Translator Corner
Minasan Oidemasu! This is Yukkuri demasu!
FIRST BLOOD!
As always,
DISCLAIMER: There is no guarantee that my translation is 100%correct. Please correct me if I was wrong.
Plus, if youwant to thank someone go to the guys at Ainushi Translation who give me the RAWfor this LN. They’re the real MVPs.
Author:
みのろう (Minorou)
Translator:
Yukkuri Oniisan!
Editor:
Online Grammar Checker!
Chapter 1
Upheaval
Part 6
Destroyer 『Izumo』 – Captain’s Room.
Captain Yamamoto was conversing with his XO.[1]
「Although this is the first overseas deployment of troops after our transferto another world, it might be a conflict as expected.」
「It couldn’t be helped. We can’t let the people starve, so the governmentmade this bitter decision. Furthermore, when I heard about the ma.s.sacre in Gimcity, I personally don’t want to be chummy with the Louria Kingdom.」
「The opponents don’t know our power. If it is only a warning shot…… then theywon’t turn back.」
「I think so too.」
Both Yamamoto and the XO didn’t want to spill needlessblood. There should also be some of the Louria Kingdom’s soldiers who didn’t wantto kill people, too, just like their own sentiments.
「But don’t you find it strange?」
「About what……?」
「The equipment of the Louria Kingdom and Qua-Toyne are medieval-era. Well, theyhave dragons and wyverns and communication devices called manacoms, so they aremore advanced than Earth’s medieval era.」
The Captains remembered the doc.u.ments that the diplomatsand the recon units brought back from the Louria Kingdom. When they compared theappearances depicted in the clear photographs and the remaining drawings of theirown doc.u.ments from Earth, they couldn’t get rid a sense of discomfort no matterwhat.
「The ships of the Lourian Army are wooden ships like in the Kamakura period,it’s not a ship-of-the-line.[2]In addition, the information said that the total forces of this fleet is140,000 men with the 4,400 ships, which is actually exactlu like that decisivebattle that j.a.pan had once experienced.」
The XO made a surprised expression.
「It’s the Second Mongol Invasion, the Kouan Campaign, right?」
The Kouan Campaign. On 16 June 1281 AD, in order toconquer j.a.pan, a large fleet was sent to j.a.pan by the order of Kublai Khan ofthe Mongol empire.
The Kamakura Shogunate at that time, under the HoujouTokimune, ordered Houjou Sanemasa as the Grand Commander to Conquer theForeigners[3]. He then the lead the defense against the Mongols.
The Mongol Empire army gathered 140,000 soldiers intotal and the number of warships used in their operations crossed 4,400, which madeit the largest naval invasion fleet in history prior to World War 2. The Mongolfleet then attacked the northern part of Kyushu, which became the mainbattlefield.
After the Mongol army landed at Iki and Tsushima, theyannihilated the garrison in a blink of an eye, and then landed on Shikanoshimaand occupied it. Numerous land and naval battles took place around both islands,which served as a berthing point for the Mongol warships. Many people met theirends at these places.
j.a.pan, with the lessons learned from the previous invasion(the Bun’ei Campaign), had been antic.i.p.ating for the second invasion, so they erecteddefensive walls, where they could rain arrows down when the enemy landed. They succeedin keeping the majority of enemy troops in the ocean for about two months.
Finally, a typhoon occurred, which caused decisive amountsof damage to the Mongol army.
It was said that 84,000 men from the 141,290 numbered invasionforce didn’t return home alive.
「If we considered that the number of JSDF personnel right now is about 250thousand, and that the population of j.a.pan in the Kamakura era was only about 5million, then an invasion force of 140 thousand men is a frightening one. Butour ancestors endured an invasion of that size. Even though the quality ofequipment, tactics, and the number of soldiers of the opponents was greaterthan themselves, with the power of the nature on their side, they won. Honestly,I feel, uneasy about the huge size of the opponent’s army, but when I closely thinkabout it, it’s not worth considering compared to our own ancestors" hardships.」
The conversation between Yamamoto and the XO continueduntil close to lights-out time.
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The next day – Early morning.
The destroyer fleet departed as scheduled.
The fleet gradually increased their speed and drewwhite wake trails on the ocean.
「What a speed!!」
Bruay continued to be astonished like he was yesterday.
「This speed has far surpa.s.sed that of our army’s fastest sailing ship! However……the distance to the other ships is too far. Won’t they need to be closer tocreate a formation?」
The fleet headed west at a speed of 20 knots. About 10hours after departure, on the other side of the flat horizontal horizon line,the Lourian Navy could be sighted.
The naval battle, which stirred the otherworld’s history,the so called 『Grand Battle of the Rodenius Sea』 in the future, was about tobegin.
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Lourian Kingdom EasternSubjugation Navy – Vice-Admiral Sharkun’s POV
「What a sight, so beautiful.」
The beautiful sail ships traveled through the great oceanwith the wind full in their sails. Their number was 4,400. A large amount ofsailors and landing troops were on board as they headed to Port Maihark.
As far as the eyes could see, there were only ships.
The ocean couldn’t be seen. This expression wasn’tjust mere words.
After a preparatory phase of over six years, with the militarya.s.sistance from the Papardia Empire, this large fleet was finally completed.There was no means to defend against this large fleet on the Rodenius Continent.
Perchance, they could even conquer the Papardia Empire.Or so he thought.
(No. After all, Papardia Empire seems to have a weapon that can destroy anentire ship, called a『gunship』……)
With his reason, he calmed down the flames of ambitionwhich showed up for a moment. It was still dangerous to challenge the GreatCountry of the Third Civilized Land. He looked at the eastern sea, which he oughtto conquer from now on.
(…… Hmm? There is something flying towards our direction)
An inorganic object shaped like an insect, came flyingwith a rattling noise towards Lourian Navy. At that bizarrely shaped flying formof the object that he never seen before, slight fear sprouted up inside Sharkun’sheart
(Is that a wyvern? …… No, it’s not.What is that thing!?)
The weird object, that had a red circle painted on itswhite body, hovered around in the sky where no arrow could reach and then itspoke up to the fleet with a loud voice that couldn’t be considered could be madeby a human.
『This is the j.a.pan Maritime Self Defense Force. Warning to the LouriaKingdom. The location ahead are the Qua-Toynese territorial waters. Please turnyour ships around immediately and return to your country waters. I repeat ──』
Apparently there seemed to be people inside that flyingobject. Sharkun had heard a story about how the Prime Minister had turned the diplomatsof a country called j.a.pan away and refused to deal with them. However, just bylooking at that flying object, he was doubtful if j.a.pan is really a barbarian countrylike the politicians had said.
There were people who drew their bows towards 『the object』, but the arrows couldn’t reach at all and pitifully fell to the sea. Thatstrange object repeated the same message and after some time had pa.s.sed, turnedaround in the sky and left towards the eastern sky.
After a while, he could see one small island on the seaahead.
(Is there an island in this place……? Can’t be, the island is moving……! Noway, it’s a ship?)
The ship, which he mistook fir a small island, cut thepath of the fleet"s front row’s sailship at a tremendous speed and began totravel parallel with the ship. Their distance was about 300 m.
「What, is that thing……? Such a huge ship.」
Vice-Admiral Sharkun was a bit uneasy, but there wasonly one opponent. He had 4,400 ships at his side, so it was absolutelyimpossible to lose.
However, the sailors had the same uneasiness towardsthe strange ship like Sharkun.
『Change your course and turn back immediately! Otherwise, we will open fireon your ships! Change your course and turn back immediately! Otherwise, we willopen fire on your ships! 』
Just like the previous flying object, with a loud sound,the ship issued a warning.
Sharkun thought about what they meant by open fire andjudged that perhaps it was a means of attack, before he ordered the starboardfleet to attack. The sail ships began to turn starboard and closed the distancewith the destroyer.
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「How big……」
Since the flying object that appeared mentioned j.a.pan,this ship might belong to that country as well. The captain of the warship whowas ordered to inflict the first attack at the foreign ship had a slightanxiety in the depths of his heart.
At any rate, this was a huge fleet of over 4 thousandships. To be given the honor as the foremost spear, there was no way he goingto miss it.
「Prepare the fire arrow! Don’t use the ballista yet! When the distance tothe enemy ship is 200 meters, release them!!」
Under the instructions of the warship captain, the crewsdipped the arrow tips into the oil pot placed at the deck and ignited them withthe torch. While the archers felt the heat from the flames, they drew their bowstowards the enemy.
They closed the distance to the enemy ship until itreached 200 meters.
「Release!」
The fire arrows were launched at the same time from thewarship and drew a parabolic arc in the air as they flew towards the enemy ship.The fire arrows that were released continuously in large quant.i.ties, piercedthe outer hull of the enemy ship and burned the ship ─ ─ or was what should have happened.
The majority of the fire arrows, that were releasedfrom the warship, struck the Aegis Destroyer 『Myoukou』[4], giving off an intermittent sound of 「Clang-clang-clang」 and chipped the paint of the outer hull.
The attack didn’t affect Myoukou’s operation capabilitiesat all, but it rapidly distanced itself from the fire arrow’s effective range.
It instantly separated itself from the fleet before turnedaround and stopped at a distance of about 3 km.
「Hahahahahahaaaaaa!! They ran away !!」
On the deck, the sailors mocked the destroyer and letloose their jeers. Of course, their jeers wouldn’t reach the enemy.
However, the captain couldn’t hide his surprise at thefact that the enemy was totally unscathed and at how fast the enemy ship’s speedwas.
「The fire arrow didn’t stick at all. The hull seems to be made of metal……」
How will he defeat the enemy, the ship’s captainracked his brain.
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Sharkun, who was closely watching the first attack, feltan uneasiness pa.s.s by his mind.
「So they ran away. Well, no matter how big their ship is, they couldn’t doanything with a single ship. However…… The attack just now was not effective? Also,it’s fast even though it’s big. To display such speed even without any means toreceive the wind, just what……」
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The Maritime Self Defense Force destroyer fleet had receiveda clearly armed attack from the armed insurgent, so they decided tocounterattack.
「We received an attack. Hence, we will attack the hostile armed insurgent,the target will be the surface ship at the foremost portside……」
The 127mm Compact Gun[5]installed on the foredeck of 『Myoukou』 rotated and pointed its muzzle at the enemy ship.
Their aim was settled.
「…… Main gun(Shuhou) –– commencefire(uchikata hajime)!」[6]
The JMSDF destroyer 『Myoukou』 began to fire the armed insurgent–– the Louria Kingdom Navy.
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The good-sighted Sharkun noticed a slight change in theenemy ship 3 km ahead.
The iron pole attached on the front of the large shiplooked like it was turning towards the Louria Kingdom Navy.
「What’s with that pole?」
The next moment, smoke came out from that pole.
(Smoke? So it started to burn by itself?)
Immediately after Shakun wondered about that, the sailship that was sailing in the foremost position suddenly exploded. Parts of theexploded wood, ship parts and what looked like human remains scattered and raineddown onto the deck of the surrounding allied ships. Then, after a delay of severalseconds, they could hear a sound like something was exploding from thedirection of the enemy ship.
「!? Wh-what is happening!? Impossible? An attack by the enemy!? Ho-…… Justhow did they attack from that distance?」
At this power that they never experienced before, everysingle crew member on the fleet viewed this scene with eyes wide open fromshock.
「This is bad…… But, it is fortunate that the Wyversn could reach this place.Communication officer! Request the headquarters for an air support! Say that 『We are engaging the enemy’s main fleet!』」
Although the blown apart ship still had its keelintact, before long water rushed in through the holes and it quickly slantedand sunk together with its still surviving crew.
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The ship that directly received the sh.e.l.ls from that closerange shot was the ship that had attacked 『Myoukou』 with fire arrows before and now that ship was sunk with just one attack.
「I hope they will be surprised by this and back off……」
Captain Unabara of 『Myoukou』 also wanted to avoid unnecessary bloodshed just like Yamamoto. Therefore, hethought that by displaying a part of their fighting power, the enemy couldunderstand that they couldn’t win and withdraw.
He might be called a peace idiot, but he sincerely wishedthat the enemy will withdraw with just this one shot.
Seeing that the enemy’s formation was really disarrayedand the already slow enemy ship’s speed was slowed down even further, heslightly expected that his wish will come true.
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「Fuh... A magic weapon of such power, but it seems that it’s not able to fire repeatedly……」
When 『Myoukou』 didn’t shoot for the second time, Sharkun made such a judgment.
「Lower the fleet’s speed. Together with wyvern"s aviation support, we will pushan attack straightaway.」
Sharkun’s fighting spirit was rekindled.
☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽☾☽
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD G.o.d!
LET’S DYE THE SEA, CRIMSON, AND THE SKY, SCARLET!
Next chapter: The glorious Mk-41 VLS.