Chapter 6: An Unexpected Major Offensive
1
The reasons why monsters attack Japan have already been explained, but there is one thing that hasn’t been mentioned yet.
What is it? To put it bluntly, it’s “population control”.
Needless to say, monsters are consumers. Of course, if demon kind order them, they can cultivate fields. However, there are very few demon kind who are knowledgeable about production-related jobs such as agriculture, fishing, or dairy farming. Moreover, demon kind tend to dislike such long-term tasks. Therefore, they enslave the humans living in the lands they conquer to engage in primary industries.
However, no matter how much land or resources are available, it’s never synonymous with infinity.
Additionally, small monsters have ecologies similar to wild animals.
In other words, small monsters reproduce among themselves and increase in number.
Furthermore, small monsters are omnivorous, with the unfortunate habit of nibbling on human-made crops or even snatching and eating humans themselves – a trait appreciated by no one.
While small monsters do serve as food for medium-sized and larger monsters, making them producers in a sense, to the demon kind who possess human-like intelligence and thus human-like preferences, small monsters are no different from stupid pets that only demand food without providing much combat strength.
Similarly, medium and large monsters must eat to survive, but their food consumption is proportional to their size, making them big eaters.
No matter how much combat strength they provide, it’s difficult to maintain a large number of large monsters that each require tens of tons of food per day.
Therefore, demon kind select the weaker monsters or those whose food consumption doesn’t match their work output from their subordinates and send them out on missions.
If they drown along the way, so be it. If they successfully cross the sea and reach Japan, they put pressure on the national defense forces that will come out to intercept them and make them use up resources. If they can inflict damage on the soldiers of the national defense forces, all the better.
Of course, the monsters are unaware of the demon kind’ intentions. Therefore, they swim with all their might, and if there are enemies in the land they reach, they fight with all their strength.
Since those who land usually perish completely, the lessons they learn in battle are never fed back. The demon kind don’t expect much from this either, so there’s no change in behavior.
Therefore, they always land in the same way, fight in the same way, and die in the same way.
That was the fate of monsters.
…Until this day.
It all started when a newly born demon kind voiced a question about the monsters heading to Japan under orders.
They said, “Why does everyone swim individually? That way, everyone just gets tired and drowns. Wouldn’t it be better if the big ones swim slowly, and the medium and small ones ride on or get pulled by the big ones to conserve energy?”
It wasn’t an order. But coming from a higher-ranking demon kind, and moreover, their instincts understood that this would allow them to [maintain more energy while carrying out their mission].
Although they lack intelligence, their instincts probably made them think, [I don’t want to die in vain. I want to fight as ordered].
From this point on, the tank desant tactic, previously seen only in extra-large monsters, was adopted by large monsters as well.
It was like how migratory birds form a formation to manipulate air currents and reduce overall energy consumption.
What would this simple yet effective method of movement, newly acquired by the monsters, bring to their enemies?
A few days later, the Second Division maintaining the defense line on the opposite shore of Japan would experience it firsthand.
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“Impossible! There are too many!”
Such a voice was heard from a corner of the headquarters three days after Keita arrived in Kyushu. Specifically, it was just as they were about to engage in battle with the monsters, having completed the final checks on positioning and armament the day before, maintaining a perfect state of readiness.
In this world, where demons were summoned during World War II, surveillance systems using artificial satellites, which were commonplace in the previous world Keita knew, don’t exist. Surveillance primarily relies on radar-equipped patrol ships and large ground-based radars for detection.
The ratio of patrol ships to radars is about one to nine.
Ideally, the military would like to organize surveillance units with multiple ships and skilled observers, but the fact that the crew would certainly die if attacked by monsters at sea was a major drawback.
It’s natural that the number of patrol ships requiring crew is limited, as they can’t afford to lose specially trained sailors in just one or two reconnaissance missions.
Therefore, the military placed disposable radars at several points and estimated the invasion direction and arrival time of monsters by calculating backwards from the location and time these radars were destroyed.
The downside of this method is that it doesn’t reveal the exact location, time of landing, or number of enemies.
Consequently, when a confirmation radar is destroyed by the monsters’ advance, the interception unit starts moving to the expected landing point, completes deployment before the monsters arrive, prepares for interception, and then tries to determine the number of enemies.
Given this sequence of actions, it’s understandable that confirming the number of monsters is delayed to some extent.
Moreover, the detection range of the large ground-based radars used to search for monsters is about 300 kilometers, which is another reason for misidentifying the number of enemies.
This is because it takes about a day for monsters to swim 300 kilometers, and the military assumes that a certain number of monsters will drown during this time (the number of drowning monsters is calculated based on past experience).
In this case, of course, the drowning rate may be lower depending on sea conditions, so it’s recognized that [the number of monsters successfully landing may be higher than expected] is not uncommon.
Therefore, experienced commanders wouldn’t normally raise their voices just because the number of monsters is slightly higher than expected. — Under normal circumstances.
“What is that number?! What on earth is going on?!”
Colonel Yuhei Shibano, the commander of the interception unit, was raising his voice at the number of monsters appearing within visual range.
For the reasons mentioned earlier, some fluctuation in the number of monsters is to be expected. Shibano understands this as well.
What he couldn’t understand was that the number of monsters wasn’t just slightly higher – it had increased significantly.
“I understand if it decreases. But why does it increase?!”
The number of monsters previously observed by radar was about 300 in total: 15 large ones, 62 medium ones, and just under 200 small ones.
This was already the largest scale that the Second Division had observed so far.
Therefore, as soon as the enemy’s scale was determined, Shibano had requested support from other units and even called in soldiers who were scheduled for leave. In addition, he had mobilized test machines that were originally supposed to be undergoing trials in the rear.
It was truly a situation where they needed all hands on deck.
The breakdown of the interception force thus assembled was: 20 pilots using standard-type machines, 40 pilots using beast-type machines, and about 100 artillery pilots (using artillery specialized for bombardment).
In terms of conventional weapons, there were 400 tanks and 4,000 infantry/artillery soldiers, which is about 50% of the Second Division’s combat power. For pilots, almost all of the Second Division’s available force had been mobilized.
The number of pilots might seem small, but it’s inherently difficult to increase the number of pilots as a military branch.
Indeed, due to the Second Messiah Project, the number of magic crystals and pilots in Japan has increased. However, as indicated by the number of students entering the military academy that Keita attends, it’s only about 100 people per year.
It’s been about 50 years since the Second Messiah Project was initiated, and only about 30 years have passed since the First Counteroffensive Operation, which was carried out after it was judged that a certain number had been gathered through this project. Simply calculated, 100 people × 30 years equals 3,000 people. Among these, only about 30% have a high enough compatibility rate with magic crystals to use standard or beast-type machines. This means there are 900 pilots who can use standard or beast-type machines, and 2,100 artillery pilots.
Of course, there are non-commissioned officers who haven’t attended the military academy but have high compatibility rates with magic crystals, so there’s a slight increase in both pilots and artillery pilots, but even then, it rarely exceeds 30 people per year.
The 900 pilots and 2,100 artillery pilots are distributed and deployed among nine divisions, so by simple calculation, each division has 100 pilots and 230 artillery pilots.
However, the Second Division, which guards Kyushu and the Chugoku region, has more personnel deployed compared to other divisions. In reality, the number of pilots actually deployed is a bit higher, but in recent years, many newly deployed pilots have been prioritized for the expeditionary forces of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Divisions. Moreover, over the 30 years, some pilots have retired due to age or injuries, and some have died in battle. As a result, the current number of pilots assigned to the Second Division is 70 for standard and beast-type combined, and 130 artillery pilots.
Therefore, the current mobilization of 60 pilots and 100 artillery pilots is the absolute limit, excluding the forces kept in reserve in case of landings in other locations.
However, even with this much force, it’s hard to say that they can handle 15 large and 62 medium-sized monsters.
(We might be able to win. But we’ll lose a considerable number of artillery pilots and pilots in the counterattack)
Not only Shibano but all the upper echelons of the Second Division thought so.
However, faced with the monsters’ landing, they, especially Shibano, were made to realize with despair that their assumptions had been wrong.
Why? Because the baseline numbers were different.
According to visual confirmation by observers (using binoculars), the number of monsters likely to successfully land was 10 large ones, 133 medium ones, and over 500 small ones.
“Why?!”
Although the number of large ones has decreased, the others have increased. They’ve grown to nearly twice the expected number.
This is truly an unprecedented and abnormal situation.
“How could such a discrepancy occur?!”
A group of over 100 medium-sized monsters is something you’d rarely encounter even with the Fourth or Fifth Divisions engaged in counteroffensive operations on the continent. It’s not a situation you’d come across often.
Even those Fourth and Fifth Divisions can handle such numbers without significant casualties because they’re working in cooperation with local forces. This scale is not meant for a single division to handle alone.
What’s more, among the large ones, there are reportedly multiple 30M-class creatures, the largest known size.
“When we observed them on radar, there definitely weren’t this many. We calculated the numbers based on observations from multiple radars at different locations, not just one radar from one direction, so there’s no mistake. And then there’s the number and types of large ones. We’ve never seen 30M-class before. Now they’ve suddenly appeared, and in multiple numbers… There’s no doubt. The demons or magic races must have done something!”
Shibano contemplates the reason for the increase in monsters. Indeed, if there’s nothing wrong with the radar, it’s most natural to think that demons or magic races used their mysterious power of magic to deceive the radar.
However, Shibano’s speculation misses the mark.
To put it simply, it’s not that demons or magic races consciously carried out deception.
The increased numbers of medium and small-sized creatures were simply those that had been riding on top of the large ones and thus weren’t counted, or groups of monsters that were mistaken for a single entity as they were being pulled along by the large ones.
The presence of the previously unseen 30M-class is just because the monsters swam in a way that conserved each other’s stamina, allowing individuals that would have normally drowned from exhaustion due to their size to reach the shore safely.
“Colonel!”
“Damn!”
Nevertheless, regardless of the reason, the monsters are right in front of them.
As such, Shibano must make a decision.
That is, to retreat or to fight.
(What should I do? What’s the right choice?!)
Shibano, the commander of the interception force, was forced to make a decision.
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