Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

After a quick glance at the ship girls present, wow, from the logistics department to the operations room to the command center, basically all the heads of important positions were here, one or two of them glaring angrily at Jing Su, making Jing Su's legs tremble.

Jing Su originally wanted to tell some lame jokes, such as "Strictly speaking, I'm the only one in the entire port area," to divert the ship girls' attention, but sensing the terrifying atmosphere, she decisively shut up and obediently accepted the scolding.

In situations like this, letting the ship girls calm down usually solves the problem. This is an experience I learned from Changchun. As one of the most mischievous characters in the port, Changchun has given Yixian a lot of headaches, and this is how I always deal with it.

However, while Jing Su could do that, Changchun clearly cannot now.

"Changchun, and you too! It's one thing if the commander doesn't know, but how can you be so inconsiderate? The commander wants to go out to sea, and you just let him go like that? What if he encounters danger?" It was Yixian who spoke. You should know that when she learned that Jing Su and Changchun had gone out to sea in a speedboat, she was almost scared to death. If she hadn't been on patrol at the front line and couldn't get back in time, she would have rushed to the scene to pick up Jing Su.

In fact, the ship girls who were close to the front line put down their work and headed towards the ocean route where Jing Su was after learning that Jing Su had set sail. Of course, the first to arrive at the scene were the carrier-based aircraft of the aircraft carrier girls.

If Jing Su hadn't specifically instructed them, the aircraft carrier girls would have been ready to bombard the enemy.

"Waaah~ I was wrong~" Changchun hid in Jingsu, trembling.

She was so busy thinking about where to go for fun that she didn't realize how dangerous Jing Su's actions were.

"Ahem, alright, alright, I'm fine, aren't I?" Seeing the tense atmosphere, Jing Su knew she had to say something. "Besides, there are some things I can't experience or feel directly without personally dealing with them. This quarterly offensive has caused quite a stir. I can't just watch you guys put in the effort and do nothing myself, right?"

"Commander, we..."

Belfast stood up as if to say something, but Jing Su stopped her.

"There are some things that are much more convenient for me to handle than for you to handle."

I admit that this incident was indeed a bit risky. I promise you that I will not do it again. My rash behavior was not only irresponsible to myself, but also let you down. I apologize for that.

It won't happen again.

"commander..."

“Since you’ve said so, Commander, then we’ll just have to believe you for now.” Saratoga was always the quickest to react, speaking up before anyone else.

"..."

"Commander, battle report from the front!"

Chapter 286 You've worked hard

"Commander, battle report from the front lines! Teams one and two have news!" Saratoga rushed towards Jing Su, holding a projector.

"How is it? What's going on?" Jing Su asked hurriedly.

“We’ve already made contact with the enemy.” Saratoga turned on the projector and played a video.

The video shows countless planes roaring through the sky, with violent explosions everywhere; the scene is quite shocking.

"I haven't seen such a large number of Sirens in a long time," Lexington remarked after taking a look around.

“Indeed, it seems like there was only an invasion of this scale right after the Commander went missing. What’s going on with these guys? Do they not want us to unite as one after seeing the Commander return?” someone chimed in.

"Don't talk nonsense. We don't have enough information to analyze the situation with the Sirens yet. If we really want to know, we might have to fight our way there." Lexington tapped Saratoga on the head and said to Jing Su, "Commander, give the order!"

"Yes, activate Strategy Number One. Each faction should advance its front line by twenty or eighty nautical miles and reclaim the old defensive lines."

The so-called old defense line refers to some strongholds that the port area lost in the past tug-of-war with the Sirens. Specifically, these are some resource points where the port area had built defensive fortifications, but chose to abandon them for one reason or another.

It's not that we couldn't hold them, but rather that the cost of holding those places far outweighed the gains, so we chose to give them up.

Lexington's so-called Plan One was actually a series of operational plans compiled by Belfast after the previous meeting. Jing Su, thinking that they were all roughly the same, picked a few from the top, one as the main plan and the rest as alternatives.

According to Belfast's plan, Plan One was to retake the previously abandoned defensive lines, activate the fortifications on them, and then use these fortifications to defend against the Sirens outside while simultaneously encircling and eliminating the enemy within the defensive perimeter—a tactic akin to encircling and attacking enemies.

The advantage of this plan is its speed; if successful, it can quickly eliminate all enemies within the encirclement. The disadvantage is that the exact strength of the Sirens is unknown, and the troops defending the outer circle will face a double attack from both inside and outside the circle, putting them under great pressure.

Now, Jing Su has sent out his main force. According to the battle report, at least the Sirens in the circle are not particularly strong. They are at the level of being easily wiped out by the first and second teams. Currently, these two teams are still advancing and continuing to test the Sirens' combat strength.

However, this data is already sufficient to launch Plan One.

"Yes, Commander!"

With Jing Su's order, the entire frontline force was quickly mobilized.

Commanders give orders, and those who launch attacks take action. All departments work together. If any issues arise that cannot be resolved, or if there is a conflict in the command structure, they are all sent to Jing Su for decision-making.

The so-called conflict is actually just that ship girls from different factions have been assigned together and it's unclear who should be the flagship. For this kind of problem, Jing Su can just assign anyone, and the rest will obey.

Of course, the ship girls will listen to Jing Su's random assignments, but Jing Su doesn't assign them randomly. She will judge them based on their maturity and composure. After all, even though the port has existed for many years, the ship girls' temperament is not strictly linked to their appearance. However, there are still many small ships with childlike temperaments. On the battlefield, it is always necessary to have more mature ship girls to command.

Thanks to the supreme command structure, the frontline command was highly efficient, clearing out the Sirens warships twenty nautical miles outside the front line in just one morning.

Keep in mind that this is under the circumstances of a quarterly offensive, with the Sirens continuously reinforcing their forces. In other words, the ship girls' kill efficiency has far exceeded the Sirens' reinforcement speed.

The overall strategy is still to divide into two teams, both of which are responsible for clearing out mobs. However, one team is mainly responsible for sorties, while the other team takes turns. After all, this is not a game, and the ship girls need to rest. In the game, ship girls can be made to sortie with a red face, but this is not possible here. Although the ship girls will indeed sortie if an order is given, they will not have the stamina or the mood to sortie. They will lose more than just their affection; their combat power will also drop sharply. What if something goes wrong?

Besides, Jing Su doesn't even let the ship girls fight with red faces in the game. Most of the time, unless she doesn't see them, the yellow-faced ones don't move, letting the girls rest.

According to the plan, in the morning, Team 1 will focus on eliminating the Sirens, while Team 2 will follow up and take up defensive positions. At noon, Team 2 will bear the defensive pressure, and Team 1 will take over and rest. Then, the substitutes will come on as Team 3, taking over the tasks of Team 2, and so on.

......

"Phew~ I'm exhausted!"

As the sun set and seagulls foraged for food, Jing Su had no time to appreciate the picturesque scenery; he was truly exhausted after a busy day.

Even if it's just a simple matter of designating someone as the secretary ship, hundreds of lists have been submitted. It would take a lot of time to review all of them, let alone make a decision. In addition, there are other things to handle. All of this has left Jing Su feeling sore and dizzy.

So tired~

"Commander, you've worked hard~" Seeing Jing Su slumped in the chair in a daze, Lexington seized the opportunity, walked to Jing Su's side, massaged Jing Su, and said softly.

"Phew~ I didn't know you guys were so busy on the front lines!" Jing Su exclaimed, feeling a little sorry for the ship girls.

"Actually, it's not usually this easy, it's quite relaxed," Lexington explained. "In the past, the front lines never deployed so many ship girls at once. Basically, each faction was responsible for its own defense zone, and the command headquarters had no way to interfere."

"This time, it's all thanks to the commander that everyone was able to work together and launch an attack."

"Ahem, so in the end, it's still my fault?" Jing Su coughed twice, wondering how the conversation had turned into her own.

"Hehe, otherwise what? Only a commander could order these arrogant and fierce soldiers around."

Honestly, only today do I, the duty officer at the command post, feel a little bit like I'm in command.

That's great. We haven't seen this kind of power in a long time.

Commander, it's so good to see you back!

"I'm sorry..." After a moment of silence, Jing Su apologized softly.

"What are you saying, Commander? I didn't mean to blame you, but you can't just disappear like that again, okay? The sisters are very strong. If you disappear again, they already know how to find you. They'll search the whole world for you!"

"..." Jing Su suddenly felt that the hand pressing on her shoulder had become much stronger, and she quickly nodded in acknowledgment.

He witnessed firsthand just how exaggerated the combat power of the ship girls was. Good heavens, with one dive of the carrier-based aircraft, everything within sight was destroyed. The dense swarm of sirens became live targets for the aircraft carrier.

After the air raid ended, flames rose everywhere on the sea surface, and explosions continued. At this time, the vanguard troops advanced to eliminate any remaining enemies, and finally, the troops that cleaned up the battlefield were sent to clear the site. In this way, an area of ​​the sea was captured.

Especially today, with Jing Su in charge, everyone was really putting in their best effort to show off in front of him. They were fighting with all their might, and at one point, the second round of carrier-based aircraft had already arrived to support them before the first round of air strikes had even ended.

There was even artillery support, but the bombardment couldn't keep up with the aircraft's pace, resulting in direct bombing at sea and wasting resources. This forced the heads of offices such as Belfast, Saratoga, and Lexington to personally issue orders to aim carefully before firing and avoid wasting resources. The Maritime Bureau's transport planes are now operating at full capacity to transport resources, but with the ship girls' frantic attacks, the resources being transported are not enough to plug the gap. In the end, they will have to use the port's reserve resources, which would be a huge loss.

When Jing Su heard that the ship girls were still taking advantage of the Maritime Bureau despite their current situation, she didn't know what to say for a moment. In fact, even the ship girls themselves didn't know exactly how much resources the port had in reserve. But according to a rough estimate, if they attacked with all their might, fought like madmen, and fought recklessly until their ship equipment was scrapped, the ship girls in the entire port could keep fighting for hundreds of years without stopping.

However, this is the front line, the territory of the White Eagle faction. The White Eagle faction is bold and unrestrained, but that's only towards their own people. To outsiders, the White Eagle faction has a hidden attribute—extreme stinginess!

Those who focus on their own strengths are all good, but others are even better. Let's use up all the others' resources first!

Under this line of thinking, whoever is in command at the front will be told not to waste resources or take advantage of the Maritime Safety Administration, especially now that there is no need to search for Jing Su, so they should take advantage of them even more. They will not stop until they have ripped these guys off.

It can be said that this is the biggest factor restricting the ship girls' advance speed. The ships sold to the Maritime Bureau are simply too old. They can carry cargo, but they are too slow. Even with orders to work in three shifts day and night, they still can't transport them all. Not to mention that the ship girls are pushing forward too fast now, and they have to study new routes. Otherwise, if they encounter a careless clearing force and don't clear the debris properly, they might run into wreckage and sink, which would be a huge loss.

As night approached, Jing Su saw that it was about time, so she called a halt to the day's battle, signaling the ship girls to rest well, do their patrols, and then eat, drink, and sleep when they felt tired. The battle had just begun, and there was no need to fight too fast; it would be useless to take the battle if the rear lines couldn't keep up.

It's not suitable to launch an attack at night. The visibility is too poor, and the power of the aircraft carrier is much weaker. Without the support of the aircraft carrier, the effect of clearing out enemy forces is greatly reduced, not even a third of that during the day. We can't just let the battleships bombard us when we encounter the enemy; that would be too wasteful.

"Commander, I sank ten heavy cruisers today! Aren't I amazing?" During dinner, a white-haired girl wearing bunny ears and plain shoes skipped excitedly to Jing Su.

"Really? That's amazing! As expected of Shimakaze, you're incredible! I'm so proud of you!" Jing Su said happily, holding a drink.

"Hehe, so this time, I, Shimakaze, will take first place..."

He was interrupted before he could finish speaking.

"Not so easy!" Another silver-haired girl darted out from the crowd, propping herself up on her brightly colored nail polished fingers, and squatted down next to Jing Su, puffing out her chest and declaring, "Awoo, Yuudachi is the strongest! Commander, who are we going to bite next? No matter what kind of warship it is, as long as I sortie, I'll tear it to shreds! Awoo~"

Animal ears, animal tail, the faintly visible southern hemisphere, bubble socks, and the delicate and cute little flower on her lower abdomen—all of these combined to make Jing Su almost unable to look away. It was only when Yuudachi saw that Jing Su didn't react that he nudged Jing Su's trouser leg with his head, belatedly realizing what was happening, and said, "Haha, you are all the best. I saw your performance at the command post today. You were great, absolutely fantastic. I feel especially proud to have you fighting on the front lines. You are all excellent."

Everyone, you were all great!

Let's keep up the good work tomorrow.

cheers! "

"cheers!"

......

"Phew~ Ugh, my head hurts a little~"

"Hey, Master, although today's results were remarkable, you shouldn't be like this. You're taking too much of a toll on your body. Isn't your stomach upset?"

Looking at the dazed Jing Su, Belfast sighed and helped Jing Su to the bed, saying helplessly.

"Ahem, everyone has returned victorious, so they should be rewarded. I can't do anything else but provide some emotional support, so naturally I need to give it my all." Although Jing Su's head was spinning, she still managed to stay rational and struggled to answer.

"You can't drink like that! Hey, those guys are really something. Today is only the first day of the battle. We haven't achieved final victory yet. Being too arrogant and complacent isn't a good thing." Belfast was still very resentful. Jing Su was so drunk that even if she wanted to take action, she didn't have a good way to do it. She couldn't just take advantage of him.

Actually, she did want to do it, but seeing Jing Su like this, she couldn't bring herself to do it.

'Hey, no wonder those guys made me serve their master. Did they think I wouldn't lift a finger? Damn it, I've always been so good to you guys, and this is how you treat me?!'

"Cough cough, Belfast, thank you for everything today, no, for all this time. Here, take this~" Jing Su swayed, about to fall asleep, but before losing consciousness, she mustered her last bit of strength and took out a small box from her bosom, handing it to Belfast. "Actually, I've wanted to give this to you for a long time, but... I haven't found a chance."

Now... in this situation... it's actually not a very good time...

But, how should I put it... thank you for your hard work, Belfast.

It's so great to have you here~

"Ugh! Commander!" With an excited heart and trembling hands, Belfast took the box, opened it, and saw a sparkling ring prominently displayed in the center.

Belfast, thank you for your hard work!

Please continue to guide me in the future~

"Owner!"

Chapter 287 Gift

Jing Su had to lean against the wall to get out of the room. Who said that the gentle and considerate little maid is always gentle? Belfast can be really ruthless when she goes crazy. Jing Su almost couldn't get out of bed.

'Hiss, if this keeps up, I'm afraid I'll never have clean skin again.' After a quick wash in the bathroom, I woke up to find myself covered in all sorts of stuff. It's almost become a routine; every time one of the ship girls comes, they add something to my body. I really think I'll have to wear a mask every time I go out from now on.

"Hey, wait, what brand is this lipstick? Why can't I wipe it off?" Looking at his face, which was getting redder and redder as he tried to wipe it off, Jing Su fell into deep thought. If he remembered correctly, there was only one red lipstick mark on this part of his skin at first, but now, half of his face was covered in red marks.

What left Jing Su speechless was that, even though there was only a small amount at the beginning, the color didn't change at all after being wiped off. Shouldn't it have faded as usual?

'Does this mean I have to wear a mask when I go out today...?'

"Master, what are you doing~" At this moment, Jing Su suddenly felt something hanging on her back and felt a gentle breath by her ear.

It was Belfast. Belfast appeared in the mirror wrapped in a bath towel, her eyes glazed over, as if she wanted to fight again.

"Cough cough, you still dare to talk!" Seeing Belfast's gentle caress, Jing Su felt hot all over again, but she managed to suppress the burning desire. There was no way around it; it was almost eight in the morning, and she had to go to the office to work. Plus, Belfast had been really ruthless yesterday. If she did it again, Jing Su was afraid she wouldn't be able to leave the room.

Many times, Jing Su truly admired the ship girls; their physical endurance was something he envied. They could work all night without getting tired, truly proving the saying: 'There are only oxen that die from exhaustion, not land that gets worn out from plowing!'

"Oh dear, it's already this late, Master. I'm sorry, I'll help you wash up right away!" Belfast glanced at the time after being glared at by Jing Su and immediately came to her senses. Admittedly, Belfast did want to have another round with Jing Su, but that was during her free time. At this hour, according to the rules for royal maids, she should be at her post for at least an hour.

Clearly, Belfast isn't someone with unlimited stamina; last night was definitely too stimulating for her.

Having gone through many trials, Jing Su has become quite experienced, and Belfast, who is new to the game, is certainly not someone she can withstand.

She shouted loudly, blushed, and reacted strongly—all of which were unexpected by Belfast. Even now, when she thinks back on it, Belfast still instinctively brings her legs together and twists them a few times.

Some things, when you're doing them, you don't feel anything, you just feel like you're going all out. But when you calm down, you realize how daring you were. You do things that you would never have thought of in normal times, and when you're caught up in the moment, you do them so easily.

"It's alright. I've already spoken to headquarters. Today, you should get some rest. You've been managing the front lines for so long, you really deserve a good break. Don't overwork yourself."

"But......"

"This is both an order and a request."

"Um..." Belfast wanted to say something, but found that she could no longer speak.