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The navy launched 18 missiles, three of which failed to dock with the armed transport aircraft group after takeoff and crashed into the sea. The hit rate was relatively good when attacking positions on the islands. However, one of the three missiles that attacked the two cargo ships only caused near misses, landing more than 10 meters away from the cargo ships.
“At least you’ve shown the enemy that Imperial warships are capable of launching a fatal attack from where they can’t see it,” Elizabeth reassured the apprehensive engineers, then pulled them aside. “Another question: can’t these missiles be mounted on submarines?”
“That’s right, Your Highness.” The engineer nodded. “We added an engine stage to the existing missile and modified the guidance system. Everything else remains the same for now. However, due to the increased missile length, the submarine’s vertical launch system has limited space. Even after the new missile is inserted, a large portion of the warhead is still sticking out.”
"Is there no other way?"
"Cough, we defeated 'Hannibal the Undead' on the EU front, but a lot of data about the 'Aporomaran' launch vehicle was destroyed. We had to dig through the junk in their headquarters, White Wolf Castle, to find the resources we have now."
"Huh?" It seems that what Marybell told Elizabeth before was true. By the time they found Hyuga Xia Yingge's body, White Wolf Castle was completely destroyed inside and out. "Alright, if anything happens in the future, just tell me. You don't need to go to the Empire's mainland. Duke Rabinowitz and I will do our best to support you."
"I'll start by issuing an order," Elizabeth said to the generals and officers before her. "The island of Bornholm and the Swedish coast will be the actual testing grounds for our new missiles. During this period, all expeditionary air forces must ensure the safety of the fleets and crews participating in the tests and must not allow the enemy to capture any test aircraft intact."
"At the same time, the air force must ascertain as soon as possible the size of the fleet deployed by the Northern Alliance in the north. I do not want us to be able to hit targets only by the free fall of aircraft and missiles after they are shot down, until the R&D department announces that new missiles can be used on a large scale for attacks."
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The Baltic Sea was already pitch black, with no sunrise in sight. Meanwhile, over the vast Atlantic Ocean, the long-standing rain clouds slowly dissipated over the Azores.
At eight or nine in the morning, the sun shone brightly on the coast of the archipelago, casting its rays upon a large fleet of US Navy warships flying the Northern Union flag. Among the escorting destroyers, two giant ships bearing the hull numbers 57 and 59 were slowly weighing anchor.
Those were the battleships USS South Dakota and USS Massachusetts, which had been assigned to the Second Squadron of the North Atlantic Fleet.
The previous storm at sea caused them some minor troubles—the flagship, South Dakota, inexplicably malfunctioned its motors and radar, forcing the entire fleet to linger there for a while.
To prevent unforeseen events from disrupting the NATO's plan to seek Portugal's assistance, the US Navy crew had to obey the strict order not to disturb the island's residents and anchor for repairs along the undulating coastline.
Due to torrential rain and erosion from the waves, the entire fleet was delayed for two days, and was only able to set off today after the weather cleared up.
A small squadron of F4U fighters flew over the battleships, flapping their wings in salute, and the crew of the USS South Dakota immediately signaled in return – we're going to say hello to the guys on the aircraft carrier.
They happened to encounter Task Force 45.8 and immediately joined them. After completing their flight training, the pirates slowly returned to the skies above the three Essex-class aircraft carriers and lowered their landing gear toward a new face with hull number 32 painted on its deck, which had been in service for less than a month.
The latter is named in honor of the dramatic naval battle in the Pacific Ocean 18 months earlier—Leyte Gulf.
Chapter 317, Section 406: A Time of Changing Fortunes, The Beginning of the Empire's Decline
Kelly had completed the mission he had promised his sister, and he was allowed a break—or more accurately, to go back to Area 11 to see Nunnally and the others, whom he hadn't seen in a long time.
Of course, he also returned with a mission (oh my god, the older sister is really exploiting her younger brother). In addition to receiving the combat information of the army group that Marshal Aucheni brought to the EU as soon as possible, he also had to see how Schneizel was doing with the political marriage between his brother Odysseus and the Federation emperor.
The term "Emperor" is only vaguely familiar to the citizens of Britannia, and even more so to the people of District 45: "The King is the father of Heaven and the mother of Earth, the Son of Heaven; the Emperor is the father and mother of the people, the ruler of the world." This profound and euphemistic concept in Chinese translates to a simple yet powerful voice of power in English—Emperor.
It is said that more than a thousand years ago, when China was still known as a dynasty, there was already a ruler who was appointed by Heaven and whose rule has been passed down to this day. In the Chinese Federation, the emperor is not only a symbol of power, but also a figure who is admired and loved by all the people of the Chinese Federation.
After all, a superpower that stands tall in the world relies on the support of all its people.
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Today is the day His Majesty the Emperor and Odysseus are married, and this grand live broadcast can be seen in virtually every place in the world where television signals can be received peacefully.
Even in District 11, Davis and his friends could sit in a shop and listen to the Chinese shop owner, with a meaningful smile, chatting about all sorts of things about China in the world while watching the broadcast on the electronic screen.
The wedding was held in Luoyang, the capital of the Chinese Federation, in an ordinary palace within the Forbidden City—a magnificent palace complex, similar to the imperial guard district of Britannia. Below the stage sat federal officials, led by eunuchs, and guests of the empire, all their eyes fixed on the tall Odysseus and the petite girl, Emperor Jiang Lihua.
"Hey, tell me what these eunuchs are doing..." The shop owner folded up his landscape painting fan and angrily pointed to everything on the big screen showing the wedding scene.
……
The shop owner kept muttering in his local dialect, probably afraid Davis would understand. The soldiers glanced at him sideways, and in his every move, they saw an unyielding will and spirit.
When the soldiers first heard that the Chinese Federation and Britannia were going to form a marriage alliance, they were all very worried—it meant that two powerful countries would soon become military allies, and what would happen to their comrades who were still fighting in Europe at that time…
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They were glued to the TV in front of the counter, leaving Philip alone to play by the shelves in the store—it was a peculiar "toy store" filled with many things of Eastern origin: porcelain, clay sculptures, shadow puppets, paper cuttings, and Philip, the little rascal, wouldn't miss out on any of them.
Chess was what attracted him the most, simply because it was the only item in the store that had Chinese characters on it.
It's really interesting that while white people were poking around in the black and white squares with hard sticks, the Chinese were already carving words on the smooth legs of sofas and strategizing on the lines and intersections of the chessboard.
“So, sir,” Philip picked up the simplest character, “士”, and asked the shopkeeper, “what does this character mean in your Chinese?”
"It's pronounced 'shi,' and its meaning... is quite simple; it can be used to refer to a soldier." Seeing that Philip didn't understand anything, the shop owner could only use the most common and colloquial explanation available today.
Philip nodded, chuckled, and pulled out his notebook, writing the character "干" on it. "This is pronounced 'shi,' and it can mean 'soldier.'"
……
“So, Harrington,” he whispered, tilting his head slightly, to the waiter beside him, “is there a city in our world called Luoyang?”
"I think so...?" Harrington scratched his head. "At least in my grandfather's generation's memory, this place was never the capital, and there was no Forbidden City there. I remember Nanjing, Chongqing, Shanghai... and the only other place I can remember is a small town called Anqiu?"
"Small town?"
“Roswell’s P-40 malfunctioned and crashed over Japanese-occupied territory that time, and he parachuted into the backyard of a restaurant in that small town.” Harrington stared at the light. “He waited there until Chinese soldiers came to pick him up and take him away, which led to the stories he told me today.”
“Let me tell you, I never dreamed that Chinese chefs could make donkey meat, which we scorn, taste better than roast turkey. Roswell said it himself, and there’s not a single lie.” Harrington beamed, then started mimicking the Chinese Roswell had learned over there, even using hand gestures.
“Look, ‘hungry’ is ‘hungry’ and ‘meat’ is ‘eat’… There are three people in the shop, named Fisherman, Yang, and Sleeper, and then the three of them misheard Roswell as ‘radish’.”
"When they left, the first two men accepted Roswell's gifts, but he refused the one he had intended to give Roswell. He had planned to give him the note on his pilot's jacket that read 'Foreigners who come to China to help fight the war, the military and civilians will work together to provide medical care.' He hoped Roswell would keep it for him and believed that they would meet again."
Davis listened intently, while Garcia couldn't help but sigh inwardly: It seems that the Chinese in reality are no different from the shop owner in front of him. Unlike the nonsense made up by some idiot writers, who are just like the Germans who framed Jews. Ridiculous.
……
In the atmosphere of negativity and unease, they silently prayed for everything that happened on television until the tension in their hearts was broken by a loud noise on the radio.
"Heaven above, earth below, we dare ask: what is the will of the people!" The scene shifts, and a group of federal soldiers, led by a sword-wielding man with long black hair, storm into the palace. "On what grounds do you claim this wedding represents the will of the Chinese people?!"
"Huh?" The soldiers were startled, and the shop owner's eyes widened as well. "Isn't that...that guy? The military attaché at the embassy, Li Xingke?"
"Are you crazy, Xingke!" The eunuchs sitting in the front seats were terrified and jumped up.
"Shut up! In the name of all the people, we will never allow the emperor to be betrayed!"
As he spoke, Li Xingke led his soldiers and rushed in, causing the eunuchs to call off the live television broadcast in alarm.
"This..." Oh no, oh no, at this critical moment we can't see anything at all, what will happen next?
The shop owner picked up the remote control and switched to other federal television channels. After a long time, he finally found a reporter broadcasting outside the Forbidden City.
"We are currently outside the Forbidden City. His Majesty's wedding is underway, but according to sources, a group of unidentified armed men have stormed into the venue, intending to..."
Just then, in the sky behind the reporter, a group of KMFs carrying large shipping containers appeared—their silhouettes were nothing like creations of the Empire or the Federation.
Immediately afterward, Lancelot of Suzaku Kururugi arrived from the sky, drew his MVS sword, and engaged in a fierce battle with an all-black KMF.
Soon, the reporters dropped the bombshell: "ZERO, the suspected leader of the Black Knights, is plotting a rebellion with a military officer from the Central Plains. Federal troops are currently converging on Xiaopei. Civilians are advised to stay away from the traffic control area." All news related to the wedding vanished without a trace.
……
The people of the Empire were kept in the dark, only those in the Tokyo Concession City Hall knew the truth. Kelly sat with the lonely Nunnally by the fire, listening to the news Schneizel brought back—his second brother was also at the wedding, and after the incident, he boarded the skyship Avalon immediately, bringing Suzaku, Gino, and Anya with him.
"So, the Black Knights are currently hiding in the Eighty-Eight Tombs of the Heavenly Emperor, where all the emperors of the past are buried?"
“Yes, and the eunuchs even handed over the Federation’s ultimate KMF Divine Tiger to Federation Military Officer Li Xingke.” Cecil, who was in charge of liaison on Avalon, told them, “We can’t directly intervene now, or we’ll be accused of assassination, which would make it very difficult to assimilate the Federation.”
"Damn it." Kylier stood up and sat down again in a hurry. "Brother Schneizel is too slow. If it were me, I would have killed that guy who caused trouble for my sister and Area 11 on the spot!"
“Don’t do this, Kelly.” Nunnally tried to take his hand. “Didn’t you just say that ZERO tried to communicate with the Grand Eunuchs? Things are bound to get better.”
"What?! The Divine Tiger has already gone to stand on the Black Knights' Sky Flagship, the Izayoi, and ZERO is piloting a new KMF that looks just like the Gawain that went missing last year. How is this ever going to end?"
Nanali couldn't dissuade him, so she simply let him turn the TV back on. The peaceful documentary that was playing suddenly turned completely white, followed by a scene of gunfire under the night sky.
The Ikaruga stopped in front of the sacred path of the Eighty-Eight Tombs of the Heavenly Emperor. ZERO's black KMF stood in the distance. Closer to the screen was the wounded divine tiger and the helpless emperor beneath it. The sound of ZERO and the eunuchs could be heard from the speakers.
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[Author's Note: Due to potentially sensitive content in the original dialogue, this post has been deleted and resubmitted after review. If you have any questions about the original work, please ask in the comments section. Thank you.]
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Kelly's face turned pale when he saw this, and he quickly told Schneizel that the eunuch's private conversation with ZERO had been broadcast on major federal television stations.
Soon, news of the people of the Federation cursing the eunuchs flooded into Avalon like a tsunami.
The anger that this great nation had long harbored at the grassroots level erupted like a volcano tonight, spreading across the western Pacific coast.
“Let’s go.” Avalonri Schneizel prepared to call Gino and Suzaku to retreat. “A nation is a collection of people, and the eunuchs who have lost the hearts of the people are no longer qualified to represent the Federation in our cause.”
"So, my brother's plan to quell the Federation's hostility has completely fallen through?" Kelly couldn't believe it. In this case, eradicating the Black Knights would be a long way off, and it seemed that Britannia would soon be at war with the enraged Chinese Federation.
Oh no, what should we do? My sister and I haven't even been able to truly conquer District 45 yet, and Father's empire is about to face new pressure?
……
Kelly spent a sleepless night tossing and turning, only to hear negative news reports about the falling out between the two sides coming from Nanali's television.
At that moment, a guard came to him with good news: Marshal Auchindoun and General Gabriel were on the EU front in Africa and were requesting an audience with him.
When he arrived at the communications room, he found Mary Belle there as well.
"Haha, Your Highnesses have arrived, that's wonderful." General Gabriel continued giving orders without turning his head, while Marshal Auchindoun generously introduced the current battle situation. "Don't be saddened by the situation with the Chinese Federation, I..."
"The 38th Army is currently on the front lines in Congo, taking over the duties of three other armies. Now, it is said that six EU armies are advancing towards us. Hmm, they are only 2 kilometers away from the city of Brazzaville."
"Huh? Are you alright?" Kelly asked confidently and calmly, while Maribel seemed a little anxious.
"Rest assured, Your Highness." Marshal Auchindoun laughed heartily and clapped his hands. "Look at the map, doesn't this encirclement that attracted the EU look like a bull's head? Next up is the 38th Army, which has drunk the blood of District 45, bringing you a grand bullfighting performance!"
Chapter 318, Section 407: From Adversity Comes Prosperity, and From Prosperity Comes Adversity
There are a few keywords that immediately come to mind when Africa is mentioned: tribes, wild animals, chiefs, dark-skinned people gathered in a messy village open space singing spirituals in their native language, with hand-woven baskets and dirty earthenware pots on their heads.
Britannia's bookstores are full of these "whimsical ideas" for teenagers, but perhaps they will only realize after they grow up and travel far away that the African continent under the EU's control is not a backward, poor, and uncivilized place.
The Kingdom of Congo appeared in the central part of Africa hundreds of years ago. Later, with the arrival of Europeans, it used both soft and hard tactics to shed its feudal aristocracy and became one of the member states of the European Union. It is also the core area for cobalt mining and processing in Africa, with powerful and sophisticated industrial hardware. It is said that the Congolese people contributed to the development of the Apollo car.
This also made it a highly coveted asset for Britannia. Over the past year, the Empire and the EU have been locked in a bloody war across 2.7 million square kilometers of Congo, a protracted conflict that has nearly destroyed everything in the country.
Upon hearing that the Empire was withdrawing its troops from Congo, the EU commanders were overjoyed. They paid no attention to the background of the Empire's remaining 38th Army, and focused only on clearing away everything blocking their way to the Congolese capital.
While the wreckage of Sunderland was still smoking by the roadside, and while the EU's self-made Hornet mechs, along with various tanks and land cruisers, were arranged in neat squares and slowly cutting into the suburbs of Brazzaville in a huge diamond formation, even the gunships in the sky, which remained almost stationary relative to the formation, were completely unaware.
Behind the jungles of Congo, the well-hidden Imperial artillery had already pinpointed the coordinates of this massive mass of prey through observers who had thoroughly surveyed the area around the phalanx.
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When the engines roared "Long live Britannia!" and the cannons roared "In the name of His Majesty the Emperor!", thousands upon thousands of shells, along with the KMF aircraft that stormed out from the distant sky, dragged countless EU soldiers into the deadly chasm of war like a flooded Nile.
The pilots of the Hornets, who once died in the white shadows of Lancelot dancing in the sky, could not rest in peace this time under the indirect fire that was out of sight; the pilots of the gunships, who once skillfully formed aerial formations to drive away the Britannian helicopters, were now reduced to scattered feathers on the ground in front of Gloucester, which kept diving down and climbing up and pulling up like sparrows.
The commanders aboard the land cruiser looked in horror at the land outside Brazzaville. The dead and wounded soldiers in their eyes seemed like sailors who had perished in a shipwreck, crying out for the protection of the great ship, only to be suppressed by the gunfire and drowned in the ocean.
What would normally have taken months of back-and-forth between the Empire and the EU to create a living hell has, today, been merely the result of the sun's failure to melt a cartload of ice.
Under relentless pursuit, the land cruiser was nothing more than a blood-soaked behemoth, destined for certain death; following closely behind, in the jungle and behind the hills, a torrent of KMFs and assault guns formed an unusually loose battle formation, slaughtering and capturing every dying man in the stubborn square.
A rope woven by the Britannian army was rapidly advancing along a highway stretching nearly four hundred kilometers from Brazzaville to Bandondou.
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A few days later, reporters from Pandreken arrived. General Gabriel, the commander, and Marshal Auchindoun, who was assisting him behind the scenes, were looking at a map on a deserted highway. There were few guards around them, but the passing soldiers were bustling around.
“Oh, madam, you’d better come this way quickly.” The general didn’t put on any airs and started clapping his hands as he shouted, “If any EU prisoners of war are about to be taken back from here, you’ll be in the way.”