Great Naval Battle of Nahanath

The **Great Naval Battle of Nahanath** is the final engagement between the Gra Valkas Empire and Japan in the Great Naval Invasion of Japan. The Japan Self-Defense Forces intercepted the invasion of the Gra Valkas Great Fleet on the offshore west of the Nahanath Kingdom. They faced in combat against the superdreadnought battleship *Grade Atlastar*, the Yamato lookalike battleship of legend, which was later called the turning point in history and led to the birth of the world's most powerful weapon.

* Grade Atlastar Captain Luxtal †
* Gunnery Captain Meyl †
* JMSDF 4th Escort Flotilla Commander Captain Sakano
* JASDF Nahanath Air Base Commander Yagami
* JGSDF 5th Missile Regiment Commander Kotsubo
* *Chōkai* Captain Chizuki

**Holy Milishial Empire**
	+ Superdreadnought battleship *Grade Atlastar* (Flagship)
	+ 88th Fleet (15 ships)
		- 1 battleship
		- 8 cruisers
		- 6 destroyers
	+ 11 Battleships
		- *Togana*
		- 10 other battleships
	+ 22 Cruisers
		- *Miranda*
		- *Qitania*
		- *Oberon*
		- *Merut*
		- *Doun*
		- 17 other cruisers
	+ 494 Destroyers
		- *Unbreille*
		- *Pak*
		- *Creshda*
		- *Desdemona*
		- 490 other destroyers
	+ 58 Aircraft Carriers
	+ 300 Supply Ships

**Navy Air Corps**
* Aircraft (unknown number details)
	+ Antares fighters
	+ Rigel torpedo bombers
	+ Sirius bombers
	+ Altair dive bombers
	+ 1 F-15J Kai fighters
	+ F-2 fighters (unknown number details)

**Japan Maritime Self Defense Force**
* 4th Escort Flotilla
	+ 4th Escort Squadron
		- Izumo-class helicopter destroyer *Kaga*
		- Murasame-class destroyer *Inazuma*
		- Murasame-class destroyer *Samidare*
		- Takanami-class destroyer *Sazanami*
	+ 8th Escort Squadron
		- Murasame-class destroyer *Kirisame*
		- Akizuki-class destroyer *Suzutsuki*
		- Hatakaze-class guided missile destroyer *Shimakaze*
		- Kongō-class AEGIS guided missile destroyer *Chōkai*
* Mu Air Wing Emergency Deployment
	+ 22 BP3-C Orion bombers

**Japan Ground Self-Defense Force**
* 5th Surface-to-Ship Missile Regiment
	+ 1 Command vehicle
	+ 4 Missile launcher vehicles
	+ 4 Ammunition trucks
	+ 48 Type-12 Surface-to-Ship Missiles

**Holy Mirishial Empire**
* About 695 ships of the Combined Fleet annihilated
* All 88th Fleet (15 ships) sunk
* All aircraft carriers sunk
* More than 600 warships sunk
* All 300 supply ships sunk
* All aircraft destroyed

## Background

### Gra Valkas Empire

Commander Caesar and Captain Luxtal received a message from headquarters. It reported:

* *The Guti Maun Super Heavy Bombing Unit and the Imperial Army Air Corps sent from the Riem Kingdom were annihilated and the airbase was destroyed.*
* *It was extremely likely that the enemy hardly suffered any damage.*

The news caused Caesar and all his officers to finally be enlightened of the fact that the Japanese were too powerful for the Gra Valkas Empire to defeat, and the whole war was doomed from the beginning. Despite the failed invasion, the Office of Sovereign spitefully forced Caesar and his fleet to inflict as much damage as possible against the Japanese for greater political implications that **"the Gra Valkas Empire would not go down without putting damage on a truly formidable enemy."** With no other choices and being honor-bounded, Caesar and his officials fully committed a suicidal attack on Nahanath and were determined to inflict single damage to JSDF and dissuaded other countries from siding with Japan in the future as much as he could before he and his crews' inevitable demise. It was also revealed that the reason why the Main Fleet managed to nearly reach Nahanath so fast was that Caesar didn't stop to refuel to increase the pace of the assault.

### Japan

After receiving the report of the Riem Kingdom attacking Duro and the immediate retaliation of the Parpaldia Empire, the Japanese Ministry of Defense was relieved that the attacks of the Gra Valkas Empire and Reim Kingdom coalition on Japan's mainland had been averted by the JASDF air force. However, They received the emergency report from intelligence that the Great Fleet (Caesar's Main Fleet) was heading toward the Nahanath Kingdom faster than they anticipated. Only one convoy of supplies had made it there in time, and there was only a small regiment of F-2 fighters and BP-3C bombers available as they were not being recalled back for the Mainland defenses in the first place. To make matters worse, Japan also didn't have enough ammunition to supply the entire Air Wings with missiles. As a result, Japan had insufficient firepower to stop the invading fleet and casualties seemed unavoidable this time.

On Nahanath, F-15J Kai fighters from the JASDF 9th Air Wing from the Southwest Air Corp would arrive soon. The JGSDF's 5th Surface-to-Ship Missile Regiment was now deployed as well as the JMSDF 4th Escort Fleet was also preparing for the defense. It was revealed that the Ministry of Defense had miscalculated the time gap between the attack on Japan's mainland and Nahanath as they did not expect Caesar's initially near-suicidal strategy of not refueling his fleet, thereby making the ammunition and fuel convoy would not make it in the time since Gra Valkas Empire did not stop to refuel and continue advancing from the east. The worst thing comes was that Mirishial's aerial battleship Pal Chimera was about to arrive earlier than expected, and the JSDF from northwest of Rodenius was not even listed the Pal Chimera on IFF as friendlies as the Pal Chimera's assistance was unexpected from the beginning, and the Japanese government just received the news, concerning that it might be shot down by accident by a SAM. Base Commander Yagami decided to radio the Pal Chimera to inform them of the situation.

### Holy Milishial Empire

On Runepolis, Holy Milishial officials were discussing the current situation. Lydolka submitted his report to Arneus that Japan has successfully defeated the Guti Maun ultra-long range bombing regiments and suffered no casualties and the Parpaldia Empire attacked the Riem capital city of Hilkiga and decimated the defenseless capital. This fact shocked Arneus since he initially thought that the vast numbers of the bombing fleet would cause significant damage to the Japanese. Consequently, this fact made the Holy Mirishial Empire respect the Japanese further. They was also unaware that the 1st Battlegroup of the Great Fleet was destroyed even before Caesar had sortied out the Guti Maun.

Later, in the aerial battleship Pal Chimera, Meteos was excited but exceptionally cautious of the upcoming battle as the Holy Milishial Empire had already lost one irreplaceable Pal Chimera from the Gra Valkas Empire during the Great Naval Battle of Baltica. Meteos contemplated that things would be easier if they utilized the Marine Fortress Pal Cowne to decimate the Great Fleet. When Yagami radioed the Pal Chimera, he was surprised that Japanese radio waves could reach the Pal Chimera at a high altitude while they hadn't arrived on the battlefield. Yagami asked Meteos to fight close to the JMSDF to prevent friendly fire, in which Meteos assumed that the Japanese were trying to prevent the Milishial from taking any significant credits in the battle. Also, Yagami offered Meteos to observe the battle first since they have their own strategy, allowing him to kill two birds with one stone. They could participate, but they could also observe how the JMSDF fights, which intrigued Meteos, and it was also part of the Holy Milishial Emperor's order to observe how the JSDF fights. Meteos agreed by distancing himself 200 km from the battlefield. He utilized the wave-guided super telescope installed on the Pal Chimera to observe the battle.

## Battle

### Attack on the Main Fleet

In the night, 22 JMSDF BP-3C Orion bombers from Mu to Rodenius Continent carrying a total of 88 air-to-ship guided missiles (ASM-2) made their first attack on the Great Fleet under the night sky, hoping that Gra Valkas Empire would not expect an attack in the night. The East Sea of Nahanath Kingdom would be decided as the place of the turning point in the New World War. As the bombing commenced, the JSDF BP-3C bombers started jamming the radar of the Great Fleet.

As Meteos tried to observe the battle, the Pal Chimera's conductive magnetic radar was jammed by the JSDF's electromagnetic interference (EMI) due to the Pal Chimera's proximity to the jamming signal of the JSDF. Meteos and his crew tried to get the anti-jamming device to work but did not prevail as the device couldn't nullify Japan's jamming, frustrating and causing him to be amazed by Japan's technology as it was good enough to jam and neutralize even the Ravernal Empire's radar and anti-jamming technology. Seeing no other choice, Meteos ordered the ship to get close to the battle to observe it at visual range.

The missile attacks dealt a devastating blow to the Main Fleet as the anti-ship missiles instantly destroyed four destroyers and three cruisers while the fleet fired blindly into the dark sky as their radars were jammed, and they had zero night vision. Caesar fell to despair as his fleet was helpless against the attack and shocked at the fact the anti-ship missiles were far more powerful than any big cannons developed by the Gra Valkas Empire. He later wondered how many anti-ship missiles the JSDF actually had.

As Meteos observed the destruction of Gra Valkas warships by JSDF guided missiles, he and the rest of his crew were astounding shocked and disbelief that Japan, a purely mechanical science country, could create something as powerful as the magically guided anti-ship missile of the Ravernal Empire. The scene caused Meteos to be shaken to his core as he couldn't believe that science could outperform magic, which he firmly believes to be the root of development and power. At the same time, he was also fearful that if the Ravernal Empire returned, the Holy Mirishial Empire would suffer the same fate as the Gra Valkas against the Japanese.

At Nahanath base, the JSDF officers lamented that they didn't have enough anti-ship missiles to deal with the vast numbers of enemy ships. Yagami decided to leave the *Grade Atlastar* alone since cutting the head of the enemy would cause the rest of the fleet to charge blindly at the base with overwhelming numbers. He then ordered a concentrated attack on the Main Fleet's battleships and aircraft carriers to sap off their strength and morale.

The JSDF attacks then intensified in which hundreds of ships and all aircraft carriers of the Great Fleet were ultimately turned into scrap metals, sinking toward the blue sea. The Main Fleet of 1,000 ships was reduced to about 400 ships, and all of their air force was neutralized.

### Caesar's Ultimate Decision and Pal Chimera's New Revelation

Despite being utterly crushed by the mass destruction of the Great Fleet, Caesar ordered the remaining ships to keep charging much to the protest of some of his officers as they seriously wanted to withdraw out of sheer fear. But Caesar then counter-backed that withdrawing would waste the sacrifice of 10,000 men and be determined to inflict some damage to the Japanese as he seriously wanted to die while trying to fight a powerful enemy.

Seeing the enemy would not change the course, Lieutenant Commander Sakano, who commanded the 4th Escort Flotilla consisting of the JMSDF 4th and 8th Escort Squadron, decided to target the battleship *Grade Atlastar* first and fired all their 78 anti-ship missiles at the remaining ships of the Main Fleet to weaken them. He called in the Pal Chimera for support.

Meteos angrily glared at the battleship *Grade Atlastar* and wanted to smash the super-dreadnought for destroying one of the Pal Chimera and made him withdraw like a coward the last time. He then smeared that eight ships of the JMSDF trying to engage more than 400 ships of the Main Fleet as suicidal attacks. He wondered in a mocking tone whether a pure science nation like Japan could show him any powerful weapon, showing Meteos' magical supremacist mindset.

When the 4th Escort Flotilla fired their anti-ship missiles at the remaining of the Great Fleet, Meteos was profoundly shocked at the large-scale guided missile attacks. He couldn't believe that a total scientific nation like Japan could create marvelous mechanical technology that rivaled the magical tech of the Ravernal Empire. It caused him a huge crisis of belief that he was always adamant with the erroneous belief that science cannot match magic much like most of the high-ranked officials of the Holy Mirishial Empire. The showcase of JSDF tech also dreaded him and the rest of his crews as if the Ravernal Empire returned, they would be helpless much like the Gra Valkas against the Japanese.

The main fleet continued to lose ships against the JMSDF 4th Escort Flotilla, which counted for 50 ships. Caesar worried that he had miscalculated that the Japanese might be prepared enough missiles at the base to destroy his fleet after all. Suddenly, an anti-ship missile struck one of its front main turrets and destroyed it, with another struck its broadside, causing uncontrollable fires. Both Caesar and Luxtal were shocked at the fact that their strongest armor back in Yggdra was capable of withstanding an attack from the 46 cm cannon and perhaps in this world was destroyed in a single strike.

When the Pal Chimera started to commence their attack on the Great Fleet, Caesar then ordered the rest of the fleet to withdraw to the Gra Valkas homeland as he couldn't stand seeing his men continue to die while ordering the battleship *Grade Atlastar* to kamikaze the Nahanath base. However, due to his charisma and reputation, sixteen ships that were formerly under his command, the 88th Fleet, before his reassignment to command Eastern Fleet, refused to withdraw and join in the Kamikaze attack on Nahanath with Caesar.

Horrified that the 16 ships didn't withdraw, Sakano tried to contact the JASDF for another air strike, but they couldn't reload in time to go back fighting. To make matter worse, there were no submarines that could make it either, plus they had used all their anti-ship missiles and torpedoes. Fortunately, the Pal Chimera came for help, and Meteos decided to crush the battleship *Grade Atlastar* permanently. To ensure the successful bombardment of Nahanath, the 15 ships broke away and went to engage the Pal Chimera to buy time for the battleship *Grade Atlastar*.

Realizing there was no other choice, Sakano decided to challenge the battleship *Grade Atlastar* head-on with the 4th and 8th Escort Squadron with an intention to buy time for his subordinates and the fleets to rearm themselves, aware that this move was a suicidal knowing the power of the 46 cm naval guns.

### Destruction of the Great Fleet and the Fall of Grade Atlastar

The battleship *Grade Atlastar* suffered from a destroyed front main turret and damage at the bow. While the Izumo-class destroyer *Kaga* was now only armed with SeaRAM and Phalanx CIWS, it would be settled in a fleet battle duel with the support of several destroyers armed with cannons, RIM-162 Evolved Sea Sparrow Surface-to-air Missile, RUM-139 VL-ASROC anti-submarine missiles, and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) helicopters in the Kaga itself.

Knowing how tough and destructive the battleship *Grade Atlastar* was to the legendary Yamato, the JMSDF destroyers group led by captain Chizuki decided to keep the distance of 13 km and ordered massive bombardment from the Oto-Breda 127/54 Compact cannons to weaken the battleship *Grade Atlastar*.

As the battleship *Grade Atlastar* prepared to engage the enemy, Luxtal asked whether Caesar was confident in this engagement, judging from the fact that Japanese technology was far beyond their expectation. Caesar confidently admitted that at long and beyond visual range, the fleet was utterly helpless against the JSDF anti-ship guided missiles and torpedoes. However, at short and visual range, they would be unbeatable with their powerful 46 cm guns, using the destruction of the Pal Chimera as the best example. Then it was revealed that aircraft carriers actually rendered battleships slowly obsolete back in Yggdra, but, after the transfer, the battleships became relevant as the weapon of terror, and no aircraft or wyverns in the new world could pass through the anti-air guns to deal with any damages to the naval force.

The battleship *Grade Atlastar* opened fire at the JMSDF destroyers group with its main guns, but most of the shots were missed as the destroyers broke up from the formation. But it greatly raised morale among the fleet as it showed that the Japanese were scared of the powerful naval guns. Luxtal then ordered the rear guns to fire as well.

When the three shots began to reach Chizuki's destroyer, Chizuki was impressed with the skill of the Gra Valkas gunnery, causing him to assume that the Gra Valkas just installed FCS. He then ordered three RIM-66 Standard Surface-to-Air Missiles to fire to intercept the shells and succeed, utterly dumbfounding Caesar and Luxtal as they couldn't believe that artillery shells could be intercepted. Caesar then regained he composed and ordered continuous fire as they closed the distance towards the JMSDF fleet.

As the Pal Chimera gradually decimated the Gra Valkas intercepting 88th Fleet, Meteos and his crew observed the battle between the 4th Escort Flotilla and the battleship *Grade Atlastar*. They were once again shocked at Japan's technological prowess as the Japanese were able to intercept cannon shells with SAM missiles, which was deemed impossible for the Holy Mirishial Empire to achieve as only the Airborne target-countering guided magic light munitions of Ravernal Empire, which still not be able to be understood by Holy Mirishial Empire could achieve such feat. Fully convinced of Japan's superiority, Meteos and his crews then fully admitted Japan's power was 100% rival of the Ravernal Empire.

The four JMSDF destroyers fired their cannons at the battleship *Grade Atlastar* and continued to intercept seven shells from the *Grade Atlastar's* main gun. After 200 shots, the *Grade Atlastar* was still standing and not slowing down but suffered quite a damage, including fire breaking out at the hull. To finish the battle once and for all, the 5th SSM Regiment led by Kotsubo was requested by the JMSDF to fire Type-12 Surface-to-Ship Missiles stationed at the mountain of Nahanath at the battleship *Grade Atlastar*, one missile at a time. With the range of 150 km, they were able to lock on the battleship *Grade Atlastar*.

With JMSDF bombardment failing to completely disable the battleship *Grade Atlastar*, Luxtal drunk with confidence that his ship was unsinkable and continued to attack the 4th Escort Flotilla. However, when the first Type-12 Surface-to-Ship missile was sighted heading toward the battleship *Grade Atlastar*, Caesar realized the demise of him, his crew, and the greatest battleship of the Gra Valkas Empire finally came. He then lamented and cursed the utter foolishness and void of common sense of the upper-brass of the Gra Valkas Empire and his powerlessness to stop the Gra Valkas Empire from shooting themselves in the foot from the very beginning. He then closed his eyes, accepting his fate as he and all his officials on the bridge were vaporized by the explosion from the missile impact. It would cause the battleship to lose its guidance and steering. Five more missiles would impact the *Grade Atlastar*, causing more explosions and fires that could not be contained. After enduring 235 shots from JMSDF destroyers and being struck by six surface-to-ship missiles, the damaged battleship *Grade Atlastar* was given up for the loss. The command was given for the remaining survivors to abandon the damaged battleship *Grade Atlastar*. Most of them would be captured by the JMSDF as POWs. It would be the end of the 88th Fleet's heroic, but futile assault on Nahanath.

The retreating Gra Valkas fleet of about 300 ships escaped as the Pal Chimera was fully occupied with engaging the 88th Fleet.

With the destruction of the Great Fleet and the behemoth battleship *Grade Atlastar*, the attempted invasion of Japan would end in utter failure.

## Aftermath

The surviving nine destroyers of the 1st Battlegroup was left with no other option but to withdraw shamefully in defeat. Over three-hundred warships from the Great Fleet disengaged and promptly retreated, following Admiral Caesar's final order. The situation was clear that the Gra Valkas Empire had failed their campaign against Japan. Their unanticipated defeat was a serious blow to their strategic plans for world conquest and significantly reduced their capabilities for future offensives as well as their ability to defend the empire.

The catastrophic loss eventually forced the Gra Valkas to realize their biggest blunder for underestimating Japan from the beginning and completely forced them to utterly take Japan seriously from now on. Emperor Gralux was furious with the sheer devastation that was inflicted on them, and he and the rest of Gra Valkas officials had to admit that all the absurdities from all reports about Japanese far superior technology were true. Then Emperor Gralux summoned the government ministers and military officers to attend the emergency meeting to discuss the nation’s crisis, decide the future, and determine countermeasures against Japan and World Union. He ordered the imperial forces to turn on the defensive of the Gra Valkas mainland from the enemy invasion.

Back in Japan, the battered remains of the *Grade Atlastar* were towed back to Kure City, Hiroshima Prefecture for investigation. A politician, who had a strong influence on the political world, decided to remodel and modernize the *Grade Atlastar* into a guided-missile battleship outfitted with the latest AEGIS System, guided missiles, and advanced armor. While retaining the engine and some components was deemed necessary, accompanied by the Ministry of Defense officials. With a modernized battleship, Japan hoped they could achieve better peace by having an intimidating Yamato battleship once again to dissuade future hostilities. He also proposed the name Yamato to honor his father's services on the Imperial Japanese Navy's strongest battleship in the Second World War with a purpose as a symbol of power and to deter other countries from acting against the interests of Japan. The proposal surprised the Japanese officials, yet the notion was immediately sent to the JSDF and the National Diet.

For Japan, their victory was not merely that of military success. Before the invasion, the vast majority of the people from all countries of the New World viewed the prospects of the war ending in a World Union victory to be rather murky. Furthermore, the power of Japan - despite its manifestation and participation in previous conflicts recognized by many countries - was still in doubt. The resounding and decisive defeat of the Gra Valkas fleet, the fact not only proved that Japan could win over the Gra Valkas Empire but placed Japan as the new leading dominant power of the New World. Japan's strength was now undisputed, and many nations began to align themselves under the banner of the Rising Sun and look to Japan as a guide, leaving other superpowers like the Holy Milishial Empire as weakening powers.

For the Japan Self-Defense Forces, the victory brought about into serious consideration for reviewal since they suspected that they might experience a much worse naval battle after Gra Valkas' loss of the pride of their navy. Japan's Acquisition, Technology, and Logistics Agency were currently working on designing the new battleship to refit and remodel the entire *Grade Atlastar*. The plans were to either install railguns and laser weapons or simply convert the ship into the first arsenal battleship that could fit plenty of missiles. The decision was made to compensate for the lack of firepower in the JMSDF.

Additionally, Japan launched a surprise attack on the Irnetia Kingdom, sinking one battleship and twelve other warships with four submarines from the 1st Submarine Flotilla to infiltrate the island. With their operation to liberate Mu continent, Japan proposed to Mu and the Holy Mirishial Empire their plan to liberate the Hinomawari Kingdom to use it as staging ground to attack Gra Valkas force and then reclaim Leifor.

Meanwhile, in Japan, after hearing the devastated new about the destruction of the Great Fleet, crown price Gra Cabal began orchestrating his plans to save Gra Valkas from further self-imposed annihilation.