Chapter 83: Frozen Ship VS Aircraft Carrier Fleet, Part 1
About 100 km south of the eastern continent.
Under the clear, cloudless southern blue sky, there was a chunk of ice that slowly traveled over the sea.
Yes, it is the Frozen Ship Celsius, the hope of the dark elves.
The voyage of this ship was not smooth.
A massive magic circuit that freezes the entire ship and makes it look like an iceberg.
A vast magical circuit room that entirely occupies the space which, in a normal combat-use sailing ship, would correspond to the gun deck. The system was built around the magical circle that covers the entire room, it is a creation made by the pinnacle of the Dark Elf’s magical technology.
It can be said that it is a prototype at the scale of the technical limit. Therefore, there is almost no stability.
The human fuel, Mana, which is being used for the first time, is also difficult to handle.
Because it generates an unprecedented amount of magic that has never before been handled by the dark elves, even a group of skilled mages can only just manage to get it under control.
Despite their fear, they were still maintaining a massive amount of magical power, so much so that it could be said to be on the verge of going out of control, wondering when it might self-destruct… Surrounded by ice, the inside of the ship is cold.
This ice-bound ship is so overwhelmed with freezing that there is no room to spare magic power for the heating system.
After all, this is the typical characteristic of a weapon that was built in haste.
The sailors desperately tried to warm up their numbed hands while somehow managing to make their ice-encrusted ship move forward… It also has no speed.
The current Celsius is completely covered in ice, making it look as if only a mast is protruding from an iceberg.
Something like this couldn’t possibly move quickly.
But still, they sail through the southern sea with hope in their hearts. After steadfastly heading south, they changed their course to the east.
Beyond the United Kingdom of Albatross. Go far beyond the ocean to find someone who can help them.
However… They were not blessed with luck.
“Fuu… Unlike inside the ship, it’s warm here.”
“Yeah, so much that it’s really hot.”
“I feel sorry for the people inside the ship, they’re freezing to death… Wait, do you hear something?”
“Mmm? Yeah, I definitely hear something. Hmm, what’s that buzzing sound?”
Unlike the inside of the ship which is frozen, the lookout platform on the mast is warmly lit by the sun.
There, the lookouts who were monitoring the surroundings heard a strange sound coming from the rear—the western sky.
Is it a low growl of a beast, or perhaps the rumble of thunder in the distance? In their eyes that are gazing in the direction of the resounding sound, a small black dot is reflected.
That was…
“What’s that? An iceberg?”
“In these southern seas? Unbelievable, let’s get closer and check.”
It is the carrier-based attack aircraft Kaizan that took off from the aircraft carrier Hosho for reconnaissance.
Their mission is pirate hunting.
In the south of the eastern continent, this area of the sea is an ideal hunting ground where dark elf pirates frequently appear.
While methodically searching for any ship that seemed like a potential target, they happened to discover Celsius by accident.
The pilot and the spotter, despite being puzzled by the strange object in the southern sea which resembled a lump of ice, approached it for reconnaissance.
They tried to determine what it was.
“…There is a mast, is it a ship?”
“Is there anyone on the lookout tower? Is it human? Or is it elves?”
“I can’t really tell at this distance.”
They continue to observe while tilting the aircraft circling above Celsius, but…
They cannot figure out the details from up in the sky. Moreover, surely no one would think that dark elves would create such an incomprehensible strange weapon.
The presence of a mast suggests that it’s probably a type of ship.
But because they cannot understand the role of this chunk of ice in relation to the ship, they are completely at a loss.
Freezing a ship to gain the ability to navigate the ocean is something that a sane person could not even imagine.
The spotter in the rear casually took out a large reconnaissance camera and snapped a photo.
“You took the photos, right? Let’s go back. I’ll report it to the superior officers.”
“Even the captain would be surprised to see something like this.”
“There’s no doubt.”
Kaizan makes a U-turn and sets its course toward the mothership, Hosho. The rest will be left to their superiors.
“Mysterious flying object, probably human, and likely belongs to the Yamato Empire. Stay alert, an attack is coming!”
On the other side, tension also spread through Celsius, which was discovered by Kaizan. They don’t know what that flying object is, or how it flies.
However, the Captain immediately realized with his instincts.
There is only one country that can make such a thing―― the Yamato Empire.
The fact that the flying object made by the Yamato Empire circled above the ship suggests that… They probably understand that this is some kind of man-made object.
It is no longer possible to escape. We will end up being pursued by them.
Captain Celsius resolved himself, and his subordinates all simultaneously took their battle stations. We are the hope of the dark elves, so we must survive.
……Well, naturally.
This Celsius. Its capabilities are completely allocated to navigation, making it nearly incapable of combat.
They don’t know how long this ship can hold out… The result was clear even before the fight.
Well then, let’s sort out the current situation of the sea area at this point in time.
The time is daytime when the sun is up, and the visibility is good.
What is currently beneath us is the frozen ship Celsius. Fleeing towards the east at a very slow speed, as slow as a turtle moves.
It is the Ark of Hope of the Dark Elves, but the Yamato Empire does not know what its existence actually is.
From the presence of a mast, it is inferred that it is probably a man-made object, but… As expected, it only looks like a strange chunk of ice.
The fleet of the Yamato Empire that is opposing that strange block of ice is situated behind it. They are deployed in the sea area located about 100 kilometers to the west and continue to advance eastwards as if chasing Celsius.
Their formation, with Hosho as the flagship, includes two anti-aircraft cruisers and four destroyers, making it quite the sizable force.
The battlefield is the open ocean. There are no obstacles or anything like that.
A distance of 100 kilometers is all that separates the two fleets.
One hour since Celsius was discovered.
The reconnaissance aircraft that returned to Hosho immediately transmitted the information. Based on that information, the Yamato Empire tried to find out what this mass of ice was.
The person who was chosen for the survey was…Samejima, the captain of the anti-aircraft cruiser Agano, who is well-known for his bravery.
“Did you hear that, deputy captain? It seems that an unknown iceberg ship has been discovered in the waters about 100 kilometers east of here. Our ship will go ahead and investigate to which country it belongs.”
“Our anti-aircraft cruiser was chosen to conduct the inspection? Why are we doing such a mission…Captain, our mission is to protect the aircraft carrier. Wouldn’t it be better to leave something like inspections to the destroyers?”
Sitting down heavily on the captain’s chair… Samejima is being interjected with a sound argument by his deputy standing next to him.
Because there was an unknown chunk of ice floating, we are sending a ship ahead from the fleet to investigate it.
This is probably the right thing to do.
Unless they have a clear understanding of what that chunk of ice is and what country made it, they cannot proceed with an attack.
And there is a limit to the investigation by aircraft. There are many things you cannot understand just by looking down from the sky.
A ship is dispatched from the fleet to conduct an investigation. That is definitely not a mistake.
However, Samejima’s anti-aircraft cruiser, the Agano, is tasked with escorting the aircraft carrier.
It is a ship that is tasked with a mission that requires it not to stray too far from the aircraft carrier. It’s best to leave advancing from the fleet and inspecting unknown targets to the workhorse of the fleet, the destroyers.
Of course, Samejima himself knows that very well.
……However.
“You fool, they might attack during the inspection. It’s only logical that the armored ship should approach.”
Then, he answered with a straight face.
“I see, it’s dangerous because the destroyer lacks armor, so… What’s your true intentions?”
“That’s something we agreed not to talk about, right? Look, we’re going!”
――I need some accomplishments to catch up to my rival.
Of course, the armor and such that I mentioned earlier are half my true feelings.
Celsius is unmistakably a creation of magic, its magical nature is apparent just by looking at it. It is certainly better to approach such dangerous objects with a ship that has high defensive capabilities.
Samejima also thought that, “Rather than having someone incompetent do the inspection, it would be better for him to do it himself.”
“Alright, maximum battle speed. Let out a speed of 31 knots.”
Receiving Samejima’s order, which had about half rationality and about half desire, the engine roared, and Agano accelerated.
To get closer to Celsius.
=====
A brief weapon explanation: Hosho-class Aircraft Carrier
Performance Specifications:
Displacement: 15,000 tons
Armament: 4 x 15cm single-mount guns
6 x 20mm autocannons
Speed: 22 knots
Power: 20,000 horsepower
Cruising range: 5000 nautical miles
Crew: 500
Carrier-based Aircraft:
8 Carrier-based Fighter Aircraft
16 Carrier-based Attack Aircraft, a total of 24 aircraft + 4 spare aircraft
An aircraft carrier was built by modifying a large passenger ship that was no longer needed after being transferred to another world. It has moderate performance.
Carrier-based attack aircraft, Kaizan
Performance Specifications:
Maximum speed: 200 km
Cruising range: 500 km
Engine: 9-cylinder air-cooled radial engine “Jupiter”, 450 horsepower
Armament: One 7,7mm machine gun mounted on the rear part of the fuselage
Explosive charges: 2 x 250kg bombs
2 crew members
Resembling like the Swordfish. Different from the original, it seats two people.
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