The American In Another World
Chapter 34: Defeat of the Imperial Army
November 12, 1639
Le Brias
Explosions tore through the already ravaged streets of Zone Four during a firefight between Altaran's unit and the lost Parpaldians. The Americans, after helping clear most of the Imperial Army, returned to their embassy without any losses. Some Altar realized this, felt abandoned and forced to shoulder the burden of urban fighting, but realized that it was relatively justifiable. It was only natural for the Americans to hand over the dirty infantry fighting to the Altar; after all, they had eliminated the Parpaldian land dragon. After all, this was the city of the Altar itself.
Captain Rial was among those who felt betrayed by this act. Although he acknowledged the honor of allowing the Altarans to retake their own city after the Americans did most of the work, this also meant more Altaran casualties. Without American equipment, more soldiers would have to be deployed, including witches.
He is assigned to secure a crossroads with his contingent of Elite Guards along with several witches. At first, he was very excited to show the abilities of his men and his proud nation, but all feelings of pride and respect were put aside when he saw a familiar green-eyed brunette. Standing tall with his staff, he looked ready for the upcoming battle, but was also nervous.
"Aline?"
"Captain Rial," he said, his eyes twinkling.
Rial smiled comfortingly, even though her inner feelings were being muddled. "You ready?"
"Yes sir!"
"alright. Stay close to me" he said.
He brushed aside doubts and worries from his mind as he pushed into a building, clearing it. Embarrassedly, he ordered his men to go ahead, afraid of losing Alina if she left first. His men clean the building without any problems and then continue on as Rial sets up a sniper's nest. Using his binoculars, he scanned the area and found a rifle barrel peering through a window in a building across the street.
“Alina, hit that building with a flare, then a smokescreen.”
He marked his location and within seconds, a bright light flashed in front of the window. A groan of pain screamed from the building, prompting Rial to order his unit to push him. As the Altar ran across the street, a veil of smoke enveloped them, covering them from potential gunfire.
The sound of battle then erupted as his Elite Guards sent crippled and confused Parpaldians hiding within the building. Warned by gunfire, a new Parpaldian infantry platoon rushed out of the library to support their comrades.
“Wait for them to get to the middle of the road..”
Rial threw a bag of magic gems into the middle of the Parpaldian crowd. "Alina, now!"
Alina directed her staff towards the bag, sending fireballs flying towards her.
A devastating explosion wiped out most of the Parpaldians, giving them a quick and painless death, but a bloody whole. The survivors found themselves on the floor desperately trying to return fire, but were unable to find their attackers hiding inside the building. It became everyone to himself as the survivors rushed towards whatever protection they could find, leaving comrades who lost limbs and covered in blood. They are executed mercilessly by the Altarans, who see an opportunity to take revenge against the Parpaldian injustices perpetrated on them in the past.
“Jaanos, bring your troops and make sure the group we bomb is completely eliminated. Everyone, be prepared to clean the library, ” said Rial, getting up from his position and walking towards the exit of the building.
As soon as he left the front door, he saw something across the street. "Wait—CANNON!"
Before the cannon operators were eliminated, the enemy had fired their weapons, sending cannonballs into the building that had just come out of the Rial and Alina. Instinctively, Rial pushed Alina away from the collapsed building.
"DOLT!" Rial felt a tremendous pain in his left leg, lasting a while before all the pain in his leg went numb. He looked at it, finding that it was trapped under a pile of rubble, with a sharp piece of wood embedded in it. "Fuck up!"
"Captain!!" Alina rushed to help. Using her last reserve of magical gems, Alina cast a small gravity spell to lift the debris from Captain Rial's feet. The pile of wood floated up, allowing Rial to crawl away before the pile collapsed again. Alina knelt down, exhausted but glad to be able to help Rial.
Rial wiped the sweat and dirt off his face as he crawled into the wall and leaned on it, panting. "Sial ..." he grimaced, staring at his injured leg. Bending at an unsettling angle, it was covered in blood and shattered. "Well," he said suddenly. "I told you I'd get you out of here alive."
“Yes God...” Alina moved towards Rial, a dim light emanating from her hand. His hand floated above Rial's feet as he channeled enough mana to cast a healing spell, but even before he could begin his spell, he was interrupted by Rial.
"No," said Rial, putting his hand in his hand and pushing it down. “I don't want you to faint because you're out of nowhere. I can - ugh" she eroded, "ask for support." He raised his hand to his helmet to activate his manacomm. “Captain Rial asks for medical help. I'm at the Lumiess Library,” she managed to stutter before fainting from the pain.
Alina sat down next to him, leaning on his shoulder and holding his hand before fainting as well.
——
14 November 1639
Captain Rial awakens in shock, surrounded by an unknown white man. His legs were wrapped and covered in something, and some kind of wire was tied to his arm. He grabbed it to get it out, but was stopped by the sound.
"Captain?"
“You did it, Captain. And you came back alive too!”
Rial smiled, leaning his head on the pillow. “I did... So what happened?”
Alina squeezed her hand while explaining, “Your men answered your request. I also fainted, but when I realized they took us on a flat bed. They then gave us to the Americans, who took us to the hospital at their embassy. The healers here do the best they can, and they say you'll live. The only problem is your feet. They contact their superiors for something called 'medevac'. Once this 'medevac' arrives, it'll take us to the hospital ship where the American healer can take good care of you. Sorry I couldn't do more.”.
Rial put on a worried face. He was grateful he and Alina survived, but worried about the war effort as a whole. "It's okay. But, how long will I be absent?”
“Ah, don't worry about that. We've already driven the Imperial Army out of the city. Your Elite Guards will handle the arrest of their fleeing officers and for the Parpaldian Navy, I hear they are fighting the Americans right now.
——
15 Miles from Le Brias Harbour
USS Barry, 15th Destroyer Squadron
“Captain, multiple contacts moving in front of main fleet! I think they're bait!
Captain Winslow looked at the ships that formed shields in front of the Parpaldian fleet. “Looks like a carrier. They're trying to take fire for their allies, it seems. Let's give them what they want, guys.
Eight shots from the Mk 45 Arleigh Burkes gun were soon followed by eight destroyed ships. Offering a rate of fire of 20 rounds per minute, the weapon was more than enough to obliterate all approaching transport ships and suppliers even before they could get close to the American destroyer. The ships from the line that followed behind traveled a ridiculous distance when taking into account the hundreds of ships that were sacrificed.
“Alright, let's put another mile between us. I don't want to risk any shots from these guys; those cannon balls are still a threat.”
Eight American destroyers retreat, heading for the open ocean. At a speed faster than anything Parpaldian could muster beyond a dozen Tears strapped to small, light ships, the American ships moved out of the range of the Parpaldian fleet. With a distance of 5 miles between the destroyer and the row ship, the winner of the battle was already decided. The fate of the Parpaldian Imperial Army was sealed once the proper chorus of American cannon fire began.
The Mark 45's weapons spin and dance as they orchestrate the death of ship after ship. The cold, calculating shots were coordinated by artificial intelligence, preventing overlap as American destroyers obliterated eight ships simultaneously and in quick succession. For a few seconds between each shot, the surviving Parpaldian battleships traveled a little further, getting closer to their target, but still too far away.
Some ships were simply crippled, a large hole in the hull of the ship making them die slowly while sinking. Several smaller warships were obliterated entirely, their ammunition depots burned down. Larger ships fared better, with some of them requiring two and sometimes, three shots to drop. Although the Parpaldian anti-magic coating was ineffective against the American rounds, it was also not very useful.
After losing in the larger man-o-wars, the Parpaldians became a mess. If their capital ship could not even reach America, how could the smaller 60-armed battleship stand a chance, let alone the 40-armed warship? Caught in a cruel cycle and realizing the power of the American nightmare, the Parpaldians finally raise a white flag.
“I'm surprised we don't have to kill them all. Like what, 75% loss just to make them see the reason?” Winslow scoffed at ships in the distance, floating among the rubble of their allies.
Master Chief Barnes shrugged his shoulders. "Well, at least many of them were smart enough to leave the ship."
Winslow watched the rescue operation through his binoculars. “Ya, sucks to be that guy.” He offered his binoculars to Barnes.
Barnes finds the scene Winslow refers to, grimacing with pity and disgust. “Yes Lord... How is that poor man still alive? That piece of wood was just.... inside him!”
“Yeah, I just hope these guys just give up, you know? It's crazy how stubborn these guys are.”
"They don't know who they're playing around with."
“Yes. Say, want to bet?”
"certain."
“How long do you think it will be before these guys finally give up? I bet next month, or whenever we reach their capital.”
“With how stubborn these people are, we can look at another Afghanistan or Vietnam. Let's hope destroying the whole Navy and their Air Force will convince them to stop.”
Winslow shook his head, sighing. “Yeah, I hope so. But come to think of it, the people of this world are very uhh. It seems like there is no democracy or anything here, so we might be able to take Parpaldia as long as we have nobility or a royal family backing our side, right? Sort of similar to Louria.”
"Maybe. But man, this thing is making my head woozy. This is well above our salary value.”
"Yes. Say, you heard about the love story that happened with the Elite Guard Captain King Altaran? Simply touch the heart..”
;)