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UNIDENTIFIED LOCATION, SICHUAN PROVINCE, XIN HAN CHINESE EMPIRE
09:17 LOCAL TIME, JANUARY 13, 1787 COMMON CALENDER
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They had generally stopped moving by day. Probably because anytime they did and were spotted no less than five tons of ordinance was dropped on their positions, both by the aerial forces and artillery batteries. If it was a particularly big concentration they’d sometimes roll out the heavier stuff. These ones though… they must’ve been some of the stupid ones, or they were really desperate because they were moving during the day. “That’s the problem with guerilla warfare,” intoned a smooth female voice, trailing off for a moment. If you’d been looking at her from in front, all but her mouth and forehead would’ve been obscured by a massive pair of binoculars suspended by immaculate white gloves and sitting beneath a crown of disheveled, medium-short cut blonde hair. Without warning the hillside reflected in the lenses erupted into billowing explosions as the artillery fire impacted on the enemy positions. They lasted for at least fourteen seconds straight as a whole volley of shells ran up and down the length of the ridge. Each new burst blew a visible concussion wave through the smoke produced by the last; it was almost hypnotic. When it was over and the whole of the hill was engulfed in smoke from secondary fires, there was a wide grin beneath the binoculars “It’s… what’s that theory that American keeps espousing?”
“I believe it’s ‘
evolution’,
Berunadotto-sama,” replied
Taii Ryoji Kaji, his voice grating from the mask. “Ah, yes,” came the reply, “all the stupid ones get killed early, and that just leaves the ones who know what they’re doing.”
She lowered the binoculars to one side, holding them with one hand and putting the other on her hip, contemplating the situation for a moment before turning to Kaji and handing him the binoculars. He was always struck by her eyes; they were green.
Bright green.
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[font=”courier new”]
PERSONNEL FILE [CONFIDENTIAL]
Name: ベルナドット セラス (Bernadotte Seras)
Rank: Shosa (Major)
Service: 大日本帝國陸軍 (Imperial Japanese Army [IO Forces])
Serial Number: 893-42-3713
Gender: Female
D.O.B.: 1758.06.04 Common Calendar
Place of Birth: Kyoto, Japanese Empire
Blood Type: O Positive
Height: 1.702 Meters
Weight: 48.53 Kilograms
Religious Preference: None Listed
Current Assignment: Xin Han Empire of China
Notes: Daughter of
Shosho “Pip” Bernadotte (Retired, Serial Number 532-84-1952) and
Taisa Seras Victoria (Retired, Serial Number 804-16-3518). Enlisted on 1774.06.05, advanced to rank of
Gochou before enrolling in Office Selection Program on 1777.03.17. Finished top of class on 1779.03.17. Advanced to rank of
Chuui on 1781.05.30, advanced to rank of
Taii on 1783.08.27. Five citations of meritorious action in Terra Australis Campaign, 1784.03.11 – 1784.12.06, granted field promotion to
Shosa on 1784.07.16. Currently assigned to 81st Mechanized Infantry Division, Sichuan Province. Considered eligible for field promotion to
Chusa on 1786.08.01.[/font]
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Kaji took the binoculars and handed her back her helmet and
menpō. She took the helmet and put it on, fastening it down, before attaching the
menpō and securing the seals – it was generally considered unwise to go without head or facial protection even in fairly secure areas, since the Chinese civilians had started acting up. It was unfortunate, as Imperial Rules of Engagement officially stated any target which took up arms against Imperial soldiers, civilian or military, was considered a combatant and therefore a legal target. There’d been an incident the other day where a guerilla sniper had been shot along the road while trying to take potshots at their convoy; after they’d killed him, some old man had gone for the gun. They’d screamed and screamed at him, in not just Mandarin or Cantonese, but Sichuan, not to do it but he’d kept on. As soon as his hand touched the butt of the gun they’d dropped him. Seras had immediately gone for the weapon and halfway there she’d seen a boy go for it, just like the old man. She’d gotten there first and backhanded him before he could; screaming at him for being so stupid. Kaji and the others had been training their rifles on him already. The boy had broken down and cried. She had to take off the menpō to calm him down and get him to stop screaming “monster”.
Even then it had still been a tense moment. It had been one of the most surreal moments of war seeing “The Laughing Girl in the Devil Mask” giving a young Chinese boy a hug and consoling him. The menpō might save your life in more ways than one, but they also had a drawback; while they were highly intimidating, they were also dehumanizing. Kaji personally hated the things. The regular Imperial Army ones were bad enough looking; they made soldiers look like angry stone statues with big, dark black eyes, but the ones issued to IOs were even worse. They were always painted the color of blood, the air filters were shaped to look like a grinning mouth, and the eyes were shaped wickedly and were hued golden. Given the rest of their gear was designed to be as inconspicuous as possible, it often created the effect of hovering demon faces. It was great for assaults, but not so hot for peacekeeping. They tended to stay out of towns, left those for the “stone faces” to deal with. Seras herself empathized with the Chinese people. Their official mandate was to avoid civilian casualties whenever possible, but she didn’t just follow the rule, she preached it to the rest of them. She’d heard the stories from her parents about the last war and had been thrilled to see many of the places they’d talked about… even if they had been being bombarded, on fire, or so on. They all tended to not feel like the Chinese people were their enemy. They were here for that traitorous government; the Xin Han troops were just its foolish pawns for continuing to resist. Somewhere deep down inside they all knew that they were just doing a job just like they themselves, but you had to push thoughts like that out of your mind. You couldn't show fear or weakness. You could barely be human. See enough things and you probably
wouldn't be anymore. Kaji thought Seras seemed an exception to that. He had mostly gotten used to her, but her range of emotion seemed almost, to borrow the word of a Holy Roman researcher “bipolar”.
She could be laughing it up about blowing up a Chinese bunker, or – and he’d seen it – crying over the bodies of children in a school that had accidentally taken shell fire. He tended to chalk it up to war being humanity’s most insane pastime. But here they were, out in the middle of nowhere, dropping Emperor knows how much tonnage on some poor idiots who just had to run into plain sight while advancing and having a good time about it. As Seras checked her rifle’s clip before slinging it over her shoulder, she said “You know they’re coming, right
Kaji-kun?”
He winced a little under his own mask; the filter distorted the voice some, made it sound muffled, more mechanical. It butchered his superior’s pleasant voice. “
Hai,
Berunadotto-sama; vanguard units.”
She simply nodded, turning back to the smoldering hill behind them and considering it for a moment “They’ll be here soon, so we’d best be ready.”
Kaji simply grimaced to himself and replied “
Hai.”
Financing an army that sets around doing little in the modern age (1850 on) isn't hard. Its the equipment and logistics that are expensive. Hence the rise of large, standing armies (which in the time of DisNES II are still somewhat uncommon, historically, even acknowleding that it's an alt-hist).
I always regreted not joining this before. Hopefully if das will allow me to inact my new plan and a certain power does not squash me I might just finally get in on the ground floor for this. Time to go plan, and man is it good to be back!
