CHAPTER 23: THE FÜHRER AND THE SHOCK AND AWE

Yamato Calendar 7 July, Year 304. 

It has been about a month since the Ieneko Island capture operation, isn’t it? 

Right now I am in the north of the Beastvania Peninsula. 

Across the sea to the north is the Balkan Sea, the sea between the Balkan Peninsula and the Beastvania Peninsula. 

Surrounded by two peninsulas, it is calm, somewhat reminiscent of the beautiful Mediterranean Sea, with blue seas, white clouds, and sparkling sandy beaches. 

If we could be more friendly with the Balka Kingdom, we could turn this place into a tourist attraction in the future. The sea is as beautiful as you can imagine. 

In summer, the sea is so beautiful that Ayame-san would constantly ask me to wear a swimsuit. 

Ayame-san said, “I was going to hold a ‘Gathering to admire the Führer’s thighs on the beach party this summer, but it was canceled because of the war, and that’s just the worst…” And she is already talking about something unpleasant. 

Furthermore, she added, “Bikini knee-socks are an innovation! This unveiling is a national event,” and so on. 

What is this, thigh-viewing party. 

The cherry blossom viewing party is still thousands of times more wholesome. 

　…Come to think of it, I was so busy during the cherry blossom season this year that I didn’t get to see many cherry blossoms. I woke up and became Eryutheia, transferred to another world, the Manchuria continent, and so on. 

We should hold a cherry blossom viewing party hosted by the Führer next year. Also, I love cherry blossoms. 

Well, now. 

Today we are not here for those bikini knee-socks, cherry blossoms, or a peaceful sightseeing trip. 

We came here to give Beastvania the Beastkin Nation their requirem. 

Tigervania, is the second largest city in Beastvania, on the northern coast of the Beastvania Peninsula. 

It is almost the same size as the royal capital Lycanvania, and the distance between the two cities is about 200 km. 

If Lycanvania were Tokyo, the city would be about as important as Osaka. 

I am currently with the 1st Fleet of the Imperial Navy, stationed just offshore from this important city for the Beastvania Beastkin Nation. 

The 1st Fleet consists of 2 Fuji class battleships, 4 Izumo class armored cruisers, 1 protected cruiser, and 4 destroyers. 

The 2nd Fleet was left behind to defend Ieneko Island… The 1st Fleet alone is enough to take on the Beastvania Beastkin Nation, which only has a galley ship. 

Their mission is to secure sea superiority in the surrounding area and to support the Marine Corps upcoming landing operations. 

Well, it’s easy. 

“Eryu-san, the navy artillery attack is about to begin.” 

The conference room of the Führer’s personal ship Fugaku. 

Inside this special landing command center, I receive reports from Ayame-san wearing a cat ear headband and watching over the navy’s attack. 

By the way, there are only Ayame-san, myself, and a few radio operators in the room. 

The actual command center is in the battleship Fuji, you see. Fleet commanders and such are located there. 

This place is where I, the Führer, hear reports from the Army and Navy.  

When you think of a ship, you have an image of a round, small window. I think this is especially true with warships. 

However, Fugaku’s windows are large and magnificent. Especially the windows in conference rooms, and cafeterias, like it was, “Magnificent!” It is so big that I want to say. 

Even the window frames are needlessly decorated with gold leaf… 

It looks more like a window of a luxury liner than a warship. 

Looking out of such a window, you can see the two main guns of the Fuji class battleships, Fuji and Yashima moving along the starboard side of Fugaku. 

And their main guns were pointed at Tigervania… The next moment, they fired a salvo. 

The windows are vibrating. 

It won’t crack, right? 

And so, the shells fired from two battleships and a total of sixteen 31-centimeter cannons nicely hit the city… Blowing up buildings. 

Furthermore, the Izumo class armored cruisers fire their 20,3cm guns as a follow-up. 

Even from a distance, black smoke is rising high in the sky as if there is a fire in the city. I bet it’s hell in that city. 

This is the beginning of Operation ‘Shock and Awe’ against Beastvania. 

“…I hope the shelling startled them and got them to run away from the city.” 

Now, how well will it work. 

The key to this operation, ‘Shock and Awe’ is to force the enemy to surrender with as little damage as possible. 

I would like to avoid the recurrence of Ieneko Island, where 90% of the islanders died. 

The first phase of the operation is the key strategic objective, which is to occupy Tigervania. 

In the end, as long as we can secure this city, the rest doesn’t matter. There is no need to kill the residents. 

If they escape, the least amount of potential damage will be done. 

“Eryu-san, an update from the cruiser Izumi, confirming the results of the operations at the front line. Enemy residents have not yet escaped.” 

“They won’t run even after being shot by a battleship? Then we have no choice but to consider the use of poison gas shells. I believe the Army has them.” 

“I’ll contact the Marines who have landed.” 

Ayame-san passes on the order to the radio operator. 

By the way, that radio operator, in case you’re wondering, is a maid girl who belongs to the Imperial Guard… It is being outfitted with a cat ears headband. 

I mean, starting with Ayame-san, all the Imperial Guard members wearing a cat-ear headband. 

　…I’m not that much of a fan of cat ears though. This is how it has been since I spoke with Miike-san the other day. 

Anyway, Ayame-san tends to get bored easily, so I think she will get tired of it in another three days. 

Let’s put the Ayame-san cat-ear fads case aside for a while… 

Even though it’s poison gas, it’s just a kind of stuff that makes your eyes hurt. Tear gas, perhaps, is a better word for it. 

In any case, we have to drive the inhabitants out of the city of Tigervania in order to have a smooth occupation of the city. 

That city has a population of about 20,000. You don’t want to fight an urban war in such a place. 

Sticking to the window and watching the naval bombardment… The Marine Division that landed from the beach near Tigervania reports that the artillery is ready to fire. 

Naturally, the reply was, “Commence firing.” 

The Army’s valuable poison gas shells… White smoke began to rise all over the city. That smoke is… Probably, not from the poison gas shells. 

“By any chance, did you also fire white phosphorus shells?” 

“Yes, apparently the number of poison gas shells is low… So, we’re adding white phosphorus shells to the mix.” 

“Good call. It’s safer to flush them out with it compared to shrapnel.” 

White phosphorus shells― well, they are just smoke bombs. 

It has the dual effect of being a bit incendiary and smoky. It is not as effective as poison gas shells, but effective if you are trying to drive people out of the city. 

And when the whole city was covered in poison gas and white phosphorus smoke… 

“Marine Division reporting in, that the enemy residents have begun to flee.” 

“There’s no need to pursue them. Please give priority to securing the city.” 

Yup, the operation is over. 

Now the city has been successfully secured. Perfect. 

Well, I think about 1,000 people died from shelling, but it’s collateral damage. 

It certainly caused far fewer fatalities than just rushing into the city and shooting up the streets. 

This assault successfully secured Tigervania. After this, we will move on to the second phase of Operation ‘Shock and Awe’… 

Whether we can do that or not depends on the other party. Well, I think it will succeed nine times out of ten. 

If they don’t move the way we want to, if they don’t come back to us to get… Tigervania back, we simply just have to strike them… 

But, I don’t want that to happen. It’s a pain in the ass. 

But no matter how they move, it will take a month for the Beastvania side to start moving… 

A medieval army is not a standing army and can take months of time just to assemble. 

Sigh… I wonder why this happened. It takes this long to deal with a medieval-level country that doesn’t have a single modern weapon. 

If I were the real Eryutheia, would I have done better? 

Speaking of which, where did the ‘real Eryutheia’ go? 

I’ve been so busy I haven’t had time to think about that… It’s a problem that will have to be solved at some point, right? 

Speaking of problems, I would also like to know why the Yamato Empire, which is supposed to be a nation in the game, has moved to this world. 

Roshana-san, who seemed to know a lot about magic, when I asked her casually, “Do you know of any magic related to other worlds?” Her answer was… 

“I, I don’t know any such magic. There is no such thing as summoning a country when you are summoning a hero” 

Then she tried her best to avert her eyes from mine… 

Well, there is no such thing as ‘transferring a nation to another world by individual magic’ or something like that, right? 

Perhaps, Roshana-san is innocent. 

I mean, she must not know that my country is a transferred country due to information control. 

Probably. 

No, I think it’s already been exposed… Roshana-san, she’s not a citizen of the Yamato Empire, who would believe anything I say with fanaticism, it’s impossible for me to keep something at the level of national transition hidden, isn’t it? 

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I feel like I should explain, so I’ll give a supplementary explanation, the Imperial Guard edition.

An enigmatic organization founded by Ayame, the adjutant of the Führer. For some reason, those belonging to this organization wear maid uniforms. 

Their motto is “Loyalty is my honor.” 

Although it was established for the purpose of protecting the Führer, it has a secret police and intelligence division within its organization and often does more than simply protecting the Führer. 

In terms of strength, a maid unit is equivalent to a regiment of infantry, which is permanently stationed at the Führer’s residence, and in times of war, it expands on its own to include an armored unit. 

There is also the Marine Imperial Guard, which operates the Führer’s personal ship, the Fugaku. 

The Chief of the Imperial Guard is Ayame.