At the start of the simulation, no one could have guessed that the last three nations would all be in the Asian sphere. However, war was unpredictable like that. Turenne and Herbert were still allied, but they did not have full confidence in either of them winning. The reason for this was because Hideki took war way too far. It appeared as if he had not changed all that much since the Second World War.

The atrocities that the Japanese had committed included but were not limited to forced labor, mass executions of prisoners of war, attacks on hospital ships, etc. Naturally, they were able to gain many advantages employing these types of tactics but were shunned by most of the other participants who chose to remain quiet about these matters.

Not long after they had met at the summit, it was an all-out war once more. As it turned out, the Japanese-controlled Americas had been expediting expansions to their naval and air forces. All of this was kept quiet. Once they revealed their hands, the situation for the alliance between China and India turned dire.

They had only just recently turned their attention towards making their territories capable of manufacturing weapons and vehicles. One of the reasons that was the case was that they were occupied with taking down the Soviet Union. That decision cost them precious time. The time that the Japanese used to their advantage.

Many new fleets from America came down on all territories that were not controlled by the Japanese empire. At first, they started with parts of Europe that were already devastated by the previous invasions. Herbert and Turenne decided that they had to protect these lands and rushed soldiers onto the battlefield.

This arrangement bought them some leeway, however brief it may be. For the first month or so, the two sides remained at a stalemate. That all changed when another new fleet left from the Americas, this time headed for the Africas. Turenne and Herbert wanted to contest these lands as well, but it would not be possible given how thin their forces were.

It did not take long for all of the Africas to fall under Japan's rule. There was little to no resistance, and even if there were, Japan could silence them quickly. Ordinarily, when one region was conquered, most of the soldiers that fought there would be sent to other places. This time, they remained. By the looks of it, they had no plans to move.

If this was the case, they intended to keep these lands. While also not giving a chance for their enemies to invade. The resource-rich Africa was just too good to risk. Following this, Japan made a decision that no one could have predicted. He forced a mass exodus of North Americans to fight on the Russian battleground.

Hideki chose to do this because he only needed one final push for the alliance to fall apart. They took these lands from Muqali, and now, he would take them back. He purposefully underequipped these men and only sent them there to die. Hopefully, he could divert some Indian and Chinese troops there as well.

In the end, the alliance could not keep up with having to fight on so many frontiers. They chose to withdraw their forces from foreign lands. However, they decided that anyone important or had useful skills would be able to be evacuated as well. Doing it this way allowed them to gain some benefits while they lost the majority of their land.

After the withdrawal, the only territory the alliance held was the stannic countries, the Middle East, Korea, and various smaller countries surrounding India and China. Though they consolidated their forces into a small geographic area, they were not in a great position as a whole.

Herbert and Turenne kept getting pushed back. Though it wasn't as fast as a German Blitzkrieg, they were losing ground at an alarming rate. It got so desperate that the two of them had to make a pivotal decision. They could not keep on defending, after all.

The two of them combined still had a couple of nukes left at their disposal. These would be an important part of their final push. One of their remaining options was to use the nukes on the invading armies when it provided itself, but that would be too wasteful.

Similarly, they could use them on the Japanese islands themselves and follow it up with a full-scale invasion. The problem with this approach was that the alliance was close to being surrounded by Japanese forces. Even if they could sneak out the forces, Japan would be heavily fortified.

These were just two options out of a myriad of terrible choices. However, this was their situation. Had they been more aggressive right after conquering the Soviet Union, they might have been able to gain the upper hand. Or they could have been in the same position regardless.

Right after they ceded the Middle East, they decided to be the invaders, but more subtly. As they were encroached, they snuck parts of their army and navy out to where the Japanese were not likely to have any patrols. For this mission, Turenne would personally be at the frontlines. Meanwhile, Herbert would guard both of their countries as best as he could with the reduced forces.

To not tip off the Japanese about this plan, they had to make sure they covered their trail. Not only that, the ones that managed to leave had to hide out for a full three months. During these three months, the alliance lost all land aside from China, India, and a few nations around them.

By this point, any strategist would assume that the Japanese had won. Exactly what Hideki Tojo thought. He could taste victory, and who could fault him? Everything had gone his way, just as he expected. Now, the only thing left to do was take out the other two competitors in one fell swoop. He continued to ramp up his efforts. The alliance's only saving grace now was their nukes. It was a wonder they hadn't used them already.

The day finally came for Turenne to attack Japan. Something that it had mostly evaded throughout the entire simulation. Five nukes shot out from Chinese and Indian soil towards Japan. This act would precede the actual invasion. As the soldiers of both sides looked at the marvels of engineering in awe, something unexpected happened.

Somehow, they were all destroyed while they were up in the air. Minutes away from demolishing Japan. As it turned out, the Japanese had managed to steal the anti-ICBM technology that Maksim of Poland possessed, but never used.

For the alliance, they had already begun their journey to take Japan. As they found out what happened, they already began fighting the enemy. In too deep now to retreat, they could only push forward. Their strategy was to nuke the two biggest ports of Japan and invade two other ports. The other three nukes would have gone for other strategic points.

Without the nukes hitting, Turenne would have an even harder time pushing in. His forces were minute compared to what the Japanese had. However, he knew that all was lost. The two biggest ports housed some of the largest fleets of Japan. Now, they could swing around and hit him from behind.

On the other hand, he would have many enemies shooting at him from behind if he were to retreat. Not to mention, many of the ports in China, and India were close to falling to Japanese forces. He could try to fend off those forces, but he would still have to fight on two fronts. In every sense of the word, they'd lost. Hideki, the psycho warmonger, had gotten the better of them.

As expected, the next few weeks were filled with Japanese flags hanging all over Chinese and Indian lands, historical monuments, and everything else. Unfortunate as it may be, they let a morally depraved tyrant win. There was no point in regretting their decisions now, but the two of them still felt shame.

After the simulation concluded, there was a cause for celebration in many communities. Particularly the Japanese. They had won the entire Sun tournament, after all. Although many had doubted that they were a serious contender as their performance in the group arena was abysmal. However, they proved everyone wrong.

Hideki had mixed feelings about his victory. He had expended so much effort to get to this point. Bringing most of the Japanese strategists onto his side. Those who opposed him would not resist any longer due to this achievement. However, it felt meaningless to him.

There was only one person in that simulation who should have been the victor! The American Maksim Belov. Hideki was proud of his heritage, his skills, his everything! It pained him to admit the truth, but he was not blind. A little over a century remained before the Death Match Tournament; would the Japanese be ready to take on such a fearsome foe?

This question was present in all those who witnessed the capabilities of Maksim. It did not take too long for news of this to reach most of the other communities. One realization crept into the minds of all those who still fought for supremacy. Wars no longer depended on the mistakes of soldiers but infinitely reproducible machines.

If this was the precedent for future simulations, then any community trailing behind will find themselves unable to compete at all. Very few communities were willing to innovate before. They never felt the need. Strategy always came out on top. That would no longer be the case. As more and more people began to study the recordings of the solo match, they realized that, currently, no one was able to stand up to Maksim in terms of technology.

Additionally, this was only the stuff he had shown. What other marvels of technology did he have in reserve? Others in the American community might have even deadlier weapons. Before this tournament, Maksim was relatively unknown. Now, his clout could even rival those of head of states.

There was a banquet held in honor of all the communities, banter, information exchange, making new allies, all that was common. After the formalities, there would be two final announcements made. These would close out one of the most successful tournaments in recent memory. One of the speakers would be the head of state of Japan, and the winner of the solo match, Hideki Tojo. The other was naturally Sun Tzu. After all, this was his tournament.