Azur Lane: The Tragic Admiral’s Azur Life

Chapter 1488: Laying Out the Chess Game

But things were developing rapidly in another direction. When the Combined Fleet's mobilization was about two-thirds complete and the fastest ship girls were already in position, the firepower of the Yixian trio suddenly increased!

The long-range cross-fire from beyond the line of sight directly hit a destroyer girl responsible for containment with exaggerated accuracy. With just one shot, the destroyer girl was judged to be sunk on the spot!

"Tosa?!"

The shipgirls in charge of containment were startled at first, but they quickly reacted. The heavy cruisers with stronger defense capabilities immediately took a defensive stance. Although they could not detect the opponent through radar, they had more people and more carrier-based aircraft!

The carrier-based aircraft group began searching in the general direction of the artillery fire, but problems soon arose again.

The group of carrier-based aircraft that flew out did not find the target, but another group of carrier-based aircraft suddenly flew from behind Yixian and her group, skimmed over the sea, gained altitude, and then dropped bombs!

These carrier-based aircraft had no guarantee of accuracy at all, and they dropped bombs and torpedoes all at once. The fighter jets' machine guns just randomly swept around at a very bad angle and flew past. However, the appearance of these carrier-based aircraft also meant that there were other people behind Yixian and the others.

Unlike artillery fire, the source of the carrier-based aircraft cannot be directly identified, but judging from the composition and number of this carrier-based aircraft, it looks very much like a Taiho.

The combined fleet responded very quickly, not because their communication efficiency was high enough, but because they had a plan in place in advance.

The opponent is Yang Sikang's fleet. The two Donghuang ship girls, Yixian and Zhenhai, are also very famous for their wisdom.

If they didn't take the strategy into consideration, they would surely fail. At the beginning of the exercise, the Combined Fleet had already issued a series of contingency plans. Although their communications were soon invaded and interfered with, these plans could still be executed.

Defense, search, and air defense. Although the Combined Fleet was at a disadvantage in terms of intelligence, it responded in moderation. In addition, in order to conceal its direction, the carrier-based aircraft flew close to the sea surface for a long distance, so that the attack angle was not good and the noise was loud, but the actual damage caused was very limited.

But the exaggerated cross-fire continued to come, and although not every shot could hit the target accurately, it still had a certain impact on them.

Looking at the opponent's movements, Yixian smiled softly:

"Yubari."

"Ah."

Yubari opened his torpedo launcher and fired two sets of torpedoes in succession. Although the damage caused by cross-fire and carrier-based aircraft was not strong, the impact on the battlefield was real!

The torpedoes shuttled quietly underwater and rushed forward quickly, but they were not able to completely avoid detection. The ship girls of the Combined Fleet tried to evade them within a limited range, but they found that their range of movement had been greatly restricted in the process of avoiding cross-fire and carrier-based aircraft!

"Then bear it!"

Wichita, who came from the White Eagle Command, said decisively, but the next second, a torpedo happened to drill under her feet, as if to help her verify her words.

boom! ! !

A column of water shot up into the sky. Wichita, who was in a defensive posture, was stunned for a moment. The exaggerated explosion effect was far beyond her expectations. At the same time, she had received the system's judgment of the exercise: she was sunk.

"Huh?! One shot, and it sank right on the spot?!"

"Isn't it natural that Sakura Empire's oxygen torpedoes have obtained more advanced technology, better manufacturing techniques, and stronger materials?"

The same thing caused three ship girls to be judged as sunk. The others quickly pulled away to avoid the remaining torpedoes, and Yixian who came forward said to Wichita very kindly:

"Haha, we brought Yubari with us. You don't think Yubari is just here to make up the numbers, do you?"

At this moment, the battleship's straddle fire that had been going on suddenly stopped, and the carrier-based aircraft group that had run out of ammunition began to return.

However, the Combined Fleet, which had just experienced a round of attack, did not dare to continue the pursuit at will. The carrier-based aircraft group they sent out found Tosa, but there were other people around Tosa. The anti-aircraft firepower cleared the passing carrier-based aircraft group, and then Tosa left with the others.

The carrier-based aircraft left in a swagger, and if they followed it, they would definitely get something out of it. However, during this period, the people in front of them obviously would not wait for their carrier-based aircraft to come back.

Moreover, after achieving results in this round, Yixian decisively issued orders. With her cooperation with Zhenhai, although the combined fleet had a numerical advantage, the outcome would obviously be uncertain if the struggle continued like this.

The spectators naturally had a clearer understanding of the actual situation on the battlefield, and from their perspective, the response of the Combined Fleet was not a big problem. However, the spectators could clearly see that when Yixian and the others were being held back, Yang Sikang's ship girls, who were originally heading in one direction, had already begun to turn in another direction, and quickly got Tosa and the others in position.

The carrier-based aircraft group did come from Taiho, but she was in a position that the Combined Fleet had never expected. She had the carrier-based aircraft make a circle and enter the battlefield from another direction, thereby misleading the Combined Fleet.

After the attack, the carrier-based aircraft group seemed to be returning home, but in fact they had disappeared halfway.

The loss of carrier-based aircraft is naturally difficult for a carrier-based ship girl to accept on the battlefield, but the biggest difference between a carrier-based aircraft girl and a conventional aircraft carrier is that there are no pilots on it. Therefore, carrier-based aircraft can also be discarded as consumables under appropriate circumstances!

Although losing one's own carrier-based aircraft is a troublesome matter, don't forget that the people participating in this exercise on Yang Sikang's side are all non-plan ships from Donghuang and Sakura Empire.

In other words, Ding'an, as a transport ship, is also in the fleet!

Due to the special nature of the ship, it is feasible for Ding'an to install ammunition, spare carrier-based aircraft, and different types of torpedoes to provide supplies to fleet members in the ship's installation space!

In addition, with Akashi present, he replaced the new ship equipment on the spot, and then carried out battlefield repairs on Taiho, which easily made up for the damage caused by the abandoned carrier-based aircraft!

Also, because the Combined Fleet that had been hit had to consider Yixian who was right in front of them, and considering that this might be a trap set by Yixian, they could not rashly track the carrier-based aircraft group that was already difficult to track. This way, Tosa and others had time to transfer... They circled around and then changed direction and hung behind Yixian and others, waiting for instructions.

"Yixian and Zhenhai's judgments are so accurate. Alas, conducting an exercise in a state where someone can see through it unilaterally really makes the spectators feel very uncomfortable."

Lexington said with emotion, her expression was quite helpless, but not nervous, and even a little happy.

Yixian and Zhenhai's performance made her see different things. For them, regardless of how the situation would develop in the future, this part of the battle was worth a careful discussion after the exercise.

"The exercise has just begun, Lexington."

Yang Sikang chuckled softly:

"The chess game between Yixian and Zhenhai has just begun."