Revisiting Azur Lane

"Well, Yudachi, you and Hermione will be in charge of the escort mission. I will try my best to point out routes that the Sirens will not find. If you come into contact with the Sirens, you will be responsible for attracting the Sirens' attention and preventing them from discovering Zuikaku's location."

Zuikaku was still very capable. Zhou He paused for a few seconds before continuing to present the battle plan. In fact, it was only a few words in total. When he was done, he stood up and tapped the table lightly: "This battle is related to the future of our port area, please be careful."

"Yes (I understand)!"

Hermione also joined in answering, and then Zhou He waved his hand: "Attack!"

——Saying this, Zhou He followed the three of them out of the office. When he was preparing beef jerky and other cooked food for them, he was criticized by them for saying too many words like "be careful". He could only shut up and watch the three of them go away at the beach.

"Aha."

Only he was left, Zhou He took a deep breath.

This attack was a big gamble. He was betting that Zuikaku would be able to defeat the Siren heavy cruiser fleet and get the Rubik's Cube, that new ship girls would be born and join the battle, and that there would be no Siren aircraft carrier formations in the large sea area nearby.

"Have no idea."

Zhou He took off his navy cap and grabbed his flattened hair. Although he acted very strong in front of his own ship girl, he was actually very depressed at this moment. He clearly had the advantage in reconnaissance, but because of the large number of Sirens, he was helpless.

If you can't go out, there will be no new ship girls joining you, so you can only keep waiting. You can wait until the Siren army slips away from here, but you may also wait until the Siren aircraft carrier formation passes by. Waiting is also a 50-50 chance of life and death. It is better to take advantage of the fact that there are no Siren aircraft carrier formations nearby and operate ruthlessly, take risks, and accumulate enough ship girls to engage in large-scale battles with the Sirens in the shortest possible time.

popping.

Patting his cheeks with his hands, Zhou He's expression gradually became restrained. He stood up and walked to a high rock area far away from the command center and close to the sea.

……

"The map drawn by the commander is quite neat, but this precise Siren positioning, could it be that the commander has a human-shaped radar?"

After leaving the port, Zuikaku and the other two followed the map given by Zhou He and moved northward along the island. During this time, Yudachi and Zuikaku both looked at the map in Hermione's hand. The center was the command center, and a circle was drawn outward. Within this circle with a radius of ninety nautical miles were densely packed Siren symbols, as well as their models, and even their movement trajectories were marked. It was so accurate that even Zuikaku, an elite soldier, couldn't help but complain.

She definitely won't be able to draw to this level.

"Commander, you must have something special to be able to come to such a sea area alone. Keep asking the commander such questions will only make him feel troubled."

Hermione's recognition of Zhou He even exceeds that of Zhou He himself. Facing the curious Ruihe, she hopes to help Zhou He solve his problems with words.

"Indeed, the commander is also working hard in his own way."

Zuikaku looked at the notes on the map. There were indeed a lot of Sirens near the headquarters, but they were much fewer than the previous two days. Moreover, the heavy cruisers that posed a greater threat to her and the battleships that might arrive were nowhere to be seen. There were only a large number of destroyers and light cruisers.

The chances of success in today's attack are higher than yesterday and the day before yesterday. She agrees with Zhou He's judgment on the timing of the attack.

"Speak of it."

She held the map in one hand and pointed at the heavy cruiser fleet on it. "Is there anything special about this Siren that makes the commander pay so much attention to it? I feel that even if I don't go out to sea, I can still sink them by sending a fleet of aircraft in the bay."

At a distance of nearly seventy nautical miles, it was impossible for the Siren to discover her location.

"..."

Hermione naturally couldn't say that Zhou He didn't know the specific combat power of Zhenghang. She fixed the flying hair by her ear with one hand and said in a slightly deep tone: "The commander attaches so much importance to this fleet, there must be a reason for it."

"oh oh."

Zuikaku sensed the serious aura emanating from Hermione, and stopped looking down on the fleet, preparing to go all out.

Yuli didn't hear a word of their conversation. She looked down at the cloth bag of beef jerky that Zhou He tied around her waist. She had secretly eaten one yesterday. It was hard when bitten, but the taste was good and she liked it very much.

According to the route map planned by Zhou He, the three of them arrived at a location twenty nautical miles north of the port island in a short time. This was the designated air strike point, so if a real fight broke out, there was no need to worry about stray bullets flying to the headquarters.

"what!"

At this moment, Zuikaku was cheered up as he received an order from Zhou He: before the air strike, send out reconnaissance planes to scout the sea area farther away from the heavy cruiser fleet. If the Siren aircraft carrier fleet is not found, then air strike the Siren heavy cruiser fleet. If the Siren aircraft carrier is found, then attack the Siren aircraft carrier first.

"Oh!? I see!"

After understanding Zhou He's instructions, Zuikaku's eyes sparkled, and he shared his important discovery with Yuuri: "The commander's radar can sense the farthest distance of this 180 nautical miles in diameter, so he attaches so much importance to this marginal Siren Fleet."

"Is that right?"

Hermione was unsure of her guess: "Let's follow the commander's orders first and resolve the battle as soon as possible. It's not good to let the commander worry about us."

"Understood~ The victory of this war will be mine!"

Zuikaku instantly entered combat readiness, raised his left hand high with a sharp gaze, and the long sleeves of his crane-wing-like kimono brushed across the runway on the deck. The various aircraft that had been ready turned into blue starlight and soared into the sky, leaving beautiful stardust in the air before condensing into normal-sized carrier-based aircraft and taking off into the distance.

"Yuuichi, let's go."

Hermione and the other person did not stop either. After receiving Zhou He's order, they spread out on both wings of Zuihe. They did not need to be alert to the sirens on the water. Their focus at this time was on the submarine underwater that Zhou He had not discovered but might exist.

Chapter 19: Cold Second

The heavy cruiser fleet that was targeted by Zhou He and was currently being observed by Zuikaku to plan how to start the attack had a total of fourteen ships, including 8 destroyers, 5 light cruisers and 1 heavy cruiser. In terms of number alone, it was more than four times that of Zuikaku and his two companions.

However, naval battles are more about the quality of ships and control of intelligence than numerical suppression.

花了半个小时左右确定了重巡舰队周围海域并不存在塞壬航母的瑞鹤，直接开始大数量地放飞零式舰载战斗机12架，99式舰载轰炸机16架以及97式舰载攻击机18架共计46架舰载机。

"horrible."

Looking at the huge fleet of planes circling in the sky in a short period of time, even Yudachi, who was looking up at the sky from the sea, couldn't help but click his tongue.

"The first move wins!"

Zuikaku said a word that a senior liked, and then calmly controlled the three types of carrier-based aircraft to advance in two echelons, with fighters in the front and bombers and attack aircraft in the back. She quickly integrated countless intelligence reports from the carrier-based aircraft and completed the air raid plan.

hum-

Like a disconnected dark cloud, the carrier-based aircraft group arrived above the heavy cruiser at full speed and dived downwards. The dense buzzing sound was enough to make people lose their minds.

If the fleet below was controlled by humans, someone would definitely shout "air raid!" and sound a warning whistle after discovering the fleet, and then the crowd would run to the anti-aircraft guns and other positions like ants to take shelter or launch an air defense counterattack.

But below were the Sirens, mindless weapons of war that were always in a state of combat readiness. After the radar detected something in the sky, fourteen ships mobilized their anti-aircraft guns at the same time. The huge number of bullets still formed a faintly visible golden torrent under the sunlight, interweaving with the large-scale fleet of aircraft swooping down, and making clanging sounds after hitting the hull of the aircraft.

"I have a knack for it."

Zuikaku held down the hilt of the samurai sword at his waist with one hand, standing steadily on the sea. With a thought, he dispersed the fighter group between the Sirens for interspersed artillery fire. Bombers and attack planes (carrying torpedoes) mixed into the complex battlefield, swooping down towards key targets, counterattacking the heavy cruisers with the most ferocious firepower and the light cruisers near them. The bombers dropped bombs at high altitudes, while the attack planes dropped the torpedoes they carried at the extreme altitude of more than 100 meters above the sea, forming a dense torpedo array.

Boom boom boom! !

The shells from the air strike fell into the water and onto the warships, releasing a powerful burst of energy. Coupled with the explosion caused by the torpedo hits, the battlefield instantly turned into a chaotic quagmire with columns of black smoke floating in the air.

Without a dedicated anti-aircraft countermeasure force, facing an air attack would be a disaster.

……

"Has it started yet? Damn, what kind of ridiculous speed is this for killing enemies?"

Zhou He, who was far away on an island in the port area, was watching the Siren fleet in the northern waters on the map. He held his breath when he saw the first Siren disappear, and then he saw the reactions of the sirens that disappeared one after another. In less than five minutes, the Siren fleet lost half of its manpower.

Judging from the duration, this is most likely just the first wave of air strikes, and there will be a second or even third wave soon.

Zhou He knew that aircraft carriers were very powerful, but after actually seeing an aircraft carrier launching an air strike beyond visual range, he had to admit that aircraft carriers did indeed hold a strategic position in naval warfare. In an important battle, not even one aircraft carrier out of a hundred destroyers might be useful.

"Um…"

But he still couldn't figure it out. Even if it was just a mixed formation of destroyers and light cruisers, it was still a large ship with a length of at least 100 meters. Facing the attack of aircraft, it was sunk so easily. Was it because the defense was too weak or the weapons carried by the aircraft were too powerful?

However, judging from the facts before him, aircraft carriers can easily destroy destroyers and light cruisers. Only ships larger than heavy cruisers can stand their ground under air attacks and not fall down when encountering an enemy.

"Back then, the White Eagles defeated the Sakura Empire with ease by using a large number of aircraft carriers. If I gather all the aircraft carriers in the camp to form a fleet, wouldn't I be invincible in a normal naval battle?"

Zuikaku's powerful strength gave Zhou He confidence, and the haze in his heart faded away. He only needed to wait for Zuikaku to deal with the Siren heavy cruiser before he could start building again...

As if he had thought of something, Zhou He did not rush to watch the mission, but continued to observe the enemy and friendly situation on the map. The Siren in the north was attacked, and the Siren fleets on the east and west sides directly changed course and began to head north.

"There's none."

Zhou He narrowed his eyes, then informed Hermione of the movements and routes of the nearby Sirens. One of the destroyer teams was very close to the island and would pass by the location of Zuikaku's main body, which was the direction Hermione preferred, so he asked her to stop it.

As a destroyer, Yudachi was able to torpedo the Siren light cruiser under siege by destroyers, which was enough to prove that the combat effectiveness of a single ship of the ship girl would exceed that of the Siren of the same type. So if Hermione, a light cruiser, was allowed to stop the Siren destroyers for a moment, she should not be defeated. As long as Zuikaku was free, she could eliminate all the Sirens nearby at once.

"This time the commotion is a bit too big - it would be nice if you could drop a boat for me. I'd be satisfied with just one. If you don't drop a boat, I'd be at a huge loss."

After specifically reminding Hermione to "be careful", Zhou He scanned the battlefield with his eyes wide open. Yudachi could destroy an aircraft carrier by hitting a light cruiser, and Zuikaku is also known as the Lucky Crane, so it's impossible that he wouldn't lose a single ship, right?

Unfortunately, this is the fact. From the time Zuikaku started the first air raid to an hour later, the heavy cruiser fleet was completely annihilated, and not a single ship was lost. Zhou He felt pain in his heart when he saw this, and he died directly on the beach.

After a while, he recovered and stood up to unilaterally dial Zuikaku's "video call". Suddenly, Zuikaku, standing on the sea with long hair flying, came into his sight - he was really handsome, but this guy was really unlucky.

"commander?"

Zuikaku's perception was not inferior to Yuudachi's, and she quickly discovered Zhou He who was peeping at her. She glanced at the sand left on Zhou He's hat and body, her pupils shrank slightly, and her tone was low and hurried: "Did the Siren find the headquarters?"

"Not yet. I just wanted to check on your condition. Yudachi and Hermione are both out to attract the Sirens' attention. Zuikaku, you don't have a frigate, so be careful of what's underwater."

Zhou He shook his head, explained the situation, and told Zuikaku to support Hermione and the others, and to sink as many Sirens as possible - to increase the possibility of the ship falling as much as possible.

"I see. I still have plenty of ammunition. Don't worry, Commander."

Zuikaku relaxed a little, raised his head and showed his usual confident smile, raised his hand and slid it casually in the air twice, then he turned a small circle and began to approach the port island. Staying close to the land and away from the deep sea was the best way to avoid the Siren submarine's sneak attack.

ammunition?

Zhou He's eyes flickered, and he switched the interface to enter the dock. The two lines under the portraits of the three people showed signs of wear and tear. The first line represented the degree of wear and tear on the ship's equipment and the ship itself, and the second line represented the ammunition. Among the three people, Hermione had the least ammunition consumption, Zuikaku was second with a small half left, and Yuudachi had the least, with a quarter left. They must have used up all their torpedoes again.

After thinking about it, he clicked the supply button in the corner, and a prompt popped up saying that the repair would cost 9 combat supply vouchers, and the number of supply vouchers was 21. Don't hesitate to supply directly!

At the same time, blue stardust appeared around Zuikaku, Hermione, and Yuudachi who were far out at sea and merged into their bodies. Their ship equipment adjusted itself uncontrollably, and the fired shells, bullets, torpedoes, and downed carrier-based aircraft were replenished.

"Commander!?" x3

The feeling of fighting and replenishing at the same time is very strange, but the biggest benefit of Zhou He's "timely supply" to the three people is actually morale.

Yudachi, who had been timid in the face of the Siren without torpedoes, suddenly showed a bright smile. Hermione, who had been adopting a conservative approach, relaxed a little. Zuikaku even waved his hand and the fighters that were originally in need of ammunition replenishment on their way back immediately turned back and roared towards the Siren they had found nearby.

"System, I underestimated you. The ship girl can actually repair and resupply outside."

Zhou He himself was also quite surprised. With this function, he could repair the injuries sustained by his own ship at any time. When Akashi joined in to develop the damage control system in the future, the possibility of his own ship being sunk in battle would be almost zero.

The system would not gain any intelligence due to his praise, so it naturally could not respond to him.

Zhou He simply didn't expect the system to be on good terms with him, so he switched his gaze back to the battlefield map. He felt very relieved just watching the number of sirens on the map decrease one by one as they came into contact with Hermione and the others.

Seeing that the battle was about to end, Zhou He focused his attention and prepared to build first, when a white little man suddenly appeared on the map, not far from Yuli. However, Yuli did not notice this and ran straight to the south, quickly widening the distance between them.

"We fell off the boat! It has to be Yudachi!"

Witnessing the moment of shipment, Zhou He was so excited that he almost jumped up and clapped his hands, but he quickly restrained his smile because he couldn't call out the name of this ship girl: the little person was a ship girl with long silver hair with black horns tied on both sides, wearing the Northern Alliance's unique white coat. He looked a little unfamiliar and couldn't call out her name.

"Don't blame me for not being able to pronounce the names of the Northern Alliance ships. Some of them are really hard to pronounce."

Zhou He tried to excuse himself in his heart, but because he didn't know her name or personality, he didn't dare to give her orders without authorization. He could only instruct Xiang to tell Yuli that there was a friendly ship behind and asked her to pick her up.

It was visible to the naked eye that Yudachi on the map stopped moving south and turned around to look for someone. Then two little men overlapped and kept circling in a small area, seemingly unable to merge.

"what?"

Zhou He didn't understand, and after a few minutes the situation remained the same. He couldn't help but use the name "comrade" to convey the message that he wanted to reunite to the new ship girl, and opened the video call with Yuudachi. The first thing he saw was Yuudachi with a puffy face looking for someone seriously, and then a figure appeared in the distance, calling out to stop Yuudachi.

"Commander! Is that person really here?"

Seeing that Zhou He had forgotten to take credit, Yuudachi asked bitterly where the Northern Alliance ship girl was, but she really couldn't find her.

"…there."

Zhou He pointed in the direction, Yuuri turned his head and exclaimed, also seeing the approaching ship girl.

The huge cold-colored ship suit eroded by wind and snow is like a small mobile fortress. The huge chains fluttering in the wind and the thick gun muzzles when the ship suit moves sideways all show the power of this ship girl.

What's even more powerful is that, wrapped in a powerful ship suit that is nearly three meters tall, the figure of this ship girl is still clear. Zhou He looked up at her slender figure from the parallel perspective of Yudachi. A large windbreaker with a white collar and gray fluff was draped over her shoulders, and inside was a combat suit sewn in black and white. Her black boots covered her knees and lower thighs, and her skirt rippled in the wind. Her hands with gloves were like black claws, and a pair of red eyes on her cold face looked down at Yudachi and Zhou He.

"Are you the ones who made me appear here?"

The woman's voice was not as cold as expected. She first looked at Yuli and then at Zhou He, and tapped her forehead with her finger to finish her thinking: "Forget it, my name is Kursk. Although I have joined you, it does not mean that I will act with you."

After a brief pause, Kursk looked at Yudachi, who was like a little animal, and continued: "I will join the port area and follow orders, but I am used to acting alone. Do you understand?"

"commander?"

In the past, Yudachi thought he was very brave, but when facing Kursk, he had no intention of being violent at all. When questioned, he just softly passed the questions to Zhou He.

"I understand, Kursk, you are welcome to join us."

After hearing Kursk's speech, Zhou He remembered that this person should be the ship girl who appeared in the latest big event of the Northern Alliance before the time travel. He had too many ships in his warehouse and had not yet trained this one, so he only had a simple impression of her. It was normal that he could not recognize her for a while.

"Ah."