Shipgirls and Salted Fish Commander, Port Survival Guide

“Hmm.” Jing Su nodded. “A new anchor point has also been discovered on the White Eagle defense line. It hasn’t been activated either. By the way, Anshan, can you take complete photos? The Siren anti-aircraft firepower on the White Eagle side is too strong, and the carrier-based aircraft can’t fly over it.”

"A clear photo? I'm very sorry..."

"It's alright, it's fine if you don't have any. The teleportation anchor is quite important to the Sirens, so it's normal that you can't take any pictures." Jing Su reassured them, and then, as if she had thought of something, she added, "Remember, hold the line. If there are any signs of collapse, retreat immediately. Do not linger. That's an order."

Furthermore, no attack is to be launched without my orders; I don't want to hear any news of anyone taking the initiative!

"Ah, yes!" Anshan's tone faltered for a moment, but he quickly responded.

If Jing Su hadn't added that last sentence, Anshan really intended to hang up the phone and then organize her younger sisters to take the initiative to investigate the truth of this newly emerged teleportation anchor.

However, since Jing Su had given the order, she had no better choice than to do as he said. How could she disobey Jing Su's command?

In the port area, although a bunch of ship girls laugh and joke around with Jing Su, and many ship girls like Saratoga occasionally make jokes about Jing Su, that's in their daily lives. Everyone knows that Jing Su won't mind these things, and occasionally making a joke can even enhance their relationship.

But that's in everyday life. Once Jing Su issues a specific order, the entire port area will operate around Jing Su's will!

"Ring ring~" it rang again.

"Frontline Command Post~"

"Commander!" a surprised voice rang out.

"Yes, it's me. What's going on?"

"Um, this is Joan of Arc of the Iris. The carrier-based aircraft of the Banvie have detected an inactive teleportation anchor point..."

"Another one?" Jing Su now fully realized the urgency of the situation.

Based on Jing Su's understanding of the Sirens, a single teleportation anchor point was already disgusting enough. Any teleportation anchor point that had been activated could transport thousands of Siren warships to this world within a single day. There was a time when the Sirens would simply drop transport ships over, which were loaded with a large number of other types of warships.

However, this approach was abandoned by the Sirens after the ship girls discovered and attacked it. After all, if they used transport ships, a wave of carrier-based aircraft bombardment could destroy an entire army of Sirens' warships. The Sirens really do load all sorts of things onto their ships!

"Huh? What again... Could it be...?"

"Yes, other defensive lines have also discovered new Siren teleportation anchor points." Jing Su briefly relayed the intelligence reported by the other defensive lines to Joan of Arc, and reiterated the instruction not to act rashly.

"Yes, Commander, that's the arrangement!"

"Dingling bell~"

Before Jing Su could even think about what to say, the phone rang again.

"Four more!?"

"Combat Command Center, what's the status of the Sirens teleportation anchor point now!?"

"Eh, wait, I, Commander!? How did you know there was a Siren teleportation anchor point?"

“This is the fourth one…” Jing Su said quietly.

"What? A fourth one? There are four Siren teleportation anchor points? So many?" An incredulous voice came from the other end of the conversation.

"Well, including you guys, this is the fourth teleportation anchor point we've discovered. By the way, we mustn't act rashly."

Just as Jing Su was relaying the message to the other side, warning them not to act rashly, there was no response from the other end of the phone for a long time.

"What's wrong? Is there something else going on?"

"Um, Commander, well... your order is a bit late..."

"what!?"

"When the teleportation anchor was discovered, Ron led a team out of the defensive line and broke through the Sirens' defenses. Now, they have captured the teleportation anchor."

"..." Jing Su was completely dumbfounded. What the hell? Is Ron this fierce? Other factions didn't even take a single picture, but you've already taken over the anchor point?

But on second thought, it’s actually normal. The main force of the White Eagle camp rotates, and there is not much air defense firepower on the front line. There is no need to expand outward, so there is no need to send powerful aircraft carriers to the front line. It is enough to leave a few that can defend against air attacks.

It's perfectly normal that neither the French nor the Eastern Empire have very powerful aircraft carriers, so it's not possible to take photos of them.

But this iron-blooded...

To be precise, it was Ron.

"I remember, didn't I give Ron a break? Why is she still on the front lines?" Jing Su recalled his personnel arrangements; he should have arranged for Ron to rest.

"Commander, you may not know this, but for Ron, fighting the Sirens is her way of resting..."

“It’s reasonable…” After a long pause, Jing Su finally managed to utter this single word.

"So, what should we do with this anchor point now? Should we abandon it?" Seeing that Jing Su didn't seem to blame Ron on the day of the phone call, he quickly changed the subject.

“We’ve already taken it, so why would we give it back? Can we even hold onto it?” A thought suddenly flashed through Jing Su’s mind, and it became clearer and clearer. Before long, an actionable plan took shape in her mind.

Since teleportation anchors can allow Sirens to come from other worlds, conversely, one can also use teleportation anchors to get to the Sirens' side.

In the past, even if a teleportation anchor was discovered, the port area had no good options other than destroying it, because without coordinates, even if the teleportation anchor was captured, there was no way to find Jing Su.

This is why, after Jing Su went missing, the ship girls thought that Jing Su might have gone to another world, but they couldn't use the teleportation anchor point to find her.

There are simply too many worlds to navigate without a compass; searching one world at a time is like panning for gold in a desert – a pipe dream.

Now it's different. There are four teleportation anchor points in total. Once you capture one of them, you can analyze its coordinates after activating the other three anchor points, and then find the specific location of the other world.

In this way, the port area can launch a major counter-offensive!

But all of this is predicated on the ability to hold onto the teleportation point. If it can't be held, Jing Suning would rather destroy it than let her girls take the risk.

"We can hold out, but...we need reinforcements!" There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone, followed by a firm voice.

"Okay, I understand. Tell Ron to hold out for three hours. If reinforcements don't arrive within three hours, destroy the teleportation anchor. That's an order!"

"It's the commander!"

The phone call ended, and the room fell silent again, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. This time, no phone rang again, as if what had just happened was just an illusion.

'Hu~'

After a short while, Jing Su let out a long sigh and murmured to TB on the stage, "TB, can I trust you?"

“Commander, you can trust me unconditionally!” TB’s voice was emotionless, but his reply was swift and resolute.

"Alright, relay my order: notify all ship girls of gold rank or higher to assemble immediately in the operations room and prepare for sortie!"

"Yes, sir! Execute your order, Commander!"

Chapter 294 Another Plan

"Commander, the photo of the teleportation anchor point has been sent."

In the conference room, a three-dimensional topographic map appeared on the 3D projection in front of Jing Su.

In the scene, several towering towers exuded a chilling aura. Even from dozens of nautical miles away, Jing Su could still feel the terrifying pressure emanating from them.

"This... is the teleportation anchor point?" Jing Su murmured.

Since transmigrating to this world, he has experienced several battles. When chatting with the ship girls every now and then, he can occasionally hear about the so-called teleportation anchor point.

Common topics include things like, "Today, the anchorage of the *** ship was acting up, with a bunch of Siren warships popping up and delaying us, so I didn't even have time to eat dinner," and so on.

But this is the first time I've seen what the teleportation anchor point looks like.

“Yes, Commander, although the model is not very common, it is indeed a teleportation anchor point.” Belfast’s gentle voice sounded in my ear.

The appearance of four teleportation anchor points at once is unprecedented since the port split. Basically, everyone who can move on the front line has been pulled into the preparation room, ready to attack at any moment.

"These things come in different models?"

"Yes, the teleportation anchors that appear during different Siren host attacks are not exactly the same. This model is very rare. It should be from the newly rotated Siren host. There is no relevant record in the current database. You may have seen it before you went missing, because I feel like I've seen it somewhere before."

Belfast explained the general situation of the teleportation anchor point to Jing Su.

It turns out that during each quarterly offensive, a new teleportation anchor point would appear in a certain area of ​​the sea, sending out troops with a 'bang'. Different hosts have different preferences, so the styles of all the anchor points are not the same.

By analyzing the patterns of the teleportation anchor points, we can determine the model of the Siren host and adjust our combat strategy accordingly. For example, we can learn about the enemy's troop deployment habits and whether the main body is a heavy or light armored unit. Based on this data, we can adjust our equipment and troops.

But right now, a new type of anchor point has appeared, and no one knows what kind of unit it is. The only thing we know is that this time the Sirens host unit particularly likes to use swarm tactics. In the past few days, the ship girls have fought enough battles. Looking around, there are Sirens warships everywhere. If you didn't know better, you would think that you had returned to the time when the Sirens first arrived.

“If you put it that way, then yes, I do have some recollection of it.” Jing Su frowned and fell into deep thought as Belfast pointed it out.

"Where did the Commander see the teleportation anchor point?" Belfast was taken aback. Wasn't it said that Jing Su hadn't participated in much combat since his return? "Could it be on the way to the front lines?"

At this moment, Belfast remembered the information reported by Warspite. According to her and Vanguard's combat report, on their way to the front line, they discovered a new resource point. After capturing the resource point, Jing Su disappeared for a period of time while they were exploring the island.

The group searched the entire island frantically, but couldn't find a trace of Jing Su. Just when the ship girls were about to despair, Jing Su returned unharmed.

After being questioned, Jing Su said that he had inexplicably run into a very strange space, and before he could figure out what was going on, he was sent out by a girl covered in octopus tentacles.

After checking, Jing Su was found to be unharmed, and no strange aura remained. The women didn't pay much attention to it, simply mentioning it briefly in their battle report before returning to their intimate moments with Jing Su.

Belfast had noticed this matter during the audit and was planning to send someone to the island to check on the situation once she had some free time. However, after Jing Su went to the front line, with her lining up in swimsuits and making emergency moves, Belfast was completely won over by Jing Su. She spent the whole day immersed in happy and wonderful memories and forgot about this matter.

"It seems so. In that cave, I saw a spherical thing. When I touched it, everything went black, and I appeared in a mysterious space. If I remember correctly, the pattern on that sphere is very similar to the pattern on the teleportation anchor point this time."

"So, the Sirens have quite a few teleportation anchor points hidden in the outer seas," Belfast murmured.

"If that's the case, then our resource points..." Jing Su thought of something very important. According to Warspite, one of the major ways for the various factions in the port to solve the resource problem was to seize the Sirens' resource points and collect resources.

Jing Su didn't see a single resource point on the main route, which means that these islands are all in the open sea outside the safe route. Therefore, the possibility that there are Siren teleportation anchor points at the resource points cannot be ruled out.

After all, the island that Jing Su went to was inspected several times by Warspite and Vanguard, and both ships unanimously said there were no problems before he went ashore, but an accident still happened.

"Commander, you don't need to worry about that. Before each resource point is put into use, we will use specialized equipment to detect it. It's no exaggeration to say that we will dig three feet into the ground. In this process, even if there are still teleportation anchor points, they will be detected. The unexpected situation on that island before was actually related to the detection equipment."

The commander's cruise ship was a rather traditional resort vessel, not designed with the possibility of discovering resource points in mind, so it wasn't equipped with professional detection equipment. It's quite normal that Miss Vanguard and Miss Warspite couldn't find it.

Belfast naturally knew what Jing Su was worried about and tried to comfort her.

In fact, the energy required to activate a teleportation anchor is terrifying. After all, just constructing the spatial channel to connect two worlds requires an astronomical amount of energy.

Because of this, each time the teleportation anchor is activated, it makes a lot of noise, which means that the anchor's base must be stable, otherwise the anchor may collapse on its own during operation.

In other words, if an island has a teleportation anchor point, then even without professional detectors, one can detect the clues simply by looking at it.

This is also why Jing Su couldn't find the teleportation anchor point afterward. It wasn't a hallucination or serious confusion, but rather because the anchor point disintegrated itself after being activated repeatedly in a short period of time.

"Can't the teleportation anchor points be activated continuously?" Jing Su noticed the clue.

"Yes, Commander. The energy required to construct the space tunnel is too enormous. No material can withstand such a powerful energy impact. This is why the Sirens cannot mass-produce anchor points. The scarcity of materials is one reason, and the fact that the instruments must be rested and cooled down after only a few uses is another."

Therefore, common anchor points are similar to what we see now: they either never start, or once started, they remain effective until they are scrapped.

The end of each quarterly offensive is marked by when the anchor point is destroyed.

"So, my plan to counterattack through the teleportation anchor point is out of the question." Jing Su remained silent. He had finally come up with a plan, but it had failed before he could even implement it.

According to Belfast, who knows when the teleportation anchor will collapse? If it collapses, the ship girls will still be in another world. Wouldn't that be harming people?

"Actually, it's alright, Commander. This plan still has a chance of being implemented."

"How to say?"

"Our port area has actually mastered the technology of manufacturing teleportation anchors, but without spatial coordinates, we will only get lost in the spatial turbulence if we teleport rashly."

If we can find the Sirens' hiding place in this battle, defeating them will be no problem at all.

Commander, before you disappeared, the port had established supply bases in other worlds, but they were all abandoned later.

"So, Belfast, do you have any suggestions? Judging from your expression, you must have some ideas."

At this moment, Jing Su finally realized why she was in such a hurry. She was a complete novice and didn't have a comprehensive understanding of the information. Making a decision rashly might just harm the ship girls.

For example, just now, we made a plan to launch a full-scale attack, intending to seize an anchor point and launch a counterattack. But then we discovered that the anchor point might collapse, so we immediately backed down. This is a drawback of incomplete information.

Making a decision without knowing the facts is very hasty.

However, while they themselves may not know, the ship girls certainly do. They've been fighting the Sirens for so long, especially Belfast. She's been in charge of frontline affairs for even longer than Lexington and Saratoga. Not to mention, Belfast also needs to mediate the conflicts between all factions, ensuring everyone works towards the same goal instead of sabotaging each other. She's quite remarkable.

"An idea? I do have a suggestion." Belfast's lips curled up. She had this suggestion a long time ago, and it was she who pushed for the proposal to establish bases in other worlds.

As a royal maid, few ship girls in the entire port are more determined to find Jing Su than she is. After all, the very existence of the royal maids is for Jing Su!

Previously, they could be said to serve Queen Elizabeth, but after Jing Su appeared, or rather, after Jing Su established the port area, the only meaning for the Royal Maid Corps was Jing Su herself.

"Tell me what you think, before the main force sets off."

“Commander, I suggest we retake the lost strongholds first before considering a counterattack against the Sirens. If we attack now, are there any traps on the other side of the world? It would be better to consolidate a few strongholds first and slowly build up the situation.” Belfast pondered for a moment before delivering her carefully prepared speech.

As the chief architect of the interdimensional conquest plan, Belfast was extremely distressed to see the stronghold she had painstakingly built fall. It was something she had worked so hard to create, and she was just waiting for the commander to return so she could show it to him.

Later, the port split up, and the strength of a single faction was simply not enough to hold the stronghold, so they had no choice but to give up.

"Can we find it?" Jing Su's expression began to turn strange. She had a feeling that this scene was starting to resemble a certain game she remembered.

“Yes, we can. The coordinates of those outposts are all recorded.” Belfast was delighted to see that Jing Su was showing signs of relenting. She immediately pulled out photos of the outposts they had built and showed them to Jing Su.