If everything went according to plan, the sun would set on the “Land of the Rising Sun”. The naval blockade of the Honshu and Hokkaido islands of Japan was not too difficult. Invasion of the Kyushu, Shikoku, and Okinawa islands was simple but the resistance from the local population was a bit fiercer than expected. It was nowhere near enough to stop the takeover. However, Hokkaido and Honshu were the two that would be the most heavily fortified with everything the Japanese Imperial army and navy had left.

It was curious as to why they had not started assaulting from across the banks when Baron and Jaxon were invading the first two islands, but no matter. Seeing as to how easily their batteries and missiles would be able to be attacked if they weren’t careful, they might’ve thought it better to save them for more strategic positions like Tokyo.

There were still a few questions bothering Baron. Such as why resistance had been so light. It was one thing to conserve troops for the final battle, but they should know they could buy precious time by sending out a bit more of their troops to stall. Before they advanced any further, Baron Roxi and Jaxon discussed their options moving forward. Since Roxi was still in the states making weapons, she was radioed in.

“Roxi, how are the weapons development going? I don’t know what the Japanese have up their sleeves, but I would be a lot more confident if you came through,” Baron mentioned.

“Don’t worry, the Brilliant Blues are going along nicely. I have a few others that I am developing that should help us significantly,” Roxi answered.

“Good. What do you think Baron? Should we advance soon? It is now almost January. If possible, I’d like to win this simulation soon,” Jaxon declared.

“Why? Are you referring to the atomic bombs dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki?”

“Yes, I don’t know if my conscious can take it if we had to resort to that.”

“…If we can end it before then, then we will do our best. However, if nothing works, then that will be our last resort, alright?” Baron proclaimed.

“Yea.”

“Oh! On that note, I believe a few spies are trying to sabotage the atomic bomb program. So far their influence hasn’t been huge, but that could change soon,” Roxi warned

“Keep an eye on suspected individuals and confront them if necessary. Otherwise, try to keep a low profile as you have before. If they got wind of you without an army by your side, it could be dangerous.”

“I’ll be fine. I have my…cards. One more thing before I go. My intelligence suggests that the Japanese have recently finished the construction of something big. As big as a medium-sized aircraft carrier and underwater.”

“What? Is it just another oversized submarine?” Baron asked.

“Not sure, my sources are iffy on this matter.”

“How trustworthy are your sources?”

“Fairly trustworthy I think.”

“You think?”

“I’m…pretty sure.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but if it is just an abnormally big submarine, it will be detected easily.”

“Alright, just be careful. I’ll be taking my leave now.”

“Stay safe, Roxi.”

“Be quick with your weapons,” Jaxon shouted before she was no longer with them.

“So, what now, Baron?”

“Jaxon, I think what Roxi has warned us of is quite important. How do you feel about being bait?”

“Depends on what I’m baiting.”

“This underwater behemoth the Japanese have hiding somewhere. We need to lure it out. If it turns out to be nothing, then we just keep pressing forward. If it is something, then I will send most of our submarines to assist you. They will be near you, but quite deep in the water to lessen the likelihood of detection.”

“That sounds good to me. Where will I be going to lead an invasion? Hokkaido or Honshu?”

“Honshu, Port of Yokohama, to be specific.”

“That’s crazy. We haven’t even taken over Hokkaido yet. Don’t you think we should take care of that first?”

“Naturally, I will lead that invasion. You will invade the Port of Yokohama just a few kilometers from Tokyo with 2 fleet carriers, 4 light carriers, 5 battleships, 5 cruisers, 15 destroyers, and 150 military aircraft.”

“Baron, that is nowhere near enough for a proper siege.”

“This is to lure whatever it is that they have in hiding. I assume that was the point of the information blackout. They didn’t want the existence of whatever this thing is to get leaked. The force you are leading is big enough that it will get their attention but small enough that they consider using their new secret weapon against you.”

“How many will be on standby in case things go south?”

“3 aircraft carriers and the rest of our light carriers with hundreds of more planes. You will give them the signal of when to engage. In addition to a bunch of amphibious vehicles to transport a lot of men. Plus, a couple of dozen submarines as I mentioned earlier.”

“Not a bad plan. Risky, but doable.”

“I’ll get started on invading Hokkaido to draw their attention. After a week or so, you go ahead and siege the port of Tokyo.”

“Alright. Let’s get this done.”

On January 5th, 1945, Baron set out with a sizable force to take the island of Hokkaido. They started at Otaru Port. Resistance was light so Baron pressed on while simultaneously sending in even more invasion forces led by competent NPC strategists. A total of 3 more forces were sent in. All 3 were sent around Uchiura Bay. The following invasion was swift, which Baron expected, but not to this degree.

On January 13th, Jaxon led the invasion of Yokohama port. Such a force targeting one of the largest Japanese cities would not go unnoticed. And when Jaxon neared a small insignificant island called Oshima, he was met with the first real fight of the simulation. He was up against a fleet that consisted of only a few light carriers, submarines, and battleships. Nowhere near enough to give Jaxon a serious run for his money, but enough to stall him for a little bit.

Jaxon checked to make sure that there were no other Japanese forces nearby and once confirmed, he began the fight. However, the other side did not approach them to fight head-on. That would be nothing more than suicidal. Instead, the first thing they did was to send out their limited supply of Mitsubishi A6M fighter jets in all directions. Which was surely unusual. They flew around for a bit while keeping their distance to Jaxon’s fleet who was making their way to the Japanese fleet that just stopped dead in their tracks.

When the two sides were within firing distance, the sound of a thousand explosions rang out in a mere few minutes. That was when the Japanese fighter jets circled to attack Jaxon’s fleet. The American naval air force was given the order to fly at a moment's notice ever since they set sail for Port of Tokyo, so they were up in the air in no time. Jaxon had taught many of them his skills and experience as someone who had been a pilot for decades and an air marshal for much longer.

Therefore, these pilots fared exceptionally well against normal pilots. However, this time was different. The Japanese Pilots were also exceptionally well-trained. Jaxon pondered for a moment. It could be that these were the last of Japan’s seasoned pilots, but he was quite certain that they wouldn’t risk such a precious resource in a suicidal mission. Then, could they be newly trained pilots? This stuff couldn’t be taught and mastered in a mere few months unless they received abnormally high-level tutelage. But even then.

Jaxon would worry about the fight in the skies later as he had trust in his numerically superior and highly skilled pilots. For now, his attention needed to be on the Japanese fleet in front of him. They were especially troublesome as they were all designed for speed and surprisingly outmaneuvered him on quite a couple of occasions. However, it would only take a couple of solid hits for them to start on the path to ruin.

It took a bit of getting used to, but once Jaxon’s men started to get a few good shots in, the skill and luck the Japanese showed diminished greatly. Jaxon ordered the men to continue the hunt while he would take care of the situation in the skies. With his expert leadership and his skill in a fighter, they were able to knock down most of the enemy fighters in less than an hour. When Jaxon returned on board with the rest of the pilots, he noticed that they seemed to be still in pursuit.

That didn’t make any sense as the Japanese should’ve been on their last legs the last time he saw them. Then he saw it, they were slowly being enveloped in a very thick mist. Not only did this obscure their view, but it meant that they were slowly losing sight of their enemy. At this point, they should have been close to Tokyo Bay. It was the bay that had two strips of land to either side of it, perfect for a defending army to counterattack from virtually all sides. And extremely close to their destination of Yokohama port.

Immediately, Jaxon called for the backup that was about 50 kilometers away from him. Under normal circumstances, Jaxon didn’t mind going into a strait like this where there was almost certainly a trap waiting for them. But this was different. Obscuring his view diminished his chances significantly of taking home a victory. Which was pretty slim, to begin with.

Just in case of traps, he ordered his entire fleet to stop before they were landlocked on all sides by Honshu island. A few test explosives on the land in front of them revealed that if there were any enemies on land, they did not fire back. However, that was not enough. Jaxon had the waters up to 5 kilometers ahead of them tested for any potential traps. All the explosives determined nothing, so they slowly crept forward while still having low visibility all around them.

Suddenly, an explosion near one of Jaxon’s cruisers was heard, but only one. That ship sustained some damage but would be able to continue. It was only after the second explosion near one of the battleships that Jaxon finally realized what was happening. They were in the middle of an underwater minefield. Not good. It was unclear if they had just wandered into the minefield or if they had been inside for a while.

First things first, the fleet behind them would be upon them in no time. Jaxon gave the order for them to approach with caution. There was no indication if the Japanese planned on doing anything else with his fleet now that they were surrounded on both sides by land. However, he wouldn’t be around to find out as he quickly the fleet to turn around and go back. The reasoning behind this was that there was no way to determine how big the area of these naval mines reached. For all they knew it extended the entire Tokyo Bay. There would be no way his forces would even survive the trip there if that was the case. No matter how unlikely it was.

At this point, they were still in foggy waters, so they decided to brief Baron about their situation. That’s when everything went wrong. In the span of a few minutes, they heard explosions all around them that sounded like it was a mix between naval mines and those from an enemy fleet. Following the constant barrage of explosions, a group of fighter airplanes came at them from somewhere in the mist and began firing all of their rounds onto Jaxon’s unsuspecting ships.

With no idea of where to even begin targeting, Jaxon did one of the only things he could at the moment and sent out part of his pilots to do reconnaissance. It was a long shot considering the natural smokescreen all around them, but they were desperate for information. In the meantime, slowly going back where they came was getting them nowhere, they had to move faster. They sailed away from the Bay of Tokyo as fast as they could while also getting into a better battle formation.

Slowly, the fog around them lifted and reports were coming in about the location of the enemy. The bad news was that there was a massive fleet now facing them in front of them, naval mines behind them, and within striking distance from any land-based defenses that the enemy might have. It seems that despite all the shortfalls of trying to force a decisive victory in WW2, this Japanese team still preferred doing things this way. Even with the reinforcements coming to Jaxon’s aid, it would take a miracle to not get completely crushed.

In the distance, something half-submerged poked part of its body out of the water. It was unlike anything Jaxon had seen before. Even more massive than any Typhoon class submarine that had ever existed, which were considered the biggest subs since its inception in the 1970s. Without knowing what it was, how was he supposed to make a proper plan of attack? Perhaps this was the “surprise” that Roxi had told him about a couple of weeks ago. It must be, it was the size of a normal aircraft carrier but able to dive like a submarine.