Summoning Our Country - NHS Kai

Chapter 30: Battle of Menda Point Part 1

NOTE: Yeah, we were gone for six months. Sorry about that. With how busy I am, I don't think I could stick to a regular schedule with Kai anymore, but I'm free right now so I'll try to get out as many chapters as I can. This was supposed to be one chapter, but it's gotten long, so it was split into two.

Discord: https://discord.gg/wEp44XuaT3

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Cent. Calendar 26/01/1640, Royal Navy Headquarters, Le Brias, Altaras, 10:40

It was a chilly winter morning in late Jaisrak (Month 1) of the new year 1640. Altaras, located in a region with a sub-temperate climate, was assaulted by a cold front blowing in from the northeastern regions of Philades and the wastes of the northern continents beyond, but that was hardly enough to push the temperature below 15 degrees Celsius. But the cold wind blowing in from the northeast not only brought in an endless stream of low clouds that was screening the Altaran capital of Le Brias since the new year but also an unceasing feeling of apprehension to the hundreds of thousands of people on the ground.

It had already been more than a month since His Majesty, King Taara XIV, declared war on the Parpaldian Empire, yet other than an extensive draft that pulled thousands of able-bodied Altaran men from their families to be armed with rifles and sent to build fortifications all across the kingdom, not a single bullet has been fired over Le Brias since the war declaration. The initial intensity of the spirit of nationalism and the earnest desire to go to war had all but dissipated, replaced by the silence of city folk going by their lives with heads hung low underneath the watchful eye of the city's constabularies, supposedly there to keep track of 'dissenters' and 'traitors' but are now almost always sleeping on the duty. Other than the rising prices of goods brought about by the combined Muish-Mirishial enforcement of an exclusion zone around the island to discourage non-belligerent vessels from being fired upon, in addition to the round-the-clock evacuation of foreigners, which continues to this day, one would be forgiven to think that war had not been declared at all.

That impression was not limited to the masses—King Taara himself, the most powerful man in the kingdom and the person with the monopoly on all information, had now gotten the impression that a war was not being fought. Having grown impatient from there being no large-scale action since the initial spat at Messina, the reigning monarch had decided to pay a visit to the nexus of command of the Altaran force that is currently participating wholesale in the conflict: the Altarasi Kraliyet Donanmasi—or the Altaran Navy.

Stunned gazes and stammering mouths characterized much of Navy Command as they found their monarch, wearing full regalia and an unamused frown, standing in front of the opened doors of the command chamber.

"Y-Your Majesty?!"

The officers of the Navy, accompanied by some of the General Staff, collectively fumbled their speech as they hurriedly saluted their commander-in-chief. Having tirelessly monitored the situation while carrying out their mission of denying the enemy command of the seas, they were caught off guard by the king's untimely visit to the Royal Navy Headquarters.

"Gentlemen..."

Taara clapped his hands as he took in a heap of air. The commanders present curled their hands into fists underneath their sleeves, steeling themselves for the inevitable wrath that would come out of his mouth.

"It has been a month... Has the Parpaldian Navy ceased to exist yet?"

Taara calmly asked them, to which the commanders eyeballed one another, waiting for someone among them to answer the king. He was a lot calmer than they expected, but no one doubted the ridiculousness of his question. Knowing the king's temper, none of them wanted to be the poor bastard that would be slammed with a suspension for simply trying to answer his question truthfully. They all subtly turn their attention to the Navy Chief of Staff, Erdil Gucer Nizam, who they hoped would take the fall; Gucer Nizam, correctly sensing that the others had come to their consensus that he should be the one to answer His Majesty, sighed inwardly before addressing the king with a candid expression.