-IJA Mobile Headquarters.
"A promotion?!" Itami blurted out. He had just been promoted from 2nd Lt. just a couple weeks ago, and now he was being made a captain.
The Japanese commander addressed the former lieutenant, "Yes, Captain Itami. Minister of War Kanō has recommended you to lead a joint reconnaissance company. Normally we would give you a squad or two and let you wander around in the woods for a bit, but recent uhh… circumstances with the Japanese recon team have forced us to change how we are operating." He glanced over to the Austrian commander who only showed a little amusement. He continued, "The Japanese Diet is clamoring for usable resources for military manufacturing, civilian lobbies are sending similar requests for commercial purposes. The one and only time the hawks and the doves can agree on anything is when they pressure us, huh?" he gave Itami a small smile.
"Therefore, you will be given full autonomy of a reconnaissance mission. When you were sent here it was with the objective of finding resources, but now you will also learn the language of the enemy, map the demographics and political situation, and attempt to make peace with the locals. However, the mission is classified as Reconnaissance in Force, limited offensive maneuvers are permitted if you deem them necessary." The officer finished.
The Austrian General added in his message, "My government also wishes to make it clear that we are contributing to the exploration of the Special Region. Your government has permitted us to attach a platoon to the company."
Nodding, the Japanese commander concluded, "That's all for now. You'll be getting the rest of the information such as exact troop numbers and equipment in a report later. Any questions?"
"Well there goes my chance for a vacation anytime soon." Itami dejectedly thought.
"Excuse me?" His commander leaned forward, unable to process what he just heard.
'Oh shit! I said that out loud didn't I? shit Shit SHIT!' Unable to come up with a way to save the situation he simply replied. "No further questions sir!" saluting and trying to not be instantly demoted.
"Dismissed." The commander said, his voice laced with steel.
Once Itami had left the Japanese commander groaned and threw his head into his hands. "Well at least I don't have to see him for a while." He muttered.
The Austrian commander let out a deep chuckle, "I think he'll do well. If these medieval folks are anything like the countryside lower-class back home they'll love him. Someone who speaks his mind and isn't threatening. I've read his files, we might actually be sending out a PR team out there."
Groaning once more, the Japanese commander simply replied, "I hope you're right."
The next day.
After being scolded by Akira for being an idiot, Itami had looked at the personnel and equipment list. They were serious about this being a reconnaissance in force.
(IJA) Mitsubishi Type 73 light truck: 13 (10 infantry transport, 3with rear mounted M2 Brownings)
(IJA) Toyota Type 73 Medium Truck: 2
(IJA) Mitsubishi Type 89 IFV: 1
(K.u.K) ATF Dingo: 1
(K.u.K) Pinzgauer 4x4 M: 1
(K.u.K.) Pionierpanzer A1: 1
(K.u.K.)M18 Hellcat: 1
While slightly unbalanced, the lack of threat from any enemy so far would mean that the anti-personnel would be sufficient for defense, and the K.u.K. would mostly provide a critical supporting role in the extended operation, except that Hellcat packed one hell of a punch. You can always rely on one of the United States to sell you some old equipment. Even if one wanted you dead, it only meant two or three others would offer you a special discount.
While vehicle equipment was impressive, the number of troops he was given was nothing to balk at either.
-557th Infantry Company (3 Platoons)
-K.u.K. 44th Heavy Pioneer Company (2 Platoons)
-112th Specialized Infantry Detachment (1 Platoon [3 sections])
IJA Geographic Survey Section (2 Sections)
IJA Communications Team (1 Section)
Looking at the map, the primary objective was to map out the nearby forests and investigate the nearby city.
"C'mon captain, were gonna be late!" a small child shout over to him.
Rubbing his eyes Itami realized that this child was in IJA uniform. Glancing at his personel sheet he matched her face to the name, Kuribayashi, Shino. She was smiling brightly at him, full of energy and bouncing all over the truck.
"Is this gonna be a grand adventure or will it turn into a goose chase?" Itami asked himself and got into the vehicle with Kuribayashi.
Another soldier overheard and shouted back, "I hope we find lots of hot girls on the way!"
After chatting to the man Itami learned that his name was Vittorio Endrizzi, and was a native of
Venedig(Venice).
Itami and Vittorio were talking about how they found themselves in the Army. "The clean air, the peace and beauty of nature. I didn't realize it, but it was all home in my beautiful Venice, I left her and regretted it, but managed to find peace here in the Army fighting for my friends, my country."
One of the older solders from another car radioed in, "Sorry to ruin your propaganda speech, but it's time to leave captain."
As the car lurched forward Itami shouted, punching his fist into the air. "Alright let's do this!"
And the IJA advanced.
As the convoy was departing the base a cloaked figure ran deep into the woods and released a messenger bird into the sky. "Fly, be as swift as the wind and be safe… for the sake of everyone in Sadera."