Faced with this particular naval base, Abyssal Yamato proceeded with extreme caution. Arrogant she might be—but she wasn't an idiot.
According to intel, several shipgirls had just left the base heading north.
Presumably, they were bound for the East Continent—the same place the other Yamato had originally come from.
Now Abyssal Yamato stood at a crossroads.
She had 700,000 Abyssal troops at her disposal, but only four Abyssal flagships, including herself.
Should she launch a probing strike against the lightly defended base, or go after the squad heading north?
She waved her hand.
"Akagi Unit 3254 and Kaga Unit 5367, begin air raids on the northbound squad. Kitakami, you're coming with me—we'll take 300,000 troops and encircle and destroy them."
She had chosen to target the squad first—a test of their capabilities.
The strongest shipgirls, Tirpitz and Lexington, weren't among them. The girls heading north were mostly unfamiliar faces. She needed to gauge their strength.
On the other hand, her current forces were barely adequate for harassing the main base—certainly not for a full frontal assault.
The problem was a lack of quality flagships.
She only had four Abyssal flagships: two carriers who could only stay in the rear, one torpedo cruiser who wasn't built for melee combat, and herself—the only one who could charge into battle and soak damage.
Clearly not enough.
So this squad would serve as a trial. She wanted to see what surprises they had in store.
At her command, the 700,000-strong Abyssal army began to move.
On the sea, Prince of Wales and the rest of the six-member team sprinted forward, massive waves trailing behind them—this was a speed no ordinary Abyssal unit could ever hope to match.
Speed was their greatest strength.
"The Abyssals are coming for us," Saratoga said with her eyes closed.
Not to be outdone, Ranger also shut her eyes, and after a moment reported, "At our current heading, we'll be hit by the first bombing wave about 300 nautical miles northeast."
The Abyssal air units weren't meant to defeat them outright—just to bog them down long enough for the main force to catch up.
Yamato looked uneasy. "Should we change course and go west instead?"
"No way!"
Saratoga and Ranger spoke in unison. The two exchanged a glance and both pulled a face of disdain.
Bismarck, the squad leader, asked, "So, what's your plan?"
She was asking the two carrier shipgirls. In most battles, carriers played the role of battlefield coordinators—the brains.
Ranger remained silent. In terms of tactics, she wasn't in the same league as Saratoga.
Saratoga answered calmly, "Neither of us brought fighters. We can't drag this out. We need to hit hard and make them bleed."
Yamato's jaw dropped. "You didn't bring fighters?!"
Fighters were essential for any carrier—responsible for securing air superiority, engaging enemy planes, and shooting down bombers and torpedo aircraft.
Going into battle without fighters meant giving up air control entirely. Bombers would be operating without any protection.
Ranger gave Yamato a sidelong glance and snorted. "If you knew what kind of bombers we brought, your jaw would drop to the floor."
Prince of Wales was growing impatient. "Just get to the point. What's the strategy?"
"Option one," Saratoga said, "Ranger and I launch all our bombers in one wave and smash the Abyssal carrier vanguard. Once we do that, the enemy won't be able to hold us."
Prince of Wales frowned. This was basically just a hit-and-run toward the north—didn't give her much room to shine.
Bismarck asked flatly, "And option two?"
Saratoga licked her lips like a cat seeing a fish.
"The Abyssals don't know how strong we are yet. We could slow down, let them form a half-encirclement, and then go for a decapitation strike on their flagships!"
Helena reflexively objected. "But we'll take a ton of bombing doing that!"
The second plan was risky—baiting the Abyssal flagships into exposing themselves for a decisive strike. But the flagships weren't stupid; they'd first try to bomb the squad into submission.
Only when they confirmed that air raids alone couldn't destroy them, and judged that the squad's power was within manageable limits, would the Abyssal flagships charge in.
The margin for error was razor-thin—they'd have to pretend they were heavily damaged to lure the flagships in.
It was a huge gamble.
[End of Chapter]
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