The Naval Battle of Leifor is a major armed conflict between Leifor and the Gra Valkas Empire in the west sea of Leifor in the Mu Continent. This battle marks the commencement of hostilities of the Gra Valkan Empire against the civilizations of the New World, and where their super-dreadnaught Grade Atlastor marking herself in the pages of history by singlehandedly bringing the regional superpower of Leifor down to its knees.
| Belligerents | |
|---|---|
|
Gra Valkas Empire |
Leifor |
| Leader / Commander | |
| Captain Luxtal |
|
| Strength | |
|
Gra Valkas Imperial Navy
|
Leifor Navy
Leifor Dragon Corps
|
| Casualties | |
None
|
Total Annihilation
|
Background[]
Main Article: Lèse-majesté in Paganda
Gra Valkas Empire[]
The Gra Valkas Empire, also known as the Eighth Empire, has subjugated a multitude of underdeveloped small island nations around its territory in the New World in quick succession after being transferred from its home planet Yggdra. But after uncovering the existance of more advanced civilizations, they started negotiating with the Second Civilization before they tried to go through the Pars Kingdom as an intermediary to Leifor. Considering Leifor’s temperament as a superpower, it was the correct approach. However, when negotiations were set to begin, they were turned away at the door and told to go through the Paganda Kingdom.
Thus the delegation travelled to the Paganda Kingdom, which is a protectorate of Leifor. The plans are to negotiate with the Pagandan royal family, and through them achieve a direct line of communication with Leiforian authorities. This proved to be easier said than done, as the Pagandan authorities were blinded by their unwarranted arrogance and treated the Gra Valkan delegation like uncouth barbarians, insulting them and demanding egregious amounts of bribes. This eventually accumulated in total communications break down, and Pagandan diplomatic chief Douglas ordered the execution of Gra Valkan chief negotiator Hilas in order to put the "barbaric" new arrivals in their place, despite being fully aware that Hilas is a member of Gra Valkan royalty.
Outranged by the Paganda Kingdom's lèse-majesté, the Gra Valkas Empire promptly declared war on Second Civilization. The Imperial Judgement Fleet swiftly attacked and subjugated the Paganda Kingdom in the seven days. Despite having located the Leiforian fleets and are scheduled to commence hostilities with them, the admiral seemed to be in playful spirits and didn’t want to use an aircraft carrier against mere barbarians, so he had sent only the super-dreadnought battleship Grade Atlastar to deal with the Leifor fleet.
Leifor[]
Leifor, the fifth-ranked superpower of the New World who had preferentially treated the Paganda Kingdom as a leading protection country, eventually received the news of Pagada’s fall. The emperor of Leifor were furious, he immediately ordered a fleet of 43 ships, consisting of 100-gun ships-of-the-line and wyvern carriers, to lay waste to the Gra Valkas Empire fleets deployed off the coast of the Paganda Kingdom.
To impose armed retribution upon the Gra Valkas Empire, General Bal, aboard the 100-gun ship-of-the-line flagship Holly, led the fleet under Leifor’s banner advancing westwards.
Battle[]
Initial Air-to-Ship Engagement[]
350km west of Leifor, using Tears of the Wind God to artificially generate favorable wind, the fleet proceeded south at a speed of 12 knots. General Bal received reports via manacomm from the scouting wyvern knights that only a single enemy ship has been deployed. He ordered the wyvern lords launching to attack. 40 wyvern lords launched from the dragon carrier task force of Leifor, leaving 3 for the fleet’s defense. They flew in formation, encountering the Gra Valkas’ dreadnought battleship.
Captain Luxtal, commanding the Grade Atlastar, learned from the comms officer that multiple flying objects are detected on radar and ordered the crew to prepare for anti-air combat. The six 46cm main guns and triple-mount anti-aircraft gun turrets turned towards the sky and took aim at the wyvern lords. Prepare for a direct assault and to cover any blind spots, 20 wyvern knights formed into a tight formation, and another 20 wyvern knights formed into a similar formation behind them.
With thunderous report, the Grade Atlastar unleashed its firepower. The first flight of 20 wyvern lords received direct hits from the battleship's main guns and were instantly evaporated in the ensuing colossal fireballs, leaving behind only the scent of charred flesh and smoke. Realizing that a tightly packed formation is too ineffective against a foe using such potent “explosive magic”, the rest of the 20 wyvern knights frantically dispersed and pushed on towards the Grade Atlastar. The anti-aircraft batteries lit up the sky with streams of tracer rounds. One by one, the proximity fused shells detonated near the wyvern knights, enveloping them in dark clouds of death. After 10 minutes, all 20 wyvern knights of the rear formation were shot down as well, depriving the Leiforians of whatever offensive air power they managed to muster.
[]
After confirming the destruction of the wyvern lords with the manacomm operator, Bal was outraged that they have suffered such egregious losses at the hands of "uncivilized vermin", and turned the output of their Tears on all 43 ships to the maximum, propelling them at full speed towards the Grade Atlastar. When the 43 ships of the Leiforian fleet quickly closed in on the battleship Grade Atlastar, the vessels formed a single horizontal line formation with the gunboats at the lead, prepared to broadside the Grade Atlastar with all of their available firepower. Despite Losing 40 wyvern lords to a single enemy warship, Bal was regardless confident in the power of the Leiforian navy, which up to this point, remained undefeated for more than 300 years.
On the other side, Captain Luxtal ordered the Grade Atlastar to turn boardside towards the Leiforian fleet upon reaching the 5km mark. At this point he is convinced of of absolute victory as according to intel the Leiforian artillery pieces only have a range of 2km, thus he can easlily shell the enemy fleet into oblivion while remaining safely out of harm's reach.
When there is still a 6km gap between the Leiforian fleet and the Grade Atlastar, the latter started to make its move, its primary and secondary gun turrets turned around and unleashed the first salvo at the Leiforians. At first General Bal thought that the enemies were just bluffing, only to be proven wrong spectacularly when massive columns of water erupted in front of the 5 leading ships, drenching them in seawater. Before long, another salvo from the Grade Atlastar's 15.5cm guns landed next to the ships of the line, leaving General Bal flabbergasted at the enemy's rate of fire and targeting correction capabilities.
Unluckily for the Leiforians, soon the series of near missed ended when the 80-gun ship-of-the-line Gaufoss recieved a direct hit from a 15.5cm gun, the shell effortlessly penetrated Gaufoss’ anti-magic steel plating and set its ammunition storage ablaze. As black smoke and a shock-inducing thunderous boom rose from the Gaufoss, its hull split into two before being swallowed by the sea. Immediately, the Grade Atlastar followed up with a salvo from its main guns, the first shell landed in the ocean but the second and third scored direct hits on the 100-gun ships-of-the-line Trunt and Leifor directly, causing the 2 to rapidly draw in water and sink soon after. Morale plummeted in the Leiforian fleet, after witnessing the ship that is their country's namesake, a symbol of the Leifor’s invincibility, destroyed by a single shot from the supposed "barbarians".
Grade Atlastar's bombardment continued relentlessly, enveloping the Leiforian fleet in explosive gales and sinking one ship after the other. General Bal, baffled by the sheer speed of the enormous yet apparently sail-less enemy vessel, realized that despite their finest Tears of the Wind God, it's outright impossible his ships to even get into range. The bombardment proceeded until the Holly and the Grade Atlastar were the last ship that remains afloat, Reluctantly he ordered the crews to raise the white flag and surrender. Upon witnessing the white flag raised on the mast of the Holly, the Grade Atlastar ceased its bombardment and turned towards the Leiforian ship. Unable to accept the fact that a superpower like them managed to suffer such humiliating defeat at the hands of "mere barbarians", General Bal ordered the ships fire a coordinated salvo once the enemy gets into range, while the staff officer objected to committing something as dishonorable as perfidy, Bal summary executed him in a fit of rage and insisted that "No ship in the world would remain afloat after receiving a point-blank hit from our explosive shells", and thus it matters not if no enemy is left to tell the tale.
When the battleship Grade Atlastar approached almost one kilometer of the required distance, General Bal gave the order to open fire. 50 guns roared into life, all scoring a direct hit, and engulfed both vessels in smoke. Bal laughed manically at supposedly achieving his vengeance, only for the smoke to clear and revealing that the Grade Atlastar remains inconveniently afloat, unscathed and her crew very much outraged. All nine of its 46 cm gun turrets slowly aimed the Holly and fired simultaneously at near point blank range, and straight up erased the Holly from existence.
Destruction of Leiforia[]
With Leifor's finest fleet reduced to splinters and fish food, and the Grade Atlastar still having around 70 shells left. Captain Luxtal felt even more vindicated with his mission, and ordered the crew to press forward towards the capital city of Leiforia, just 350km east, and deliver the Empire's righteous punishment by cannon.
They reached their destination by evening of the next day, and promptly saturated Leiforia indiscriminately with firepower, reducing the once glorious capital to ash. The emperor was killed when the castle was caught in the bombardment, and the surviving military surrendered unconditionally. The Gra Valkas Empire incorporated Leifor into its territory, and after a few days, settlement in Leifor began.
Aftermath[]
The Grade Atlastar, having single-handedly eradicated the Leiforian Royal Navy's elite laying waste to the capital Leiforia, and drove an entire nation to surrender, shook the foundations of this New World and became a legend that lived as the world's strongest warship, but the situation was not immediately believed in any country in the New World.
After the Gra Valkas Empire annexed Leifor as a colony, emigration and settlement into Leifor had already begun. The Gra Valkas Empire built an integrated Army and Navy command base Lars Filmyna in Leiforia for the purpose of continental invasions and integration of Mu continent. The naval port had upgraded to dock large warships in large numbers. Also, modern style buildings and factories are being constructed. Leiforia had designated as a window of diplomacy to other countries of the New World as the Leifor District of the Gra Valkas Empire as a base for the Second Civilization.
However, Mu sensed the upcoming crisis posed by a warmongering empire possessing far more advanced technology by obtaining photos and information of the super-dreadnought battleship Grade Atlastar. Even the Holy Milishial Empire, was surprised by the existence of ships that surpassed the state-of-the-art ship, the Mithril-class Battleship.
Meanwhile, the Parpaldian ambassador to Leifor, who lived the embassy in the Leifor, surmised to hear the news and hurriedly returned home. In the Parpaldia Empire, the First Foreign Affairs Department was in the worst of shapes due to chaos after the loss of Leifor, one of the two superpowers of the Second Civilization Area, to a mysterious newly emerged country known only as the Gra Valkas Empire. They commenced gathering more information and investigating on the Gra Valkas Empire with the Intelligence Bureau, the Strategy Against Other Nations Bureau, and the military.