Month 2, Day 5, Year 1643
The Baltica Sea referred to the ocean surrounding the western half of the Second Civilization, bordering the technologic nation of Mu, the former superpower Leifor, and the Nigrat Union. It was not particularly a high-traffic sea lane, even today. Long ago, merchant vessels used to travel up and down the coastline delivering goods, but once Leifor and its former protectorates had been conquered, merchant sea traffic dried up. For the past two years, most of its maritime traffic was composed only of fishing boats and military patrols, and then only in the southern half of the coastline.
That changed today. As the sun rose to the East, its light began to gradually illuminate the sea below, dissipating the fog and revealing a massive force of hundreds of diverse ships, spread across a million square kilometers of ocean. The fleet counted several ships that were clean and made of smooth shapes, large ships of iron and steel that belched smoke into the sky above them, as well as a multitude of wooden warships: some plain, some armored, some powered by steam engines, some carrying a small number of cannons and even a hundred of those pieces. There were also aircraft carriers of steel and smaller ones made of wood. The many different ships belonged to a host of different nations, as indicated by the nine different flags that could be spotted within, but they all moved together and with a purpose, each one matching their speeds with the rest.
This massive force of the ships was part of the World Union Fleet, an alliance of superpowers and civilized nations from the First and Second Civilization Areas. Also present more than a hundred miles away was a fleet of the Holy Milishial Empire, the coalition's leader and its strongest participant, some of whose ships also joined in the Union's fleet. All in all, these fleets controlled over six hundred warships and assorted support units, as well as nearly half a million personnel. On land, air support was massed in the form of the world's primary aviation unit: wyvern knights. This most certainly was the biggest coalition this part of the world had ever seen.
They had one target: The Gra Valkas Empire, an empire that had appeared to the west and conquered Leifor several years earlier and later made a bold declaration of world domination. The assembled fleets were aiming for the Empire's defensive fleet off the coast of Leifor. Destroying it would cut off the Empire from its beachhead on the Second Civilization, allowing them to drive out the invaders once and for all. The Union's commanders expected the Empire to deploy another fleet to stop them before reaching Leifor's maritime border, but the World Union intended and fully expected to punch through and reach Leifor through sheer weight of numbers. Spirits and morale were high, and both fleets sailed north in anticipation for the battle ahead.
However, there were four more ships on the surface of the Baltica Sea that morning, within sight but not traveling with the World Union's larger fleet. This squadron was traveling in a straight line, with the largest of the four ships at the front. These ships were unique in design compared to all those in the World Union, although the single cannon mounted on the bow of each ship more closely resembled those of the Holy Milishial Empire's and Mu's; the two superpowers of the World Union. Each ship flew a flag that had become nearly as famous in this world as it had been infamous in its previous world: a red disc on a white background with sixteen rays spreading out from around it. It was the Flag of the Rising Sun, the flag that represented the country of Japan.
The four ships were destroyers from the Maritime Self Defense Force's Escort Squadron 6. The largest ship at the lead was the Kongo-class Kirishima, followed by two Takanami-class destroyers and an Akizuki-class destroyer: the Takanami, Onami, and Teruzuki, respectively.
The ships were very well armed, all using the same 127 mm rapid fire cannon that could strike out at a surface or aerial target even 25 km away. They were also the only ships in the entire force equipped with missiles; the squadron had 146 anti-air missiles between them, with the bulk in Kirishima's 90-cell Vertical Launch System (VLS). Each ship had the same two quad launchers for anti-ship missiles, totalling to 32 in all, and the same number of VLS-launched anti-submarine rockets. Three of the destroyers had embarked anti-submarine helicopters in their hangars, stocked with torpedoes and sonar buoys.
The Gra Valkas Empire's declaration of war on the world had been made at the Eleven-Country Leadership Conference, an international meeting held every two years where the world's major nations met to discuss and shape global policy. During the last Conference, the Gra Valkas Empire boldly declared their intention to subjugate the entire world under its banner. As such, they demanded all other nations present to capitulate without a fight, and warned that death would follow for those that refused. At the time, everyone else in the conference merely called the Empire's bluff and refused.
Unfortunately, the Empire made good on that threat. On the third day of the Conference, they returned with an entire fleet and laid waste to the delegates of the assembled nations and their meager escorts.
Japan had been at the Conference for the first time. Normally, the event was also a show of force; the participants would send their best ships or planes. Instead, Japan sent only one vessel to escort their diplomats: the Japan Coast Guard ship Shikishima. In the chaos that followed the declaration of war, which saw the Japanese diplomats undertake a harrowing overland evacuation by train, the Shikishima and her crew were still anchored in port when the Empire launched their surprise attack.
Due to Japan's strict laws on technology control, scuttling the ship wasn't an option, and its civilian law enforcement crew dutifully stayed onboard. While the outnumbered escorts of the other nations at the Conference decided to band together for a desperate last stand, which ended in their destruction, the Shikishima's crew instead made an attempt to fight its way out to home waters. Despite the crew's bravery and putting on a good fight - the Shikishima belonging to the most heavily armed class in the Japan Coast Guard - the ship was tragically sunk by enemy fire, with its survivors placed in chains and held hostage along with survivors from the other participants.
Diplomacy failed to get them home. Two weeks later, all of the survivors were publicly executed in cold blood by the Empire for Japan's refusal to submit to their authority. This event shook Japan to its core. It had only been a year since the Japan-Parpaldia War had ended, which was spurred by a very similar incident, but there was something far more raw about things this time than the Nishinomiyako Massacre that had triggered that one.
The citizens and the SDF only heard about the former massacre well after it had happened. The execution of the all P. including the crew of the Shikishima was taped and broadcasted to the entire world as a form of intimidation. It found its way onto the internet in Japan, where tens of thousands had seen their country ruthlessly mocked while their fellow countrymen were heartlessly executed. Japan had gone to the conference intending to stand up for themselves and to make it clear they were not ones to be bullied, only for it to turn into a bloodbath. The Gra Valkas were arrogant, they were violent, and they were condescending. It was not hard to feel an immense amount of anger towards them. The Japanese public was howling for vengeance.
It was more so for the politicians. The scandal of the Parpaldia Conflict had caused a lot of resignations and a restructuring of Japan's political landscape. It was nowhere near to what happened before the Second World War, but enough changes were made that some military reforms pushed through, among them new weapons programs and an increase in overall size to the Self-Defense Forces. There were new politicians that were dedicated to making sure their country was respected and well protected, and they'd been elected precisely to prevent this. The massacre presented an opportunity to demonstrate that resolve.
Those terrible events happened almost ten months ago, and the entire world had been getting ready for conflict, Japan included. But while those nations were preparing to go on the offensive, Japan spent much of its time building up its defenses instead, particularly in Rodenius where it had the most investments and which served as Japan's breadbasket. BP-3 patrols, helicopter bases for the MSDF's ASW helicopter squadrons, and even the beginnings of an undersea surveillance system were also established around the Home Islands as well.
The last was already partially active and even bore fruit. A few months ago, an unidentified submarine had been detected near Okinawa. Escort Squadron 6, which had been in home waters at the time, was sent in to investigate. The Takanami approached the submarine and, upon being attacked with unguided torpedoes, replied in kind and sank the submersible. There was no proof yet, but they strongly suspected it had been a Gra Valkas submarine.
Once the defenses around the Home Islands had been addressed, a deployment to Mu was the next logical step to make. As reasoned by the higher echelons in the SDF, attack is the best defense, since there was a serious concern that the Gra Valkas Empire could develop advanced technology and become a real military threat to Japan if it was allowed to keep expanding.
The deployment, Japan stressed among diplomatic channels and to the public, was to guarantee the safety of Japanese citizens and vessels. When Escort Squadron 6 arrived in Mu early in January, they undertook "neutrality patrols" along Mu's eastern seaboard in order to protect the bulk of their maritime trade passing along the route. It was, thankfully, a peaceful deployment.
Before Escort Squadron 6 arrived to start its patrols, the Emperor of the Holy Milishial Empire had publicly called for the formation of a massive coalition of nations from the First and Second Civilizations to force the Gra Valkas Empire out of the latter continent. Through private diplomatic channels, Japan had also been invited. It was evident that the invitation was a courtesy more than anything, since the Milishials were unsure a nation so far away could join the coalition.
But where there was a will, there was a way. Using the deepening diplomatic relationship with Mu, Japan cooperated with their all but official ally to make it happen. Mu was well aware of Japan's strength and wanted them in the fight just as much. Through their combined efforts, they made it possible just barely in time.
Originally, it was agreed to send the entire 4th Escort Group, which was supposed to deliver Mu's La Kasami-class battleship La Kasami after it had been repaired and refitted in Japan's shipyards, and was also to serve as Mu's flagship in the joint Japan-Mu fleet. Delays in the repairs and refitting resulted in Escort Squadron 6 being ordered to sail alongside Mu's fleet instead. It was half the agreed naval commitment from Japan's side, but with the other forces Japan was deploying on top of the other nations, they reasoned it was more than adequate to become more than a symbolic participation to the World Union. As a result, the squadron departed from Mykal with Mu's own fleet, and the MSDF squadron took on a Mu National Navy officer as liaison to the fleets of the World Union.
The joint operation was held under wraps, although the Diet had been informed in the strictest confidence. The orders the MoD had chopped down to Escort Squadron 6 were as vague as possible, shrouded in legal terminology about freedom of navigation. Even 4 years after the transfer, Japan had to dance around Article 9. It suited the officers and the sailors fine. They had been chomping at the bit, and they were eager to prove themselves and to avenge their slain comrades and the national honor of Japan.
Fortunately for the squadron, there was a third and even more potent arm of the coalition against Gra Valkas located further inland in the Nigrat Union. This was what Japan had worked with Mu to accomplish on such short notice, the very thing that made deploying a naval squadron this far west even possible. It was a Mu-built airport, owned by the Nigrat government but leased out to Japan so it could participate in this battle. The airport, originally built for minor air traffic, had been heavily renovated through collaboration between Mu and Japan.
The resulting air base was significantly more sophisticated and technologically advanced than anywhere in the Nigrat Union, maybe even the Second Civilization. A more substantial control tower was built, containing the most advanced surveillance tech that Japan could offer. The runaway was expanded and lengthened, and dozens of prefabricated buildings and metal hangars had been added to accommodate a huge air fleet. Soldiers from the Japanese Ground Self Defense Force patrolled the base, and spread at three points around the base were three MIM-23 Hawk surface to air missile batteries, operating on high alert. They all knew of the upcoming naval battle, but since they couldn't discount the possibility of air attacks on land bases, they were standing by for immediate deployment. The air base's new surveillance tech had expanded capabilities, and the upcoming battle would provide an opportunity to showcase what it can do.
From two of the hangars, two large prop driven aircraft emerged and began to taxi along the concrete to the start of the runway. The first one in line looked to be the more square of the two, an impression helped by the massive circular dish affixed on top of it. This was an E-2C, one of the primary AWACS aircraft of the Japan Air Self-Defense Force, and was capable of detecting and directing aircraft hundreds of kilometers away. The other aircraft behind it was an YS-11EB, an electronic intelligence gathering and warfare aircraft.
As the morning progressed, more and more of the hangar doors were pushed open, revealing the aircraft being readied for deployment: twelve F-15Js, Japan's premier fighter aircraft, and ten F-2As, its similarly advanced support fighter. Their crews had kept them ready in the past few days, and now that the World Union had reached the western half of the continent, they knew that a showdown with the fleets of the Gra Valkas Empire was imminent. The irony of Japanese crews and pilots carrying out first strikes on an enemy fleet despite being a self-defense force was lost on them entirely: they had their orders, and many of them would be glad to carry them out.
The E-2C and the YS-11EB took off first, and would spend the entire naval battle safe from Imperial fighters in the skies above the continent. The E-2C reached a comfortable altitude of 9,000 meters, and the YS-11B 6000 meters. Once there, both activated their surveillance equipment and began gathering crucial data for the JSDF contingent.
At the same time, hundreds of kilometers north of the ships and men of the World Union Fleet and Japan, another mighty fleet sailed south. Unlike the motley assembly of the World Union Fleet, this one was more uniform, and unlike the sleek and sci fi-esque Milishial warships, these ones were all mechanical and with a design more advanced than Mu's. Anyone versed with the history of the Second World War would realize that the ships of the Empire resembled former IJN vessels: Shokaku-class aircraft carriers, Nagoto-class battleships, Kongo battlecruisers, and at least three different classes of destroyers used by the former Imperial Japanese Navy. This was the Gra Valkas Imperial Navy, whose objective was to smash the motley fleets of the World Union and to cement their claim to the waters around the Second Civilization Area.
For this battle, the Imperial Judgment Force merged with the Eastern Fleet, with Eastern Fleet Admiral Caesar Roland in overall command. Now called the Combined Fleet, their total striking power before the battle amounted to no less than two hundred surface and underwater combatants, with the core of their fleet consisting of ten battleships formed around the superdreadnought Grade Atlaster and all nine of the Eastern Fleet's aircraft carriers, each carrying a standard complement of 27 fighters, 27 dive-bombers, and 18 torpedo bombers each. Close to forty cruisers supplemented their surface power, and over a hundred destroyers ringed the combined fleet to deter air or even possibly submarine attack. The entire 1st and 3rd Submarine Fleets, sixty-four in total, had been fully deployed in the waters off the Nigrat Union's coast. In the eyes of the Combined Fleet, these submarines would prove to be a deadly surprise to the World Union's fleets if battle were joined. Adding to that were the fleets' numerous tender and supply ships, the Combined Fleet's long logistical tail, and whose support greatly multiplied the Imperials' striking power.
It was a truly massive force, the most massive they've deployed in this world so far. It was a full third of the Imperial Navy's total power, one they judged was more than enough to wipe out the barbarians of this world.
Still, the Imperial strategists aboard the fleet put forth the following considerations before battle was joined. They judged the fleet of the Holy Milishial Empire as the greatest threat to their forces. While the presence of an SDF naval squadron in the upcoming battle was hinted upon, consensus eventually discarded them as being unable to turn the battle given their small numbers and their deployments elsewhere. Nevertheless, strategists aboard the Combined Fleet resolved to agree on a single plan: prevent the junction of the fleets of the World Union with those of the Holy Mishial Empire, and using local superiority crush the Holy Milishial Empire's fleet before the World Union was able to intervene and come to its aid. Once the fleets of the Holy Milishial Empire were defeated, the Combined Fleet was to turn its undivided attention to the World Union, using the superior mobility and firepower of their individual ships to engage the forces of the Union in piecemeal engagements designed to sap them of their numerical strength.
It was a good plan given the circumstances and their capabilities. The Imperials decided to put it to work immediately.
Upon a signal from the commander of the Combined Fleet, a squadron of Antares fighters were launched in order to maintain a standing barrier combat air patrol (BARCAP), with another was dispersed and sent to perform reconnaissance operations to seek out elements of either the fleets of the Holy Milishial Empire or the World Union. Submarines from the 1st and 3rd Submarine Fleets were ordered to maintain stations one to two hundred miles away from the Combined Fleet, ready to commence havoc on forward elements of the World Union fleet or to ravage their logistical support.
Both the Combined Fleet on one hand and the fleets of the Holy Milishial Empire, the World Union, and Japan on the other were now engaged in a deadly game of hide-and-seek, over an ocean battlefield roughly a million square miles wide. The losers died.
Aboard the Kirishima, a comms officer called out, "We've established a connection with the ASDF. Captain, we've found their fleet!"
Captain Tamuramaro, captain of the Kirishima and commander of the squadron, moved to look at the radar screen. Lieutenant-Commander Nakashima, Tamuramura's executive officer (XO), and the liaison from Mu, Lieutenant Degarmo, followed close behind. Their own radar had been picking up Mu scout planes and the Holy Milishial Empire's fleets to the southwest, but they hadn't picked up anything from the enemy surface fleet.
The enemy's forward elements turned out to be a little less than 300 km ahead of the squadron. While the Japanese destroyers would be able to detect them, the ASDF had better eyes in the sky, and were all but invulnerable to Imperial attack. They were going to have to depend on the ASDF for eyes in this fight.
"No abnormally large contacts either," Captain Tamuramaro observed. The previous day, all JSDF officers deployed to Mu had been ordered to attend an emergency briefing from the Ministry of Defense back home. They'd observed a 'giant circular armed aircraft' taking off from the Holy Milishial Empire and heading west by satellite, almost certainly to take part in this battle. The MoD wanted all JSDF forces to keep an eye out for this mysterious aircraft and document it as much as possible.
"No sir." The sailor at the station almost certainly had no idea what he was talking about, but they wouldn't blink twice at something unusual on radar. They were already traveling with wooden warships and wyverns, and nothing could surprise them anymore.
"Estimated approximately one hundred and eight surface contacts, two dozen or so fighters providing BARCAP." Every other ship in the squadron was getting this information too.
"That's certainly a huge number of ships."
Tamuramaro was careful to not show any of his concern to his subordinates, and "huge number" was the understatement of the day. The MSDF faced thousands of ships during the 'anti-terrorist' operations in Rodenius, and the 6th Escort Squadron had even participated in the Great Naval Battle of Esthirant, a massive engagement against six hundred gunboats of the formerly aggressive Parpaldia Empire.
However, this enemy was far more advanced, even though it was technologically still inferior. Japan won its battles in this new world using naval gunnery, a method that was outdated in their world yet is considered as highly advanced in this one. Unfortunately, the Gra Valkas Empire was on a level of technology comparable to those enjoyed by the major participants of the Second World War, an era where naval gunnery and naval air operations were simultaneously at its infancy and its peak.
The forward guns on the JMSDF's destroyers were certainly more advanced as far as accuracy and fire rate went, but the Gra Valkas Empire had guns that were larger and were more numerous. If it came to a knife fight, the squadron would be hurting in more ways than one. For a wild moment, Captain Tamuramaro found it perversely humorous being placed in a position similar to the screen commander of Task Force 77.4.3 during the naval engagement off the coast of Samar during the Second World War, facing down a significantly huge and well-armed fleet with no rescue in sight. At least he had eyes in the sky this time, as well as a technological edge that he hoped would be enough to keep the Imperials at arm's length.
As if reading his thoughts, his XO remarked, "That's slightly smaller than the US fleet in Leyte Gulf."
"And most of those are probably destroyers,"
Tamuramaro remembered the lessons relearned from study sessions and reviews of naval tactics during the Second World War in preparation for a possible conflict with the Empire. Individual Imperial destroyers wouldn't be much of a threat, but the sheer weight of their numbers were. Their battleships and cruisers made gun battles extremely risky propositions. Sure, the squadron was equipped with anti-ship missiles, but Captain Tamuramura realized that he would run out of missiles faster than he could sink ships.
It was also the same with anti-air defenses. Imperial carriers, all nine of them, carried an air complement that could overwhelm his missile defenses. While simulations judged his CIWS effective in shooting down propeller-driven aircraft, especially dive bombers, the sheer number of them made everyone in the squadron leery enough not to put the theory to test.
They weren't alone, the Japanese knew that. Even if Mu was the only 'official' ally they had in this fight, the fleets of the World Union were steaming right beside them. The Holy Milishial Empire had also deployed over a hundred sci-fi-esque ships in a separate fleet and even left thirteen with the World Union. Then there were those massive flying aircraft MoD detected earlier. Captain Tamuramaro privately welcomed the thought of being on the sidelines while the Imperials and the World Union fought each other to the death.
Nevertheless, seeing and fighting against ships resembling their own from decades past was like seeing themselves in a mirror darkly. There was something supremely unnerving about watching masses of enemies charge to their death against you, preferring death in battle than dishonor in retreat. Was it like this with their ancestors in the Imperial Army and Navy during the Second World War? Tamuramaro felt an urge to grab the Empire's leaders by the ear and to try and shake some sense into them. Not just them, but the World Union too. These same kinds of outdated ships had been helplessly swept aside once, did they not realize it would happen again?
Nevertheless, both sides were determined to fight, out of pride far more than good sense. That was the norm of this world, and Japan had to play by the rules or be swept aside. Captain Tamuramura set those thoughts aside and focused on the battle about to erupt in front of them.
XO Nakashima brought up an important point, "The ASDF found their surface fleet, but there's probably submarines too. If we're this close to their surface fleet, their submarines are probably closer."
"Send orders to the Takanami and Onami to prepare their Seahawks for launch. I want a ring of sonobuoys deployed all around us and the World Union fleet, up to a distance of 120 km."
Captain Tamuramura noted that 120 km was within anti-air missile range, and short of any unknown air contact they'd seen this meant that his helicopters should be safe. He turned to the Mu liaison and said, "Please inform the ah… scouts in the fleet that we're launching our own aircraft." It would be a fine mess if one of Mu's biplanes or a World Union wyvern tried to attack their helicopters.
"Of course," the Mu liaison replied after a moment; he'd been seemingly mesmerized by the displays. "I'll inform them of the enemy's location too."
He took a step then turned back to Captain Tamuramura. "Submarines are ships that hide underwater, correct?" The captain nodded. The liaison nodded in reply, a look of concern in his face. "I'll inform the World Union as well," he added before leaving.
A few minutes later, the SH-60Ks were taking off, each loaded with twenty-five sonobuoys. They flew north together, but one would soon turn west to start deploying its cargo in that direction. The first one was deployed 30 km northeast of the squadron, and data was soon being transmitted back to the ships. Slowly, Japan's detection net was starting to take shape.
Back in the skies above the Nigrat Union, the crews in the E-2C and YS-11B continued their surveillance missions while maintaining constant contact with the 6th Escort Squadron. The YS-11B had already found a way into the Combined Fleet's radio transmissions and were able to listen in on the lines themselves due to weak encryption and some modifications the recon aircraft had gotten before deploying. They hadn't heard anything that signaled an incoming attack, but they were listening for cues all the same.
They'd also noticed that not all of the Imperial warships were emitting radar, and that most of the radar systems the Combined Fleet had were in the fleet's larger ships. It was a godsend to the crews in the planes and the ships, because it made marking those prime targets for anti-ship missiles easier, to say nothing of the chaos that would ensue if enemy command was taken out early in the battle.
All of this was happening while nearly a dozen nations edged towards a collision to determine the fate of the world.