Bismarck gave orders with a stoic face, directing a few little destroyer girls along with California and Tirpitz into motion, but inwardly, she let out a small sigh of relief.
Now that she was here, she didn't want to go back.
With war as an excuse, at least she could stay by the Commander's side.
No, wait—war was exactly what the Ironblood excelled at. Serving as secretary ship during wartime was the most responsible way to support the base.
Yat Sen blinked from the side and said, "Commander, it's not just the big shipgirls who have strong combat ability. Small ships can be main forces too."
Bismarck blinked, then realized, "You're talking about Changchun?"
Yat Sen nodded. "Changchun is incredibly capable. She can function even in the harshest battle conditions. Commander, I think you should consider summoning her to replace me for base defense when the time comes."
Bismarck frowned slightly. "Changchun does have the ability to carry out long-range precision strikes with her missiles. But if the battle intensity is too high, or if there are too many Abyssal flagships, I'm afraid she won't be able to keep up."
Yat Sen turned to Hikaru. "It's up to your judgment, Commander."
Hikaru was conflicted. Of course he knew who Changchun was.
Changchun was a classic "Commander-obsessed" type of girl. As a missile destroyer, she was categorized as a small ship—but in the game, she was classified as a main fleet unit. That alone spoke volumes about the sheer strength of missile destroyers.
As the name implied, missile destroyers could fire guided missiles and strike enemies beyond visual range. In the game, missile destroyers had a base hit rate of 75%—essentially a guaranteed hit—and their damage was terrifying. Ordinary small and medium ships would usually go down in one hit.
In-game, Changchun could only launch two missiles at a time. But in real combat, as long as she had constant resupply, she could essentially function like an autonomous missile launcher—firing endlessly.
Strictly speaking, missile destroyers weren't even part of the WWII-era roster. They were a more modern type of warship, with a clear tech advantage over traditional ship types.
And yet, even with such balance-breaking firepower, Bismarck still didn't seem too confident in Changchun's performance in actual battle.
When it came to sustained attacks, she couldn't compare to a top-tier carrier armed with six-star B-25 bombers. When it came to pressure endurance, she wasn't remotely close to a battleship's ability to maintain firepower in a high-intensity environment.
Battleships were armor-plated juggernauts. Missile destroyers were somewhat fragile. If the enemy was overwhelming, missile destroyers wouldn't last long.
In other words, Changchun was great for finishing off weakened foes—but not the best when it came to turning the tide in a losing battle.
Hikaru looked at Yat Sen. Her eyes were filled with quiet hope.
He understood what she was feeling.
With a name like Changchun, it was clear she was from the Chinese faction.
In fact, Changchun was a refit ship. She had been transformed from the Soviet class four-star destroyer Reshitelny.
She was also one of the Chinese's signature combat ships—standing out among the crowd of destroyers and light cruisers.
Yat Sen couldn't contribute much to the upcoming war, so she hoped one of her sisters would take her place.
Protecting their home—Chinese shipgirls didn't want to be left behind.
Hikaru recalled what Changchun was like.
That girl still had some traces of her "Russian-style" upbringing. Ning Hai and Ping Hai would often encourage her to sneak vodka from the Soviet shipgirl Sovetsky Soyuz, then roast potatoes to share with the others.
Sovetsky Soyuz was the big sister of the Soviet class—a flat-chested, white-haired girl with a passion for booze. But due to the low population of Soviet shipgirls, she didn't have quite the same fearsome aura as the heads of the four major factions in the base.
Still, nobody dared mess with her.
Anyone else who tried to steal her liquor would get smacked hard—but she couldn't bring herself to hit Changchun. After all, they were once from the same faction.
More often than not, she would just chuckle and let it slide, though she did frequently tattle to Hikaru.
Changchun herself was usually quiet. She had a panda robot and a jade rabbit plushie, and often played by herself with those two.
But whenever it was time to talk to Hikaru, she would suddenly brighten up—even daring to tease him.
She had begged him to summon her more than once or twice already.
Thinking of all that, Hikaru nodded.
"If the situation allows, we'll summon Changchun."
Yat Sen gave a soft, delighted little "Yay!"—she knew that meant he'd basically agreed.
"I'll cook something for you," she said as she stood up, beaming. "All these years, I've always wanted to make you a proper feast with my own hands."
[End of Chapter]
[100 Power Stones = Extra Chapter]
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