Tokugawa's Japan

I wanted to create a story for a game I played.

It's a PTW game versus five opponents.
Archipelago
60% Water I think
Sedentary Barbarians
5 Million year-old Earth
Large or Standard (I forget)
Temperate
Regent Level

I'll submit the first three parts as a "pilot." If it generates some buzz, I'll continue with the rest of the story.

Notes on certain features (in case someone's wondering):
A "regiment" is the typical Civ3 unit and comprises about 512 officers and enlistedmen.

Officer ranks are:
Lieutenant (2nd and 1st)
Captain
Major
Lt. Colonel
Colonel
Brig. General
Maj. General
Lt. General
General
General-of-the-Army

A numbered army is a Civ3 Army led by a Great Leader (i.e. "3rd Army")

I've ignored the Civ3 time lapse and devised the story to encompass an entire lifetime... so gunpowder is discovered soon after the samurai code...... stuff like that.

Before we begin the story of Tokugawa’s Japan, it would be good to look at some objective facts. The descendents of the Japanese moved to the western shores of their lands and founded the capital of Kyoto. The small town was nestled between the Glittering Mountains and the sea, a peaceful rich land where the people had room to grow. Soon, Kyoto had become a bustling city and settlers moved out to form their own provincial towns elsewhere.

Out of this early era of tranquility and prosperity, rose the young leader Tokugawa. He had united the formally nomadic people and settled them down to form a solid nation. To the northeast, his people crossed a vastly rich and beautiful expanse that could only be described as “monumental.” They founded the settlement of Monument Valley on the shores of the pristine Crystal Cove to tap its untouched riches. As this settlement formed, another group of settlers moved south of Kyoto across the gold-ridden Glittering Mountains to found Cape Oro on the southwestern tip of the land. On a nearby hill they discovered iron ore that they could use to build rudimentary weapons.

These were times of peace, however, and Tokugawa wanted to build a healthy economy to strengthen his fledgling nation. To the east of Cape Oro, his scouts discovered wild horses and Tokugawa sent an expedition to found the village of Cape Stallion. With these four cities, he felt Japan was now on its way to becoming a wealthy commercial nation. All that changed, however, when his scouts encountered a foreign party heading west near the autumn-tinted waters of Tea Lake.

"Good afternoon,”the Japanese regimental commander greeted as the Mongolian commander approached. Both scouting regiments had run into each other uneventfully on the northern shores of Tea Lake. The land here was a luscious prairie perfectly suited for growing grapes. The Japanese had been eyeing this territory for a possible settlement and the regiment had been sent out to scout the area.

The Mongolian officer grunted in response and sat down. The commanders and their staff were all in a tent to discuss where each other had come from.

The Japanese commander continued, “My name is Lt. Col. Toro Tojo from Kyoto. My regiment here intends no aggressive actions toward your men. We are here on a scouting mission to settle these lands for Japan.”

Colonel Tojo was the officer in charge of the 13th Spearman Regiment out of Kyoto. He had attended the Officer’s Training School at the remarkably young age of 17. He was a brilliant, scholarly leader, immensely proud of Japan and eager to prove himself for his country. Japan, however, had never encountered another nation before and even the aging generals of its tiny army had never seen combat. Tojo had been in command of defensive spearman units stationed at Kyoto since his commission, but had performed so impressively, his superior officers decided to give him an expeditionary command. Three weeks earlier, his troops had left Kyoto to explore the lands east of Tea Lake.

“These lands are already claimed by Emperor Temujin of the Mongols,” the other commander replied. “You cannot settle here.”

“But you have no cities here,” Tojo retorted calmly. “These lands are not within your borders to claim. Our forces mean your nation no ill-will.”

“The matter is closed. If your people attempt to settle these lands, they will be expelled by any means necessary. These vineyards here are ours.”

Tojo nodded and rose to abruptly conclude the pointless meeting. “Very well; it has been an honor to meet the great Mongols.” With that, he exited the tent and returned to his troops. Tojo had withheld an important detail in his meeting with the Mongolians: the Japanese settlers were already on their way to found the newest town in the nation. Tojo’s men stayed where they were and assumed defensive positions in case of attack. A week later, the Japanese settlers arrive at their camp and began construction of the village of Wine Springs. With this city, the isthmus that connected the Mongol east with the Japanese west was now closed.



Contrary to the beliefs of many at Kyoto, the Mongols did not declare war or move troops into position on their border. Instead, a wave of shock overcame Temujin and his staff. They found it inconceivable that a seemingly militarily weak nation like Japan could perform such a bold move against them. Temujin wasn’t sure what to do. He had an impressive army in the east, but he wasn’t sure what Japan had concentrated in the west. Not wanting to take the risk, Temujin kept his army far east to avoid political problems.

Diplomatically, however, Temujin continued to challenge Japan. He continually attempted to infiltrate units across the Japanese border. With only Colonel Tojo as deterrence, the Japanese could do little in the beginning. Tokugawa realized, however, that Japan would have to build its military to defend its borders from war-mongering powers. In response to the growing Mongol threat, Tokugawa and his chiefs of staff started the military build-up campaign in Japan. Using its vast ore reserves near Cape Oro, almost every Japanese city began creating iron swords and armor as well as recruiting young men for the army. The first swordsmen regiments began the trek to Wine Springs a month later. The first Japanese force ever built for offensive combat, the swordsmen were a force to be reckoned with.

Thousands of young troops began forming ranks on the Mongol-Japanese border near Wine Springs for a possible invasion. Lt. Col. Tojo, seen by many as the first brave warrior against the Mongols, was promoted to full-bird Colonel and given a combat command in the 13th Swordsmen Regiment.

Temujin, proud to the point of arrogance refused, to the chagrin of his generals, to call his army from the east. Mongolia was a vast nation almost twice the size of Japan stretching to the far eastern shores of this great island. The capital, Karakorum, was only a hundred miles northeast of Wine Springs and the largest city of both nations. Tokugawa saw it as the primary target and once six regiments had formed orderly groups on the border, he ordered the charge into Mongolia in response to the lack of political or diplomatic respect. The Mongol-Japanese war had begun...

Karakorum approached on the horizon as Tojo’s men marched through the empty countryside. So far, none of the six regiments had run into any organized resistance. Even when the Japanese were within earshot of the city limits, no Mongolian force appeared to attack. Instead, they had seemingly walked unopposed into the Mongolian heartland. The first regiments attacked Karakorum full-force. The unprepared garrison of the capital quickly crumbled and the Japanese flag flew over the first foreign city in history. Temujin quickly fled before Japanese troops made their way to his palace and arrived a few days later, dismayed and distraught, at his capital-in-exile, Kazan, further east of Karakorum.

Meanwhile, at Karakorum, the Japanese reorganized to carry the battle to Almarikh, a small sea-side village north of the city. The resistance there was stronger than at the Mongol capital, but the swordsmen broke through, sustaining moderate casualties. With these victories, a flurry of young men appeared at Japanese recruitment stations to enlist in what was becoming a very respectable force.

Temujin finally regained his senses after the fall of Almarikh and prepared a counteroffensive to take back his original capital. Before he was able to throw his army into action however, Tojo and supporting regiments appeared at Kazan’s doorstep and besieged the city. Temujin barely escaped and made his way farther north to the distant city of Darhan. As he scurried away, the noble Mongolian spearmen held their positions at Kazan and threw back several Japanese regiments. Finally, however, Tojo broke through and smashed the enemy lines, capturing the critical city. Now the Mongolian Empire was split into northern and southern areas.



Due to the heavy casualties taken at Kazan, Tojo and the rest of the troops were temporarily unable to carry the attack any further. Before the Japanese could organize another offensive, however, the Mongolian army finally emerged charging west of Ta-Tu. They enemy swordsmen and spearmen troops thundered out of the thickly wooded area of Ta-Tu, the fabled “silk city” of the east, and headed straight for Karakorum, threatening to cut of Kazan.

Japanese response was swift, but indecisive. Instead of fighting a defensive war, new swordsmen units were ordered to attack the incoming enemy before they reached the city. A few initial victories were made, but the Japanese force was too small to overcome the heavy offensive and were overrun. In the subsequent weeks, Japanese troops battled fiercely with the Mongols outside Karakorum. Although there was no decisive victory that smashed the enemy, eventually the unshaken Japanese economy produced enough weaponry and soldiers to overcome the Mongol threat and wear away the offensive thrust.

Meanwhile, Tojo had resupplied his troops and recovered his numbers enough to begin preparations for another offensive. Japanese generals had developed a twin strategy to finish the Mongols off. The first was a northland campaign to capture Ta-Tu and Tabriz, on the eastern coast, before launching an all-out attack on Darhan. The second was a desert campaign to the south to capture Hovd, Ulaanbaatar, and Dalandzadgad. Tojo chose the southern campaign and saw Ulaanbaatar as the primary objective. With reinforcements fresh from Japan, he marched to the coast city of Ulaanbaatar and the much-desired Ivory Fields. He captured the city with little problem and moved into the desolate Great Mongol Wasteland, an empty sandstorm-ridden desert, to capture the remaining towns.



In the north, a wave of crack units fresh from battles around Karakorum crossed the iron-rich hills separating the former Mongol capital and Ta-Tu. They converged in a wooded sector on the outskirts and waited…

KYOTO – ROYAL PALACE
“All right general,” Tokugawa said in his palace conference room. “Show me what you have.”

“Yes, sir,” General Noguma, Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff responded, unfurling a map. In bold letters at the top was written “OPERATION JEWELS.”

“So what’s this?”

“Our newest plan for the final phase of the war. Intelligence reports Temujin’s offensive reserves have all but been destroyed. The only troops left are the city guards and some defensive regiments, starving and demoralized. JEWELS is our final strike to capture Darhan. Our men at Ta-Tu will smash the defenders there and take the coastal outpost of Tabriz before making a concentrated march to the Darhan pass.”

“Sounds good, general. Give the order. Full attack. By the way… how’s Colonel Tojo doing in the desert?”



ULAANBAATAR – ARMY HQ
“Reports back from the front, colonel,” Tojo’s executive officer explained as he handed him the message.

“Read it,” Tojo said, anxious to know what happened.

“Hovd is secure. Regiments have suffered strong casualties from fanatic defenders and desert. Many soldiers have died of exhaustion in the sand. Cannot push on toward Dalandzadgad.”

“And our task force at Dalandzadgad?”

“Cannot penetrate lines. Desert and defenders have overwhelmed us. We need to withdraw to reorganize our lines.”

“Damn! Get them back here. We’ll regroup and reinforce for another strike.”

Colonel Tojo had become division commander after his victory at Ulaanbaatar. He now commanded three separate regiments and reserves. As soon as his battle-weary troops had recovered and been reinforced, Tojo would prepare for the final assault on the lone city. In the north, Tabriz was besieged and the army awaited Noguma’s order to finish it off…

KYOTO – ROYAL PALACE
A finely dressed officer entered the palace with a two-man escort by his side. His uniform drew cautious and curious glances, as everyone realized it was Mongol. He proceeded to the diplomatic room Tokugawa had set up for negotiations. Before he even entered, he knew there would be no negotiations. In his hand he held documents authorized by Temujin and all generals to unconditionally surrender.

“General,” Tokugawa said dryly, wanting to get rid of the officer as fast as he could. “Sit.”

“Thank you, emperor,” the man said, with a tired expression and drooped shoulders. “Our Army Chiefs and Lord Temujin present you with this,” he gave Tokugawa the papers, “our unconditional surrender. We surrender all our forces, technologies, gold, diplomatic contacts, and remaining cities to you. We please ask that you take them and leave us in peace.”

Tokugawa browsed the declaration and nodded. “Thank you, general. We accept the terms and leave you Darhan as your sole city. I hope that in later years, we may once again return to an amicable commercial relationship: exchanging resources instead of blows. Please return to your homes with our assurances of peace.”

The general left, slouched and shaken by the embarrassment of surrender, but hopeful that his people would reclaim their lives as best they could and rebuild a new nation of peace. He boarded his coach and left Kyoto toward the distant Darhan, passing the old capital of Karakorum on the way. The Mongol-Japanese War was over…

Very interesting story, and I like your writing style.

Very nice. Keep it up.

TABRIZ
The news was unsettling. Secret Mongolian documents had uncovered some disturbing facts about the pre-war situations. The newly discovered nation of Rome had been threatening an invasion of Mongolia from across the sea. Rome was situated across the Mongol Channel, east of Ulaanbaatar. Relations between Temujin and Caesar, Rome’s Emperor, had degraded to bitter arguing. Among the documents stashed at Tabriz were secret plans to invade the Roman mainland. Just as the Mongol forces were being marshaled in the east, Japan had invaded in the west. At the same time Tojo was marching through Mongolia, Rome was sweeping across Egypt. Before the Mongol surrender, Caesar’s armies had completely subjugated the Egyptian population and wiped that nation clean off the map. Tojo took the documents with him… he had a parade ceremony to get to in Kyoto.







KYOTO – PARADE GROUNDS
The salute was crisp and the smile broad. The medal glimmered in the sunlight as Tojo sat back down, beaming with pride. The Order of the Shogun Medal was one of the highest medals of recognition that a military man could ever earn. The medal was accompanied by a pair of stars, one on each of Tojo’s shoulders. Brigadier General Tojo.

ROME – CAESAR’S PALACE
The salute was crisp and the smile broad. General Scipio could hardly believe what was happening. The Caesar’s Cross was the most prestigious medal in the Roman military; awarded only to spectacularly exceptional individuals during war. Scipio was one of those individuals. He had led the charge across the lands into Egypt and scored a smashing victory, bringing all cities under Roman rule. With Roman galleys sailing in all directions, setting up provinces across the globe, the future looked bright for his country. He decided to retire to Antium and live out the rest of his life peacefully.

KYOTO
Tokugawa was not terribly impressed with the Greeks. They were a small island nation to the far west, barely getting started on establishing overseas provinces. Empty lands were not in abundant supply. Most islands and continents in the world were occupied. An exception was a wooded island off the western shores of Japan. Now that ground troops were no longer needed, the bulk of the economy had turned to the sea for growth and knowledge. With the construction of the Great Lighthouse in Wine Springs, Japan was unquestionably a naval superpower. A “grand fleet” was in the making and settlers from the mainland wanted to spread to new lands.
An expedition landed a group of settlers on that uninhabited western island some weeks later. The land was mostly forested and its dark nature in those first few weeks gave rise to its name: Quiet Island. The settlers arrived on the western shores of Quiet Island and founded Lonely Village to describe its isolation from the motherland. Built to be a barrier against possible Greek attack, Lonely Village was destined to become a pivotal place in history…



KYOTO – ROYAL PALACE
“Welcome to Kyoto, Excellency,” Tokugawa said, bowing to the new arrival.

“Thank you, Emperor,” the man said, returning the bow. “It is an honor to visit this great city.”

“I am pleased we could finally meet face-to-face, Lord Hannibal.”

“Yes, it’s a wondrous day in our history when we can meet such a noble warrior like you. I think this is the start of a great alliance with the people of Japan!”

The Carthaginians were a magnificent nation, Tokugawa concluded at the end of the meeting. Hannibal was the ruler that Tokugawa could associate himself with the most. He was fiercely patriotic, but always willing to work with other nations to aid in whatever way he could. With a strong military and a powerful economy, Tokugawa knew it’d be wise to befriend Hannibal and Carthage.



Brig. Gen. Tojo was given a new command after the war as OIC (Officer in Charge) of Strategic Planning and Drafting. Basically, he drew up plans of invasion and how to execute them. With Carthage a blossoming ally in the world, Tojo drew up a possible plan to invade Greece. He called for an enormous concentration of forces on Quiet Island to slip westward across the sea and arrive near Knossos, simultaneously striking the peninsula city as well as the capital, Athens. With those cities under Japanese rule, the rest of the home island would fall in short order. OPERATION PELOPS, as it was called, would become the textbook method of a Greek invasion for many years.




Of course, these plans were only wishful thinking. The Athenian King, Alexander, was by no means threatening Japan. World peace dominated and there was little need for generals and armies. Instead, intellectuals became the new heroes as they devised new technologies and philosophies. Strangely, one of these intellectuals was Tojo himself. He wrote many books and scriptures on honor, duty, and combat. His thinking gave rise to the notion of individualism and the warrior mentality.

It was from his writings that the word samurai first became known. These samurai, Tojo wrote, were honorable, fierce warriors who served only their motherland, Japan. They were elite fighters, quick and deadly, who battled honorably to defeat any national enemies. Samurai, Tojo concluded, were the perfect warriors for Japan.

ROME – JAPANESE EMBASSY
“Are you mad, sir?” the Japanese ambassador asked, unsure at the reply.

The Roman diplomat’s smile remained. They’re afraid, he thought. He spoke, “No sir. Those are our demands: map of your territories and a small tribute of gold. We need to be sure of your peaceful intentions.”

“We have never challenged your rule. Our armies are still, we have no intention of disrupting these peaceful times. As for your “demands,” I say this, get out of here with these laughable tricks before you end up causing an international incident!”

The diplomat chuckled and left. The ambassador had to tell Tokugawa what was happening…



KYOTO
“So Caesar is trying to manipulate us? Make us afraid?” Tokugawa asked his diplomatic advisor.

“Seems like it, sir.”

“Fine, call the Japanese Council to an emergency session.”

“At once.” The advisor left and Tokugawa burned with fury. It was a disgraceful insult to have demands being made against him. These bully-boy tactics would not stand for long, Tokugawa swore. Men began to enter the congressional chamber as he stood thinking. The Japanese High Council was an elite group of men who served to provide the emperor with advice on courses of action. They helped Tokugawa decide to build an offensive military and attack Mongolia. Now their wisdom would be needed to solve this crisis. Before Tokugawa could begin addressing the council, however, a messenger ran in and interrupted the proceedings.

“Sir!” the messenger cried. “A message from the governor of Lonely Village!”

“Read it quickly, boy,” Tokugawa said.

“Our borders on Quiet Island have been invaded. A Roman expeditionary force has landed near the recently founded village of Silent Forest with a horseman regiment. They mean to establish their own colony on the island, but they have intruded into our lands. Request immediate help.”



“My God! They Romans have gone mad! Call Admiral Yamamoto of the Grand Fleet. Send reinforcements to the island. We’ll reconvene this meeting in a week to discuss further developments. Thank you, gentlemen!” Tokugawa stormed off to the War Department to discuss the possibility of raising samurai regiments for a future war.



A week later, the council met again. The Roman force on Quiet Island had completely refused to leave the Japanese territory. War would be the only answer, but Tokugawa decided to prepare as he had in the past. He ordered General Tojo to recruit young samurai and begin troop concentrations near Ulaanbaatar. At the same time, he met with Carthaginian diplomats to establish a trade agreement of dyes for silk. He knew this trade would be a precursor to a military alliance and began secret talks with Hannibal on a war strategy.



As the first samurai recruits graduated from their basic training camps, Karakorum finished constructing the Forbidden Palace to bolster all-around production in Japan. Now more cities could quickly produce troops and aid in the fight. Intelligence reported that the Romans were a fiercely powerful nation who had destroyed the Egyptians and held a massive army at their disposal. In addition, a formidable navy would hamper any invasion or reinforcement effort put forward. The Chiefs of Staff as well as Tojo believed the Romans were powerful enough to invade the Japanese mainland and might strike as far as Karakorum before being halted. He ordered the recruitment of pikemen regiments to defend the eastern cities in case of invasion and ordered the construction of massive walls around the Army HQ at Ulaanbaatar. Tokugawa decided to speak with Admiral Yamamoto on naval conflicts.



“Admiral Yamamoto,” Tokugawa greeted at the naval base in Cape Stallion. “How are you?”

“Very good, sir,” the tall admiral responded, saluting. “How may I serve you?”

“I’ll need the Grand Fleet to sail to the Mongol Channel and help protect the upcoming invasion. G-2 (Army/Navy Intelligence) reports that the enemy has a strong fleet somewhere in the south and might attempt an invasion along our channel coast. I’ll need your sailors there to stop him and allow our troops ashore safely.”

“Of course, sir. Anything you need. We’ll set sail for the channel at once!” The admiral presented a parting salute and boarded his flagship for the channel…



ULAANBAATAR – ARMY HQ
General Tojo saluted the emperor as he approached. With a return greeting the two men sat down for a final pre-war discussion.

“General Tojo,” Tokugawa spoke, smiling. “It’s an honor to be in your presence.”

“Please, sir,” the general responded, unaccustomed to having his leaders adulate him, “the honor is mine.”

“What are the final plans for this invasion?”

The general led him to his map room where a large map of the Roman lands was pinned across the wall. At the top, the title read “OPERATION TORA.”



“It’s a revised plan for the invasion taken from Mongolian documents,” the general began. “The Grand Fleet will anchor just offshore while we receive the official declaration of war and order to strike. Once given, six regiments will comprise the initial attack. G-2 reports heavy concentrations of defenders around the capital’s area, but the six regiments should be enough to etch a toehold in the land. Our forces will land at Vesuvius Beach where four will head for Rome and cut it off while the other two will head for the seaside village of Neapolis.”

“Afterwards?”

“Well, those regiments will weaken the defenders while we land reinforcements to finish off the Roman regiments and take the cities. With a solid beachhead like this, we can definitely begin pushing for more offensives, but the beachhead is our first priority.”

“Sounds good to me, general. Thank you! Board your troops and I’ll tell Yamamoto to set sail for Vesuvius Beach.”

The men stood and shook hands before departing. Two days later, six regiments were aboard their galleys and sailing for war…

does rome have legions cause they have 3 defense and u could give them a ga

They undoubtedly have Legionaries at this point unless they lack iron or if I missed something and this is a below-Regent level game.

There's no iron shown from those screenshots, unless I missed one.

Can't see any Iron either. Just gold, dyes, game and fish
They do, however, have horses. I suggest denying them any access to Iron at all costs

Yeah, I forget how but they got their hands on some Iron and recruited a few Legionnares during the upcoming war. I'm going to have to change the format on my pics; they're looking pretty crappy. Maybe JPEGs'll look better...

I could've sworn it was Regent... I'm probably mistaken, I played this game a while ago. Anyways, shout-out to Misawa!!! I'm here at Hill AFB.

Actually, the pictures look pretty good. Unless you just re-formatted them all and edited the posts.

You been to Misawa? I never lived at Hill, but my brother was stationed there and he said it was pretty nice.

Good story. I'm looking forward to reading the rest of it.
I like your style of writing.

How do like Ogden?
If you ever get the chance to do a tour at Elmendorf, I highly recommend it. Alaska is awesome! I did 2 years there...'78-'80.
Lord I'm getting old...

Yeah, Elmendorf is the shi- Uh, I mean the best place ever. I loved it there.

Good work. I've missed a straightforward narrative on a game since Daft stopped posting in his Celtic Peacekeeper thread.

Keep the installments coming. Before it gets too big, you may want to consider creating a compiled thread when you're done with it so we can read the entire story without interruptions from comments like this. Just a thought

Another good story! WE just need for it to be updated more, and actually finished (unlike practicaly ever other freakin story!) and this will become one of the greatest stories ever!

KYOTO – ROYAL PALACE
“Well, you have always treated us with respect and generosity. We accept.”

The two diplomats shook hands and signed the documents in front of them. With that, the Japanese were now militarily allied with the Carthaginians against the Romans. The Japanese-Carthaginian Alliance was formed and on both sides, troops readied themselves for the fight.



VESUVIUS BEACH
The white sands shone under the warm, sunny sky and the soft breeze as the galleys beached themselves to offload the men. Eight samurai regiments all charged ashore and prepared for the feared counterattack. As General Tojo and Admiral Yamamoto looked across the land from the flagship anchored just off the beach, they saw an empty landscape stretching into the horizon. The landings had been completely unopposed. The eight regiments, up from the originally planned six, awaited the counterthrust that never came.



General Tojo took command of all the regiments immediately and ordered a full charge to Rome and Neapolis to capitalize on their good fortune. Admiral Yamamoto, meantime, sailed around the western and northern shores of the continent to establish a naval defensive line in case of overseas attack.

At Rome, the obsolete spearmen tried their hardest to make a viable stand, but were overwhelmed by the ferocious samurai. Three regiments garrisoned the city while another bolted farther east and took Mount Octavian. This mountain was the key in defending the city and was the gateway to Veii, the new Roman capital. With another four regiments in reserve on the beach, Rome was securely in Japanese hands.

Farther down the beach at Neapolis, the defenders proved more powerful that at Rome, but eventually collapsed to the samurai, who suffered strong casualties. Having broken through the line so unexpectedly, General Tojo decided to press the attack and joined the regiment on Mount Octavian for a planned double-assault on Veii and Antium. His proposed SHOGUN PLAN would become the marching orders of so many men. He had no idea what was in store for him next…





ANTIUM – TOWN SQUARE
“General Scipio!” the messenger cried, scrambling to find the old man. “General Scipio, a message from the emperor!”

“Here!” a voice cried out from the town hall’s meeting room. The governor had called for an emergency meeting by order of Caesar to stop the Japanese advance. With the highly decorated General Scipio present, the men were trying to find a way to make an effective defense. The letter changed everything.

“I am to be given an offensive command in this war and reinstated to full active duty with a four-star promotion,” Scipio read.

“What regiment will you command?”

“The 212th Archer Regiment here at Antium. My orders are to attack the Japanese positions on Mount Octavian and await reinforcements to recapture Rome.”

“Godspeed, general! The hopes of us all are behind you!”

MOUNT OCTAVIAN
“Our scouts report movement south of us in the Twin Mountain Pass, sir,” a captain reported. “An archer regiment is apparently heading in our direction. He has joined a horseman regiment already in the jungle.”

“Good,” the general said, with a smug smile on his lips. “Call up the reserve regiments from Rome. We’ll smash the enemy force and head on to Antium and Veii in one swoop. A day later, his reserves were with him and he ordered a full charge in both directions. He personally joined the two regiments that swept into the jungle to clear the archer and horseman force. The Battle for Mount Octavian, as it became known later, began.

JUNGLE ON THE FOOTHILLS OF MOUNT OCTAVIAN
The Roman regiments were already in position when the attack began. A line of samurai charged full-speed at the nervous Romans. Scipio ordered a volley of arrows to stop the attack. Impeded by the brush and tree canopy, the volley fell silent and the samurai broke through the archer line, shattering it in a matter of minutes.

Scipio was undaunted and personally led a horseman charge against the samurai as the reorganized. Breaking through the first few ranks the horsemen believed victory was theirs when, just then, the second Japanese regiment charged at them, led by General Tojo. A master of swordsmanship, Tojo went in the front rank toward Scipio himself. The generals battled it out on foot as the regiment swarmed the horsemen. Putting up a strong defense, the horsemen held the samurai back with organized charges and withdrawals before their general, Scipio, fell at the blade of Tojo himself. With their enemy’s leader dead, the samurai made one last charge to envelope the enemy and succeeded.

Witnessing the battle from Mount Octavian was General Noguma, Japanese Chairman of the Chiefs of Staff, personally sent to oversee the war by Tokugawa. He was so thoroughly impressed by Tojo’s courage, Noguma immediately promoted Tojo to Major General and gave him an Army Command, a never-before existing position. With the victorious regiment, calling themselves the “Band of Miyazaki,” after a fallen buddy, Maj. Gen. Tojo headed for Neapolis to establish 1st Army Headquarters.



NEAPOLIS – 1ST ARMY HQ
While Tojo began building an army the size of three regiments around him, he was simultaneously planning the offensives on Veii and Antium. Veii was problematic because it was located on a tiny strip of land between two lakes. The defenders could concentrate on this narrow corridor instead of thinly spread around the city. Many samurai regiments were routed with enormous casualties in their attempts to take the city. Tojo decided to hold off major assaults on Veii until a larger sector could be cut out of the Roman nation. He wanted to strike out of the pocket before Roman troops could stalemate him on the front.

Yamamoto and Tojo organized a textbook amphibious strike behind the defensive line of Ravenna to take the city. Tojo also threw additional regiments from Mount Octavian against the legionnaires of Rome that were just beginning to trickle into the front. He finally passed the Twin Mountains of Antium and captured the city. The feared Roman navy never materialized and the naval line on the western shore moved farther south toward Hispalis. The northern line sailed back to carry troops farther up the beach to a planned strike at Lugdunum.



Finally, when enough men had arrived to Neapolis, Tojo and 1st Army struck south in a furious storm. They destroyed a legionnaire regiment and began the siege of Pompeii, on the shores of a beautiful gulf. As his army prepared the initial strike, hundreds of Carthaginian troops were assaulting the Roman city, Pisae, to the east and General Noguma, back in Kyoto, prepared for a new phase in the war…



CAPE ORO – NAVAL BASE
General Noguma had given the order. All ships set sail for the fifty mile journey across the narrow strait to the jungle atoll off the cape. Here, the Romans had set up some fledgling fishing villages, but Noguma only saw possible invasion springboards. He sent several regiments in an operation entitled MACHETE to destroy all the colonies on the island…

I've never been to Misawa, but it was my Number 1 choice on the "Dream Sheet." Hill is nice, but it's getting cold now and we should get our first snow pretty soon.

I wish I could go to Elmendorf (or visit any other base), but my career field's overmanned, CJR-Restricted, and doesn't have any open bases anymore. Guess I better get used to Utah.

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Back on topic: hope everyone's enjoying the story...