Battle of Weihaiwei I
Forty minutes finally elapsed before the timer hit zero. Chinese and Japanese stood outside the factory, eagerly awaiting the arrival of the new ship. The armored doors of the factory slide open after the counter hit zero. A young woman, in her late teens or early twenties, looked back at them through her glasses. She has brown hair which is tied into a bun and brown eyes. White stockings went halfway between her knees and hips. The shipgirl wore a short dark brown pleated skirt and a green shirt, topped with a blue shoulder cover of sorts. She carried a green flute, possibly made of jade.
"Introduce yourself," Zhao said.
"Hello," the girl said slowly, pushing up her glasses, "I am training cruiser Ying Swei, semi-sister ship to Chao Ho and Fei Hung."
"Not Ping Hai or Ning Hai," Zhao muttered depressed.
"Ah," Ying Swei said, "I know those two. I fought alongside them against the Japanese."
She then frowned and slapped her flute in her hand, "But tell me, why are there Japanese in our territory?"
"They're here to help," Liang explained, "to fight against the Abyssals. They will remain here until we have a sizable navy fleet of our own."
"Of what?" asked Ying Swei, "Ships?"
"Returned ships," Liang said, "World War Two era ships that came back in human form. Like you. And Yat Sen."
"Well, hello again," Ying Swei said to Yat Sen, "it's good to see you."
She extended her hand.
"Yeah," Yat Sen replied, "time to get the gang back together."
The Z-25 dropship flies low over the sea, carrying the Pilot Officer, Zhi Yuan, Jing Yuan and Kaga.
I made a mistake, Sima thought to himself, I should have brought Yat Sen along. Neither of the Beiyang Cruisers have radios fitted on them. Neither of them speak Japanese. Commanding them will be difficult. I can't communicate with them from shore and they won't understand orders coming from Admiral Kadawa.
"Hey kid," Zhi Yuan said, "you okay?"
"I am not a child," Sima growled, "but will you be okay? You will have no means of communicating with me in battle."
"Nothing new," Jing Yuan shrugged, "the same thing happened in the Battle of Yalu River. Flagship Ding Yuan lost her mast and couldn't coordinate the fleet. Under such circumstances, we are ordered to form mutually supporting pairs."
"Have faith in us," Zhi Yuan said, "this ain't gonna be like 1894."
"If you say so," Sima muttered as he looked out.
The dropship approached the cluster of Japanese shipgirls. The ships present are the aircraft carrier Akagi, fast battleships Kirishima and Haruna, light cruisers Sendai and Yuubari and the destroyer Fubuki. The fleet gathered here is formidable.
"Ladies!" Sima shouted over the sound of the dropship's engines, "Where is your commander?"
"The commander is on Liugong Island," Akagi replied, "setting up a simple command post in a place called Dongcun."
Sima nodded, "Girls, this is your day."
"Hell yeah!" Zhi Yuan shouted as she jumped out, "Gonna kick ass!"
"Ready for action," Jing Yuan said as she followed.
The two materialized their rigging, splashing down onto the surface. In contrast, Kaga carefully lowered herself to the water, materializing her rigging as she touched down on the water. The Z-25 sped away, heading back towards the island in the bay by Weihai.
"Um," Akagi said, "hello?"
The two ships glanced at her, but didn't reply.
"Hi," Yuubari said, "I am experimental light cruiser Yuubari. Pleased to meet you."
Once again, the cruisers paid her no attention.
"They don't speak our language," Yuubari said "what happened to Yat Sen?"
"Um," Fubuki said, "what are these ships? I haven't seen any shipgirl like them before."
Yuubari rubbed her chin as she looked at the Beiyang girls. What Fubuki said was true. Yuubari has seen shipgirls from all over the world, as she and Akashi travelled to seminars to share shipgirl and conventional technology. She has seen Germans, British, French, Italian, American, Canadian and even Australian. Not one of them looked like the cruisers before her. They appeared to be of older construction. 1910's? 1900s? Surely not earlier than that. Kongou is from 1912 and she is the oldest shipgirl known to Japan.
"Who cares?" Akagi asked, "If they can fight, then they will be useful."
The two ships ignored the Japanese and steamed out to a position a few hundred metres away before stopping.
"Huh," Fubuki said, "not working with us?"
"Kind of difficult when they don't speak our language," Kaga said, "let's just hope they don't do something stupid."
"You have no faith in them, do you?" asked Akagi.
"They are unimpressive," Kaga replied, "they returned forms of protected cruisers from the 1880s. Their fairy crews are also poorly trained. Zhi Yuan is also reckless. I don't expect them to make much contributions."
"Wait," Yuubari said, "1880s you say?"
Sendai suddenly tilted her head.
"Enemies inbound," she said, "heading in from the direction of North Korea. Four cruisers. Yes, two To-class light cruisers, a He-class light cruiser and a…WHAT?"
"What?" asked Yuubari.
"A light cruiser demon!" Sendai said.
"They aren't pulling their punches," Akagi said, "are they?"
She raised her bow and fired off an arrow, which became a flight of dive bombers. Kaga joined her, sending out a flight of torpedo bombers. The aircraft fly off into the distance.
"Akagi," Kirishima said, "I shall lead a group and attack the enemies directly. Since there is an Abyssal demon involved, I don't think aircraft alone are adequate."
Akagi nodded, "Go for it."
"Admiral?" Kirishima asked through her radio, "Shall I?"
"Do it," Kadawa replied, "and good luck."
Kirishima turned to the group of shipgirls, "Haruna, Sendai, Yuubari, Fubuki, follow me. We are engaging the enemy."
"Well," Sendai said, "good thing we aren't fighting fifty Abyssals, each one of them a Chi-class torpedo cruisers or heavier. A battleship princess came here for god sake."
"Yeah," Kirishima said, "we're running low on instant repair buckets and there is no base where we can repair. At least not around here."
Kaga and Akagi watched as the group steamed off into the distance
Admiral Kadawa sat inside the abandoned house on Liugong Island, in Dongcun. Situated at side of a hill, he can see far into the ocean with the assistance of a telescope. He looked down at his tablet again. Shipgirls are fitted with GPS (much to the dislike of Katori, who insisted traditional ocean navigation methods be taught), allowing their locations to be tracked. Kaga and Akagi hung back from the battle, launching their aircraft from afar.
What ships did the Chinese send? Surely they didn't just bring Kaga from Shanghai.
The sound of jet engines grew in his ears. Looking out the window, he sees a drop ship hover low above the ground. One officer in blue jumps out. Pilot Officer Sima. Kadawa watched as the man entered the house.
"How are things going?" asked Sima.
"So far so good," Kadawa said, "recon aircraft have detected a fleet of Abyssals. Two To-class light cruisers, a Ri-class heavy cruiser and a Light cruiser Princess."
"That doesn't sound good," Sima replied, "Princess level warships can sink entire conventional fleets."
"But," Kadawa said, showing him the tablet, "we have a formidable fleet moving to engage them. Two fast battleships, two light cruisers and a destroyer. Kirishima and Haruna are veteran combatants, experienced fighters who have taken part in many battles. And we also have support from two aircraft carriers. This will be an easy fight."
"We thought the Bastion can beat any Abyssal invasion," Sima warned, "but it has been breached and has yet to be repaired. Don't let your guard down."
The Abyssal fleet approached the Weihai district from the east in a diamond formation. At the head of the fleet is the Abyssal Light Cruiser Princess. While Abyssal Jintsuu is depicted as the standard Light Cruiser Princess, they actually came in many forms. It is said that shipgirls and Abyssals share a common origin. The memories and temperament of the crew which manned their ships formed the base of the two. The difference is that the shipgirl is born from the positive emotions while the Abyssal from the negative. Needless to say, the crew of a war machine during a brutal six year war are going to experience the negative ones a lot more. The result is that the Abyssal counterparts of shipgirls are far more powerful, which is why they are regulated to Princess, Demon or Water Demon class. The "non-boss" generic Abyssals are hypothesized to be drones, non-sentient puppets of their superiors, produced by the "boss" Abyssals.
The Light Cruiser Princess leading the assault today did not resemble Jintsuu, or any other existing shipgirl. She is dressed in a navy uniform, dated to before World War Two. A strange droning sound could be heard in the distance. Looking up, the Princess sees multiple black specks approaching. She squinted into the air.
The aircraft dive down towards them at high speed. The Light Cruiser Princess ordered her followers to perform evasive maneuvers and executing a sharp turn herself. The first wave is a flight of dive bombers from Akagi. The highly experienced fairies which piloted the aircraft easily predicted the movements of the Abyssals. Bombs rained down on the Light Cruiser Princess and her escorts.
Explosions erupt across the surface of the ocean as the bombs hit. One To-class and Ri-class receive light damage while the other To-class sustained moderate damage. But that was only the first wave. Between Kaga and Akagi, they have many aircraft, delivered as arrows alongside the repair buckets sent with the Kongou class.
"First wave is a reported to be a success," Akagi said, "we have done damage to Abyssal forces."
"Then we shall launch another wave," Kaga said calmly, readying her bow, "heck, I wonder if it is even necessary. Kirishima's group should be within range by now."
She looked at the two Chinese cruisers, who continued bobbing in the waves, "What good are those two?"
"Come on," Akagi said, "they may just come in useful. The Beiyang Fleet may have lost the First Sino-Japanese War, but that was due to politics and corruption. I expect those two girls will be helpful."
"You are too kind, Akagi," Kaga said, "for your own good."
The task force of two battleships, two cruisers and destroyer approached the location of the Abyssal fleet.
"I can see the enemy fleet," Kirishima said, "a pitifully small gathering. Hardly worth a second wave of aircraft from our carriers."
"We shall finish them off here," Haruna added, "this will be easy."
She turned to the others in the fleet, "Kirishima and I will engage the Princess. You girls take out her flunkies."
"Aye," Sendai smiled, "not a night battle, but an easy one nevertheless."
The battleships smirked as they aimed their guns at the Light Cruiser Princess. Flames erupt from the muzzles as they fire their main guns. Of the sixteen rounds fired, thirteen of them hit, exploding against the Abyssal Princess. But it emerged from the fire and smoke, apparently unharmed.
"Switch to AP," Kirishima ordered, "and we'll rip her into pieces."
"Acknowledged," Haruna said, "switching shells."
Meanwhile, Sendai, Yuubari and Fubuki concentrated their attention on the escorts. The plan is to make a high speed runs on both sides of the fleet and launching their torpedoes. The group advances, firing their guns.
"Ready your torpedoes," Yuubari ordered.
"Got it," Sendai replied.
"Ready for action," Fubuki said.
The destroyers sped towards the advancing Abyssal fleet. The Abyssal cruisers noticed the approaching shipgirls and opened fire. Waterspouts erupt around the shipgirls, a few shells hitting them. None of them did serious damage. Sendai and Fubuki veered to starboard while Yuubari to port.
"Torps free!" Yuubari shouted.
The cruisers and destroyers release their torpedoes, which speed through the water towards the Abyssals. Of the rater large volley, four hit. A To-class folds in the middle and explodes while another floundered. The Ri-class took a hit, but continued to fire at the cruisers which passed her. The Light Cruiser Princess survives a hit as well. As the range closed, Abyssal gunfire became more accurate. Yuubari, Sendai and Fubuki all take hits. Sendai is on light damage and Fubuki on moderate damage. But the Japanese ship girls are quickly moving out of range of the Abyssals.
While the Abyssals were distracted, Haruna and Kirishima locked onto the Abyssal Light Cruiser Princess.
"All guns, fire!" Kirishima shouted.
The four twin 41cm turrets on her rigging open fire with a thundering boom. Shells arc through the air, slamming into the Princess. Most of the shells bounce off her, but two pierce weak points in her armor and slice into her body before exploding.
"I'll finish her off," Haruna said, "fire!"
Her guns fire off the last volley, the 41cm shells slamming into the Abyssal. Three penetrations and internal explosions, causing massive damage.
"Ha," Kadawa said as he looked at his tablet, "I knew my girls could do it! All Abyssal ships either destroyed or on moderate damage."
"But your shipgirls?" he glanced at Sima, "What are they doing? Nothing more than sitting in the water."
"Why would they do anything?" asked Sima, "They are ships from the 1880s. What can they do besides escort your carriers?"
"But there are no threats to them here" Kadawa replied, "nothing will get through the front."
The sound of steel being crushed suddenly could be heard.
"What the?" Sima turned to look outside.
He was greeted by the sight of a massive artillery imp, walking by outside.
Sup guys, back with more Descendants of the Dragon after multiple updates to Red Fleet Resurrected. Trying to do longer chapters from now on. Easier said than done. Now, about the Chinese ships.
海圻 is translated as Hai Chi, but the actual Chinese pronunciation is Hai Qi.
应瑞 is translated as Ying Swei, but the actual Chinese pronunciation is Ying Rui
逸仙 is written as Yat Sen, which is her Cantonese pronunciation. Yi Xian is mandarin.
致遠 (Zhi Yuan) and 經遠(Jing Yuan) are translated as Chih-yuan and Ching-yuan.