Breaking the Chains: The Glorious 21st of August
Chapter 1
August 7th 1076 VTE, on board the HIMS Teikoku, Port of Suzuhara, Empire of Nijisanji
Admiral d'Avranches stood calmly at the head of the table, surrounded by the other Admirals and Captains that would attempt to break the back of the Caliphate's fleet in the Anykarian Sea.
For centuries, these barbarians had terrorized the merchants of the region, enslaved Imperial citizens and had defeated the Imperial Navy numerous times in the process. They effectively had the Empire in chains. Things were so bad that ships of the line had to be used to escort the relief forces to Murijgae and Dilupakan 30 years before. Now with the Corsair al-Hamid, things were even worse. He dared to raid deep into the Anykarian Sea itself, burning numerous fishing villages, and defeated coastal squadrons. The humiliating capture of 1 ships of the line and burning of 3 more at Cape Tsukasa the year prior was the breaking point. Either the Imperial Navy would break its chains and the power of the Caliphate or would die in the process.
But no one seemed willing to set up for the task. Senior admirals, knowing the humiliation that Admiral Murakase suffered at Cape Tsukasa declined the request citing the impossibility of the task. Grand Admiral Mikawa was growing impatient, and the infirm old man was ready to do the mission himself; that was until a younger Admiral by the name of Pierre d'Avranches offered to lead the fleet. The 40-year-old had seen plenty of action already against al-Hamid, having repelled a raid near Suzuhara a few years ago and defeating some Xebecs near the Island of Kirishima in March. But d'Avranches had never led anything larger than a few Third Rates in battle. Furthermore, he was a Pelate ethnically, not a Anykarian.
Mikawa pointed this out to d'Avranches but he insisted that not only would he do it, but that he was the right man for the job. "If no one else wants to lead, Mikawa-san, allow this young buck to lead instead. I do not fear, like many of my compatriots, this barbarian." Mikawa, feeling the passion of the man before him, agreed reluctantly. It would be better if the defeat came at the hands of a minority anyways, the cynical old man thought. But the old man wasn't going to send the Pelate on a suicide mission and assigned Admiral Ozawa to be his second in command for the operation. Ozawa was a tough sailor and was known as a no-nonsense type of man. A perfect number two.
"Men, it is my opinion that our challenge might we one of the hardest ever given to the Imperial Navy before. Our enemy is cunning and adept, but do not let that deter you." Avranches said with a confident voice "We will beat him wherever we fight him, I am certain of that. Not out of hubris but knowing that each one of you are great servants of our Emperor and that every man, from the commanders to the sailors themselves will do their duty. We all understand the gravity of the situation, and I am confident that we will rise to the occasion."
He takes a smoke of his cigar "Any questions regarding the operation?"
The room just stares blankly for a moment as if you could cut the tension in the air. Many were uncertain about what d'Avranches said, until the silence was broken up by a gruff voice, it's Admiral Ozawa.
"I want every man in this room to understand that he is your senior as much as I am because the Grand Admiral put him into command. Should any of you show cowardice, or insubordinate; I will personally beat you to death in front of the whole Admiralty with my fists." pounding his fist on the table and pointing at everyone he continues "The fact that this young man was the only man willing to lead this fleet is telling, Indeed it brings shame to me personally that I did not rise to the occasion myself, but let it be known that I have full confidence in d'Avranches-san and if you do not, leave immediately. We will find someone else."
Admiral Ouchi stands up and leaves the room
"Get lost you lily livered coward!" Turning to Captain Tokuzawa "Tokuzawa-san, you are now commander of third division. Congratulations on your appointment."
"B-but Ozawa-san... I-"
"You will do a great job; I do not care as you have always been a good Captain and leader of men. Find your replacement for your ship and assume command of the 3rd Division."
"Yes sir!" Tokuzawa says while bowing in fear.
"Very well, do any of you have any questions to d'Avranches-san?"
The room shakes their head no.
"Very well, gentlemen, you know what it takes and take my words to heart."
All leave the room except for Ozawa and d'Avranches
Putting his hand on Avranches shoulder, Ozawa says "Pierre, I am sorry that I took over the meeting like that."
"It is fine, I didn't feel confident enough to say such things. It would have been improper, Ozawa."
"Perhaps but formalities matter little when it comes to serious business like this, some of these need to have it drilled into their heads. All Sailors are the same after all, Admirals are just sailors without humility Haha"
"That is very true, thank you Ozawa-san" He shakes Ozawa's hand
"You are welcome, friend" Ozawa lights his cigar before asking inquisitively "But I must ask do you believe what you have said?"
"Absolutely, I think our fear of the enemy is our greatest weakness."
"You think so, hmm that could very well be true. I have seen what bravery does and what cowardice does as well to men. Therefore, we must remain vigilant."
"Indeed, Ozawa-san, indeed."
Ozawa bows and leaves the room, now Avranches is alone. He sits in his chair and starts to think.
"I will defeat you, al-Hamid. You may have whipped us many times but the whipping I will give you will be one you never recover from" he thinks to himself while staring into the ceiling.
Lifting up a picture of his wife and son, he then thinks "My sweet Marie... I fight for you and Jean. May Rosemi and the Divines bless us with Victory."
Chapter 2
August 16th, 1076 VTE, Island of Sayyid, al-Khilāfah
al-Hamid was the greatest and most feared corsair of his generation. For 20 years, he had wreaked havoc on all shiping in the Tsukino, Hinata, and Golden Seas. He had captured thousands of slaves, and endless amounts of treasures. He had yet to taste defeat in a real battle against anyone, defeating ships from the Imperial, Syrenian, Pomeranian, and the Serene Republic a like. The 56-year-old was a tall and strong man with a large black mustache and droopy face. He was missing a hand and in combat, he had a specially designed sword that would go in the place of his hand. But his arrogance and hubris grew with every victory. He was resting easily in a bath when he recieved word from a messenger.
"My Lord, the Imperial Navy has set sail from Suzuhara with a force of 16 Ships of the Line, 6 Frigates and 6 corvettes. They are headed out to fight us, it appears."
With a wicked grin, the Corsair scratched his stubble on his chin saying "So, these infidels have some balls after all. hahaha. I thought I taught them a good lesson last year but apparently that isn't enough. Like a moth to fire, these fools will continue to get burnt. ahahaha. I suppose I should entertain them yet again. Tell Abd-Malik to ready the fleet at once, we set sail in 6 hours."
Relaxing back into the bath, Al-Hamid thought of all of the glory that this victory would bring. Smiling, he thought about all of the slaves he would be able to take. Perhaps this victory would compel the Caliph to finally agree to his proposal for a proper invasion? Whatever the case, al-Hamid had every right to be confident and he would play aggressive and sly as usual.
The fleet that the Corsair had was a large one, 6 Ships of the Line, all captured from the Imperial Navy over the years, that were refited for his purposes, 12 Large Frigates, which could fight in line of battle just as well as the ships of the line if needed but excelled in fighting other frigates. 30 Xebecs, ready to overwhelm the Imperial Navy. His plan was simple, the Ships of the Line and the Frigates would engage and draw in the Imperial Fleet and the Xebecs would swarm them from all sides once engaged. This tactic had worked brilliantly numerous times and was not to be taken lightly.
As the Corsair boarded his flagship, the al-Husayn, he prayed to Watame for victory again over the infidels. Surely, it would come yet again.
Chapter 3
The night of August 20th, 1076 VTE, on board the HIMS Teikoku in the Tsukino Sea
With word of the Corsair's fleet being within their vicinty, d'Avranches called his Admirals and captains to discuss the strategy for the battle. With a tense atmosphere in the air, he broke the tension
"Gentlemen, I do not need to repeat myself when I state how confident I am in our odds tomorrow, but only with a good plan can come a great victory. takes a smoke al-Hamid is responding to our presence with everything he's got and I fully expect the usual strategy from him, which you all should be familiar with. Under normal circumstances, we would be defeated as our tactics have been far too conservative when it comes to giving battle. This is why, in my opinion, we have lost battle after battle against these barbarians. The only success we have had in the past is when our fleet has been proactive in its approach, rather than forming a line of battle and slugging it out. Sure, this has not always worked either but it is only with an aggressive mindset that we can beat al-Hamid. picking up game pieces and putting in on the table representing ships."
"Commander, al-Hamid is an aggressive commander, surely an aggressive approach would play right into his hands would it not" said Admiral Suzuki
"On the contrary, Suzuki-san, for while our opponent is wiley and clever, he surely thinks that we will be cautious after last time. And I have a plan to trick him into thinking as much. Moves a piece this piece right here represents our frigates and corvettes. They stand no chance against the enemies own Frigates but they are more than capable of the role I indeed to use them in starts pushing the pieces resembling ships of the line in a divergent direction. I plan on splitting our battle line into two forces, one led by the Teikoku with myself and the other with led by the Getsumen, led by Ozawa-san. Between these two groups, the Frigates will fall back, and al-Hamid will certainly chase them because the sun will be blocking his view of our ships. Indeed, the Razée Fukutsu passes as a Ship-of-the-Line in such a situation. pushing the Saracen fleet forward and then moves his own two battlelines in a position where they attempt to split the line Whenever these ships get to this point, they will surely see that they are in trouble so naturally we must move our own ships to cross their T in multiple directions. I predict that the Xebecs will attack us at this point but they will not be able to do what they usually do because they are not in position and will face the full weight of our broadsides. At the same time as the manveour happens, which will be signaled by flares, I want the light ships to turn around and fight like hell to ensure the Saracens do not escape their trap. I expect every man to fight for the honor of his family and nation. I am willing to die tomorrow, and I expect all the same from you, any questions?"
The Room remained silent, the captains and admirals weren't confident but stoically bought into the plan. "No commander" said multiple men at once.
"Very well, return to your stations and report your status tomorrow morning. The fate of the Empire lays on your shoulders."
All but Ozawa exit the room
With a monotone voice Ozawa says "Pierre, that is a good plan. I think it will surely work. What gave you this idea?"
"Good question, I have studied al-Hamid for a long time and have fought him before. While he is an excellent commander, his weakness is that he is overconfident and overaggressive. This is actually a strength most of the time, but it also can cause him to lose focus of the situation, I saw this during one of his attempted raids on Suzuhara, where he overconmited his forces on the local defense for without noticing my own force. When it comes down to it, his greatest strength is a fatal weakness that I plan on using to destroy him completely."
Ozawa thinks for a moment, "We must execute this plan perfectly and hope that he overcommits as you expect, Pierre. If he doesn't, we will be defeated in detail and our names will go down in history as the greatest fools!"
"That is true, Ozawa-san, but by the grace of the gods we will win. Such gambles must be taken for the reward we seek."
Nodding "Yes yes, let us do this and have confidence in our men, our ships and the gods. I agree we will win under those circumstances. Let us beat al-Hamid at his own game eh? haha
"Indeed" the two share a hug "Ozawa-san. It's time to make history. You are dismissed"
"Yes Commander!" Ozawa salutes and leaves d'Avranches returns to his desk once more to daydream. He picks up the picture of his wife once more and kisses it for good luck.
"By Rosemi I will be home soon my love. If I do not return, tell Jacques that I died with honor!"
Chapter 4
The Morning of August 21st, 1076 VTE
As dawn rose on this fateful day, both commanders arose early and were confident in their victory.
d'Avranches woke up at Dawn, washed himself and put on his finest uniform. Sailors reported that it looked like the man was ready to face his own death in all the glory that could come from it just by the way he dressed. His orders were clear, and he was as confident as ever in his victory. Indeed, he did anticipate his own death this day, which was why he spent a good amount of time getting himself ready for it.
al-Hamid, however, did no such thing. The old seadog simply arose, ate his breakfast and came to the bridge ready to execute what he believed would be the crowning jewel of his long life. He had worked his way from a simple fisherman to the greatest Corsair that the Caliphate had ever seen in the course of 30 years. The sun shined brightly, and with the sun he saw victory.
D'Avranches set his plan into motion immediately to capitalize on the favorable winds and the sun being at his back. Swiftly, the 3rd Division under Admiral Suzuki sailed forward to engage the Saracens while the ships of the line broke into their two groups as planned. They would not be at full sail yet, as planned. It was 630hrs when al-Hamid spotted the approaching frigates, led by the Razée Fukutsu and he gave orders to attack immediately. The Corsairs couldn't believe that the Imperial Navy was so reckless, but no matter, the light ships would be caught easily by his own and destroyed. For two hours, he chased.
Behind the Saracen battle line was the Xebecs, in a crescent formation. They withheld their speed to keep a little distance to disguise their approach. Their commander, Ali Pasha, was a veteran seadog himself and a close friend of al-Hamid. As the right-hand man in al-Hamid's victories, his fame was nearly as great as the Corsair King's own, but Ali Pasha may have been the better commander of the two. He had warned al-Hamid about being overaggressive in the past and the day before the two had gotten into an argument over it that nearly resulted in a fight. Peering trough his telescope, he saw what appeared to be two lines of ships hidden by the glare of the sun approaching on the flanks of al-Hamid. la qader alleh, this is not good! I must commit now to prevent this trap from happening Signaling to the other Xebecs, he ordered them to attack the approaching columns.
al-Hamid was still fixated on the frigates in front of him and was more than pleased when they turned to fight. Suzuki had made a mistake and had committed himself earlier than planned and al-Hamid was more than ready to capitalize. The first shots of the battle occured around 900hrs with al-Hamid ordering his battleline to head south west to engage these Frigates.
D'Avranches was furious when he saw Suzuki make this mistake Merci! We better commit now "Helmsman, make to port at 45 degrees.""Aye Admiral" replied the young man. I hope Ozawa sees this and also makes this move He had to commit earlier than he wanted, 10 more minutes would have been perfect, but now wasn't the time to sulk about it.
Ozawa noticed D'Avranches turning and wondered what was going on until he saw Suzuki's mistake I will flay that bastard alive if we both live. Fucking moron "45 to starboard!" shouted Ozawa. Fuck fuck fuck FUCK!
As it turned out, the trap springing early helped the Imperial Navy as now it became apparent to al-Hamid that he was encircled By Watame, dammit, it only got worse when the wind started blowing against him. The SEA gods themselves oppose us today, but no matter, Ali will deliver victory
Broadsides from the Frigates began to take their toll on the Imperial Frigates, one of them, the Yamasashi was hit by a cannonball in the powder storage, which caused the ship to blow sky high. Ozawa's division had the wind blowing against them so their progress in closing the trap was slow but d'Avranches had it at his tail and it pushed him into cannon range at 925hrs. The first salvos from the imperial battleline started to be fired.
Ali Pasha meanwhile was racing forwards, trying to split the gap between the two converging lines. He was swiftly spotted, and salvos launched from both battlelines at him. Watersplashes and the sounds of timbers being crushed by 32-pound cannon balls range out. One Xebec had its backbroke by a lucky shot and would split in half. But Ali Pasha hd to press on.
By 1000hrs, things were looking grim for al-Hamid, he had ordered his line to move into to get the wind at their back but now d'Avranches battleline was on the verge of cutting his squadron in half. And there was nothing he could do to stop him when at 1005hrs, the Teikoku crossed the bow and sterns of two Frigates. Fire from Ozawa was also hitting the Corsair's squadron hard, with some frigates taking great damage from the big guns. But al-Hamid was still confident in Ali Pasha and the skills of his own crew.
Ozawa noticed the approaching Xebecs and threw his own ships into the wind in order to avoid them at close quarters. The wind had shifted so that it was blowing from the southwest instead of the north now, and this was favorable to the Imperial Navy, as al-Hamid had thrown his ships heading northeast. Now a real trap had just been sprung on al-Hamid and one that would leave his fleet in ruins. Frigate after trailing Frigate was blown to shreds at close range, he two would cross them at their rear. The Xebecs, however closed in as fast as they could, many being badly mauled already but by 1020, they reached close enough to execute their famous boarding actions. For the next hour, the Imperial Marines and corsairs duked it out on top of the battleline, until it happened.
al-Hamid cursed at the wind, it had got most of his frigates torn to pieces and made him turn once again to face west with his ships of the line. D'Avranches maintained course while Suzuki went to the Southwest in order to engage the Xebecs. At 1030, the lines began brawling with each other. Salvos caused carnage on both all ships and it didn't help d'Avranches that the two trailing ships of the line were caught in rigging and forced to break off. D'Avranches was like a statue on the deck of his flag ship, and at 1035, he ordered the fateful order "Turn 20 Degrees to port."
With this order, D'Avranches was headed to split the al-Hamid's line, which went against all the rules of naval warfare. But it worked. At 1050, he once again broke through the Saracen battleline and this time the Saracens would not recover from this. The grapeshot at close range tore through the rear and cleaned the deck of the ships being split. Soon the rear and front of the formation were in chaos due to the concenerate cannonade over the next 10 minutes. One by one, the Saracen Ships surrendered or were put out of action. al-Hamid himself would be mortally wounded by splinters from the balls hitting the deck of his ship. At 1106hrs, the al-Husayn raised its flag in surrender, but not before D'Avranches himself would be mortally wounded by a musket ball striking him in the left thigh. He was carried to the main mast where upon it was discovered that his wound would be fatal. As he bleeds to death over the next 30 minutes, he kept asking for reports of what was going on. At 1122, the last of the Saracen ships of the line surrendered, bringing great relief to D'Avranches. "I can die in peace now" he said with a weak voice before passing into the underworld.
he boarding action had not gone according to plan, as the Marines fought much harder than anticipated. When Suzuki showed up on their rear at 1130, the Corsairs realized the battle was lost and began to surrender in mass, Ali Pasha included. He wept upon seeing all of the burning ships of the glorious fleet that been the terror of the sea only hours before. He would ingest poison that night in order to avoid a much worse fate. When the clock hit noon, all fighting was over and the greatest victory the Imperial Navy had ever won was completed.
Chapter 5
September 1st, 1076 VTE, the Port of Suzuhara, Empire of Nijisanji
The fanfare couldn't have been greater in the Pearl of the Tsukino Sea. Citizens of all ranks gathered awaiting the return of their heroes from their victory. When the fleet was spotted entering the mount of the harbor at 11 am, cheers echoed across the city. With 4 Frigates and 20 Xebecs in tow, Ozawa stood on the bridge without as much of a smile on his face. For someone that had just cemented himself as one of the greatest heroes in the history of his nation, he certainly seemed to be quite apathic about it.
But inside of Ozawa was a turbulent mix of emotions. He was elated at the victory, and the performance of his men. Indeed, he was all smiles when it came to his sailors in the aftermath, acting atypically cheery and friendly with average seamen. But Ozawa had two things that kept him in turmoil internally, the first was the death of his friend, d'Avranches. Avranches was the only one that truly believed in victory the whole time, not even Ozawa himself did despite accepting that he would do his duty. There was no braver man in the Empire than Pierre, and his death couldn't have been more fitting. But Ozawa would confess he wished it had been him instead. He didn't have a young wife and son like Pierre did, and would the state take care of them, minorities, despite the great victory? He didn't think they would and that gave him pain. Furthermore, he felt pain for all of the sailors that lost their lives that would not be remembered like he would. Ozawa knew he would be held as the great hero of the battle, like Pierre, but he knew that he had little to do with the result. It was Pierre's plan and his men did the fighting. All he did was follow orders in his mind.
Thus it should not come as any surprise when the mob expecting Ozawa to deliver a rosing speech about the glory of this victory were quite disappointed when the 38 year old ignored all of the calls for him to speak. He even ignored his fellow admirals who were congratulating him, just continuing to walk away at his own pace without and look of emotion or care in his eyes. All of these people were cowing in fear weeks ago, and now they act like they all were part of this victory. Who will remember the dead sailors in 100 years? Ozawa got a horse and rode off. He rode for 8 hours until he came to the house of his now dead friend, Pierre d'Avranches. In his possession were letters Pierre had written to his wife and son and other valuables from Pierre. He had secretly taken them before the public could have the funeral the nation wanted for their new hero. He knocked on the door and Marie opened. Ozawa had a tear in his eye but manned up and told her about the battle and her husband's death. Both of them started crying over the death of Pierre, a model husband, father and servant of the nation. Ozawa told her he brought the possessions of Pierre to her personally and showed the letters, the widow cried more upon reading her husband's letters, filled with the optimism and dutifulness expected from him.
Ozawa would with Marie break the news to Jacques that his father was dead. The boy didn't grasp the concept of death yet but he would in time. Ozawa confessed to both of them that he was indeed worried that the state would not care for the wife and child of a Pelate national hero and swore to them that he would personally ensure that their wellbeing was sustained. He returned to his own home and prepared his letter of resignation from the navy.
Little did Ozawa know at the time, but in their shared sorrow would come love between the Widower Ozawa, whose wife had died giving birth to his son, Shingo only years before and Marie. 6 months later, Marie would marry Ozawa and Ozawa would raise Jacques like his own son, as tough and rigid as you would expect. Ozawa's story doesn't end here nor does that of Marie or Jacques, but those are tales for another day.