Revisit Azur Lane

Moreover, generally speaking, when viewed from high altitudes, people on the ground appear as small as ants. This place is still such a vast expanse of ruins, so even if her plane flew overhead, she wouldn't be able to spot Zhou He.

I don't really understand these two sisters' eyesight.

There are no landing craft around here either.

Cleveland, standing nearby, also had questions. Before going ashore, she had specifically observed the surrounding area and found no means of transporting Zhou He there. Yet the Sakura Empire people insisted that Zhou He was right there, which was quite strange.

"what."

Since it was their second landing, Montpellier began searching for the route they had taken on their previous trip, which was at least safer. As she walked a little further in, she found a high rock to climb up and immediately saw a white figure wandering around in the many abandoned buildings in the distance, searching for something. If she wasn't mistaken, it looked like her commander.

Montpellier rubbed her eyes, and after confirming that she wasn't seeing things, she turned around and called out to Cleveland, pointing in the direction of Zhou He: "Big sister, the commander is wandering around over there."

"..."

The group stopped talking abruptly, exchanged glances, and began to move in the direction Montpellier had pointed. Kaga, who had landed at another location, saw that they had made a discovery and called for the others to come closer. As a result, both groups found Zhou He in a relatively spacious open area at the same time.

"commander!?"

Harman took an extra step forward. Even without saying much, the undisguised shock and curiosity in her call made Zhou He understand her meaning. Zhou He smiled and spread his hands towards everyone: "Aren't you surprised? This is my latest projection technology, which allows me to appear in a specific area regardless of distance."

"surprise?"

Hammanman didn't agree with his explanation, crossing her arms and frowning: "It was fright!"

They had just fought a battle with the Sirens nearby, and now their commander, who was originally in their own port, had appeared here. It's hard to describe how they felt, but they decided to put on a very angry face first!

"it's the same."

Zhou He didn't want to dwell on this issue too much. He raised his hand and pointed to the side, where a large number of blue light spots gathered into various supplies. Then he looked at the taller people on the scene and said, "Tosa, Kaga, Cleveland, Yorktown, you guys use waterproof tarpaulins to cordon off the surrounding area."

Then he called on Jintsu and Ayanami, who seemed more reliable, to help him set up the purchased picnic utensils to create a makeshift kitchenette.

"Commander, shall we continue exploring forward?"

After helping out, Ashigara dusted off his clothes, sat on a stool next to Zhou He who was starting a fire, and asked, "If we go any further, the Sirens might send troops to block our retreat and ambush us from multiple sides."

"Hmph, let them come. I haven't had enough of fighting yet."

After Kaga carefully arranged the dust-proof cloth, she chuckled and gave Zhou He's answer. The latter glanced at her and earnestly replied to Ashigara: "The Sirens don't have the forces to surround us, nor can they cut off our retreat, and besides..."

Zhou He didn't think he could ignore the observers and act recklessly at this stage. However, since it was confirmed that there was a Mirror Sea in the South Sixth District, he should at least investigate the situation around the Mirror Sea to facilitate the formulation of a strategy plan.

So he thought for a moment, raised his hand and waved it in the air, and the sea map given to him when he occupied the base appeared beside him, still clearly visible in the sunlight.

This is a new feature he developed through his own experimentation. When he appears in the port area in a projected state, the map can be made as solid as his body for others to view.

The appearance of the map attracted the attention of those around them, while Zhou He pointed to the location of the Second Port Area where they were, and drew a line to the south onto the archipelago: "Xuefeng has already discovered the traces of the Sirens here. It is a mirror-like sea area with an unknown level of danger. Since we have already come here, why don't we take this opportunity to find out the situation in the vicinity before going back?"

He explained his idea: to summarize, it was to skip the Siren base in the fourth western district and directly light up the fifth, sixth, and even seventh western districts. Going deep into enemy territory beyond their fortresses was a major taboo in military strategy, but it didn't matter to the Zhou He family, as he was in charge of all the port's logistics.

More importantly, after gathering intelligence from various sources, it has been almost certain that the observer no longer has a large enough fleet to overwhelm his ship girls, at least not today.

"Keep exploring."

Zhou He gave a summary, which greatly shocked Ashigara who asked the question. This kind of "since we're already here" approach was different from the tactics she knew. But after she came to her senses, she felt that it was not so hard to accept. In fact, she was even excited. As a samurai, she longed for battle and wanted to prove her strength in battle!

"That's how it should be! If our fleet weren't so small, I'd love to just march straight in and see if those Sirens' defenses were as strong as their annoying abilities."

Kaga highly affirmed Zhou He's judgment, crossing his arms and his bright eyes flashing with a variety of emotions.

"The commander is right!"

Yuudachi was very supportive, even though she didn't understand a word Zhou He said.

After a brief exchange, Zhou He began to work diligently. Last time, he tried to use the projection to touch objects, and it actually worked. This projection function was more like creating a clone of him in this base than a 'projection,' a data clone capable of performing physical tasks. It was quite impressive.

"...Will it work?"

Yorktown asked Cleveland in a low voice. Having inherited historical memories, she was used to playing from behind, but openly loitering under the enemy's nose seemed a little inappropriate to her.

"Hmm, it should work. There may be things about the commander's orders that seem unreasonable to us, but in the end, we will definitely win."

Cleveland didn't think for long, and shrugged with a smile: "If we launch an attack according to the commander's orders, the success rate of the mission is close to 100%."

In her memory, they had never truly been defeated. The only defeat they suffered was because they couldn't kill all the Sirens besieging the port. The numerical disparity was something that tactics couldn't address. They were simply exhausted from fighting, so it couldn't be called a defeat.

Harman, standing next to her, whispered in agreement: Although Zhou He often makes her angry, he doesn't joke about serious matters. Since he said he could go, there must be a chance.

"Well, thank you."

Yorktown smiled upon hearing this: "You really trust the Commander a lot."

"what?"

Cleveland and Harman were both taken aback upon hearing this, looked at Zhou He who was busy, and finally smiled at each other.

Chapter 153 Striding Forward

“Miss Bismarck, according to the reconnaissance aircraft, no Sirens or anything unusual has been found in this area of ​​the sea within the range covered by the commander’s map.”

From high above, a group of figures sailed across the sea. Miss Yi Bei, who only appeared unruly and like a playful person, was giving a serious report on the reconnaissance. Her long silver hair fluttered in the sea breeze, and under the shadow of her military cap were half-closed eyes and slightly furrowed brows: "Therefore, I conducted aerial reconnaissance further afield and discovered a modified island that appears to be a war outpost about a hundred nautical miles beyond the map. A large number of Sirens are wandering around that area, and their numbers are quite unusual."

"You did a good job. Be careful not to be spotted. Conduct some simple reconnaissance in other directions."

Upon hearing the report, Bismarck gave his feedback in a slightly low voice, while Elbe smiled and ordered the reconnaissance planes ahead to return, then released another batch of planes to take over.

"Being guarded by a fleet, it sounds like a Siren outpost that doesn't exist near our home."

Z23 waited for the message to finish before striking up a conversation with considerable interest.

In the Ironblood team, Count Spee and Hutten prefer action to words, U556 wanders underwater, and Bismarck himself doesn't talk much. Therefore, Z23, who wants to know more about everyone, can only try to steer the conversation in different ways.

"Hmm, but the Siren fleet roaming nearby is more worthy of our consideration than the stronghold itself."

Bismarck was thinking. Elbe had made it very clear that there was a distance of nearly two hundred nautical miles between them and the so-called war outpost, during which the Sirens were few in number, but near the outpost, the Sirens fleet was unusually large.

The fact that the observers and other experimental agencies already have few troops available here, yet they haven't mobilized any Sirens to reinforce the area, raises several questions worth considering.

For example, is the Siren node base near their port area truly lacking in combat power, or is this stronghold an important defensive location for the Sirens, playing a crucial role that they are unaware of?

Thirdly, there's the question of whether similar battles are taking place on the other side of the war outpost in the more distant seas. It's not that the Sirens don't want to send reinforcements, but they simply can't spare the resources.

Moreover, this discovery will serve as a significant reference for their future actions.

"Yes, it would be very troublesome if these Sirens moved closer to us."

Z23 responded with an "Mmm."

"..."

Hutten and Count Spee both turned to look at Z23, making her blink: "Isn't that right?"

"No, that's right."

Hu Teng withdrew her gaze. She had no intention of engaging in lofty discussions. Z23's viewpoint was correct, because the most direct threat to their port was the Sirens' invasion. Compared to that, any future conspiracies or schemes were not so important.

"Capturing that stronghold might yield crucial intelligence for the fight against the Sirens."

Spee expressed her thoughts, saying she wasn't interested in indiscriminate fighting and killing, but preferred a solution that could efficiently end the war.

"Hmm, this place is so far from our port area, it would be quite difficult to take it down, wouldn't it?"

Z23 had a similar idea.

After listening to their brief exchange for a while, Bismarck interrupted the topic of 'attacking the Sirens' stronghold,' saying that taking down the Sirens base near the port was the priority, rather than the strongholds here.

All of the above conversations were conducted via team electronic communication.

……

"This is a big problem."

As Hu De and his group explored northward, they encountered sporadic attacks from Siren squads of varying sizes after entering District 5. Although all the enemies were killed, the number of Sirens exceeded the number Zhou He had described before setting off.

This anomaly aroused Hood's suspicion about the unknown north, prompting him to send the Royal Ark to scout as far as possible. They discovered that in the unexplored northern sixth and seventh districts, there were several Siren fleets consisting of more than ten ships each!

There were even more sirens in the North Eighth District, and more importantly, they were all heading in the same direction, moving from north to south, directly confronting Hood and his group.

"The further north you go, the more Sirens there are. It seems that those Siren officers are mobilizing fleets from other sea areas to provide support. There is a high probability that there is another large Siren base in the north."

Based on the intelligence from the Royal Ark, Hood made a simple assessment and judgment.

"Hmph, advancing in such a scattered manner, are those Siren cadres out of their minds, or are they trying to use the vanguard to hold us off while the following teams complete the encirclement?"

Jean Bart scoffed. The Sirens' warships were not weak in terms of configuration, but their commanders were too clumsy. Their arrangements for large-scale battles were so mild and crude that it was like playing house with children, too simple and easy to understand.

"Don't underestimate the enemy. The Sirens' base is right behind us. If they send troops, we will be forced to retreat to Bismarck's side."

Hood corrected Jean Bart, looking around at their own forces. The strongest force in the port was the Sakura Empire, whose personnel and numbers far surpassed those of the Royal Navy. If the Sakura Empire's forces were here, they could most likely wipe out all the approaching Siren fleets. But they couldn't. Even with Jean Bart, they only had three capital ships. Small-scale battles were fine, but if they dragged the enemy forces together, they would have no choice but to retreat.

"Tsk, it seems necessary to urge the commander to increase the number of combat personnel."

With a rather unseemly click of her tongue, Hood muttered something and then gave the others orders: Enter the North Sixth District and engage the Sirens that have entered her main gun range!

The east was peaceful, the north was embroiled in conflict, and finally, the west was shrouded in complex circumstances.

On Long Island, thanks to the efforts of the Shuanghe sisters, the shadows of the South Fourth, Fifth, and Sixth Districts have completely dissipated. After they returned with Yukikaze and enjoyed a meal cooked by Zhou He, they received another troublesome order.

The second expedition team first detoured south into the fifth district, dealt with the scattered Sirens, and then approached southwest. Zhou He watched as the fleet around the Sirens base in the western fourth district was mobilized. After a brief commotion, things returned to calm. The fleet's defensive direction was adjusted and spread out, wary of a flanking attack by Ruihe and others.

Without the harassment of the Sirens' main fleet, after illuminating the fifth western district, the combined fleet of Sakura Empire and Eagle Union headed straight for the sixth western district and eventually entered the seventh western district.

“Great, now I can see which direction these observers are entering the Sirens base from.”

At this moment, Zhou He had deactivated the projection and returned to his own body in the port area. After having a meal in the restaurant and resting with tea, he couldn't help but feel a little excited as he watched the surrounding sea areas being lit up one after another. Then, he made arrangements for ammunition resupply and support for the situation encountered by Hood and the others in the north: "Shokaku, Yorktown, you take your teams directly north to help Hood and the others clear out the approaching Siren fleet. Remember to bring Long Island with you—Yukikaze has another mission."

After a brief pause, Zhou He contacted Xuefeng alone: ​​"Xuefeng, would it be alright if you continued south to the rear of the Mirror Sea area of ​​the archipelago?"

"...Don't you find it troublesome? Wouldn't it have been more time-efficient for me to just run there?"

Xuefeng, who was sitting on the white wolf and having a video call with Zhou He, revealed a subtle look in her eyes. She looked at Zhou He and said, "Or do you think I can't conquer this Mirror Sea by myself?"

"Haha, thank you for running around so much, Xuefeng. But this is also to guard against the Sirens' actions. As for the Mirror Sea, I hope everyone can work together to conquer it and participate in the growth."

Zhou He smiled and twirled his hat. He wasn't deliberately letting Xuefeng explore the area, but he didn't know the exact size of the Mirror Sea in the South Sixth District. If Xuefeng were caught in the area and couldn't get out unless it was closed off, things would be even more troublesome.

During the current period of the fleet's dispersed exploration, handle matters in a simple manner if possible.

"I hate people who are good at talking."

Xuefeng stared at Zhou He. How could she throw a tantrum if he actually said such a thing?

"What a coincidence, I also hate guys like that."