ASAHI NO NISHISEI - Rising Sun Goes West (1)

Interview with the Japanese Army

March 11, Dawn

Northeastern Altian Empire, Hemray Bay, Ocean

The Wirenia Continent, located in the Eastern World in the east of the world, is long from north to south and shaped like a distorted parallelogram with acute angles at the upper left and lower right. Although there are many countries on this continent and the islands to which it belongs, the vast land is effectively divided in half by two nations. These two nations are the Altian Empire, which controls the eastern side of the Winnilenon Mountains that run through the center of the continent, and the Shorteria-San Empire, which rules the western side. Each of these two great powers dominates the eastern and western regions of the continent, as well as other nations, and they stare at each other, hoping to eventually unify the continent and become the hegemon of the Eastern World.

The capital of the Altian Empire, which is currently in war with Japan, is located in the northeastern part of the continent in the coastal area of Hemray Bay, which is as big as the main island of Japan. It is a little too big to be called a bay. The capital city, Custefai, is located in the far western part of the bay, and other major cities named Nospedi and McTayle are located in the southwest and north of the bay, respectively.

The Japan-US Joint Fleet, which had left Zion three days earlier, was anchored in the middle of Hemray Bay, about 110 kilometers south of McTayle. In the battle command center set up in the multi-purpose compartment of the flagship Akagi, the senior officers of the fleet, led by Rear Admiral Hasegawa, were gathering to confirm the operation.

"This is the city of McTayle, as captured by the RQ-21 Blackjack drone on a reconnaissance mission. It's a port city located where a large river called the Elio River flows into the sea, and it's also an industrial city whose main industry is steel making."

Commander Iijima, the ship's commanding officer who also serves as the Akagi's deputy captain, explained the hostile territory to be targeted. He pointed to a large display showing an aerial photograph taken by a drone.

"The iron produced in this city comes from the Urestio Iron Mine... located in the upper reaches of the Elio River, and is transported downstream to this city by ship. The iron ore is then processed in factories that produce iron and iron products. The products, including iron and weapons, are then transported from the port to other parts of the country... McTayle seems to be a city built on the iron industry. Since a considerable number of soldiers went to war in the previous naval battles, it seems that the city's defensive posture is only the minimum number of soldiers needed to maintain security."

In the Battle of Iloa Sea, the death toll of the Altian Empire's forces exceeded 300.000. This is why this country was in a situation where it could be called militarily "unarmed".

"First of all, in order to eradicate the enemy's air power that could join McTayle City in this operation, we will send F-35B fighters equipped with the LJDAM to the headquarters of the dragon cavalry of the Capital Guard stationed in the capital city of Custefai, destroying their dragon houses. This mission will be carried out by the Shimabara, with the Kirishima as its escort."

Although slow in speed, the dragon's radius of operation is unexpectedly wide, and it is estimated that the dragon riders in the capital can interfere with the suppression of McTayle. Therefore, a separate force to destroy them was already on its way to Custefai.

"Next, the main force approached McTayle, and in order to destroy the factory complexes where the weapons were produced, 33 F-35Cs loaded with as many unguided bombs as possible, and the B-52H flying in from Seiren will conduct an air raid on the city. After that, we will launch an assault landing using the LCACs and transport helicopters, and we will split into two groups in order to simultaneously land in the urban areas divided into east and west across the river."