Chapter 85: Frozen Ship VS Aircraft Carrier Fleet, Part 3
A squadron consisting of 12 new carrier-based attack aircraft Kaizan, which included a demon lord of the sky, arrived over Celsius at an impressive speed of nearly 200 km/h.
“Well then, shall we take a look? The capabilities of the Empire’s new weapons.”
And then, forming a squadron and moving into attack formation above the Agano, which is commanded by Samejima, who seems a little displeased about having his achievements taken away.
The confrontation with Celsius cannot be avoided.
No, in fact, the elves haven’t even realized yet that a crisis is looming over them.
From inside the ship, they can hardly understand what’s going on outside, and the crew who were outside the ship had already been blown to pieces by the shelling of Agano a long time ago.
The elves, while inside a ship covered in thick ice and withstanding the fierce bombardment of the Yamato Empire, marveled at their ship’s excellent defensive capabilities and were simply overjoyed at the possibility of surviving.
Well, that’s fair enough.
Even if the attack squadron were visible, the Celsius is currently immobilized, having lost its mast due to the bombardment from the Agano.
It probably doesn’t have the maneuverability to avoid an air attack.
Anyway.
11 carrier-based attack aircraft Kaizan, excluding the one with the Sky Demon Lord aboard, each dropped two 250-kilogram bombs in a horizontal bombing of stationary targets as if they were in an exercise.
“A little to the right… A little more… There!”
Bombs are being dropped one after another.
It makes a wind-cutting sound… With the sound of wind whistling, it fell straight down to Celsius…
――Explosion.
The bomb that hit the deck of the Celsius unleashed the power of over 100 kg of explosives, causing a massive plume of black smoke.
A tremor that is incomparable to the 12.7 cm gun and shakes the hull of Celsius like a major earthquake.
The magnitude of the attack was such that the elves who were attacked exclaimed, “What’s that!? What kind of attack is it? Could it be the God’s thunder?” It was to the extent that someone would misunderstand.
“Miss, miss… Hits! Hits! Hits! Captain, three shots have hit the target!”
“Out of 22 shots, only 3 hits… It’s not bad.”
The accuracy is at an acceptable level.
As a result of aviation attacks that are still developing, especially considering the low accuracy of horizontal bombing, the outcome is not bad.
The crew members of the attack squadron seem satisfied that they were able to demonstrate the results of their training.
However…
“What about the damage?!”
“There was a powerful explosion on the deck, but the ice on the deck protected it!”
Celsius hasn’t sunk yet.
The 250kg bomb that hit certainly rocked Celsius significantly. However, it could not break the several meters of ice on the deck.
It managed to create a crater in the ice deck that could not be repaired immediately, but that was as far as it went.
It did not result in any further success.
However, they cannot feel at ease yet.
Above them, the main challenge is still remaining.
“The accuracy of the horizontal bombing is not very good. if they had an accuracy rate of 90%, they would likely have been able to sink that ship by now. As expected, it’s the era of dive bombing.”
“Wait a moment, Rudel. I have already figured out what you want to do. But, you also know the performance of this aircraft, don’t you? This attack aircraft is not designed for dive bombing…”
“Alright, let’s go, Gadermann! Hang on tight!”
Yes, it is the demon lord of the sky.
As if to say ‘If it’s an attack on a ship, then of course it’s gotta be a dive-bombing,’ he flipped his aircraft above Celsius and commenced a 90-degree steep dive.
As it is, once it closes to an altitude of 400 meters, it drops the bombs.
Incidentally, as his rear gunner Gardelmann says, the Kaizan, which is a carrier-based attack aircraft, does not have the capability to perform dive bombing.
This too is the work of the Demon Lord.
And then… The Demon Lord’s aim is perfect.
“Aim for the center of the ship. It’s the crater from the previous bombing.”
A crater was created by the first bombing. The ice there is thinner than elsewhere. If you’re going to aim, aim there.
And the bombing unleashed by the Demon Lord never misses.
The two 250 kg bombs he dropped hit the center of Celsius’ deck, right on the target crater, as planned. Penetrating the deck that had been worn down by the previous bombing, it bursts into the interior of the ship.
“C-Captain! Something has broken into the Magic Circuit Room! The magic circuit is…”
“Y-you fool! Get down…”
And then, it exploded.
The magic circuit room, which could be considered Celsius’s weak point, was destroyed with a single attack.
The magic circuit responsible for magical power has broken into pieces. A large amount of mana stored within the ship has lost control and gone out of control. Expelling magical power and causing a huge explosion.
Before they could even scream, Celsius was enveloped in a massive flash of light and blown away.
Originally, a box for holding the magical circuits… The place where the wooden ship was has been blasted away, leaving only the bottom part of the ship and the icy parts.
Since this part is a chunk of ice, it won’t sink until it melts, but… The ship engulfed in black smoke is obviously incapacitated to anyone who sees it.
“Alright, it’s sunk. See that, Gadermann? It’s going better than expected, right?”
“…Sigh, you’re always like this. I won’t be surprised anymore. Now, let’s go back before my limbs get blown off.”
Confirming that Celsius had turned into floating scrap, the demon lord’s attack squad turned their noses toward the mothership and began their return.
And then, after investigating the wreckage of the Celsius, Samejima also returned to escort Hosho.
Thus, with the sinking of the Celsius and the annihilation of the elves, the series of naval battles came to an end.
This naval battle was later called the ‘First Habakkuk Incident’ based on a suggestion from the Führer after receiving the report.
It seems that upon hearing ‘a ship covered in ice,’ something clicked in some way.
And this Habakkuk incident, as it is called the first, did not end with just one occurrence.
That’s right, as for Celsius, it was because there were as many as four sister ships.
The appearance of this ship, which does not easily sink with the artillery fire of a light cruiser, suggested to the Yamato Empire that ‘even technology from another world could be a threat,’ and further made them consider the possibility that there are many more ships of the same type.
The next action taken by the Yamato Empire was to dispatch powerful naval vessels equivalent to light cruisers or greater, such as the Ibuki-class battlecruisers, for a specific mission that involved hunting down these frozen ships.
As a result, the 2nd Fleet used all of its resources and capabilities to conduct search and destroy operations… The second and third Habakkuk incidents sunk two more of these Celsius-class frozen ships out of the four identified frozen ships.
By sinking a total of three Celsius-class ships, the incident comes to a tentative conclusion.
Even the Yamato Empire, which had complacently believed that “there is no threat to the Empire in this world,” was shocked by this incident.
Consequently, “Wouldn’t it be better to build a large battlecruiser that can blow away a frozen ship with a single blow?” There were calls for a larger battlecruiser than the Ibuki-class, and the construction of the Kongo-class was planned.
Furthermore, carrier-based aircraft also becoming capable of dropping even more powerful 500kg bombs, and under the guidance of the Demon Lord, the development of dive bombers is also beginning, marking rapid advancements in weapon technology.
On the other hand, the Black Elven Empire.
They paid a heavy price and lost three Celsius-class ships. Only one ship was able to successfully escape from the Yamato Empire.
However, the last surviving Celsius-class was…
“…I see it! It’s a continent! Beyond the sea, there was a continent!”
“There’s a city on the coast! That who is over there is… It’s an elf! Their skin is white, but they are undoubtedly elves!”
After a long voyage, they arrived at the western continent. By the time they reached the coast of the western continent, the magical power was exhausted, and they continued their voyage as an ordinary wooden ship.
And then, after completing their voyage, they successfully made contact with the elves of the Holy Republic of Elfusia, who possess a more advanced civilization than those who live in the eastern continent.
This interaction will later have a significant impact on the eastern continent, but that is still a thing of the future.
It is merely the spark of a new war.
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