Chapter 237 \n237. Portrait of Battle 4\n
Neither soldier-kun nor the commandant I knew was here.
I went to the headquartersā building, but I guess if a full-scale sortie were issued, then naturally, the HQ would also come on the fleet flagship.
Iām sure the other officers I met at that bar wouldāve been dispatched too. Even if some remained at the base, thereās no way they would tell something like the fleetās action schedule or the sailing route to the little girl they met at a bar.
In the first place, I donāt even know their names or positions. So I canāt think of a way to meet them other than to meet them at the bar by chance. And thereās no way they would go out to drink while most of their colleagues went out on a sortie.
Alright, Iāll have to useĀ thatĀ method, I supposeā¦
āā¦and so, thatās the case. I would appreciate your assistance againā (Mitsuha)
Right, itās the same old diplomat-san from a certain country.
āNavyās airbase, I choose you!!ā (Mitsuha)
Right, this time is the turn for a maritime patrol planeā¦
This timeās mission is to search for fleets in offshore waters.\n
So what I want this time is cruising time (not cruising range), search capability, multi-target plot, and so on. Thatās why I chose the maritime patrol plane.
I have no plan to interfere, so anti-ship attack capability is not required.
Air-to-ship missiles are expensive, and besides, itād be overkill if we use that against sailboatsā¦
Anyway, unless itās absolutely necessary for self-defense, thereās no need to use something like that.
Besides, if I really want to interfere, it would be more convenient and cheaper to bring a patrol ship loaded with a 76mm rapid-fire gun and 20 or 30mm machine guns.
You donāt need anti-ship missiles or large-caliber guns against wooden sailing ships, which can only launch a few lumps of irons a few miles away, after all.
The crew seems to be different from the last time.
I thought it would be better to have the same members, but it seems that there would be a dispute if itās always the same.
ā¦well, I get that, though. Everyone wants to go to another world, after all.
If the information ban were to be lifted in the future, they would be able to boast to their children and grandchildren.
Yeah, itās definitely not weird if thereās a competition for the seat to go to another worldā¦
And of course, the same goes for the scholars.
Some of them are the same as last time, but theyāre probably very competent or influential people. But still, most are replaced by other people.
Letās hope that no one would think about doing strange things like the last time. As expected, I will not tolerate the second time. If that happens, I will cut off all my relationship with this country, of course.
Well then, letās go!\nāThank you very much!!ā (Mitsuha)
Yeah, it seems that it hasnāt been a long time since they left the port, so I could easily find Vanelās fleet.
Iāve also found Noralās fleet relatively easily. Then I plotted each of their position and course speed and went back right away.
If this were the Earth, it wouldāve been possible to make rough estimates of the enemyās movement, but itād be meaningless here.
The speed of advancement dramatically changes depending on the wind direction and the ocean current, after all. Also, theyāre not heading straight for each other. In the first place, they donāt even know where their opponents are, nor do they know what each other is doingā¦
Anyway, thereās still time until they came in contact with each other.
So I decided to come back again in a few days, but the scholars begged to stay as long as we had fuel, so I had no choice but to let the plane fly around the new continent to kill time.
Everyone seemed to be busy taking pictures and measurements.
Well, thanks to that, I have some more places to transfer added to my repository, so it was also good for me.
Besides, I would feel bad if I borrowed the plane without returning the favor. Fuel, labor, maintenance, and various other costs are needed per flight, after all. I wonder if it costs at least several million yen for a single flightā¦
Eh? Is it possible to bring a seaplane or a large helicopter next time, you ask?
Ah, I guess you do want to landā¦ It would be a big harvest just by taking a sample of the seawaterā¦ But, of course, bacteria and microbes will be excluded during transfer, you knowā¦
āAnd so, a naval battle between Vanel and Noral is about to happen. Now, I have a proposal for the former members of Vanel Kingdomās expeditionary fleet.
ā¦If Vanelās fleet is in crisisāthough, itās your home country you can never return to, but with the help of the goddess, do you want to take the opportunity to serve your country for one last time?\n\nāWhat in the world is going onā¦ā (Mitsuha)
āStarting from alcohol to high-quality foodstuffsāall kinds of luxury items have been sold out without any restriction! Because of that, the sales plan went out of controlā¦ā (Rephilia)
Apparently, families, relatives, and friendsāall sorts of people who are related to the crew were begging on their knees at the storefront. They seemed to want to get something to savor while they spend the last moment with the crew before the sortie.
Rephilia is also a citizen of this country, so if she were to refuse them coldly, she might be accused of being unpatriotic.Ā Ā
Even butlers from noble families went as far as to lower their heads to a commoner shopkeeper. Although theyāre not nobles themselves, it seems that it wouldāve been unthinkable for someone representing a noble family to do something like that.
ā¦well, of course, thereās no way Rephilia could resist it in such a case.
āIt canāt be helped. Wellā¦ you wonāt be blamed!ā (Mitsuha)
It seems that she also broke the sales regulation and sold them to the noble families whoāve been banned too, but Iām not a demon either. Iāll overlook this much.
Of course, the people of this country would believe that their countryās fleet would come out as the victor. However, it doesnāt mean that everyone will be able to return from the battle unscathed.
[Enemyās Grumman, 500 units. OurĀ ZeroĀ Fighters, 200 units. All enemy planes were shot down, zero damage on our side!], thereās no such a thing in even in fictional war stories. No matter how advanced your equipment is, no matter how much secret weapon you have, at least youād lose 70-80 planes. ā¦even then, it was considered a big victory.
In other words, no matter how big the victory is, there will be damage, and many people wouldnāt be able to return. The odds of having a final farewell to someone they hold dear are by no means low.
And of course, thereās also the undeniable possibility of suffering a great defeat.
āWe will send replenishments immediately, so make a sales plan and send them to our customers as soon as possible!!ā
Since the fleet has already left the port, there would be no more customers like that.
ā¦we should be able to manage it somehow or another!