Chapter 62
In Worthy Rapport
The opulence of the office being shown made clear that excess was not solely a sin of Imperial Britannia, that there were other nations that succumbed to such vanity. That the man seated at the center of the room traced his own lineage back to one such extravagant imperial lines was either a marked irony or merely duly fitting. How much history was about to repeat itself since the last time a Romanov sat in this office was the more pertinent question on everyone's mind, however.
"Comrades," Alexander Romanov, President of the Russian Federation, began, "countrymen, citizens of the free world. I come before you this day to set right a grave wrong that has been allowed to percolate for far too long. Seven years ago, we, the stewards of all that is good of freedom and democracy stood idly by while a great evil was inflicted upon the world. When that great despotic hegemony known as Britannia set out by force of arms to subjugate those whose only crime was to reject their tyranny."
There was a marked irony in Romanov's proclamation there, seeing as not even a century ago the very same charge could have been laid against his own country. And even before that, the legacy of the Romanov family as rulers of Imperial Russia was that of one of Europe's more regressive monarchies, at least by the time of its fall. But perhaps such a comparison was the point. Perhaps the Russian president sought to evoke not irony but contrast. See how far we have progressed, and how far the other has remained stagnant, or even regressed. Alexander did have some measure of ability to sway the thoughts of others to align with his own. Credit where it was due, the man had been elected to his high office by convincing a majority of his country's citizenry to vote for him.
"Since that lamentable tragedy, Britannia has gone from atrocity to atrocity. Not content to force a single nation under their heel, they have cut a swath of ruin and suffering across the globe, with their latest victims being the Middle East Federation. And throughout all this, we rested on our laurels, declaring that these were not our fights. That in the end, the Empire would never turn its avaricious eyes towards us." Alexander gave a disdainful scoff. "What folly. For when Britannia does indeed set its sights upon us, the Empire would have us standing alone, having ignored the proffered hands of all those that previously suffered the same aggression."
It was a well-worn pattern, where nations and peoples mistook an avoidance of conflict in the present to portend a similar lack in the future. In believing that by sacrificing just one more other, they themselves would never become the victim. History was a graveyard of such nations who found in the end just how badly mistaken they were.
"Russia will not make such a mistake."
That did not necessarily mean it would not be making others.
"It is no secret that for the last seven years, Britannia has been completing an encirclement of that other great power on this Earth, the Chinese Federation," Alexander continued, "and that this encirclement came to completion with their conquest of the Middle East Federation. Now, Britannia is poised to inflict further misery upon not just its many, many existing victims, but the wider world as a whole. But this time, we of the Russian Federation will not stand idly by. No, we will turn back the Britannian hordes, not just at the gates of our allies, but from the very lands they previously scourged. I speak, comrades, of all the lands that Britannia has conquered, from the Middle East to the Far East!"
Alexander took a moment to catch his breath and allow his audience to do the same. The sheer intensity of his demeanor however did not lessen in that interim.
"In pursuit of this noble endeavor, as the first step in this grand liberation, I hereby announce that the Russian Federation, in conjunction with our dear friends, the Chinese Federation, will be undertaking a special military operation to restore to the Japanese people the sovereignty that was so unjustly stolen from them. As of this moment, at the behest of the legitimate Japanese government-in-exile, Russian and Chinese forces are advancing upon the islands of Honshu and Kyushu. From there, we will seek to evict the Britannian occupiers, before proceeding to the other two main islands of Honshu and Shikoku. To the people of Japan, to all those who have suffered beneath the Empire's heel, the time is nigh to rise up against your oppressors. To the misled servants of the Empire, I implore you to turn your backs on the wastrels that led you astray in the oppression of others and join the rest of the free world in our glorious revolution. And to the benighted royals that sit atop the tower of opulence built upon the tears and blood of your victims, know that the time has come for you to answer for your crimes, once and for all."
It took approximately ten minutes for news of the Princess Euphemia's assassination to work its way up through the chain of command and reach President Romanov. Alexander had exactly that long to bask in the afterglow of his speech.
When the four tanks of the Alright resistance cell rolled out, the first question that arose was what would be the most effective way of deploying them. Tanks were by their nature strong combat assets, highly destructive and possessed of good protection as well. They were also hideously vulnerable if caught alone without support, with their effectiveness diminishing rapidly if they were sent out piecemeal. With only four tanks in total, Miho did not exactly have the luxury of a multi-pronged assault. But with a bit of guile, nor was she limited to only a single axis of approach. And as her fellow cadets at the National Defense Academy had learned over and over again, Miho was capable of a great deal of guile.
"The enemy is advancing in three columns," Saori's voice sounded over the radio. "The center column has quite a few large trucks, so if they have any armor of their own that's where it'll be."
Which probably meant knightmares, not other tanks. Quite a few of the Empire's old Glasgow frames had been purloined over the years since the occupation began, and even a Sutherland or three. With the mystique knightmares had built up due to their usage in Japan's conquest, it was not surprising certain resistance fighters also attributed to them a certain equalizing quality. In reality that quality had more to do with morale than with combat capacity, but that did not make those stolen knightmares any less dangerous to Miho's platoon, especially in an urban environment. For that reason alone, Miho had no intention of going after the enemy knightmares for her opening gambit. Until she thinned out more of the enemy infantry, she had no intention of getting into a slugging match with the enemy mechs.
"Rabbit and Leopon, head north two klicks parallel to the enemy's western column but do not engage," Miho ordered the individual tanks of her platoon. "Hippo, stay with me. We'll strike at the western column's lead elements. Once we have their attention, Rabbit and Leopon are to strike from the west and split their attention. HQ, what sort of infantry support do we have?"
"Two platoons have signaled readiness to time their attacks with ours," Saori responded. "I'm sorry I couldn't get more."
While Alright did serve a central coordinating role amongst Tokyo's resistance cells, those cells were still independent groups that answered first and foremost to themselves. The backbone infrastructure Alright provided gave the group leverage and in theory allowed them to organize the cells in pursuit of common objectives, but rare were the occasions to actually put that theory into practice. Even assuming the other cells were ready and willing, the chaos of battle could scramble even the best laid plans.
"It's alright, HQ," Miho assured her friend. "Two platoons will be more than enough to provide us with fire support. Have them move to Yono junction, that's where we'll intercept the western column."
"Understood. What about the other two columns?"
Looking at the map, Miho considered her options. There were several large expressways running through the metropolitan area, all heading to the heart of Tokyo. Granted the heretics had little choice if they wanted to make quick progress with their assault, but being forced to stick to those expressways did make their movements predictable. While the western column was making a beeline for the S5 expressway, the center and eastern columns were coming down the E4 and E6 expressways respectively. Their immediate goals were clearly one of the bridges crossing the Arakawa River. If any of the columns could make it across the river, they'd be able to strike directly into the western Britannian concessions, including the governmental districts. They had to move quickly however, lest the Britannians decide to just bomb the bridges to deny the attacking insurgents their use. Miho would have some mixed feelings about that, since that would be tacitly writing off everything north of the river, which included herself and countless other resistance fighters currently fighting. On the other hand if they could stall the enemy long enough, to give the Empire time to muster their own forces and cross the river, they might be able to turn this entire thing around, assuming the Empire didn't start indiscriminately shooting everyone. That was a real possibility what with the Princess Euphemia's murder.
"See if you can muster reinforcements to the Nishiara Junction, as well as the Misato Junction," Miho finally responded. "Focus on the Nishiara Junction, that's where their main force is coming down. The eastern column coming down the E6 is too far away to support either of the other two, and if we can defeat or at least stall the western and central, the eastern column won't be much of a threat by themselves."
"Roger, I'll get on it, Alright out."
While her friend got to mobilizing the other cells, Miho turned her attention back to her own area of operations. It was a shame she did not have Saori, or at least someone else, serving as a dedicated radio operator with her. Even if Miho would still have needed to keep one ear on the radio traffic, having someone actually managing the local comms net would have taken at least some of the load off of her, seeing as she needed to command both her tank and all the other resistance fighters that made up her makeshift company. Unfortunately the Type 10 only had three crewmembers, herself the commander, Mako the driver, and Hana the gunner. Still, Miho had not been near top of her class for nothing. While the comparisons with her sister might have felt unwarranted to her, there was no denying that Miho held immense potential as a commander. Now, she would have the chance of demonstrating that potential in full.
"Approaching enemy lead columns," Mako reported.
Miho nodded, then towards her other crewmate.
"We'll be going up against soft targets, so will go with HE."
"Understood," Hana said and made sure the appropriate round was ready.
"Hippo, move two blocks further north," Miho ordered. "Commence the attack once we make contact."
"Roger."
The noise from the fighting was already well audible despite the rumble of the tank's engine. That was certain to give away their presence to the incoming enemy, but Miho hoped they would be more confused than anything else. Her hope turned out to be granted as the enemy continued their advance, despite the various attacks launched against them. Those were petering out now, thankfully, as the resistance cells, and more importantly civilians, drew back at Alright's behest. Quite a few were only doing so on the assurance of even greater havoc being wreaked upon the heretics, and Miho did not intend to disappoint. There, the lead enemy truck was now in view.
"Fire!"
How many years had it been since the last time Miho felt the shudder of a tank firing? Countless memories surged to the surface, of a simpler, even happier time. Of a time when she stood side by side with her sister, with her mother sternly watching over both. Of a time that would never be coming back. The sense of frustration, sadness, and even anger that this loss stirred within, all of it was carried forth by this single shot. And when it struck, the devastation it imparted was in no way short of all the fury that propelled it.
"Hit!" Hana announced.
"Good job," came Mako's subdued but still earnest congratulations.
The autoloader began cycling the next shell. There were plenty of targets remaining, after all. The heretics were scrambling to respond, but moments later another tank shell landed as Hippo struck from the flanks. Remotely taking control of the top-mounted machinegun, Miho sprayed the enemy troops, keeping them pinned while they waited for the gun to be readied. From all around them, other resistance fighters joined in, taking Miho's attack as the signal to do likewise.
"This is Leopon," a voice crackled over the radio. "Enemy column has been hit but they're digging in."
"Begin pushing the enemy south," Miho ordered. "Don't get drawn into ambushes. Maneuver south to link up with us."
"Roger that."
The objective of Miho's company was to destroy as much of the western column as possible, thereby leaving the central one vulnerable to a major flanking attack by the combined Tokyo resistance cells. Simultaneously, it would open up a corridor by which civilians could try to escape, those that weren't itching for their own pound of flesh from the heretics at least. Miho certainly hoped most could be convinced to flee, even if these heretics were no more trained soldiers than most of the other resistance fighters, they were still well-armed enough to be able to butcher the even less well-trained and equipped general residents.
The tank cannon thundered again, blowing apart a few vehicles that the enemy had been trying to use as cover. Thus far the tanks were doing a very effective job breaking the lines of the heretic forces, tearing apart clusters of enemies while forcibly also holding their attention. This provided the foot soldiers supporting Miho opportunities of their own to strike at the enemy, whether it be sweeping aside the disoriented survivors of the tank shelling or hitting those distracted by the armor. The rate of exchange was beginning to tilt more and more in favor of the Tokyo resistance fighters now, with the western column caught in a brutal meatgrinder. That did not mean the heretics were completely out of tricks either, and desperation had a tendency to focus minds.
"Incoming!"
The heretics attacking Tokyo had been planning to go up against Britannian regulars, which of course fielded various types of armor. Miho knew from resistance intelligence that the Tokyo garrison included not just the regiment of knightmares, but also the AFVs of the mechanized infantry and a single company of tanks that was currently rotating through. The heretics might have been expecting their own knightmares to take some of that on, but their numbers were limited and their infantry would need some means of holding the line if caught unsupported. That was why it came as no great surprise when an RPG came flying through the air at Miho's tank.
"Brace!"
The impact sent a shudder through the tank, but did little else. Whoever had aimed the rocket had done a poor job of it. While infantry portable anti-tank weapons were capable of neutralizing modern tanks, they tended to need to target weak points to do so. This particular rocket had been shot right at the frontal armor of the Type 10's turret, arguably the most heavily armored portion of the tank.
"Our turn," Miho said. "Return fire!"
"Firing," Hana responded immediately.
Another enemy truck stopped being cover and turned into a shower of shrapnel, taking out the soldier that just tried to kill Miho's tank plus quite a few others. The mounting losses suffered by the western column was now seriously crippling their cohesion as a fighting force, with the resistance tanks preventing them from reconcentrating while the resultant scattered groups getting picked off by other resistance infantry. Those heretics able to regroup were finding that numbers did not provide much in the way of strength either, as their coalescing was the consequence of being pushed into a tighter and tighter envelope by the resistance forces. The encirclement that Miho had enacted with her single armored platoon, plus supporting infantry of course, had shattered the initial numerical advantage of the heretic column, allowing the more dispersed resistance infantry to engage smaller chunks instead of having to hit the main group head-on. Still, the numbers meant the heretic reverses were still short of a total rout, and those that survived were putting on a much more dogged fight. Another impact caused the tank to shake. This time the vehicle's response noticeably slowed.
"Controls are sluggish," Mako reported stoically. "I think the track's been broken."
Miho grimaced. While the disabled tank could still fire, the loss of mobility meant it could not respond if the enemy attempted to maneuver around.
"Check if it can be repaired," she ordered.
"Roger," Mako said, popping open her hatch and clambering out.
While the other woman got to work, Miho kept a sharp eye out while ordering the surrounding infantry to establish a defensive perimeter. Even that was not likely to be enough to safeguard them if they actually tried to repair the track though, with how close the heretics were there was simply too high a chance of even a stray shot taking them out as they worked.
"Track is repairable," Mako reported, "but it'll take time."
That only made Miho's decision harder.
"Get back in for now," she ordered, then over the radio. "Hippo, move south and rejoin us. I want you to cover us while we attempt repair of the tank."
"Roger that, on our way."
"If Hippo is tied down protecting us, won't the enemy be able to move around us?" Hana asked.
Unlike Miho, Hana had not been part of the Japanese Army pre-invasion, but the years of living under Britannian occupation and time around Miho and the other army veterans had instilled within her at least a passing awareness of tactics.
"Hopefully we'll be able to get mobile again before they try it," Miho responded, "but if not, I'll have Hippo pursue. We have to keep them from reaching the Arakawa bridges above all else, at least on the western flank. That's the only corridor of evacuation for the locals."
Hana nodded in understanding and did not press any further. Both knew that if Hippo did need to go off and chase the enemy, that would leave themselves hideously vulnerable. But if the strategic conditions demanded it, their own vulnerability was a small risk to pay.
"Anglerfish!" Saori's voice cut in over the radio. "Britannian forces are hitting the eastern and center columns!"
Miho's eyes widened. Depending on how the Empire was attacking, that could either be good news, or very bad news.
"What with?" she immediately asked.
"Umm, we're getting reports of helicopters ferrying infantry across the river, as well as a few gunships making runs," Saori explained. "And we've gotten confirmation that there's at least one imperial knightmare that's already up north, a white one."
A white knightmare. Miho knew only of one knightmare in the Empire's inventory in Tokyo that was so colored.
"Is it the Lancelot?"
"We don't have confirmation, but I think so," Saori answered.
"Suzaku-san," Miho whispered.
It had been years since she last saw Suzaku, when the boy was a fellow student at her family dojo. Since the invasion, she had utterly lost track of him, though that was hardly unique for all too many of Miho's prior acquaintances. It was only really after the Lake Kawaguchi incident, when Suzaku was awarded the Royal Elizabethan Medal, that Miho learned of what befell her old friend and junior student. Back then, even as she was glad to know he was still alive, another part of her feared that the two might find themselves on opposite sides should conflict break out in Japan again. Now, it looked like fate would see them fighting side-by-side, if anything. Miho shook herself. Now was not the time to be reminiscing or daydreaming.
"How many troops have the Britannians managed to ferry over?" she asked.
"Not many," Saori confirmed the other girl's fears. "They're using Blackhawks to move them, and I've gotten notifications that they're moving more in by ground, but it'll be at least another half hour before larger concentrations can cross the river. Right now what troops they do have are trying to hold the line while civilians evacuate."
That was good, that meant the Empire wasn't preparing to torch everything north of the river to stop the heretics, for now at least. If the vanguard was overrun however, the Britannians might not be able to maintain their present restraint.
"Anglerfish, we're here!" Hippo's commander announced.
"Alright, take position and keep your tank between us and the enemy," Miho ordered. "Hana-san, Mako-san, let's get the treads swapped out. Saori-san, keep me appraised if any new developments occur."
"Understood, Alright out."
The three women scrambled out, Mako having ducked back in for safety while waiting for reinforcements to arrive. There was still a perimeter of infantry around them, the other resistance fighters looking mildly taken aback that the tank that had been the armored fist of their attack was entirely crewed by women. When said women began expertly prying off the damaged treads however, they too got back to their jobs of making sure no one interrupted the work.
There was certainly no shortage of attempts at that, what with the continuous thrum of shots and explosions. The hisses Miho managed to push outside her awareness, but she could not help but glance at her friends whenever a snap sounded.
"Anglerfish, this is Leopon," the radio crackled. "The enemy is starting to withdraw east, we can't keep them bottled up anymore."
Trying to rendezvous with the other two columns then. A natural decision, and one they arguably should have done long before now.
"Don't pursue," Miho ordered. "So long as they don't turn back west, let them go."
"Are you sure?"
"We'll move out as a single unit once we get my tank repaired," Miho said. "I don't want us trying to chase them down piecemeal."
"Roger that, Leopon out."
Miho was about to let out a slight sigh of relief but her instincts made her hesitate. If the heretics really were trying to meet up with their central column, then why was the intensity of the fighting around them not also tapering off? Some of it was certainly due to the continued flow of heretic fighters being pushed southward making up for any that were trying to withdraw, but there should still be a gradual decrease in enemy contact. From the corner of her eye, she could see that the contact was not only staying steady, it even seemed to be increasing.
"HQ, this is Anglerfish," Miho called into the radio. "What is the enemy eastern column doing?"
The eastern column was always from Miho's perspective the odd one out. Coming down the E6 expressway took it along a massively different angle of approach relative to the western and central columns. Whereas the latter two were making a southeast approach along near parallel tracks, the eastern column needed to make an almost solo trek southeast towards central Tokyo.
"Umm, it looks like a bunch of them are holding tight just north of the Misato Junction," Saori answered, "though we're getting reports of others starting to push westward."
Which lent credence to the idea that the heretics were seeking to concentrate the totality of their forces in one giant push. Somehow Miho could not quite convince herself that they would do so right into the teeth of the heaviest defensive opposition. After all, while she had a platoon of tanks versus the single knightmare the Britannians had managed to deploy, the latter also had air support on call.
"And the central column? How many contacts have we had with their knightmares?"
"The fighting is getting pretty intense at the Nishiara Junction, but contact with enemy armor has been sporadic at best, even with the Britannians showing up. The white knightmare is really tearing through their ranks, and they have a few trying to hold it off, but the rest seem to be holding back."
"Do we have any sightings at all of the enemy knightmares?" Miho pressed.
Holding back or not, knightmares were still multi-ton bipedal machines. Even with the fleeing civilians and resistance fighters being organized into proper defensive lines, someone should still have caught something. If nothing else, the air assets the Empire had clearly deployed should be able to spot some hint of them.
"Hold on, let me see here," Saori said as she parsed through all the reports coming in. "Oh! We've been getting calls about heretics along the Shiba River. That's too far east for the western column to have evacuated to, and they would have needed to get past your blocking action at Yono Junction-"
Miho was not one to swear. She had been raised too properly for such vulgarity. There were times though the woman could wish for some stronger manner of expressing herself.
"HQ!" Miho instead screamed into the radio. "Get in contact with the Britannians! The heretics are trying to slip through along the Saitama-Kawaguchi boundary. There are at least three major bridges they could use to cross the Arakawa down there!"
With the overhead view that her compatriots back at their command center had, this should have been spotted far earlier. Unfortunately all too few of them had any actual formal military training, and not even the past few years of running a resistance movement could make up for some of the resultant gaps. If Miho herself had been back there, maybe she would have picked up on this earlier, but she was needed almost as badly out here in the field.
"U-understood!"
"We need to withdraw from Yono Junction as well," Miho said. "We'll try to get to Hanekura Bridge, that'll cover at least one of them. If things look bad, we'll blow the bridge ourselves."
"But-Miporin! That'll-"
"Cut off our own line of retreat and evacuation," Miho finished for her friend. "I know. Don't worry, we'll only do it if we absolutely have to."
A moment passed before a response came. "Make sure you really, really need to. I'll get in touch with the Britannians. Good luck, Anglerfish. HQ out."
"Leopon and Rabbit, rendezvous with Anglerfish and Hippo immediately," Miho began snapping out more orders. "Ignore any enemy stragglers not directly in your path."
"On our way."
They needed to move quickly, lest the enemy manage to get on their southern flank and cut them off.
"Look out!"
Her head snapping over, Miho was just in time to see another rocket blast towards them. She tried to scramble for cover, there was neither time nor place this late. The rocket impacted the side of the tank, tearing through the wheels. The concussive force of the explosion sent Miho tumbling and her vision went blank. For how long, the woman could not be certain, but even as her vision cleared the ringing continued in her ears. She winced, a sharp pain running through her form. That was good, she could still feel. A soldier was frantically checking her for wounds even as Miho tried to rise. A few scrapes and bumps, but what bleeding she suffered from was already closing off. As she looked around however, her eyes went wide. There, a few meters away, Maho lay unmoving on the ground as another soldier pressed something against her chest. A dark, wet stain could be seen upon it.
Suzaku felt oddly calm right now. It was a stark contrast to the near mindless rage that had suffused him when that shot sounded on the TV. The youth could not quite remember what happened afterward, only that he was now in the midst of fighting against an insurgent force trying to take advantage of the chaos to attack Tokyo. But he wasn't the only one fighting to defend the city though. Alongside the detachment of Japanese and Britannian soldiers from the 597th, there were dozens upon dozens of resistance fighters that rose up to not only protect their homes but also to avenge Euphemia. To avenge her, because she was dead.
A tight pain gripped Suzaku's chest as that thought flitted through his head. Euphemia was dead. He did not know how he knew this, but there was no doubt whatsoever in his mind that this was true. Euphemia, the woman that, love might be presumptuous, but Suzaku did not know how else to describe how dear she was to him. Perhaps it was because he was still uncertain about his own worthiness of her affections. But now? He would never have a chance to prove himself worthy of her. The only thing he could do was avenge her memory.
Avenge her. That was the thought that finally stirred his conscious awareness. Was that something Euphemia would want him to do? Suzaku could not fathom a Euphemia who would seek vengeance, even against her killer. That might have been at least a little bit of a rose-tinted view on his part, but again, Suzaku grasped that it was a matter of degree, not kind, that he would be off on. Euphemia might not be an all-loving saint, but she did want to see the good in people, just as she would not want those she cared about to succumb to such darkness on her behalf. So what was he really doing here then?
"Mr. Kururugi," Cécile's voice sounded over the radio, the woman remaining strictly professional while he was in the field. "The insurgents are shifting the weight of their attack westward and you are to move to help intercept. There is an allied resistance force pinned at the Yono Junction, rendezvous with them and hold the line there. The next wave of infantry reinforcements are being routed to join you, make sure there is an LZ clear for them."
"Understood, Captain, on my way," Suzaku said, and then switched channels to the local net used by the infantry units supporting him. "Lieutenant, I've been ordered west, that's where the insurgents are shifting their attacks toward. Will you be alright without me?"
"Can't say I won't miss the Lancelot's firepower," the lieutenant responded. "Or your shields. Or your knightmare in general. But we'll hold the line here until our own heavies arrive, Mr. Kururugi. Good hunting."
"Same to you," Suzaku said as he brought the Lancelot around.
The white knightmare deployed landspinners and rolled out, deftly moving around those few vehicles and wrecks dotting the road. There were still refugees streaming southward, but by now the crowds had thinned enough this far north that he made good time towards his destination. Of course the closer he got the more he ran into a different kind of delay. The insurgents attacking Tokyo were starting to sneak heavier forces through along the Kawaguchi-Saitama border, including not just larger groups of infantry but even some of their knightmares. That, plus the fact that these soldiers tended to shoot at Suzaku instead of cheer for him, did make it easier to distinguish them between the Tokyo-native resistance soldiers fighting alongside the Empire.
The first pair of enemy knightmares Suzaku caught sight of were only beginning to respond when he opened fire. One immediately went down as the railgun round punched right through its midsection. The other managed a single burst before meeting a similar fate, Suzaku not even bothering to dodge and letting the Lancelot's shield weather the hits. The accompanying infantry were actually a bit more problematic as they immediately scattered. Suzaku did not have time to defeat them in detail, so after firing off one last shot of an anti-personnel round from his rifle, he pressed onward. He needed to be mindful as much of his ammunition reserves as his power reserves if he was to actually help hold the Yono Junction.
"Captain, the insurgents are pressing harder west," Suzaku reported as he kept moving. "I'm running into resistance along route 17 moving north."
"Roger that. Change of plans, then. Once you reach Yono Junction, see if you can extract the forces there and fall back to Bijogi Junction further south, we'll redirect the reinforcements there."
Suzaku gave a quick glance at the map his AR feed projected. "What about the bridges north of there?"
Of which there were three between the two junctions, though only one led into another major road artery.
"Engineering detachments are being coppered in to set demo charges," Cécile stated. "If the insurgents approach them, they're to be brought down. Worst case, strikes will be called down on the bridges."
Which would also cut off the route of evacuation for any civilians fleeing, at least in that direction. Then again, if the insurgents were given less reason to head in that direction, that might see the civilians safer anyway.
"Understood, I'll do my best. Lancelot, out."
Suzaku swung further west at the next major intersection, heading towards the S5 expressway. All along that route, he saw more and more resistance fighters pulling back, heading south. It seemed that there was a much greater degree of coordination between the Tokyo resistance and the Britannian military than he had suspected, even after fighting alongside them at the Nishiara Junction. Though if the next defense point was already determined, then why was he being sent to relieve the previous one? That question was soon answered as Suzaku came into sight of the Yono Junction, or what was left of it.
There, four tanks were dug in holding the road. Two of them were badly damaged, one clearly completely immobilized. That did not stop its turret from traversing however and continuing to pound away at the cluster of enemies encircling them. The few remaining resistance soldiers trying to support them were also slowly getting strangled by the encirclement, able to do little huddled as they were behind cover. Suzaku spent a moment assessing the tactical situation, then dove straight in.
Miho's thoughts were a complete blur as she coordinated what was almost certainly the last stand of her makeshift company. The resistance cells from the area had been badly bloodied in the initial exchanges, and even though they managed to inflict some heavy losses on the attacking heretics, the enemy was now bringing heavier and heavier fire down upon them as well. She had ordered the more intact units, along with as many of the wounded as they could carry, to head south, all the way down to Bijogi Junction to fortify that position for the inevitable attack. Miho had selected that location on account of its direct connection along the C3 expressway to the other blocking force at Nishiara, which would better allow the troops there to quickly reinforce Bijogi when the need arose. Plus, it was south enough that the enemy was unlikely to get another encirclement around their forces, not without completely cutting through the defensive lines anyway. Now, all that was left for them was to hold out as long as possible. If they got lucky, they might even last long enough for the Empire to get their troops here. Miho did not hold out particular hope for that. With the distances involved, it would take easily an hour or more for the Empire's troops to get here by ground, and with how contested the area was, the Empire wasn't likely to risk ferrying troops in by air.
The first sign that Miho might have been unduly pessimistic was the explosion that suddenly ripped through an enemy position that was trying to press them from the Hachiman-dori. The cluster of infantry that was scattered momentarily took some of the pressure off from the south, and Miho wasted little time hosing down those that broke cover with her machinegun. After what happened to Mako, the former Japanese Army lieutenant was feeling decidedly less hesitant, about anything really. Still, she retained the presence of mind to stop firing when a large figure stepped out from around the corner. It was a white knightmare, one that she knew on sight despite this being the first time she had ever seen it in person.
"Suzaku-san?" Miho whispered.
The Lancelot rolled forward, tentatively at first to make sure it was recognized as friendly, and then more aggressively, firing on the enemy mechs trying to inch forward along the S2 route. At the sight of the white knightmare, the heretic frames duly shifted their attention. To their mild consternation, the Lancelot shrugged off their initial volley of fire, before promptly blowing apart two knightmares that had been standing next to each other with a single shot. That was enough to get the others to start dispersing.
Snapping out of her daze, Miho got onto the radio. "HQ, the Lancelot is here. Do we have direct comms with it?"
One of the trickiest issues the Tokyo resistance was facing this day was actually communicating with the field units the Britannian military was deploying. While the cells did have lines of communications between themselves, one of the major backbone services the Alright Courier Company provided, and even with Eden Vital, also thanks to the same backbone, for obvious reasons they were not tied into the radio nets of the Britannian military at the tactical level. For one, even if they did have more military radios than the Empire was really happy with, they did not have access to the actual cipher keys to tie in at the platoon level.
The initial workaround to this was to tie the communications in at the command level, with transmissions going through the Alright Courier Company's main switch, getting handed off to Eden Vital's, routed to the military's net, and finally routed down the command channels the platoons normally used to communicate with company command or higher. This was not exactly ideal, since this still did not put the resistance fighters in touch with the rank and file of the platoons they were fighting alongside, not to mention clogging up those channels when higher command did want to talk to the platoon leaders. The simple solution the vanguard Britannian infantry had come up with was just to hand off a radio to whatever command element could be found amongst the present resistance fighters. Seeing as Suzaku was the first Britannian soldier to reach the western defense point, that option was sadly precluded.
"Give me a sec, I'll try to patch us through," Saori said on the other end.
While her friend did that, Miho took the more direct expedient of simply popping her head out of her banged up turret and waved frantically at the Lancelot.
"SUZAKU-SAN!"
Somehow, her voice carried through the cacophony of battle well enough to reach the knightmare. The white mech pulled back from its foray, sliding to a halt next to the damaged tank.
"Miho-senpai!?" Suzaku's bewildered voice sounded.
Clearly the youth had not expected to encounter his old fellow dojo student this day any more than Miho herself.
"It really is you," Miho said, letting an almost relieved smile cross her face, before it creased into a more solemn expression. "Are more reinforcements incoming?"
It was almost surreal watching the knightmare actually shake its head. Miho had not been aware the articulation on the mechs were that nuanced.
"No, I have orders to pull all of you back to the Bijogi Junction. That's where the second wave will be touching down."
This time it was Miho's turn to shake her head.
"We can't pull out," she insisted. "We've got wounded that we can't easily move just a few blocks south."
Suzaku grimaced. He had no more wish to leave those resistance fighters to perish, but as things stood even with his help this position was eventually going to get overrun, if only because they would run out of munitions.
"Miho-senpai-" he began.
"I am not leaving my friends behind," Miho however vehemently cut him off.
Suzaku blinked. And that was when it all clicked. What was he doing out here? Fighting, certainly. Trying to stop the insurgents attacking Tokyo from getting deeper into the city and getting more people killed. And at the end of it all, even as he himself was killing them, he was also trying to save lives. That was what Euphemia would have wanted him to devote himself to. Not taking lives for the sake of avenging, but if he must take lives, then so that yet more lives could be saved. The grinding sensation at the back of his head eased up as Suzaku felt a great pressure lift.
"We won't, Miho-senpai," Suzaku declared.
Miho blinked, taken mildly aback but this apparent turnabout, but after a moment she gave a firm nod at the assurance that Suzaku would stand with her.
"Anglerfish," Saori finally got back to her. "I've got Lancelot's command channel for you."
"Captain Croomy," Suzaku immediately spoke up now that he knew Miho was tied into that net. "I have rendezvoused with the Yono Junction defenders, but we cannot withdraw. They are protecting wounded too critically injured to evacuate with their present resources."
It was not Cécile that responded however.
"This is Colonel Gottwald of the 597th," Jeremiah's voice sounded. "I read you, Mr. Kururugi. My understanding is that your knightmare is equipped with multiple sensors able to provide targeting information for ranged strikes."
"That is correct, sir," Suzaku said, recovering quickly from his surprise.
"Strike packages are inbound, but we will need precise localization if we are to neutralize the encircling enemy without leveling half the city. If you can mark the requisite target locations, we can clear out enough hostiles for me to land birds with more ground reinforcements."
"Understood, Colonel," Suzaku said. "Beginning target acquisition now."
As Suzaku's digital eyes swept across the battlefield, the youth was once more immersed in the holistic view that he had merely sampled during that prior training exercise. With his neuro-link interface and the Eden Vital sensor fusion package, Suzaku was viewing the surrounding area with not just the Lancelot's sensors but also those of the recon drones flitting about above and even those surviving civilian platforms by some miracle still functioning. Even more importantly, he was able to intuitively parse and delineate hostiles from friendlies, tagging countless locations in the surrounding peripheries. Within seconds, an entire list of targets was queued up for the incoming ordnance. That queue was accepted as quickly as Suzaku could generate, and it was not long before the first explosions began sounding.
Missiles, artillery shells, even a few bombs started raining down around the Yono Junction. The Britannian soldiers at the other chokepoints had called down fire support as opportunity allowed, but none in the volume that Suzaku now summoned. None landed further than maybe a meter from their intended targets, testament to the accuracy of Britannian precision munitions. And with that accuracy was wrought unimaginable carnage upon those targets, for even if these munitions lacked the scale in yield of their older, dumber predecessors, the pinpoint delivery ensured that what destructive capacity they did possess were meted out in full exactly where they needed to be. Enemy contacts started disappearing in not just ones or twos, but entire sections of the area soon fell silent. Here and there a few buildings collapsed, there were still limits to just how constrained the explosive capacity of these weapons were after all, but what used to take a massive saturation strike to achieve was now performed with otherwise surgical precision. By the time the incoming fire petered out, Suzaku and the Tokyo resistance fighters stood unchallenged in their little corner of the city.
End of Chapter 62
Work went into overdrive the last month, so had barely any time to sit down and concentrate on writing. It also didn't help that working out a set piece battle is not straightforward, and we have at least one more chapter to go for Tokyo alone. Then there's the Kyushu and Hokkaido battles, and only then will we be done with the opening stages of what I'm tentatively calling the Third Pacific War.
The last time I worked out a set piece battle, I made extensive use of Google Maps to sort out the various approaches. This time was no different, so every one of the roads, junctions, and bridges I mentioned in the above are actual bridges in Tokyo. That means it's actually possible to track the progression of the battle if you are so inclined by looking up the corresponding locations on the map. This is why I say setting up these battles is not straightforward. Even though having a tool like Google Maps makes such setup possible, I still have to do the work of examining the map and picking places as well as sorting out how quickly units can traverse the area.
I mentioned a while back that I had no intention of making singular knightmares some massive gamebreaker on the battlefield by themselves. Even with all the nice toys that a knightmare like the Lancelot possesses, it can still get dogpiled by enough other conventional opponents to get taken out. There is not going to be some ludicrous instance where the Lancelot or any other knightmare singlehandedly slaughters a hundred other enemy armored opponents all by its lonesome. A half dozen, maybe a dozen opponents is about the limit, even with the massive cheats that someone like Kallen possesses, and that's if they also fight extremely strategically as well.
The thing that truly makes the Lancelot and equivalent knightmares fearsome is their ability to do what Suzaku just did, to massively shorten the kill-chain between the much, much heavier ordnance the Empire is capable of dishing out from far away. From the time Suzaku was able to ID a target to when he was able to get actionable targeting information to the various guns and launchers further in the rear or in the air was a matter of seconds. With the right preparation, the Lancelot and others like it could bring down the firepower of an entire fleet or more, and do so with pinpoint accuracy. That is what makes these next generation knightmares such an absolute terror on the battlefield. Their personal combat capabilities exist more to ensure they survive long enough to bring to bear such firepower, not to win the battle all by themselves.
I was very deliberate in my wording of Romanov's speech. I am intentionally evoking the sentiment that all of you think I am.
Modern combat aircraft will play a major role in the conflict. That's about all I'll be saying for the interim.