"The enemy formation is splitting up!" They'd watched the enemy fleet suddenly start flashing lights at each other, and now it was behaving strangely.
"What are they doing?" Lettal Kauran wondered out loud. He looked as the formation split in two and headed north and south. Four of the enemy's battleships sailed north, while the other ten ships all sailed south. Rather than let themselves get encircled, the Gra Valkans were splitting their forces to stop each prong of the Milishial's trap. That meant the four battleships of the Milishial Combined Fleet, including the Caledwolf, were about to face down four undamaged Gra Valkan battleships on their own. Not good.
"Lower our speed!" Lettal Kauran ordered, giving up on the encirclement plan entirely. "Tell all the Silver-class cruisers to join us, and tell the carriers to launch all Sigrant 2 and 3s against the four enemy battleships!" He wasn't confident enough in a 4v4 to risk it. "Tell the rest of our cruisers and small ships to speed up and get behind the enemy as fast as they can." Hopefully, Captain Lerjen's fleet would be okay. If Kauran could overcome those four battleships, then he'd be in a good position to help.
The two superpowers converged on each other for another battle. In the north, Lettal Kauran led three Mithril-class battleships, a Gold-class battleship, and ten Silver-class cruisers against Mirkenses herself in a Hercules-class battleship and three Orion-class battleships. To the south, Captain Lerjen's local fleet of 13 ships faced down Andall's flagship, two Orion-class battleships, two heavy cruisers, and five light cruisers. The rest of the Milishial fleet was racing down the middle to get behind both battles ideally. And 70km away from it all were the Japanese, watching from beyond the horizon with technology.
"Advance directly at the enemy." Lettal Kauran ordered. "Our Mithril-class battleships will get to use both forward cannons and present the smallest possible target." Since the Mithril-class had a single shorter ranged turret on the aft half of the ship, they only had to worry about the fore section of the ship facing the enemy. If they stayed on a direct approach for long, it would take them closer and make a hit more likely, but the reverse was true too. Lettal Kauran wasn't confident in a long range exchange this time; he was banking this battle of a rapid attack to quickly overwhelm the enemy.
Their Sigrant 2 and 3s flew overhead. The last 91 multipurpose aircraft the Milishials had against four heavily armed and armored battleships. It wouldn't be borderline suicidal like the first attack against the full fleet a week ago, but it would be as easy a handful of battleships at deaths door. They were going to lose planes, and every pilot hoped it wouldn't be them. At the very least, each man knew not to fall victim to anti-air shells from the main cannons.
All Sigrants focused on the Orion-class battleship heading the formation, meaning the only anti-air fire coming at them was from that ship and Mirkenses' flagship behind that. That was still close to 150 25mm autocannons. Explosions bloomed in the sky above the ship, enveloping Sigrant aircraft one after another. Twenty-one were shot down, but the rest dropped their bombs, scoring 15 direct hits on the battleship. Multiple anti-aircraft cannons and one of the secondary 152mm guns were destroyed, but the battleship hadn't lost any of its structural integrity. The planes returned to the carriers, which had stayed with the main World Union fleet, and the groups of battleships continued their advance towards each other.
Mirkenses' flagship fired the first shots; being only half a kilometer behind the leading battleship, the Hercules-class battleship entered its maximum firing range of 38km before the lead Orion-class entered the Mithril's max range of 36km. The four shells exploded around the Milishial battleships and cruisers without causing damage. Before it could get off another volley, the three Mithril-class battleships got in range and fired their front batteries in unison against the leading Orion-class battleship. Thirteen explosions erupted in the water around the ship and five explosions erupted on the ship itself. The battleship rocked, fatally wounded before it could even get a shot off. The Milishial sailors roared in exhilaration.
"Damnit." Mirkenses gritted her teeth, frustrated at losing a ship first. But now she was looking at the Milishial ships closely, particularly how they were charging in a horizontal formation instead of a vertical one. Sloppy.
"Turn to starboard!" She ordered the ship's captain. "The other two better follow. We'll bring all our guns on their formation." The maneuver she had ordered was known on Earth as 'Crossing the T' and involved passing in front of enemy ships to bring all of your guns to bear on them while only being vulnerable to their front facing guns. The tactic was perhaps most famous for being the cause of Japan's victory against the Russian Empire during the Battle of Tsushima. It was a perfect counterpoint to a charge.
Maneuvering around the rapidly sinking Orion-class, the Imperial battleships showed their port sides- and 12 turrets-to the advancing Milishials.
While it was undoubtedly disadvantageous to be crossed, Lettal Kauran's reasoning wasn't without merit. Since the forward turrets on the Mithril-class were the only ones capable of doing heavy damage to the enemy battleships, not having the aft sections positioned to fire was irrelevant. Facing the enemy instead of being parallel to them still provided the least possible area to target. But there was a dangerous fault to it: being in a horizontal formation, none of his ships had quite as much time to maneuver and invade incoming attacks. And as the distance between them closed, the risk of being hit increased while the time to evade incoming attacks decreased.
Another long-range exchange of gunfire commenced. Even as the Milishials charged towards the Gra Valkans, they maneuvered in such a way to keep the distance between the two groups near the Milishial's maximum firing range. Being marginally faster than battleships, the Silver-class cruisers were starting to gradually close the distance. But at least one turret on each Gra Valkan battleship was focused on them, and one Silver-class was sunk while the rest scattered every which way while trying to close to within 28km. At the very least, it gave the Milishial battleships a little more room to maneuver.
When magical shells impacted the center of the middle enemy battleship, Lettal Kauran started to get hopeful. Some of his small ships and Bronze-class cruisers had caught up and the enemy wouldn't be able to outmaneuver him for much longer. He saw victory taking shape right in front of his eyes.
Then the Caledwolf shook. An armor piercing shell had grazed the aft port section of the ship, not close enough to detonate but enough to shear part of the hull open despite the magically reinforced armor. Water rushed into the opening. The aft section of the ship had already been damaged during the last battle when the rear turret was destroyed. The existing damage to the ship's interior impeded damage control crews from effectively reaching and dealing with the new breach. The Milishial flagship began losing speed.
"We have to fight on!" Lettal Kauran urged. Even as the Caledwolf fell out of range to fire, he urged the other ships to fight on and not lose hope. They would win. They had to win.
While Lettal Kauran fought Mirkenses in the north, Captain Lerjen had been fighting Commander Andall to the south. That battle had not gone in the Milishials favor as much as the other.
Captain Lerjen's Local Fleet was composed of older vessels. All three of his battleships were Mercury-class battleships, the very first the Milishials had designed. They had the exact same armaments as the succeeding Gold-class battleship, but the magical engines powering them were less powerful, meaning their speed, maneuverability, and armor charging weren't as good. And considering that the Gra Valkas' Orion-class battleship was a near even match for even a Milishial Mithril-class, he had already gone into this battle with a disadvantage.
While his cruisers and small ships rushed in to deal with the Gra Valkan cruisers, all the battleships had played a traditional long-range duel in vertical formations. Lerjen lost that duel. Although his Local Fleet had sunk one Orion-class battleship, he didn't have long to savor that victory before his flagship was sunk, and the final Mercury-class battleship soon after.
The battle between each side's smaller ships had been a lot more drawn out and brutal. It was ten Milishial ships against seven Gra Valkan ships. The Bronze-class cruisers' 152mm main guns were superior to the Gra Valkan light cruisers' 140mm guns, but not the 203mm guns of the heavy cruisers. The Milishial small ships were outgunned by every other ship type. While the battleships had duked it out, the seventeen smaller ships had been weaving around each other trying to sink each other so they could attack the battleships instead.
By the time the battleship duel ended, all the Milishial small ships had sunk, and the three remaining Bronze-class cruisers were in rough shape. Two of the Gra Valkan light cruisers had sunk, one was disabled, and the other two had taken moderate damage. But the two heavy cruisers that had dominated this fight with their heavy firepower were barely damaged. Once the two surviving battleships joined the effort, the last three Bronze-class cruisers stood no chance. The entire Milishial Local Fleet was sunk in action, leaving Andall free to take what remained and support Mirkenses.
Agonizingly, Lettal Kauran could only watch the rest of the battle unfold now. His last three battleships were still trading fire with the three surviving Gra Valkan battleships, although the one that had been hit earlier was noticeably lagging behind. The fire his battleships was receiving was decreasing only because the enemy had switched to focus more on his Silver-class cruisers-seven were left and they were nearly in range to fire.
His Bronze-class cruisers and small ships were almost in range, and at their current heading they'd be able to get in front of the enemy battleships, crossing them like they'd crossed his fleet. If they wanted to turn away to avoid that, then they'd have to turn half of their guns away from his battleships to do it. In spite of his flagship being damaged, he still saw victory through overwhelming the enemy in sight.
"Sir, all magical signatures from Captain Lerjen's fleet have ceased!" Wanting to focus on the Gra Valkan battleships, Lettal Kauran had told the Local Fleet commander not to contact him until his battle was over. Now it was, but not in his favor.
"What?!" The Milishial commander started sweating. "How many enemy ships are left?!" There'd been ten. Surely at least half of them were sunk.
"Five, including two of their battleships! They appear undamaged…"
"Tch!" Caught up in the heat of battle, Lettal Kauran didn't dwell on the loss of life just yet; mourning came after the battle. He'd thought the other commander would've done more. He didn't need more bad news right now. It'd be only a few minutes before those battleships came north to engage his fleet. "Tell our carriers to launch a strike against them!" If they couldn't sink them, they hopefully at least delay them long enough for him to finish up here. In the worst-case scenario, those battleships would have to get past his small ships and Bronze-class cruisers, but he really hoped it wouldn't come to that.
"Lady Mirkenses! We've spotted Commander Andall's ship to the south! He must've triumphed over the barbarians!" Since the radio didn't work, Andall couldn't report his success over the radio, but his ship was still easy to spot dozens of kilometers away.
"As expected." Although Mirkenses was relieved; the Milishial destroyers and light cruisers were getting closer. Even if their destroyers weren't equipped with torpedoes, she was wary of taking any more fire. Just because battleships were tough didn't mean they could be carelessly thrown into fire. Andall could hopefully keep them off her.
Mirkenses turned her attention back to the immediate threats. Aside from the three enemy battleships, seven heavy cruisers had gotten within range. The number of shells exploding in the water around them was rapidly increasing, but their own fire didn't let up. An enemy cruiser exploded.
Mirkenses was watching the flames when a salvo of 203mm magic shells hit the Ophiuchi's superstructure. One of the fire magic imbued shells detonated just under the bridge, and the resulting fire and shockwave cooked alive anyone on the bridge, Mirkenses included. For the Milishials, it was an overwhelming accomplishment that would hinder the enemy going forward. Another of the Three Great Generals was dead at their hands. Since Mirkenses had commanded the raid on the Leadership Conference, it was a propaganda victory too. But the Milishials didn't have time to recognize or celebrate; the battle was still ongoing. Even with its bridge destroyed, the gunners on the Opiuchi still had full control of their guns and kept firing.
The exchange continued with near miss after near miss from the battleships. The Silver-class cruisers scored more shots, but the heavily armored battleships weathered the storm and sank more of them in turn.
Finally, the Gra Valkans scored a hit on the Milishials last Gold-class battleship. Already damaged from the previous aerial attack, it cracked in two and began a rapid descent to the ocean floor. It was two Mithril-class battleships and four Silver-class cruisers against three damaged Gra Valkan battleships. Lettal Kauran ordered the rest of the Combined Fleet to hold off the other ships. Whatever bought them time.
The battleship centric mindset of the Milishials and the Gra Valkas doctrine for battleships (while battleships had a resurgence, the Imperial Navy was still a carrier centric force) shared a key point: The idea that a battleship could only be damaged by a battleship of similar scope. That was not wholly true, but there was some truth to it. The reality was major sections, usually in the center, were armored against battleships of similar caliber. Other sections of the hull had lighter armor that could be vulnerable to smaller caliber guns, but it would take a lot of them to do any lethal damage.
The Milishials certainly had numbers on their side: 24 Bronze-class cruisers and 57 small ships against two Gra Valkan battleships, two heavy cruisers, and one light cruiser (the other moderately damaged light cruiser captain had decided his ship was too damaged and stayed behind to conduct search and rescue). But none of the Milishial ships had a caliber of gun that could seriously damage a battleship. Still, they charged on.
Getting close enough to fire was a gauntlet in itself, but even once the small ships and cruisers got within range things only got harder. Gra Valkan battleships had their main armaments, but they also had secondary guns that were typically light cruiser caliber to fend off destroyers; the 152mm secondary guns on the Orion-class had the same range as the 152mm magic cannons that were the Bronze-class cruiser's primary armament. The Milishial Combined Fleet lost four ships getting into range and once they finally did, they were under fire by over a dozen batteries and single guns.
But the sheer number of ships ensured that dozens of Milishial ships got in range to fire. Over the next hour, it would be a brutal exchange between the Gra Valkan behemoths and the small magic warships. The Gra Valkan light cruiser would sink, and even the heavy cruisers would take so much damage they couldn't continue fighting. But even as shell after shell hit them, destroying anti-aircraft cannons and a few secondary guns, Commander Andall's flagship and the other Orion-class refused to go down. As shells pounded the ship and the water around it, the main batteries and secondary guns would fire, obliterating or severely damaging a Milishial ship every time they hit one. Small holes in the fore and aft sections of the ships caused it to lose some speed, but expert damage control kept them in the fight.
When the Sigrants arrived again, they scored a few bomb hits on the stubborn battleships, but even that wasn't enough. Rapidly, the Milishial Combined Fleet's strength began to decline.
Watching this from beyond the horizon was Escort Squadron 6. They'd originally hoped that the Milishial fleet would easily sweep aside the remnants of the Gra Valkan fleet. But as time went on and blips continued to vanish from the radar, that optimism waned.
"Without torpedoes, their small ships are practically useless against battleships." Nakashima said quietly. Captain Tamuramaro nodded in silent agreement. The Milishials outnumbered the Gra Valkans, but in reality only very few of the Holy Milishial Empire's ships even had the ability to damage the enemy battleships. If it lost those, then it might very well be that two or three Gra Valkan battleships could wipe out the rest of the Milishial's fleet.
And then there was the World Union… They were catching up fast; the Japanese could physically see the smoke from Mu's warships and the Magicariarch's steamships billowing on the horizon. If the Gra Valkan battleships could destroy the entire Milishial fleet, then the rest of the World Union wouldn't be a problem either.
The Japanese silently wished good luck to the Milishials fighting and dying ahead of them. It was all they could do.
The Caledwolf could only manage a paltry 12km/h, enough to stay in sight of the fighting but not catch up. Lettal Kauran was sweating as heavily as he had during their showdown with the Grade Atlaster. Before him, his men were dying before an unyielding enemy whose strength seemed unbreakable.
His last two battleships had sunk one of the enemy battleships, but only because the Gra Valkans had stopped focusing on them to sink the last of his Silver-class cruisers. Meanwhile, his Bronze-class cruisers and small ships were being sunk one after another by two more Gra Valkan battleships south of him. He hadn't anticipated they'd be able to sink his ships this fast, and he'd at least hoped they'd take some damage. They were destroying the enemy's anti-aircraft guns, but it would still be some time before the Sigrants could launch a third strike.
No matter what, the Combined Fleet had taken so much damage he wasn't sure they could reach Leifor now. In that case, all that was left was at least winning this battle or at least inflicting as much damage as they could before going down.
"...Change course. We'll help the rest of the fleet." He decided. He was closer to them now. What kind of commander would he be if he let so many of his men perish while he sat back and watched a duel between other battleships in the distance? He wouldn't be.
"Yes sir." Captain Tagus didn't hesitate. The Caledwolf turned and slowly started to inch its way towards the other battle.
"Sir! Enemy battleship is approaching from 0-8-7! Distance: 45km!" A lookout ran into the bridge to report.
"Oh?" Andall pulled up his binoculars to look. He'd seen the damaged vessel hanging back from the battle. Its snail's pace initially convinced him it was too damaged to fight, but now it was heading directly for them. "Let's take care of them." He ordered.
The Marzellan stopped weaving its way through the smaller ships and began to charge the enemy battleship at full speed. The small fry let him go to focus solely on the remaining Orion-class, which continued the slaughter. The distance closed quickly. The crew loaded armored piercing shells and elevated the front batteries to their maximum angle.
"As slow as that ship is going, I expect a hit on the first shot." Andall told the captain.
"It'll be easy." The captain responded.
"Enemy ship has fired!" The lookout cried.
"Strengthen the armor." Captain Tagus said, calmer than he likely felt. The battleship started a slow, gradual turn to evade. A minute passed. In just a few more seconds either the ocean around them would explode or they would.
Huge explosions erupted literal meters off the starboard side of the ship, a distance so close that they still managed to do light damage. The Caledwolf rocked side to side from the indirect hit.
"Damage report!" Tagus ordered.
"Half of our starboard anti-aircraft magic cannons are destroyed!"
"Distance to the enemy?!" They had to sink them before they got another shot off.
"We'll be in range in less than 30 seconds!" The Milishials likely only had one chance. The ship finally settled, and they continued towards the enemy. At max range, the flagship fired both its forward turrets at the enemy. While they watched it for impacts, the enemy fired a second salvo. The seconds stretched into perceived hours.
Four bright magic explosions enveloped the enemy battleship, blocking it from their view for a moment. The Milishial sailors broke out into cheers again, cheers that carried on until the Caledwolf was struck by two armor piercing shells half a minute later. The atmosphere turned dire as the light went out; the magic engines had been disabled. It wouldn't be long before the ship started to sink.
"Commander, we have to abandon ship." Tagus stated the obvious.
"Of course." Lettal Kauran couldn't help but stare at the sinking Gra Valkan battleship in front of them. "Splendid job, Captain. I'll follow you out." He indirectly stated his intention to be the last one off the ship. Tagus nodded and quickly turned to organizing an evacuation. Lettal Kauran stayed there on the bridge, watching the rest of the battle play out until the time came.
The onslaught was too much and the flagship sinking broke the Milishials' resolve. The three surviving Bronze-class cruisers and fourteen small ships retreated from the surviving Orion-class battleship, leaving it heavily damaged but still combat capable. Two passed by the sinking Caledwolf to rescue the survivors from the lifeboats. Lettal Kauran made it onboard one eventually and used a working manacomm to order the fleet to regroup near the Japanese fleet. By that point, one of his two remaining Mithril-class battleships was sinking and the other had taken moderate damage, bordering on heavy. In turn, the Orion-class had sunk and all that was left was the Hercules-class battleship Ophiuchi, on the verge of sinking. After the Sigrants came in for a bombing run, it stopped moving all together.
By then, the World Union's fleet was close enough for both sides to see. The slow but scientifically advanced metal warships of Mu and the antiquated but exceedingly numerous wooden warships of the First and Second Civilization Area's civilized countries. They saw the Japanese hanging back, the Milishials retreating, and only a single Gra Valkan battleship remaining among a sea of wreckage and lifeboats.
"They really fought the Milishials to a standstill." Admiral Rayder observed. The commander of Mu's fleet counted the number of Milishial ships and realized how heavy their casualties were. But the enemy was gravely wounded. Even more, it looked like it had noticed them and was still coming to fight. "But they've weakened themselves…let's finish them off!" He declared. For this entire battle, Japan and the Holy Milishial Empire had dominated each battlefield, saving the World Union precious resources but also denying them a chance at battle. In this world, it was closer to an insult than a gesture of good will. But now that the Japanese were out of ammunition and the Milishials were retreating, they had a chance to shine.
Mu's ships gradually began to outpace the slower wooden warships, and the fleet pulled ahead. Mu's combustion engine powered warships could all average around 30km/h. That was only 50% faster than the max speed of the sail powered ships behind them, but the major improvement of Mu's warships was that they could consistently move weighed down by so much armor and weapons.
35km away, the enemy ship fired. Rayder and his staff tensed up. The 305mm guns on the La-Kasami class battleship only had a range of about 18km. Even though the enemy's caliber wasn't much larger than their own, the guns apparently had double the range. They couldn't even wrap their heads around how advanced the enemy's manufacturing was for that to be the case. The fleet spread out to evade, and the four shells harmlessly impacted the water behind them.
"Move in! It's 40 to 1!" Without realizing it, Rayder was echoing Lettal Kauran's sentiments when the Milishials faced down the Grade Atlaster. "Tell our aircraft carriers to launch planes equipped with bombs!" The aircraft carriers were hanging back with the supply ships. "That battleship looks like it lost most of its air defenses anyway." And if it was firing on them with the main guns, it wouldn't be able to fire on the planes and devastate the formation. Mu's 4 battleships and 36 assorted classes of cruiser all pushed forward towards the Gra Valkan battleship.
It took 20 minutes before the four La-Kasami class battleships got within range to start firing. In that time, four cruisers were lost, and all of them still had to get closer before they had a chance to fire. But Mu ran into the same problem as the Milishials: 18km was also the maximum range of the 152mm secondary guns the Orion-class carried. The main armament of Mu's most advanced battleship was evenly matched by the secondary weapons on an outdated model of Gra Valkan battleship.
But Mu's sailors persisted. Marins and older biplane models flew overhead, performing horizontal bombing on the enemy battleships. Sparse anti-air fire sent two spiralling into the sea in flames, but most dropped their bombs, and more than a handful hit. Mu's armored cruisers, cruisers, and light cruisers all closed in and began firing while the four La-Kasami class battleships kept up long range fire. Shells exploded in the water surrounding the battleship. Others made direct impacts, although they couldn't pierce the thick central armor of the Orion-class. In turn, the Gra Valkan battleship kept firing. More of Mu's cruisers sunk. Even one of its La-Kasami class battleships was sunk, much to Rayder and his staff's horror.
But the Orion-class battleship couldn't sink the entire Mu fleet either. In the end, the battle wasn't ended by one side sinking the other, it was ended by logistics. The Gra Valkan battleship ran low on ammunition. With their own flagship gone, the Gra Valkans were starting to falter too. With his ship badly damaged-enough so that Mu's ships could sink him with enough effort-, a lot of crew dead or wounded, and seeing the rest of the World Union catching up, morale was low enough that the Gra Valkan officers seized whatever excuse they had to get out of there before they did sink. The battleship retreated, fast enough the wooden warships of the World Union would never catch up. Having lost fourteen ships trying to sink just one, Mu's sailors were too demoralized to chase it. Though it displayed the Gra Valkas Empire's superiority in technology over Mu, the very final battle of the Baltica campaign was ultimately a stalemate.
Regrouped and with the Gra Valkas Empire retreating, what was left of the Milishial Combined fleet started conducting search and rescue for the sailors that had survived the sinking of their ships. Escort Squadron 6 assisted them after it finished helping Mu do the same while F-15Js guarded the skies above. Men or elves from both nations that were seriously injured were moved to the medical bays to be treated with Japanese medicine. One of the launch boats from the Kirishima brought over an unexpected guest after it returned from dropping off several surviving sailors that were in good health.
Lettal Kauran didn't hide his curiosity about the Japanese warship. It wasn't as clean and smooth as Milishial magic ships, but it was clearly a step up from Mu's mechanical ships. The Japanese received him warmly, although privately they were concerned by how shell shocked he looked.
"You and your men fought courageously." Captain Tamuramaro shook his hand. The elf nodded, although his sunken eyes betrayed private misgivings.
"So did yours." Lettal Kauran returned the compliment. Unless he intended to reject reality, he had to acknowledge that this nation from the other end of the known world was the source of at least half of the successes here. "But I'm afraid we'll have to retreat now as well." He admitted. "We've lost too much strength and most of our ammunition."
"There's no shame in that." Nakashima said earnestly. "The enemy's losses have been massive. At least 300 ships and submarines."
"This was the first step in the fight against them, wasn't it?" Captain Tamuramaro pointed out. "I'd say it's been successful in weakening them."
"I suppose it has." Lettal Kauran knew that was true, but it was hard to enjoy a victory with so many casualties. He'd gone into this battle expecting an overwhelming victory and instead came out badly bruised by a brutal slugging match. And three hundred ships? The Holy Milishial Empire would have to throw together all its main fleets and local garrison fleets to assemble that many. It put into perspective how strong this enemy really was- or rather had been. Lettal Kauran was glad, truly, but the cost…
Having thanked them in person and getting a good look at the inside of one of their ships, Lettal Kauran reembarked on one of the launch boats to personally help rescue some of his men. The meeting had been short and curt, but two countries recognizing that without each other things would've gone very differently.
Before he had come over, Lettal Kauran had sent a message over manacomm back to his homeland reporting the battle stating his intention to withdraw. In the time it took him visit the Japanese, help with the rescue efforts, and return, Defense Minister Agra had received it, hurried to present it to the emperor, and ask how to respond. Milishial VIII's answer had been short and forceful: '"Get the survivors home safely.'" With the highest possible approval, Lettal Kauran announced it to the World Union, strongly urging them to turn back as well. His fleet was leaving, but the Japanese stayed to see what the World Union would do. Absent protection from them or the Milishials, the fleet of sailing ships would be decimated going any further.
But the World Union realized that. Rayder was thoroughly humbled by losing nearly a third of his fleet to a single battleship. Seeing the Milishials and Mu both thrashed was enough to give the civilized nations in the coalition pause. The two recognized superpowers of the coalition had taken heavy losses with the #1 superpower pulling out, and the third unofficial superpower was retreating from being out of ammo. What was left Mu and countries with equipment similar to Leifor when it was independent, a superpower in its own right that the Gra Valkans had already thrashed. Many called home for further instructions, setting off tense political meetings all over the world.
For the coalition members from the Second Civilization, the answer came back quickly. The Gra Valkan air attacks had rattled all the countries in the region, spiking fears of invasion. When the meetings were called, the majority of Second Civilization officials were in favor of pulling back their forces to shore up defenses. Upon hearing that the Second Civilization nations were pulling out, the First Civilization nations became more inclined to follow the Holy Milishial Empire back to the First Civilization Area. With the coalition dissolving in front of them, Admiral Rayder held a vote with his staff, and Mu's withdrawal was decided upon.
It took a few hours for everything to process, but by late afternoon the World Union had turned around and was heading south again. The Baltica campaign was over.