A/N: Originally, I only intended this short story to be exactly seven chapters. As is often the case, things can change midway in production. In this case, I underestimated how many words and pages certain things would fill. So now, it'll be either eight or nine chapters.
Meteos froze as the Grade Atlaster's cannons roared. Unit 01 suddenly jerked back, all offensive actions halting as it pulled away. The personnel on Unit 02 were so stunned that they stopped firing too.
Meteos snapped out of it first. He tried snapping his fingers a few times, fumbling the motion because of nerves until the screen in front of him connected to the identical screen in Unit 01. What the captain saw shook him.
All across the bridge of Unit 02, people were knocked from their seats and splayed on the floor, Wahlman included. The other captain had fallen against his chair, knocking his mask off. Everyone looked dazed, not injured, and no one was dead or bleeding. Meteos assumed for a fleeting hopeful moment that Unit 01 was fine. Then he noticed the crews' hair and clothes being tugged by something, and his heart pounding in his ears quieted enough to make out the howling of the wind coming from the other flying battleship.
One of the armor piercing shells fired by the Grade Atlaster had threaded the needle and sheared off the top of Unit 01's bridge.
High explosive and armor piercing shells, when they worked properly, only detonated once they collided with something strong enough to trigger them. Advanced armor piercing rounds like the ones the Gra Valkas used an additional timer that delayed the detonation by a few seconds-long enough for an armor piercing road to burrow into a ship to maximize damage. Both had a downside: Something with thin enough armor wouldn't trigger the explosives inside, and the shell would simply pass through. Such had happened with the Japan Coast Guard ship at the Leadership Conference. The same could occur if it was a glancing shot, or it hit a sloped portion of armor. The former was what had just occurred with Unit 01.
On the Grade Atlaster, the gunnery crews were swearing up a storm, believing they'd failed. But the truth was the exact opposite. Meteos and Wahlman had been ordered not to let any damage befall the Ancient Superweapons, since they were impossible to repair or manufacture. Now the bridge, the very nerve center of the flying battleship, was damaged; the unit was essentially useless now even with the anti-gravity engines and weapon systems still functioning.
"Grr…You fucking idiot!" Meteos exploded at the other captain. "Look at what you've done!" On the screen, Wahlman stumbled up.
"Ugh…everyone stand up. Now! Do we still have control over the cannons?"
"We do!" A technician called back.
"Then keep firing!" Wahlman ordered. The top of the bridge had a display that was typically used for displaying mapping data, but that wasn't necessary with the enemy still in visual sight. Unit 01 resumed firing, as did Unit 02 when Colmed snapped the crew out of their daze. 150mm shells pounded the port and starboard sides of the Grade Atlaster while the two civilian captains argued.
"This is your fault, Wahlman!" Meteos barked.
"It was a lucky shot…" Wahlman muttered in disbelief. But Meteos' criticisms were correct. It was a nearly impossible shot for the Gra Valkans, but one made possible by Wahlman's blind charge. If he hadn't been so arrogant and sure of the Pal Chimera's invulnerability, this wouldn't have happened.
He didn't put his mask back on, so his face was clear to see. The paleness from their near-death experience wasn't fading. It stayed constant as the realization set in that the Pal Chimera was damaged. One of the ancient superweapons he was responsible for had been damaged. It should've been impossible, but it was the reality. And he was going to be blamed for it.
"We have to retreat now." Meteos reminded him. "Go. I'll cover you. The enemy is nearly defeated anyway; the Navy can finish them off." He looked over the screen. There were still two groups-no wait, one was retreating it seemed like. There was only one now composed of two battleships and a dozen small ships still advancing. That should be easy for the Navy. Wahlman's Unit 01, heading south, firing off more rounds as it went, with the last few harmlessly hitting the water as they went out of range.
"Circle around. We'll fire on the Mithril-class equivalent and retreat." Meteos ordered. Unit 02 stopped targeting the Grade Atlaster and focused on the other battleship, but Meteos' hateful eyes stared squarely on the enemy flagship. It had been battered badly, but it was still afloat. Its turrets still followed Unit 02, but Meteos wouldn't risk getting close. "Wretched barbarians." He ground out. "You will pay for this." Snubbing the superior magic civilization time and time again…With the weight of the whole world against them, Meteos ruthlessly hoped it would roll over and wipe the Gra Valkas from existence entirely.
In front of the Milishial Navy pilots circling the battlefield, and on the radars of the Japanese, the Pal Chimeras beat a hasty retreat south, leaving the Gra Valkas flagship damaged but still alive, but nearly the entire rest of the fleet sunk. The battle returned to being between the naval fleets of each participating country.
The Japanese were analytical about the whole thing. They didn't know one of the Pal Chimeras had taken damage; they wouldn't know for a very long time because the Milishials wouldn't disclose the fact. They simply assumed both had run out of ammunition and fell back to resupply. Based on how many radar signatures had disappeared and how many were immobile, assumed combat ineffective, those two 'flying battleships' together had sunk or disabled close to 100 warships. It was a lopsided battle comparable to the battles Japan had had with Louria and Parpaldia.
With that said, it wasn't surprising it also inspired a bit of concern in both the MSDF and ASDF officers. If those weapons were excavated, did that mean they might exist in the arsenals of other nations? If that was a possibility, could they deal with it? The premise would need more studying, but as an initial assumption both branches were confident. The Pal Chimeras were direct fire weapons. Long range missile fire would reach it before it reached them. The flying battleships did seem to have CIWS, but CIWS could be overwhelmed with enough fire. In fact, that was half of the whole doctrine back on Earth.
The MSDF was still too busy with anti-submarine operations to dwell on it for long. The ASDF was similarly focused on other things, one with a big moral quandary.
"It was inevitable," Defense Executive Mitsugi admitted, "but it will complicate operations going forward." Obviously, they'd overheard the Gra Valkas commander's orders for their forces to scatter and make sure information on Japanese weapons got back to military leaders in their country. That could dampen any future operations, which at this point were still being examined back in Tokyo.
But the simple fact is preventing word from getting back to the Gra Valkas mainland would mean sinking the destroyers conducting search and rescue, killing them and any injured sailors from Japan's first strike. Killing Hors de Combat personnel was against the laws of war Japan still chose to follow, to say nothing of how the Japanese public would react or how SDF personnel would handle carrying out something so inhumane. It would cause problems later, but Japan had no choice but to let them go.
"But their support fleet is still a valid target?" Colonel Yuudai pressed. The Gra Valkas' many supply and auxiliary ships with escorts had turned back too, but they hadn't been conducting search and rescue. Attacking retreating forces wasn't against the rules of war, morally questionable as it may be. And sinking the enemy's means to project naval power outside the Second Civilization aligned with the same reasoning for hunting down the submarine fleets.
"They are." Mitsugi admitted. He looked over the radar data attack. The Milishial fleet was unlikely to get them, considering the distance. "Alright. We'll sink them." He decided.
The ASDF staff quickly drew up an operation to attack the support fleet. The MSDF was informed, and they used it to keep the increasingly restless World Union fleet from launching its own aerial attack again. There were 32 anti-ship missiles left, but only 29 radar targets in the group. The humane thing would be to leave two or three to rescue survivors, so that was even less they might need. If they sunk the rest of the ships in a single hit, then they might as well use the remaining missiles against the Grade Atlaster. That was quickly worked into the plan too.
By the time the plan had been drawn up and approved, while the pilots were currently being briefed, the AWACS monitoring the enemy noticed something: Only four ships were continuing on towards the Milishial fleet. The remaining twelve, destroyers by the signatures, were staying in the area the Pal Chimeras had sunk most of the fleet, likely for search and rescue. The last four battleships the Gra Valkas Empire had on the Baltica Sea were slowly heading towards the Milishials to fight an impossible battle.
They laid a successful blow and drove back the aerial battleships. If nothing else, the Gra Valkan sailors could die today proud of that accomplishment. Those things, fantastical as they were, could be harmed. As they sailed into certain death, there was solace in that fact at least. They held their heads high, proud.
When Caesar had the transcript of the battle transmitted to all the ships fleeing back north to take home, he'd made sure to personally note his high opinion of Captain Luxtal's daring move, insisting the highest posthumous reward possible be bestowed upon him. The Grade Atlaster's captain stayed humble, not believing himself worthy of the praise the bridge had heaped onto him for merely damaging one of the ships that had destroyed more of their fleet than the Japanese had. Besides, more of the praise belonged to the gunners.
Flying battleships or not, their predicament stayed the same: They were so massively outgunned and outnumbered that the best they could do was delay the enemy and get as many wounded men home with information about the enemy as they could. All the men on those four battleships knew there would be no friendly forces to rescue them, but they didn't get disheartened. They put all their will and energy into giving the Milishials as big a black eye as they possibly could. Four damaged battleships could still pull that off.
Still, Caesar felt himself lamenting that four wounded battleships and a less than two dozen destroyers was all that was left of the Judgement Force and the East Fleet. It would take a lot of time to reconstitute the two main units of the Imperial Navy. Navy Headquarters might just rebuild the East Fleet. Mirkenses would make a good leader for it. Or they might just transfer and rename the West Fleet, which was slightly smaller than the East Fleet but still pretty substantial. Either way, Caesar knew there would be more to carry on after they were gone.
He just really hoped they could adapt to all these unforeseen threats, because it was clear brute force and numbers wasn't enough. If their sacrifice ended up in vain…well, no point thinking about it.
"They're persistent." Lettal Kauran admitted. He hadn't even seen the enemy fleet with his own eyes, and yet this battle had been full of drastic ups and downs. He'd seen and heard things that shook his entire perception of his own country and other countries. The lessons he learned here would stick with him for the rest of his military career. So many weapons he'd never heard of now held permanent space inside his mind. And yet he still had room to be surprised when the Gra Valkas, despite their catastrophic losses, insisted on fighting his fleet.
If they were attacking our homeland, I'd do the same. He figured. Leifor wasn't the Gra Valkas homeland though, it was just conquered territory. This was a different kind of fanaticism. Brutish determination to fight or some alien sense of nobility? A question for the historians. All that mattered to Lettal Kauran was sinking those four wounded battleships.
"Prepare all the Sigrant 2s we have left." He ordered. "Tell the World Union to prepare its own aerial forces."
"Sir, after the losses we took last time…" A staff officer said hesitantly.
"The number of enemy ships has decreased." Kauran explained. "And according to the Elpacio 3 pilots following them, the number of anti-air armaments on the flagship has been dramatically reduced by the Pal Chimeras."
There was an uneasy silence following his words. Those superweapons had sunk most of the enemy fleet, but they'd been damaged. The idea that the Gra Valkans were still powerful enough to do that was unnerving. The Milishial Navy didn't view it with the same gravity as Metos and Wahlman had, but they recognized it as a bad sign.
"We're only targeting the flagship." He went on to explain. "Sinking that will be our crowning achievement today. We should still have 96 Sigrants, right?" He'd done the math in his head, but he still asked for confirmation anyway. His math was right. "Focusing on one target will produce a much higher hit chance. Convey the same to the World Union."
Some of his staff and captains would've rather faced down the enemy with just their battleships, but they had their orders. That enemy superdreadnought had survived attacks by the Japanese and even ancient superweapons. By the accounts of his pilots, it was heavily scarred but still had all its cannons working. It was unbelievably sturdy; the legends surrounding it weren't for nothing. Lettal Kauran wanted to inflict every possible bit of damage on it he could before his battleships faced it.
As the F-2As took off again, the ASDF became aware of dozens of wyverns starting to appear in the skies above the Nigrat Union. The Holy Milishial Empire had made the call, and the World Union's commanders were answering. Wyverns had the endurance to reach the Grade Atlaster, but at their speeds of less than 400km/h, it would take a long time to make it. The World Union's commanders were simply sending them now so they'd arrive soon after the Milishials, Mu, and the Nigrat Union's dragon carriers all had their turn. Air attacks by the World Union would last well over a few hours.
The first to reach their target were the Milishial Sigrants, since the distance between each fleet had dropped significantly since that morning to less than 150km. The Grade Atlaster was so damaged that the Elpacio 3 pilots had to assure them the ship at the front of the diamond formation was the enemy superdreadnought. Well aware of the anti-air shells the Gra Valkans had by now, the Sigrants all approached at a higher altitude than normal and made their dives much deeper.
The Grade Atlaster had taken severe damage, but not all of its anti-aircraft weaponry had been silenced; one 127mm cannon and nine 25mm anti-aircraft guns were still functioning. They put up a valiant fight as the dozens of Sigrants dived directly towards them. Three Sigrants were lost, but the over 53 were able to get close and drop their bombs, closer than they could've gotten if the flagship was at full strength.
The first two explosions happened in the water, but the third bloomed on the Grade Atlaster. Then another, and another even more detonated in the water. Ultimately, 19 of the 53 Sigrants hit their target, the Milishial Navy Air Service's best hit rate yet. They all hit the fore section of the ship, either hitting the superstructure or directly around it. The last 127mm gun and three more anti-air autocannons were destroyed. One bomb landed directly on top of the 155m forward secondary turret and destroyed it. Most importantly for the battle ahead, the rain of bombs disabled the radar installed on the main mast and sent Luxtal, Caesar, and everyone else retreating to the conning tower before a bomb blew in the roof of the bridge. More bombs peppered the deck blowing small holes in it. One more Sigrant was lost pulling up, but the rest of the two squadrons successfully returned home.
40 more Sigrants were still behind them. These survivors of the first attack had been reluctant to go after the enemy fleet again. But seeing so many bombs hit enemy flagship and so many of their comrades survive, they regained much of their courage. They charged in at the same high angle, diving against a faltering amount of anti-aircraft fire. One Sigrant exploded midway, but they pressed on, fueled by pure adrenaline in the final moment. 39 Sigrants still successfully dropped their bombs.
The hit rate was slightly lower-on 11 out of 39-but no Sigrants were shot down pulling up from the attack. The bombs hit in many of the same places, knocking out even more 25mm anti-aircraft guns and putting more holes in the deck.
Most of the Sigrants returned to their carriers, but the few squadron leaders kept circling to observe and report on the damage. One of the smaller turrets was destroyed, the superstructure had taken noticeable damage, and it looked like they'd punched numerous holes in the deck. Just using their eyes, it looked like they'd done a lot of damage. The Milishial pilots returned home correctly believing they'd done important damage.
At nearly the same time they were pulling back, a few dozen kilometers north, ASM-2s were starting to impact the support fleet. Destroyers cracked and rapidly began sinking with their hulls snapped like spines. Ammo ships exploded in massive fireballs many times bigger than the missiles that had hit them. Flames spread over the surface of the ocean as oilers spilled their flammable cargo as they sank to the depths. When it was over, only three destroyers were left. The support fleet never even saw the F-2As; as soon as the impacts were confirmed, they'd changed their headings for the battleship force.
"The support fleet has taken massive casualties." The staff officer said grimly. Caesar and his staff were in the officer's mess now, deserted since all the crew was engaged in damage control. For a while, no one said anything. The only sound was the groaning of metal as the Grade Atlaster maneuvered. The Milishial air attack had opened up their eyes to just how weak their air defenses really had become, with two of their four battleships having nearly all their anti-air armaments wiped out by the flying battleships, and how strong the enemy still was. They'd switched up the formation. Now the Grade Atlaster was sandwiched by the two battleships from the reserve group, which still had most of their anti-air intact. The other Hercules-class battleship from Strike Group 2 that the Pal Chimeras had damaged before they retreated was following behind.
But if they were targeted by the Japanese, they knew it wouldn't be enough.
In the conning tower, Luxtal was still getting a hold of the situation. There was no getting around it: they were in bad shape. Most of the anti-air was destroyed, the radar had been disabled, and they'd had to abandon the bridge. The radio still worked, but it was a small comfort. The loss of radar and the bridge would make it harder to aim the main guns, but not impossible. The holes in the deck weren't consequential despite what the Milishial pilots had reported, but the loss of the secondary turret was concerning-a hit in or near that spot might actually deal severe damage to the integrity of the ship.
"Japanese planes approaching from 0-7-4!" Even though they had lost radar, the other ships had theirs and could report what they saw. The conning tower had a radio for a crewman to relay information directly "Speed: 1100km/h. Distance: 170km!"
Remembering how devastating the first Japanese attack was, Luxtal was momentarily resigned to the fate of never reaching the Milishial fleet.
The flight of four F-2As carrying the last six ASM-2s the ASDF had available didn't fire immediately. Instead, they made a pass to determine the status of the enemy fleet and what ships were the least damaged.
At that moment, Mu was launching biplanes armed with bombs and the Nigrat Union's dragon carriers had launched all of its wyvern lords that were heading straight for the Gra Valkans. The MSDF officers were watching them leave with stiff postures, but they said nothing. They still had to focus on the submarines that were starting to scatter wider and wider as their numbers dwindled. They were still out of range to use their own anti-ship missiles, but they'd asked the ASDF to try and limit the enemy's anti-aircraft abilities as much as they could.
Passing over the four battleships twice, once going west and once going east, the damage to the flagship and the battleship directly behind it was glaringly apparent. The pilots were stunned they were even still sailing. But after that second pass the squadron leader made his decision: They'd fire all their remaining anti-air missiles at the battleship on the Grade Atlaster's port side. They turned around yet again and transitioned to sea-skimming flight to fire.
Even though the F-2As had disappeared from radar when they lowered their altitude, the Gra Valkans had still seen them turn around and near they were coming. The crew of the targeted battleship, the Hercules-class that had lost several of its boilers in the first attack, were tense and prepared. It didn't help, and the few shots they got off didn't hit any of the incoming missiles. All six missiles hit the port side of the ship, with two hitting near enough to the first impact zone to inflict further damage on the ship's interior. Completely immobilized now, the battleship fell out of formation, leaning to port but still afloat for now. Just another crippled battleship to join the many already on the Baltica Sea. Its last sortie in this stage of the battle complete, the ASDF returned to base.
Nearly half an hour later, the 200 biplanes and wyverns launched by Mu and the Nirgrat Union arrived at nearly the same time. The commander of the Nigrat Union's wyverns held back. He knew Mu's planes only carried one bomb each and they'd have to leave. But their wyvern lords, which he still had a fondness and confidence in, would be able to launch repeated volleys of fireballs until the wyverns tired. Mu's biplanes moved in.
Unlike the Milishials Sigrants, the Marins and other biplanes attacked with something more akin to a horizontal bombing. They moved in on the three wounded battleships.
It was a slaughter.
Since it was the Mu Navy's first actual experience fighting Gra Valkas ships with planes-at the Conference, they'd all been shot down long before the Grade Atlaster appeared-, they were completely unprepared for the reality of battleship fired anti-air shells. Captain Luxtal educated them. Massive balls of fire and shrapnel enveloped the biplanes, of which barely half flew out of. Immediately disorganized, the biplanes scattered in a variety of directions but kept on their general course.
Ultimately, less than 20 biplanes returned to the carriers. Many reached the Grade Atlaster, dropping their bombs and strafing it with their 7.92mm machine guns. The superdreadnought returned sparse fire with what little it had left. The real danger came from the last Orion-class battleship that had maneuvered in close to the flagship. Japan had caused flooding in the fore section of the ship, but it still had all 6 of its 127mm dual purpose guns and all its 118 25mm anti-aircraft cannons. They filled the air over the Grade Atlaster with deadly fire that meant even biplanes that completed their attack were destroyed as soon as they passed over. For inflicting minimal damage, most of the Mu air wing was wiped out.
After that display, the Nigrat Union wyvern knights were understandably shaken. But they couldn't just give up. Even though massed attacks to cover the largest possible area with fire was the standard tactic for fighting ships and ground forces, that was obviously impractical. Still, they tried, splitting into smaller groups and making every effort they could to avoid the last Orion-class battleship. In the end, the magic flame bullets couldn't inflict much lasting damage on the metal hulls of the battleships, although the fireballs did manage to disable a couple of the remaining anti-air cannons; the gun crews were much more susceptible to fire. Still, the wyvern lords dispatched from the dragon carriers returned with only half their number not having accomplished much.
The 500 wyvern task force from the mainland arrived piecemeal in three groups. They were warned over manacomm about the danger of grouping up but given that the force was composed of dozens of squadrons from several different nations, what to do fell to individual commanders. The first group consisted of 180 wyverns and 57 were lost ignoring the warning. The second group consisted of 204 wyverns and lost 44. The final group had the last 116 wyverns and less than 90 made it close.
The more than 300 wyverns, once they were close, dashed and dodged around the three battleships, launching fireballs. Gra Valkas sailors involved in damage control above deck were incinerated, and over a dozen 25mm anti-air guns on the Orion were disabled. But the hulls of the ships and the larger 127mm dual purpose guns were invulnerable to the wyvern's attack. By the time the attack was called off, the three battleships were still afloat and there were less than 120 wyverns left.
The air battle was over, a modest success for the Holy Milishial Empire but a crushing defeat for the rest of the World Union.
The first ship to ship combat finally happened that afternoon. After hours of anti-submarine operations, the MSDF had finally finished off the submarine fleet sent after the World Union. The E-2C and YS-11EB had both returned to base to land. Though still 5 hours away, the World Union was close enough now that Escort Squadron 6 could see the Milishial and Gra Valkas fleets on their radars. They would watch and report the imminent collision.
"It's time." After waiting all day, Lettal Kauran could finally see the Gra Valkans with his own eyes. The showdown the Milishial sailors had been expecting all day had finally arrived. "How pitiful." He could see for himself now just had damaged the ships were, and it was even worse than his pilots had led him to believe. The Grade Atlaster was supposed to be a symbol of their empire's might, a tool to intimidate other nations. Now it was just an ugly wreck. "If they want to die in battle, let's indulge them. Battle formation!" Kauran ordered.
The largest ships in the Milishial fleet surged to the front: three Mithril-class battleships with 380mm forward turrets, three Gold-class battleships with four 343mm turrets, and twelve Silver-class cruisers armed with four 203mm turrets spaced between and directly behind them. The Bronze-class cruisers with 152mm turrets and the small ships fell behind that group.
50km ahead, the last three Gra Valkan battleships were in a similar horizontal line, the Grade Atlaster in the middle. Both sides unflinchingly charged.
"If we sink even one Milishial battleship, this will be worth it." Caesar said.
"I think we can sink at least half of them." Air power, conventional and unconventional, had been removed from play. It was a standup fight between battleships now, Captain Luxtal's expertise. The captain was the most confident he'd been the whole battle.
Both men were in the conning tower now as the battle unfolded. Both had decided that they would never leave, either. It didn't matter what transpired. This was where they'd meet their fate. All that mattered now was weakening the Milishials as much as possible.
Bragston provided updates from the forward gunnery station. No radar, but they had the rangefinders on the main guns and their own eyes. Bragston's eyes were very good despite his long years of experience and far more trusted. The 46cm turrets had already elevated to 45 degrees, the highest they could go, giving the superdreadnought its max firing range of 42km. With head on courses, the turrets only had to rotate slightly to line up. It was now up to the human crew alone to calculate the shells' flight and impact point and choose the optimal time to fire. Bragston bided his time until his own eyes and instincts told him what to do.
"FIRE!"
"Enemy flagship has fired!" A lookout warned. Everyone tensed up as fire and smoke rose from the center of the enemy formation. 42km range was unheard of for big guns. The Mithril-class only had a max of range of 36km, the Gold-class 34km.
"Order all battleships to strengthen their armor!" Lettal Kauran shouted. Compared to the instant charging on the Pal Chimera, the battleships took between 18 and 30 seconds to direct energy from the engines to shielding. The shields would be charged before those shells reached the end of their flight, but even with the faint glow enveloping the hulls no one relaxed.
It proved unnecessary, but for the worst reason. Shells impacted unbelievably close to the Milishial's vanguard, but not all missed.
"The Lorg Mor was hit! It's sinking!" A Silver-class cruiser had been hit by an armor piercing shell, tearing off the bow. The ships behind it quickly changed course to avoid colliding. Aiming was harder without, but Gra Valkans were so highly trained and experienced the difference was actually minimal. They'd fired the first shots and they'd hit something with their first salvo.
"Grr. It's more than 100 vs 3. We'll encircle them with numbers!" The Milishial fleet commander decided. The battleships split up, three turning east and the others west. Though it created a slightly larger target area than facing directly forward, staying head on would eventually shorten the distance and increase the risk of taking a hit; Distance was one of a battleship's main defenses. The Silver-class cruisers and the rest of the fleet stayed on a head on course. The enemy battleships would likely use their forward turrets to trade fire with their own equals, which would give the cruisers the precious minutes they needed to close into range and start bombarding the enemy.
The gambit paid off. As the six battleships formed lines and began to come around the Gra Valkan battleships' similarly vulnerable sides, the battleships on the east and west side of the Grade Atlaster turned their turrets away from the cruisers in front of them to follow. The Grade Atlaster herself turned one turret east and the other west. 53 seconds after firing the first shot, both turrets fired again. Six huge splashes were created uncomfortably close to the Milishial battleships.
The group going around the east side had the Caledwolf in it. On the bridge, Lettal Kauran and Captain Tagus were starting to sweat. The minutes the Mithril-class battleships needed to get into firing range felt like hours under enemy bombardment, and the Gold-class battleships would need slightly longer before they could fire too. Even worse, the battleship next to it started firing too; the 410mm turrets on the Hercules class had a slightly farther range than the Mithril-class- almost 38 km. Seven misses were much more heart pounding than three.
On the west flank, a Mithril-class and two Gold-class dodged fire from the Grade Atlaster and approached the Orion-class guarding it. The Orion's main guns had a range of 35.5 km, making it inferior to the Mithril but giving it a razor's edge against the Gold-class. Yet the Orion had already taken a bad hit to the fore section of the ship. Another just might be the end of them.
Finally, the Mithril-classes entered range, just after the Grade Atlaster fired a fourth salvo.
"FIRE!" Captain Tagus ordered. Imbued with fire and lightning elements, the colorful shells raced across the sky from both Mithril-class battleships. On the west side, the Orion was engaged outside its effective range. The battle between superpowers had now begun in earnest. Caesar and Kauran had done all they could. Now it was up to the ship crews and Lady Luck.
The Gra Valkas had drawn first blood, but the Milishials got lucky first. A 380mm magic shell hit the Orion-class right behind the superstructure, destroying one of its funnels and numerous anti-aircraft guns. Already at reduced speed to damage, it slowed even further. But the Grade Atlaster proved again why it was so feared.
"The Tizon is hit!" A lookout shouted. "The superstructure! It's collapsing!" Lettal Kauran and Tagus looked in horror as the Gold-class battleship trailing them was essentially decapitated by a shell hitting the superstructure directly and detonating inside.
"Keep fighting!" The Milishial fleet commander urged. His uniform was practically glued to his body now. It had been 108 to 3, but now he was two ships down and they hadn't sunk a single enemy. Even overwhelmed and against the wall, the Gra Valkas tormented them. But they kept at it. What choice did they have? The exchange continued.
The Caledwolf suddenly shook violently. The flagship had been hit by a 41cm shell. "Damage?!" Captain Tagus demanded.
"The rear turret has been destroyed!"
"Damn!" Tagus swore. Lettal Kauran said the same thing internally. Now, even after they sunk all the enemy ships, it'd only be an even break, assuming they didn't take further damage. He wasn't confident.
But the pendulum swung back in their favor. A full salvo of 14 shots from the west group produced three hits on the Orion-class battleship, two on the fore section. The flooding that had been contained during the Japanese attack suddenly resumed full force throughout the front of the ship. The Japanese attack had created a hole on the port side, and now the Milishials had opened on two on the starboard side.
As water flooded inside, the draft on the front half of the ship started to rapidly increase, dramatically lowering its speed and throwing off its gunners' aim. Despite its crew's best effort, the bow kept sinking lower and lower, as did other sections of the ship as water reached the interior near the middle of the hull and weight of water forced even the aft section down. The writing was on the wall: that battleship was done. All gunfire ceased as the order to abandon ship was given. The three Milishial battleships were now free to fire directly on the Grade Atlaster.
Caesar and Luxtal didn't curse their comrades. They performed as admirably as they could. But now Luxtal had both forward turrets focused on the west group while the Hercules-class on their port side handled the other group. They still had maybe ten minutes before those cruisers got in range. They'd already crippled one Milishial battleship and damaged another, but they could still do more.
They had to do more.
"Enemy has fired!" The lookout warned.
Damn you all. Sink! Lettal Kauran urged, but fate was not on his side. Six more splashed near the flagship made them tremble. Their return salvo didn't hit either. Then explosions hit the surface of the Tizon. She'd been hit twice more by 410mm shells. Its acting commander immediately announced they were abandoning ship.
"Fuck!" Lettal Kauran couldn't hold back his rage. But it turned to elation a moment later. An explosion erupted on the side of the battleship. They'd hit it!"
The brutal exchange continued, racking up another few thousand lives in short order. The battleships were all almost parallel to each other, and the Grade Atlaster, the Hercules-class, and the Gold-class battleships were all turning their rear batteries in anticipation (the Mithril class followed a different design philosophy, and the rear turret was a shorter range 152mm gun that wouldn't be useful). Now that they were actively evading, Bragston had a harder time landing hits with the 46cm guns, but his skill still led to two more hits on another Gold-class, tearing through the mid and aft sections of the ship simultaneously, destroying the magical engines. Unlike a mechanical warship, Milishial magic ships required the engine to not only move but power the magic cannons. It was functionally destroyed now. The Mithril-class behind the Caledwolf suffered a non-fatal hit to the midsection of its hull.
By then, the Silver-class cruisers had finally entered the max range for their guns, announcing their arrival with near simultaneous fire from all 22 batteries. The Gra Valkans were out of time, and both battleships turned to evade. The Hercules-class turned right into a salvo of 380mm rounds that pierced the deck on the port side and exploded, tearing massive holes in that side of the hull. It started to lean, and its crew immediately knew that even if they commenced counter flooding, they were about to roll over.
The Grade Atlaster stood alone against the might of the Milishial Navy now. It took them all on. Luxtal ordered the ship to turn slightly to starboard. Turret 2 stayed focused on the western line of battleships. Turret 1 turned towards the advancing cruiser force. Thanks to the new angle the ship was at, Turret 3 on the aft section could target the Caledwolf and the ship behind it flanking the east. The superdreadnought fired on all three groups attacking it, daring them to finish it off.
Milishial or Gra Valkan, the true martial spirit of men was on full display on every ship. In the frenzy of battle, they felt no fear and no regret. All that mattered was the enemy in front of them or the enemy surrounding them, depending on the party. All carried the will of their respective nation. All were contributing to something greater than themselves. Only death could stop men in a frenzy like that.
Shells continued to be fired in every direction. Another Silver-class cruiser exploded. Shell after shell of different calibers hit the Grade Atlaster, many being shaken off by the hull and others creating holes on the fore and aft sections while the now useless superstructure was down apart even more. Captains urged their men to keep firing. Gunners worked their batteries at a rate of fire that might never be replicated in any battle ever again. The Milishials were as determined to kill the Gra Valkans as the Gra Valkans were to delay their inevitable fate.
But it was still inevitable.
The Grade Atlaster's fate was finally met by a 380mm shell from a Mithril-class battleship. When Sigrants had destroyed the forward secondary battery during the earlier attack, they had opened a hole on the deck down to one of the most dangerous parts of any warship: an ammunition magazine. If they hadn't had scored such a lucky hit during the air attack, the naval battle might've gone on for even longer.
The shell itself scored a near direct hit on the forward gunnery station. Bragston was killed instantly, but he was fated to be revered in the Imperial Navy for generations to come for his accomplishments just like Luxtal and Caesar. The expanding fireball went wherever there was room to expand, and that meant down the opening where the secondary turret had just been, right to all the stored 155m shells. Fire erupted from the shaft like a volcano, quaking the whole ship as the magazine went off and stunning the entire crew.
But the hull miraculously held. As fire spread below deck, all available crew rushed to contain the damage. Turret 2's crew, closest to the blaze, abandoned it to help fight the fire, knowing that if their magazine went up, the ship wouldn't survive. After a momentary delay, Turret 1 and 3 resumed firing on the Milishial ships. Caesar and Luxtal were still in the conning tower, stoic.
The Grade Atlaster got off two more salvos before the fire reached Turret 2's magazine. The explosion was massive, too massive for the hull to contain, especially once it set off Turret 1's magazine in a chain reaction. The front half of the superdreadnought was engulfed by a fireball three times its size. A visible shockwave rolled over the sea, disrupting the waves. When the fire and smoke cleared, the entire front half of the ship had disappeared, and the back half sinking down into the waves below. There were no survivors.
They'd done it. It had cost them two battleships lost and as many damaged as well as two lost cruisers, but the Milishial Navy had sunk the Grade Atlaster. The legendary ship that had single handedly conquered Leifor and then humiliated the world's most powerful countries at the Eleven Nations Leadership Conference was no more, thanks to them. At first, there was a shocked silence. Then, gradually cheers erupted from the throats of every sailor on every ship. The explosion had been large enough for them ALL to see.
Some of the officers stayed composed, at least enough to limit their response to wide grins. Lettal Kauran was one of them. The battle was over, and even if he was suddenly aware of how his uniform top wetly clung to his body, he couldn't be anything but pleased and relieved.
"We've avenged our country." He announced to everyone on the bridge. That got a separate round of cheers.
The same euphoria overtook the World Union fleet when the broadcast reached them. The air campaign had left them disheartened, but they knew the Gra Valkas were doomed anyway. To the Japanese, there wasn't euphoria. But there was relief. Relief, and a sense of justice. The Grade Atlaster's crew were murderers, and they deserved to face punishment for what they'd done to their countrymen in the Japan Coast Guard. There were more out there that were responsible, but for now they could be glad that a large portion of them were gone, even if it hadn't been fully at their hands.
The final combat actions of that day technically carried over into the next. As the World Union and Milishial Combined Fleet joined forces late that evening, the Japanese moved to the tail end of the massive formation. There was still an unaccounted Gra Valkan submarine fleet and 32 suspicious surface contacts were detected on radar less than 100km away. When helicopters were sent to investigate, they disappeared. That settled it.
Cloaked in darkness, Escort Squadron 6 broke off and headed for them directly. The earlier engagement had used up a big portion of their supply of light torpedoes. Both their helicopters and the torpedo launchers on the deck used the same torpedo: The Mk. 46. Each ship carried 18 to use by either means as they saw fit, totaling 72, and now they only had 40 left. Rather than use up nearly all of them and render the squadron's helicopters less useful, the MSDF would hit them with a combined strike. Each ship still had eight RUM-139 anti-submarine missiles (which in reality was just the MK 46 attached to a longer-range delivery sister) in their VLSs. They'd destroy half the submarine fleet with those and the rest with the deck launchers.
From 22km, the maximum range, the submarines were clearly visible through passive sonar. All four destroyers still switched on active sonar for the best targeting data and just to scare the hell out of the enemy. It worked. The Gra Valkan submarines first attempted to hide, but the first salvo of RUM-139s and the unmistakable sound of sinking submarines through their hydrophones sent them into a frenzy.
Some fired their unguided torpedoes, but by then Escort Squadron 6 had split into pairs and were traveling along the outer edges of the fleet firing off more anti-submarine missiles. By the time they finished their pass, half the fleet had sunk and the other half was heading in eight different directions. They turned around and passed again, launching Mk 46s from both the starboard and port deck launchers. By the time the Japanese ships returned to the point they'd first switched on active sonar, the entire 3rd Submarine Fleet was sinking to the bottom of the Baltica Sea. The Japanese methodically confirmed the absence of more contacts and the total number of submarines sunk, reported it back to base, and rejoined the World Union.
That final engagement marked the end of combat in the southern half of the Baltica Sea. The Gra Valkas Empire had dispatched a whole third of its Imperial Navy to the area to drive back the World Union. Save for 25 destroyers that only escaped with the wounded due to the valiant sacrifice of the Admiral Caesar, Captain Luxtal, and three other battleships, the entire force was destroyed, mostly by the Japanese Self-Defense Forces and the Milishial Ancient Superweapons Analysis and Tactical Operations Department.
Reveling in banishing its enemy, the World Union continued north. The final target was still Leiforia.