Chapter Summaries

The Island Nation seized colonies across Southeast Asia with little resistance, provoking Germany by taking territory claimed by the Empire. In Berlin, Emperor Qin Tian and his officials discussed a military response, with commanders urging an expedition against the Island Nation.

• The Island Nation Army captured Hanoi and Saigon, then advanced into Malaya, Lion City, and Burma as British and French forces withdrew.
• The Island Nation government ordered its troops to occupy the colonies and sent more soldiers and supplies to Southeast Asia in preparation for Germany's attack.
• The Island Nation's seizure of colonies claimed by Germany shocked other countries and drew widespread contempt.
• Oscar told the gathered officials that the Island Nation had dealt the Empire a grave insult.
• Bülow, Wachth, Falkenhayn, and Tirpitz urged Qin Tian to send German forces to defeat the Island Nation and reclaim the colonies.

Oscar and the Imperial ministers weighed the forces needed to defeat the Island Nation and reclaim its Southeast Asian colonies. Oscar warned that destroying it would require a massive, costly invasion and said the Empire should leave that war until last, when it could concentrate all its strength.

• Count Tirpitz said six battlecruisers would be enough to defeat the Island Nation Navy.
• Field Marshal von Falkenhayn estimated that destroying the Island Nation would require one and a half to two million troops, prompting General Waldersee and government officials to object to the cost and logistics.
• Count Tirpitz explained that the Island Nation’s distance from the Empire would make a campaign far more difficult, while Foreign Minister Wachth and other ministers pressed to reclaim the Southeast Asian colonies.
• Oscar warned the ministers that the Island Nation’s people would resist fiercely, making an invasion and destruction of the country exceptionally costly.
• Oscar declared that the Empire would eventually fight the Island Nation but should postpone destroying it until the Empire could concentrate all its strength against it.

Oscar chose a naval expedition to defeat the Island Nation Navy and recover Southeast Asia, postponing a land campaign until Germany could spare troops. He approved a powerful battlecruiser-led fleet under Admiral Spee and warned that it might be ordered to attack coastal cities if the Island Nation refused to surrender.

• Falkenhayn proposed limiting the war objective to recovering Southeast Asia, and Oscar agreed that Germany would not attack the Island Nation's mainland yet.
• Tirpitz proposed sending a fleet instead of troops, and Oscar ordered the navy to form an Expeditionary Fleet to destroy the Island Nation Navy.
• Oscar told Tirpitz to submit a fleet roster, then privately vowed to wipe out the Island Nation.
• Tirpitz proposed nine battlecruisers, ten light cruisers, twenty-seven destroyers, eight supply ships, and two hospital ships for the expedition.
• Tirpitz recommended Admiral Spee as commander, and Oscar approved the appointment.
• Oscar instructed Tirpitz to tell Spee that the fleet might have to attack coastal cities if the Island Nation refused to surrender.

Vice Admiral Spee led Germany’s powerful Expeditionary Fleet from Wilhelmshaven toward the Far East to fight the Island Nation. Other countries hoped the conflict would weaken Germany, while the fleet sailed confident of victory.

• Grand Admiral Count Tirpitz saw off Vice Admiral Spee and urged him to consider the Empire’s interests during the expedition.
• Vice Admiral Spee’s fleet, consisting of battlecruisers, light cruisers, destroyers, and support ships, departed Wilhelmshaven.
• Vice Admiral Spee and Rear Admiral Mauff dismissed the Island Nation Navy as weaker and expected it to avoid battle.
• Britain, the United States, France, Italy, and the Austro-Hungarian Empire hoped the Island Nation would defeat Germany’s fleet for their own reasons.
• The US government offered the Island Nation intelligence assistance and a twenty-million-dollar loan to encourage resistance.

The German Navy's Expeditionary Fleet entered the Indian Ocean on its way to attack the Island Nation, while Britain and other powers supplied the Island Nation with intelligence. In Tokyo, the Island Nation Navy's leaders assessed the fleet's overwhelming strength and recognized the stakes of the coming battle.

• The German Navy's Expeditionary Fleet passed through Gibraltar and the Mediterranean as British ships retreated and Gibraltar's defenders prepared for a possible attack.
• Britain, the United States, and France relayed information about the German fleet to the Island Nation, which learned its composition when it entered the Indian Ocean.
• On July 15, Admiral Yashiro Rokuro, Admiral Shimamura Hayao, and Admiral Ijūin Gorō met in Tokyo to discuss the German fleet's nine Battlecruisers, ten Light Cruisers, and twenty-seven destroyers.
• Admiral Shimamura Hayao described the German Battlecruisers' powerful guns, while Admiral Ijūin Gorō lamented that the Island Nation lacked comparable ships.
• Admiral Yashiro Rokuro and Admiral Shimamura Hayao stressed that the Island Nation had to win the coming battle because defeat could have dire consequences.

Yashiro Rokuro and the Island Nation's leaders discussed how to face Germany's approaching Expeditionary Fleet, which vastly outmatched their navy. At the cabinet meeting, the army urged resistance while Yashiro warned that a direct naval battle would end in defeat.

• Yashiro Rokuro, Admiral Shimamura Hayao, and Admiral Ijūin Gorō agreed that the navy should avoid a head-on fight and consider sheltering in port or raiding German transport ships.
• Yashiro Rokuro received a summons to meet Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu and went to the Prime Minister's residence.
• Okuma Shigenobu told the ministers that Germany's Expeditionary Fleet had entered the Indian Ocean and was expected near Southeast Asia within half a month.
• Yashiro Rokuro said the German fleet was far stronger and that a direct battle would inevitably defeat the Imperial Navy, prompting Army Minister Okashi no Suke to call him a coward.
• Okuma Shigenobu stopped the quarrel, and Okashi no Suke reported that the army had sent ten more divisions, over two hundred thousand men, to Southeast Asia.
• Finance Minister Wakatsuki Reijiro asked Yashiro Rokuro whether the navy had any way to defeat Germany's fleet.

Yashiro Rokuro explained that the Imperial Navy would avoid a direct fight with Germany and instead target its supply ships while using coastal defenses. As the German Navy Expeditionary Fleet entered the South China Sea without encountering enemy vessels, Vice Admiral Spee ordered it north toward the Island Nation’s Mainland.

• Yashiro Rokuro defended the Navy’s decision to avoid a direct engagement and presented a plan to attack German supply ships when an opportunity arose.
• Oka Ichinosuke questioned the plan, but Okuma Shigenobu approved it and ordered the Army and Navy to strengthen their preparations in Southeast Asia.
• Okuma Shigenobu urged the senior ministers to commit themselves to winning the war, and Yashiro Rokuro and Oka Ichinosuke agreed.
• The German Navy Expeditionary Fleet crossed the Indian Ocean, stopping for maintenance as it sailed toward the Island Nation.
• On July 27, Vice Admiral Spee’s fleet entered the South China Sea without finding Island Nation warships or merchant vessels, so he ordered it north toward the Island Nation’s Mainland.

Vice Admiral Spee ordered the German Navy Expeditionary Fleet to sink Island Nation vessels to force the Island Nation Navy into a decisive battle. After destroying disguised reconnaissance ships and replenishing the fleet, Spee sent the supply convoy away and prepared to enter Island Nation coastal waters.

• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the fleet to sink all Island Nation warships and merchant ships it encountered.
• Destroyer V29 sank an Island Nation reconnaissance vessel disguised as a merchant ship east of Okinawa.
• Over the next two days, the German fleet sank Island Nation merchant ships and fishing boats.
• Vice Admiral Spee replenished the fleet, then sent the supply convoy away under escort from two light cruisers and six destroyers.
• Vice Admiral Spee prepared to enter Island Nation coastal waters and said he might attack coastal cities if the Island Nation Navy refused to fight.

The Island Nation Navy’s leaders ordered merchant ships and fishing boats to stay in port to avoid the German fleet, but many vessels remained at sea. Near Kyushu, Spee’s fleet attacked and sank Island Nation merchant ships, leaving survivors in the water as the Germans continued north.

• Ijūin Gorō, Shimamura Hayao, and Yashiro Rokuro discussed the German attacks on merchant ships and the danger of the fleet reaching Island Nation’s coastal waters.
• Yashiro Rokuro urged the Cabinet to order merchant ships and fishing boats to remain in port, despite the expected domestic panic and economic losses.
• On August 6, the German Expeditionary Fleet reached the waters south of Kyushu, where many Island Nation merchant ships were still sailing.
• Spee ordered twenty-one destroyers to attack the merchant ships, and their guns tore through the vessels carrying rice back from Southeast Asia.
• Spee ordered his fleet not to rescue the people in the water and continued north aboard Kitakami to attack more ships.

Vice Admiral Spee’s fleet continued north along the Island Nation’s coast, sinking merchant ships and fishing boats to force the Island Nation Navy into battle. With public anger mounting and the Combined Fleet unable to match the Germans, Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu and Admiral Yashiro Rokuro struggled to contain the crisis as the German fleet advanced toward Tokyo.

• Vice Admiral Spee ordered his fleet north toward Tokyo after its destroyers sank every Island Nation merchant ship in the area.
• The German fleet avoided the mined, narrow Seto Inland Sea and continued along the coast, destroying merchant ships and fishing boats.
• Admiral Yashiro Rokuro, Admiral Shimamura Hayao, and Admiral Ijūin Gorō agreed that the Combined Fleet could not risk a decisive battle against the Germans.
• The Island Nation government urged merchant ships and fishing boats to stay in port as civilians protested the government and Navy’s failure to resist.
• Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu warned Admiral Yashiro Rokuro that public anger threatened his government, while Yashiro urged him to endure as the German fleet approached Tokyo.

The German Expeditionary Fleet resupplied at sea and returned to Sagami Bay after the Island Nation Navy refused to engage it. Vice Admiral Spee ordered Shizuoka bombarded, and the chapter ended as the fleet opened fire on the city.

• Admiral Yashiro Rokuro and other Island Nation Navy leaders decided to search for the German transport fleet and destroy it to cut off the German Expeditionary Fleet's supplies.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the German fleet to rendezvous with its supply ships, then set course to attack Shizuoka rather than risk entering Tokyo Bay through mined Uraga Channel.
• The German Expeditionary Fleet arrived off Shizuoka on August 11, and residents panicked as they realized the fleet intended to shell the city.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the ships to fire, and the Mackensen and the other battlecruisers began bombarding Shizuoka.

Vice Admiral Spee’s German Expeditionary Fleet bombarded Shizuoka for two hours, killing many civilians and leaving the city ablaze and in ruins. The fleet then set course for Hamamatsu, with Nagoya next on its target list.

• The German Expeditionary Fleet’s battleships opened fire on Shizuoka with high-explosive shells, killing residents and turning the city into ruins.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the fleet’s eight Light Cruisers to join the bombardment, accelerating Shizuoka’s destruction.
• Shells and spreading fires killed people fleeing the city, while an old man lost his family and both legs in an explosion.
• After two hours, Vice Admiral Spee ordered the fleet to leave Shizuoka and head for Hamamatsu, planning to attack Nagoya afterward.

After German forces devastated Shizuoka, Prime Minister Okuma Shigenobu gathered his Cabinet and the Elder Statesmen to decide how Island Nation should respond. The meeting ended with the Navy warning that a decisive battle against the German fleet would likely end in defeat, while Oka Ichinosuke demanded that it fight.

• Okuma Shigenobu learned that the Germans had reduced Shizuoka to ruins, causing more than twenty thousand civilian casualties and leaving over a hundred thousand people homeless.
• Okuma Shigenobu summoned the Cabinet Ministers and informed the Elder Statesmen of the attack.
• At the meeting, Wakatsuki Reijiro warned that further bombardments would devastate Island Nation's coastal cities, while Oka Ichinosuke demanded that the Navy fight the Germans.
• Yashiro Rokuro said the Germans were trying to force a decisive battle and warned that the Combined Fleet would likely be defeated if it put to sea.
• Oka Ichinosuke scorned Yashiro Rokuro for predicting defeat before the Navy had fought.

Yamagata Aritomo ordered the Imperial Navy to fight the German fleet after German attacks devastated Hamamatsu and Nagoya. The Combined Fleet sailed south from Tokyo Bay toward Sagami Bay, leaving Admiral Ijūin Gorō expecting an almost certain defeat.

• Admiral Yashiro Rokuro told Yamagata Aritomo that the Navy had at most a thirty percent chance of defeating the German fleet.
• Yamagata Aritomo and the officials debated how to respond, but no one wanted to order the Navy into a likely fatal battle.
• A secretary reported that the Germans had attacked Hamamatsu, prompting Yamagata Aritomo to order the Navy to put to sea.
• Admiral Yashiro Rokuro informed Admiral Shimamura Hayao and Admiral Ijūin Gorō of the decision, and Ijūin prepared the fleet to depart that night.
• The Germans bombarded Nagoya after destroying Hamamatsu, and Island Nation Navy's Combined Fleet sailed through the Uraga Channel into Sagami Bay to seek the enemy.

Admiral Ijūin Gorō led the Island Nation Navy’s Combined Fleet out of Yokosuka to seek a decisive battle against the German Expeditionary Fleet. After reviewing two plans, he favored using cruisers and destroyers to attack German light ships and then launch torpedo strikes, and the fleet sailed south into Sagami Bay.

• Admiral Yashiro Rokuro and Admiral Shimamura Hayao wished Ijūin victory as he boarded the battlecruiser Kongo.
• Ijūin ordered Yashiro to keep searching for German transport convoys while the Combined Fleet prepared for battle.
• The Combined Fleet assembled nineteen battleships, numerous cruisers, and thirty-nine destroyers, though most of its battleships were outdated compared with Germany’s capital ships.
• Ijūin reviewed two battle plans and focused on the plan to eliminate German light warships before launching torpedo attacks against German capital ships.
• The Combined Fleet sailed through the Uraga Channel into Sagami Bay and headed south to seek a decisive battle.

The German Expeditionary Fleet turned north to meet the Island Nation Combined Fleet after its departure from Tokyo Bay. As the fleets approached, two Island Nation destroyers attacked the German scouts, prompting Captain Mike to prepare the G37 for battle.

• Rear Admiral Mauff informed Vice Admiral Spee that the Island Nation Combined Fleet had put to sea with a far larger force, and Spee ordered his fleet north to engage it.
• Rear Admiral Yamashita Gentarō urged Admiral Ijūin Gorō to drive off the German destroyers monitoring the Combined Fleet.
• Admiral Ijūin Gorō sent the Isolami and Ayanami to attack the German destroyers G37 and G38.
• Captain Mike ordered the G37 and G38 to prepare for battle as the Island Nation destroyers approached.

Two German G-class destroyers overwhelmed the smaller Island Nation Navy destroyers Isolami and Ayanami in a fierce gun battle. The Island Nation ships burned and suffered severe damage as Admiral Ijūin Gorō and Rear Admiral Yamashita Gentarō watched the engagement turn against their fleet.

• Captain Sonoda Shigeyoshi and Captain Matsushita Sōkichi ordered their destroyers to close to two thousand meters before opening fire.
• Captain Mike ordered G37 and G38 to fire at three thousand meters, and their rapid 88mm guns forced Isolami and Ayanami to return fire under heavy bombardment.
• An 88mm shell punched a hole in Isolami’s bow, and another destroyed a secondary gun and tore open its side, starting a fire.
• G37 and G38 continued firing, repeatedly hitting both Island Nation destroyers and leaving them riddled with damage and burning.
• Rear Admiral Yamashita Gentarō and Admiral Ijūin Gorō realized their destroyers were unlikely to win, threatening the fleet’s morale.

The Island Nation Navy lost the destroyer Isolami and saw Ayanami heavily damaged before reinforcements forced two German destroyers to withdraw. The German and Island Nation fleets then met near Ise Bay, where both sides formed battle lines and prepared for a decisive engagement.

• Rear Admiral Yamashita Gentarō ordered four destroyers to reinforce the battle against the German destroyers.
• Captain Mike’s ships sank Isolami, killing Captain Sonoda Shigeyoshi, and heavily damaged Ayanami before withdrawing from the pursuing reinforcements.
• Admiral Ijūin Gorō ordered the Combined Fleet south, while Vice Admiral Spee’s fleet sailed north to seek a decisive battle.
• Rear Admiral Mauff reported the destroyers’ victory, and the German fleet celebrated the news.
• The German and Island Nation fleets encountered each other about fifty kilometers from Ise Bay and began forming their battle lines.
• Admiral Ijūin Gorō ordered the Capital Ships to close the distance and directed cruiser and destroyer formations to target German light cruisers and destroyers.

The German Expeditionary Fleet opened the naval battle at long range, using its superior speed, gunnery, and equipment to seize the initiative against Admiral Ijūin Gorō's Combined Fleet. The Island Nation warships returned fire and concentrated multiple ships against each German battlecruiser as the fierce exchange began.

• Admiral Ijūin Gorō ordered the Combined Fleet to turn and follow the German battle line rather than risk letting the Germans escape toward Ise Bay.
• Vice Admiral Spee ordered the German fleet to open fire at fifteen thousand meters and keep the Island Nation forces from closing the distance.
• Mackensen fired first at Kongo, and the other German warships followed with salvos against the Island Nation battleships.
• Admiral Ijūin Gorō explained that the German fleet's long-range training and superior equipment gave it a decisive advantage, then ordered his battleships to counterattack.
• The Combined Fleet opened fire and assigned two or three of its Capital Ships to target each German battlecruiser.

The German Navy's Expeditionary Fleet badly outgunned the Island Nation Navy's Combined Fleet, damaging Satsuma and fatally flooding Tango while the Island Nation ships struggled to land effective hits. The chapter left the Island Nation fleet's morale collapsing after Shikishima's shell failed to damage Moltke.

• Derfflinger hit Satsuma with a 380mm shell, starting a fire that Colonel Kichijima Shigetaro ordered his sailors to extinguish.
• Admiral Ijūin Gorō and Rear Admiral Yamashita Gentarō discussed trying to close the distance, but the slower Island Nation warships could not catch the German battlecruisers.
• Moltke pierced Tango's waterline armor, and Admiral Ijūin Gorō ordered Tango's crew to evacuate.
• Shikishima struck Moltke's forward main gun, but the hit caused no damage, and the Island Nation Navy's morale collapsed.