Summoning America

Chapter 180: Venstrom

Author's Note (Story and Patreon Updates):

If you like Summoning America, you'll love Manifest Fantasy! Manifest Fantasy is my latest work and is also modern-fantasy-themed. Expect excellent writing quality, well-written characters, original worldbuilding, and a fresh take on the modern vs fantasy (or military isekai) genre.

Note 2:

Read one week ahead: Chapter 181 is now out for all Tier 2 Patrons and higher! Tier 2 Patrons and higher will be able to read one chapter ahead!

Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/drdoritosmd

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January 23, 1641
Artticus Ocean (en route to Mykal)
IGVN Second Conquest Fleet
Grade Atlastar-class Battleship GVS Laniakea

Fleet Admiral Falke Venstrom stared at the orders from Chancellor Marix, his jaw clenched tight. The instructions were as clear as they were audacious: proceed to Mykal, engage the enemy, and secure the city for the Gra Valkas Empire. Venstrom tapped his finger on the edge of the console, a habit he had developed over years of contemplating tough decisions.

He turned his gaze to the map, eyes flitting from the markers denoting his fleet to the edge of the Muan coastline and the circles that indicated their cities. The EDI fleets were formidable, their magical capabilities a wild card he couldn't fully account for. The lessons learned from the reportedly crushing victory in Cartalpas were significant and could help his submarines stave off assured death, but there were more pressing matters to worry about. Though lacking any impactful command over magic, the Muans – as had been reported by Fleet Admiral Caesar's First Conquest Fleet – had deadly La Burke-class destroyers. He shuddered at the thought of facing destroyers better equipped in anti-air operations than his own.

And then there were the Americans. Their technology was leaps and bounds ahead of anything they possessed, and their recent tricks had thrown the fleet into chaos on more than one occasion. Yet, Marix's decrees seemed to pretend like the Americans weren't an issue.

The Americans knew their every move, and he was to believe that they wouldn't be waiting for him at Mykal? Venstrom shook his head, a mirthless chuckle escaping his lips. What, did the Chancellor seriously want them to just waltz into Mykal? Without any consideration for the potential threats lying in wait? It seemed reckless, even by Marix's standards.

A knock at the door broke his train of thought. "Enter," Venstrom called out.

His communication officer, Morric, stepped into the room holding a message. "Sir, a transmission from the Chief of Naval Operations. It's marked as Priority Two."

Venstrom took the message, eyes narrowing as he read the contents. It was a standard report on the disposition of the fleet, but something about it felt off. Karlmann's usually detailed accounts of the other fleets and joint operations were conspicuously absent, replaced by vague statements about 'ongoing operations' and 'fluid situations'. It concluded with warnings that he hadn't noticed before: a call to exercise extreme caution and a note to consider the lives of his men.

He drummed his fingers on the console, wondering if this had any deeper implications. As he thought, he realized that the Fourth and Fifth Conquest Fleets had been silent too long. Following the media's excitement over the Battle of Cartalpas, it didn't make sense for their forces in the Mirishient continent to simply... vanish. In the heat of a campaign, that could only mean one thing: they had been neutralized. It aligned with the Americans joining the war, and if they were capable of taking out two entire conquest fleets without so much as a word, what chance did the Second Conquest Fleet have?