Chapter 71 – Second Time at the Dream’s Edge (2)

In my dream, the one who owns my body spoke in summary about the Second Sino-Japanese War and the Pacific War—both of which she had experienced.
And her account was told through her own subjective perspective.

That said, the body’s owner is just a regular person with no expertise in military affairs, so the account was often vague or full of personal bias.

As for me, I have a bit of military knowledge—not zero—but I’m no military otaku.
If I ever said “I know a bit” in front of actual military enthusiasts, I’d probably get dogpiled instantly. 

Outside of what I studied for exams, I only really dabbled in a ship-personification game for a time, after getting into sword-personification games.
Thanks to that, I did gain a fair amount of knowledge about the navy, and I have some emotional attachment to certain girls—er, I mean ships. 

Being able to identify ship classifications and classes is enough to count as an otaku in my book. 

I think it’s more otaku-ish than being able to distinguish between different types of Japanese swords.

As for the army, my current knowledge mostly comes from stories passed down by family members who served in the military.
The rest is what I know through named figures—historical characters. 

Basically, my knowledge as a history girl is mostly character-focused. 

Even when it isn’t, the starting point is always a game, manga, or anime. 

I’ve also checked out that manga where an escort destroyer time-slips into wartime, and that anime where tank battles are treated as a girls’ martial art.

That said, when it comes to things like weapon specs, I don’t even understand half of what’s being said.
There are a few weapons I know just a little about because of their connection to historical figures, but that’s about it.

On the other hand, ever since I reincarnated, I’ve been studying military matters too, and thanks to the fact that I actually know more about armies and wars than the original owner of this body, I was able to follow along with the story.

As for the wars that happen in this world, they mostly followed the same course as in my previous life.
Events like the “Manchurian Incident” have unfolded in full.

More than that, the key difference from my previous world was the existence of oil fields in northern Sakhalin.
When Japan was hit with international embargoes, the depletion of its oil reserves became a matter of time. 

In my past life’s history, the reserves were said to run out in a year and a half, but in this world, the limit seems to be about two years.

So, you could say that the path to war followed the same pattern.
She said she experienced three separate starts to the war, but all of them played out the same.

That said, I don’t know much about the details of how the Second Sino-Japanese War started in my past life either, so most of what I heard was new to me.
Based on what I studied for exams, the only things that come to mind are the Marco Polo Bridge Incident and some controversial massacre events.

As for the next one—the Pacific War—the key part of it, the war on the mainland, remained a drawn-out quagmire, while Southeast Asia saw little movement aside from the start and the final stages of the war.
Only the Pacific front saw any real action.

In this world, unlike in my previous life, Japan possesses northern Sakhalin, and thanks to the presence of the Ootori conglomerate, it has a slight advantage.

That said, when dealing with an enraged America, it’s really just within the margin of error.
It’s like—nothing’s going to grow on this scorched land.

Still, at the time of the war’s outbreak, the Imperial Japanese Navy had some ships—er, “girls” I didn’t recognize.
According to the memories of the owner of this body, there was one fleet carrier and one light carrier that I didn’t know, but there were probably more beyond that.

On the other hand, the army, which you’d expect to have grown stronger thanks to the navy being slightly better equipped with ships, seems to be squandering its resources in the bog of the mainland front.

They might have a few more tanks and planes, but between my knowledge and that of the body’s owner, I couldn’t really tell what had changed.

And so, following a progression almost identical to real history, the Greater East Asia War ( Pacific War) began.

The Nagumo Fleet—often mentioned by “Ikkousen”—didn’t attack Pearl Harbor with six carriers, but with seven.
When I asked for the name of the one I didn’t know, it turned out to be named after a crane.

On their way back, they even fought a naval battle near Hawaii and sank one enemy carrier.
Apparently, it was a total one-sided beatdown—an entire fleet centered around a single carrier was almost completely annihilated.

What’s more, a few days later, two British Navy battleships were sunk in the Gulf of Malaya by air units alone.

These two battles were even made into films during the war, so the owner of this body was well aware of them.

I never imagined I’d hear the name “Zero Fighter” come from the mouth of a villainess.

After that, Japan’s string of victories continued for a while.
This also followed the same course as in my previous life, though it all seemed a bit flashier here.

Near Australia, and again at Midway—a battle that took place near Hawaii—it seems the Japanese sank two American aircraft carriers in each location.

This wasn’t so-called “Imperial General Headquarters propaganda”, but information obtained through the Ootori family’s intelligence network, so it’s probably accurate.
If it were wrong, then that would mean the information Japan received at the time was itself inaccurate.

Judging from how the war situation unfolded afterward, it seems the reports were mostly correct.

That said, in the battle near Hawaii, Japan also lost two carriers.
Even so, they apparently managed to win by brute force, so they must have committed a significant amount of military strength to that operation.

Next came the fierce fighting in the South Pacific, at Iron Bottom Sound.

There, the Japanese forces managed to push back the Allied forces once.

It seems the key factors were that Japan had a decent supply of domestic oil, a large number of aircraft carriers, and the fact that the U.S. Navy had taken too much damage by the time of this battle.

At that time, the U.S. military was severely lacking in both carriers and cruisers.

Afterward, Japan’s war effort entered a brief lull.

Japan, too, was exhausted from its continuous offensives since the war began.
Pushing any further was simply beyond reach—every potential target was too far, and Japan’s national strength wasn’t enough to sustain further offensives.

The plan to seize Hawaii, proposed by Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku (whom the body’s owner refers to as a marshal), was indefinitely postponed and eventually shelved.

A plan to push further into the South Pacific was also called off—by the time Japan could reorganize its navy, the enemy had already fortified the area.

Come to think of it, Yamamoto Isoroku reportedly died a heroic death in the skies over the southern front in the fall of 1943 (Showa 18).
The owner of this body also attended his state funeral, which was said to be a grand and spectacular affair.

On the other hand, the Allied forces—centered around the U.S.—had taken such heavy losses at the start of the war that they struggled even to hold their ground.

So, while they desperately fortified the South Pacific, they shifted their main efforts to the war in Europe first.

Thanks to that, Japan had a bit of breathing room—but it must’ve been a nightmare for Germany.

Even though the overall war situation was just slightly unfavorable for the Allies, they still landed in France on the same schedule as in my previous life.

After that, even during the lull in fighting, the Japanese forces were gradually pushed back in the South Pacific.
This progression was slightly delayed compared to my previous life’s timeline, but the overall course of events remained mostly unchanged.

Since the United States had fully entered war-production mode, even during periods of relative calm, Japan’s military couldn’t keep up—not with its limited industrial capacity.

Then in October 1944, a massive battle broke out off the coast of the Mariana Islands, where Guam is located.
If I remember correctly, in my previous life’s history, this occurred four months earlier.

Because of that delay, the lineup of carriers participating in the battle was different.

Along with the familiar Tsuru sisters (from the start of the war), there was a third sister—the youngest—and the entire Second Carrier Division was still around and in good shape.

Added to that were newly built armored carriers, a new ship with a dragon-themed name, and about half a dozen light carriers.

In total, the Japanese had 14 aircraft carriers.

On the other hand, all 13 of the U.S. Navy’s carriers were new-generation ships built during the war.
This showed just how thoroughly the Japanese Navy had crushed the American fleet in the early stages—and also how absurdly overpowered American industrial capacity really was.

The battle, purely in terms of numbers, could have ended in a Japanese victory—but just like in the history of my previous life, the fundamental differences in industrial capacity, production power, and technological strength ultimately decided the outcome.

The Japanese forces kept attacking as long as they had the offensive capability to do so, managing to sink about a third of the U.S. carriers.
However, they lost most of their carrier-borne aircraft and half of their own carriers in the process, effectively rendering them annihilated. 

In the end, Japan lost both sea and air superiority, which led to the failure to defend the Mariana Islands.

That said, in this battle, Japan’s carriers weren’t sunk by American submarines, so the battle itself must have played out quite differently.
It seems the infamous “turkey shoot” keyword wasn’t associated with it either.

There was also an unfamiliar new fighter that made its combat debut in this battle, and afterward, it was heavily used in propaganda.
In fact, even the current host of this body—who isn’t particularly interested in the war—was familiar with the name “Reppuu.”

Later, in February 1945, U.S. forces invaded the Philippines.

Since this was called the “Battle of the Philippine Sea,” it probably means the Battle of Leyte Gulf happened.

In that battle, the Japanese fleet managed to charge toward the American landing zone and partially completed its mission.
However, they were caught in a counterattack from the U.S. carrier fleet—which had initially been lured away by the decoy force—and were almost completely destroyed. 

The U.S. military also suffered heavy losses to its landing convoy and escort fleet, making the whole ordeal a brutal bloodbath for both sides.

Even so, the sunglasses-wearing, corn-pipe-smoking, cosplay-hat old man apparently didn’t die in battle.
His bad luck resistance is absurd.

Also, it seems that the third “sister” of the Yamato class was completed as a battleship and met her end in this one and only battle. 

Rest in peace.

For the record, the so-called “Kamikaze Special Attack Unit” also seems to have started with this battle.

On another front, from March 1945 onward, American B-29 bombers began air raids on the Japanese mainland, and starting on May 27—Japan’s Navy Memorial Day—large-scale indiscriminate bombing began.
Around that time, the supreme commander of the Flying Fortresses was switched to the infamous “Brute LeMay.”

Around the same time in May 1945, just like in my previous life, Berlin fell and Germany surrendered, ending the fighting in Europe.
Meanwhile, in Japan, the war continued, and in June, the Battle of Iwo Jima began.

Then in August 1945, the Soviet Union entered the war against Japan. 

That, too, was the same.

In this body’s second lifetime, she also died around that time, caught in an air raid.
Most likely, it was one of the later Tokyo bombings from my past life that struck central Tokyo—judging from the location of the Ootori estate, it must have been hit during that.

And just as I was about to ask what came next, the host of this body paused her story.

She had said a lot—now she just needed a short breather.

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The War Experienced by the Original Reika

In this world, Japan has oil fields in northern Sakhalin, so it doesn’t suffer from oil shortages as severely as in our world.
There are also a few more tankers. 

National power itself is, in terms of the setting, about 5% stronger.

Even so, the fact that Japan still starts a war due to insufficient oil is undeniably tragic.

That aside, thanks to that, Japan manages to push through in the Solomons.

Even near the end of the war, during the Battle of the Philippine Sea, since there’s an adequate supply of oil and tankers, the fleet doesn’t have to make desperate maneuvers that would make them vulnerable to submarines due to fuel shortages.

However, by the time they reach the Philippines, things are already hopeless—so you can imagine how that plays out.
As for the fighting on the mainland, there is barely no Battle of Okinawa, air raids haven’t fully reached the countryside, and the naval mine blockade ended in its early stages. 

The Soviet invasion proceeds at roughly the same timing as in our world.

The Game That Personifies Warships

Refers to Kantai Collection (“KanColle”) or a similar game. If any strange terms appear in the story, assume they’re related to this.

The Manga Where a Destroyer Time-Slips Into Wartime, and the Anime Where Tank Battles Are a Martial Art for Girls

The manga is Zipang, and the anime is Girls und Panzer.