“…… The fifth Sentai Myoko, Nachi, Lian, and Shio were slightly damaged, and Haguro and Ashigara were seriously damaged; The sixth Sentai Aoba was slightly damaged, and Kagu, Jiangfeng, and Liangfeng were seriously damaged, among which Kagu's hull was basically irreparable, and its commander, Admiral Goto, had submitted an application for Kagu's retirement; The village rain of the ninth team was slightly damaged; The 2nd Air Force Cirrus was slightly damaged, and the cranes were severely damaged. Pen? Interesting? Pavilion wWw. ｂiquge。 infoThe above is the damage of our side in this blockade. ”

Yamato put the compiled report one after another in front of Sosuke Takayanagi. Unlike Sousuke Takayanagi's estimate, although the heavy cruiser had losses, it was a bit far from the 2-3 ships he expected to be sunk, and the safest regular aircraft carrier Yunhe was almost blown up.

"This time, it was all up to Kii's unusual judgment to block the enemy's carrier-based aircraft group for Yunhe. Her goal can be regarded as accomplished, a victory that cannot be picked. Sousuke Takayanagi flipped through the statistics of the results sent by each team, except for the Second Air Battle, each team wrote that they had sunk more than 10 enemy ships, especially the fifth team, and 60% of the results were hit on the three heavy cruisers outside of Haguro.

"In addition, the Fifth Squadron and the damaged ships have all left for Buin Mooring, and the remaining Ninth Squadron has applied to join our main fleet to participate in the annihilation of the deep-sea fleet." Yamato pulled out the message that Kii had just sent from the folder he was holding, and the words in the text were full of the meaning of showing off his victory

"Spare power? She didn't even have a single scrape on her hull. If I were the commander of the deep-sea fleet, I would definitely start the 'decapitation' operation with the Kii, which was acting alone. Sousuke Takayanagi compared the number of results reported by each team to estimate the remaining strength of the deep-sea fleet.

The battleship Suki rebuilt a temporary port area northwest of Port Vila in the New Hebrides, and the Fifth Air War continued to weaken the deep-sea fleet by means of air strikes from a safe distance. But their earnings were not as good as their predecessors, and the losses of carrier-based aircraft doubled. The Fifth Air Battle, which had already suffered considerable losses in the air raid on Port Vila, was forced to retreat after four days of air raids.

It's March 25th. Sosuke Takayanagi, who was ready, sat on the Yamato, and led 4 Fuso-class and Ise-class battleships, plus Kii, a total of six battleships to form a fleet with warships as the core.

The decisive battle around the New Hebrides is quietly approaching.

――――

That night, there were still more than 1,000 nautical miles of ocean from Shoreland. The support fleet led by Nagato was heading to the battlefield at a high speed of 18 knots.

In addition to the many fuel-laden transport ships that accompanied the fleet, there were also two light air carriers of the current Truk garrison fleet and the Three-Voyage Eagle-class ships that departed from Palau Moor. No matter how many naval veterans forcibly deny the aircraft carrier force, it is at least very effective against an enemy who does not have air supremacy.

Nagato woke up from her sleep, she had often woken up in the middle of the night since she was "exiled" to Truk Po, but this was the first time she had been assigned this time. "There are still two or three days left, let's catch up on sleep tomorrow."

She put on her military uniform and walked out of the captain's room with her sword. The cabin is now quiet, except for the people on duty, everyone is actively preparing for war, ensuring that they can experience a big battle at any time when they arrive at the battlefield.

"2 o'clock local time? It's about 3 o'clock. It was only 3 hours until dawn. Nagato put his pocket watch back in his pocket and continued to walk to the exclusive sword training room.

She still remembers that the pocket watch was a birthday gift from Mutsu when she was studying, and in a blink of an eye, it was no longer a person. The IJN Combined Fleet has become the world's strongest naval force, and is fighting the deep-sea fleet that dares to declare war on the battlefield, but unfortunately the commander is not her Nagato.

[Someone? 】

Sensing something unusual, Nagato immediately rushed to the deck from the nearest exit with his sword.

The night wind blew away her military hat, and a black figure stood in the shadows on the deck.

"Don't come unharmed, Commander Nagato." The other party was tied with iron chains, and it was not very convenient to move.

Nagato can confirm that he has never met the other person, but listening to the tone of the other person, he seems to know her.

The black, red, and white figure slowly walked into the moonlight, and the six black orbs behind her were silently suspended. "Don't worry, I'm not an assassin who came to take your life. I don't think I have the fighting ability of the battleship Suhime. ”

Nagato didn't listen to the other party's words, and after confirming that it was the deep sea perch, she drew her sword and rushed towards the other party quickly. A knife slashed straight to the front door, "Don't talk nonsense!" ”

The six black balls transformed into a large shield with six petals, easily blocking the possibility of Nagato's frontal attack.

"It's useless."

No matter how hard Nagato tried, she couldn't pierce the shield, so she had to step back and retract her knife.

"Who are you? What to do on my ship? Nagato, who eats hard and not soft, subsided a little hostility, and did not rush to sound the alarm. She was eager to understand the purpose of the deep sea perch with magical powers in front of her.

"Commander Nagato, you're still consistently unreasonable. He just drew a knife with me, and now he has come to ask me what I mean. At least bring tables and chairs, and the two of us sat down to talk over tea. ”

Air defense Seihime (Keiji Nishikawa) asks the flower shield to disintegrate into six sphere forms, and she pulls out her former military ID card from her headband and throws it to Nagato. "I'm here to deal with trivial matters before my death, do you recognize this military card?"

Nagato took the military ID card, which already had black blood stains, and opened it, and she was stunned. "This ...... It's not ...... Xihe Shaozuo's military ID? How could it be in your hands? ”

"Why is it in my hands? When you buried my body in the jungle, you didn't take it, but now it's in my hands. Nagato, I should thank you for that. After becoming a deep-sea inhabitant, I gained a power that I had never imagined in my life. No one threatens me anymore, and now I am invincible. Hahahahaha......ha

Nagato couldn't reconcile the Fukami Suhime who was laughing wildly in front of him with that Nishikawa Keiji Shaoza. In her memory, Keiji Nishikawa was cowardly, but other than that, he was a qualified soldier, a human who could sit on the beach and talk about his hometown with a hearty smile.

"Are you...... Keiji Nishikawa? ”

"What? Can't believe it? Commander Nagato, but I died at the hands of the Tenryu and Ryutian you sent! You are the one who made me who I am today. The air defense Qihime waved the chains in her hands excitedly, expecting Nagato's panicked expression. More than once in her life, she fantasized about how her boss Nagato looked frightened, and when the dead came to the door after being resurrected, everyone would be afraid.

Nagato closed the military ID card in his hand and frowned. "I really didn't know you were dead, the day after you fled the station. My men found traces of your food and lodging in the abandoned barn where you were hiding, but we searched in the jungle for days without finding you. I thought you had found someone to connect with you and secretly stayed on a transport ship to return home. ”

Air defense Suhime scoffed at Nagato's quibbles, she didn't expect Nagato, who had always been upright, to lie, but it was just right. She wanted to hear how false and ridiculous Nagato's lies were, "Go back to China? If I return to China, I will definitely be wiped out by the organization. You people are persecuting me every single one! After forcing me to death, and now you don't admit it? Black too, so are you, never thought of a poor person like me who lives in the cracks. If you say you will throw it at Truk Anchor, you will lose Truk Anchor, and if you say you want to search my room, you will search it, and then you will force me to run for my life, just to kill me justifiably. Am I, a person who works as an intelligence spy, really so cheap? ”

It's been a long time since she wanted to say this, and she didn't want to take the money back to her hometown in Okinawa to live a good life. However, the leader of the organization, Black, threw him to Macau, China, which led him to become a degenerate step by step. Maybe it's really as Long Xing of Huakaiyuan said, it is better to die in the dock together, so that he can leave a heroic name for himself before his death.

"However, I was born again. You saw my power just now, right? No one can threaten me, my shield can keep you people out of the way! The ship's mother doesn't seem to be afraid of bullets? I'm okay with the constant bombardment of your 41 cannon. Envy, right? This is the invincible shield of absolute defense! ”

"If my subordinates really shoot you, they will definitely take back your officer ID. And I really didn't intend to kill you in the first place, I just wanted you to stop espionage and be an upright Japanese naval soldier. You have a lot of potential, and I felt that your continued multi-identity would add to your anxiety. I'm really optimistic about you, and I still do that until I see you tonight. ”

Nagato's words completely exceeded the expectations of the air defense Suhime, she never expected that a samurai who was perfect in the minds of all Japanese soldiers would tell a lie so sincerely.

[An upright soldier? Can it really be? 】

It was impossible from the time Keiji Nishikawa joined the branch of the Communist Organization in the Far East, how could someone who had gone astray return to the sun? What's more, Keiji Nishikawa is dead, and only the air defense is here.

"Stop your ridiculous lies, Commander Nagato. Is it so hard to admit that you killed me? ”

"You should stop talking ridiculously! Keiji Nishikawa, have you ever seen me lie? ”

[Nope.] 】

The air defense Qihime's mind immediately came to the conclusion that Nagato never joked during the time she worked with her during her lifetime, and always established herself in her mind as the first samurai officer in all of Japan.

"It can't be! Surely you are lying! I can still recall that night, I went to the coast to meet the rescue of a deep-sea ship. Tianlong and Longtian chased me with two teams and shot me...... No, it's in the jungle. I was shot. ”

The coast and the jungle are two completely different locations, and they keep flashing through the mind of the air defense perch. She felt like she had a splitting headache and couldn't understand why she couldn't tell where she was dying.

"I think you must have died in the jungle, and your officer ID still has traces of brown dirt."

Nagato threw the military ID card back to the air defense Qi Ji, and let her hold her head and think hard. "You are now a deep sea kihime, an enemy of Japan. Go back, I'll be in a dream tonight. ”