Chapter 100: A Day of Comrade
At the same time as the Führer was receiving the report of the Battle of Thame…
In the distant western continent, Giliezagrad, the capital of the Holy Republic of Elfusia.
At the center of the grand palace, a man sat on the throne, his face bright red with rage.
You probably already know, that this angry man is the shining sun of the elven people, everyone’s beloved comrade Gilieza.
Before the enraged Comrade Secretary-General stood a pitiable man, bowing so deeply his head was almost touching the ground.
His name is Comrade Malenkov.
A senior military officer clad in a splendid military uniform, who holds a high-ranking position within the military’s intelligence department, but… In the presence of the Great Comrade Secretary-General, such titles are virtually meaningless.
You might as well think of him as a pitiful old man desperately pleading for his life.
“Comrade Malenkov, you were responsible for intelligence operations in the New World, weren’t you?”
“Yes, comrade… However, this time’s loss of Stalin is not my responsibility… Moreover, Stalin had already begun mass production of over 1,000 units, so just two units…”
The loss of Stalin―― this is related to the previous Battle of Thame. Investigating the territory of completely different races called “humans”.
Stalin, that has been entrusted to the spies for this dangerous mission, for some reason has not returned.
The elves do not know whether the spy betrayed them or was discovered and defeated by the humans.
The concern is the loss of two precious weapons, called ‘Stalin’, before the decisive battle against humans.
“It doesn’t concern me, you have wasted ‘Stalin’, a valuable asset and symbolic weapon of the party, for no good reason. ――Purge, yes, it’s time for a purge!”
“Eek, eek… Forgive me, Comrade Gilieza! Please, anything but being sent to Siberya!”
“Sent to Siberya? Do you think you can be forgiven with such a lenient punishment? It’s a capital punishment, your every single one of your family shall receive capital punishment!”
“Eeeek!”
Gilieza declares.
It is an extreme sentence that is so unreasonable. A demonic punishment of killing not only the person who made the mistake but also the entire family.
Malenkov is so frightened by his comrade Gilieza, who smoothly carries out the punishment, that he starts urinating all over the place.
“Pissing yourself!? What a disgraceful man! Such a man is unnecessary for a superior race like the elves! Military police, take him away!”
“Comrade! Comrade Gilieza, please forgive me! I just made a small mistake!”
Even while being dragged away by the military police, Malenkov gives his final defense while shedding tears.
How long might he have to live? Pleading for one’s life is meaningless to Gilieza, who has a heart colder than ice.
While the maids clean up Malenkov’s excrement, Gilieza snorts as if he is trying to mitigate his anger.
After bad news, good news is necessary.
Then, he remembered.
Come to think of it, just the other day, a new warship was in service…
If I look at the large, magnificent, and beautiful warship, it will probably calm my irritated heart. Having thought so, Gilieza starts to move.
He headed for the naval port, Vladivozapad, away from the capital, Giliezagrad.
―― “Vladivozapad”.
The city has a name that means “conquer the west”. Yes, this city is the production base for the new type of frozen ships for the conquest of the eastern continent, which the elves referred to as the new continent.
“Comrade Horus, is this the new-type frozen battleship ‘Basileus-class’?”
“Yes, comrade! It is a 20,000-ton class frozen battleship.”
At the port, Comrade Gilieza, with a beaming smile, was looking up at the new model ship accompanied by Navy Minister Horus.
A hull made of pure white ice with a total length of nearly 200 meters, resembling a cruiser… No, a turret so huge it is comparable to a battleship.
The name of the ship is Basileus Class. It is a 20,000-ton class frozen battleship developed by the elves for deployment in the upcoming war against humans.
Its appearance is significantly different from the existing elf ships.
It has significantly evolved from the Black Elven Empire’s Celcius-class initial appearance which can be described as an iceberg to become something more ship-like and evoke the image of an advanced modern battleship.
The elegantly shaped ice hull was designed to achieve high speed.
The ship was constructed by integrating steel cannons, mana engines, the bridge, and other vital parts of the ship into the hull, resulting in a ship that is superior to any other previously owned by the elves.
“What a big ship. If it is this enormous, its armaments must certainly be superior, right?”
“Yes, as the main gun, we are equipped with four twin-mounted 20 cm high-density magic projectile launchers, making a total of eight main guns, additionally, there are four smaller twin-mounted 8 cm magic projectile launchers, also totaling eight guns.”
“Hmm, but I feel that the weapon arrangement resembles that of a human ship…”
Saying so, Gilieza showed a slightly dissatisfied face.
In fact, as disgruntled as he is, the Bacileus-class armament is in some ways imitating the ships of the Yamato Empire.
For example, the twin main guns are positioned along the centerline of the ship’s hull.
It was improbable that an undeveloped fantasy world nation would be able to construct modern warships without a precedent to follow, so this imitation can be said to be inevitable…
It seems that comrades do not like the fact that the superior race, the elves, are imitating humans.
However… Horus, the Minister of the Navy is not at all intimidated by the dissatisfaction of Comrade Gilieza. On the contrary, he is full of confidence.
“Please rest assured. Our ship is more capable than theirs. Please take a look at this.”
“This is… A photo?”
“You’re well informed, comrade. It appears to be a special technology of humans. I cut it out from a magazine commonly sold in their country.”
Saying that, what he showed was a photograph. It shows the Yamato Empire’s Ibuki-class battlecruiser.
Classified as one of the newer vessels in the Yamato Empire, it is often featured in magazines, so it is not particularly difficult to obtain photographs of it.
“The armaments of the human ships are six guns mounted in three twin-mounted installations, whereas our ships have one more installation than that. In other words, higher performance. In addition, our ship is equipped with a newly developed propulsion system.”
“Propulsion system?”
“Yes, by consuming mana and using it as a thrust, it is possible to achieve performance that is significantly different from using traditional mast-based sailing methods.”
“No wonder I can’t find the sail. So, how fast does it go?”
“The maximum speed is more than twice that of a conventional ship, at 20 knots.”
Comrade Gilieza is pleasantly surprised by the speed.
Superior artillery, a sturdy hull made of ice, and superior speed. A ship that surpasses existing warships in every performance of offense, defense, and speed, being the strongest in elves’ history.
Furthermore, the performance of this ship alone is not its only outstanding feature.
“Furthermore, it is planned to have 12 of these Basileus-class ships ready by the time the invasion operation begins. And, there are also 12 of the smaller Graf-class. On top of that, we will also construct eight 20,000-ton Black Crow-class frozen aircraft carriers.”
“And now the 2 million tons frozen aircraft carrier to the list… Well done, Comrade Horus. At the dawn of the conquest of the human domain, you will awarded the Elven People’s Labour Medal.”
“Yes, it’s an honor.”
A large fleet of over 30 state-of-the-art frozen ships. It is no exaggeration to say that the strongest navy in the history of the elves was born here.
Comrade Horus bowed his head in relief to the satisfied dictator, thinking, “Phew, if I present this well, I probably won’t be executed.”
However…
This frozen ship is, in fact, is not a perfect weapon. Those who are perceptive would probably notice that it has ridiculously poor fuel efficiency.
Maintaining a large hull made of ice and then making it move at a speed of 20 knots. On top of that, it also carries heavy artillery.
This superweapon is something that was created using the technological capabilities that exist in a fantasy setting. It does not have the same mana consumption power as an average mana consumption won’t suffice.
It was incomparable to the previous Celsius-class frozen ship which only ‘frozen the hull’.
Once the ship sets sail, then it engages in battle… Perhaps it will consume the equivalent of ten thousand people’s mana as a sacrifice?
How many sacrifices would it take to build dozens of them?
There are a hundred million slaves under the elves who rule the entire western continent, as a result, the elves are not concerned about minor losses.
However, what lies ahead is a total war between humans and elves.
How far and to what extent can the elves do battle?
Even our comrades still do not know about that yet.
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