With the meal winding down, and everyone's supply holds reasonably full, Nagato finally called the larger ships to gather around the main table, where she had procured some bristol board and a marker from the staff.
The Destroyers had left, the American ships, as well as Desdiv 30, wandering the hotel's halls, while Desdiv 6 went off to explore the town, led off by the pair of Fu-Po torpedo boats. Who had ended up getting along rather well with the Akatsuki's.
"I think it's high time we discussed what we are going to do, once we reach Da-Nang," Nagato said seriously.
"What is there to discuss? We move in, meet up with my sister, and get out, right?" Chiyoda said, before muttering, "And beat the crap out of that damn defiler."
"I'm sorry, what was that last part?" Nagato said, marking something down on the board.
Chiyoda's eyes widened, and she shook her head, "N-Nothing, Nagato-Sama."
Iowa leaned forward from where she sat at the table, the position doing... interesting things to her cleavage, "Something tells me my little-sis won't be too keen to just let us cruise in and out without a fight," she steepled her half-gloved hands together, covering her nose, "even if she wasn't looking to face off against us, I'm not leaving without pounding some sense into that thick skull of hers."
"Defeating the New Jersey is and always has been, a secondary objective." Nagato said sternly, and carried on over the American ship's loud protests "that said, I agree, conflict is most likely unavoidable. And must be planned for accordingly."
"The Admiral told us all the most up-to-date information pertaining to the enemy fleet makeup in her briefing with us," Nagato stated, drawing out the figures in an organization chart, "at least four Aircraft Carriers, and more than a dozen Battleships, most of them Ru-class."
"Probably drowning in little bastards as well," Tenryuu said, picking at a bit of food stuck in her teeth, "probably has more Submarines and Destroyers than we can shake a stick at."
"No, Admiral Keiko, if you remember, stated that Jersey does not employ Submarines at all," Nagato said, turning to I-401, "it is very likely your detachment will have complete operational freedom under the waves, as long as they can keep clear of enemy Destroyers."
I-401 grinned, rubbing her chin with one hand, "un-opposed operations are always a plus, if we can get far enough ahead of the main Battlegroup, we can do some significant damage in an opening surprise attack, should the Abyssal fleet be in the area and unaware of our presence."
Kaga spoke up then, "And if you are spotted? You will be without support against the Battleship-Himes screening vessels. At least until our planes arrive."
"Nothing we are not used to, Abyssal Destroyers are usually pretty stupid, it's easy to predict their ASW patterns unless they are a later model," I-401 said, waving away the Carrier's concern with a smile.
Nagato frowned, "Destroyers are as smart as the flagship giving them orders. Never underestimate them, Shioi, that's a good way to end up in pieces on the ocean floor."
Iowa nodded, "JerJer was many things, but stupid was never one of them."
"You knew your Sistership best out of everyone here, do you know anything about her that could help us?" Nagato asked.
The blonde Battleship shrugged, "I'm not sure, that's the thing!" She gesticulated as she continued, forcing the human Chinese attache to look away politely as things jiggled, "I heard the recording, she was never like that before! Hell, she was always thegoody-goody of the four of us! Though she was always a bit more headstrong..."
"People change, and that's not even taking Abyssal corruption into account." Kaga said, quietly, "I never would have thought Zuikaku capable of what she has done as the Crane Princess. And yet people still report sightings of her... handiwork, occasionally, washed up on the shore."
Akagi put a hand to Kaga's shoulder, as Iowa shook her head, getting back on track, "But yeah, she's clearly off the deep-end, but Jersey was never one to take a challenge laying down. And the thing is? I think she knows we are coming."
There was a little shock at that revelation, "How." Nagato demanded.
Iowa put a hand to her chin, "In the recording, she was egging on your Admiral, she was practically daring the Japanese to send a fleet after her. To be fair, I don't think she expected me and my merry band of volunteers-" Iowa swept an arm towards the other American ships encompassingly, "to join you, but she very clearly wants a fight. And will very likely be on the lookout for us."
"So we should expect a fight then?" Yuubari asked quietly.
"It would seem so. The question becomes then, where will she attempt to give us battle?" Nagato said, marking down another bullet point on the board.
Ning Hai, who had been off to the side trying and failing to not show interest, piped up, "The Abyssal forces in Indochina don't pass into the East Vietnam Sea often, ever since Sanya was sacked during the initial battles, the Government saw fit to invest heavily in defending the Biebu Gulf, with PLA assets. That, paired with Vietnam's own resistance, has kept the Abyssals stewing in the Southern regions of the country."
Kaga scoffed, "I doubt a bunch of human-derived artillery, no matter how good they are, is going to keep any appreciable Abyssal force from doing what it wants for long, especially when they have that many Battleships capable of silencing the batteries."
Iowa cut off the Chinese woman as she puffed herself up in anger, "It's probably JerJer's own damn stubbornness holding them back, more than anything."
Nagato looked back at the Battleship, "Explain."
"She was always stubborn as a mule when I knew her, and that was before she could control her own actions. If there's even one group of people insane enough to use their pop-guns on her forces, she probably won't move on until they are dealt with." Iowa said, humming in thought.
"Regardless of the why, we should focus back on the what and where," Chiyoda said, "If she knows we are coming, she'll probably try to intercept us as we cross the gulf into the East Sea, I doubt she doesn't have air patrols, even that far out."
"Another point to sending in Shioi and her Junsen first, to scout the area." Nagato turned to the large Submarine, "How many floatplanes can you have covering the area?"
I-401 didn't even pause to think about the answer, already knowing her detachment's complement, "Altogether? between us all, we can send out twelve Seiran floatplanes, enough to cover a significant area, maybe even do a bombing run on isolated ships if they are stupid enough to operate alone."
Nagato nixed the idea with a handwave, "leave that to the Carriers, their job is to act purely as scouts," she turned to Chiyoda, "if the Submarines come under assault, their floatplanes won't be able to re-dock before they have to submerge, do you think you would be able to service them?"
Chiyoda nodded, "Of course! What do you think these cranes are for? Decoration?" She joked, wiggling said appendages.
Nagato merely nodded, marking it down as the joke fell flat on the table, curled up, and died. The planning continued.
With Desdiv 6:
"Uwwwaah! I'm so full!" Inazuma said, rubbing her stomach, as she walked beside her division-mates as well as the smaller Chinese vessels, "I haven't eaten that much fish in a long time!"
"...I liked the crabs," Hibiki said vacantly, looking at the semi-busy streets around them.
The four Kanmusu had decided to go on a pseudo 'tour', led by the Fu-Po sisters, who intermittently stopped to explain or name a specific building or area.
"That's the pound they came from actually, right there!" Yu Chang gestured at a large building across the street, people uniformed in yellow aprons and hairnets could be seen outside, smoking and talking around some outdoor tables. One of them saw the group as Yu pointed, and waved, saying something in Chinese that alerted everyone else. The workers all started calling out greetings to the ships as they passed, and Yu yelled out something in return as they passed by.
"...And that's the Navy docks over there!" Chien Kang pointed, as they turned the latest corner, "You can see Haikou from here!"
She was right, the tall, oddly-geometric ship could be seen, towering over the smaller vessels nearby, pure-white hull practically glowing in the sun.
"Oh yeah! That ship that's named after the island!" Akatsuki squinted, "...what are all those white balloons on her for?"
Chien scratched at her head, "She's a guided missile Destroyer, she-"
"-Needs those to see what she's shooting at, I think." Yu finished.
Akatsuki did a double-take, looking back at the larger Steel-hulled ship, "She's a Destroyer?! I thought she was a Cruiser! She's bigger than Tenryuu Onee-Sama!"
"So she has RADAR?! that's so cool!" Ikazuchi said excitedly, "We never had anything like that! Can we get a closer look?!" she asked the twin Chinese ships, who nodded in-sync.
"Sure! We are friends with her Hai Jun Shang Xiao, he's a-"
"-Pretty cool guy, we help escort him and Haikou around a lot-"
"-When they need to do stuff, like transporting people, or doing a fire mission with her- "
"-Missiles, though she doesn't get to use them very often." They finished together.
...
The six Kanmusu were only slightly held up by the port-guards when they approached, the PLAN marines recognizing the twins, and, after a brief explanation in Chinese from the alternating pair, allowed the Kanmusu through, giving small bows as they passed, though they were entirely directed towards the two Fu Po's.
Desdiv 6 stopped at the gangplank as the twins carried on, stepping on board the Steel-hulled Destroyer, "What, you're boarding her?!" Ikazuchi said, blushing a little, "I know we said we wanted a closer look, but not THIS close!"
Yu turned back, from where she stood on the Destroyers deck, "How else are we going to talk to Hai Jun Shang Xiao Bohai?"
"That's... a really long name," Inazuma said, cautiously stepping onto the gangplank, before tentatively letting herself be helped down onto the steel deck by the shorter twins.
"Oh, his name is just Bohai-" Chien said.
"-Hai Jun Shang Xiao is his rank, I think it's a... 1st class Kaisa for you?" Yu continued.
"Well, if you're sure it's okay?" Ikazuchi said hesitantly, following her sistership on board, as Hibiki and Akatsuki followed. Coming aboard and heading to the nearest entry leading to the bridge.
Yu beckoned them through an open doorway, "Come on! The guards called ahead, he's-"
"-Probably expecting us, he can show you the RADAR systems up close!" Chien finished.
The four Destroyers followed the DE's as they entered the main superstructure.
Inhuman eyes watched as the door swung shut.