Sino-Korean War: Superhumans
"Precision strikes on the target zones by stealth aircraft have been completed. Significant damage has been inflicted on primary detection radars, runways, fuel depots, and the Northern Command headquarters."
Even as I listened to the report from the maid filling in for the Head Maid — who had just departed for the battlefield — I couldn't make heads or tails of what any of it meant.
No matter how hard I stared at the mountain of documents in front of me, none of it made sense!
I gathered it roughly meant they'd smashed the preemptive strike targets to pieces. Judging by her calm expression, they were doing just fine either way.
"What's next?"
"Twelve Hyunmoo-4 missiles will strike the logistics depots in southern Shenyang. Three Cheonmu artillery batteries will open fire on troop concentration points along the Yalu River. After that, the Maid Corps will make their assault, with the armored divisions advancing in their wake."
The way she pointed at the map and spoke might as well have been an alien language. But I was the Emperor, so I diligently set about decoding it.
What the maid was saying, essentially, was this:
"Tekeli-li!!!"
Perfectly understood!
So they were going to pour on the artillery and then jam ground forces into the gap.
"From now on, explain things a little more simply!"
"?"
— The front line, Yalu River border zone.
KRA-KRA-KRA-KRA!
The maids watched the rain of shells pouring through the pre-dawn darkness with utter composure. It was a bizarre sight — women in attire and of a profession wholly unsuited to a battlefield, each possessed of a beautiful, almost ethereal appearance.
KRAAAANG!
The moment the sustained barrage finally ceased, they kicked off the ground and ran at their commander's order.
"Nya! For His Majesty!"
In the still-dark hours of dawn, the first to cross the border were the beastkin maids, equipped with specialized armaments!
Without a single hesitant step, they charged toward the Promised Land of Manchuria.
Running across the river itself.
Only the weak needed bridges!
The first thing the Maid Corps encountered after crossing the Yalu was a defensive position constructed on the outskirts of Dandong. Lights flashed from within the fortifications. Forces that had survived the stealth aircraft's precision strikes and the artillery barrage were beginning to resist.
Even a place that had been thoroughly blanketed in shellfire still held remaining supplies and personnel.
"Enemy contact! First echelon, engage!"
Border defense brigades and rapid-response units of the Chinese People's Liberation Army Northern Theater Command raised their weapons atop the shattered wreckage. Surviving forward observation posts and radar stations locked onto the Maid Corps' infiltration coordinates, and fire missions were ordered.
"Target locked! Batteries One through Three, fire for effect!"
KRAAANG! BOOM!
Dozens of self-propelled howitzers and multiple-launch rocket systems belched flame. One-hundred-fifty-five-millimeter high-explosive shells and three-hundred-millimeter rockets rained steel and fire down upon the Maid Corps' projected breakthrough path. Massive explosions and a hail of shrapnel blotted out vision and shook the earth.
But the Maid Corps did not flinch.
Unit Commander Lulu shouted.
"Breakthrough!"
The maids raised palm-sized silver disc-shaped devices in unison and charged.
WUUUUM—!
Silver shields expanded large enough to cover their entire bodies and were thrust upward as one. They could only block direct hits from falling shells — but for these superhumans, that was more than enough.
The Maid Corps punched through the barrage and tore straight through the Chinese battle line they encountered.
"GYAAAAH!"
Infantrymen screamed as they were flung in every direction as though struck by a truck.
"FIRE!!!"
Tanks and machine guns spat flame at the command that rang out like a scream of its own.
BOOM! BOOM!
TAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!
Dodging tank shells — and sometimes charging them head-on — the Maid Corps closed the distance. Not a single one of them fell. It was not because so much of the Chinese equipment had been damaged by Korean artillery. This superhuman unit possessed the capability to smash through a fully intact Chinese defensive line. The shields were merely a means of reducing casualties even further.
"Y-you monster bitches!"
A soldier inside a tank ground his teeth and shrieked in terror.
"Aha?"
A maid with reddish-brown hair grinned, seized the tank right in front of her, and lifted it.
CLUNK!
Feeling the violent lurch of the chassis through his entire body, the tank crewman wailed.
"H-HYAAAAAH!"
The maid then hurled the multi-ton tank as casually as a toy.
KRAAANG!
It collided with another tank and completely collapsed; the crewman inside was killed instantly. The other maids were racking up similar results.
"Hiyah!"
A cute battle cry rang out as a slender hand lifted a tank like a plaything.
WHOOOOSH!
"Ghk—gaah."
"S-SAVE MEEEE!!!"
This maid simply swung the tank like a weapon, bowling over other tanks and soldiers like pins.
"Run!"
"Don't you dare run! Defend the motherland! Drive out those invaders!"
A commander screamed himself hoarse trying to rally the soldiers who had finally thrown down their guns and fled. Drawing his sidearm and shooting the cowards who ran, he tried to salvage his collapsing unit — and in doing so, drew the enemy's attention.
The result:
CRACK!
"Would you kindly die for our Emperor?"
Struck by a fist swung by the Head Maid — who wore a gentle smile — his head vanished without a trace. A head that burst like a firework. The hand that had detonated it remained pure white, without so much as a single stain.
The headless body convulsed and crumpled. The first force that had tried to stop Korea's surprise attack was completely shattered.
"That's cleaned up nicely. All right, everyone gather round!"
Under the Head Maid's smiling command, they reassembled and did not stop advancing.
"The Promised Land awaits us!"
"""Nya!"""
Manchuria, flowing with milk and honey, was waiting for them!
"...Yes. The Promised Land."
The Head Maid smiled quietly.
KRAAAAAANG!!!
The superhuman unit raced onward, scattering blood and oil, flesh and steel fragments. Everything that stood in their way was crushed in an instant. This outcome had been sealed the moment China canceled its superhuman force deployments.
"Stop them! STOP THEM!!!"
The Chinese army desperately scraped together everyone who had survived the artillery. And just as the Maid Corps confronted this second, ragged force, Korea's follow-up units arrived.
WHOOOOSH!
Seven streaks of brilliant color split the sky like a rainbow!
Parting the clouds, magical girls appeared — each clad in a frilled dress of a different hue. The girl at the lead, with scarlet twin-tails, winked one eye and cried out:
The other magical girls adjusted their stances and shouted in unison:
The elite magical girl unit of Korea
Radiant lights of every color bloomed outward. The magical girls had come flying for the sake of love and peace! — detonating every helicopter and fighter jet they spotted along the way.
This was the power that ruled the skies!
"...Crazy Gaoli bangzi bastards."
A Chinese soldier staring blankly at the sky spat a curse. These cruel, despicable villains! How could they say such a thing!
"Bad words! You're getting punished!"
A magical girl of justice in a yellow dress had heard that wicked utterance! The adorable girl puffed out her cheeks, spun her magic wand once in her hand, and cried out in a cute voice:
"Pure-Pure♡..."
⟨ Laser Beam! ⟩
A beam fired from that magic wand!
KRAAANG!
With a tremendous boom, the wicked human was reduced to chunks of meat scattered in every direction. Justice's punishment had been delivered upon the villain!
"Eek!"
One magical girl saw the result and screamed, her face crumpling. The blood and scraps of flesh sprayed everywhere had dealt her a psychological blow.
"It's getting all dirty! You have to clean them up neatly!"
"Ah, sorry. Then let's attack together!"
Even as they said this, they were under fire from the Chinese army — but the magical girls paid not the slightest attention to the shells raining down on them.
For the Magical☆Barrier was protecting them!
""Winds of Hope ☆ Twin Hurricane Attack!""
Two magical girls clasped one hand together, raised them high, and shouted in unison! This was a magical incantation — and the proper result followed.
The atmosphere itself moved.
WHOOOOOOSH—!
A ferocious wind appeared from nowhere and swept across the ground!
"HYAAAAH!"
"Run!"
A storm that ground people like a blender. The Chinese formation collapsed in an instant, and soldiers screamed as they fled in all directions.
But there were still magical girls with energy to spare.
"Go forth! Jirisan Moon Bear!"
Another magical girl hurled the teddy bear she'd been clutching to her chest and cried out. It was a Jirisan Asiatic black bear plushie — currently all the rage in Korea 3. Everyone carried one of these bear dolls close to their heart! Because that was what it meant to love nature and animals!
At any rate, by the time the teddy bear hit the ground, it had become a monster ten times the size of an ordinary bear.
GROOOOAR!!!
The non-murderous bear bellowed, raced across the earth on all fours, and closed in on the fleeing Chinese soldiers — at which point a linked spell activated!
"Pretty Magic"
⟨ Human-Bear Unity! ⟩
"Hah!"
Resonating with the Jirisan moon bear, the magical girl cute-ly balled her tiny fists and settled into a stance.
GRRRRR!
At the same moment, the Jirisan moon bear...
stood up on two legs upon the earth!
Pretty Magic!
Someday, a Killer Bear!
"Ei!"
GROOOOAR!
As the magical girl's fist swung, the Jirisan moon bear likewise threw a cute bear punch that turned a human into a bloody pulp.
KRAAAAAANG!!!
This was the power of a carefully raised bear! At last, it had become a killer bear!
Bears were meant to tear people apart. Preventing them from doing so was animal abuse. Freedom for bears!
"You lot haven't cleaned anything up at all."
Scarlet, the leader, sighed and cast a new spell to clean up after her comrades' mistakes.
"O flame that punishes evil! Race across the earth!"
Flame of Liberation
FWOOOOSH!
A colossal wave of flame rose from the ground. The roaring fire raced across the earth, burning every "evil" upon it — save for their allied maids. Armored vehicles, cover, tanks, and human beings. Everything burned and vanished cleanly. Only their screams lingered briefly in the air.
"Wow... Scarlet, that was amazing!"
"That's our leader for you!"
Above the ashes, the innocent magical girls giggled and marveled.
"Ladies! Would you mind tidying up the surroundings?"
At the Head Maid's words from the ground, Scarlet answered brightly.
"Yes! We'll purify evil while we fly!"
— Meaning they would destroy everything in the vicinity.
Before long, the massacre began.
The entire Korean population, which had snapped into wartime footing in an instant, was watching this broadcast.
After briefly receiving something and exchanging words, the announcer's declaration sent a roaring wave of cheers surging across the whole of Korea.
"WAAAAAAAH!"
In China, by contrast, silence and terror spread.
Online, countless acts of censorship were carried out in real time. Words like Yalu River, maid, magical girl, and Jirisan moon bear became forbidden terms, and every related post was deleted wholesale.
But no amount of scrubbing could stop the rumors and anxiety that spread like wildfire. In Manchuria, "attempts" at evacuation continued, and parents whose children were in the military waited desperately for any word.