NOVEL NEXT vol. 4 chapter 9 - Breaking Through the Carmora Strait
“Kingdom of Lepuitari, 80 kilometers to Carmora Port.”
“Entering the Carmora Strait.”
“No ship silhouettes within a 50-kilometer radius.”
“Contact at two o’clock, 125 kilometers—silhouette appears to be a patrol boat.”
The Paraiso fleet was making steady way. Flagship Panas and eight Hedgehog-Class Destroyers maintained ring formation as they sailed for Moar, capital of the Kingdom of Lepuitari.
They were approaching the vast bay, the Lafreto Sea, wedged between the continent and Lepuitari. The waters between Lepuitari’s westernmost Carmora Port and the continental peninsula formed the Carmora Strait.
“Reduce speed to 60 kilometers per hour. Considering the surrounding situation, keep stepping it down to 40.”
“Patrol boat holding course. Continuing to close.”
“All-ship status: nominal across the board. Fleet tactical link functioning normally.”
Unit command for fleet operations was now second nature to Utsugi and Erika, with Olive assisting. Akane and Ichigo were tied to Fortress No. 2.
“The Paraiso fleet will continue north as-is. We’ll make approaches on patrol craft and the like, but shake them off at the margin using speed. Ideally, we enter Moar Harbor at almost the same moment the coast guard’s report arrives.”
“You’re not going to show full power?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. If we flaunt the technological gap too much, we risk triggering overreaction. We must disclose information in line with their common sense to keep responses within our prediction envelope.”
If an overwhelmingly alien opponent appeared, the populace could panic.
And panic was hard to control—better to shape conditions so it never began.
“For the unfortunate contingency of an uncontacted nation’s flotilla intruding, it seems they have no manual. So our expectations of their response are all inference.
Even so, there are few irregular variables; we shouldn’t miss by much.
Warning from the patrol boat, followed by warning shots.
Sortie of warships.
Encirclement leading to an order to heave to, warning shots, parallel running, and forced coming alongside.
All of it can be evaded by ship-handling and speed.
“Textbook gunboat diplomacy. Well, worst case, even if they fire we’re fine, right?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. Secondary batteries on each ship can intercept. Also, we will never allow them to close to an unmanageable position.”
“Keeping them off—does that mean warning fire?”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. That is correct.
We issue voice warnings, then warning shots.
Against large vessels we will use close-in defense weapons; against small craft, small-arms fire via android communicators.
The concept of firearms appears to be widespread enough.
If warnings are ignored, we classify it as hostile action and sink them.
We will have extraterritoriality recognized, so it should pose no problem.”
“Extraterritoriality, hm…”
Naturally, Lepuitari law could not be allowed to reach into The Tree’s domain.
And The Tree’s law, ultimately, returned to Commander Eve in all things.
In practice: they could do as they pleased.
This would amount to a kind of unequal treaty—but they would not blunder so badly as to let Lepuitari realize it.
“If it comes down to fine details, the local Strategic AI will fabricate suitably plausible cover stories.”
“Do as you please, why don’t you.”
After that came trade talks and supplying fuelstone.
It would be ideal to procure metal resources, but domestic mines seemed consumed by domestic demand—imports were unlikely.
Wheat, the staple, was either domestically consumed or imported from the Wheat Country of Weizenland; that too was a poor target. Industrial goods were needless, and magical technology was underdeveloped.
Ringo’s conclusion from the survey: the Kingdom of Lepuitari itself would not be a good trading partner for The Tree.
“Well, it’s a letdown. Lepuitari has room to develop, but it isn’t a resource exporter. The small states on the continental side look to have many undeveloped mines—dealing with them seems more worthwhile.”
As a hegemon, Lepuitari was more a resource consumer. Its leadership understood that—hence the designs on invading the United Kingdom of Aphrasia.
Gunboat diplomacy worked on coastal nations, but not inland. To avoid tedious dealings, importing via Lepuitari was not a mistaken choice.
“Sell fuelstone to earn currency, then use it to purchase resources. Moar appears to have a mature concept of bills of exchange; we can leverage that to convert fuelstone into resources. Once trade normalizes, resources will flow in naturally.”
“So we nurture the market for them.”
Roundabout, yes. But there was a winning line: the rapidly advancing domestic rail network. Even with steam power, rail transport capacity dwarfed wagons. Coupled with no need to worry about pollution, that was a huge advantage.
“Let’s hope the talks go smoothly.”
“Yes-affirmative, Commander Ma’am. We will give our all.”
“Patrol boat now within visual acquisition.”
“Marine radar contact confirmed. Begin ship-class measurement… complete. Equivalent to a frigate.”
“Low radar reflectance. Wooden hull. Number ◆ Nоvеlіgһt ◆ (Only on Nоvеlіgһt) of masts not detectable.”
“Optical observation classification: three masts. Seven broadside guns. Estimated overall length about 40 meters.”
The Paraiso fleet had entered the visual range of Lepuitari’s coastal patrol. The crew seemed diligent—several sailors had noticed them and were pointing repeatedly in their direction.
“Maintain course. Hold 38 kilometers per hour.”
“Patrol boat increasing speed. Now 13 kilometers per hour. Optical and radar measurements agree.”
“Atmospheric conditions stable. No major changes expected in wind direction or speed.”
It would be obvious they were moving fast without setting sail. Lepuitari’s long-range communications were limited to carrier birds.
These were birds treated with some magical-fantasy processing and flown along semi-fixed routes—how it worked was a mystery, but they were apparently produced domestically. Range and speed depended on species, but essentially any bird could be made into a carrier.
Preferred types were small, light, and capable of long-distance flight.
“They appear to have sighted us. Patrol boat altering course.”
“Course change confirmed. If the change holds, closest approach in eight minutes.”
“Range at closest approach: approximately 800 meters. If we switch to line-ahead formation, closest approach extends to one kilometer.”
In the magnified image, several carrier birds were released. With that, Lepuitari would receive notice of Paraiso’s approach. From here, they simply pressed on to Moar, per plan.
They would likely pass more patrol boats or warships along the way, but the plan was to shake off all of them by speed. If attacked against expectations, they would not return fire—only intercept incoming shells.
The sail-rigged frigate crept closer. The deck looked crowded—likely all hands on deck. And it should soon dawn on them: the scale of a fleet in ring formation. The ship they had been watching was only one on the rim; a colossal vessel was cruising at the center.
“Additional carrier birds released. They must have sighted flagship Panas. Recording crew reactions.”
The Panas-Class Nuclear Cruiser measured 141 meters overall—three and a half times the patrol boat’s length. It must have blown their minds. And it ran at triple their speed.
Before long, the Paraiso fleet left the struggling patrol boat far astern and made a clean, unopposed entry into the vast Lafreto Sea, home to Lepuitari’s capital.