Author notes:
Apology for the delay, but the next chapter is up at last! Right, mom has been sick badly since a couple of days ago. It's why I have to take some time off to make sure she's ok. It's in times like this that I am deeply moved by the support that you all, whether you're a reader or a patron, have given to us.
As such, I hereby swear that no matter how hard it may come crashing down on me, I will never stop my writing endeavor! Salute!
P.S: And yes, Yuki in a maid dress is here. https://photos.app.goo.gl/waZgkRa3UQhqKQBi9
And we're sitting at 647/700 USD a month, with me still awaiting all the questions for that Q&A chapter in the future.
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When the video projection is set up once more, the foreign dignitaries aren't as surprised as before, having gotten used to it after a long period of viewing. What they're interested in however is that the Swedish has been able to quickly amass enough military presence to complete blockade what's presumably the location of the hostile Sardegnians. Gone are the calm, picturesque scenes of a town, with vehicles, horses, and soldiers cordoning off areas around the dilapidated harbor. Town people, for their own safety, are quickly escorted elsewhere. A lot of things have happened in a short time, the suddenness and commotion they cause would have been unable to be hidden. As such, the Swedish Army is approaching the matter overtly and cautiously instead, knowing that the Sardegnians would be seeing them coming from miles away.
Unwilling to suffer an underkill situation, not with the VIPs behind them, the Swedish Army has dispatched a Brigade worth of men and equipment with a Colonel on the field. Due to the complex nature of the matter, the Colonel is given a direct line to King Gustaf V and his military staff. For the Colonel, it's nothing short of the highest honor given to him, with the King a mere call away. As such, the man is not willing to show a shameful display to his monarch, and the plethora of foreign figureheads around him.
Let it be known that Sweden is just as strong and stalwart as in the past!
But zealous fervor aside, the Colonel knows that they themselves are not uncivilized barbarians. Before going in guns blazing, it's customary to send a negotiator in this situation. If words and pen can secure them a peaceful surrender then may as well, even if it wasn't something the Colonel personally enjoyed for multiple reasons. The missing military honor would be one of them.
Regardless, a group of soldiers set off from the Bridage's encampment to the Sardegnian-held harbor. The lead negotiator is a friend of the Colonel, a Protestant like many others, and one with a good head on his shoulders. The Colonel treasures this friend of his quite well, even making him an advisor. Because of that, he hasn't skimped on the protection detail for his advisor friend of his. A decision that will go on to save his friend's life soon enough.
The Sweden group of negotiators is intercepted midway on the road leading into the harbor. Apparently, some Sardegnians have gone out to meet them at the halfway point. Through the Colonel's binoculars, he can see that both parties start a discussion with one another, his friend with the presumed leader of the Sardegnians. Things seem to be going fine at first, the Sardegnian appears unarmed and even offers to shake hands and all that. To show the hospitality of Sweden, his friend offered the Sardegnian representative his cigar. Then the talk carries on from there with an amicable atmosphere.
However, as the discussion carries on and on, the Colonel can't help but feel that something is amiss. His premonition is proven to be true when words of warning come down from the King of Sweden himself that the Sardegnians are unloading artillery on the pier. They have been buying time all along.
Realizing that the Sardegnians have chosen the harder way out by settling up their artillery, the Colonel bemoans the lack of their own indirect artillery option. Unbelievably, the city government has blocked them from bringing out a few pieces Bofors 75mm Mountain gun, citing there's no need for heavy destruction so close to the city proper. The Colonel couldn't argue long enough due to the time constraint, and now he is risking his men being bombarded with no counter-fire.
Unwilling to give the Sardegnians even a second more of his precious time, the Sweden Colonel tells his men to get the negotiators back. He then turns to beg King Gustaf to relieve some heavier ordinances that are put behind locks and bars. The good Colonel is relieved to hear that an express order from the King has been dispatched to the city armory to immediately transfer field howitzers under the command of the Colonel. Even more so, a kingly command has been issued to the ship bearing the king's name, the HSwMS Gustaf V, a coastal defense ship bearing the firepower of a battlecruiser of the modern era.
It has been... Exhilarating to hear, but much like the King has kindly reminded the man, it will take time for both orders to be carried out. Until then, the Colonel may as well be bearing the full brunt of an artillery barrage while being woefully underequipped. It's gonna be a pain, but it will be something that he has to deal with.
Still, one thing at a time. The Colonel instructs an officer to communicate with the higher brass, telling him to get as much intel on the enemy as he can through them. Clearly, the King has a bird's eye view of the situation, he would be stupid not to bank on that whenever he could. Now, it's more important that he gets the men at the forefront of things back safely and into cover.
Before the men he sent out can reach the group of negotiators though, things have already taken a sharp turn for the worse. While the Colonel has been busy directing his subordinates about the conflicts to come, the negotiators hit a roadblock in their conversation. Matters of faith were brought up and understandably, conflicts ensued between a zealot Catholic and a Protestant.
It all happens so fast. When the Sardegnians start pulling out their pistols, already chambered and ready to fire, the closest Swedish soldiers to them also raise their weapons. Some of them tackle the Colonel's advisor down to the ground while the others start trading fire with the reckless Sardegnians at close range. 9mm Glisenti, 9mm Parabellum, 6.5x55mm Swedish,... Bullets of all types, coming from all sorts of guns are traded in a span of less than five seconds. The clearing around the two groups of different nationalities is deafened by the sound of successive, chaotic gunfires. After five seconds, however, there's nothing but the sound of muted silence with the occasional dead bodies dropping with thud after thud.
The suddenness of everything has caused a trance of sorts on both sides, stopping every single activity as all gaze toward the neutral clearing that is now devoided of anyone standing.
What the fuck just happened? Right, it would be a question that many of them are wondering now. Due to the distance, no one could hear the conversation which ultimately ended in bloodshed. What they do know, however, is that shots were fired, first blood was drawn. No more talks, no more buying time, war has arrived on the lands of Sweden, and it's up to them to wage it.
The Sardegnians completely throw their incognito out the window. No longer putting up with subterfuge, they start moving men, and even women, along the perimeter of the harbor. All of them bearing arms and even heavy weapons. They will greet the heathens with the might of God on their side. Right before storming up to that accursed conference and shedding the blood of the vile things.
Will that be the case, however?
Not with a certain Sweden Colonel around. Most certainly not with the enigmatic Belka being presented in the gathering.
The Colonel, while mourning for his possibly dead friend, is not idle in raring up his men for a siege of the harbor. With little to no protection offered by the small town near the besieged harbor, the Colonel works up a dastardly plan. It's one that he has based upon reviewing the tactics employed by the famous 404th Ironblood Division of Belka, the Ghost Division if you're to search for a more commonly known denominator. A new manner of warfare, combining speed, lethality, and endurance in one package. Blitzkrieg is the term, and this Sweden Colonel likes the sound of that.
After acquiring the layout of both the enemy and the harbor, the Colonel communicates his ideas to the King. It's bold, he must admit, but it's something that King Gustaf seems to like very much. Soon enough, a permit is given out by the King to carry out the Colonel's plan, and very swiftly, it's put into place.
The Colonel assembles an armored spearhead with whatever armored combat vehicles he has available. Due to inspiration gained from seeing the effectiveness of the Ghost Division's armored fist, King Gustaf V had somehow managed to pass a bill that procured more armored vehicles for the Swedish Army. While the quantity is a far cry from other nations, it must be said that the ones purchased are of remarkable quality. On this occasion, the Colonel manages to scrunch up five Strv m/37 tankettes and four Pbil m/41 armored cars. The tankettes are armed with two 8mm machines each while the m/41s are armed with a 20mm autocannon and two machine guns per car. All of them have good speed, serviceable armor, and superb firepower against soft targets. Perfect for facing the Sardegnians with no armor protection whatsoever. The tankettes will be leading the charge, using their machine guns to spray suppressive fire. They will then be followed by the armored cars, tasked with using their autocannons to dismantle heavier resistance.
Still, a spear must have a handle attached to it. As such, the Colonel isn't skimping on getting a good-quality one. Since the Brigade mostly arrived by trucks and horses, and knowing that the blockade had been put in place properly, the Colonel sought to put the unused trucks and horses to good use. He has infantry, armed with assault weapons, mounted up on the trucks. Some creative troops even fix an MG with its tripod on the back of one for additional firepower. As for the horses, Sweden has always been selective about what horses they use in its armed forces. Hence, the war horses of good quality are easy picking for the Colonel. The problem is getting the accompanying good riders on such short notice. Fortunately for the Colonel, there are veterans from the long-serving Crown Prince's Hussar Regiment who are in his Brigade. Ultimately, it doesn't take that long for him to assemble a platoon worth of cavalry. Armed with pistols, rifles, SMGs, and melee weapons such as sabers and shovels, the cavalry will be able to cover the blind spots of armored vehicles after storming the inner areas of the harbor and to run down stragglers.
Due to time constraints, the Colonel ditches precise instructions. Rather, he allows his officers the freedom of action in combat and to adapt to the situation as they see fit. That said, it doesn't mean that the Colonel will be taking a handoff approach. Oh no, it's quite the opposite.
Mounting up on a horse of his own, the Colonel bemoans the lack of a adequate holster for his rifle on the horse. Still, a good horse, a good rifle, and good soldiers by his side. It's all the Colonel ever needs to cave in the face of some ragtag Sardegnians that came from the end of the world.
Literally...