The Kitakami Chronicles

Chapter 8: Bastion

Once the post battle party hangover settled down, Kitakami and Ooi were put back in for combat as it was clear that the Communists won't surrender just yet. The war has reached its peak and this time, the two mercenary cruisers were sent on a new important assignment. From the rumours they heard, it appears that they won't be fighting in open waters. Instead, they were to head down the Yangtze River to assist some troops to take back Nanjing, the former capital of the Nationalists. However, there was a large obstacle in the way, and the navy for whatever reason was tasked to take it out. Of course, this was another opportunity for Kitakami to make the money she needs to recover from the debt Kiso created. As usual, Lo Yang briefed the two torpedo cruisers of their objectives.

Intelligence reports that the Communists are trying to develop a nuclear bomb, a weapon of mass destruction, as well as another weapon codenamed Longjiang. Our forces top brass have decided to send troops across the Wuxi Line into Nanjing to check for nuclear arms and secure resource interests. Centred between the cities of Wuxi and Taizhou, the Wuxi line, the Communist's long line of defense, stretches 300 km from Wuxi to Wuhu. Not to mention that they have the river to their advantage. Situated around the Jiangyin Bridge, the two cities have been transformed to a modern base with artillery and powerful defense systems. Torpedo Division X's mission is to launch a naval artillery strike on this so called fortress, opening the door to Nanjing for our ground forces. In all probability, this will be an extended operation. You will be able to refuel and resupply for the latter half of the mission. If you are low on supplies, temporarily withdraw from the battlefield and return to the base setup in Shanghai. Good luck. Operation Furious Tiger will begin now.

The two cruisers were joined up with other members of the ROCN and headed off for the so called fortress that was in the way of Nanjing. What the two didn't know, was that the true nature of the war was about to begin from this point forward. Depending on varying accounts of the war, everyone was a hero and a villain. Nobody knows who is the victim and who is the aggressor. And what is peace? These were all questions commonly asked about any war in history. This would be the chapter where the attention towards Kitakami was about to begin. This, of course got Ooi thinking as she consciously wondered how and why this war even began.

"Hey Kitakami. I've been thinking about this whole war. Do you have any idea why this even happened after they overthrew their emperor?"

"From what I heard, it was because the two sides couldn't agree on how the country should be run so the Communists got upset and tried to takeover by force." Kitakami answered her best.

"Well here is my thought. What if the nationalists started the war first? Do you think this war started because of pure hatred against another ideology? Wasn't this republic supposed to be founded as a democracy where all voices should be heard?" Ooi argued her point.

"I guess we'll never truly know. But for now, I think we should keep quiet on the topic or else we'll lose out on our pay. I'm not a fan of doing this, but we still are in a desperate situation."

"Yeah. I guess you're right. We still have a mission to do."

The two mercenaries shortly arrived in Shanghai and prepared to head out with other allies. Along with them were ROCN destroyers Shen Yang and An Yang. Since they were going up the river, they were also escorted by gunboats Chengan and Mei Yuan. As the river fleet approached the cities of Wuxi and Taizhou, they were met with a large makeshift fortress than spanned across the river of the two cities. Technically it was two fortified areas along the river, but the bridge between them connected the two to be as one. North of them was still Communist controlled while the south had the Nationalists, barring the city of Wuxi. The river fleet could see the Nationalist army advance and overhead was their air force. The PLA was prepared too as they set up several artillery positions as well as having a few batteries facing the river.