Mitsuha ch 242

242 Portrait of the Battle 9

[Is it something like this…] Mitsuha

I crushed the squadron flagships of the Noral Fleet one after another and crushed several second ships. Most of them are on the verge of sinking or have already sunk. ……Weapons, ammunition, materials, food, safes, etc. that were on board were all lost, they were left in a hollowed state.

If I do it any more than this, it’ll obviously look abnormal because there are too many sunken ships. Besides, overdoing is not good.

Yes, I’ll excuse myself with just this for today.

After that, we’ll do our best on our own.

The flagship of the Third Fleet, <Leviathan>, is still alive and well.

No, of course, it’s not like it has no damages, so I don’t know if the soldiers are safe.

It can’t be helped. I can’t be so arbitrary. Right now, I’m not Mitsuha, a friend of the young soldier, but Mitsuha, a noblewoman of Zegreius Kingdom, Viscount Mitsuha von Yamano…

{All right, the rest is the practice of <normal artillery battle>! Long-range gun battle. Keep shooting until you used all the remaining shells!!} Mitsuha

Now, let’s practice shooting shells from a long-distance… The one where we shoot towards the mountains… Even though it’s a long-distance, it’s about a mile at most.

The maximum range was much farther, but it doesn’t make sense to shoot from such a distance that the bullet can reach. Even if it is not a direct shot from a close range, it must be within the effective range at least…

In the current naval battle of this world, it seems that the main way to shoot each other at about 200~300 meters, so if I don’t use such a method like the <hit-and-run using transfer>, naturally we will get attacked.

It’s acceptable because we can’t afford to cause damage to our precious military ships and crews. Let’s have our new Navy members to watch and study the terrible artillery battles between the two fleets.

While being guided and trained by the former POWs behind the scenes…….

I got plenty of shells, gunpowder, and replacement barrels. We can use up all the ammunition we currently on board now. Anyway, it’s a conjecture until the new gun is made…

……I don’t know when it will be but after the completion of the new gun comes mass production…

 

Then, after several rounds of artillery fire from a long distance against the actual target, it was about time to withdraw.

The enemy ship can hardly hit us and even if a few shots happen to hit, there is not much damage to the ship. They were desperate and they have no other ship to shoot back here, so there was no damage to my army.

This is fine. What we’re doing is simply practicing shooting explosive bullets from a long distance with a new rifled cannon. One-sidedly, from outside of the enemy range.

I bet they’re probably saying impossible right now…

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This time, I couldn’t let the Vanell fleet lose.

If the Vanell Kingdom side loses, they will start to build new ships and because of that, the old ships will be pulled back from the front lines. And because there is a possibility that it will be loaned to merchants as an expedition convoy to look for a replacement for the Lost Colony.

…Also, if their country gets rattled and can’t afford it, they would be in trouble and will go out of their way to try to get money, goods, supplies, and other things at all cost, or if they could reach my <home country> and claim all the wealth and technology as theirs. It is also a pain to withdraw from the Vanell Kingdom that took me too much trouble to take root in and start all over again in the Noral Kingdom from scratch.

…And in the Noral Kingdom, there are neither Mitchan nor close military personnel…

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It has been a long time since the engagement began. It’s already past sunset and the area is beginning to darken.

The battle result, of course, ended in a victory for the Vanell fleet. Since all the flagships of each squadron were crushed and a considerable number of the second ships were sunk by us, no matter how superior the enemy was in the opening battle, they cannot win.

Now it’s the final stage, there are ships that have moved to escape and ships that have surrendered and are being captured by the Vanell fleet.

It will soon be completely dark, so except for the ships that are currently being captured, all but those who have lost their navigation ability were unable to be captured and escaped successfully.

It seems that the captured ships will be distributed to the members of the fleet as prize money according to their value, so everyone seems desperate to take as many as possible.

And it also seems that there was such a system back on the earth. Not only the ship which they directly captured but all the crew members of the ships who were within the line-of-sight distance at that moment had the right to receive rewards.

Well, isn’t it natural? There was a ship that got chased by multiple ships and went around to the front and stopped. But if that ship got boarded at the very beginning and the enemy crew tried to take over, it would turn into a bloody fight.

The commander was 1/8 of the total, the captain was 3/8, the naval officer was 1/8, the warrant officer / non-commissioned officer was 1/8, and the soldiers were 2/8. Warships are expensive.

(TN: Confusing so I left it as it is.)

We defeated the enemy by fighting one-on-one without a consort ship within the line of sight. The last shell fired to the enemy just before they surrendered hit the poop deck, and if only one officer survived, the junior officer would be 1/8 alone, it’s like a dream… But if all the officers in the group became minced meat in front of you, then that dream would turn into a <nightmare>.

If that happens, he would give the full amount of his share to the bereaved families of the deceased officers…

No, no, no, the share of the deceased crew is supposed to be handed over to the bereaved family, right? If I’m a great person in the country, I’ll definitely do it!

…well, it’s unlikely that all the officers would be stuck in one place during the battle.

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It’s getting pretty dark. It’s about time…

I clicked the switch of the portable radio…

{After two minutes, drop flares and await further instructions!} Mitsuha

{Roger that-!} Pilot

Alright, it will automatically start dropping without any additional instructions.

Transfer!

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[It’s your turn!] Mitsuha

[[[Yes!]]] Maids

Yeah, there are three <ship’s soul> personnel selected from the Yamano Viscount maid adult corps.

All the ships of the expedition fleet are old ships, so they’re not children but late-teens.

However, it’s not old enough to appoint an elderly person.

So I usually choose from the young adult group. The setting is that the change in appearance will stop when they reach a certain age.

There was a flood of applicants because of the special allowance.

For the time being, <it’s not without danger>, so it’s quite expensive, isn’t it? That special allowance.

No, everyone seems to think that there is no danger, but if they get hit by a stray shell and get blown away. Everyone is stuck in an unfamiliar foreign land, you know? There is also an example of Hirose Takeo.

Other than that, it’s not that there are no dangers at all, such as tripping your feet and falling off the lookout.

Anyway, the role was explained in advance and these three people have worked part-time as a ship’s soul before, so I’m relieved.

I took them one by one to the three lookouts of the expedition fleet. There is no problem because the original watchman has already been taken down from the platform.

Alright, triple continuous transfer!

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After sending each of the three to the lookout and waiting for a while, the patrol aircraft began dropping flares.

Yes, it’s the familiar sight, the flares that were dropped from an aircraft, a hanging light.

A small parachute makes it look fluffy as it slowly descends.

Then, receiving the light from behind, three hulls emerge in the darkness and three women standing on the lookout.

You can’t see their faces well because of the distance and the position of the light from behind, but of course, the audience will conclude that they’re <beautiful women> and will believe just that.

……No, personally I chose beautiful women, just in case.

The expedition fleet is running on the side of a ship known to be the fleet’s flagship because of the admiral and commander flags. Therefore, its silhouette, including the woman on the lookout, <Soul of the Ship>, is visible to many ships, including the flagship itself.

Yes, in the eyes of all those who will report to the upper management after returning to their kingdom

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[It is a light emission signal from the commander, the flagship of the expedition fleet, and Carriard! It says, <Kazoku Otanom Vanell Oukokunieikoure>…] Watchman

(TN: 『カゾクヲタノム　ヴァネルオウコクニエイコウアレ』It’s hard to make out any of it.)

[What? Aren’t. They. Going. To. Return. Home. With us?] Commander

The commander makes a confusing voice in sentences that do not fit in. And then…

[All three ships have begun to hit the light emission signal! The texts were all the same! <To all ships. Goodbye>…, but they keep hitting <Goodbye> repeatedly!!] Watchman

The people of the poop deck kept watching the three ships silently while listening to the reports from the watchmen.

No, they’re actually leaning out of the gun gate, both on the deck and the gun decks…

And the women on the lookout keeps waving…

[[[[[[They disappeared!!!……]]]]]]

[Were they already called by the Goddess? And even after death, they couldn’t stand our unsightly appearance, so they joined the battle for their homeland?

Did they do this because of their loyalty to their homeland? Even after it drove them to a reckless expedition with a low chance of survival?…] Commander

{{{{Vanell navy fleet, Ban za~i!}}}}

{{{{Exploration fleet, Ban za~i!}}}}

The voices of the battle cry rising from all Vanel Kingdom’s ships resonate in the waters where the battle took place.

However, in the poop deck of the fleet flagship, everyone was just standing there and shedding tears…….

Later, the commander of the fleet proposed, <Shouldn’t the prize money be also distributed to the three expedition fleet’s crew members? And the distribution should be handed over to the expedition crew’s family>. The proposal was decided and supported by almost all the sailors in the fleet.

And no one noticed that <those below the captain will have a smaller share if the number of ships to be divided increases, but the share of the fleet commander, the admiral, will not change>.

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