Chapter 78: Preliminary Planning

I scanned each page of the intel book put together by the guys in the Intel Department. I highlighted the parts that is probably essential to my proposals. I also need to give a reason and attach copies of the girls performance evaluation results to the proposal. Our main targets this time are the Southern War Princess, and a new Abyssal which Azur Lane detected. They have never seen it, but their radar picked up a large unknown signature during the scans. According to them, the signature did not match any of the Abyssals record that was shared with them. Intel has confirmed that it's a new type as well. I won't be surprised if this new Abyssal was a result of the Siren's freakish experiment in that area the other day.

"Yo! Admiral, the great Tenryuu-sama is back! That doggy..." (Tenryuu)

The door slammed opened and the Light Crusier who hasn't gotten out of her chuunibyou phase came in. 

"What?" 

"You are just gonna let her sleep?" (Tenryuu)

She pointed at the girl sleeping on my lap. I'm sitting on the sofa as I made our plans for Operation Buin Defense while Shigure naps on my lap.

"For a bit. She and the other two stayed up last night to come up with some plans with me. Zuihou and Shioi are inside my room." 

Zuihou, Shigure and Shioi were with me last night to add some final touches to our plan planning for the operation. All three of them have a role to play in this. The four of us stayed up all night to draw up plans for Maizuru's role in this operation. Zuihou was the first to conk out, followed by Shioi. Shigure survived the longest before finally succumbing to the sleep demon.

Maizuru will be merging forces with Brunei Anchorage and Yokosuka during the Southern Seas 4th Garrison Reinforcement Operation, the third and last phase of the entire operation. Operation Buin Defense is in full swing, with Kure setting out this morning to begin the first phase 'Central Solomon Tokyo Express Naval Battle'. This should be easy for them, since it's essentially a transport mission before they have to sink the Abyssal Nimbus Princess. Typical stuff. Murasame will be assisting them as part of the Transport Fleet. She told me that she has feeling that 'she will be there' and volunteered to join the mission. I allowed it since she was so determined and ordered Kure to take good care and give me a daily report on her.

Anyway...

"What did you manage to get this time?"

"The usual. 120 units of fuel, 60 units of steel, 60 units of bauxite, some buckets and a couple of development materials." (Tenryuu)

"Anything else? Any Abyssal or Siren encounters?"

"There were a couple of Submarine Ka-class, but Yamakaze and the little ones were quick to kill them." (Tenryuu)

Little ones? Who?

Oh right. Sado, Hirato and Fukae. I think I need some sleep now. I forgot I was the one planned her expedition and its members.

"Thank you. Take the rest of the day off. Rest, train, do whatever you want but no leaving the base. We need to be ready for deployment anytime from now." 

"I got it. I'm part of the Transport phase, right?" (Tenryuu)

"Yep. It has been confirmed. You will be the flagship of a fleet. Your fleet will be rotating with Yura's and Sendai's throughout the transport phase. I will let you know who is in your fleet once I'm done with the plans."

"Awesome! It's been a while since I got to see some real action. More importantly, get some sleep, will ya? You look like a panda." (Tenryuu)

"I will take a nap later. I just need to figure out who to nominate a few more members for the two Surface Task Force and Carrier Task Force that HQ is planning."

"Don't push yourself. We can't have you collapsing while on the job." (Tenryuu)

"Yeah yeah. I will see ya later." 

"Call me if you need me. Just not for paperwork. You know I suck at those." (Tenryuu) 

Tenryuu left the room and I went back to my planning. Yokosuka will be sending Nagato, Mutsu, Yamato and Musashi. Brunei will send Nelson and Warspite. For now, Nagato and Mutsu will lead the Carrier Task Force, Yamato will lead Surface Task Force 1 with Musashi and Nelson, and Warspite will be in charge of Surface Task force 2 alongside Akagi. Since we only know the fleet composition and only some of the members, what I can do now is to propose a couple of plans on which route to take and nominate girls to join which fleet. I have already nominated Yuubari, Prinz Eugen, Shiratsuyu, Shigure, Yuudachi, Kawakaze, Hiryuu, Souryuu, Zuihou, and Ryuuhou to join. I need some more names and their performance evaluation results from recent battles for HQ to decide. My submarine fleet will be playing a supporting but pivotal role in scoring what is know as a Perfect Defence.

Thanks to Azur Lane, we have managed to determine that the enemy has an Air Fleet just circling around a specific area, possibly waiting to bomb whoever gets into their range in an Air Raid. Shioi and the other submarine girls will be the ones to trigger the Air Raid and lure out the Abyssal aircraft whilst Land-based Interceptors and Fighters destroy the enemy Air Fleet. Intel figured that if we take out the enemy air fleet, the unknown Abyssal will show up. This has been a pattern for a few years now. The submarines were chosen because they can simply dive underwater to avoid the bombs dropped by the enemy bombers.

"Who else should I- uuooh... Ugh... I think I will just..."

...Close my eyes for a bit. I will figure the rest of the nominees later...

...

...

"...out Yamakaze? ...oving a lot..." (???)

"...ut her name first... ...ide... ...er..." (???)

Mngh... W-who? Wh-What is going on? I hear someone talking? What are they talking about?

"...e of... ...ano sisters... Yahagi is tough and experienecd but I think Noshiro and Sakawa are a good pick as well." (Prinz Eugen)

Prinz Eugen? What is she doing here?

I can hear the door click open,

"Everyone, I made some Tamagoyaki. I also brought some tea and snacks." (Zuihou)

"Yay! Ah. Sorry. Good. Looks like he is still sleeping." (Shioi)

"Thank you, Zuihou." (Shigure)

"Teehee~ You're welcome." (Zuihou)

I can hear the sound of a default L*ne notification tone,

"Waah~" (Zuihou)

"Is that from Zuikaku-san?" (Prinz Eugen)

"She uses L*ne as well?" (Shigure)

"Yeah. The day after they left, Unicorn-chan created a group with me, Shouhou-chan and Zuikaku-san. So she got my contact from there." (Zuihou)

When did she exchange contact with Unicorn?

"What did she say?" (Shioi)

"Shoukaku-san is now able to jog slowly. Her rehabilitation is going well." (Zuihou)

According to Vestal's diagnosis, Shoukaku's debilitated state was likely to the 'her soul being separated from her wisdom cube core for an extended period of time'. She can recover naturally but won't to move properly due to the degradation of her motor functions. Physiotherapy and rehabilitation can help build up her strength and regain her mobility if she ever wants to get revenge on her former seniors, which seems to be driving factor for her to join Azur Lane and receive treatment in their medical facility. 

"That's great. I hope Shoukaku-san recovers quickly." (Shigure)

"...And send. Alright. Where were we?" (Zuihou)

"What about Mogami? The Surface Task Forces will need some Aviation Cruisers. Her recent battle performance are quite good." (Prinz Eugen)

"Then, how about Suzuya? Her performance is quite good as well. I saw her take out a squadron of Abyssal Revenge Torpedo Bomber with her own Seaplane Fighters during our last sortie." (Zuihou)

"We can nominate Ooyodo as well." (Shigure)

'Yeah. Ooyodo is a good pick. She will probably be chosen even without needing to give a reason." (Zuihou)

Are they helping me choose candidates for the operation?

I slowly opened an eye to take a peek. I hope they don't notice.

There is a blanket on me. Zuihou, Shigure, Prinz Eugen and Shioi are set around the coffee table with files and papers scattered about. The four girls are scribbling something on a piece of paper while looking through intel booklet. They remind me of four schoolgirls doing homework together.

"Is Fubuki able to participate? Her performance aren't that great recently but she has potential to grow even more." (Shioi)

"We can put her down as a candidate for the Surface Task Force 2. If she is lucky, she can meet her idol." (Prinz Eugen)

"Okay. Fubuki for Surface Task Force 2." (Shioi)

"She won't be part of the vanguard fleet though, but she can be in the escort fleet."

"Ah." (Shigure) 

Did Shigure's ear flaps just twitched?

"Yeah. But at least- Eh?" (Shioi)

"Good morning, Admiral." (Zuihou)

"When did you wake up?" (Prinz Eugen)

"Only a little while ago. What time is it?"

"It just turned 1500." (Zuihou)

I slept for that long? I thought I would wake up before lunch, not after. 

"You girls ate already?"

"Yes. Today was curry day." (Shigure)

"Hungry? I can cook something for you." (Zuihou)

"Thanks, but it's alright."

I stood up and stretch for a bit,

"I will just grab a bun or some instant ramen."

Zuihou slammed her tiny hands on the table and stood up,

"No! You already skipped breakfast. I'm not letting you skip lunch as well. I will go make something for you~" (Zuihou)

And off she goes out of the door. I didn't get a say in that.

Oh well...

I folded the blanket and set it aside. I sat at the coffee table to check what they have done.

Wow. This is... They have done quite a lot. Not only did they come up with a reason why a shipgirl should be part of the operation, they even gave recommendations regarding which shipgirl should be assigned to which fleet. I was just planning to let HQ do handle the assigning part since I know they would most likely have plans of their own.

"You girls are amazing. I didn't expect you to go that far." 

"It's nothing compared to what Admiral has been doing for us." (Shioi)

"That's right! This is just a tiny faction." (Prinz Eugen)

"No, it's not. I didn't even think of the assigning part." 

They wrote down things like having Satsuki to be part of the Escort fleet for the Carrier Task Force as 'her AA prowess is extremely helpful in taking out the Abyssal aircraft' and assigning Kawakaze to Tenryuu's Transport Fleet due to her 'past experience with Rat Transport during the Guadalcanal campaign'. If I had put in reasons like these, I would have more freedom with my proposals and HQ may be more inclined to accept them.

It also allows me to be a little more creative.

"Thank you, everyone. I'm glad great girls like you are by my side."

"Admiral..." (Shigure)

"Umm... ~~~" (Prinz Eugen)

"..." (Shioi)

Eh? The three of them suddenly became quiet. Why is Prinz Eugen burying her face in her hands? And Shioi is making a weird but cute face which I have never seen before. Shigure is just looking away. 

Was what I said really weird? I was trying to show my appreciation for them. Maybe I worded it wrong...

"Er... What I'm trying to say is-"

The door suddenly slammed open and a short girl with long blonde hair in twintails came in,

"Admiral! I found this interesting board game! Let's play together!" (Satsuki)

Satsuki was holding a box over her head. The title on the box reads 'Mono*oly'. Did I buy that?

"Sorry, Satsuki. We are busy right now."

"Eeehhh~~" (Satsuki)

She looks disappointed but it can't be helped.

"It's for the operation so it's important. We can play later once we are done with this, okay?" (Prinz Eugen)

"Ah. So you guys are planning for the operation. Am I in?" (Satsuki) 

"Yeah. We are recommending you to be part of the Carrier Task Force." (Shigure)

"Yay!" (Satsuki)

"But it's not certain that you would be participating. That's for HQ to decide." (Shioi)

"But I still got a chance, right? I hope I can participate~ Ah! If that's the case, I shouldn't disturb you guys. I'll get Kashima-sensei to play with me. Do your best!" (Satsuki)

And she's gone. What a bouncy little girl...

The four of looks at each other for a bit, before a chuckle escaped our mouths.

"Now then, until Zuihou comes back, lets put our backs into it."

"Yeah!" (Shigure, Shioi, Prinz Eugen)

The four of us continued our planning. After a while longer, Zuihou came back with a plate of curry rice, Tonkatsu and Tamagoyaki. As expected, it was delicious. 

It took us another few hours to finish our proposals and fleet recommendations, but those few hours went by rather quickly thanks to the four girls livening up the atmosphere.

Now all that's left is to wait for HQ's response and finalized plans.