Nihonkoku Shoukan

Chapter 2. I can already smell the comeuppance…

Central Calendar year 1639, March 22nd, morning

Two months ago, the island of j.a.pan transferred worlds. They immediately got in contact with the Princ.i.p.ality of Kua Toine and the Kingdom of Quira to establish diplomatic ties with those nations. Once those ties were established, the Kua Toine government changed the most drastically in its entire history in the time afterward.

j.a.pan submitted requests for an absurd amount of food, but Kua Toine, who already could provide good food for even their livestock, was able to successfully fulfill those requests. Even the Kingdom of Quira, with its barren, unproductive lands, was a treasure trove of resources, according to j.a.pan, and they began to export to j.a.pan as well.

In return for these resources, j.a.pan began exporting infrastructure—for example, methods for connecting large cities with flat, seamless roads, a step beyond cobblestone; and large-scale distribution systems like railroads.

All kinds of modern technologies were requested as well, but j.a.pan had pa.s.sed a new law called the "New World Technology Outflow Prevention Act" to safeguard their core technologies. The export of weapons also came up, but that was already considered illegal, so nothing could be done.

The technologies that j.a.pan did share were mainly conveniences that fundamentally raised the quality of life in the two countries. Abundant access to clean drinking water (clean water technologies did already exist, but it wasn"t used for drinking purposes), the ability to light up the night as bright as noon and other applications of electrical power, hand-operated propane gas tanks that could produce fire and heated water on-demand… common life had improved by leaps and bounds.

It hadn"t even been two months yet, so these technologies were not ubiquitous, but the head of commerce was said to have seen the samples and been stunned to the point of mania. He was giddy at the thought of these preposterous national improvements.

"The products from this country called j.a.pan are so wonderful…! They"re clearly above the three major civilizations! We might even surpa.s.s their living standards!"

However, speaking with his secretary, Prime Minister Kanata was more measured regarding the impact that this country would have on their future.

"Hah… It was truly a relief to find out that they are pacifists. Even though they have a law prohibiting the use of a standing military force and only maintain at most a self-defense force, going against them with their level of technology sounds truly frightening."

"I agree. However, it"s still a bit disappointing that they are unwilling to export weaponry to us. If we had those, we could better mitigate the threat posed by Rowlia."

With that regretful thought, Kanata looked out on the setting sun.

Kingdom of Rowlia, royal capital Jin Hark, Castle Hark, royal council

It was a cool autumn evening with a beautifully shining moon. Torches lit up the dark room where the future of the nation was being discussed before the king.

"King Rowlia, preparations are complete."

A man in silver armor knelt in front of the king and gave his report. He was a black-bearded man in his thirties and muscled to the point that it was noticeable even through his armor. This was General Patajin.

"We will be facing two countries. Will we win?"

So asked the 34th king of the Rowlian Kingdom, 34-year-old Hark Rowlia.

"One of them just has some farmers, and the other has even worse off, peasants who can"t even farm in that barren land. Either way, with so many demihumans mixed in, we could never be defeated."

"Chancellor, what information do you have on j.a.pan, that nation that contacted us about a month ago?"

j.a.pan had also reached out to Rowlia, but, because they had already established relations with Kua Toine and Quira, they were considered hostile and turned away.

"j.a.pan is located about one thousand kilometers to the northeast of the Princ.i.p.ality of Kua Toine. Because they are so far away, it is inconceivable for them to have any tangible influence. Furthermore, they were astonished to see our army"s wyverns. They appear to be some barbarian nation with no dragon riders. We have no other relevant information on them."

An army with no wyverns lacks the air support they provide, which means they are weak. While aerial bombings won"t single-handedly defeat a cavalry unit, being constantly subjected to the awesome power of dragonfire without viable countermeasures will damage enemy morale.

"I see… Behold, we are now so close to uniting all of Rodenius. The thought of finally eradicating the abominable demihumans truly raises my spirits."

"Your Excellence, the unification may be imminent, but please do not forget your promise. Hehehe…" a man robed in black reminded the king in a skin-crawling whisper.

"Of course not!!" he replied angrily.

(Tch. They"re just some barbarian idiots that aren"t even part of the three civilizations. Once Rodenius is under our rule, Fillades is next.)

"General, outline our strategy."

"As you command! Our army is five hundred thousand men strong. For this mission, we will send four hundred thousand to Kua Toine while the rest defend our mainland.

Just inside the Kua Toine border, there is a town, Gim, with a population of one hundred thousand. We shall conquer it first. There are fields and livestock everywhere in Kua Toine, so we will procure all our supplies locally.

After taking over Gim, we will march two hundred and fifty kilometers east to the capital of Kua Toine and suppress it with our numerical advantage. Unlike our country, they do not have anything surrounding their towns to use as ramparts. At best, they might have a castle within the town. If we just lay siege to it, their supplies will quickly dry up. Their air force can easily be countered with our own wyverns.

At the same time, we will mobilize our fleet of forty-four hundred ships, route them north, then land on the north bank outside Myhak to take over their commerce hub. Because Quira is completely dependent on food imports from Kua Toine, once we stop trade from Myhak, they should quickly capitulate.

Next, concerning Kua Toine"s forces, they have at most fifty thousand soldiers, but they can only mobilize about ten thousand quickly. Any clever plans they think up would simply be crushed with our overwhelming numbers.

Soon, our six long years of planning will bear fruit!"

"Is that so… heheh, hah hah hah, AAAHAHAHAH!!! This is the greatest day in my life! The world shall approve of our war with Kua Toine and Quira!"

Cheers rang out. The royal castle became filled with boisterous celebration.

Princ.i.p.ality of Kua Toine, j.a.panese emba.s.sy

"…so as you can imagine, if we go to war with Rowlia, we may be unable to export the previously-agreed amount of food to your nation."

A huge camp of Rowlian soldiers had been seen gathering at the Kua Toine-Rowlia border. Kua Toine, predicting that war would soon begin, had come to the j.a.panese emba.s.sy to explain the situation. Foreign Affairs officer Tanaka was struck speechless upon hearing this.

After the entire country was suddenly sent to another world, having been completely cut-off from Earth, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs received an urgent mission: prevent the starvation of the country"s people. Fortunately, the Princ.i.p.ality of Kua Toine had plentiful granaries and rich, fertile land; establishing friendly relations with them had been absolutely vital for securing the huge amount of food needed to feed the population.

Furthermore, j.a.pan"s great luck was not over. The Kingdom of Quira was a gold mine, single-handedly able to supply almost all other materials j.a.pan needed. In terms of resources, it appeared that j.a.pan"s transference miraculously sent it exactly where it could painlessly resolve any potential supply problems. While mining hadn"t yet started, and they had to use resources that the country had been stockpiling, they had enough saved such that it wouldn"t hinder anyone"s daily lives.

But now, all of a sudden, Kua Toine was saying that these critical imports of food supplies could possibly cease. If that were to happen, within one year, there could be an estimated ten million or more civilian deaths from starvation.

"Is there nothing that can be done? If imports were to be interrupted, it would be catastrophic for j.a.pan."

"We understand and sympathize deeply with your plight. However, Rowlia is an extremely powerful country. We have observed them building up their military at the national border. Should war begin, we have no choice but to abandon a number of cities and towns. Under those circ.u.mstances, it would be very difficult for us to maintain our current arrangement with regards to food trade.

If you could provide reinforcements, it would be extremely helpful…"

"In j.a.pan, there is a provision against armed conflict in our const.i.tution. Military support is not really something we can provide…"

"Unfortunately, if that is the case, then please understand that there is a high chance our food exports will be interrupted. I do not wish to comment on the domestic affairs of your country."

To obey the const.i.tution and risk the starvation of ten million citizens, or to reexamine the const.i.tution and, in doing so, save both the j.a.panese people and the Kua Toinan people from a crisis. Was there truly a choice?

At the recommendation of the j.a.panese emba.s.sy concerning potential complications with food supply imports from Kua Toine, with a timeline of three weeks, j.a.pan made the decision to send troops abroad for the first time since World War II.

Central Calendar year 1639, April 11th, morning, near the border of Rowlia and Kua Toine

Kingdom of Rowlia, eastern subjugation army command tent

There were countless magic communication requests from the Kua Toine Ministry of Foreign Affairs to withdraw their soldiers from the border. All of these requests were ignored. War was coming, and there was no stopping it.

"Tomorrow, Gim will fall."

B-cla.s.s General Pandour was leading the advance force of thirty thousand to take over Gim. 20,000 infantry, 5,000 heavy infantry, 2,000 cavalry, 1,500 specialty soldiers (soldiers specializing in siege weapons, projectile weapons, and other special operations), 1,000 guerilla soldiers, 250 beast tamers, 100 mages, and 150 dragon riders. While he had a lot of infantry, a squadron of ten dragon riders had the ability to deal with 10,000 enemy infantry.

Pandour smiled widely as he surveyed his troops. Wyverns were expensive weapons. Even if you gathered all the other continent"s forces together, 200 wyverns would be their equal. But in this war with Kua Toine, there will be 500 wyverns partic.i.p.ating. There was a rumor that they were receiving a.s.sistance from the Papaldia Empire, a country in Fillades and a member of the Third Civilization. This rumor was unsubstantiated, but… either way, Pandour was happy with the excessive firepower of 150 dragon riders he had for the initial invasion.

"What should we do with the spoils from Gim?"

Lieutenant General Adem called out to him. He was a ruthless knight. Rowlia had conquered numerous small countries in its zealous expansion, and the rumors of his exploits in occupied territories were unspeakable.

"I"ll leave you in charge of that, Lieutenant General."

"Understood."

Adem bowed, then immediately turned to his men and barked out orders.

"Looting in Gim is allowed, do as you like. It"s fine if you want to have fun with girls, but don"t forget to dispose of them when you"re done. Leave no survivors. Communicate this to the rest of the army."

""Yes sir!""

Adem"s men made to leave the tent, but were stopped when Adem called out.

"Wait! Well, it"s fine to have some fun, but let"s leave about 100 people alive to spread fear and panic. And if you find any knight families in Gim, make their disposal especially gruesome."

Ordering them to spread fear… Adem truly was monstrous. With that thought, his men left the tent in order to spread the word.

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