On the afternoon of April 17, the Seto Inland Sea.

At this moment, the sky is as blue as a wash, and even a few seabirds can clearly be traced white.

As if tired of long flights, a seabird broke away from the large army of its companions and used a chrysanthemum coat of arms as a temporary resting point.

At its feet, a battleship 224.9 meters long and 34.59 meters wide, this steel giant beast was silently sneaking through the waves at a speed of twenty knots.

The sea constantly lapped against the hull of the ship, splashing layer upon layer of waves, but this did not hinder the battleship Nagato.

The camera zooms in, and the cabin is not quiet, and there is a lot of noise in every corner.

You may not believe it, but the busiest department on the ship at present is not the power room, nor is it the armory or damage control team responsible for the management of the ship's ammunition, but the most inconspicuous galley.

"Move fast! There's still lunch for 1,000 people to eat! “

"Before the outbreak of the big war, we must prepare our share for today! The samurai must not be left hungry to fight! ”

Under the command of the head chef, nearly 100 men are in full swing, striving to make the temporary lunch quickly baked in the shortest possible time.

Unlike the bitter army red deer, the food of the Benzi Navy at this stage is absolutely luxurious, even compared with the Royal Navy of the same period, it is not inferior at all.

The food of the trainee sailors is the responsibility of the ordinary cooks.

The officers' kitchens are in charge of elite cooks.

The top leaders and captains of various departments can even ask the chefs of some top restaurants to come to serve on the ship. Such a big move is just to enjoy customized Western food with different tastes in different countries.

If this extravagance and waste were known to the army deer, a civil war would inevitably break out.

When the devils of various posts began to enjoy their lunch, Takasu Shiro, who was wearing the navy blue fleet commander's uniform, came to the armored command tower with a high spirit.

"Yano-kun, let the communications detachment immediately send a signal to the five battleships in the inner air defense circle. Especially the Fuso, which is too close to the flagship, just keep it at about two kilometers. ”

"The outermost destroyer can expand the warning circle a little more, as long as the distance is no more than four kilometers. Their main task now is to reconnoiter the enemy's situation, and for the time being, they do not need to act as mobile mine belts. ”

"By the way, what's the situation at the wharf, did Major General Takayanagi reply? Judging by the current fleet speed, how long will it take for us to converge. ”

As soon as these words came out, the three communications detachments on the battleship Nagato immediately began to act.

For the sake of radio silence, they had to use flags and semaphore lights to convey the orders of the commander of their fleet to the surface ships around the flagship.

A moment later, the five Iron King Hachi, led by the battleship Michinoku, quickly adjusted their positions and tightly surrounded the battleship Nagato in the middle of the fleet.

This situation made Takasu Shiro smile confidently. In his opinion, he is about to lead the main force of the First Fleet out of the danger zone, and maybe there will be a chance to go to the next level after the war.

"Yo Xi!"

"Very energetic!"

"As long as we can maintain the current formation, even if we collide head-on with the Seventeenth Task Force of the Ugly Country, I have the confidence to fight with it!"

Unlike the others in the Panzer Tower, the captain of the battleship Nagato, the Lost Hero, had a solemn face and looked out of place in an optimistic atmosphere.

As for the reason why this big sa is worried?

Without him, just because the current fleet is too slow, the old devil has a sense of foreboding.

It stands to reason that when the Grand Fleet is in a relatively familiar sea area and has the need for rapid transfer, a single vertical formation should be chosen to give full play to the maximum maneuverability of each ship.

This kind of formation, to put it bluntly, is a long snake formation.

It can be said to be the bottom of the box skill of every senior admiral of the Navy.,The main focus is a quick pass and do it if you don't accept it.。

However, considering the enemy bombers that could fall from the sky at any time, Takasu Shiro finally chose to practice less often, and he was not particularly skilled in the ring formation.

There is no way, who made him stressed and worried that the fleet would be hit hard.

To put it simply, this formation uses auxiliary ships to surround the capital ship, and uses a layer-by-layer method to maximize cross-fire in the near- and medium-range air defense range.

When a battle takes place, no matter which direction or angle the enemy cuts into, it will have to face the coordinated operation of multiple ships.

Any torpedo, submarine, and group of aircraft that wants to traumatize the flagship must step on the wreckage of the surrounding frigates. In the vernacular of a certain white-haired magic game, this is called package air defense.

It's a pity, the ideal is very plump, but the reality is very skinny.

Although the ring formation did strengthen the overall anti-aircraft firepower, due to the unfamiliar cooperation between the various capital ships, the already slow fleet became even faster.

Judging from the current situation, both the time of the rendezvous with the battleship Yamato and the arrival of the meeting point agreed with the Navy had to be postponed.

······

For the next five minutes, one command after another was issued in an orderly manner from the armored conning tower.

Looking at the samurai of the younger country running around on the deck, and then looking at the nautical chart placed in front of him, the captain of the Nagato, Hero Yano, finally couldn't help but speak:

"Commander Takasu, there is no point in concealing the route. The immediate priority now is to merge with the ballast terminal and sail to a safer area as soon as possible. ”

Hearing this, Takasu Shiro nodded.

In the old devil's inherent cognition, the ring formation composed of many battleships, cruisers, destroyers, and seaplane carriers must be monolithic, and even if the enemy plane attacks, he has the confidence to fight the opponent to the death.

It's just a villain in the air, so there's nothing to worry about.

"Good! Then go full speed ahead and strive to join the pride of the younger country's navy as soon as possible! ”

After receiving the approval of the captain and the commander of the fleet, the captain silently breathed a sigh of relief, and then ordered with full anger:

"Left full rudder! Sail to the open sea! Burn the wind! ”

At the same time, Hero Yano turned on the ship-wide radio and made a final mobilization of the sailors at various posts.

"Before the attack, there is no need to talk nonsense. I hope that all the combatants will carry forward the spirit of bushido, and let us, the strongest fleet in the country, serve the expectations of the people! ”

That's right, it's the offense.

Although the First Fleet left Pillar Island to avoid an attack by an unknown enemy, Takasu Shiro and Hero Yano told the mid- and lower-ranking officers that they were supporting the rear of the attack.

It can't be helped, if you tell the truth, it will affect morale too much.

It turns out that the old devil's trick is really useful.

When his voice spread to all corners along with the radio system, the devils of the whole ship immediately entered a state of frenzy. Some of the junior officers waved and even began to wave the katana in their hands, their eyes scarlet and shouted angrily.

For the sailors of the First Fleet, they were desperate for a devastating victory.

In the current book navy, a number of senior generals, including Yamamoto seven times eight, all support the so-called seventy-percent theory.

From the current military point of view, this kind of decision-making with the main force is indeed outrageous, and it is outrageous.

But the devils just believe in it.

Even if their own mobile fleet has achieved a large enough advantage in the local battlefield, they still want to hide the first fleet in the snow on Pillar Island.

This led to the fact that when Nagumo Tadaichi's mobile fleet took the four high-speed battleships Hiei, Kirishima, Haruna and King Kong to kill all sides, the six Iron King Eight of the First Fleet could only wait for a naval duel in the traditional sense on Pillar Island.

The occasional shooting training in the Seto Inland Sea is basically their entire routine.

All of the above encounters caused the devils of the First Fleet to be extremely eager for a battle, which is also the reason why they were extremely fanatical after being mobilized.

Just after Hero Yano had finished mobilizing, the report from the air defense control tower suddenly sounded on the radio.

"Enemy planes were discovered at the left twenty degrees, no less than eighty!"

As soon as these words came out, the devil officers in the armored command raised their binoculars one after another and began to observe the sudden group of enemy planes.

"Fight in the air!"

"Three-way burn shotgun! Start shooting! ”

Having received the order, the No. 1 main gun of the battleship Nagato began to turn the turret at full speed. At the same time, the two gun barrels were also pointed at the group in the sky.

"Boom! Rumble! Rumble! ”

Showa air defense, 12 rounds empty.

The first round of attacks by the six battleships was like a big blooming flower in the sky, and it did not hurt the menacing group in the slightest.

There is no way, the so-called three-type incendiary shotgun is actually a special anti-aircraft weapon containing thousands of incendiary submunitions.

To put it bluntly, this thing is a large troll that relies mainly on shotguns to shoot down or disperse the group, and the actual outcome of the battle is entirely up to luck.

Seeing that the first round of counterattacks had no effect, Hero Yano strode up to the commander of his own fleet, and he saluted with a serious face:

"I went to the combat bridge and was responsible for directing the air defense of the whole ship!"

Hearing this, Takasu Shiro immediately returned the salute: "Nagato, please leave it to you!" (End of chapter)