Revisit Azur Lane

"Combat command? Hmm, I understand. I will assist you."

Without giving himself any time to think, Zhou He agreed immediately: He believed that Yorktown's self-doubting personality stemmed from her lack of self-confidence. Rather than the previous useless chatter, a more direct way to change her was to make Yorktown do something similar to a company—to be invincible.

His ship's sortie win rate is very close to this number. As for battle command, he has a god's-eye view and can repair his own ship girls' injuries from a distance indefinitely. As long as he doesn't make too many mistakes or the number of enemies is too exaggerated, he will basically not be defeated. So he is very confident, just like Kaga.

"Thank you!"

Upon receiving the reply, the gloom between Yorktown's brows vanished completely, and even his eyes brightened considerably. His gentle smile, in turn, infected Zhou He as well. Zhou He stepped forward and gently patted Yorktown's shoulder, saying slowly in the wide eyes of the bystander, Harman, "As long as I am here, you will never be defeated."

"Ok!"

Yorktown was convinced of this and left with a satisfied expression, accompanied by Harman, who was making faces at Zhou He, to rejoin the main force.

"Psychological problems."

Zhou He raised his hand and tapped his head. Yorktown's problem was a bit serious, but its nature was relatively simple and it was easy to deal with.

There wasn't much time to think before someone else came to her door. It was Shoukaku. She explained her purpose, which was to hand over command of the vanguard to Jintsu so that she could focus on combat and intelligence gathering.

"Okay, I approve."

Zhou He still trusted Shen Tong, and then he smiled jokingly: "Why don't you let Jia He give it a try?"

"Yes..."

Knowing that Zhou He was joking with her, Shoukaku still analyzed it seriously: "Kaga-senpai has unexpectedly little practical experience, and she is currently obsessed with Tosa, so she cannot concentrate and is not suitable for commanding operations at the moment."

Objectively speaking, Shoukaku didn't pin the blame for the First Carrier Division on Kaga BB because she had witnessed the true nature of the First Carrier Division. Only when facing such villains could she feel at ease mocking them. She couldn't bring herself to speak disrespectfully to her own honest Kaga BB.

"That makes sense. Let's talk about it another time."

Zhou He nodded, and after their conversation, he saw Xianghe off.

Afterwards, Hood and Bismarck also came over to confirm the situation with Zhou He. Once they were sure everything was correct, the entire crew set sail.

Chapter 150 Active and Passive

As usual, Zhou He watched everyone disappear into the distance. He glanced at the rising tide, took a few steps back, turned around, and stepped onto the gradually drying and sparse grass. He opened the system interface, selected the 0102 aircraft carrier docked outside the bay from the dock, and moved it to positions on the east and south sides. Then he began to check the situation on the sortie map.

The areas he has explored to the east are District 4, District 3 to the south, District 4 to the west, and District 5 to the north. He is exploring based on the map he obtained from the Second Port Area. He has only recorded up to District 5 to the north, but the other three directions are all around District 8 when converted into system sections. His exploration to the north will also extend to around District 8.

Therefore, the most dangerous area in this exploration is the Siren base in the western fourth district, while the area that will most likely bring new intelligence is the northern area that Hood is in charge of.

After confirming that the scattered sirens on the map would not cause trouble for his ship girls' travel, he began his own work—conducting terrain reconnaissance.

"First, there are the locations where the 'headquarters' of the Royal Navy, Sakura Empire, and Eagle Union factions were built."

After returning to the command post, Zhou He made a strategic turn and first came to the vicinity of the Iron Blood Mansion. He inspected the courtyard and, even though he had already visited inside, looking through the wall felt different; it was very grand!

As for the location of the Royal Compound, after taking into account the rivalry between Bismarck and Hood, he decided to place it to the west of the Iron Blood Mansion, on the same level, but closer to the sea. It was expected that after completion, it could share the same road with the Command Building.

"If Hood agrees, we can also expand and develop this area."

Thinking to himself, Zhou He picked up a few relatively round stones from the beach and threw them onto the lawn where he had chosen a spot. He glanced at the open area that led all the way to the mountainside, and then started walking back with satisfaction. To the west of the command post, he found two more open spaces to be used as locations for the White Eagle and Sakura Empire headquarters.

"..."

After the reconnaissance was completed, Zhou He returned to the command post alone, poured himself a glass of water, and went up to his office on the third floor. He briefly noted down a few locations that seemed promising, then leaned back in his chair and focused his attention on the teams that were already located on the boundary between Zone 1 and Zone 2. He couldn't help but click his tongue and say, "Traveling takes too much time."

He had this feeling a long time ago. The areas near the port were fine, but the further out you went, the longer it took to travel back and forth, and the heavier the burden on your ship girls became.

"We need to take down that Siren base as soon as possible."

Zhou He narrowed his eyes. His port area was certainly safe, but if he wanted to expand, he needed to have a support point outside. Even the base in the north that was not recognized by the system had its value.

However, for him at this stage, it is still too early to conquer the entire Siren base. He can only start from another aspect - such as building some fast sea transportation to reduce travel time.

'A patrol boat specializing in speed.'

Zhou He tapped his fingers lightly on the armrest of the chair, then jotted down his thoughts in his notebook. After finishing, he got up and left the office, tidied up the bedding that had been rolled up in a mess by Yuudachi, went downstairs to feed the half-tamed red fox, went into the kitchen to make some snacks, carried them out on a plate, and went to the industrial area of ​​the dock. He found Akashi and Lingmin, who were busy and excited, in the operating production workshop.

"So, how is the Builder's body? Is it helpful to your research?"

As Zhou He entered, he glanced at the blankets piled in the corner and clicked his tongue in amazement. No wonder he hadn't seen these two early this morning; they had slept right here. With such enthusiasm, the Builder's mecha must be of very high quality.

"commander!"

Zhou He's question only made things worse, as his words immediately drew the attention of Lingmin, whose eyes gleamed. Dressed in a research lab coat, she grabbed a handful of blueprints from the workbench and shoved them at Zhou He, her face beaming with excitement: "Although the Sirens are enemies, I have to admit their technology is incredibly advanced. The materials they use have parameters far exceeding anything I've ever seen in similar materials, and their internal structures are also quite different from what I know... In terms of mechanical and physical research, the Sirens' technology and scientific theories are probably at least three hundred years ahead of my time; they're products of completely different levels."

"Aba Aba."

Zhou He found Lingmin's report as if he were listening to gibberish. He only glanced at the rough blueprints a few times before feeling dizzy. Compared to these blueprints, the modification plans he provided to the system when he was manually working on aircraft carriers and patrol boats seemed so crude as to be unreasonable.

However, Lingmin's sensitive reaction also shows that the builder is very useful for research. So after listening to Lingmin's enthusiastic explanation, we got straight to the point: "What is the most direct help that the builder provides to our development?"

"The shipbuilding materials used in the weapons are extremely strong. Once developed, they can be used in the production of main guns for tanks and warships. They can withstand the wear and tear caused by an energy burst of more than ten times the equivalent of a normal shell, breaking through the technological limitations of existing materials, and enabling the production of larger caliber main guns and stronger armor."

With keen eyes and a restrained gaze, he said, “Not only that, the shells and torpedoes that the builder comes with are far more powerful than those of normal warships. If they can be replicated in the same proportions as normal shells, they can be used in the mass-produced fleets and even tanks that the commander will build in the future. In naval battles, they will be able to overwhelm the Sirens’ fleet in terms of firepower, and they will also have a natural firepower advantage in land and air battles.”

"very good."

The quick response perfectly matched Zhou He's understanding of the Northern Alliance; in short, it was all about the steel torrent.

He handed the snacks in his hand to Lingmin so she could have some first, and then found Akashi who was using a computer to analyze data. The question was simple: could he complete the analysis and replication of the builder's body materials?

"This is a bit of a problem, meow."

Akashi wagged her tail from side to side and pointed to her head: "The materials will take a lot of time to research and experiment. However, the automatic target acquisition and interception technology that the Commander wants has a similar program design in the Builder's mech, meow."

"Really? That's great."

Zhou He's eyes lit up. Mastering this technology was equivalent to completing the core research on mass-produced fleets. However, this function alone was still too crude and needed to be optimized. For example, the mass-produced fleets could automatically engage the enemy and patrol according to the set program, and the flagship in each mass-produced fleet could manage the entire fleet in a unified manner, just like he could directly control an aircraft carrier like 0102 through the system.

They were stacked up layer by layer to facilitate the operation and management of large-scale operations.

"..."

He told Akashi his idea, and Akashi remained silent after listening. After a while, she silently took out a wrench from her sleeve, looked up and sized up Zhou He with the eyes of someone looking at a 'bad guy'.

"Uh, haha, my problem, my problem."

Upon seeing this, Zhou He immediately fell silent. He raised his hand to indicate his surrender and retreated with a dry laugh, skipping over the topic: "Now that we have a foundation for this technology, Akashi, you should prioritize completing the research and development of 'damage control.' Mass production of warships is still a long way off for us, so we can take it slowly."

"Hmm, looks like the Commander's head doesn't need fixing yet, meow."

Akashi then put the wrench back with satisfaction, but what he said made Zhou He inexplicably feel a headache coming on. He could only laugh and change the subject, saying that he would fry some small dried fish for Akashi as a snack in a couple of days, thus successfully winning Akashi over once again.

Not long after learning about the research and development progress, Zhou He left the production workshop, muttering to himself, "No wonder the Purifiers delivered the Builder's body so easily—even if you know that the new material can break through the limitations of technology, not knowing how to make and synthesize the new material is the same as not knowing anything."

Next time he encounters Purification, he'll have to have his own people give her a good talking-to.

……

Time passed slowly, and the fleet that had ventured out to explore gradually moved away from the port area.

"The Siren base is just ahead, everyone be on high alert."

The exploration to the east and north proceeded smoothly, but the two teams exploring to the south had to slow down. The flagships, Shokaku and Yorktown, informed their team members that the carriers were moving too slowly. The vanguard destroyers, such as Yukikaze, Yuudachi, and Bush, were almost at the boundary between Zone 3 and Zone 4, while the carriers and battleships in the rear were just entering Zone 3. The No. 1 carrier was even slower than them, still in the middle of Zone 2, and was quite unqualified as a reserve rearguard.

"Hey! You wretched sirens, bring it on!"

Shoukaku is notifying his teammates to be on alert, while Zuikaku next to him is having a fit, his eyes are bright and his right fist is clenched, looking like he can't wait.

"The area near the Sirens' base is equivalent to the enemy's main base. If you don't want to go out and be chased back home, you should obediently take a detour."

On the vast sea, there were only a few conspicuous figures. Even if Tosa didn't want to see Zuikaku, he saw her, so he thoughtfully reminded her in the team's voice chat.

"..."

Zuikaku squeezed her right hand, and after careful consideration, she realized that Tosa's words made sense. So she whispered a reminder to Shoukaku: starting from the port area, the straight-line route is 60 nautical miles per area. However, starting from the third area, the overall area of ​​each block is increasing. If they head south towards the east, they can maintain a safe distance of more than 100 nautical miles from the Siren base in the western fourth area.

"Let's do it this way. I'll be in charge of keeping watch on the Sirens. Zuikaku, you'll use your carrier-based aircraft to scout ahead, preferably directly to the vicinity of the islands."

Shoukaku herself is gentle by nature, and outwardly she is composed. She decisively chose to take a detour and relayed the message to Jintsu—

"detour?"

After learning of the order to avoid battle from Jintsu, Yuudachi and the others, who also wanted to fight the Sirens head-on, were not very satisfied. Yukikaze, on the other hand, changed course directly, and the others followed suit, heading southeast instead of due south.

Soon after, under the aerial reconnaissance cover of the Zuikaku carrier-based aircraft, the vanguard team entered the South Fourth District, opening up a brand new area for Zhou He.

"Be careful to slow down and avoid hidden reefs and siren submarines."

Shoukaku continuously relayed instructions from the rear. The reconnaissance planes in the air broke through the fog between the South Fourth District and the Siren base and discovered the Siren fleet that was gathering. Looking into the distance, a black and red color scheme stretched to the horizon. Further away were two Siren bases that had undergone large-scale renovations. The islands were interwoven with white and black buildings, and the islands served as the base points, with floating platforms extending outwards like a spider web. The scale of these bases was so large that they could be seen from dozens of nautical miles away.

"The remaining Sirens fleet is still terrifying in number, with at least sixty mass-produced ships alone, interspersed with Executor teams that cannot be accurately observed."

Shoukaku informed the others of the numbers to prevent them from provoking the Sirens, but it was to no avail. Shortly after she finished speaking, the Sirens launched their carrier-based aircraft and shot down her reconnaissance plane. Subsequent reconnaissance planes followed and discovered the Sirens fleet that had spun off a portion of its fleet and was moving toward them.

"It's really troublesome."

Shoukaku frowned slightly. They had all given way, yet the Sirens still dared to push their luck—

"Ms. Shoukaku, the commander has given me orders."

Yorktown's sudden discovery interrupted Shoukaku's thoughts, and the others around him also perked up, slowing down and listening intently. Yorktown, as they had hoped, said, "The commander said that Yukikaze and Nagashima should be sent to explore southward independently from the sea and air, while the rest of you should prepare to engage."

"Hmph! So, we still have to fight!"

Zuikaku's interest was immediately piqued, and she raised her arms to Shoukaku and Yorktown: "I'll lead the charge, Shoukaku-nee, Yorktown, you two follow behind me and form a defensive line. Watch me pierce through their formation in one go!"

"Understood, Zuikaku. Let's retreat and create some distance. Jintsu..."

Shoukaku did not refute, but instead instructed Jintsu to have their team deal with the small number of Sirens approaching from the east first, and then move closer to form a defensive formation to prepare for the attack.

From the air, it was clear that the team, which had been advancing in a single line, began to diverge. The carrier crew retreated, Kaga and Tosa positioned themselves closer to the direction from which the Sirens were coming, the vanguard Sakura Empire squad advanced eastward to deal with the Sirens, the Eagle Union vanguard turned back to rejoin the Kaga sisters, and Yukikaze continued to advance southward.

High in the sky, at the exact moment when Zuikaku and his two companions collided with the Sirens' aircraft, a figure quietly descended from the Second Port Area, located between the two sides in the battle.

"If I build it right here, wouldn't that be considered a surprise attack?"

Zhou He, appearing in projection form, scanned the ruins before him. Listening to the sound of the aircraft passing overhead, his scattered thoughts gradually gathered. He walked seemingly casually among the ruins, checking the Sirens' movement path on the attack map while pondering:

"The Sirens are clearly regrouping their fleet to guard against my attack. Based on past combat experience, the observer should know that these detached fleets cannot defeat the combined fleet of Sakura Empire and Eagle Union. Therefore, her idea is most likely to abandon this part of the fleet to contain our forces, thereby slowing our advance to the south, or to use it as a sacrifice to reduce the stamina of Yuudachi and the others, making them feel tired, and then continue to send troops to harass them while they rest, thereby forcing them to return to port."

It is quite obvious that the southern archipelago has most likely become one of the Sirens' strongholds, and not a combat base, but most likely the Mirror Sea, or at least a somewhat important Mirror Sea.

"That's interesting."