Daily life with the ship girl

Rodney almost spit out a mouthful of salad. She ate slowly on purpose and had no idea what the dishes in front of her were like. When she heard about cream soup, she couldn't help but look at her admiral with sympathy.

Li Ran looked at the soup, where some vegetable crumbs were floating. It was indeed very thick. He coughed and said:

"Um, reputation, this doesn't have potatoes in it, does it?"

"Master, how did you know? I added some mashed potatoes. Oh, and I also added the royal special seafood sauce on top. But I haven't made it for a long time, so I'm not familiar with the recipe. Master, please try it and see how it tastes. I'll try to improve it next time."

No, there’s always next time.

Li Ran scooped a spoonful of the thick soup and put it in his mouth.

Therefore, the taste of this dinner will be unforgettable for him for the rest of his life.

No one knew how the dinner ended. Under the strong aura of the head maid, everyone basically finished their dinner, including the destroyers who were almost crying.

The moment the dinner ended, Li Ran walked to the corridor outside the garrison. He began to doubt his life. His taste buds had tasted all five flavors, his body and mind were in agony, and his stomach was growling uncomfortably. He heard Bai Nuoyan running upstairs, and thought to himself that he must not let Shengwang enter the kitchen next time, absolutely not!

Then, he saw that Rodney also had a look of relief on his face. He smiled bitterly and said:

"You should know that."

"Admiral, I'm sorry I didn't have time to tell you."

"It's okay. Today's dinner will be unforgettable."

"Rodney, I think we should not let reputation into the kitchen anymore."

"I totally agree. Your Excellency the Admiral's decision is indeed the wisest. But how do we explain this to our reputation?"

"I was thinking that, tonight is truly unforgettable."

"Yes, I'll never forget it." Rodney shuddered. It was more than unforgettable, it was simply a nightmare.

……

Chapter 151: Sincerity is the greatest respect for them

After the dinner, Bai Nuoyan could not bear it any longer and stayed in Li Ran’s garrison until ten o’clock. Only with Hipper’s help did she return to Princess Yunyan.

As for why, you will know if you try the famous dishes.

Li Ran sent Bai Nuoyan away, looked at her weak appearance, shrugged and said:

"It seems that what I said before was right. This is a dinner party that I will never forget."

"You bastard, why are you okay?"

"Because I'm a chef, I've eaten the worst dishes. Ahem, that's it, Hipper. Sometimes I really envy you guys because you can eat anything without getting diarrhea."

"Admiral, you are joking. But next time, please don't let your head maid enter the kitchen again. Something bad will really happen." Hipper showed a rare expression of fear. This British cuisine is really horrible. No wonder she saw her sister Blücher's face full of despair when she talked about London. Now that she has experienced the famous cooking skills, she understands it.

"I know this." Li Ran still felt a little uncomfortable in his stomach. The power of this dish was too strong, even his stomach couldn't take it.

"Hippel nodded, then supported Bai Nuoyan, whose legs were already weak, and disappeared into the distance.

Li Ran finally breathed a sigh of relief, but after thinking about it, he decided that it was time to talk to Nuremberg about the North Sea issue.

When I returned to the garrison, Rodney was talking to Reputation.

Seeing Li Ran coming, Shengyu looked frustrated.

"What's wrong?" Li Ran glanced at Rodney and knew that she must have told Shengming about her arrangements. However, he knew that people who like cooking would be sad after receiving such a blow. But for the future of the Admiral's Mansion, Shengming, don't blame me.

"Master, I will not enter the kitchen again. I am sorry to cause trouble to you."

"Ah?" Li Ran thought that there would be a big reaction to the reputation, but unexpectedly he just bowed and performed a maid etiquette.

This reaction made him feel a little ashamed. After thinking about it, he was an elite chef and was afraid that he would not be able to teach prestigious dishes. So he thought about it and said:

"If I have time in the future, I can teach you some cooking techniques."

"Really?" Reputation's eyes suddenly lit up, and then she realized that she was a little rude, and quickly said:

"Master, I am rude again."

Li Ran felt a bit of a headache. He could never understand the people who cooked dark food. But forget it, as long as he could stop entering the kitchen, it would be fine. He sighed:

"It's okay. By the way, everyone has rested well, right? Rodney, can you help me go upstairs and call everyone. There will be a meeting tonight. Oh, and please call Nuremberg and the others as well. If they are interested, they can sit in."

"Got it, Admiral." Rodney nodded, then signaled to Li Ran with his eyes, which probably meant:

Admiral, I escaped a disaster.

Li Ran understood the meaning in Rodney's eyes. He nodded, agreeing with him.

The meeting started in a few minutes. Because this time they were going to ask about Beihai, Li Ran said to Shengwei:

"We'll talk about cooking some other time. We have to call a meeting now. Please help me get the nautical chart, paper and pen upstairs."

"Master, please wait a moment." Mingwang set the dining table and then went upstairs.

Ten minutes later, the third evening military meeting of Li Ran’s garrison was officially held.

Li Ran sat in the main seat, with reputation standing behind him.

He looked at everyone who had arrived. Although their complexion had not yet fully recovered, the matter in the North Sea was quite urgent. After all, Bismarck was his shipgirl, and the progress had reached such a level. He had spent a lot of effort to invite Nuremberg to the garrison. It would be inappropriate not to get some information, so he cleared his throat and said:

"The purpose of this military meeting is to discuss the development of the three captured islands, the establishment of the First Expeditionary Squadron of Xiguang Island, and the First Ocean Escort Fleet, as well as their reputation and sea charts."

Reputation nodded and spread the sea chart on the table. Li Ran took the baton and pointed to the location of the three islands and said:

"The First Expedition is mainly responsible for regularly transporting aluminum and steel from the BC Islands back to the home port. Because there are no mature development equipment on the two islands, and the problem of transport ships is also urgent to solve, the mission of the First Expedition is mainly to focus on escort training, intelligence reconnaissance, and respond to possible encounters with the deep-sea fleet. Lexington, please record these."

"Understood, Commander." As a secretary ship, Lexington's strong point has always been shorthand work.

"Well, let's continue. Pinghai will temporarily serve as the flagship of the First Expedition Team."

"Ah? Me?" Pinghai was caught off guard.

"That's right. The members are Firefly, Courageous, Keeling, Sigsby, and Walkerland. You will have some running-in before the transport ship. Bismarck and Richelieu will take turns in daily training, while Helena will be in charge of radar use and intelligence reconnaissance training."

"Roger that." This was Richelieu.

"Yes, sir." This is the meticulous Bismarck.

"Understood, Admiral." This is the gentle Helena.

Li Ran nodded and said:

"If everyone has no objection, let's move on to the next topic, which is the formation of the first ocean-going escort fleet. Because the home port is located at the border of unknown and known waters, it may encounter deep-sea fleets at any time. Therefore, the main task of this fleet is to regularly patrol the waters around Xiguang Island and eliminate all threats to the home port.

Helena will temporarily serve as the flagship of this fleet, Saratoga will serve as the deputy, Richelieu and Bismarck will take turns to serve as members of this fleet, of course, there are also Rodney, Reputation, and Prince Eugen, you will be temporarily assigned to this team, as for Lexington, you will temporarily help me with paperwork, that's about it, does anyone have any questions?"

Li Ran looked at everyone and shook his head, then nodded and said:

"Since there are no problems, the training of these two teams should begin as soon as possible, and we should strive to develop combat capabilities that can fight in the ocean within a month."

Bismarck probably guessed what Li Ran meant:

"Admiral, do you want to go on a sea expedition?"

Li Ran smiled gently at Bismarck, then looked at Nuremberg with a serious expression:

"Well, now that we are talking about this, Miss Nuremberg, I wonder if you can tell us the information about the North Sea and Tirpitz?"

"Of course, Admiral, you helped us find Z24 this time. Since everyone is here today, please forgive me for having a small request before I tell you this information."

Hindenburg was immediately annoyed and was about to speak, but Nuremberg stopped him by shaking his head.

Brooklyn had a vague feeling that something big was about to happen.

Li Ran was a little confused, but he nodded and said:

"Please say."

"Excuse me, Admiral, can you let me protect the flame of order in your body from now on?"

Li Ran was a little slow to react to the meaning of this sentence. Bismarck quickly reminded Li Ran through the exclusive channel that this was Nuremberg's request for the admiral's permission to stay in Hong Kong before approving him.

Li Ran was a little caught off guard. Although he had originally planned to fish out Nuremberg, he immediately gave up the idea when he saw Z24 and the others:

"I'm afraid I can't promise you that."

"Why? You are such an ungrateful fellow!" Hindenburg was immediately annoyed. Just as he was about to deploy his ship armor to attack Li Ran, he saw Nuremberg asking softly:

"Can I ask why?"

"Because of Z24 and the others, I know you had this idea because I saved them, but Bismarck also told me that you have already thanked me. This time I have inquired about the intelligence of the North Sea, and we are even. I don't want to repay a favor. Even if I want you to stay, I want you to be willing, not to use favors to kidnap you. This is unfair to you."

“What if I say, this is our collective decision?”

"Ah? What?" Li Ran was confused.

Then she looked at Nuremberg and said seriously:

"All members of the Black Cross Mercenary Group please stand up!"

Li Ran watched as Nuremberg, Hindenburg, Z24, Z28, and U47 all stood up, and then performed the highest etiquette of loyalty to the head of state in Germany, and said in unison:

"We are willing to defend the glory of the port to the death. We hope the admiral will take us in!"

Li Ran was completely confused. What was going on? Although I also wanted to salvage the boats, it was too exciting to salvage so many boats at the same time.

In fact, Li Ran didn't know how important the name Bismarck was to the G country's ship girls. If the Black Cross Mercenaries got together for the sake of Tirpitz, they usually just went on sea missions together and had no cohesion, but Bismarck was different.

The Bismarck battleship has always been the flag in the minds of the G country's ship girls. If it weren't for the deep ties between Hipper and Bai Noyan, I'm afraid Hipper would have a high chance of being deployed to Li Ran's port area.

This is what makes the G country's ship girls different from those of other countries. They are not interested in the admiral and the garrison because all the garrisons do not have Bismarck and this flag. So except for Z21 and Z22 which were built by Lei Ming, no one has ever heard of a G country's ship girl taking the initiative to join a garrison.

However, now they are not only surrendering voluntarily, but also surrendering collectively, which subverts the cognition of Brooklyn and other ship girls who graduated from the First Ship Girl Academy.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

"Admiral, let me talk to them." Bismarck sighed. She had a headache. Although she had sensed some information in Nuremberg's words as soon as she returned to the garrison, Bismarck had never wanted these sisters to stay in the port because of her. But now it was inevitable. She took a deep breath and said seriously:

"I want to tell you all here that I am Bismarck, but I am not the Bismarck in your memory, so I don't want you to make decisions based on your memory, and I don't want the admiral to be embarrassed because of me."

Although Li Ran said no, he was still disappointed when Bismarck said so. However, he could let it go. He nodded and said:

"Yes, Bismarck's meaning is similar to mine. I don't want you to ..."

"You are such a fussy man. Why do you keep talking so much when it comes to whether you agree or not?" Hindenburg was a little impatient.

"Hindenburg, stop talking." Nuremberg shook her head. She knew she might be too hasty, but after thinking about it, she said meticulously:

"In that case, let us take over the escort mission in the North Sea. Since the admiral has concerns, let us prove to you on the battlefield that we have the strength and value to join your port."

Li Ran wanted to refuse, but he heard Bismarck's helpless voice coming from the exclusive channel:

"Admiral, please respect them, but I will personally accompany you on this trip to the North Sea."

Lexington understood what Bismarck meant. She frowned and said:

"Commander, are you going to go to the North Sea yourself? But we don't know how dangerous that place is, and..."

"No need to say more. I have made up my mind. Besides, I believe in Bismarck and Nuremberg. This is also a chance for me to get their approval, isn't it?"

Lexington was silent. Indeed, Li Ran's behavior seemed stupid, but this was the human view. On the contrary, in the eyes of the battleship girls, Li Ran's frank words could better cater to the favor of the battleship girls. They believed that the battleship girls were born from the condensation of human thoughts and were extremely sensitive to hypocrisy.

Sincerity is the greatest respect for them.

Since the admiral has made this decision, no one else said anything more.

Li Ran breathed a sigh of relief and said:

"Now, Miss Nuremberg, can we talk about the North Sea?"

"Of course, as you wish!"

Nuremberg motioned Hindenburg to sit down. Although she was surprised by Li Ran's decision, she was very satisfied with it. She nodded and said:

"Can I borrow the Admiral's sea chart?"

"Please."

Chapter 01: Past Events in Warm Harbor

Nuremberg pointed to the Arctic and Pacific theaters on the map and said:

"This is the Pacific Theater and the Arctic Ocean Theater. It is also the boundary line of the northern defense line of the known sea area. Beyond these two theaters is the unknown sea area. The North Sea is just north of the Arctic Ocean Theater."

Li Ran looked at the Arctic Ocean Theater and the Pacific Theater. The two theaters were not completely adjacent to each other. Instead, there was a small, narrow stretch of sea in the Pacific Theater, which was just right for entering the unknown sea area without having to pass through the Arctic Ocean Theater in the north. He was a little puzzled:

“What is the reason for this narrow strip of sea protruding from the Pacific Ocean?”