Chapter 108: Londeria Strait Naval Battle, Part 1
Noon, October 6, 311 Yamato Calendar.
A sunny day that is uncharacteristic of Londeria, where the weather is always bad.
Being influenced by carelessness and overconfident attitude, leading them to think, “Well, it’ll probably be okay!” With the intent of invading, eight warships began to enter the Londeria Strait, which is only about 40 kilometers wide.
“Hohoho, so this is Londeria Strait. It’s very narrow, as the rumors say.”
“If it’s this narrow, it seems that it can be easily conquered. If we position our Basileus-class ship in the center of the strait, that alone should suffice.”
Their name is the Kussainer Fleet.
Although there was no particular basis, they were already convinced of their victory, so they invaded the strait without any vigilance and continued to move forward.
A shadow quietly watches them from under the sea.
“…Captain, sonar has detected something, the number is 5, 6… No, 8. It’s in accordance with the information that was provided by the reconnaissance aircraft. The enemy ships have entered the narrowest part of the Londeria Strait, the Dolvar Strait.”
“Alright, they’re here. let’s show them the power of the Imperial Submarine Force, prepare to attack.”
The Yamato Imperial Submarine I-202 secretly looks for opportunities to attack.
No, that’s not all.
Similarly, under the sea are the same type of submarines I-203 and I-204. Like I-202, they hid underwater and waited for the right moment.
“Alright, the enemy ship is within range. Flood torpedo tubes one through four. The target is the enemy’s leading battleship, distance 2,000. Launch simultaneous launch with allied ships, and hit them with a total of 12 torpedoes from all three ships.”
“Roger.”
The Yamato Imperial Submarine Force, consisting of three submarines, positioned at the front, right, and left flanks of the Kussainer fleet and launched a surprise encirclement attack.
Of course, the Kussainers who do not have knowledge of submarines could have noticed such an ambush.
The twelve torpedoes that were launched struck their targets with ease, specifically, they hit the Basileus-class battleships, the main targets of the advancing Kussainer fleet, which did not perform any evasive maneuvers.
And then…
“Waahhh! What the heck is going on!?”
“Commander Kussainer! It’s an enemy attack! It seemed to be a surprise attack by those dastardly humans.”
“H-how, there’s no enemy anywhere… Guhh!”
A water pillar spouts up.
The 20,000-ton Khoroshiy Lenin’s massive hull was shaken by the 300 kg of explosives on the torpedo warheads, and the impact knocked Kussainer out of the commander’s seat.
He landed awkwardly on the ground face-first, but… No one seems to want to help him because he smells so bad.
Kussainer panics while his nose bleeds.
Under someone like him, “Water is flooding below the waterline!” A report comes in from the captain.
“What!? There is flooding!? In that case, activate the emergency cooling system immediately! Freeze the flooded area!”
“E-emergency cooling system, sir!? But sir, if we do that the crew in the flooded area will also freeze!”
The Emergency Cooling System―― It’s the most powerful emergency response system of the frozen ship of the Basileus class.
By freezing the water in the affected area, it is possible to block the flooded area and prevent damage that would normally be catastrophic for a regular ship.
Of course, it’s not a perfect system, and it does have the drawback of freezing crew members near the repair area as well…
“Captain, what value do you place on the lives of sailors? You can get as many of them as you want from the field. Also, if this ship is lost, we will be purged!”
“U-understood!”
From the perspective of an elven country with a population of 1 billion, losing some lives is not much of a loss. Rather than that, losing the ship and being subjected to a purge is a bigger problem.
The Kussainer fleet was forced to undergo repairs and stop due to a sudden torpedoes attack.
Seeing the enemy in such an unguarded and vulnerable state, the submarine unit considered launching another torpedo attack but hesitated. “As expected, they will notice our presence after being hit by torpedoes… Them stopping their ship might be some kind of trap, and attacking with torpedoes again would be reckless.” Leading to a decision to retreat.
Leaving the battlefield.
The Kussainer, on the other hand…
Somehow managed to regain composure and began assessing the damage to the fleet.
“…Commander Kussainer, I have a report from the Chief of Staff. The ship was hit by at least three attacks. Similarly, Tsar Stalin and Tsar Putinokov were also apparently hit. The number of attacks is one each.”
“This is… This means out of four Basileus-class ships, three of them were hit.”
A major damage.
Having three important battleships damaged before the decisive battle can only be described as incompetence…
But they too were fortunate.
“Captain, is the system functioning properly?”
“The emergency cooling system is operating normally… The amount of flooding is decreasing. Commander Kussainer, we were surprised by the sudden attack, but it’s a great opportunity to showcase the excellent defense capabilities of the Basileus-class. We should be able to move again within about 30 minutes.”
“Wonderful.”
Somehow, the system is operating normally. The three Bacileus-class ships that were struck by torpedoes somehow managed to regain their posture and stabilize their positions, they were able to recover enough to avoid the more severe outcome of losing the ships.
But they can’t rest easy yet.
The reason is that the Londeria Strait is part of the Yamato Empire’s sea.
Barely having a moment to catch their breath after the torpedo attack, the next assault loomed over them from above.
“Boys, today I’m in a bad mood because I couldn’t bomb the north. And that’s why we’re going to blow up the fucking battleship underneath us. And I don’t know why, but they’ve stopped the ship!”
“Roger that, Colonel LeMay.”
“Put your spirits in it! If you lose to that cabbage guy in terms of battle results, there will be no mercy!”
2,000 meters above the Kussainer fleet.
What appears there are 144 heavy bombers Renzan led by LeMay, escorted by fighter aircraft.
Despite being ill-suited for attacking ships, the Renzan strategic bomber has been deployed to defend crucial supply lines. It has diverted from its usual bombing operations in the north to contribute to this task.
Trailing slightly behind, and despite being inconspicuous in the shadow of the Renzan, were 144 Type 5 Shinzan land-attack aircraft—old-style biplane attack aircraft that had previously razed Luna.
A total of 288 aircraft from the Yamato Imperial Navy Air Corps formed the first wave of the attack.
There is some concern regarding the effectiveness of using strategic bombers and older-style land-based attack aircraft for anti-ship attacks. Despite these concerns, the plan was to overwhelm the enemy with sheer numbers.
In response to this attack, Kussainer was…
“Hohoho, look at them, Chief of Staff. Upon realizing that they couldn’t sink the Basileus-class with a surprise attack, they brought out flying weapons.”
“It’s something that only the swallow humans can though. They probably think that this Basileus-class will sink in an air attack.”
“Hohohoho! It’s already been proved that even with a massive attack from man-eating birds, this ship won’t sink! Let’s respond in a way befitting the superior race of elves.”
Don’t think that battleships could be easily sunk by an air attack! They were completely at ease.
By the way, the anticipated anti-ship attack methods are the Man-Eating Birds’ sharp claws, the crew members’ personal magic, and things like Molotov cocktails and bricks.
Is it really okay to compare something like that with a bomber…? One would be inclined to say that, but, well, they don’t even know about ordinary airplanes, let alone bombers, so it can’t be helped.
“Now, shoot down those impudent humans’ flying weapons with anti-aircraft fire!”
Surely, the humans who were lacking in combat strength sent the air weapons out of sheer desperation. Kussainer gave the order to intercept the heavy bomber squadron while laughing so loudly.
By his order, the anti-aircraft guns of the Khoroshiy Lenin― four 8-centimeter class, twin-mounted rapid-fire magical bullet launchers are being aimed at the approaching Renzan, but…
“I-it’s so fast! The aim is off!”
“That flying object is traveling at a speed of 200… No, it’s going 250 km/h!”
“More than twice as fast as the man-eating birds!? Impossible! It’s exceeding the upper-speed limit of the firing system!?”
It is impossible for the elf’s anti-air system to do anything with just their knowledge of man-eating birds that fly at a maximum speed of 100 km/h.
Despite their poor aim, the elves desperately fired magic bullets into the sky, hoping for something…
“Magic bullet, no hits… No, one direct hit! One aircraft has been shot down!”
“Hohohoo, knock them all down as they are!”
“No, it’s not good! There are too many of them! Enemy flying weapons are heading straight for our ship!”
Only one shot hit the target.
The old model aircraft Shinzan was hit, caught fire, and crashed, but that was all.
The other 287 aircraft succeeded in breaking through the air defense net without being hit.
“Whaaat! The enemy aircraft is above us, what is going on, Captain! We have to shoot them down quickly or we’ll be purged.”
“C-commander Kussainer! No, this is not my fault, but rather the gunner’s skill…”
“Shut up! It’s a purge!”
Kussainer desperately shouting, as the captain makes a futile effort to blame his subordinates.
The attack squadron who approached above them opened their bomb bay doors…
“Okay, see that, we’re above the enemy fleet! Aiming operator, do you have them in sight?”
“Target visually confirmed. A little to the right, a bit more… Maintain course — drop it.”
Using a carpet bombing approach, they slammed the bombs they brought onto the Kussainer fleet.
A massive bombing raid by heavy bombers and twin-engine attack aircraft, of a total of 287 aircraft, unleashed over 300 tons of explosives.
In terms of the number of bombs, it probably easily exceeds 1,000.
Due to level bombing by large aircraft with extremely low accuracy, there were hardly any hits…
“Direct hit! Colonel LeMay, the bombs hit the target! At least four hits were made on the battleship in the middle!”
“I see, that’s great! So, whose bomb hit the target? Is it my machine?”
“Well, it’s carpet bombing, you can’t tell which bomb is whose…”
With so many bombs being dropped, some of them are bound to hit. Additionally, even without hitting directly, a large number of near misses shook the Kussainer fleet, dealing a significant blow.
“…！？ Awawawa…”
“The commander! Commander Kussainer has collapsed! Somebody, call medic!”
A large number of bombs raining down on each ship, causing loud explosions, flashes, vibrations, shockwaves, and splashes of water.
The Khoroshiy Lenin, the flagship, was hit by four bombs: one 500-kilogram bomb and three 250-kilogram bombs.
The two main gun turrets at the front were destroyed, blown apart, and engulfed in flames.
Fortunately, the bridge wasn’t hit, but the impact of the nearby hit alone caused Commander Kussainer to faint while wetting himself.
The remaining vessels weren’t so lucky either, the Basileus-class ships Tsar Stalin and Tsar Putinokov each took three direct bomb hits, resulting in significant damage.
The Graf-class cruisers were also hit by 2 to 3 bombs. Although none of the ships were sunk, each of them sustained damage.
After the intense bombing, only one ship was unharmed. Only the Imperator of the Basileus-class was not hit by the bomb, with miraculous odds…
The Kussainer fleet is in dire straits at this point, with one battleship severely damaged, two are moderately damaged, and four cruisers damaged.
Fire broke out in each ship due to the impact of the bombardment, and parts that were not made of ice such as turrets were burning up, consequently, damage control teams were overwhelmed, as they had to prevent flooding due to torpedo attacks and manage firefighting efforts.
By now, you would normally be thinking about withdrawing.
However, this is where it really begins.
“That American… If I remember correctly, he was called LeMay, right? Using such a sluggish heavy bomber for anti-ship attacks is quite crazy.”
“What can I say, I guess his thought process, or something more fundamental, is somehow different from that of the Germans.”
Having completed the bombing, the first wave of the attack force returned, and taking their place on the battlefield was the second wave of the attack force comprising the Yamato Imperial Army and the Imperial Guard Air Force.
A swarm of twin-engine attack aircraft, Toryu, led by the Demon Lord, also known as Cabbage Guy, are targeting them.
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