It was a few weeks before every fleet returned home. The coalition stayed together until they reached the southern tip of the Mu continent and then started to go their separate ways. But news was nearly instant. Newspapers and manacomm networks all over the three Civilization Areas were reporting on the battle only a few days after with a lot of variation and speculation. In the Sonal Kingdom and Nigrat Union, it arrived the very next day. In Mu, the democratic government was forced to give an official statement on things, and on the 19th, it was on the front page of every newspaper in the country, and it'd be on every tv news program later that day.
World Union fought to standstill! Read the headlines.
In a press conference yesterday, it was announced that the World Union alliance that set out earlier this year to attack the Gra Valkas Empire in Leifor is returning after several intense battles with the enemy in the Baltica Sea. Government officials were quick to clarify that the World Union did not lose but ran out of supplies against the sheer numbers of the enemy. Casualties among both sides have not been made available yet, and it is unknown at this point if the alliance is just returning to resupply or if the campaign is over. The alliance was headed by the Holy Milishial Empire, with significant contributions from Mu, civilized nations in both the First and Second Civilization Areas, and the presumptive superpower of the Third Civilization Japan.
On the 16th, the Sonal Kingdom and Nigrat Union were subject to attacks by planes that took off from Leifor. We know now that this coincided with a large naval battle near the border with Leifor. More than 2,000 citizens and soldiers in the Sonal Kingdom were killed. The Nigrat Union insists no one was killed in the attacks on its territory. Many planes from the Gra Valkas Empire were shot down, and the national government is currently negotiating with the Nigrat and Sonal governments on acquiring some of them for study.
We will provide more details in the coming days as they become available.
A lot of newspaper stands sold out that day. Mu's public was obsessed with the short story. Only a standstill? It had been the entire world against the Gra Valkas Empire. Shouldn't it have been an overwhelming victory? The Mu government was overwhelmed with requests for comments.
In Mykal, where Japanese tourists and investments were plentiful, a few thousand copies of the newspaper were always printed in the Japanese language for them to read. They were surprised to hear that the Self-Defense Forces had been present at a battle on the other side of the continent. They knew that war had been declared, and that the government was taking steps to protect trade routes, but they didn't know it had escalated to an overseas deployment already.
Escort Squadron 6 and the Mu task force met up with Escort Squadron 8 at the southern tip of the continent and headed back up to Mykal together. On the first evening, Squadron 8's commander invited the other two commanders over to dinner. It was the first time Captain Tamuramaro and Admiral Rayder learned about the Ishtam fleet that had been heading to Mu.
"We gave them a chance to turn around." The commander admitted to which Tamuramaro nodded and Rayder looked incredulous. "But they refused. Arrogant and profane. Very unfitting for a naval commander."
"How many missiles did it take to sink their battleship?" Tamuramaro asked.
"Three. It was probably disabled by two, but we wanted to be sure."
"Those are very tough targets." Tamuramaro nodded gravely. "If they gather too many together, it might be too much for one squadron of ships to handle." Rayder listened in on the conversation with thin lips and hollow eyes.
The Japan-Mu coalition returned to Mykal to a hero's welcome and hundreds of anxious families who'd seen Mu's fleet off when it left and were now back to see if their loved ones had survived. Mu's government had to come clean about losing nearly a third of its fleet, but by then the entire world was talking about how the Grade Atlaster was sunk in battle along with more than 300 other Gra Valkan warships. Without knowing the full details, everyone celebrated a massive victory.
Having done their part, Escort Squadron 6 enjoyed a few days of leave and re-embarked their ships to head back to the Home Islands. Before they left, 4th Escort Flotilla warned them to be careful; it had already sunk two Gra Valkan submarines since it had arrived.
The seas around the Second Civilization were still dangerous.
Life in the Second Civilization Area continued on. Even though there was a war going on, there wasn't actually any fighting. The Gra Valkas Empire in Leifor fortified its borders with more troops, something Mu and the Sonal Kingdom did in kind. Though planes disappeared from the skies above southern Leifor for more than a week, it wasn't long before Antares fighters patrolled the border again. But no side struck out. They only held their ground.
It wasn't a stretch to say everyone had lost the battle. The objective of the Baltica campaign for the World Union had been to blockade Leifor. They hadn't accomplished that even though they'd inflicted overwhelming casualties on the enemy. The Gra Valkas Empire's objective had been to keep the World Union from entering Leifor and convince the other nations they were powerless against them. They'd defended Leifor, but only after sacrificing an unprecedented amount of military strength, and they had to watch the entire world celebrate the sinking of the greatest battleship the Empire had ever produced. Japan's goal, technically independent of the World Union, had been to assert its strength and prevent more naval raids east of the Second Civilization. They'd certainly done the former, but since Gra Valkan submarines were still active in the Second Civilization and even the First Civilization, they hadn't done everything they set out to do.
No side out and out won, but there was a great amount of nuance in everything. Some sides had succeeded and failed more or less than the others.
In Japan, details and even some footage of the battle was unveiled to the public on the 21st. The initial response was overwhelming approval. Justice for the crew of the Shikishima had almost been achieved-there was just the matter of the Gra Valkan diplomat that had delivered the ultimatum at the Leadership Conference and later oversaw the survivors' execution. A few days of national elation eventually gave way to controversy though.
Japan's political machine had been moving with unprecedented speed and cohesion since the transfer, driven by the need to survive that required quick and decisive action. But politics was still politics. The opposition was suddenly pointing fingers and asking a very important question: How had SDF personnel ended up so close to dying? The conversation shifted and the operation that had initially been seen as a bold success was now being called reckless. The current government was accused of putting SDF personnel in danger to satisfy their blood lust. The next few months were dominated by hearings.
But while that was going on, the Ministry of Defense was planning. While the politicians ranted mostly for show, what they were saying did weigh on the JSDF's leaders. The operation really had been planned with safety in mind: The ASDF's base was barely within range of the enemy and was adequately defended by the GSDF, and the MSDF was only cleared to operate within range of coverage the ASDF could provide. The only thing that had gone wrong was something they really couldn't forgive themselves for: underestimating the enemy.
The Gra Valkas Empire was behind them by 70 years, but 70 years was closer than people thought. Their weapons were deadly, and they had them on a scale Japan simply couldn't match. If the enemy threw a lot of their weight at them, the Japanese should be able to take it, but it wasn't a guaranteed outcome. If Japan wanted to fight the Gra Valkas Empire again, especially on their own turf, they had to be overwhelming themselves. That was easier said than done.
Discussions and drafts for the next stage of the war began. The official position of the Japanese Government was that compensation and the handing over of all responsible parties for the death of the Japan Coast Guard members was a prerequisite to any peace, so the JSDF had free reign to plan absolutely anything that hurt the Gra Valkas Empire. Several ideas were floated.
The first proposal to be suggested and eventually presented was the deployment of both of Japan's submarine flotillas. If based in northern Mu, Japan could deploy each flotilla on rotation and have them raid the Baltica Sea, primarily Irnetia Island and the Leiforian coastline, to sink Gra Valkan warships and merchant vessels. Any heavy military equipment or construction material for military installations had to come by sea-if Japan could keep that artery bleeding, the Gra Valkas Empire would have a hard time launching any more expansion campaigns in the Second Civilization Area. The only issue was those submarine bases would have to be protected.
Any large-scale plans necessitated the participation of Mu though, since any offensive against the Gra Valkas Empire would most likely be made from Mu's territory. Mu still had a vested interest in expelling the Gra Valkas Empire from the continent, despite their losses. If anything, the battle made them more inclined to lean on Japan for help. Since Mu was bordered with the Gra Valkas Empire's Leifor territory, a ground war was still viable, and Mu's army leaders were feeling a lot more confident than its naval commanders.
Less than a month after the battle more than 40 Mu officers arrived in Japan to meet with JSDF staff and make plans. Over the coming months, plans were made, presented, and approved by both governments. In Mu, while tens of thousands of troops guarded the border, a flurry of construction behind the lines marked the first efforts of an overland counterattack. Although preparations were briefly delayed by an outbreak of Ravernal bioweapons in the Magicaraich Community, they resumed full force relatively quickly. With Japan and Mu united against one enemy, they approached the other Second Civilization nations to participate too, and the coalition grew stronger.
The Holy Milishial Empire was also invited to participate, although in doing so Japan's diplomats may have been overzealous. The reports of collaboration between the MSDF and Milishial Navy during the operation had given the Japanese the impression there was free flowing discussion of war plans. But things were far more complicated than that.
The Battle of Baltica was a global embarrassment for the Holy Milishial Empire. They'd thrown in their best forces and rallied the world to follow them to expel the Gra Valkas Empire. Not only had that mission failed, but the Holy Milishial Empire had been the only one forced to retreat from losses. For the world's #1 superpower and the leader of the coalition, it was a horrible way to appear in front of the other nations, and although not publicly stated, the country's global reputation took a hit.
Japan's mistake was thinking Lettal Kauran's demeanor would be shared by others in his country. It was not. Many Milishial officials still thought of themselves as the world leader and strongest, despite their wounded pride. For Japan to come in and invite them to discussions on a counterattack was perceived as an unspoken accusation that the Holy Milishial Empire was no longer the #1 superpower. A lot were willing to let Mu and Japan struggle by themselves just for that.
Milishial VIII, fortunately, was far above the arrogance so common to the lower rungs of government. He plainly told Agra and Scmill Pao to join the discussions, although not commit to anything without his approval. The losses really were that bad: they'd sent out three fleets and came back with less than one, leaving only four fleets and some local regional forces to guard the mainland. Even with the enemy's forces depleted, the Milishials were unwilling to send anymore naval expeditions. They needed time to rebuild, and more importantly implement lessons learned from Baltica.
The latter necessity was what saved Lettal Kauran's career. A lot of Milishial officials were willing to scapegoat him for the Navy's massive losses, but the emperor would have none of it. Lettal Kauran was the most experienced elf the nation had now, and that information was vital. Milishial VIII saw to it he kept his rank and that he'd oversee the reorganization and refitting of the Navy. It wasn't just the lessons learned from the Gra Valkas either; reports on Japan's guided weapons were also incorporated. Adapting from new sources, the Holy Milishial Empire slowly started to rearm.
The one thing that did go right for the Holy Milishial Empire was that they at least kept the secret of the Pal Chimera getting damaged. Wahlman was let go from the Ancient Superweapons Analysis and Tactical Operations Department, but Meteos was commended for his efforts. Although technically still a viable weapon, the damaged Pal Chimera was shelved with the other two inoperable units, leaving only four operational across the entire department. Perhaps because the Pal Chimeras had only been deployed at the first battle and not the one that ultimately turned back the World Union, there weren't a whole lot of questions being asked worldwide. Some people even thought the reports that Pal Chimeras had been there at all were propaganda.
But plenty believed. Most importantly, the Gra Valkas Empire believed in these superweapons, and as far as they knew both could show up again at any time. The Holy Milishial Empire managed to save some face, because one thing was still undeniably true to the entire world: they were the inheritors of the Ancient Sorcerous Empire's terrible strength.
Although privately, that worried the Milishials. How strong was the Gra Valkas Empire really if it could meet that same strength?
Of all the participants in the Baltica of Baltica, the most tumultuous one after the battle was undoubtedly the Gra Valkas Empire. The Leifor District had been defended, but that was the only saving grace. Losses were massive: save for 25 destroyers, the Eastern Fleet and Judgement Force were completely destroyed. The two formations intended to lead their conquest east were rusting beneath the waves now, their leaders killed in separate engagements. The navy leadership held on to hope for as long as they could, but the First and Third Submarine Fleets never returned, and all 64 submarines were written off as lost in action. Only one ship from the Leifor Defense Fleet detachment survived and only thirty-two ships from the emergency fleet Mirkenses had led survived.
Before the battle, the Gra Valkas Imperial Navy had 790 warships and submarines. More than 300 had been sunk defending Leifor. Numerically, it was dangerously close to half of the navy lost in a single campaign. But when broken down by type it was worse: 11 out of 27 fleet carriers lost, 16 out of 29 battleships-more than half-sunk, 64 out of 135 submarines crushed by the depths, and the total number of light and heavy cruisers had been slashed by a third. Numerically, the losses were bad, but in terms of actual assets, the navy really had lost half its total firepower.
When the 21 warships from the Ishtam Fleet were written off later, navy officials were practically numb to the loss. What was one more battleship and aircraft carrier at that point?
The Imperial Army Air Service hadn't gotten through things unscathed either. Japan had shot down the entire 14th Air Wing and badly damaged the 16th Air Wing. That was almost three hundred aircraft lost. Not as much as the Imperial Navy numerically, but the Imperial Army had only called back about 3000 veteran planes with their pilots/crews before the transfer; that was a nearly 10% loss. Planes were replaceable, but veterans were not. It wasn't easy to brush off.
The Gra Valkas Empire had dramatically underestimated the enemy, or at least just two nations: the Holy Milishial Empire and Japan. Both were in possession of ridiculously fantastical weapons that had the ability to inflict massive casualties on them. Even worse, only the Holy Milishial Empire was vulnerable; Japan seemed untouchable. They couldn't rescind a declaration of global war, and there was no way they could go groveling for peace after one loss either. No. As daunting as it was, the Gra Valkas Empire had no choice but to carry on with its plans and adapt the best it could. Maybe a temporary peace would happen at some point, but the conquests couldn't stop now. Emergency meetings were held every day for weeks as they tried desperately to claw themselves out of the hole they'd dug themselves into.
The most immediate concern was defense, since the barbarians were emboldened and might try again. The Imperial Army strengthened its presence in Leifor and all other colonies to head off any unrest news of their severe losses might trigger. The amount of radar sites and anti-aircraft guns in Leifor was increased tenfold. The garrison of 150,000 troops in Leifor was increased to 200,000, and soon after ordered increased to 250,000. On land, things seemed under control after three months.
At sea, things were harder to fix. Mirkenses' carrier groups had survived even if she hadn't, and so had a single battleship and light cruiser. Folded in with the twenty-five surviving destroyers from the Combined Fleet, the East Fleet was resurrected with a respectable enough strength. Enough for most of this world's barbarians, anyway. But it wasn't enough.
Within a week of the battle, Xand Pastall ordered that the entire Reserve Fleet be mobilized. The Reserve Fleet was where older ships were kept for emergencies. Being so old, they were prone to maintenance issues far more often and so were generally not considered worth the trouble. Now, they needed every ship they could get. There were over two hundred old destroyers and cruisers, and even thirteen Orion-class battleships that had been mothballed in the past decade as aircraft carriers replaced them.
Since the Reserve Fleet was also used as a source of spare parts, more than a third of the ships would need some work before they were seaworthy, but it was still faster and cheaper than building new ones. There were enough survivors from both Caesar and Mirkenses' fleets that they could crew several and get them launched right away. The first few dozen destroyers were all assigned to either the Home Fleet or the colonies near the homeland; knowing that Japan possessed submarines, Navy HQ was committing to total supply line security. The Irnetia, Paganda, and Leifor Defense Fleets all received a few more destroyers as well. The rest of the reserve was to be given to the reformed East Fleet. Although it'd be at least a year before every ship was ready, within five months more than 110 had been deployed.
The Imperial Navy's shipbuilding plans were also re-examined immediately after the battle. After the Leadership Conference, the Navy ordered a new wartime destroyer class to quickly swell its numbers for the anticipated world conquest (the reason they'd ordered new instead of using the reserve was the aforementioned frequent maintenance issues). For the past few months, shipyards across the mainland had been gearing up and forty-four keels had been laid, with the first units expected to be completed in the next two months for trials to prove their viability. Their foresight to approve these last year was a Godsend now.
But mass production of just destroyers wasn't going to cut it anymore. The order was slashed from a thousand to just five hundred destroyers. The funds and resources slated for the cancelled ships were instead reinvested into new cruisers, submarines, and resuming construction on two incomplete fleet carriers that had construction cancelled when the transfer occurred and never resumed due to a lack of need. A dozen cargo ships were requisitioned for faster modification into light carriers to be given to the Leifor, Paganda, and Irnetia Defense Fleets.
For a brief while, there was a debate if it was worth ordering new battleships. As Captain Tamuramaro had theorized, the Gra Valkas Imperial Navy had never intended to order another battleship ever again. But seeing as they were the only thing they believed invulnerable to the Japanese guided weapons, they started to seriously consider the idea. Ultimately though, no new battleships were ordered.
It wasn't until two and a half months after the Battle of Baltica that the Gra Valkas Empire started seriously discussing its next steps, busy up to that point with damage control. Their aspirations of conquest hadn't been snuffed out, although few military officials spoke anymore about conquering the Holy Milishial Empire and Japan. In the Imperial Senate, second in power to the emperor but still important, a handful of senators even started to suggest it would be better to ally with other scientific nations instead of fighting them and wasting lives. Officially though, government policy was still complete world domination.
Mu was unanimously agreed upon as the next target. Not only because it was on the border, but it was a close ally of Japan, meaning Japan could use it as a springboard for attacks on the empire. They knew the World Union was still plotting another attack and it could come any day now. Advancing east carried a lot of risk, but having a Japanese ally as a neighbor was even riskier. If the Gra Valkas Empire could conquer Mu and then the rest of the continent quickly, then it would have a lot more breathing room to come up with countermeasures for both Japan and the Milishials before advancing further.
A few ideas had been proposed, and a lot were currently being examined and tested. In spite of the book the Intelligence Bureau had secured, they still didn't completely understand Japan's supposedly scientific weapons, let alone the Milishial's obviously magical ones. They had some stop-gap measures that would hopefully suffice for the Invasion of Mu in the meantime. Figuring out how the Invasion of Mu could go took weeks to figure out.
Before Baltica had turned into a disaster, the Imperial Army had intended to construct a new airfield and major base on the southern half of the border with Mu before invading and capturing the southwestern portion of the country. The original plan only called for a single air wing and army corps to be deployed-the 8th Corps specifically, since it contained the most powerful only fully mechanized division in the Imperial Army: The 4th Division. Mu would divert all its forces south to meet the thrust, meanwhile the Imperial Army would build more bases and launch an assault north across the continent to Mu's capital.
With Japanese support expected, this plan wasn't viable anymore. A single air wing would only last a few days of operation at most if Japanese fighters participated, and even Mu's bombers could cause heavy casualties if they didn't have opposition to face. No fancy delaying or diversion tactics; with time limited, they were simply going to mount a strong offensive through the north as fast as possible. This wasn't a campaign they could win with a small amount of forces and no casualties-it was going to be a quick and brutal war.
For the Imperial Army, any offensive made with less than 200,000 troops and 2,000 planes was seen as inadequate. They'd cut a path between the three mountains in central Mu and capture the capital Otaheit. The total distance advanced would be more than 3,000km, and the Imperial Army intended to cover it in less than two months. The Imperial Navy was unusually meek during this plannig phase. But since this advance would require having the northern flank exposed, the Imperial Army more or less dragooned the Navy into agreeing to send the West Fleet to northern Mu to wreak havoc and land a single division to tie up the Mu Army. Emperor Gra Lux approved the plan, telling them to hurry with its implementation.
For an offensive of that scale, they would need several large bases and even more airfields in Leifor to hold the necessary forces and act as supply points. Building those bases took time, not to mention that work could only seriously begin after the reinforcements stopped flowing into Leifor. That took just over three months. By the time military engineers were breaking ground on the sixteen new installations they needed, Japanese and Mu engineers had been working for at least a month on the other side of the border. Construction supplies arrived via ship and was unevenly distributed to the build sites, leading to the progress of each build to fall out of sync. But the Gra Valkans kept at it.
Six months after Baltica, the Gra Valkas Empire had only completed two large scale army bases and a single airfield. Forces, including the 8th Corps, were deployed to start the buildup. But the Gra Valkas Empire had spent too much time scrambling after Baltica before regaining their momentum. They'd given the rest of the world too much time to prepare.
Before the Gra Valkas Empire could finish its preparations to invade Mu, the World Union struck first.
A/N: And done. This project took a lot longer to finish than I would've hoped, but in the end, it got finished. The final lines allude to a sequel short story I hope to write one day. An alternate Liberation of Leifor. Someday. But for now, I intend to work on my other NHS story that's fallen behind schedule.
Thanks for reading.