Continent Falmart
Special Region
August 15, 2006 (According to Japan's Calendar from Beyond the Gate).
The battle for the unknown hill on this side of the Gate continued in earnest. Successive waves of attacking opponents slammed into the fortified lines of the JGSDF to crash like a wave against the shore. Combined rifle fire and cannon fire of all kinds pounded the enemy troops below.
This one, in turn, despite the heavy losses sustained by enemy fire, marched on ahead in an attempt to retake the hill from enemy hands. To the defending Japanese it seemed that they might as well have fired into the sea, the effect looked similar.
They saw enemy cavalry charging at them, only to be mowed down by rifle fire which reminded them of a scene from Kurosawa's film "Kagemusha" where Takeda's cavalry in a clash with Tokugawa's musketeers ended similarly.
Huge Roman-style marching formations marched forward becoming, thanks to their tight formation, an easy target for tanks and artillery. Spectacular explosions occurred inside the quadrilaterals tearing the order to shreds and yet the soldiers, against the instinct telling them to break up, went on in tight ranks.
Or is it more like crowd psychology?
A thing that is not surprising, after all, for this reason, at the very beginning of the Great War, soldiers were able to march in columns or Napoleonic-like formations straight at enemy fortifications without regard for the fact that this is certain death.
Another thing is that contrary to popular opinion and thinking, it was attacking at the tactical level that generated fewer losses than trying to defend one's positions. When you went on the defensive, and that wasn't hard at all back then, you were screwed especially if you were an Entente soldier.
Why? Because your side has just converted to the moon the enemy positions you just occupied. And now you're supposed to defend yourself in this rubble against a German counterattack and this one also starts with artillery falling on the ruins of their former first line and on no man's land cutting you off from supplies and support and often your artillery doesn't have the range to reach the German artillery.
Because of which the offensive was losing its strength very quickly after the initial assault.
This was the reason why for every German killed in this bloody slaughter, there are a few Entente soldiers.
Fortunately for the Japanese, those days are gone, today it is possible to strike at enemy positions and maintain the necessary momentum to continue the assault. But the principle of artillery being the god of war is not gone, and what is even better has been strengthened by technological advances.
So if in the past to cover a large area with artillery fire required dozens of guns firing more or less in one place, today one battery can do it with precision like that of an experienced watchmaker.
This was the case today as well, coordinates, requests and orders went forward, then backward in a few moments at a pace unimaginable to the enemies marching on them. Then the artillery executed them, annihilating one enemy formation after another without any thought of what they were just doing.
They might as well have been on a wide-ranging exercise.
Nevertheless, this does not mean that ordinary soldiers armed with rifles have nothing to do and the threat is nonexistent. On the contrary, the enemy has surrounded the entire hill on which the Japanese are located and is trying to scramble up to the top with even the smallest hole. For obvious reasons, both artillery and tanks cannot take care of those being who have broken through the barrage fire zone by some miracle, this must be taken care of by ordinary infantry.
Targets, contrary to appearances, were not in short supply, the designated zone of barrage fire after the initial shelling decimated the troops near the hill moved further forward to destroy both the camp and cut off one of the two exits from the valley. The latter was far behind a chain of hills similar to the one they were on.
The roar of cannons, rifles and howling engines drowned out and dispersed throughout the valley. To those below, it seemed that their new enemies were using some kind of demonic creatures to move their vehicles and these so howled as befitted condemned beings forced to work against their will.
For the Prussians, who were located on a neighboring hill, called Betulus by the natives, this was to their advantage. Especially since this way the noise their rifles and vehicles generated disappeared in the general confusion of battle. This way they could both watch the Japanese in action and take notes on it while remaining unnoticed for some time.
Of course, unnoticed by the Japanese who were completely absorbed by the ongoing battle. The natives were a different matter. When the first reports reached the commander of the battle on the side of the natives, a certain General Godasen, he ordered a small detachment to move to retake the hill, after which he intended to place magicians and siege machines there to shell Alnus.
The plan was obviously simple but unworkable for a simple reason. The Prussians were not going to let themselves be kicked off the hill. They took advantage of the fact that initially the battle was going on right next door and neither side was paying attention to them. Thus, the naval infantry turned Betulus Hill into a fortress when pulling reinforcements from behind their Gate and the area around it into a death zone in passing, supporting the Japanese in the battle.
Designated sharpshooters armed with Arsenic rifles killed anyone who could be singled out as an officer or non-commissioned officer and given that we are talking about an army of the ancient era this was not too difficult.
Until the Lymian counterattack, only the sharpshooters had contributed in any way to the war effort, but when it came, all the equipment the Poles had managed to bring to the continent went into action.
Light and heavy mortars were the first to play in this orchestra opening the symphony, immediately followed by the heavy bass of machine guns placed on the roofs of vehicles and held by the operators of these toys in the infantry. The last member of the orchestra to join in were grenade launchers of all kinds.
The conductor of this orchestra was, of course, Rotmar Helmar von Kleist, who decided to play a piece called "This is my swamp hill" in the role of listeners were those unfortunates who decided to listen to this tune too closely.
What may surprise you is that the Japanese did not drip about the fact that someone on the neighboring just is and support them with fire until about one o'clock in the afternoon. That is, when much of the enemy army had fallen dead and what had not managed to escape along with the commander was about to die.
It was only when the fervor of the battle subsided a bit that someone pointed out that there were unknown forces on a neighboring hill. For many soldiers this was a surprise, but for Commander-in-Chief Koichiro Hazama it was a bucket of cold water poured on his head out of the blue and in the winter!
The conclusion was one, some country also has a Gate leading to the Special Region, and he decided to brag about it only when the Japanese set off through theirs. From there, Hazama began asking himself questions he intended to get answers to after the battle.
Officially, the First Battle of the Alnus and Betulus Hills as it was later called ended evenly at 5:30 p.m., although in reality individual skirmishes with the remnants of stubborn native troops continued until the following morning.
By itself, the battle would most likely have become a mere footnote in history books being overshadowed by the much more famous Second Battle which for many would have been the right one and thus confused with the first by ordinary people. Most likely in another world this is what happened, but not here.
Here something else happened that made sure no one ever confused the two battles.
"Should I just go there like that? And alone?" asked Lieutenant Itami Yoiji of his superior Major Higaki, the latter rolled his eyes at this question, foolish in his opinion.
"No, you are not going alone. And although I don't believe what I'm saying, we were planning to put out reconnaissance troops, normally you would find out about the assignment later but because of the situation, you are being appointed commander of the third reconnaissance squad and your first task is to contact those on the neighboring hill."
Itami scratched his head, in an unexpected way, his responsibility only increased again.
"Hmm... if you say so..."
Two hours later
"The sky is quite blue despite the later hour, all in all this is to be expected from another world." muttered Itami under his breath to himself while staring at his watch. Behind him, his new subordinates were climbing, having just passed through the battlements located at the bottom between the hills.
The view already from the top was nightmarish, where not to look there were torn apart corpses of all races and sizes and the smells they had to smell for some time before they started climbing again stayed with them for the rest of their lives.
"You can see the same thing in Hokkaido," replied Sergeant Takeo Kurata, who previously served in a garrison on that island. "As far as I'm concerned, I thought we'd find something like talking and walking trees, flying giant dragons and all around fairies. Not other people with modern equipment."
"Who do you think it could be? Americans? Russians?" puzzled Ensign Tetsuya Nishina, for him the news about other people and the second Gate was intriguing.
"I doubt it was any of them, after all, we would have heard of a similar incident to the one in Ginza." said junior ensign Shino Kuribayashi confidently.
"What if it was where the whole thing can easily be swept under the rug?" replied Nishina.
Itami preempted Shino's answer, "We'll wait and see." He said in a relaxed tone. Internally Shino was annoyed by this nonchalance of her superior but decided to hold her tongue.
Thus there was an awkward silence that lasted for a long moment until they were stopped by unknown soldiers as soon as they reached their defensive lines. At first Itami before they got closer pulled out a white hustler and hung it on the barrel of his rifle but to the surprise of the Japanese one of the soldiers who apparently stood waiting for them said in Japanese with a heavy foreign accent to hide it because he was among his own.
"What do you mean among your own? Who are you guys?" quipped Itami and his subordinates behind him began whispering among themselves.
Here the foreign soldier made a face no less puzzled than Itami's. "What do you mean who? Your new buddies in this strange world."
"Man..." began Itami searching for words.
"Yes?" asked the foreign soldier
"I see you guys for the first time with my eyes." replied Itami only to have the unknown soldier laugh, at which his comrades asked him in a foreign language, the man explained what made him laugh or at least that's what Itami assumed. Of course, Itami didn't know him but he picked out one word that lit a red light in his head.
Not once did they use a variation of the word Japan, everyone said Nippon. Itami may not have been the best at languages, although he could speak English, a little of the native one that is Saderia, but he knew that in the West no one speaks Nippon for Japan. Whereas how did he know they could come from the West?
He did not know, he just shot on the basis of a simple guess because all the soldiers he saw were white, very white. That they were Americans he ruled out right away, the equipment they were equipped with was... how to say, seemingly familiar but still not from those times.
He certainly didn't recognize the vehicles standing in the distance. It was the first time he had seen such machines, and he had to get to know them a little as part of his training.
As for their uniforms and equipment. What caught the eye first was their helmets. It wasn't a simple Kevlar pot in the style of German WWII helmets, the forehead was much higher than in his and on it was a large hole which he noticed was used not only to attach night vision but also a motorcycle helmet-style face veil, some of the soldiers had something like that. What's more, he noticed that the ears were shielded by headphones and not a helmet. And the helmet itself had sort of plates attached to it.
The second conspicuous thing is, of course, the bulletproof vest, unlike his it was missing a lot of elements, it was smaller it only covered the chest without the abdomen, the collar was missing and the epaulettes could be seen the straps on which the soldiers wore the whole thing. On the upper part were three rows of Velcro on which Itami could probably read the name, rank and something else. Below that, meanwhile, were three large magazine pouches.
The last thing worth mentioning from the foreign outfit were the flags on the shoulders in red-white-red arranged horizontally and below that something that may be a symbol of the individual, namely a black eagle with a crown on its neck, on the eagle was an anchor and in it was inscribed the white number one. What impressed him about this symbol was that the eagle had a human armored hand going from the neck which held a typical Western sword above the eagle's head.
When the foreign soldier finished explaining and his colleagues burst out laughing he turned to Itami again, "Well I'm not surprised you're seeing us for the first time with your eyes, after all you wrapped up before we arrived in greater numbers. At most you have seen our sailors in your ports."
Even more confusion arose in Itami's head, what is this man talking about? What did he mean by wrapped up before we arrived in greater numbers? And which sailors does he mean?
"Excuse me esteemed Mr..." interrupted the soldier's statement with a raised hand. The officer murmured for a moment before replying "Captain."
Itami thanked with a nod, "Exactly, I'm sorry Dear Captain, but I don't think I understand something here."
A short, quiet but audible "And that's not the only thing he doesn't understand." came from behind him. Itami ignored the taunt. So did the officer in front of him.
"Well what don't you understand?" asked the alien captain wrinkling his eyebrows, noting that there was some misunderstanding going on.
Itami scratched the back of his head "Why don't we start from the beginning again?" he asked in a light tone. The captain nodded. "My name is Lieutenant Itami Yoiji, this is my platoon's Third Reconnaissance Squad from the 5th Combat Unit of the Japanese Self-Defense Forces sent to the Special Region after the Ginza incident, and you?"
The foreign officer nodded and upon hearing about the Ginza Incident, he raised his eyebrows in surprise. He refrained from questions no less. "I am Captain Sigimunt Mutig, this is my post called Second of the Second Rota, the third Detachment from the 1st Marine Regiment forming part of the 1st Marine Division of the Principality of Prussia sent as part of the Commowealth of QUE-TOYNE Military Contingent sent on a support mission as a replacement for the troops of the Japanese Strategic Defense Force after the so-called Transfer or Summoning."
The amount of information given to him offhand surprised Itami that he hung back for a moment. And not even just him. He only unlocked himself when Kurata broke the silence among the Japanese with words.
"What the hell? What's that supposed to mean?"
Itami replied in his style and to the surprise of the Japanese with a smile, "That means we just got an unexpected Crossover!"
One half of his subordinates, led by Shino, merely put a hand to their foreheads in a gesture of total disbelief. The other half, on the other hand, recognized that their commander had an uneven ceiling.
Mutig, on the other hand, only raised his eyebrows after which he asked, "What does crossover mean?"
Itami quipped "Well you know it's an English term..."
"I don't speak English." replied Mutig without hesitation surprising the Japanese.
"Well, what do you mean you don't know? Oh well, you're German..." spoke up Kurata, and to the Japanese's further surprise Mutig became indignant at this statement.
"Excuse me, I am a Pole not a German."
"Who?" asked Kurata again, thinking he had misheard himself for Mutig, rushing to clarify, did not say Porando as it is said in the Japanese we know for a Pole but closer to the Polish pronunciation Porako as it is said in the Japanese of his world.
This is due to a simple reason, the Japanese did not learn this name through another language, only by direct contact with the Poles, and it must be said that this contact was not few. Which, of course, caused that in Japanese Mutig were terms absent in "our" Japanese, and which were in this case either a different term in relation to us or were a borrowing existing in that Japan not present in this one.
Hence Mutig's full answer of who he was was only partially understood by the Japanese. Such words as "Poczet", "Rota" or the name of Poland "Rzeczypospolita" in his familiar Japanese were borrowings from Polish in the case of Rota it was even a borrowing used in the Japanese army but for obvious reasons did not occur in "our" Japanese.
The Rzeczpospolita in particular was a foreign word to them, there in Japan Mutig was a borrowing used mainly in the context of Poland although sometimes it was used as a synonym for the system of Poland i.e. republic but not necessarily democracy. No less there is a Japanese equivalent of this word. (And you should know that on Earth, where Mutig comes from, there is not such a strong confusion as in us that Republic = Democracy.)
In the case of our Japan, on the other hand, such a word not only does not exist and even does not exist in the Japanese consciousness of such a thing. Poland, on the other hand, is called, as in other languages, a republic, which is a translation of the word "Republic" although not entirely correct.
"Po-ru-shka." Replied Mutig again but slowly with the same wrong word without realizing his mistake.
"Po-ru-shka" repeated Kurata after him then scratched his neck in confusion, he had no clue who this German... sorry Prussian is for the hell of it. He looked back at his colleagues to see if they had any idea. Their perplexed faces were the only answer he got.
It was not until Itami's deputy, Senior Warrant Officer Soichiro Kuwahara who instead asked Mutig, "And what other language besides German and Japanese do you speak, Captain?" that the conversation was snapped out of an impasse.
"Well, what do you mean?" began Mutig before he could reflexively remind himself that this is not his world, "I know, in addition to German, the languages considered inter-national in my world a.k.a. my timeline, namely Polish, Latin, French and Spanish."
To the latter Kuwahara immediately responded, "Do you know Spanish? As it happens, so do I."
Shino quipped, and she wasn't the only one, "And how do you know Spanish?"
"I have family in Mexico, they use Spanish more than Japanese and sometimes we met so I learned through which I started to act as a translator in family gatherings." explained the elderly man.
"Good," said a satisfied Itami "Then can you repeat in Spanish who you are?" turned Itami to Mugita.
Mutig happily replied in Spanish, "Soy polaco, no alemán." (I am Polish, not German)
Kuwahara marveled, "¿Qué quiere decir con polaco? Después de todo, eres un prusiano. Y los prusianos son alemanes." (What do you mean, a Pole? After all, you are a Prussian! And the Prussians are Germans!)
Mutig sighed "Como se dice en nuestro país, Gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus que significa por origen Rus, natione Polaco. Por supuesto, en mi caso y el de mis colegas sería gente Prusacum. Pero para explicarlo en pocas palabras, en mi mundo Prusia nunca se rindió a la línea de Brandemburgo de los Hollenzorns por lo que nunca se incorporó contra la voluntad del pueblo prusiano al Reich y en cambio permaneció con su verdadera patria, la de la República. " (As they say in our country, Gente Ruthenus, natione Polonus which means by origin Ruthenian, nationality Polish. Of course, in my and my colleagues' case it would be gente Prusacum. But to explain in a nutshell, in my world Prussia was never given over to the Brandenburg line of Hollenzorns by which it was never incorporated against the will of the Prussian people into the Reich and instead remained with its true homeland, the Republic."
Kuwahara slowly nodded his head then added, "Por República, ¿se refiere a Polonia? " (By Republic, do you mean Poland?")
"Sí" replied Mutig, the older man thanked him and then explained to his companions what Mutig wanted to tell them. To say that this shocked them is an understatement; they were completely stupefied at the thought that someone from Prussia could consider himself not German but Polish. A discussion ensued, which lasted a few minutes, during which Kuwahara, to his own misfortune, served as an interpreter for every statement, because from the Poles' side other people joined the conversation, explaining various things.
Eventually Kurata asked out of curiosity, "And just so you know, Captain Mutig may I know why you and your colleagues don't speak English? I don't see any reason not to know a language used in many parts of the world."
Mutig raised an eyebrow and instead responded by asking, "And why don't you speak Spanish?"
Kurata thought for a moment before replying "All in all, after the collapse of the Spanish Empire there is no reason for it, and no former colony of theirs has become significant enough to have to learn it, after all America is the most powerful country in the world..." He paused and looked at Mutig with dismay "Wait a minute does that mean...?"
"That England has fallen and because of us and its most powerful colony i.e. America has been kept under siege by us for over 100 years? And we, meaning Poland, are the most powerful country in the world? Yes, that's right." replied Mutig with a cheeky arrogant smile.
Kurata merely murmured at this, amusing everyone with his remark, "And to think that when crossing the Gate I was looking for mythical creatures. I think I just found one."
Roderius Continent
Principality of Que-Toyne
February 25 Anno Domini 2021/1640 C.C.Y.
Border City Gim
Command Staff of the 1st Marine Division.
Information about what was discovered behind the Gate quickly reached the ears of Legion Hetman Volker Wiekier, the latter took the unusual discovery with the utmost seriousness and calm. More Japanese? It was strange, no less acceptable, but that was less of a problem for now.
Oh, much smaller and the fact that there were some friendly forces on the other side of the Gate capable of securing that side was eminently to his liking. Warsaw should also be satisfied with this.
Unfortunately, despite his own desire to venture out and see for himself what was there on the other side and, as a representative of the Commowealth, meet with his counterpart from that Nippon. This had to remain in Gim, the case at the border was getting worse and worse.
Very soon news arrived on this side from Louria in which they accused Poland in harsh terms of sabotage activities on the border and of attacking innocent Lourian villages. Viekier immediately guessed that it was about the Lymians or, as they are really called, the Saderians because this was the information he got from the forces sent beyond the Gate which learned about it from the Nipponese.
This was to be expected, after all the area to be covered by the Hunters was huge and the forces were small and limited so as not to draw the necessary attention. Fortunately, except for a few incidents, including a nasty one involving Group 404 of the SS which reported a burned village, mostly murdered residents and a few refugees they took with them after pacifying the refugees.
Out of a village of more than fifty people, barely eight women, six girls and one little boy survived, who was taken in by Group 404 because the rest of the refugees became wrecks of people in need of medical and psychological care. Leaving a young orphan girl in such company doesn't sound like the smartest idea in the world.
Not that leaving a young child in the care of four robots also known as dolls and which are designed for deep infiltration behind enemy lines is some super brilliant idea. Unfortunately, the boy had become so attached to his new babysitters/daughters over those few days that tearing him away from them would not have been the best idea for the child's health. And his health, too, he didn't feel like having another brawl with the head nurse Ewelina Bąk, who scolded him for suggesting to change his caregivers because they were machines. And by rebuked it should be understood that she threatened him with using her medical skills to deeply and unpleasantly examine Hetman's health.
Hence, he was forced to stick it to this unusual experiment to have the young man's care entirely taken care of by the dolls. He had to admit that it was surprising how the four stepped into the role of mother and aunts.
He especially didn't expect that Heka who is known for her cool and withdrawn personality around a young boy would turn into the most warm and active person around. All in all, she played the role of mother well.
But enough about that, more important is something else. The reduced movement of troops on the Lourian side. This could mean one thing, preparations for the offensive were in full swing.
That is, war will break out, and for an unforeseen reason. Fortunately, he had a rejoinder prepared for this situation in the form of reports and reports which showed in black and white that he had done everything in his power. And, of course, there was Field Hetman Stanislaw Szepczynski who commanded the Roderius Division and who was his direct superior.
It is important to know that in the army of the Commowealth there were two types of divisions, the ordinary division, also known as the Legion, which had their own numbers, and the Grand Division which is the equivalent of the Corps without numbers instead having a distinctive name.
It's easy to get confused at first but not hard to remember for two reasons, firstly numbered divisions were mainly used by Prussians and Balts, the rest of the army used the Legion instead but it was not a permanent rule rather the main one, secondly it's easy to see that the 1st Division is not the same as Roderius Division.
And the Roderius Division is made up of two divisions and four legions respectively, supported by specialized brigades of eight. Accordingly, these are:
1st Marine Division (Prussia)
4 Prussia Guards Grenadier Division (Prussia)
1 Warsaw Mechanized Legion (Crown*)
28 Royal Ascaris Legion (Crown/Cameroon)
7 Janissary Mechanized Legion (Korona)
3 Hussar Armored Legion (Crown)
87 Kazan Engineer Brigade (Astrakhan)
67 Crimean Railway Brigade (Crimea)
23 Moscow Engineer Brigade (Moscow**)
24 Moscow Engineer Brigade (Moscow)
13 Lithuanian Railway Brigade (Lithuania)
10 Opole Logistics Brigade (Crown)
27 Sich Logistic Brigade (Ruthenia***/Crimea)
2nd Independent Brigade of Air Cossacks (Ruthenia).
In addition, there was a dedicated Special Service regiment scattered across the border, as well as dedicated two Tactical Air Squadrons and the 1st Strike Flotilla from the 1st Baltic Fleet and the 13th Coast Defense Flotilla from the 4th Atlantic Fleet.
Two Prussian Divisions and one Crown Legion secured the territory of the Principality of Que-Toyne of which the Marines secured the southern section i.e. on the Don-Gim-Tyn arc up to the border with Quiila and the Grenadiers guarded the northern section from the town of Don up to the seaport on the coast.
The Mechanized Legion, meanwhile, was stationed as a perimeter west of the Principality's capital with the same name as the state itself.
The spacing of the units was due to logistical problems of the 1st Warsaw Division was heavier than the two divisions combined hence it was closer to the capital of the Principality and thus had a shorter distance to the port city of Maihark. Moreover, near the capital city there was an airfield occupied by the Crown Army for wartime use, the construction of which was started by the Japanese for their needs.
The Marines, on the other hand, were in the southern section due to the fact that the area of operations was crisscrossed by marshes, rivers and lakes making movement difficult for any formations lacking adequate ability to cross water obstacles. For the Prussians this was no obstacle, their Heimat was just a similar land hence they felt at home.
The Guards Grenadiers, on the other hand, encamped in more open and less challenging terrain. Although much farther from the border than the Marines who were de facto on the most likely site of the main offensive. For the old trail stretching from the former duchy of Toltek and going to the distant Maihark ran right through here.
Despite the Lourian conquests and the general political change, the route remained and is to this day one of the most traveled in all of Roderius. The reason was that the network of rivers connected by canals was navigable and it was possible to get from the center of the continent to the shore just near Maihark in two weeks by water, even though this was only the last port.
Many Prussians watched with curiosity the rafters who floated goods down the river from the granary of Roderius, or the Duchy of Toltek, which is the second center of agriculture on the continent after the Duchy of Que-Toyne itself. For many, it was a unique opportunity to see first-hand how their ancestors or other rafters used to float grain and other products down the Vistula to the pearl of Polish ports, Gdansk. Of course, the Vistula itself is to this day the most important trade route in the Crown, but aside from small family businesses maintaining family traditions or simply for tourists, there were no real rafters on the Vistula.
And it should be known that, unlike in our world, the Vistula remained an important commercial river, never declining due to the turmoil of history, so that in the 19th century it caught up with the Rhine in terms of the volume of transport or the total tonnage of ships sailing on it to surpass it due to the First World War.
Of course, the fact that the Toltecs preferred to take the river and go to distant ports in the Principality of Que-Toyne rather than ride on horseback with carts along the road network to the ports of Louria annoyed the Kings of Jin-Hark, despite their attempts to make life miserable and change this in their favor little changed. Simply put, in spite of customs duties and taxes on the Lourian side that were supposed to hinder the practice, the volume of transportation via the Neskin-Mane-Malwa-Camisa rivers was too profitable than by land.
All in all, it is hardly surprising, except for the customs duty on the border there were no major levies because the Assembly of the Principality of 1354 forbade this by resolution to all nobles and towns, recognizing that only the prince could impose them. To the benefit of the princely treasury, of course.
This is different from Louria, where the number of privileges as well as local laws allowing de facto anyone who even minimally on his land established a road suitable for travel appropriate toll.
As for Quilly, it was secured by heavier mechanized units and one armored unit. With only one 7th Legion stationed in Quilla securing the entire border with Louria without a problem, this one was much shorter and still more than half was occupied by the impassable to the army Great Green Forest going all the way to the Mallow Gate.
The 28th Ascaris Legion and the 3rd Hussar Armored Legion, meanwhile, were stationed over the border along National Road 240 leading from New Plock, also called Abakwa, to a village called Ejumodzok by Cameroonians and Emuje by Poles. This was the only road leading directly to Louria from Cameroon. In turn, there were as many as two roads leading to Quilla.
Most of the Polish-Louisian and Polish-Quilisian borders were occupied by dense forests with occasional valleys along rivers that flowed into the Lazurva River. The river itself was another barrier but not problematic for the Crown Forces, these being able to erect the necessary bridge for crossing troops in a few hours.
While work has been underway for more than a year to build a full-fledged bridge on the border with Quilla, any such idea has been impossible to implement due to tensions with Louria.
As for the Brigades, in addition to the Logistics Brigade and the 2nd Independent Brigade, they were working full time in support of the Japanese efforts to build the infrastructure necessary for transportation, as if by magic, more kilometers of asphalt roads and railroads with occasional airfields appeared week by week. In addition, additional manpower arrived in the form of construction companies from the Crown Colony of Cameroon who, at the behest of the Crown, supported the overall effort through which the Japanese were able to reduce the pace of work to a much more rational level thus lowering the exhaustion of their workers.
For the natives, on the other hand, it was the business of a lifetime, an infrastructure will be put in place that will not only connect the two countries to each other as well as internally to an unprecedented degree, as well as provide a significant advance in civilization. At the same time the governments of both countries, will not spend a penny on it! And the Kingdom of Poland has made an agreement with the Que-Toyne and Quilla governments that it will cover the cost of maintaining the infrastructure for the next ten years out of its own pocket.
Of course, the Poles did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts, they wanted to secure all the necessary infrastructure in case of warfare as well as dependence of the indigenous countries.
No less for Hetman Wiekier this was not a problem, what mattered was the interest of the Homeland and the Homeland prefers its neighbors to be dependent on its existence in this way Poland could avoid unnecessary assaults on itself. Which was, of course, the aftermath of Polish history which knows plenty of invasions of Polish territory. Only the final pacification and dependence of Europe on the functioning of Poland after the First and Second World Wars guaranteed its inviolability and sanctity.
A good example of this is the German Confederation, an economic union of German states without much political ambition and controlled by Poland through Prussia. Which, although reluctantly, is used as a Polish excuse to control the German states thus creating not even so much as a buffer as a sill.
The goal, of course, is that in the event of a threat from Western countries or God forbid America, it is Germany and not the Crown that becomes the arena of armed struggle. On the peace footing, on the other hand, they constitute the Polish market for trade and commerce, binding these countries to Poland for better or for worse while making sure that none of them unite Germany and try to challenge Poland.
Hence, Poland's policy toward Japan and the indigenous countries is no different in purpose or principle from that toward Germany and other neighbors. In the event of a threat, they were to serve Poland as release thresholds for a hostile invasion.
Of course, this is all assuming that Poland will be forced to use them in such a capacity. A thing rather unpopular in the Commowealth.
So is the impending, and not possible in the opinion of Hetman referring to popular news and articles from the circle of people of Jack Bartosiak a well-known and controversial geopolitician, war with Louria. Today's news confirmed this.
Hetman Viekier clicked his tongue in displeasure, then focused on the map and wondered how on earth he was supposed to stop an army of more than 500,000 with his Marine Infantry and an entire regiment of Yegers separated from the 1st Warsaw Regiment.
Of course, the terrain favored him and not the enemy, after all, when it's warm only his troops can simply cross the water obstacle in vehicles. But in winter, the whole region freezes over enough that even a damn tank can stand on the ice without obstruction. It gave him a bad feeling, and his hunches have it that they come true all too often.
He looked at the latest reconnaissance reports from drones sent over Lourian territory. He wrinkled his forehead as he saw the work done and the deployment of troops. He quickly looked in a drawer in his desk and pulled from its depths a large black notebook with a lot of fiches attached to the pages of the notebook.
He quickly flipped through the fiches to find the information he was looking for. He then began to study the notes and pictures. The title, in turn, was War Preparations for the Grunwald Campaign of 1410.
A review of the information gathered for this expedition confirmed his hunch.
"Well, it's off to a beautiful start." muttered only the general, then decided to contact Hetman Szepczynski.
March 1, 1640
Kingdom of Louria
Jin-Hark
Royal Castle
"... Accordingly, I request that this be considered a Polish act of aggression and that the Empire of Parpaldia fulfill its obligations under our Treaty of Friendship, Cooperation and Mutual Assistance signed on March 1, 1630 according to the Central Calendar." concluded his long argument King Lourii Hark.
Listening to this was an Imperial ambassador named Daemones Centius, an older man from a respectable diplomatic family, sent to replace the previous ambassador in the face of a change in the status quo to the disadvantage of the Empire.
Until now, the diplomatic post in Louria was widely regarded as insignificant, extremely easy and not very prestigious. This was the case for a long time until now. The sudden appearance of Japan and then this Commowealth has upset the current balance both in the Third Zone of Civilization and in Roderius.
This, in turn, thwarted the Empire's previous plans, so the old ambassador, sent after acquaintances, was quickly replaced with someone with the right competence. The goal set for Centius was to effectively wring Parpaldia's hay out of the whole brawl before it escalated into an inevitable conflict.
Despite appearances, this was not difficult, it was enough for the Lourians themselves to invade with the tacit support of Parpaldia in accordance with the agreement they made years ago. In order to do so, it was simply necessary to push so hard that the Lourians themselves would move in a suicidal assault on their neighbors, then Parpaldia is clear, it only needs to send supplies and equipment and instructors, which it did and is doing.
This is what he has been doing over the past months, tempting and teasing the right people to support the suicidal maneuver. Unofficially, of course.
Everything was going according to plan until the unfortunate incidents of a few days ago. Louria caught some Polish saboteurs who were about to burn a couple of villages on the Lourian side of the border. Everyone had grown accustomed to the regular crossing of the air border by Poles.
Looking at the Polish modus operandi so far, as well as the reports and information received through secret channels from the capital, Centius strongly doubted that this diversionary head in front of him and locked in a stasis container belonged to a Polish soldier. The very fact that they were showing him mostly corpses, and without clothes that could be clearly attributed to Poles, cast a strong shadow over this "diversion."
"I understand your arguments, Your Majesty." began Centius, "but on what grounds should I conclude that this is not your mystification?"
"Are you suggesting that I'm lying?" asked Hark casting an offended look.
"No... Wherefore." denied Centius, "the point is that so far you have provided only dead evidence and your words which are only interpretations. I cannot make an important decision binding on the Empire based on such data alone. I must have irrefutable proof that this is not someone's mole."
"Do you need hard evidence?" asked Hark rhetorically, "Okay, get hard evidence. Guards! Bring in the prisoner!"
A man was led into the room, missing a piece of his right ear, and was held by strong knots by two good guards of the royal guard. Behind them walked a squad of crossbowmen with loaded weapons. He was tearing it to the left then to the right and blubbering something.
"Can't he speak?" asked Centius looking suspiciously.
"Unfortunately no, he bit his tongue off during interrogations in the camp." Centius croaked "The guards realized this after the fact. Hence we had to use less finesse measures." Centius nodded; mind magic had a tendency to spoil mental health.
"Can I check it with a trusted person?" he asked seemingly for show but in reality rhetorically. Hark nodded in agreement. Centius ordered his bodyguard to check the prisoner.
This one quickly approached the prisoner, then uttered a spell to penetrate the mind and then performed another one thanks to which Centius could secretly see what the contents of the brain looked like. Any barriers the brain normally had disappeared as a result of the interrogation. From there, Centius found the information he needed without hindrance.
The prisoner was an officer of the advance guard, sent on a mission of reconnaissance and diversion in enemy territory. He crossed a large forest on the border and Centius could see him and his bodyguard attacking villages, burning and murdering and raping. He is seen escaping after which he gets into the hands of the Lourians.
The vision disappeared after which he turned to the King. "Interesting, but why do he and his men use swords?" he asked generalizing.
"According to my officers, it was an attempt to make it look like bandits and ex-soldiers from the army. This makes sense because some, out of impatience, deserted and began to sow confusion. They believed that the Poles were trying to turn up the confusion so that Louria would fall into anarchy."
Centius nodded, sounding sensible. Destabilizing Louria would most likely be in Poland's favor. Then they could enter the area as stabilizers rather than invaders. This sounded perfect for the style in which the Poles operate in his opinion.
In this way, such an empire could, with the peace of mind of its inhabitants, expand its sphere of influence. This, in turn, Parpaldia could not agree to. Just as he was about to express his opinion, a breathless chaser suddenly rushed into the room.
"Excuse me my king, but I have very important news from Ladonia requiring your attention." He exhaled while answering an unasked question.
Hark looked at the ambassador, Centius understood what he meant. "I will not interfere with internal affairs. No less, your royal highness can be assured that the relevant opinion will be delivered to the ears of his Imperial Majesty."
"I understand." Replied Hark, after which the ambassador bowed and left with his bodyguard. As soon as they were in the corridor, he muttered to him. "Eavesdropping ready?"
"As requested." replied the bodyguard just as quietly.
"Let me listen." The bodyguard complied with the request and Centius was able to hear a report about how groups of bandits and ex-soldiers were running rampant in Ladonia. Hark's anger seemed natural to him. So did the recommendations.
The King's last sentence, no less, caught his attention. "We cannot wait any longer, we must move to stop this threat. If Parpaldia is so devoid of honor then the world will know about it!"
Normally he would want to laugh at this assumption, the problem is that everyone in the Third Zone is now looking at Roderius. News is spreading fast, existing vassals and allies are beginning to wonder if Parpaldia will keep its agreements now that new players have emerged who can do whatever they want in its backyard. The Grand Coalition is reinvigorating again and MPs from those countries have set out to find new powers ready to turn the tables.
The empire had to react quickly and make the least bad decision. Otherwise, someone would make the worst one for her. The gods, on the other hand, are witnesses that many would like to do so.
In turn, whether these saboteurs were Poles or rather Saderians will make little difference to them.
*Poland Proper, for reasons of the processes that prevailed in the First Commowealth, the name Poland passed along with the name of the nation.
** More precisely, the Grand Duchy of Moscow, we call them Russia.
*** Here the name Ruthenia was never replaced by Ukraine.