“The CFN offensive against the Kingdom of Constania and Latia has now intensified. Orland and Lorathia have now redeployed multiple marine units to support the two beleaguered Kingdoms, but it is unknown whether this aid will help turn the tide or not. The Levantine Empire however protested these rerouting of Orlish and Lorathian forces off from the Pieran continent, claiming that North Piera is still open to a naval invasion from the Lombardian and Asturian republics.”
- Geopol Press
+++
Empire of Asanaia
Midori City
August 10, 2025
“So, how is Midori, Your Majesty?” Princess Kawasaki Yumi respectfully asked. The two of them were seated behind William and Nia, as their motorcade drove toward the Midori Imperial Palace. Amelie smiled as she glanced outside. Midori was reminiscent of Eutstadt. Advanced, clean, and well-organized. Though she could hardly understand the Asanaian script plastered everywhere, Amelie still found this place with great comfort.
“It seems like a nice city. Surprising considering the ballistic missile attacks back then.”
“Well, only a few of their missiles got through,” Yumi smiled. “Our air defense is quite impeccable. This island remains untouched by the ravages of war. And that’s a great pride to our nation.”
“Your country seems extremely stable too. It seems like one of the few havens in this world, don’t you think?”
The praise from Amelie made Yumi smile even more. The Princess looked to her side, watching a bunch of construction workers peacefully eating their lunch beside a building that was under construction. There were smiles present on the faces of those men, as they ate and mingled together.
“It helps when you largely treat them as your equal humans, Your Majesty.”
“Hmm…yeah, it’s my goal to replicate the successes of Asanai. The way you people handled those strikes and revolutionary fervor was elegant and well-executed. Unfortunately, the rest of the international community found that a sign of weakness back then when it was a sign of strength.”
“Asanaian men and women stand together, yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Sure, there are frictions, as always, and in those dark days last year, it was at its worst. But otherwise, remaining united as one people, on our island, is how we become strong. It is not a sign of weakness.”
“I agree,” Amelie nodded. “My country falling apart into civil war because conservatives there couldn’t be arsed for centuries to accept men as our equals sure isn’t a sign of strength.”
The Asanaian Princess chuckled at Amelie’s remark.
“I see. You have a special hatred of your country’s traditional elites. I’ve heard your recent reforms stripped them greatly of their political powers.”
Amelie looked back at the sheer desperate resistance her nobles tried to put up against her when she passed the State Protection Act and the New Union Act. Even now, many are still clamoring for their ancient rights. Many even called the new laws illegal. Amelie didn’t give a toss about them though.
Cry all they want. It’s a new world, with new rules.
And in this new world that she was engineering, it would be a world with justice. With fairer rules. Those who refused to be a part of that deserved to fall by the wayside.
As they should be.
“They still have influence, but they’re weakened,” Amelie smirked a bit. “Soon, I’ll put a nail in their coffin. Little by little.”
“Death by a thousand cuts. Indeed, it’s an ingenious idea to kill an old monster that refuses to die.”
“Indeed.”
Amelie then turned to face Yumi.
“So,” Amelie’s face turned into a more confused one. “I have been wondering for a while. Are you the acting Empress of Asanai at this point?”
“Pfft, Your Majesty, let’s not get too hasty. Mother is still breathing.”
“Yeah, but it seems to me that you’re already calling the shots of your country.”
“Well, true, but Mother has so far still refused to hand over the crown to me. I told her that she can do it so she’ll finally be out of politics, and live out her twilight years under comfortable care, and that was our plan before the war…but…”
“What?”
“She doesn’t want the disasters happening today to be under my name in the history books,” she smiled bitterly. “Ultimately, she wants this entire war business to be finished under her name. So that it will be under her reign that Asanai was finally forced into open warfare. She thinks all that is happening is partly her fault for not doing enough. Too little, too late.”
“At least your mother takes responsibility for her mistakes, even if she’s…”
“At death’s door,” Yumi smiled brightly. “Well, look at the bright side. Hopefully, the era under Empress Kawasaki Yumi will be one of reconstruction and rebuilding! It’d certainly make me look better one day.”
“And if not, your reign will be remembered as you winning this war.”
“Yeah.”
“In comparison, my reign so far has been the blackest mark in Orlish history. Crowned after an assassination. I watched my country descend into the worst chaos in her first few months. Then I found myself facing a civil war. Then a global war. I won’t be remembered too fondly unless I do everything to fix it all.”
The story has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.
“You have very little control over it,” William suddenly said from the front.
“Yes, but it happened under my reign. Thus, it’s my responsibility and fault. All of it.”
“Your conviction certainly is admirable,” Yumi said. “I can see that we’ll be great partners going forward. I’d like to forge a new world that’s more just with you.”
“That’s what Empress Xue wants too,” Amelie pointed out.
“I know. I hope us new blood royals can undo the crimes of our mothers, because if we don’t…all those people who want our heads chopped off will be right.”
Amelie looked at the flag of the Empire outside. It was a simple red circle on a yellow field. They avoided revolution well. Amelie nodded.
“Indeed. Not that I’d give up just yet. The revolution in Orland may have been unavoidable, but I can make sure that it can never happen again. One reform at a time.”
+++
Amelie watched as Yumi placed her gloves on top of the table beside them. She gestured for Amelie, William, and Nia to take their seats. Then, she widened the curtains on the glass panes, revealing the naval base on Midori Bay.
“That, Your Majesty, is the 1st Carrier Fleet,” Yumi said. “The IAN Shokaku is its flagship. It’s also the lead ship of the Shokaku-Class Aircraft Carriers. She’s a fine ship, isn’t she?”
“Well, certainly,” Amelie said, as she admired the view on the naval base. Moored beside the IAN Shokaku were six other naval vessels. Amelie suspected that it was the Shokaku’s escort ships. There was also what appeared to be a smaller guided-missile ship that was leaving the bay on the horizon.
Seems similar to our frigates…
“The Empire has three carriers, no?” William asked. “I wonder how they’re faring right now.”
“The IAN Zuikaku is supporting our operations up north. The Confederacy’s Pardan Fleet is active there, and they’re threatening our northern island chains. Especially their submarines. They practically tied down most of our ASW assets up there. Painful, really…”
“And the IAN Shinano?”
“Stuck in dry-dock. Maintenance and refits. We keep two carriers operational, one in the south, and one in the north. The third one remains in our major shipyard in Shisaido up north. The Shokaku is slated to receive upgrades next month, with the Shinano rotating into the southern theater.”
“But that’s now changed,” Amelie said. “The East Vaeyox Allied Command already received the details of the operation, no?”
“Indeed. We’ve checked and analyzed it, and I believe my people have a lot of input that we can input to our battle plans to improve it.”
“That’s acceptable,” Amelie said. “I’ve also already asked our Hebeian and Kusari counterparts to deliberate about our plans. If we win it, all of us will benefit, after all.”
“Indeed,” Yumi took her seat near Amelie. “Still, it’s a very risky mission for my naval forces. Getting up close and personal with the North Hebeians, then trying to apply pressure on coastal Ginzhu? One wrong move, and we might lose too many ships.”
“We have fifth-generation stealth aircraft,” Amelie shook her head. “Impossible for them to get through and win. I predict that we’ll slaughter their air wings and land-based aircraft. Then we can rule the sea with impunity, and force back their ships to port.”
“Or, they’ll unleash their entire missile arsenal for a saturation attack against our ships. That’s also a possibility, Your Majesty.”
“I doubt they’d do that,” William said. “Ultimately, this war has diverged from a one-shot campaign type of scenario. Exhausting your missile stockpiles just to get them all intercepted isn’t going to be acceptable for them. If we can outsmart and outmaneuver them, and intercept a certain threshold of their missiles, they’ll be forced to withdraw.”
“That’s a possibility,” Amelie said. “I remember that back in the Northern Sea campaign, the Larissans were eventually forced to retreat when they realized they were running out of planes and missiles.”
“The Northern Sea Campaign isn’t a one-to-one scenario though,” William said. “There were two powerful hurricanes that disrupted everyone’s sensors, coupled with heavy EW usage meant that the battle had too much variability. The East Hebei Sea however is calm. And is expected to remain calm for the next few months.”
“Indeed, almost all battles we fought with them have been open sea battles,” Yumi confirmed. “All that matters is the strength of your sensors and the amount of missiles your vessels carry. And since both my navy and the enemy navies are afraid of losing any hulls, we’re just poking each other.”
“It’s what happens when both sides’ ships are carrying insufficient missiles. It makes commanders afraid of committing to a full battle. Better deter your opponent by sending a few missiles their way to tell them ‘I can do that again!’ then running away.”
“The sustained combat operations in our seas means that most of our ships barely have thirty to sixty percent of their missile capacities. We suspect that the Larissans and Hebeians are in the same position.”
Nia turned to Amelie after listening to William and Yumi. She frowned.
“What I’m hearing here is that both sides are afraid of firing everything they have only to find out they have fewer missiles than the enemy, is that right?” Nia asked.
“Yeah, it’s basically that,” Amelie said. “Anti-ship missiles and interceptors, especially against newer hypersonic and stealth missiles aren’t easy to mass-produce. Each engagement is essentially both sides burning through billions of blancs. The hesitation makes sense. Asanai cannot afford to lose its navy. And so does Larissa and North Hebei.”
“But that’s where our operation will shine,” William said with a grin. “We charge in with the 1st Carrier Fleet, alongside Strike Force Seven and Strike Force Five, but while they’re carrying full missile capacities. That’ll force them off from Ginzhu. Or they risk losing ships if they stay in the fight for too long.”
“We’d have to cannibalize our other ships of their missiles if we have to do this in short order,” Yumi warned. “For context, my country only produced around six hundred anti-ship missiles every month. We use up around nine hundred anti-ship missiles every month. Our strategic stockpiles are now also down to just two thousand missiles left.”
“Orland’s sending around a hundred eighty per month, no?” Amelie asked.
“Yeah, but…you see, it’s not enough to make up for the shortfall. And the strategic reserves cannot just be squandered. It’s for the defense of the Asanaian home islands. You have to understand that we’re not going to chew through those stockpiles unless we have to resist a full-on naval invasion alone.”
“I see,” Amelie sighed. “So that’s why your condition for joining this battle…is that you’ll only come if Orland sends five hundred anti-ship missiles next month, alongside a thousand interceptors?”
The Asanaian Princess nodded.
“And they better be the ones that can fit on our ship’s weapon systems. But yes, if we can have that many missiles, we’d be able to fully arm the IAN Shokaku’s air wings, its six escort ships, and our ships from Destroyer Division 3 and 4. That’s a total of ten ships and one carrier.”
“Alright,” Amelie turned to William. “Director, do a quick analysis if we can surge our weapons shipments to Asanai this month. Minister Wittfield should have the updated production numbers. Princess Kawasaki, I’ll try to keep in touch with my Foreign Affairs Minister Wallenstein, and she’ll keep you posted if we can meet your demands or not.”
“I understand,” Yumi said. “Anyhow, the three of you. Would you like to tour Midori? I know a lot of good places.”
Amelie’s response was quick.
“Absolutely!”