Tyranny of Steel

Empress Itami Riyo spent a significant amount of time speaking to the German diplomat after negotiating Min-Ah's release. During their discussion, she had learned a lot about just what had happened in India, something she was entirely blind to.

It was true what they say, you can't teach an old dog new tricks. Despite doing her best to keep Asha Sarkar on a tight leash, he had relapsed into his wicked ways the moment after her officers were no longer around to keep an eye on him.

Itami had no doubt that Germany's Special Forces had eliminated her advisors to the Bengal Army in an attempt to provoke Asha Sarkar and his band of misfits into committing war crimes. However, she could not prove this. Thus, the Japanese Empress tried her best to glean as much information about the conflict as she could manage.

After drinking a few glasses of sake with the German Diplomat, Itami smiled pleasantly. This was the first discussion the two of them had endured, which did not make her want to tear the man's eyes out. After building such a raport with Tilicke, she could not help but bait him into answering one of her deepest questions.

"Still, to break the Bengal Army's advance in a single battle. I wonder just how your Anangpur allies managed to accomplish this feat. As far as I'm aware, the weapons that your Kaiser equipped them with were on par with those I had sold to the Bengals.

Even then, to traverse the difficult jungle of the Indian Subcontinent within a month, all the way to the Bengal Empire's core territory, this is not an easy feat. The logistics alone must have cost your allies a fortune."

There was a proud smile on Tilicke's face, which obscured his obviously reddened cheeks as he made a comment he otherwise would not have, had he been sober.

"Please, Empress Itami, you flatter me and my people. It was really a simple matter, something that a Panzer division could easily accomplish!"

When Itami heard the word's panzer division come out of the German Diplomat's mouth, she trembled. The very core of her being was shaken. Panzer Division? Just what kind of military might was that? It immediately dawned on her why the Anangpur victory had been so swift. Against the armored hull of a proper panzer, no weapons which the Bengals employed would stand a chance.

Itami was so shaken from this news that her fingers instinctively released the grip they had over her sake cup, which fell to the floor and instantly shattered. It was only after this occurrence that Tilicke realized he had made an unforgiveable offense.

After neatly placing down his cup on the table that lie in between him and his host, the German Diplomat stood up and struggled to find his balance before making another comment that he should not have.

"Well... I believe I have spent enough time here in your lovely homeland. However, if I am going to catch the next flight out of Beijing, I will need to set sail at once. Until we meet again, Empress Itami."

After saying this, Tilicke swayed out of Itami's palace and towards the docks where he immediately set sail for Beijing. As for the Japanese Empress, she sat there in utter disbelief for several moments. Panzers, aircraft? How had she fallen so far behind the Reich?

Now that she had begun the extraction and refinement of oil, there was no longer a need to hesitate. After careful consideration, the young woman immediately rose from her seat, and quickly made her way to her quarters where her desk, along with the divine mirror, lied in wait for her.

After activating the divine object, and ushering in the light of wisdom, Itami began to draft the designs for a new weapon, one that would become the backbone of her army in the war she feared would soon transpire between herself, and her German rivals.

Based upon the Type 4 Chi-To Medium tank, which was a weapon designed and developed by the Imperial Japanese Army in extremely limited numbers towards the end of the Second World War in Itami's last life. Itami had brought to life a tank that could have been a major game changer for the Japanese, had they designed and implemented it earlier in the war effort.

The Type 4 Chi-To Medium tank had 75mm of hardened steel armor, along with a 75mm main gun. The armored vehicle had a secondary armament of two 7.7mm Type 97 Heavy Tank Machine Guns. The Vehicle made use of a supercharged V-12 diesel engine, gaining a max speed of 45 kmph and a max range of 250 kms.

All in all, it was an equivalent to the German Panzerkampfwagen V Panther which Berengar had modelled his own tanks off of. The difference was that Berengar's tanks had improved suspensions and engines to maximize reliability and performance.

Aside from the Type 4 Chi-To Medium Tank, Itami designed a fully enclosed variation of the WW2 Era Type 1 Ho-KI Armored Personnel Carrier to use as a means of transport for her army. The only other vehicle Itami designed for use in her Armed Forces was a five-ton transport truck of a similar design to Berengar's. </>

After designing armored and motorized vehicles for her Army, Itami suddenly realized that she had a significant problem. Until now, she had been relying on her Bengal puppets for a very critical resource, one that they had only really just begun the extraction and shipment of before completely collapsing against the combined German-Anangpur offensive.

Bauxite was a very important mineral, one that was used to create aluminum. If she desired to construct an air force of any actual significance, then aluminum was of the utmost importance. However, she no longer had a reliable source of bauxite, nor had she acquired much before her puppet was defeated.

? When Itami first heard that Asha had fallen, she completely forgot about this fact. In truth there were far more pressing concerns to be worried about. However, now that she actually sat down and started developing aircraft, she realized what a serious issue this was.

After thinking through everything that had transpired over the past few years, Itami's pen suddenly came to a stop. Her eyes shifted to the portrait on her wall before she began cursing at it.

"You fucking bastard! This was your plan from the start! No wonder the Ming dynasty invaded south Indochina. You were making sure that I couldn't get bauxite after your victory in India! Clever, real fucking clever!"

Everything Itami accused the Berengar's portrait of was one hundred percent true. Berengar had emboldened the Ming Dynasty and helped them conquer South Indochina so Itami would not have the means to acquire its vast bauxite deposits.

While at the same time, Berengar had stoked fears among the Majapahit Empire, and trained their army to properly resist a Japanese invasion. Betting that Itami would, in fact, choose to invade Borneo, rather than Ming occupied territory.

When Itami realized this fact as well, she was livid. Her hands trembled with wrath as they reached into her pockets and grabbed hold of a torn slip of paper. After pulling this scrap out of her pocket and reading its comments, the woman felt betrayed.

"With love, from your most ardent admirer

𝘧𝙧ee𝘄𝒆𝑏𝗻𝒐vel.𝑐𝗼𝙢

Kaiser Berengar von Kufstein"

Was such cruelty an act of love? She hardly agreed. Even if the letter was nothing but an attempt to troll her, Itami had been slightly smitten with her rival when she saw those words for the first time. Now she knew they were nothing more than the false pretense of a smug asshole.

After realizing such a thing, Itami brought the slip of paper over to a nearby candle, and set it aflame, before shifting her attention back to her work. Since she did not have an immediate access to aluminum, she would have to make a plane mostly out of wood. There were obvious drawbacks to such a design, but if she manufactured enough of them, she doubted the German Air Force would not feel the sting of her wrath.

Luckily for Itami, the Japanese had designed one such fighter at the end of the war, as sort of a last ditch effort to field aircraft after their logistical network was thoroughly trashed by the Americans. The Tachikawa Ki-106 was an aircraft modelled after the infamous Nakajima Ki-84, but was designed almost entirely out of wood. What little aluminum components it had could easily be replaced with steel, even if such a thing would decrease its overall performance.

In her past life, this aircraft only ever made it to the prototype phase with three ever being built. However, with her engineering skills, she could easily make it a reality in this world. Though she doubted it would be a match for whatever fighter-interceptor the Germans were employing; she planned to make a swarm of them to compensate for its clear deficiencies. Something that was much easier and less expensive to do with wood being the main material.

As for bombers, transport planes, or anything else that Itami would need to actively compete with the Reich, these simply weren't feasible, not with wood, she ultimately would need to secure a new source of bauxite if she wanted to produce such weapons of war.

Thus with all this work done Itami could only sigh in relief. As long as she began production of these weapons immediately, she might have a chance of defending her Empire from the German Empire and its Kaiser. It was beginning to look like defeat was more and more certain. The Japanese Empress could only hope that she could make Germany bleed enough to enter negotiations.

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