bab 29

The battle began around an hour ago with our surprise attack on the American fleet. To my delight, we really did catch them unawares and were able to land a few solid hits but to their credit, they defended themselves pretty well and, without air support, drove off our attack fairly quickly. Despite being caught out, they didn't lose a single ship to our blitz thanks to their AA defences and the sheer number of ships they had present with said technology. Still, this didn't stop various ships from being hit but none suffered critical damage. 

Much as my aircraft had reported, they were indeed within Philippine waters within the Sulu Sea. They were positioned with their carriers in the midst of their formation but not close enough to one another to be easily hit by carpet bombing. Despite all the information my planes had gathered, however, nothing could prepare me for what this many ships actually looked like up close. 

As anticipated, they haven't detected me even though I am now within a few miles. Even without being detected, however, it's immediately clear that this battle will be a harder than expected one. With this in mind, I open fire on the nearest destroyer. Now that I am in my KANSEN form, my missiles are much smaller but pack even more of a punch and a few hits later, the destroyer begins sinking. As it does, I'm surprised to hear the enemy's communications. 

From this new source of information, I learn that the ship I just attacked is called the USS Bainbridge. Staying hidden up close to an uninhabited part of the shore of one of the islands within the Sulu province of the Philippines, I watch as other ships move up to assist. As expected, they try to prevent the ship from sinking completely whilst also rescuing survivors. This, under normal circumstances, would be the best option but as it stands this only gives me the perfect opportunity to launch my second wave of attacks. 

Still snugly located along the shore, I fire a large barrage of missiles at my targets before quickly relocating. They try to shoot my missiles down but their efforts prove ineffective and before long, the radio is filled with chatter about two other ships also sinking, particularly the USS Benfold and USS Gonzalez. 

As expected, they spotted the position I fired from and quickly rain missiles and gunfire down onto the position but I'm long gone. The resulting damage from their attack, however, is staggering. To think they would attack their supposed ally's land like that. 

Liang: [Our Air Wing just made it back but we haven't been attacked as yet. What's going on down there?]

I don't immediately answer her, instead, focusing on the fleet before me. If her fleet wasn't attacked or located by their planes or hit by the missiles they were firing off before I started attacking then there's only one possibility. The missing planes are heading back here.

The minute I realize this, I have my fighters begin searching for the enemy's planes. If they can get to them in time, it'll be a decisive victory for me. At the same time, I notice that the allied fleet before me has started to deploy their helicopters which seem to be trying to locate me. Smiling, I have my 8 HQ-11s lock-on before firing. Each is capable of firing 18 missiles at one or multiple targets and with 144 missiles now locked on to individual targets, I can only watch in glee as every last helicopter in the sky gets blown to pieces. The missiles that remain head straight for one of their cruisers. 

BOOOM BOOOM BOOOM...

????: [The enemy's a woman! She's...]

Thanks to my earlier breakthrough in decoding their transmissions, I am alerted that they've spotted me and manage to relocate before the first volley of shells reaches my location. Seeing that there's no further reason to try to stay hidden, I move to the second phase of my plan. At the same time, my planes finally locate theirs and an aerial battle begins. Thanks to prior planning, my planes all had AA missiles and easily knock their counterparts out of the sky who have completely exhausted their munitions whilst fighting our land forces. 

Noticing that everything's going a lot better than I had hoped, I charge straight for the carriers in the centre. Now aware of my presence, the rest of the ships quickly spot me and begin firing everything they have but they are far too slow. I'm not sure when this upgrade occurred but now I can move at a speed of 80 knots while in my KANSEN form and it shows as I easily outrun their guns which fail to turn fast enough to keep up with my pace.

The minute I pass through their outer perimeter, I begin launching all the missiles I have towards the nearest carrier. With the full volley off and on its way towards said target, I make a sharp right turn and begin speeding towards my next target, a cruiser. 

Behind me, there's a massive explosion. Looking back, I see the ship's deck on fire but it doesn't seem like it'll be sinking any time soon. Surprised that it was able to survive that barrage, I turn away from my next target and begin heading straight for the carrier. This time, instead of firing at it, I just focus on dodging incoming gunfire until I am close enough.

Jumping on board, I catch the crew completely off guard. My runway and all my armaments are hidden with the sole exception being the HQ-11s I am using so they probably think I am just a new robot or human with prototype gear. They are so surprised that they even forget to continue putting out the fires raging on the deck but this gives me enough time to properly analyze the situation. There are dead bodies here and there but it seems most of the crew escaped my initial attack unscathed. 

????: Get-

Looking up, I see a guy running towards me. He tried fisting me but I dodge and decide to return the favour. To my surprise,  and the horror of the crew, my hand goes straight through his stomach. Pulling it out brings all sorts of body parts with it, an act that sees some of the crew vomit despite their present situation. 

Still, it distracts me long enough for additional crew members to arrive on deck carrying guns. They begin firing at me immediately but I can only laugh as their bullets bounce harmlessly off me. After all, I have the armour of a warship that's been enhanced beyond its own capabilities since returning to this world. What could mere bullets do?

Me: Are you done?

They pause and that's all the time I need. Still armed with my HQ-11s, all it takes is a simple point and shoot manoeuvre and soon the entire deck is cleared of life. With them out of the way, I target the bridge, quickly disabling it. 

????: [The USS Ronald Reagan is under attack!]

????: [Tell me something I don't know. Where is our air support?]

????: [They have been intercepted by enemy aircraft and are suffering heavy casualties, sir.]

????: [What? Their planes aren't even remotely as capable as ours. What are you-]

????: [Sir, the Enterprise's Air Wing has been destroyed.]

????: [Impossible!]

????: [Our jets don't have anything to fight with but guns, admiral, and whether you want to admit it or not their planes are built for dogfights. Ours, on the other hand, are not.]

????: [If you admire their jets so much why don't you go and join them? Huh?]

They continue arguing back and forth and I can't help but laugh. Didn't they mention Enterprise though? It would be pretty nice to get some payback. Deciding to leave the now floating hull of Reagan behind, I begin making my way towards the Ford-class carriers. I have no idea which one she is but quickly figure it out as I identify their hull numbers. Given she's the third one to be built, it's pretty easy to tell given their hull numbers are CVN-78, CVN-79 and CVN-80. 

Firing a quick salvo, my suspicion is confirmed as they immediately begin speaking about how the Enterprise is under attack. Smiling, I arm my flight deck and launch two H-12 bombers. My own missiles might not be able to sink their carriers but I'm pretty sure the H-12s bombs will and sure enough, it only takes one strike to completely disable the ship. The sight is like a birthday present to me as I watch her tipping over before dipping beneath the waves. 

This both alarms and enrages the enemy who begins attacking with renewed tenacity but their efforts are futile. As I had suspected, our land forces sent jets to chase down the enemy and now that they are arriving on the scene, my own planes are finally able to disengage and land for rearming and resupplying. Meanwhile, their own fighters are stuck fighting a losing battle thanks to my attacks on their ships but can't afford to keep flying as they'll no doubt soon run out of fuel. 

The admiral of the enemy's fleet seemingly realizes this and orders the aircraft to divert to a nearby airbase. This, under normal circumstances, would be perfect but he should have noticed by now that something was wrong. The fact that his force hasn't received aid from any "allied" forces within the region should have sent off warnings but instead, he remains oblivious to this fact, perhaps because he's stumped by how a single girl can destroy multiple ships. 

Pilot: [Miss Zhejiang! We are here to assist. We've been placed under your command.]

I guess this means he's actually told people about me. Oh well. That's something to worry about later. For now...

Me: [Perfect timing. Eliminate all remaining enemy aircraft. Once you've completed this task I want half your number to join the Jiangsu's mission to disable all nearby bases. The remainder will stay behind to help me disable this entire fleet.]

Pilots: [Understood!]

Turning back to the remainder of the enemy fleet, it occurs to me that it'd be better to capture all their ships rather than sink them. For starters, it'd allow us to learn from their technology and would give us a rather huge bargaining tool when trying to secure peace. If we were to destroy them on the other hand, that'll only result in the populace wanting revenge thus leading to them sending an even large force, as seen with how we destroyed their smaller fleet and how they dispatched this large force. 

With this in mind, I contact Liang and Xiao telling them to bring our own fleet, including those we left behind. I'll need all the help I can get to pull this off.