Battle of Dover Strait

The Battle of Dover Strait was a battle between the magical forces of the United Kingdom and France which occurred in the Strait of Dover during World War III.

Background
The histories of the United Kingdom and France have long been intertwined, and there has been animosity and conflict between them at various times in the past, both on the surface and on the more hidden magic side.

In recent years, France and the other countries in the European Union had been pressuring and isolating the United Kingdom, guided by the influence and backing of the Roman Catholic Church. The tense situation between the two countries became even more precarious in October with the Eurotunnel bombing (secretly done by the French government using a spell based on the House of Loreto, manipulated by the church under Fiamma of the Right) and the Sky Bus 365 terrorist incident (carried out by a French anti-English terrorist group believing the UK to be responsible for the bombing and the negative effect on the French economy), cutting the UK's supply lines. This was followed by Carissa's coup d'état attempt on the morning of October 18th, later known as the British Halloween, during which Carissa sank a French nuclear submarine, hidden in the Strait of Dover with a nuclear missile aimed at London, and threatened the French president with retaliatory military action, with a destroyer equipped with Bunker Clusters dispatched to the strait.

On October 18th, the same day as the failed coup d'état, Russia gave an ultimatum to Academy City, due to Fiamma's manipulation of the Russian Orthodox Church, with World War III beginning the next day. Due to its friendly relations with Academy City, the United Kingdom was also threatened. France was the only country in Europe that could make a genuine magical attack on the UK, and was influenced to do so by the growth achieved from the protection of the Roman Catholic Church, as well as an opportunity to put an end to historical and magical antagonism between the two countries. There was also the matter of the United Kingdom being likely to use France as a stepping stone in order to interfere in Russia.

The Strait of Dover, being the narrowest part of the, is an important point for both forces seeking to invade the United Kingdom and British forces seeking to reach the continent. The 30km wide crossing has frequently seen conflict whenever the relationship between Britain and France has soured in the past, and as such, given the circumstances of the war, it was inevitable that a clash would occur there before long.

British Forces
The British forces involved in the battle were a mix of Anglicans and knights. Aside from protecting the United Kingdom from invasion and preventing the conflict from spreading there, they also intended to reach Russia in order to interfere with Fiamma's machinations.

Most of the primary battle members of Necessarius were dispatched to the Strait of Dover, including the Amakusa Church led by their Saint Kanzaki Kaori, and the Agnese Forces, who were formerly part of the Roman Catholic Church and had intimate knowledge of how they fought. The Anglicans rode a large number of 100m long wooden sailing ships, magically reinforced to be quick and tougher than a battleship. These ships played a major role in the plans which Kanzaki and the others had devised before the battle, with over 50% of those plans depending on them.

The knights were under the command of the Knight Leader and Second Princess Carissa. While seemingly at a disadvantage outside the United Kingdom's borders, they had two secret weapons; the Mobile Fortress Glastonbury, which forcibly designated the area within 10km of itself as part of the United Kingdom, allowing for power from the Curtana Second to be supplied to the knights, and shards from the Curtana Second itself, chipped off during the previous clash with the Curtana Original and later collected by Carissa. The Knight Leader's Thororm's Defense Formula could also neutralize the majority of the enemy's weapons (with the exception of Durandal).

French Forces
The French forces had a considerable numerical advantage, with 1000 magicians just in the initial wave, used to gauge the strength of the British forces. However, while many of them had legitimate strength, aside from the commander, there weren't any magicians among the army with outstanding capabilities or in special positions such as a Saint, capable of dealing a deciding blow, with Carissa describing them as having no individuality.

Lacking notable individuals, they instead used a large number of spiritual items provided by the Roman Catholic Church to augment their strength. These ranged from typical single-person weapons such as staffs and cups to odd tank-like weapons with giant swords instead of gun barrels and armor resembling parts from a suit of armor. As well as Roman Catholic based magicians, there was also Christian knight-based magic mixed in amongst the army (observing this during the battle, Carissa and the Knight Leader reckoned that such knights would probably be Charlemagnic or perhaps the remnants of the Knights of Orléans).

The commander and tactician of the French forces was the Maiden of Versailles, a powerful and intelligent magician of a special disposition characteristic to France. She was thought to be confined to her palace in, having supposedly been imprisoned and modified by the fearful French government, only able to attack via long distance attacks which lose power over distance, but this was actually a ruse, with the Maiden intending to take to the battlefield personally and wielding Durandal, a sword using national spells in a similar way to the Curtana.

World War III Arc
In the early stages of the battle, the French forces used a salt manipulation spell to solidify the ocean's surface, robbing the Anglican's ships of their maneuverability and giving themselves a foothold. Immediately afterwards, an initial wave of over 1000 magicians ran straight across the salt from the French border. Over half of the strategy that the Anglicans had planned was useless without the ships and the surface was unstable to them, leaving them at risk of falling through into the sea if they dropped down from the stationary ships. However, Carissa's unit soon placed a film-like coating over the salt to give the Anglicans a proper foothold, allowing them to fight properly.

The Anglicans were able to push forward despite the numerical disadvantage, though they weren't able to completely repel the French forces, augmented by spiritual items supplied by the Roman Catholic Church. The knights were initially on the defensive, focused on protecting Carissa, however the appearance of the Mobile Fortress Glastonbury allowed for power from the Curtana Second to be supplied to the knights, enabling them to go on the offensive. Long distance attacks with lightning, apparently from the Maiden of Versailles, were launched at Carissa during the advance but these were largely ineffective.

Eventually, the Maiden of Versailles herself took to the battlefield, wielding Durandal, and attacked Carissa, who revealed the Curtana Second shards in her possession, chipped off from the sword during the clash of Curtanas, and used a sword of light produced by a fragment to fight the Maiden.

The battle continued until certain details emerged from Russia, including information on the Kremlin Report, which allowed Carissa to convince the Maiden of Versailles to put an end to their hostilities and switch their focus towards Fiamma of the Right.

Trivia

 * There were two naval battles during World War I which have both been referred to as the, in and.
 * In the anime, the design of the sailing ships used by the Anglicans is that of the 17th-18th century.