Opening Wave

It has been four weeks since the declaration of total war by Iwasawa-kou-sama.

During that time, countless men and women who are serving in the army has bid their farewells to their families. Unlike the invasion of Mizuki island several months ago, the farewells aren't bittersweet or has a sliver of worry from the family of the soldiers.

"I'll do my best to come back, darling. Pray for me and my fellows."

"Yes… I will place you on our prayers. With that, make sure to avenge our people."

"Yes…"

"They took mother and little Yuu from us… I will not forgive them."

Now, there is only burning hatred and a thirst for vengeance from them.

"62nd Rifle battalion and 112th Sharpshooter platoon, ride cabs 4 and 7. Huddle up and endure the trip. We have to carry as many men to the frontlines as possible."

"Yes, sir!"

"Superintendent! Sir!"

"What is it, Lieutenant?"

"We're having some delays on the depot about the loading of the artillery. The depot manager said they'd be late for ten minutes because of the broken pulley."

"It's fine. Just tell the train crew to keep the engine running so they can depart as soon as the other carts get attached."

"Affirmative, sir!"

As written by scholars during that time, from the heart of the allied lands, flowed out blood and steel through the metal arteries of the railways. Such great was the impact of the railroad to the rapid mobilization of troops and equipment that before the beginning of the hostilities, the crews of the railroads who ceaselessly moved the allied forces and their equipment to the frontlines were dubbed as the "heroes" of the war.

But it wasn't only the railways and the people that run it that left a great imprint on the war effort.

"Alright. Connecting you to Hashidate Front command."

"I'll be rerouting the call to the 22nd Rifle platoon. Don't disconnect yet."

"Tell them that 14th Artillery command will be on site within the day. For now, they should dig deep and prepare to hold off any surprise attack from the enemy."

There is also the Centralized Communications Office, abbreviated as CenCO (Senko). The consolidated command center for the allied forces who operate the radiophones to give commands to the soldiers in the front lines and make sure that every army group is working well with each other.

"Any reports from the scouts and spies?"

"Nothing of great importance yet, sir. There are mentions from the Kiko Sparrow units about Greenhoods in Mutsuki province that are gathering intel about us, but our counter-intelligence operations seem to be successful at feeding them bad intel and thinking that we are moving uncoordinatedly."

"If that is true, then it's good. Include it to the report to Vice Chancellor Kusanagi-sama."

"Yes, sir!"

They are also responsible for collecting reports from the forces that has been sent beyond the frontlines to reconnoiter the enemy army and how they are preparing for the war. These would be passed down to the Intelligence Agency which would iron out the information before having it presented to the alliance leaders.

"Get those ammo crates closed up and delivered to the railroad depot. We have still have a million rounds to go before hitting the daily quota!"

"Overseer! We have a problem at line H!"

"Give way to the engineers and move everyone to line F for now. We've been pushing the machines hard for a while so you shouldn't be surprised that they've been breaking down."

Of course, it isn't only the men dressed in combat uniforms or carrying official military insignias that are deserving of praise. If anything, none of them would be able to do their jobs without the hardworking men and women who work almost ten-hour shifts every day in the factories that produce steel, gunpowder, mechanical parts and many more objects needed for the war effort.

"Alright! That's the 15th locomotive for today! This assembly line is closed!"

"Yatta!"

"Go help out our men, steel bull!"

From massive assembly lines come out the trains that would be needed later on when the war reaches the central plains.

"How many more Hiryuu rifles do we have to make for today?"

"About a thousand and a half. Don't worry about that number. We are hundreds in here that are making it. Just keep your hand busy and maybe we can go back to making refrigerators and air conditioners again after this."

There are also factories whose owners and workers volunteered to take on the work of producing armaments for the soldiers who are yet to be armed with guns. From making civilian goods, they suspended the production of those to help in the war effort.

"Careful now. Those needles need to be as straight as possible, so they won't cause problems once they are used."

"I know that, boss. I've been pricked with a faulty needle before. I know how much they hurt."

"Oh yeah? How did you end up in that situation?"

"Blood test for diphtheria. The nurse was good in drawing out blood, but it was unfortunate that the needle she got was quite bent. Once it was halfway in, it pierced through the blood vessel, and I got a skin-deep bleed for a few days."

"I see. Good thing you got well."

There are also medical supplies like bandages, disinfectants, minor anesthesia and syringes. With the Lord of Kiko being a doctor by trade, it was his initiative that started the trend of every other soldier carrying medical supplies on their person and knowing how to use them at least as much as what is needed in a first aid response.

Overall, the declaration of war wasn't just the start of a turmoil for every party. It also helped unify and jumpstart the employment of the people in the allied lands.

And that brings us to two months later when the order to advance from the frontlines was given.

"First Allied Army Group! Move out!"

"""Yes, General Ayanami!"""

"Keep your formations tight. Don't let anyone be left behind!"

First, there was the army group led by Ayanami Mitsuhide, who was given the rank of Lieutenant General of the Allied Forces. She was tasked to march to Mutsuki province to meet up with the republic leaders of the province who are in good terms with the alliance after they supplied their revolt a year ago against their despotic daimyo.

"Heh. To think that there would come a time when I will be the one to take up the sword while you'll be fighting through words… times have really changed, doesn't it, Ishigawa-dono?"

"Don't act so smug about it, Mitsuhide. The only reason I am the diplomat and you're the commander is that we're going to Mutsuki with no intention of waging war against it. Once we secure their approval to let our army pass through their lands, we'd both be commanders of this force."

"Alright, alright… I admit that I did overstep my boundaries, I apologize."

Second, there is the First Combined Group led by Brigadier General Himeji Kotori. Her force would be crossing the shallow mouth of the Onnoki gulf through a pontoon bridge constructed by the Allied Army Engineers.

"Forward… MARCH!!!"

"""HAH!"""

The Combined Group contains a mix of riflemen, towed artillery and the bulk of the ammunition and food supply of the allied force. With this route being the safest due to the other side of the gulf being Furuya province, this became the main artery of the logistical movement of the invasion which will be supplying the entire war front soon after battles begin.

"Alright. Anchors Aweigh!"

"Anchors Aweigh! Sound the airhorns!"

*BLAAAARRRRPPP!!!*

Last in the main invasion force is the one led by Major General Shimura Nobisuke from the northern sea. Riding commandeered ferries lent by shipping companies, his force is constituted of marines, landing crafts, fast craft vessels armed with rockets and mortars and has direct artillery support from the cruisers and battleship Kongo of the Kiko navy.

"Alright! We're the first dudes that those bastards will see in this war! Make them shake in their boots and fear us enough that our comrades from Mutsuki and Furuya won't have a hard time anymore!"

"What are our rules of engagement, sir?"

"Shoot anyone who will shoot back at you. If it's just a guy who is protecting his home or his family, do your best to disarm him and tell him to calm down. We'll be invading without any warning, expect to have split-second decisions like that constantly."

"Roger that!"

"I call dibs on the first shots! I wanna be remembered in history books!"

"Screw you! That's my idea first!"

"Nah! It's mine!"

Their job is to land in the fiefdoms of Kanae estuary, performing rapid assaults on the riverside lands against the ruling powers to decapitate its ability to fight back against the bulk of the allied force coming from Furuya and Mutsuki.

"This is Air Scout 1, Air Scout 1… Reporting that we are above the designated point, over."

["This is Alpha Air Command. Powering up the monitors, over."]

"Affirmative. Is our video footage good, over?"

["Crystal clear, Air Scout one. Query about current position."]

"Twelve degrees east of Umigoshi fiefdom. A slipstream from the west pushed us out of the designated route, but we managed to minimize the deviation enough for the battlefield to still be visible."

["Copy that. Sending the live footage to Allied HQ right now."]

Meanwhile, the hot air balloons of the Air Scout Corps were tasked with carrying the new colored cameras on their balloons that are painted white and gray to camouflage them in the sky. Their cameras are like the ones used by the leaders of the alliance during their long-distance video meetings.

"It has begun."

"Right… I'm getting nervous all of a sudden."

"Calm down, Koshiro. Although I do feel the same since General Kotori's force seems to be possessed by something. Their movement is quick, and they don't appear to be afraid of the movement of the floating bridge."

"They're the logistics corps. She wants to set up the supply depots and reach the railroad at Mikoto province so we can stabilize our supply line quickly. My subordinate really wants to fulfill her work properly."

Deep in the underground command headquarters of the allied force in Naka castle, the five leaders of the invading armies are watching the invasion unfold from the live coverage of the air scouts. In four separate monitors, the three allied fronts and the Imperial capital are being shown.

The table is a shaped like a U, with Iwasawa Hiroshi of Kiko sitting on the center, Kusanagi Kyoko of Shinka sitting next to him by the right side and Yamaguchi Koshiro of Fuku at the edge of the right side. On the left of him is Ayanami Mitsuha of Yukonami and next to her is Mizuki Rin of Mizuki province.

"It's still saddening to me that someone's chair must be empty now."

"Kusanagi-sama…"

From her chair, Kyoko looked at the empty seat that is now set aside at the corner of the room and spoke those words with a hint of pain.

"Did I make the wrong call to do that then, Kyoko?"

"…No. All of us fell victim to her terror attacks and invasion attempts. It was your right and responsibility to stop her and her people from continuing those actions."

"…Right. It really was my responsibility."

"Speaking of which, Lord Iwasawa."

"What is it, General Ayanami?"

"Did you also send the submarine fleet on the invasion?"

"No. There's no point of using them for now. Besides, there is a new unit that I am planning to send out once we capture the Imperial capital."

"A new unit?"

"It just passed all of its tests last week. As of now, there are still far too few of them to be sent out there, but soon, they'll be helping out more than enough for us to push towards the Shogunate capital with ease."

"More secret weapons? In my opinion, all of this is already enough for us to win any fight."

"I guess it's time for me to say it then."

"Say what now?"

Hiroshi signaled for one of the large monitors to be switched to an image. An image of the report from the Crows that he sent ahead of everyone else to perform espionage from deep within the enemy lines.

"Past the Imperial capital, we won't be fighting against formations of spearmen and mounted samurai archers, but armies that wield rifles and use cannons like us."

"What?!"

"Did our technology got stolen? Was it the smugglers from my province who escaped from my fleet?!"

"W-What will happen now, Hiroshi-dono?!"

"Calm down, Rin and Koshiro. This is none of your fault and nothing to worry about. Those are all technologies that they got from their own Otherworlders. Those daimyos there has been siphoning all kinds of technologies from them."

"W-Wait… they have people like you in there?"

"Yep. Although not as good in explaining things and possibly not that knowledgeable enough to properly make those things themselves. From what Kuro and his ninjas are able to gather, most of their rifles are nothing but improved breech-loading muskets. Quite near our self-reloading guns, but still outdated in comparison to ours."

"What about those cannons that you are talking about?"

"They seem to just be outdated muzzle-loaders usually seen in pirate films."

"Pirate films?"

"Forget that term… The point is, they are still bad enough that they aren't a match to what we have in our side. But a little vigilance can go the long way."

"Is that so…?"

"Another thing on the same report from them. They found out that Shogun Amanogawa has been spreading circulars secretly around Yamato province to inform people about an incoming siege. Right now, trade routes to the province have become tighter and tighter while there are rumors that the lords of the surrounding lands are reaching out to each other for plans about finally locking out the Shogunate capital to force it to capitulate."

"Then that means we have to break deep already to relieve them before things become too late."

"Right."

Conquering the Imperial Capital and driving off the enemy forces in there is just the first step. From there, the road to Yamato province would be a war that none of us has tried out before.

Kyoko and her army might have modernized and performed greatly even against their skirmish with Kise that was largely waged through indirect gas artillery attacks, but I cannot give my guarantee that they would perform well as an invasion force with only two years of modern combat knowledge and only a little bit of experience in a live battlefield.

Meanwhile, Mitsuha's army is the least numerous. Except for the fact that most of the military age men that her land can field has died or been severely injured from the time when it was still against us, there is also the fact that it was almost conquered by Kise's forces last time and now, can only be relegated to sentry duties on bases and escort missions on supply convoys.

Lastly, both Koshiro and Rin's armies have large amounts of manpower, but still lacking largely in firearms.

For Koshiro-kun's Fuku army, there is the fact that his land is divided with mountainous valleys and deep forests that makes the spread of technology and building of industrial sectors difficult. Because of that, only a division in his army has been armed and trained with using rifles.

Rin's Mizuki army doesn't have problems with technology and making industrial sectors. For one, since she is an Otherworlder herself who came here through a spaceship with a stasis chamber and operated by an AI that is currently awaiting re-activation, the technology she has might even be beyond what I can ever achieve since I am not a programmer. What holds her army back is the lack of vital supplies in her isolated island province. Steel, copper, coal and rice aren't things that they have there. Because it's a land that was made by undersea volcanic eruptions, mining is very risky since one can easily pierce a magma puddle underground. Foodstuffs such as grains are also quite the chore to grow. Because of this, we had to supply them with firearms and food that came from Kiko.

Overall, the allied forces won't have trouble with toppling the medieval armies of the Imperial capital, but that would change once we get into the central plains where there are near-peer enemies that has the capacity to match our firepower and outlast whatever siege we will perform on them.

My concern now is if we can get into Yamato province to link up with the Shogun in order to smooth our road to victory, or we have to ask them to hold out for longer. If I ask for the latter, I don't think that guy would mind it so long as it can be done, but I don't want to cause more damage and hurt to the common folk there.

"Esteemed leaders, we have a report from General Mituhide's force in Mutsuki province."

"Do speak it."

"From her personally… "To our Esteemed leaders, I bear the confirmation from envoy Ishigawa Gojo that the leadership of Mutsuki province has given us the permission to pass through their lands on the condition that none of our forces would come within a kilometer from any settlement. They say that this isn't a case of wariness, but instead, just a request of courtesy for the sake of not agitating their people. They have given us exclusive use of their western diversion road and the orange line of the Shogunate railways. Tolls will not be collected, but repairs will be made exclusively by us." That is all she has sent, leaders."

"Well, Ishigawa-dono has cut a good deal."

"Don't act as if he's the only one responsible for those good terms. Your force is responsible for freeing them from their abusive daimyo. That must've also played a big role in the negotiations."

"Yeah. Although it did cause a political backlash on my court… Anyways, send word to Infrastructure Minister Fumikage Rie to move to Mutsuki province with her men and supplies. Since they lent us a highway, we should at least keep it in good shape. Same goes to the railroads, General Shimura sent his private contractors under us, have them care after the railroads since we'll use them a lot starting from now on."

"Yes, Kou-sama!"

"Now… Let's talk about drawing the battlelines. With our current pace right now, we can conquer the Imperial capital before the week ends. By that time, we will have to step into the various micro-provinces and fiefdoms of the central plains. Goodness, there are almost hundreds of them."

"The central plains have always been a headache to handle. Not just because of their idea of exclusive bloodline purity, but also because of the complicated web of diplomatic ties that they have with each other."

I wanted to have as few enemies against our force as possible, which is why I thought about forming diplomatic ties with the provinces in the Central Plains so we can come to Yamato province unimpeded. However, after seeing the map and how many of them we will have to pass by to get to the Shogunate capital, I soon realized that maybe just conquering them would be easier.

"You said it already once. They'll turn on a pebble if that will save their skins and further their agendas. If they can turn on the guy who selflessly devoted his life to keep the peace of this nation, what do you think they'd do to you once you're with them?"

"I know that. That's why I specifically used the word "total war" when I declared war against them."

"Total war… a war waged that takes no prisoners…"

"…and treats no enemy fortification untouchable."

"Leaflets to warn about an artillery shelling on residential areas will be given…"

"…and when they still haven't evacuated, they will be treated as hostiles."

"Total war… What happened to Kise was a precedent to such a term."

After the four other lords spoke in parts the definition of that phrase, it was Hiroshi's last statement that made them gulp down in nervousness.

"Heh… Don't make me question the kind of relationship we and our lands have again. What happened to Kise is an isolated incident surrounding the goal that the Daigo clan had about me and the other Otherworlders. As much as it may stoke your fears that what happened in Kise can happen to you too, I can guarantee you that I am genuine in my promise to keep our alliance strong and equal. So long, of course, you keep your end of it and not be a headache to each other."

"…You really know what our faces mean, don't you, Hiroshi-dono?"

"I do. That's the reason why I try to remind all of you that I may make all kinds of destructive things and keep it away from your knowledge, but it is all for the sake of keeping the balance and peace of our alliance… just like how it went for Kise, it is my responsibility as the chancellor of our organization to put down anyone who would go against our principles and agreements."

Kise being mentioned yet again sent an uncomfortable air around the room, sensed not only by the leaders but also the soldiers and operators around them. To someone who has no knowledge of what happened there, such silence would probably cause one to dread that word.

"Say, Hiroshi…"

"What is it, Kyoko?"

"What… did you feel when you gave the order to decimate Kise?"

"…"

"What you have been worried about earlier… did you feel it too back then?"

Kyoko's question made me think back of the last call I had with Reika, pleading her to the last second to just give up on her goal and stop her army. I even promised to absolve her and her people if she will hearken to my plea… but in the end, it had to finished in that way.

"I did, of course. Those missiles might seem like wonders of science to you guys, but they are just perfected forms of the first missiles in my past world… because of that, the explosives they contained may not have fallen at the place where they were intended to… and they did."

"I was there in Kingo city hours after the explosion… I've never seen so much desolation in a single place."

"…"

"Fires raged everywhere, wounded and dead both lie in the streets and tended by those who were safe from the devastation… and the castle…"

"Ah yes… the mountain castle that towered into the clouds."

"It was gone… destroyed from the bottom by a massive landslide."

That landslide wasn't just any landslide. It made the entire castle fall down bit by bit as the soil that was disturbed by the explosions slid down into the mountain's feet along with the castle renowned for its gold-plated surfaces.

A single missile carrying cluster munitions rained that much destruction in a city and its center of power. When you look at it that way, maybe their fears of me using that weapon against them one day out of the blue isn't really that unwarranted.

"I know that words are cheap, and one can easily lie about what they really have in their minds, but I have known all three of you for a long time, and Rin-chan here is the fiancée of my closest subordinate. That kind of relationship isn't something cheap to me. It's not something that is worth destroying for the sake of a thirst for power."

"Hiroshi-san…"

"…"

"So I ask that you at least give me even a sliver of your trust… that even though our military powers are currently unbalanced, you can sleep well and tight at night, knowing that I wouldn't do to you the things that I did to Kise without any legal reason."

"And what if we turn on you, Hiroshi-dono?"

"What was that, General Ayanami?"

"I asked you what you would do if we turned on you… if in one way or another we broke the terms of our agreement and encroached on your land."

I was surprised at first why would she ask that kind of question now, but I guess she's reminding me of what can happen if such a thing does happen.

"Then I will do what I must do to protect my people and those who do not wish to fight."

"…"

"Our articles already say so… we gathered together to look after each other and come to the aid of one who is in dire straits. If you break those tenets, you don't just get expunged, you will also invite everyone's wrath."

"Just like how Kise did it."

"Right… just like how they did it."

As we, who lead this war sat in our headquarters and talked about how we will handle our new situation now, there has been large developments in the landing offensive in Kanae estuary.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

["We're fifteen kilometers inland already, General. Send in the second wave."]

"Roger. Evacuate the civilians or tell them to stay put in their homes. We must avoid engagements with them as much as possible."

["Copy that, sir."]

In a span of an hour, the first three fiefdoms that faces the sea was captured from their ruling lords who was caught unprepared for the offensive. Though some tried to mount a defensive stance, none was able to successfully repel the assault of the marines who was given orders to take the castle and its ruler as soon as possible. To say that the marines didn't tunnel vision themselves to that task would be a blatant lie.

"Sir, 7th Marine Recon Battalion is requesting a fire mission on Point Umbra. They sent the request to Cruiser Takao."

"Point Umbra… that's the heavily fortified fortress of Kamioka fiefdom, yes?"

"Yes, sir. It seems like they need the ship's artillery to topple the walls of the fortress since it's pretty well-defended."

"Hmm… Permit it. Send word to Takao's captain and let them handle it."

"Yes, sir!"

The landing offensive on Kanae estuary is the hardest amongst the three fronts of the initial war plan. With it immediately turning into a fight as soon as they land, the marines and other soldiers included in this front were told that they might not be able to see the end of the even just the battle they are into. And yet, none of them backed out or asked to be redeployed somewhere else.

"Here comes the shells!"

"Everyone on point! We're charging as soon as those shells topples the wall!"

In contrast, they are high in morale and ready to charge into danger if that meant contributing to the victory that they know will come for their army.

"CHARGEEEE!!!"

"BANZAI!!!"

"AAAAAHHH!!! They're coming for us!"

"GET OUT OF THE WAY!!!"

In only an hour after they landed, sheer terror spread across the remaining defenders of the strongholds after the marines left no one who didn't raise their arms in surrender or huddled their head between their knees while pissing themselves in fear.

"Bring in the infantry and let's move to the next point!"

"Yes, sir!"

"Marines, on me!"

"""Hu-hah!"""

And yet, this is only the beginning of the war that started from someone's meddling and some other one's greed.

"Sora-senpai. We have news from General Furutani."

"Can you read it for me, Endou? My headache is affecting my eyes right now."

"Sure thing… "Once this letter has come to your hand, it is possible that the army of the Southern Alliance has already secured the Imperial Capital. It seems like the Kirin Lord is keen on pushing toward Yamato as soon as possible. Anyways, I'll keep our communication lines encrypted on cipher Enigma, who knows when that freak would finally get to break our codes…" that is all he wanted to say.

"…Excellent. They're earlier than I expected."

"It seems like the Kirin Lord didn't even give a public address about the devastation of Kise. He immediately raised a military build-up call and started planning about the advance towards here as you two have agreed on."

"I expected no less from him. Now that he has no enemies in the south, he can finally focus on the true enemy he has on the north."

"…"

"Now… I can rest easy and leave everything on his hands."

"Say, Sora-senpai."

"Yeah?"

"Are you… really alright?"

"…"

"I mean, ever since you two had your duel, your health hiccups are getting more frequent, and you've spent more and more time sleeping than you used to before."

"Endou-kun… listen to me-"

"Chiasa-san would undoubtedly be the first to become worried about you. And yet, she doesn't seem to be worried unless the symptoms do come."

"…"

"So, tell me, Senpai… are you really alright?"

Faced with such a question, the Shogun sighed and finally opened up about what is really happening about him.

"Unless that guy gets rid, my health will decline more and more."

"That guy… you mean-"

"Yes… as someone who was responsible to some extent to his death in the past world, the karmic justice followed me even to this new world and life… add to that the fact that I asked the priestesses of Kurumi sanctum to try and find Ephraim again if we in this world can't handle it after all… these are all things that I have to pay for."

"You're strangely equivocal when it counts, senpai."

"Heh. I don't want to hear that from someone who is responsible for more deaths that I ever can be."

"Yeah, yeah… No need to remind me of my hare-brained lunacy."

As his subordinate was about to leave his office, the Shogun stopped him and asked him to do something.

"Tell our people about the news that reinforcements are coming to our aid. I want them to liven up."

"But what about the spies that I still haven't found?"

"They're included on those that I said would be livened up."

"…"

"I want everyone who is strangling our land right now to start fearing for their own safety…"

"Heh… Roger that, Shogun-sama."

It hasn't even been a day since hostilities began, and yet, there has already been plans for what will come ahead on the two sides of the allied armies.

"I'll leave everything on your shoulders for now, Hiroshi."