South Hebei
Yanhai City
November 22, 2025
“Finally…” Amelie groaned as she settled on the lounge of their hotel room. “That was a long flight. I feel like crap.”
“Yeah, you do look like crap,” Nia commented as she smiled. “Up for some fixing?”
“Later, later,” Amelie looked at the bags placed on the table. She then began sifting through the piles of files and documents in one of the bags. “I need…some more reading for the upcoming meeting tomorrow. Ah! Wait, hmm…actually…”
She walked straight into the windows, then, to the balconies. In the distance was the afternoon skyline of Yanhai. It was a massive coastal metropole that somewhat rivaled Ginzhu before the war. Of course, Yanhai, to Amelie’s knowledge, while more “populated”, was poorer on a per capita basis than pre-war Ginzhu, which was a true economic center.
That didn’t mean that Yanhai’s central business district in the far distance was any less impressive. The temporary seat of the Celestial Empire still seemed to be a respectable city. And to Amelie’s knowledge, a well-protected one. Though, probably nowhere close to Eutstadt or other cities on Orland’s west coast.
“Hmm…” Amelie smiled. “Do you think it’d be awesome if we could run around the city? I’ll get William to escort—”
“Did you have a sudden brain fog, Amelie?” Nia asked as she kept her smile up. “Or has the existence of the Restorationists finally stopped bothering you? Because for me, I definitely am still bothered by it.”
Amelie slacked and groaned.
“Ugh…I swear…” she pouted and looked at the city’s skyline. “I can’t even go to any place I want anymore. I just want to check out a Hebeian City at last. And I can’t even do it.”
“We’re on a diplomatic mission.”
“Yeah, but not until tomorrow. I guess I’ll just have to settle on ordering food,” Amelie sighed. “Oh, actually, please order a lot of it. I intend to drown my tears by eating.”
“That seems standard of you now.”
“Well, I have to cope somewhat with having even my basic freedom of movement restricted. So, please! Get me some fine Hebeian food!”
“I’ll be on it then.”
+++
The next day, Amelie and William, alongside Adelaide, arrived at the current seat of the Hebeian Government—the Yueliang Palace. It was the secondary residence of the Hebeian Imperial Family, similar to the November Palace’s status relative to the Ivory Palace in Orland. Unlike in Larissa however, the proceedings were very much elaborate and ceremonial.
Amelie and her crew had to practically follow the ceremonies and cameras, alongside the nearly scripted meeting between the two heads of state, alongside the diplomatic envoys of both sides. It took hours of cameras, handshakes, and endless discussions. Finally, Amelie secured what she was aiming for.
A closed-door meeting with Empress Xue Li.
“I hope you’re fine, good friend,” Empress Xue respectfully said as she sat on her seat. “It’s been a while since we last properly met, after all.”
“Yeah,” Amelie nodded. Then, she smiled at her counterpart. “It’s amazing that we’re still both somehow alive.”
“It’s been a long road to this point. But I’m afraid the path forward is still even longer. We’re not even a year into this global conflict yet. But we’ve already been in so many close calls,” the young Empress shook her head. “It’s worrying. I’ve been trying to enact more reforms in the meantime, but…there’s the situation at the frontline.”
“Same…I’ve been trying hard on that aspect too…”
Empress Xue’s eyes suddenly shone with interest.
“Oh yeah! I heard that you’ve just changed one of the founding acts of your Kingdom,” her voice was tinged with much excitement. “Tell me, is it working out well?”
“Hmm…well, yes. I suppose,” Amelie was a bit unsure. “I’ve been getting a lot of local administrators into changing their management. Appointed a lot of new officials on Orlish Principalities. A lot of legislative nonsense is being rolled back. A lot of discriminatory practices are being banned. And…yeah, we’re organization for wartime defense too under the State Protection Act.”
“I still need more protective equipment for my citizenry. I loathe to imagine the consequences of people dying from another chemical attack. I’ve so far prioritized people living near the frontlines. We’ve been distributing a lot of protective personal equipment. Though…it’s just usually gas masks.”
“Hmm, we’ve been doing relatively the same,” Amelie admitted. “Until actual suits are mass produced at literally hundreds of millions, it’s just gas masks and filters. Alongside awareness campaigns. And lots of nerve agent antidotes…”
“I have only enough antidotes to cover eighteen million people. It’s not even close enough to manage a full-scale freakshow.”
“Well, it’s not like we’re that far off. Unless the enemy sends their entire arsenal at us, I think the numbers we have should be sufficient to reduce civilian casualties on the frontlines. We already conduct city-wide drills in Orland to reduce the casualties should it happen.”
“It’s not enough…”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
Amelie sighed. Of course, Empress Xue would be extremely anxious about it too. Hebeian cities had larger populations than Orlish metropoles. A chemical strike straight into a Hebeian population center would yield multiple times the casualty of a similar attack sent to Orlish cities. Yanhai alone for example had nearly twice the population density of Eutstadt.
“We’ll make do,” Amelie said. “I…really can’t help a lot until next year about this.”
Empress Xue shook her head.
“Yeah, don’t push yourself too much. We’re doing our measures regardless. I’m just saying…because, I think you can understand,” her eyes became a bit moist. “Aren’t you…getting tired? Have your subjects you were born to lead and protect be slaughtered like sheep?”
“I am,” Amelie said. “But…I have to stay strong. Orland cannot expect anything less from its Queen. The nuclear crisis in Corinthia only hardened my conviction. I cannot…make a mistake now. I have to do everything to remain levelheaded and deal with the problems ahead of us.”
“I see…”
“About the offensive,” Amelie proposed. “Operation Eastern Jade.”
“Ah, yes,” the Empress raised her head. “I am…working on that. Losing all those territories has been utterly disastrous to us. To the Empire. And to the war effort. We’ll do everything to reverse it…and…and relieve pressure for Kusari.”
Amelie smiled apologetically.
“Yeah…I apologize that we can’t actually do a full-scale counteroffensive in your lands yet. And the best we can do is use you for a diversionary attack.”
“No. Orland helped us a lot. As your ally, we have to do our best to help each other. Ultimately, Hebei will be worse off if Kusari collapses. So if we have to waste…thousands,” her voice cracked a bit. “Yeah…send thousands of my people to an awful offensive to help them…then so be it. Just…my country expects that to be reciprocated soon. We want to retake the North and attempt to end our civil war at once. So please…”
“I understand. It’s the same with us. But, again…we have other priorities for now. Don’t worry. One day, we’ll get there. We’ll move in and launch a full-scale offensive to retake your country and liberate your people. With Orlish guns and boots.”
Empress Xue smiled at that proposition.
“Thank you then,” she said. “As for the preparations…well, we should be around two-thirds done. We have our divisions already pre-positioned. The Asanian armored brigades have also been prepared. I’ve also received the first copies of our plan for the offensive in Ginzhu.”
“Hmm…good then,” Amelie smiled. “As for the naval support?”
“Yes, I’m getting the ships of the Imperial Hebeian Navy rearmed and repaired for the fight,” her tone became more disappointed. “However…again, I can only send four guided missile destroyers and six guided missile frigates. The Republic took most of our Navy and Air Force…as you well know.”
“Yeah, that’s why Orland and Asanai will be covering that part of the equation.”
“Good then,” Empress Xue raised her hand, and then Amelie shook it. “We don’t even have a deal. We just work together. I like it.”
“Well, this isn’t transactional,” Amelie said. “We’re in this together, as sisters.”
Empress Xue smiled and pulled Amelie into a hug. Which Amelie reciprocated.
“Let’s win this war and fix things.”
“I know, I know,” Amelie patted her back. “I have your back.”
+++
They were now outside of Yanhai. Straight into one of the bases used by the Hebeian Imperial Army to intercept missiles. It was a brief inspection, with Amelie, Wiliam, and Empress Xue checking out the donated missile stockpiles from Orland. They soon left the major storage building and then checked out five M570 MLRS platforms outside.
Two of them seemed to be armed with Orland’s Tactical Strike Ballistic Missiles (TSBM), which was Orland’s mobile tactical ballistic missile mounted on both naval ships and, in this case, the tracked M570 MLRS.
Then, the last three were only armed with the quadruple mounted Astral 22 Missiles, also a tactical ballistic missile that was designed for a shorter range. Hence why there were four of them that could be launched from the two missile pods. It could reach five hundred kilometers, so it was still good.
“Now this,” Empress Xue pointed at the M570s. “We’ve been receiving a good amount of them. Last month, you shipped us…forty of these things. Unfortunately, we’re running out quickly of the TSBMs and Astral 22 missiles. We’re gonna need a few hundred of these missiles if we want the offensive to succeed.”
Amelie quickly noted that down. She nodded.
“Ah…well…” her voice was a bit reserved. “You see…the problem is, we really can’t spend much. Hundreds is a bit ludicrous. I believe that…maybe we can send around fifty of the TSBMs…and maybe two hundred Astral 22 missiles.”
“Yeah, we’re still opening two new major plants for the production of hopefully dozens of Astral 22 missiles daily for example,” William frowned. “That should…raise our Astral 22 missile production to around one thousand four hundred monthly…but only in December will the two new plants finish their preparations. Right now, we’re only churning out seven hundred twenty Astral 22 missiles monthly.”
“Well…we do have stockpiles,” Amelie said, looking at William. “Right?”
“Yeah. Our stockpiles are pretty deep. Around two thousand Astral 22s,” he nodded. “Alongside around eight hundred TSBMs. But remember…we’re dealing with attrition rates in Orland itself. If the enemy launches another offensive and sends hundreds of these ballistic missiles, we’ll have to retaliate. It’s also our main way of stopping their offensives. By bombing the crap out of their supply lines.”
“Well…that’s unfortunate,” Empress Xue sighed. “I was hoping for at least eight hundred missiles. My generals want to create good opening salvoes for the offensive. We have a hundred and twenty M570s. We were envisioning an opening barrage of four hundred Astral 22s, and twenty TSBMs. That’s supported by six hundred Xefing-18s and Xefing-20s from our locally produced arsenal.”
“And…you have your targets already?” Amelie asked.
Empress Xue enthusiastically nodded.
“Yes. Absolutely. We’re mainly targeting barracks, air defense installations, supply and maintenance depots, HQs, and ammo storage areas. Unfortunately, the enemy is projected to intercept fifty to eighty percent of that opening salvo.”
“Yeah…that’s the problem,” Amelie said.
“Hence why a few hundred extra missiles can hopefully tip the balance more,” Empress Xue begged. “I believe those that get through will devastate them for a few hours. Then we can charge in with our ground forces while they’re in a state of chaos. Should things go well, we’ll recapture Ginzhu and establish a defense line before they counterattack.”
“Hence, reducing your casualties,” William finished.
“Yeah. That’s ultimately my goal,” Empress Xue admitted. “I can do it without more missiles…but, I am appealing to your kindness, Amelie.”
Amelie turned to William.
“Alright…can you…uhh, try talking to the eggheads in the OHC? Tell them I need to divert more missiles for Empress Xue here.”
“I’ll try,” William replied. “But I’m not sure if I can get them to move missiles already assigned for mission-critical operations in Orland.”
“Just try it. Maybe we can squeeze some more,” then Amelie turned to Empress Xue and smiled. “I’ll check on you next week to see if we can ship them in short order.”
“Thank you again. My country appreciates this greatly.”