The last few days has had the opposite trend of the preceding several days. Kantaria has made its might and capabilities at sea appreciably and painfully felt, and the populace has taken notice and is cheering our forces on. While the sensation of great urgency and impending conflict has returned in force, both the people and the military are less fearful of us losing such a decisive battle compared to last month. Of course, this has not been a period of only success for us, as some failures of ours were quite significant.

The Kantarian Grand Council has been unusually lethargic on the matter I brought before them days before- whether to drastically shorten the Resurgence Day Campaign and withdraw our ground forces back to our own soil. The main reason for this was such a decision would have a very negative effect on the morale of the alliance in general, as it would be a clear indication we were faring very badly as a result of the enemy alliance's exertions. We also didn't want to leave our ally to fight their adversary alone, even if their chief enemy was preoccupied with us. We didn't want to put our nation at risk of a military catastrophe, but we were also loathe to break from tradition. We also felt we needed more time to ponder the matter and wait for the results of various efforts of ours across Takomen. Thus, the council and I kept deferring a decision, while simultaneously suspending any substantial aerial or naval movements overseas and scaling back regular ground attacks while we decided and made adjustments at home.

Meanwhile, we were presented with more evidence we ought to pull back. We were attempting to either create or capitalize on an opportunity to seize a fortified island which was suitable for a forward naval base for a while. It seemed each time we had found a moment of weakness in the Wesitarians on our continent, the intel was wrong or we could not react in time. Our navy only yesterday was fully repaired after our failure to invade on the 5th. Additionally, Marietta was bombarded again and thus caused further damage and repair delays, though not nearly to the same extent as on the 4th. While we were moderately successful in our offensive on the Central Front, the enemy failed to respond to our provocations on the Western Front and thus we were denied an opportunity to maul their forces on open ground. Then we received conclusive intelligence that the enemy had renewed their aspirations to mount an offensive on our primary naval base in light of the severe losses we suffered on the ground and at sea.

We then communicated to the Likurians through our tardy arrival for a joint operation that we might not be well suited to continue helping them. Great demands for repairs to other ships, intermittent bombing, and overall exhaustion had caused major delays to repairs on even our flagship. Marshal Larien on the 8th strongly indicated we should not depart when we had intended and that he needed several hours. We had intended to arrive at the other continent in the early afternoon and assist with two major offensives. Instead, we left just in time to begin one, leaving the Likurians with the necessity of adjusting their first offensive with little notice. After leaving Marietta with much of our fleet and several marine divisions, our ship encountered major engine problems and we were forced to reduce our speed to 2/3 while repairs were made at sea. I was utterly frustrated with our inability to do anything as planned by this stage, and I ordered the engines to be overtaxed once repaired to make up for the majority of the lost time. We did arrive almost when we promised for the second stage and managed to adhere to landing and maneuver timetables this time, and we actually achieved greater success than we had expected. However, further system and sensor issues plagued us and we went through a frightening amount of ammunition to achieve those results. Luck as much as our strength and skill allowed us to achieve victory.


On the next day, neither I nor the council would decide whether to suspend the campaign on the Western Continent, even after the additional dissuasion. The Likurian Grand Council decided to intervene first ultimately. They expressed tremendous gratitude to our nation for pledging as much assistance as we did despite facing such adversity as 30 November came, and equally great praise of our military capabilities. They then absolved us from assisting them any further this year, urging us to not be so inflexible and magnanimous that we invite tragedy on our own soil. While they may have felt this way regardless, I have been told the same qualities that endear me to Kantarians endear me to enemy and ally alike. The Likurians fully trust I would send as many forces and assets as I deemed we could afford, and that it would be extremely difficult for me to support leaving early. They essentially did what I and my staff could not bring ourselves to do, and I was grateful and miserable simultaneously.

"They've decided the matter in our place, Perredine. I'm overjoyed they would give us such compliments, but I am about to cry at how saddening this is to hear." I remarked after hearing the televised proclamation. 

"They're allowing us to withdraw honorably and early. This is probably for the best, as I believe we would have done this ourselves pretty soon. I had voted for this action, mind you." he retorted sympathetically but objectively.

"I have not given up on continuing the campaign, but we do need to withdraw a field army or two. We haven't improved the situation here enough to get along without them, I think." I observed. "We also need to stop dividing our naval forces if we're to have much success on the coast."


Our fortunes started to improve after that moment. On 9 December I attended a series of meetings and rallies. Most of them were Kantarian military events, where I exhorted our troops and officers to continue doing their utmost as the seemingly inexorable decisive battle for Marietta approached. I engender a tremendous level of enthusiasm and trust in our troops naturally, and thus I am often asked by local commanders to come and address them. In the afternoon, I attended a meeting of senior Likurian military commanders at their behest. They informed me not only did they not expect us to aid them further barring a miracle, but that they would provide assistance if/when we ask it. They reiterated to me they are astounded we have managed to do this well in the face of such overwhelming force, and they feel if we hadn't both provoked and withstood a shift in priority they likely would have been overcome by now. Wesitaria continues to maintain a massive presence on the Eastern Continent, which means Likuria is not much endangered right now. They didn't commit any specific numbers, but they promised to do whatever they could to contribute to the anticipated fleet battles. This was far more than I had expected of them or dared ask, and I of course wept in front of all of them in gratitude, prompting good-natured comments of how we were all doomed since a prancer commands the KMO.


Our own senior staff started to contemplate offensive operations against Wesitarian naval forces and infrastructure and reactions to invasion attempts, and apprised me of what they discovered and conceived upon my return. Our naval forces finally were completely repaired after an utterly exhausting and sustained 100-hour effort by personnel all along both coasts, and special forces had discovered some information which could be used to our advantage here and there. Wesitarian redeployments to the other continent to respond to Likurian offensives further weakened their capabilities in some areas. We might be able to bombard with great effect warships and shipyards at several locations over the next day or two, both wounding the enemy before they can invade and restoring morale to forces which were not happy with our prolonged defensiveness. This last part was stressed by several officers, the need to do more at least at sea, as we supposedly have the best naval and marine force in the world yet have been attacked first numerous times in a row. If we don't have to continue the campaign abroad, we can be less defensive and assemble a sufficiently large force here for offensive AND defensive purposes. I fully agreed with them, but I and so many of the troops were in dire need of sleep and time to ourselves, so I stated we should finish deliberating tomorrow and in the meantime have the fleet and aerial forces make preparations.

On 10 December, the deployments and other preparations were completed. We had amassed a very sizable force for our offensive in a short span of time. We honestly hadn't given much thought to the idea of raiding infrastructure and were instead keeping our forces in reserve for whatever we ended up deciding to do. From our nation, over 300 warships, 1,300 naval aircraft, 1,000 hybrid aircraft, 700 heavy bombers (which was our whole heavy bomber force; we aren't suited for strategic-level warfare), and 1,300 interceptors were dedicated to the main assault force, most of which were sent against targets on our own continent. Likuria had deployed a fleet of 200 planes and 40 warships to our continent, but sent approximately a third of the number we had deployed here to the same purposes over there. Of course, I was aboard the Procyonidae since the bulk of our navy was committed to the efforts.


Well before dawn, generalized offensive action began on the sea and coasts. Much of the navy was directed to steer clear of Kalobol and instead bombard Bengarian warships and port installations at several locations, the remainder primarily acting as a shield and screening force against possible retaliatory assaults on Marietta. The warplanes of course were sent against various targets and to protect various locations and offensive clusters. Soon many naval installations and ships were on fire, though at significant cost to the initial waves. The visuals at several locations were awestriking, particularly before the sun rose. The number of explosions and energy cannon beams due to the scale of a few of these engagements made a beautiful show for those able to ignore the lethal and destructive purposes and effects of such operations and equipment. Such scenes inspired a brief period of regretful contemplation, a tendency that has displeased a fair number of officers.

"There are so many bombs and planes exploding right now, and the ships will soon be heavily engaged. This will continue over a day or two, and then there will likely be the enormous fleet battles at some point which we hope to at least not lose. Imagine how much of our industry went into making all of this, rather than into advancing our societies." I lamented to Perredine.

"While the war seems necessary to resolve some political and national problems which would just fester otherwise, it does limit our planet's development. But we probably should discuss the societal impacts later and focus on this and our troops. I suspect you already knew this." Perredine wisely responded.

For the first part of the day we had the advantage, the enemy seeming to be confused and unprepared and thus not responding very robustly. As the shells and missiles and the like in great quantities fell upon the Bengarians primarily, the Kantarian populace was alerted to the conflagrations happening. Our technology is such that the news has little trouble televising scenes from naval and aerial battles, and my countrypeople witnessed many enemy objects exploding, that and the development we had finally taken to the offensive making they euphoric. People who were not essential to the war effort actually took off work in great numbers just to watch our adroit military and celebrate like it was a sporting event. While I am far too pensive and empathetic to be so enthusiastic about such things, I certainly cannot blame them for being overjoyed our naval forces were actually attacking first like they're supposed to. 

The enemy alliance more meaningfully responded by the afternoon, fully mobilizing what assets they could to counter us. At points on the 10th and 11th we came under great counterattack, and on one or two occasions it seemed our fleets might be turned back as they collided with the enemy equivalents. Ultimately, each counterattack by the combined forces was insufficient to drive us to retreat, and our sustained bombardments thus continued for a staggering 48 hours. The attacks overseas by the Likurians abated sooner, but they much contributed to the destruction and the division of the Wesitarian forces. We had set half of the Western Coast naval military and industrial bases on fire by the evening of the 11th, many sites still burning when we withdrew to repair and resupply. 

The offensive raged for so long uninterrupted that the Procyonidae and many other warships had to return to port facilities twice for resupply before the end, and a third after the navy in general was too exhausted to safely continue. I contacted Marshal Larien and asked if there was a way of rapidly resupplying ships in the field. His response was essentially, "In combat zones? Sure, if you are fine with tons of ammunition suddenly exploding either aboard the transports or within the warships. No, you need to come here or at least withdraw from battle, and even then this is very inefficient and dangerous." Thus I had as many ships as possible return to Narenda to resupply, though the ships most likely to need resupply were the capital vessels doing the constant long-range bombardment. 

We put into use for the first time a new naval weapon of war, heeding the advantages the Wesitarians derive from stealth technology. We developed a torpedo which is fired as a missile, but dives into the water some distance from the target and then becomes a regular high-yield torpedo. Before this they were dropped from warplanes or fired from warships well within artillery ranges, or we just fired missiles instead. I decided to name these Long-Lance, a name the Terran nation-state of Japan long ago gave their excellent (at the time, anyway) equivalents. Not many were fired, but often those that were fired well before the start of artillery duels found their mark. Once we located their leviathan, we fired off about 10 of them from our flagship, and 5 (including one nuclear) struck theirs to good effect. 

After deeming we could no longer sustain this constant offensive late on 11 December, the fleets were recalled to their home ports entirely so crews could sleep and the ships resupply. The Procyonidae returned to Marietta in a condition barely any worse than before. Lucien was notified of my impending arrival, and thus repeated his performance of the 4th, only this time on the flagship's bridge (apparently everyone knows I sleep with him and let him pass).

"Everyone's been talking about all the naval attacks since yesterday! Have we finally gotten them back for attacking our base and scaring me?!" he exclaimed after jumping into my arms without any warning.

"How did you get in here?" I inquired as I regained my balance, "But, yes, we have. We blew up a lot of their stuff. Taneru even complimented us before her ship and mine fired at each other."

"Yay! Are you going to blow up more things? Why can't I be on the bridge when you go out on missions? I wanna watch from here!" the pubescent male cub excitedly transmitted.

"Not tonight, but possibly tomorrow. Even winning is very tiring, Lucien. And, because no cub should be on a warship while in combat." 

"You said it's really safe here, though!"

"Yes, but... Something might go wrong. And cubs shouldn't be involved in warfare, anyway. Don't you get enough through gaming?"

"Watching from here would be more exciting, though! I could also help you when you're yiffy!"

"I don't get yiffy when we're being shot at. Not usually, anyway. Anyway, now I'm getting an erection. Do I have to carry you all the way to my quarters, otterboi?"

As I was too tired to get off the ship after we pleasured each other, we simply slept together aboard the Procyonidae overnight. Neither of us remembered to contact his parents, but apparently one of my staff on their own volition did so instead. I was not aware my carnal activities were so obvious to that many people. Also, I did have to carry him all the way to my quarters, though being in excellent shape made that not as strenuous as it could have been.

The enemy response overall has been to sustain and intensify their bombardment of our industrial sectors, which is starting to have effects even on our protected capacity. While the industrial and economic officers and civilian ministers report we can improve our nation in those regards over the next few months in meaningful ways, this is going to be offset by destruction to our factories and the need to replace them and other things. Our nation needs more capacity going towards our civilian sector rather than less urgently, but this seems to not be possible until we cause enough damage in tactical and operational battles to force them to shift enough capacity to replacement. Sooner or later, either they will run out of bombs or strategic bombers, though the damage they will cause in the meantime will likely be considerable.

Yesterday and today our naval and aerial forces have resumed offensive operations in earnest. The leviathans of both nations briefly exchanged fire with each other, the might of each one rather insignificant compared to the number and strength of all weapons of war involved in these operations. Naval infrastructure of the enemy has been further degraded, though ours has been damaged somewhat in response. Wesitaria is having significant problems sending sufficient naval strength to block our advances, as they are also fighting the Likurians who are also on the offensive. We've thus taken comparatively little damage in response and Marietta hasn't been struck at all since last week. Bengarian naval forces are alone too few in number to stop us, though they have tried repeatedly. 

Our land forces on the Central Front have also started moving, breaking through the enemy lines and taking some territory and prisoners. As we can't resupply them as well right now and that is not our primary focus, our goals are moderate. We don't expect to be at the Kotorei River at all before February at the earliest, demands on capacity elsewhere are so great. On the Eastern Front, our units continue to sit quietly within the forest, neither we nor the Bengarians daring to open up another front while so much violence and demand is transpiring on the other two. Eastern Combatant Command has tried to carry out my wishes, but have stated repeatedly unless they see a great opportunity to exploit or are promised higher rates of supply, attacking would be foolhardy. 

The strategic officers have come together to discuss the current offensive and the aspirations to seize a site for a new naval fortress shortly afterwards. We have burned through our naval ordnance stockpiles at frightening rates to sustain this. While our doctrine is to keep the navy adequately supplied at all costs, at this rate we will run out of ordnance by the end of the week at the latest. Of course, our facilities, networks, and personnel are hideously overworked while they have to both resupply and repair the entire navy, and we cannot keep up with this rate of attrition. There are several sites we can land at which would be geographically far better than Marietta, but this would require a prolonged naval bombardment and then a costly marine assault over days or even weeks. As happy as the military and population are for our progress, the truly impactful operations might not actually be possible for a month or more, or even at all. The enemy also may well decide to make a full assault on Marietta to buttress their flagging morale, which they will likely decisively lose but will likely be costly for us as well.

We have decided we need to review the progress made over the remainder of this offensive before making a decision on where and when to send marines. Between the start and the expected end, only the relative quietude of the ground on our continent keeps us from having to reinstate our former mobilization edicts on a population which has mostly settled back into the new requirements after weeks of heightened volunteerism. We are not far from having to demand such sacrifice again to replace materiel losses, so either they will fall or output must rise.