Greater Akitsukuni Empire
The Greater Akitsukuni Empire is displayed in the dark, burgundy red.
Emperor Kichirou meeting with a diplomatic party from Edoniras, surrounded by his aides.
The Greater Akitsukuni Empire is a Constitutional Monarchy, headed by an Emperor or Empress depending on gender. Their power is checked by the Imperial Diet, which is in turn split into the House of Representatives (Made up of officials elected by all males of native Akitsukuni birth and blood) and the House of Peers (Made up of the Kazoku, a class analogous to the nobility of Edoniras). Despite this, the government swears up and down that the Emperor (Or Empress, though there has never been one yet) has absolute power. In practice, however, the Imperial Diet tends to make decisions for the Emperor; he just pushes his seal down on the paper when they tell him to. This is because, if one digs through the constitution enough, they will find that the Emperor has absolute power because the Imperial Diet allows it. It could be argued that this means the Imperial Diet is capable of overthrowing the Emperor on a whim, and it is likely that they have used that interpretation to keep the Emperor in their pocket. However, the people of Akitsukuni love their Emperor and see members of the Imperial Diet as his servants-thanks to Imperial propaganda saying just that.
An Akitsukuni 1 Enkei banknote, circa 2440 Suizei (1860 in Common Era)
The economy of Akitsukuni is very much maritime in nature, due to their location. They have a long history of trade-and war-with mainland Algaesia. Such interactions have, over the years, closely intertwined the economies of Akitsukuni and the rest of Algaesia. Of particular importance is the economy of the land known as Samhan, which is located on the peninsula to the northeast of Akitsukuni. Ever since Samhan was conquered after the introduction of flintlock weapons to Akitsukuni, the more industrial economy Akitsukuni has relied heavily upon Samhan food imports. As a result, Samhan-despite their early introduction to the Empire-is by far the least advanced.
The part of the Empire above Samhan-known as Jurchea-is exploited heavily much like Samhan and other Akitsukuni Imperial conquests. However, its inhabitants are "favored" by the Emperor and Imperial Diet alike due to the high concentrations of Blue Coal (Not to mention normal coal) that are found in the Hing'an Mountain Range. Akitsukuni itself is very resource-poor, and relies entirely on the mineral resources extracted from the Hing'an Mountains to fuel its industry and military. Were they to be cut off from this supply, they would effectively be thrown back into the pre-industrial age.
Akitsukuni itself is heavily industrialized in some places, while others are still very much agricultural areas. The area surrounding the capital city of Wakagami is the most industrialized part of the whole land, with the southern area being covered in farmland. Ezochi, the area at the very north of Akitsukuni, is the only part of the seat of the Empire that has any kind of important resources besides food or industry. Before the acquisition of the Hing'an Mountains, it was the only (rather meager) source of blue coal-and coal in general-in the Empire. It also happens to have an extensive economic relationship with Jurchea, and Jurchean miners are reqularly brought to Ezochi mines. Furthermore, native Ezochi-known as the Ezo-are considered on-par with pureblood Akitsukuni, and are often brought to Jurchea to supervise mines there.
The Empire attempts to stay as self-sufficient as possible, but has to import a sizable amount of blue coal in order to keep its industry running, as the vast majority of domestically-produced blue coal is used up by the military. This has, of course, led to members of the Imperial Diet calling for the acquisition of more lands rich in the resource.
Akitsukuni culture is heavily rooted in the concept of honor... though not quite in the way one might think. Bravery is highly valued, and to run away from a fight is to betray your country, your family, and yourself. At the same time, however, unannounced attacks and other such "underhanded" tactics are often completely acceptable. This, as one might expect, has the potential to lead to quite a few rather important miscommunication between Akitsukuni and western powers.
Those who are "pure" Akitsukuni-that is, those from the mainland-are fiercely nationalistic. They believe that every attempt must be made to preserve the culture of Akitsukuni, and to ensure that the Empire never falls to foreign influences. This nationalism also translates to a belief in the superiority of the Akitsukuni people, with the general consensus being that they must take up the burden of protecting the rest of Algaesia. As is so common in such Empires, however, that "burden" amounts to how difficult it is to keep the exploited locals in line. Even though everyone knows what they're doing, they continue to swear that their actions are perfectly justified. Just like most imperialists, they're great at lying to themselves.
It is worth noting that they are extremely patriarchal, more so than many Edoniran cultures. This is the result of both extreme conservatism and the spread of ideals from other Algaesian cultures to Akitsukuni. While in some Edoniran nations, woman can hold rather important positions in society, no woman in Akitsukuni will ever be seen doing much else than serving a man. This submissiveness is often interpereted by foreigners as the men simply suppressing any abilities a woman might have aside from those needed to serve men, however, this is where yet another apparent contradiction in their culture lies. During the earlier years of the Empire, when different houses did battle constantly, women were often expected to defend themselves (or, in rarer cases, their husbands) if needed. This has resulted in the "Ideal woman" of Akitsukuni never talking back to a man, yet being fully capable of killing said man. This is especially evident in the higher classes, where women are often taught how to use traditional-and sometimes even modern-weaponry. Still, one will never, ever find a woman in the military.
The Empire has a fairly standard organization structure for its armed forces, splitting them up into the Army (Dai-Akitsukuni Teikoku Rikugun) and the Navy (Dai-Akitsukuni Teikoku Kaigun) with a few specialized substructures for each. The Army, for example, controls various special operations groups along with most of the Empire's small aircraft, while the Navy holds domain over airships and its own smaller aircraft. Both tend to compete over resources quite a bit, since both want high-quality steel and blue coal. Currently, supplies are split more or less evenly. However, this could change quickly if a war was declared on an overseas nation.
The Army, in contrast to the Navy, uses entirely indigenous equipment. Their weapons, their aircraft, their tanks, their mechs-all are designed and built within the Empire. They have adapted bolt-action rifle designs from Edoniras, and has also developed their own fully automatic weapon: the Nariakira Gun (named after the legendary gun designer that invented it). It utilizes the popular technique of using the recoil of the weapon to reload itself, in a similar fashion to most fully automatic weaponry found in Edoniras. The weapon-and its many variants-have even been mounted on armored vehicles in order to better support advancing infantry.
Armored vehicles in the Empire are, as one would expect, focused on supporting advancing infantry rather than breaking through to assault enemy positions alone. As a result of this doctrine as well as the identity of their enemies, Imperial vehicles are rarely designed to fight enemy vehicles of similar design. Though they are equipped with large cannons, they use exclusively high-explosive shells. Armor-piercing shells are on hand, for obvious reasons, but are decisively inferior to those of other nations.
Though the Empire generally prefers to use tracked and pedrail vehicles, there is no denying the important role that "Walker-style" tanks are an important part of their military. Such vehicles tend to be tall, lumbering beasts that slowly advance with the infantry. Their main advantage comes from their height, as they are able to clear out trenches with near impunity using their underside-mounted Nariakira Guns. However, that is far from their most intimidating feature: the cannon housed in the main turret. It is usually used to fire explosive shells into enemy lines, however, it is also the most effective anti-tank weapon developed by the Empire. Its extremely large caliber allows it to deliver more powerful explosive shells, while also giving it a rather effective armor penetration effect. In fact, the walker tank (known as the Type 38 Mechanical Infantryman, or simply the "Mech 38") was specifically designed with anti-tank warfare in mind, sporting a single rotating turret which mounts both a second full-auto gun and the main cannon.
The Imperial Navy, meanwhile, has a doctrine which aims towards a far more basic level than that of infantry support vehicles and the like: Quality over quantity. Due to the fact that it was formed before the Empire had fully industrialized, it has relied on high-quality materials and construction to protect the homeland. High-quality construction here (regrettably) meaning foreign construction. Most of its battleships were constructed in Edoniras, then bought by the Empire. Recently, however, it has begun to produce its own vessels.
Though it, like all other Navies, was primarily a maritime endeavor, it has found itself in command of numerous aircraft. Such craft are mostly the ingeniously designed aerial strike craft carriers, which take advantage of the dirigible's large size to carry numerous smaller aircraft with which to strike enemy airships and ground targets. Such aircraft are, out of necessity, designed to be able to hover in midair to return to their mothership. As such, they can also function as tail-sitter aircraft if they must takeoff and land on the ground.
The Navy also fields other, more traditional airship designs, which are armed with smaller naval guns for puncturing the gas bags of enemy aircraft. Some designs will have larger weapons on the bottom of the vessel to act as air-to-ground artillery, though such vessels are generally larger and more expensive to field due to higher lift requirements. No non-dirigible designs are used, as it is believed that a non-rigid airship would be completely worthless in combat and nightmarishly hard to repair.
Finally, the smaller wing-lifted aircraft all follow a similar design. Most are tail-sitters with a set of two propellers situated in the center of the fuselage, with two wings situated behind the propeller, each having two finds with a rudder on them sticking up (or down) from them. All are, of course, powered by a steam engine burning blue coal. Exhaust is let out mainly through a small hole in the very back of the craft, but most newer planes have the ability to feed the steam exhaust back through to the water tank, thus allowing greater range and giving off less obvious plumes. It is common for aircraft to exploit their steam propulsion, and planes can often be seen dipping close to the ground to lay smoke for advancing troops. When supporting ground forces, the most common tactic is to perform a simple strafing run using a mounted Nariakira gun. However, many variants exist which allow for the dropping of small bombs. The Navy also has at its disposal a number of torpedo bombers, which are capable of attacking enemy surface vessels without risking an expensive airship.
The main upside to Imperial aircraft designs is the fact that they are highly maneuverable, thanks to their quadruple tails and dual-wing design. They also have the advantage of being able to be launched without a long runway, though downsides include high maintenance costs due to their tail-sitting design. If a force of Akitsukuni light aircraft are cut off from supply lines or mechanics, failures caused by an overabundance of moving parts will make them completely worthless after perhaps even a single battle, throwing out the ability to refuel on the go that other aircraft tend to have. This also makes them hard to land with even light damage, so many a pilot will head back to base for repairs after a firefight only to lose control on final approach and crash. Finally, if one managed to disable one of the craft's propellers, it will be thrown into a spin if its throttle is set high enough.
A depiction of Emperor Suizei, the first ruler of the Akitsukuni Empire
The Akitsukuni Empire is traditionally said to have been founded by emperor Suizei approximately 2,440 years ago. According to legend and traditional texts, the royal family line has not once been broken. Whether or not this is actually true is an unanswered question, but there is not one person in the Empire who will say otherwise... and there is not once person in the Empire who will not try to convince a foreigner that it is true.
Despite this widely-accepted legend, for much of those two and a half thousand years, the Akitsukuni homeland was a highly decentralized state. An Emperor claimed to rule over it, but in reality, the daimyo of the nation's feudal system essentially controlled their own countries, fighting each other for rule over their lands. However, in all this time (according to tradition, that is), the Emperor was never defeated by any uprising or foreign attack.
Over the years, the feudal empire continued its infighting, though also began its long relationships with its neighboring countries. Many wars were fought with Samhan, none of which ended in a major victory for either side. Neither managed to gain any territory, and often simply lost the fleet they had tried to invade with. Akitsukuni legends speak of great storms that would suddenly appear when an enemy fleet approached the mainland, tearing apart the ships and killing the soldiers to protect the homeland. Official policy states that each such storm was a real event that occurred, and it is backed up by Samhan accounts of them.
For much of its existence, Akitsukuni has been isolated to the rest of the world thanks to how unsuccessful its wars with neighboring countries were. However, there is evidence that trade brought customs from other countries in Algaesia to Akitsukuni. The most obvious being the presence of foreign religions, which are often practiced alongside the indigenous religion of Kami-no-michi. Perhaps the most readily available evidence is the fact that the writing of the indigenous language and that of Shina (a formerly extremely powerful nation on mainland Algaesia, now reduced to an insignificant nation due to its failure to industrialize) are almost exactly the same. Clothing, social norms, and the indigenous religion are all claimed to be 100% from Akitsukuni by the government.
It was only rather recently that Akitsukuni opened up to the world once again, and it only came into contact with Edoniran civilization a couple hundred years ago. Oddly enough, during those early years of interaction, the peoples of Akitsukuni apparently bought the colonial attitude of Edoniran's being a superior race hook, line, and sinker. Intellectuals even debated bringing in Edoniran citizens, so as to "Increase the status of the Akitsukuni race". At the same time, however, they refused to accept Edoniran culture, technology, and least of all, rule.
Inevitably, this led to whiplash on a nationwide scale. After the "modern" and "popular" view of Akitsukuni as a nation that had to learn from the Edonirans had fully disappeared (which took about a couple years), a nationalist movement took its place. The doctrine of which said that the Akitsukuni were equal to the Edonirans, and that they had to take on Edoniran technology while retaining their own culture-and race. A feudal state, of course, could not accomplish this. Thusly, the greatest shift in power in Akitsukuni history occurred.
The Kichirou Restoration, named after the Emperor who presided over it, dismantled the feudal state. It established the Imperial Diet, and put the power in the hands of the Emperor. With this new, more centralized government, Akitsukuni began to industrialize extremely quickly. No expenses were spared to get factories built, and the same is easily said for new, armored ships. They went from early flintlocks produced by well-trained gunsmiths to mass-produced bolt action rifles within a few years, and by the time the momentum of their own little Industrial Revolution had slowed, they could match many Edoniran nations in industrial power.
With their newfound strength, they shocked Algaesia by once again marching on Samhan after a century of not interfering. Da Nanguo-being allied with them-intervened on Samhan's side. The continent expected Akitsukuni to be obliterated by the alliance. After all, they hadn't been able to take Samhan, and with the monster that was Da Nanguo, they were severely outnumbered. Da Nanguo and Samhan lost their enthusiasm for the war before the troops even landed, when their cannonballs simply bounced off the armor of newly-bought Edoniran ironclads. The invasion was swift and decisive, with the war being pushed to the border between Samhan and the Da Nanguo within two months. Samhan still refused to officially surrender, their government fleeing to the capital of Da Nanguo with the expectation that their homeland would soon be liberated.
They expected wrong.
Akitsukuni forces, armed with their significantly more advanced technology, swept into the southern parts of Jurchea and forced Da Nanguo to sign a treaty which recognized Akitsukuni control over Samhan. Out of fear, it was accepted. Still, they did not back down. A mere couple of years later, Da Nanguo troops marched on fortifications across the border. The battles were long and bloody, but in the end, Da Nanguo broke through the forts and began to make gains while Akitsukuni forces retreated. It was then that forces from Akitsukuni itself landed in samhan, bolstering the numbers of the forces already there and pushing Da Nanguo back to the border once again.
This time, however, the Empire refused to stop. The prevailing attitude in Akitsukuni was that Da Nanguo had to be taught a lesson, and so the Army pushed further and further into Da Naguno territory. After months of bloody fighting, they finally allowed Da Naguno to surrender, and forced them to give up Jurchea. The blue coal extracted from the Empire's newly-gained territory was used in both military and civilian roles alike, with many factories adopting it in order to increase production. Now they stand strong and united-a rather large departure from their historical role of being the quiet old man of the east-ready to expand their influence by whatever means necessary.
The Emperor has taken three wives at this point in an attempt to produce a male heir to ensure his family's continued rule. This is not uncommon knowledge in the Imperial Diet, and it is starting to split between the elected officials and the Kazoku. Both know that, if the Emperor fails to produce a male heir, they will have a chance to take full control. However, while they are competing against each other, they are also fighting within themselves. After all, there cannot be a dozen Emperors.
