Summoning America

Chapter 47: American Diplomacy (2)

En Route to Washington D.C.

Phiam grinned as he reviewed the textbooks that Baeluno had purchased. Reading the titles aloud, he skimmed through the books to view the topics they covered. "Fundamentals of Design, Differential Equations in Engineering, Introduction to Thermodynamics... Wow, this is precisely what we need!"

Baeluno grinned, proud of himself. "Thank you, Minister. Whatever I couldn't bring, I took notes on when I was at the library. I see now why we had to take these English courses. Officer Arpana also acquired some magazines," he nodded toward the buff blonde elf.

Arpana spread the magazines on a table. "These," he said in a gruff voice, pointing to a small batch, "detail the military technology of nations in Elysia and compare them to references on Earth. For example," he said, showing a page with pictures of knights in shining armor and detailed figures of medieval weaponry, "The uncivilized countries most closely resemble Terran humanity about five hundred to six hundred years ago. They called this the 'Middle Ages'." He then flipped to a page showing Parpaldian ships of the line, with a distinctly similar looking ship beside it, flying a different flag. "Their medieval era was then followed by a period of scientific advancement and industrialization, which gave birth to weapons that we see fielded by the Parpaldian Empire — sorry, Republic, today."

"And this was how long ago?" Baeluno asked.

"About three hundred years ago, although they already had begun developing firearms and cannons a century prior. After this period, it seemed that their rate of technological advancement grew exponentially," he flipped the pages again, now analyzing Mu. "They compared Mu to their 'Interwar Period', which saw the development of mechanized units for warfare. Their analysis on Mu's aircraft appears to be similar to what we have, but their analysis on Mu's ground forces are... interesting."

The four men crowded around the magazine to see what Arpana was talking about. Rydorka pointed at an image of a tank. "I don't recall Mu having armored vehicles such as this..."

Phiam voiced his concern, "They shouldn't. At least, as far as Siwalf knows. According to him, Mu's ground vehicles are generally light and used primarily for transportation."

"An armored fortress like this could represent a significant threat to infantry," Baeluno said. "With all that armor, it must be power-hungry. I couldn't imagine how many magic gems we would need to operate such a beast, nor how large of an engine we would need to use."

"Looking at the picture, it seems there is a way around it. Maybe we can learn it from those books," Arpana pointed his thumb at the stack of textbooks behind him.

"Maybe," Baeluno said, his mind already pondering.

Arpana returned to the pictures, "It also seems that repeating firearms started to become more widespread. This could be something Siwalf might want to look into," he said, referencing pictures of machine guns.

"I'll send him a note once we get back to Runepolis," Phiam nodded.

Arpana, noticing that the magazine wasn't even halfway done, flipped to the next section. "The Gra Valkas Empire?" He raised an eyebrow.

"The Gra Valkas Empire?" Phiam repeated, curious about how the Americans were able to acquire information on this faraway western nation, and why. "The distance between the Americans and the Gra Valkans is — oh my," he cut himself off after seeing the pictures of Yamato-class battleships and monoplanes. "This can't be right... forty-six centimeter main guns?!"

"Minister, did you say forty-six?" Baeluno rushed to scan the text for the exact number. "Are you certain? Maybe we didn't learn English correctly — oh, it appears that I am mistaken."