Southwest of the World Union Fleet was the Holy Milishial Empire's Combined Fleet, made up of its 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Magic Fleets. 108 ships in all including six battleships and six aircraft carriers. The Mithril-class battleship Caledwolf from the 1st Magic Fleet was serving as the flagship for the entire Combined Fleet. Onboard was Lettal Kauran, the Milishial officer selected to lead this unprecedented combination of their Empire's magical military might.
"Commander, a message from our Local Fleet attached to the World Union." A magical technician got his attention. "They say the country of Japan has located the main body of the Gra Valkas Empire's fleet." He rattled off some coordinates just over 300km ahead. "They say it has…180 ships!"
"Japan found it?" Commander Kauran asked. "How?" Those Gra Valkan barbarians were humans with barely any magical energy using mechanical technology, so the Milishials own proudly developed Magical Detection Radar had trouble picking up any of their ships or aircrafts. The most they could expect was a very faint return if enough humans were clumped together, which was really only their largest ships or mass formations of planes. It meant the Milishials had to rely on primitive visual means, which was why they'd launched Floating Ships of the Heavens (their term for planes) to scout for the enemy.
He didn't know Japan's technology level; he just knew they'd defeated Parpaldia, a country with technology equivalent or slightly subpar to the many First and Second Civilization nations that were part of the World Union. How could they possibly pick up the Gra Valkas?
The technician checked the communication again. "It doesn't say. But the World Union has changed its heading to match with the report. They're debating mobilizing wyverns from the continent."
"Hmm…" Commander Kauran was skeptical of the accuracy of that, but it could be useful to follow up. "Contact our units out on recon. Tell them to check those coordinates." He ordered. While that was being carried out by his subordinates, he spoke with the ship's Captain, Tagus. "What do you make of the reported number of ships?"
"They are more than our own, but far less than our total forces if we count the World Union." The other officer stated. Commander Kauran nodded along; the World Union may have made up most of the World Union numerically, but the HME made up over 90% of the alliance's total firepower. "The Ministry of Defense said their battleships are nearly equivalent to ours. But I'm certain we've deployed as many of them." Each of the three fleets in their combined fleet had two battleships, totaling six in all. The Local Forces flotilla they'd sent to accompany the World Union had three older models of battleship, so the total was actually nine.
"Exactly." He praised the other officer. "And this time, those barbarians don't have the benefit of surprise." That was the only reason they'd inflicted so much damage on the Zeroth Fleet and their forces at the World Conference. "This time, they have to face us in open combat, where we'll come out on top. And since they'll have to divert forces to face the World Union, they may not outnumber us after all."
"Sir, our recon planes are low on magic fuel, but they'll launch another one as soon as possible." The technician updated him.
"Good." Kauran acknowledged. Whether or not they were really there, the hour was fast approaching where the Holy Milishial Empire would recover its prestige after two black eyes. Very soon.
Back at the ASDF's base, in its command room, the Japanese officers, also accompanied by a Mu Army officer and even some from the Nigrat Union, were gathered to go over the data their AWACS had already captured. Western Air Defense Force, the command from which the participating squadrons had been drawn, Colonel Yuudai addressed the men and women: his staff, the squadron commanders, and the GSDF commander for their security garrison. Also present was Mitsugi, a civilian executive from the Japanese Ministry of Defense.
"It's a substantial force." He told them. Everyone looked tense, but there were hints of anticipation too. "And I'm sure all you know our options are currency somewhat limited."
Limited was right. Considering this base had been set up in just under a month, they should be grateful it exists at all. Mu had experience and equipment from expanding its civilian airports to facilitate trade with Japan, which had allowed them to expand this one so fast. When the first Japanese technicians arrived, they were primarily concerned with setting up the radar. The GSDF and ASDF personnel started arriving only two weeks ago, and the planes themselves had only arrived less than a week ago. Once the runway had been sufficiently expanded and fuel tanks installed (with jet fuel trucked in directly from Mu), JASDF transport planes and even contracted civilian aircraft had been carrying in supplies.
Included in that supplies were only 72 anti-ship missiles, a small amount next to the hundreds of air-to-air missiles the base had already gotten. More were in transit at this moment, but it'd be later in the day and even tomorrow before they arrived. That timetable hadn't been so problematic when they set it up. The World Union wasn't expected to reach Leifor's maritime border for another couple of days.
The enemy had caught them off guard, although not dreadfully so. This airfield, one of several in the Nigrat Union, was chosen specifically because it was one of the most northern; Leifor's maritime border was less than 1000km to the northwest. In theory, the ASDF could assist a breakthrough if there were forces there. According to satellite intelligence, there currently was. That had been the original plan: send the SDF to help the World Union break through a Gra Valkan blockade and go home while they did the rest of the work.
But this enemy was so aggressive and so cocksure of themselves, they'd come far south to interdict them off the coast of the Nigrat Union. At this very moment, the enemy was actually south of the ASDF. Did they have enough anti-ship munitions to do this? The worry never went away.
Colonel Yuudai was also aware that the World Union would theoretically shoulder part of the battle, but as far as he could see, that was just wyverns. He wasn't optimistic about their chances.
"But we absolutely cannot let any more Japanese people be harmed." He stressed. "Priority should be given to the largest warships. Based on our analysis, they're the most dangerous to our countrymen in the MSDF." Colonel Yuudai dwelled on the best plan of attack. "Analysis of their doctrines means they will almost certainly attack with aircraft once they find the location of our ships. We have to prevent that if we can."
Despite the tech advantage, the unease never went away even the colonel didn't show it. Two consecutive wars had taught the SDF that being outgunned would not always persuade an enemy to stop. And could they safely stop an enemy of this caliber if they chose to be as hardheaded? And even if they could, there was no joy to be found in something like this. It was their duty, yes, but that didn't detract from the natural feelings of guilt for ending human life. But this was war-kill or be killed-and survival would always trump morality.
"We cannot allow any more Japanese to be harmed." He repeated to his subordinates, to remind them and maybe even himself about the necessity of this.
"The sky is getting crowded." Captain Tamuramaro observed. Now that the entire World Union knew where the Gra Valkas Empire's fleet was, all biplanes and wyverns on scouting and patrol had started concentrating ahead of the fleet, which had appropriately changed its heading.
Originally, the World Union had been preparing a massive aerial assault, one that would see all 500 wyverns from the continent, all four of the Nigrat Union's wyvern carriers, and most of Mu's carrier biplanes attacking en masse. In their minds, such overwhelming numbers would probably leave nothing left of the enemy. Captain Tamuramaro had urged them to hold off, explaining that Japan's planes were preparing their own surprise strike and that the airspace above the Gra Valkas fleet would be extremely dangerous.
Besides, such an attack would undoubtedly result in tremendous losses.
He didn't think his chances were good, but then the commander of Mu's task force had agreed to hold off. Just like that, the rest of the World Union had agreed as well, much to the Japanese's relief. Mu's word carried a lot of weight in this coalition, despite only being the second strongest Superpower. Besides, Japan had started to build its own mystique, first by collapsing the superpower Parpaldia Empire and by its incredible showing at the World Conference. The other nations were curious as to what it could and would do.
That just left the MSDF waiting and watching for submarines while the ASDF on land was arming and briefing for a strike on the enemy fleet. The maritime officers expected it to be a rude surprise for the enemy, being attacked suddenly and without warning. The second part was especially gratifying. While it was in the Japanese mindset to try and talk down their enemy before sending them to the afterlife-even in the field-the briefings before departure had made it abundantly clear that wasn't to be expected of them while they were on this side of the continent. The enemy had already declared war. They'd already fired upon Japanese ships twice and taken Japanese lives. They'd chosen their path.
This discretion proved useful soon after.
The crews in both the ASDF and MSDF were monitoring all air contacts by hand, since this was a world without IFF. Japanese software had been upgraded and was familiar enough that it could discern and correctly label wyverns, but it couldn't discern their allegiance. Every aerial blip on the radar was reported as a bogey-unidentified. But since the position of each fleet was locked in and they knew for certain the only wyverns were friendly; it was very easy to determine which planes were likely threats.
So, when the E-2C noticed a bogey from the Gra Valkas fleet on a dangerous heading towards the World Union, everyone was soon aware. The Japanese prepared for anti-air combat. All ships were primarily armed with ESSMs (RIM-162 Sea Sparrow Missiles), a short-range surface to air missile with a range of 50km. The Kirishima, being an AEGIS ship, was also equipped with three dozen SM-2 Standard missiles, a much more powerful SAM with a range of over 100km. Once the enemy got into range, they were locked on and ready to fire if it came too close. The ASDF was preparing its strike but immediately offered to suspend it to provide air cover. Captain Tamuramaro turned it down.
But Lieutenant Degarmo had obviously reported the sighting to his own fleet, and soon the entire World Union knew. Many of the biplanes and wyverns ahead were suddenly sent chasing after the contact. The Japanese knew they had very little chance against it, but the sheer number might scare off the lone plane. But if it escaped and reported back, then the enemy would still have a general idea where they were. Escort Squadron 6 strongly preferred that that didn't happen.
"Initiate electronic warfare. Jam the enemy's communications and watch for an opening to splash it. Use the gun if you can, but missiles if necessary." Tamuramaro ordered, then quickly as an aside to Mu's liaison. "The radios on your ships will stop working temporarily. Tell your people to use manacomms." Mu's ships were equipped with both, although they pretty much exclusively used radios to communicate between each other. With so many friendly planes and wyverns in the sky now, firing off a missile carried just enough risk to keep them from doing it. Part of him was annoyed, but he couldn't complain about it now. Given the enemy plane's superior capabilities to the rest of the World Union, it was likely to put enough distance between it and them that the Japanese could fire without fear of blue on blue. Until then, making sure they weren't found out was the best they could do.
The Gra Valkan plane easily evaded the patrols and headed directly for the fleet. The move was bold and made the Japanese officers wonder just a little if the pilot's radio really was out. The enemy pilot had in fact noticed, but he was so confident in his machine and slipping past that he still thought he could find the World Union and escape. And find it he did.
The Japanese watched through binoculars. As it passed over the thirteen ships from the Holy Milishial Empire leading the fleet, bright flashes of color shot up into the sky from their magic anti-aircraft cannons. The solid but colorful projectiles missed entirely. A similar display from the purely mechanical guns of Mu's 50 ship task force was just as ineffective, although the fire rate was noticeably higher from some ships. Even the wooden warships in the fleet tried. Ballista bolts were fired straight up into the sky. Mages on the decks of their ships unleashed fireballs where they thought the enemy would be. These were countermeasures meant for wyverns, and even against its intended target they were often inadequate. Against a mechanical monoplane, they were even less effective. The Gra Valkas plane dodged everything the World Union threw at it and continued flying above them, mocking them with its mere existence.
"It really does look like a Zero." XO Nakashima remarked. The captain made a noise of acknowledgement with his throat. They'd been briefed. They'd seen the pictures. But seeing it firsthand was different. Though the Gra Valkas themselves were more European in appearance, all their military equipment really did look like old Imperial Japanese equipment, although the MoD had been quick to condition that it had a slightly better performance; the Gra Valkas Empire's manufacturing and electrical capabilities were more on par with the late war US than their own country. It was still incredibly uncanny.
"It's coming this way!" A lookout warned. Everyone tensed up. After having his fill of the World Union's composition, the scout decided he'd see what the four ships traveling slightly apart from it were and then hurry back to report. From their outward appearance, he originally thought they might be more Milishial ships. Then his balls almost shot up into his stomach when he could finally make out the flags. Those ships were Japanese. The Navy Air Service had been warned specifically about those. More determined to fulfill his mission than actually scared, he abruptly turned back north and increased the throttle, pushing his Antaras fighter as fast as it could go.
He was too late.
"Firing!" The Kirishima's cannon barked once, ejecting a single shell casing out onto the deck. The entire tail of the Antaras fighter suddenly evaporated, and the plane lost all its aerodynamic grace. The hit didn't kill the pilot, although he experienced the horrible sensation of being on fire for a few short seconds before his plane nose dived into the ocean. That killed him. "Target down." The CIC reported mechanically.
"Check in with the ASDF. Make sure the enemy didn't transmit a warning." The response was quick to arrive: they hadn't. The World Union Fleet was still hidden. Even better, the strike on the Gra Valkan fleet was about to commence.
"That was incredible." A Mu staff officer spoke the thought on all their minds. On the bridge of Mu's flagship, the La-Kasami class battleship La Erdo, all the command staff were still looking at where the enemy had crashed.
"It was." The commander of Mu's task force, Rayder, agreed. He'd read the reports when the Gra Valkas attacked the Leadership Conference. While the city of Cartalpas had been bombed, most of the combat had been while the ships of the various delegation escort fleets had been trying to escape from port through the strait into open sea. He'd read of Japan's cruiser taking down plane after plane despite being armed with only a single autocanon, but he'd been slightly skeptical of it. Not anymore. His brow furled.
"Is something wrong, commander?" Another staff officer asked.
"Yes." Rayder waved up. "We missed the enemy entirely!" They all shrunk. The fact that their Marins, their country's most advanced biplane yet, hadn't been able to stop the enemy wounded their pride. That the enemy plane had danced in the skies almost directly above their fleet with impunity was like a slap in the face.
"The enemy was flying high." The captain of the battleship, Tenal, bravely answered. "Against planes actively attacking, we'd have much better success."
"Not my point." Admiral Rayder shook his head, confusing his countrymen. "Those are our newest anti-aircraft guns." All four La-Kasami class battleships dispatched with the task force had had the same upgrade applied before leaving: several new 20mm anti-aircraft cannons, all recently developed with knowledge gleamed from Japanese books. They were certainly superior to their older models of anti-aircraft guns, which were still mounted on the rest of the task force. "We fired hundreds of shots and missed. Japan fired one shot and hit the enemy. I'm wondering how."
None of them answered, because none of them knew. The difference was computerized fire control, something far ahead of the pre-dreadnought designs the La-Kasami class battleships most resembled. Almost all of Japan's power was beyond their comprehension, but the country was indeed powerful. That would make anyone weary, ally or not.
"Huh." Captain Lerjen, captain of the Mercury-class battleship Vegalta and leader of the Milishial force attached to the World Union, could only manage that response.
"Sir?" His XO asked.
"They used their cannon to hit a moving aircraft."
"We saw that too, sir." His XO said uncertainly. Captain Lerjen snapped out of his stupor and reimposed himself.
"Have you forgotten your education already?!" He snapped. "That's only possible with extremely powerful fire correction magic. The Holy Milishial Empire was the apex magical civilization in the New World, a position it gained by excavating and reverse engineering the remnants of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire that once ruled the entire known world. Given, the Light Winged People of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire were far more gifted in magic than any race in the New World, even the elves that made up most of the Holy Milishial Empire's population. That meant the copies were inferior to what they were derived from, but even an inferior copy was vastly more powerful than what most nations naturally developed.
"That's something we only just started using ourselves!" The captain continued. "So how do they have it?" The Milishials had made great strides over the centuries, but there was still a lot they had yet to crack. Things that they knew what they did but couldn't explain how let alone replicate it. In time, they believed they could uncover all the secrets of the Light Winged People.
Which was especially imperative, since legend warned they would one day return to subjugate the world again.
"I…don't know, sir." The XO said hesitantly. "Isn't Japan a mechanical nation?"
"So they say. Just like Mu. Just like these Gra Valkans…" Like any Milishial, Lerjen thought that technology couldn't possibly overcome magic. But in the last few decades, Mu had used technology to become the 2nd most powerful Superpower, right behind them. It couldn't surpass magic, but it could close the gap considerably. But now the Gra Valkas and Japan, both only recently transferred to this world, were using technology that put them unbelievably close to the heights the Holy Milishial Empire had already managed to reach with magic.
It was wrong. It was unnatural. It went against the perception of nearly the entire world. There was national prestige and security on the line for the Holy Milishial Empire in this battle, certainly, but it was also about the superiority of a magical civilization.
Even if they drove the Gra Valkans away, which the captain was still absolutely certain would be the outcome, that conflict between magical and non-magical civilizations wouldn't be so easily resolved. And that, in its own way, was scary.
"That's it?" Caesar asked.
"Yes, sir." The officer in charge of the communications section confirmed. The Combined Fleet's commander's face was deep set. One of the carriers had just transmitted some communication logs to the flagship about a scout plane coming into contact with the enemy. The radio on an Antaras fighter only had a maximum range of about 150km in the best weather conditions. This particular Antaras had been about 230km southeast of the Combined Fleet and had communicated with another scout plane further back that had passed on the report back to their carrier.
The logs were short and ended abruptly. The Antaras fighter had been on a heading of 1-3-6 and spotted wyverns and biplanes approaching it from a slightly southwestern direction. It easily slipped past them and followed the heading they'd come from, firmly believing the enemy fleet would be there. After that, nothing. The other Antaras had waited for several minutes, even flying further south on the off chance the other plane had dipped out of range, but nothing was transmitted again before the other pilot gave up and returned north to report. Transcribed as they were, this report that they had just received meant a scout plane had disappeared nearly half an hour ago after spotting the enemy. The explanation with the highest probability was that it had been shot down.
His staff intelligence officer vocalized the thoughts going through all their heads. "The pilot reported wyverns and biplanes, which means it had to be the World Union Fleet. We know the Milishial Fleet isn't traveling with them, and their planes are the only ones that can stand up to ours. So it had to have been shot down by a ship.
"A Japanese ship." Caesar finished the thought. "Captain Luxtal, do you think that's the case?" Instead of his staff, he asked the opinion of the Grade Atlaster's captain. The attack on the Leadership Conference had been carried out by planes, but the superdreadnought they were all standing on had been responsible for blockading the strait leading into the port, and it had sunk several of the ships that day as they tried to escape, including the Japanese cruiser. The Fleet Commander and his staff had read the reports, but the other man had first hand experience, something far more trustworthy.
"It probably is." The officer confirmed. "The Japanese cruiser shot down several planes with short, controlled bursts of fire. It was very accurate." Luxtal had dutifully filed the after-action report after the battle and returned to his primary concern of commanding his battleship. What happened to the report after that, and whether or not anyone else in the Navy believed it, was beyond his purview. "For one ship armed with only a single autocannon, its anti-air abilities were comparable to a destroyer squadron with proximity fuses."
"Hmm. Anything else?"
"Just an uneasy gut feeling. I've had it since sunrise. Call it a sailor's intuition."
"Uneasy feeling, huh?" Caesar knew what the captain meant. "As you were." Caesar and his staff retreated to their maps with the communication logs to plan.
"Based on the headings, we can reasonably assume the World Union is around…here." One plotted.
"Probably so close to shore so they can have air support." Another commented.
"Far away from both of our submarine fleets as well." Caesar made his own observation. "Order the 1st Submarine Fleet to move 90km to the east. That should put them in a good position to intercept. We can strike with them and a surface group first. We can save more airframes to use against the Milishials. They are still the primary threat here." He reminded everyone. Unlike Japan's undergunned ships, Milishial ships did have the firepower to go toe to toe with the Imperial Navy.
In the future, the next moment would be regarded by Gra Valkan historians as the moment their country lost the Great Naval Battle of Baltica. The same scholars would widely debate on how the Empire could've won instead, but all pretty much agreed the next moment was when fate irrecoverably changed.
"Report from Destroyer Squadron 3! Single unidentified aircraft approaching from the southwest!" When that report came in, Caesar and his staff stopped debating, and only the issue to redeploy the 1st Submarine Fleet would ever be made. This had their full attention now.
"What's its speed?" Caesar demanded, although he suspected he already knew the answer. If the World Union was to their southeast, then there could only be one answer to who was coming from the southwest.
"Over 400km/h."
"One of the Milishial planes." A staff officer stated.
"It is." Caesar was confident. It might have gotten a report from the rest of the World Union, but they could still keep it from pinpointing their exact location. "Redirect our planes on patrol to shoot it down. Redeploy all scouts on that heading. Is the 1st Attack Wave still ready?"
"Yes, Admiral. By the time the Milishials realize their plane is gone, ours will be upon them."
"Excellent." The assembled officers shared a smile of those contemplating the misfortune of their enemy.
While two of the Combined Fleet's carriers were handling overhead patrols and scouting, the other seven had fighters, dive-bombers, and torpedo-bombers sitting on the flight deck already fueled and armed. The intention had been that as soon as a scout found either the World Union or Milishial fleets, an attack could immediately be launched. Keeping armed and fueled planes on top of the carrier was risky, but it was not abnormal in war. Besides, all the carriers were surrounded for dozens of kilometers by ships carrying anti-air cannons and their Empire's wonderful proximity fuses. A ring of fighters extended the range of protection even further. As far as their understanding of warfare went, nothing could threaten the carriers.
The Gra Valkas Empire was not from this world, or from the one Japan had come from; its history, culture, and norms were completely different from either. But it had the concept of hubris, which might as well have been a universal trait across all worlds. Maybe remembering that could've been the one thing that turned Baltica into anything but a crushing defeat.
"New radar contacts from the east. Twelve aircraft." Caesar and his staff didn't immediately react. Twelve was the typical formation for wyvern squadrons in this world, and they knew the World Union was in that general area. Wyverns weren't particularly threatening to steel warships. "Speed, uh," the sailor momentarily lost his concentration. "Speed reported at 1,100km/h!"
"What?" That got the senior officers' attention.
"No, wait." They thought the sailor was about to correct those absurd numbers, but he didn't. "Ten more aircraft, also 1,100km/h."
"Impossible." A staff officer muttered. No aircraft could go that fast. Their own Antares fighters could reach a max speed of 550km/h, but that was unsustainable. 1000km/h was faster than the speed of sound. In their own thinking, no aircraft could ever reach those speeds since the propeller would hit the limit before the rest of the plane.
"Are those speeds correct? Verify now!" Caesar ordered. Gra Valkas anti-air radar only had a maximum range of 200km. At speeds like that, any aircraft-or whatever could go that fast-would be above them in only ten minutes. That was an extremely tight timeframe to intercept.
"We can see them on our radar!" Captain Luxtal called. "Ten of them just disappeared, but the first twelve are still there." Caesar looked for himself. There were twelve blips approaching unbelievably fast.
"Topez squadron, you're near the launching point." The ten contacts that had disappeared off the Gra Valkas radar were the ten F-2As, which had dropped their altitude to near sea level where even a modern radar system would struggle to pick them up. The F-15Js were flying ahead and higher in the sky, purposely tempting the enemy to notice them.
"Topez 1, copy. Arming ASMs." Under each plane were four ASM-2 anti-ship missiles. With the combined intelligence and the AWACS' guidance, all forty missiles had a separate and deliberate target, arranged to inflict the most destruction and disruption the ASDF could manage with only a single sortie. The F-15Js above were each armed with four medium ranged radar guided missiles and two short ranged heatseekers. The Japanese had noticed the Milishial plane (that pilot would never realize how lucky he was), but didn't want to call the operation off, so they instructed the fighters to limit BVR attacks to targets east of the fleet and to visually confirm all others. But that was fine to them.
"All planes, engage!" In an instant, the sky was suddenly filled with missiles. All forty ASM-2s dropped and rocketed ahead as the F-2As pulled up and banked away. Nine AAM-4 missiles were fired from the F-15Js at the only enemy planes that hadn't been redirected to keep the Milishial scout away. They decreased their speed but did not turn away; they still had a lot to do in this airspace.
It was hard to defend against what you couldn't comprehend. The Gra Valkas Empire could be blamed for starting this war, but the sailors in the Combined Fleet could not be blamed for being unable to prevent their deaths.
All the anti-air crews and most of the deck lookouts were looking up at the sky for the incoming superfast aircraft. As far as they knew and as far as they'd been trained, a plane could only attack you by coming directly at you. When they witnessed their own fighters on patrol 30km east of the Combined Fleet suddenly disappear from radar, their eyesight focused even more. Only a couple of lookouts were still looking at the surface of the sea, covering all their bases even though radar was telling them the enemy was at a higher altitude. Only a few of those few even noticed the fast-moving objects.
It took several seconds for those lookouts to radio that they'd seen something, and several seconds more for ship commanders to receive the report, and even more seconds for the anti-air gunners to be told. It was less than a minute in all cases, less than 20 seconds even for the sharpest of crews, but it was still too slow to react. Several of the missiles passed by the outermost ships of the Combined Fleet as a blink and you'll miss it blur. A few bursts of anti-air cannon and machine gun fire were let off, hitting nothing but quickly alerting every ship that something was wrong now.
Then a light cruiser exploded. Light cruisers had a degree of armor, but they weren't built for heavy slugging matches. Their primary roles were scouting, anti-air, and acting as the command ship for destroyer squadrons. The Gra Valkas Empire was more technologically advanced than the old Japanese Imperial Navy, but not completely; only about 20% of its active destroyers had been refitted with radar, although a new class being approved back on the mainland would have radar as built. For a lot of the destroyers on the front line though, they still relied on light cruisers to provide radar information so they could fulfill their role as an anti-air screen. All that radar and radio traffic had caused Japan to zero in and target those cruisers, and against a missile with a warhead rivaling the explosive power of a battleship's main armament, it was no surprise the top half was blown away.
Most of the missiles bypassed the outer edges of the Combined Fleet, but some would instead target the light cruisers in their path. When they popped up and began their dive on the unfortunate warships, the crews had more time to spot and fire on them. It didn't help, and one after another light cruisers were set aflame. The rest of the missiles penetrated deeper into the Combined Fleet, using their active radar homing to weave through the carefully planned formations and sporadic anti-air fire in an almost graceful manner until they reached the center of the fleet and the best targets: the heavy cruisers, the battleships, and the aircraft carriers.
The true nightmare began here.
The first ship hit was one of the Empire's Hercules-class battleships, which strongly resembled the old Japanese Nagato-class. Battleships were built for slugging matches and appropriately fitted with armor as much as 300mm thick in some places. Against an anti-ship missile, designed against warships with little armor but powerful interception systems instead, it would normally stand a good chance. Unfortunately for them, Japan had realized that too. Japanese satellites had observed Gra Valkas ships long before the Empire made the decision to wage a war against the world, and they noted their capabilities and made plans to overcome them if it proved necessary. In the eight months since the Shikishima had been sunk, they'd implemented them: These ASM-2s were fitted with an armor piercing warhead.
With that benefit, the missile penetrated through the battleship's deck and exploded inside, knocking three of its ten boilers out of action, rocking the entire ship and causing its speed to rapidly decrease. But it was at no risk of sinking. Even with anti-armor warheads, battleships were incredibly tough. Other battleships were hit, but only one would actually end up sinking.
Another Hercules-class had its bridge destroyed, not significantly impacting its speed or firepower but destroying its chain of command and rendering it combat ineffective for several minutes. An Orion-class battleship, very similar to the Japanese Kongo-class battlecruisers, had a missile penetrate and explode in fore section of its hull, causing a concerning amount of flooding and causing it to reduce its speed too. The only actual battleship to be destroyed was another Orion-class-the missile penetrated the deck and exploded right next to the first aft twin 356mm main turret. The explosion wrecked the ammunition elevator and, despite the crew's best efforts, the fire set off the turret's ammunition storage several minutes later, creating a massive explosion that tore the battleship apart from within.
The last battleship to be hit was the Grade Atlaster, and the flagship ended up suffering the least damage of the five. The missiles hit and detonated against one of the port side anti-aircraft cannons with the resulting explosion taking out other anti-air cannons and machine guns but causing no damage to the inside of the ship. The blast was still big enough to make everyone on the bridge stumble.
That stumble tore Caesar away from his binoculars. When the attack reports came in, he'd tried to locate the attacking planes himself, but all he could see was his own ships suddenly being engulfed by explosions. He hadn't even noticed the missile that hit the Grade Atlaster. After a full minute of explosions going off one after another and the boom of anti-aircraft fire, it was relatively quiet again. Whatever rapid attack that was seemed to have ceased.
"Get me a damage report! How many of our ships were hit?" He'd personally seen the other four battleships take a hit, and at least a few of the light cruisers further out.
"T-the carriers were hit!" A radio operator cried.
"How many?" But Caesar had misunderstood.
"All of them!"
"What?!"
The report wasn't wrong. Japan had marked all nine carriers for death. Some missiles plunged into the light cruisers guarding them, others rose and dived directly into the flight deck of all nine carriers. It was worse for the ones that had planes on them. All the carriers had wooden flight decks, and whether the missile pierced those or triggered when it hit a plane sitting on top directly, their explosive power always triggered a domino effect.
The fighters were armed with 20mm cannon shells, the dive-bombers two 60kg bombs or one 250kg bomb, and the torpedo-bombers with 800kg torpedos. All were topped with fuel. The exploding missiles set all of them off, and more explosions followed as any plane blowing up triggered the ones closest to it. Some planes were knocked overboard before exploding, directing the heat and force against the carriers' hulls. Others were shoved forward by shockwaves before exploding, spreading burning fuel and wreckage over even more of the flight decks. Crew and pilots running to their fighters were incinerated, while those further away were flung by shockwaves over the side and into the ocean. The force was enough to knock over the superstructure on some of the carriers. In just 28 seconds, all nine fleet carriers were covered in flames.
Then they started to explode one by one. Whether it was the missiles that pierced the deck, or the explosive force of the planes being directed downwards, flames managed to reach the hangers within, and all the fuel and ammunition stored for the carriers' squadrons. No amount of damage control or firefighting could've kept them away. Those chain reactions created a massive fireball that the hulls couldn't contain. The carriers erupted like volcanos, massive pillars of flames starting from the bowels and flying high into the sky.
Sailors and officers on the surrounding ships couldn't believe what they were seeing. The greenest among them froze. Others shouted or swore in shock, fear, and anger. Nine whole fleet carriers, massive investments of time and resources. Thousands of their fellow sailors, expertly trained and experienced. Hundreds of battle tested airframes, engineered by the finest scientific minds in the Empire. Hundreds of human pilots, bombardiers, and radio operators, veterans of countless battles in the New World and their old world of Yggdra that had brought the Empire continued security, prosperity, and expansion. It was all on fire and now started to sink beneath the waves right in front of their eyes.
It happened in front of Caesar's eyes too. The Combined Fleet's commander had come out onto an open section of the bridge to get a better view of his entire fleet, just in time to see his entire carrier force start to sink. He'd risen the ranks to be the Eastern Fleet commander and become hailed as one of the Empire's three "Great Generals" through years of experience and victories in the old world against their rival for world domination the Kain Divine Kingdom. He'd seen ships take damage and sink. He'd seen men and women die. He'd witnessed ships and even whole fleets win battles so ravaged by fire they took years to repair. He'd been fooled before. He'd suffered losses before.
But absolutely nothing Caesar had ever seen could compare to the scale and quickness of devastation he was witnessing here. The Empire had seen plenty of strange and unknown things since its transfer, but nothing this destructive. Caesar immediately knew that if they couldn't figure out what this was and develop countermeasures, then all their plans moving forward would be in jeopardy.
Anti-aircraft fire started erupting from the surrounding ships, scattered by growing in intensity. Caesar pulled away from his binoculars to look up. There, almost directly above them, an aircraft that wasn't their own flew circles over the center of the fleet. From a distance, he could immediately tell it was flying faster at a casual speed than an Antaras could at max throttle. It was also far more maneuverable.
Caeser lifted his binoculars to try and get a better look at the high spec aircraft, struggling to focus his sight on it for more than a glance. He quickly realized it didn't have a propeller. Could it be a Milishial aircraft? He caught another glimpse of the back of the plane and the engines looked similar to the one on Milishial aircraft, but there were two of them. While certainty was beginning to creep onto him, that all vanished in an instant when he managed to observe the aircraft pulling a sharp turn that let him see the entire upper part of the fuselage. There were two distinct red discs on the wings.
Japan. He thought darkly.
Caesar didn't know it, but at that same moment the Grade Atlaster was being observed with the same demeanor.
"Confirmed, it's a Yamato-class super battleship. Possibly the same one that sank the Shikishima." A few of the F-15Js were to the southwest, shooting down the rest of the Combined Fleet's air cover in close range engagements. A section was going even further chasing contacts the AWACS was sure were scout planes. But some were performing a damage assessment on the Gra Valkas fleet. They'd already confirmed all the carriers were destroyed-an astounding tactical victory. So were a majority of the larger warships assumed as cruisers.
Unfortunately, they hadn't sunk any of the enemy's battleships (the one fated to explode from the magazine detonating hadn't yet), although a few did look badly damaged. But while observing them, the Japanese pilots had locked in on the Grade Atlaster. They'd already suspected it would be here, but they heard confirmation that not only was it here, but they'd managed to hit it. That wasn't just an enemy propaganda staple and major military asset, or even the flagship as the EW plane had theorized- that ship and its crew were the ones that had murdered their countrymen in the Japan Coast Guard. It was under close observation now.
"Do we have a full casualty report?!" Caesar demanded once he re-entered the bridge.
"Y-yes!" A staff officer stuttered. Going by his pale complexion, the news wasn't good. Caesar already knew it wouldn't be. "We've confirmed forty of our ships were hit: All nine aircraft carriers, eleven heavy cruisers, and fifteen light cruisers were all hit. We're trying to determine individual status now. Five of our battleships received damage but are still fully combat capable!" He tried to round the report out with a positive.
At that moment, the axe that had been raised above the Orion-class battleship minutes earlier finally fell. The ammunition magazine exploded, creating a fireball the hull couldn't contain that was no less spectacular-and deadly-than the ones that had enveloped all their carriers. Split in two, it started to sink in front of their eyes.
"T-the Saiph was sunk." The officer corrected solemnly.
"Run me through that list." Caesar tore his eyes away from the funeral pyre of nearly 1,200 men. His staff did. All nine of their carriers had sunk. One battleship was sinking, but the other four had successfully contained the damage; Captain Luxtal had managed it before Caesar even came back into the bridge. Eleven of their heavy cruisers had been hit and the only four that managed to keep themselves from sinking were so thoroughly damaged combat was all but impossible. Fifteen of their light cruisers were just gone, bodies and wreckage floating on the surface.
There was something immensely wrong with that report.
"None of our destroyers were hit." Caesar spoke out loud. Destroyers made up more than 50% of their fleet; there were more destroyers than all the other kinds of ships combined. And yet they had been spared while only the larger, more powerful ships were hit. "They targeted only our major vessels."
"How on Yggdra…?" The staff puzzled on how it was possible. Yes, a plane or ship could only target important vessels. But without taking out the escorts first, the chance of success was abysmal bordering on impossible. And yet, the enemy had slipped past all their escorts and done just that.
"The planes have Japanese markings." Everyone stiffened up when the Fleet Commander spoke. "It seems their accuracy isn't just limited to autocannons. Their planes are very high performance too." Although Caesar was still puzzled over the type of bombs carried by them; the explosions he'd witnessed looked far bigger than even the explosion from a battleship's main gun.
"Japan…" Someone muttered, scorn mixed with a bit of unease. An enemy that could not only accurately shoot planes out of the sky but also target ships with precision from the air was a nightmare for any naval commander. They'd assumed Japan to be of little threat at sea because of the small caliber of their ship guns. But that assessment had been made without knowledge of Japanese aircraft specs. The Gra Valkas knew the value of air power in naval warfare, so all of them could immediately see how that combination of factors made Japan an extremely dangerous enemy.
"Do you think Japan's deployed an aircraft carrier?" A staff officer asked.
"It's possible." The intelligence officer admitted. "We haven't seen any, but we've heard Japan has light carriers." What the Gra Valkas Empire had actually heard about was Japan's helicopter destroyers, but rotorcraft was still experimental in their country, so they had no other concept for the use of flat-decked warships.
"We've stumbled and let the enemy deal the first blow." Caesar stated the obvious. "I blame no one here. It was on the Intelligence Bureau to inform us of the enemy's capabilities." When they got back, those analysts were sure to get hell to pay from the Eastern Fleet commander. But right now, on the battlefield and with the enemy gunning for them, they couldn't dwell on the unchangeable past.
What mattered now was salvaging the situation. They would adapt like any good military men to unforeseen circumstances.
He still had nine battleships, five of which were unscathed, two only minorly damaged, and the last two moderately damaged but maintaining their full firepower. He still had seven heavy cruisers, five light cruisers, and all 112 destroyers they'd departed with. That was not an insignificant force. It was true, they'd lost all their air power, but the anti-air guns on their ships weren't for show. This was still a grand fleet.
Admittedly, Caesar was no longer sure they had the strength (or at least ammunition) to take out both the Milishials and the World Union. But Navy HQ had a contingency in place for that: On the off chance some of the enemy slipped past due to sheer numbers, part of the colonial defense fleet guarding Leifor had been redeployed to the southern end of their defensive zone. Caesar knew the commander of that fleet, Andall, had handpicked some of the most experienced and well-trained crews and ships for his fleet; they could stand against that motley collection that was the World Union. So if he could wipe out the Milishial fleet entirely, he could be certain Leifor wouldn't be invaded.
"We'll leave behind ten destroyers to rescue survivors. Order the rest of the fleet to turn to 1-9-7." Caesar had made his decision. "We'll find the Milishial's fleet and engage in a head on battle to inflict as many casualties as possible."
"We are still prioritizing the Milishials?"
"Yes." The Combined Fleet commander had considered focusing entirely on the World Union but decided to keep their original priority. "Both them and the World Union must know where we are by now. While Japan is an outlier, most of the World Union is still inferior to us. The Milishials still pose a threat, especially now that we've lost all air power." Everyone still grimaced at that. "They're much faster too. If we were to attack the World Union, there's every chance they could come up behind us in the middle of our attack. If we attack them first, I'm certain we could clean up their fleet before the World Union reaches us." Caesar had made his decision and given the order. They had no option to disobey it, but his reasoning increased their conviction that it was a good course of action.
Ten destroyers stayed behind to rescue the sailors fortunate enough to survive their ships sinking. They'd take them all back to Leifor and help tow the damaged heavy cruisers back in the hope they could be repaired. The remaining 123 warships and their support fleet moved southwest, battered but still rearing for a fight. The most violent collisions of power were still yet to happen.