Takashi faltered as he stepped backward. His eyes fixed on the sky, looking to the aircraft that intercepted their hope of breaking the lines of the Ruthenian Army.

“What is that?! What is that?!” he shouted furiously as he followed the sound of the engine reverberating in the sky with his eyes.

He sought to track it down and have a better look at it. Since the war started, the Ruthenians have been bringing out new guns into the fight. Much of them are not known to the world, much more to the west.

He had expected the war to play out similarly to the first Rutho-Yamato war but it didn’t.

Today, the Ruthenians have been on the high ground, their impenetrable tanks, their rifles that can shoot accurately from 600 to 700 meters and fire twenty to thirty rounds of bullets in a single magazine.

Looking back, he was surprised at first when he heard about the Ruthenians using new weapons instead of their standard-issue Mosin Nagant. At first, he thought it was a machine gun. He laughed when he first heard it. Machine guns and their ammo is heavy to carry around so it would be inefficient to arm every soldier which could hinder their mobility.

However, upon getting pummeled by Ruthenian’s weaponry, he is beginning to understand. If not for that plane that took a low flyover above their camp, he won’t retrace his steps right now.

He ran a hand over his face in realization. He looked over to his right where the fighting was intense. He watched as the Yamato soldiers with their bolt action rifles were grounded by heavy fire from Ruthenian infantry. There he saw the weapons the Ruthenians were carrying. Another peculiar design that deviated from the mainstream.

Aside from that, there is also this armored-looking tank but instead of it running in its caterpillar truck, it uses eight big wheels. Some of the Yamato soldiers tried aiming for that tire in hope of bursting it and rendering it immobile. However, it won’t burst, despite them hitting it repeatedly.

The Ruthenians riding that armored vehicle has this cannon on top that can shoot high caliber rounds with a force as strong as a hand grenade.

And their tactic, they are using combined arms. With support from the artillery, infantry, and air force, they were able to take city after city and crush every obstacle. It’s a miracle that their army is not yet overrun. Probably due to the constant bombing that resulted in a lot of rubble blocking their way?

Whatever that is, Takashi couldn’t ignore the fact that the Ruthenians are fighting in a different form of warfare and they are at a disadvantage.

Takashi breathed deeply and calmed himself down. If he wants to bog the Ruthenian invasion forces a bit longer, he has to be logical, and rational and set his emotion and attitude aside. He has to focus on crushing down the Ruthenians and ensuring the success of the Great Yamato Empire.

Getting pumped up by that thought, he turned around and walked into the tent–

“Sir, the Ruthenian planes are coming back!” one of the soldiers shouted with an arm extending out, pointing at the aircraft.When Takashi looked in the direction the soldier pointed, all the color drained from his face. The Ruthenian planes, the ones that intercepted their aircraft, dived.

It was facing the right bank of the city of Pihyon, aiming at the frontlines, where trench lines are located.

Takashi peered through his binoculars again and scanned the plane’s appearance. Just like he had described earlier, it’s an odd-looking plane with no propellers.

When the Ruthenian plane reached the optimal altitude for strafing, something burst out in the nose of the aircraft.

*BRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTTTT

A guttural screeching sound rang through the whole city as it tore through the trench lines. The Yamato soldiers, who have been fighting since the war broke out, were killed instantly. Their bodies burst like balloons. It was a gruesome sight for Takashi and it started getting into him.

The harsh reality of the war is starting to sink in. Takashi, who has been putting up a cold front, started showing cracks.

“Shit…all personnel manning the anti-aircraft guns. Shoot those damn planes!” Takashi roared and his orders were immediately transmitted to the radioman who then relayed the orders.

The Yamato’s Type 3 heavy machine gun and Type 98 20 mm AA machine cannon began firing into the Ruthenian planes that had destroyed the city’s first line of defense.

However, the Ruthenian planes are moving so fast for they to even hit one of them. Still, the Yamato soldiers didn’t give up and kept on firing.

“Arrggh…..KONOYAROOOO!!” one of the operators of the anti-aircraft gun bellowed with anger and fury. His anti-aircraft rounds burst forth like a strobe of lights.

Still, it was futile. None of the rounds struck their marks on the Ruthenian planes who simply soar into the skies, never to be seen again later.

Takashi, hearing that the anti-aircraft personnel failed to shoot the enemy planes, could only yell in frustration.

“Tell them…if we can’t shoot that plane, we are sitting ducks here,” Takashi hissed at the soldier who notified him of the result.

“Yes sir…”

“Report from the Hanseong Army!” another soldier approached him. “Sir, a battalion of Type 95 Ha-Go tanks are entering the city.”

“Yosh! Send them to the frontline right away,” Takashi barked out. “If we can’t use our aircraft then we will use our tanks to counter their tanks.”

“Understood…”Takashi growled inwardly as he lifted his glasses and stared ahead. It’s time for their counterattack.

He watched as the columns of tanks slowly made their way to the front. The moment they exited the city to face the Ruthenian tanks, a huge explosion erupted in the middle of the line.

“Sir get down!” one of the soldiers jumped onto his shoulder and tackled Takashi down, saving him from getting hit by flying splinters of metal.

“What is it…this time…?” Takashi peeked up from the ground and saw strobes of lights raining down on the city. It seems to be coming from the sky.

Takashi glanced up and saw a black bead trailing along the horizon. From the looks of it, it looks to be another aircraft.

Then lights flickered from its side and in just another second, another explosion erupted in the city.

Cries and yells of the Yamato Empire echoed throughout the city.

Takashi slowly rose to his feet and stared dumbfoundedly at the aircraft shooting down at them from high altitude.

The Type 95 Ha-Go tanks, the tanks that were supposed to be his hope, were torn like a piece of paper by the continuous stream of armor-piercing rounds. The soldiers routed, confused about what to do.

They could only take so much, but with the appearance of a new war machine of the Ruthenian Empire, they snapped. Their loyalty to their country and the emperor were finally shaken off as they resorted to their instincts to live.

The Perun Gunship continued shelling the strategic point of the city. The ammunition depot, the trenches, and the anti-aircraft technicals.

The Yamato could only watch from the ground. Others began losing hope and accepted their fate.

The Ruthenian Army finally breaks through the defensive lines of the Yamato Army in Pihyon. Ruthenian troops emerged from behind the armored carrier vehicle and rallied along the foot infantry.

The remaining Yamato Army who still have ounces of fighting spirit fixed bayonets to meet the Ruthenians.

They charged at them while shouting “tenno heika banzai!” Only to be gunned down by the Ruthenian assault rifles.

In just ten minutes, the Ruthenian Army has captured the city of Pihyon, the city that bogged them down.

Takashi, along with his fellow officers were surrounded by the Ruthenian rifles, all aiming at them.

“Surrender and you will be treated accordingly as POWs under the Geneva convention.”

Takashi scoffed deridingly. “Surrender? To hell with it!”

He let out a rallying cry, invigorating his fellow Yamato officers to fight until the end.

The Ruthenians foresaw the possibility of this happening so they didn’t hesitate to gun them down.

With that, the Ruthenians controlled the north and the survivors escaped to link up with the arriving the rest of the army coming from Pyongyang and Hanseong.