Oscarsborg Fortress, Oldenburg, day 3 in Weserübung, 0400 hours
An old man was dressing up as words of incoming ships had reached fortress. He went up to the old coastal gun oriented in the gorge. Recruits were preparing and loading the gun for the oncoming ships. The man looked through his (spyglass) for the targets. They had no idea who were coming, but they weren't neutral ships as no signal had been sent.
"Should we send them a warning?" said the man by his side.
He looked again. The darkness rendered the identification of the targets impossible. With his finger, the old man calculated the distance for the gun to aim. He ordered to fire.
"But we haven't sent them the signals!" the man said again.
"Either I will be decorated or court-martialed! Now fire!"
"The signal flare or ammunition?"
"You are goddamn right we are firing live ammunition!"
From both side of the gorge, large canons opened fire on the biggest target in front of them. A big passenger ship with Ironblood decoration was set alight. The banners burned has the fires spread through the decks. The ship continued his advance, undeterred. Down in the torpedo room, men had loaded the torpedoes who were aimed at the passenger ship. Two torpedoes hit the ship which immediately capsized. As the ship was going down in the cold water, the survivors were trying to reach the banks. As the fire light up the entire area, the old man looked around for military targets. Flash of fire came from behind the passenger ship.
Shells landed beside the bunker. He spotted the shipgirls behind the passenger ship. The gun turned slowly while under fire. The recruits were shocked as the shells made them deaf. The old man stayed composed. The shipgirls had turned tail and were trying to get out of the gun's sight. Multiple salvoes from their 280mm hit two shipgirls, setting them alight. The old man knew they were trying to land further down, but he could not do anything about it once they disappeared. Silence came back to the base and the man sat down happy. He had done his only job : buying enough time for the parliament to run away. He took out a cigarette and gave it to his subordinates.
"We have done our duty."
Narvik, Oldenburg, day 3, 0410 hours
A heavy storm of snow and fog had covered Narvik in darkness. On her night shift, Eidsvold was on high alert, waiting for the promised Royal Navy protection detachment who would land troops in Narvik for the defense of their country. They would sail with the Royal Navy detachment down to the south to take out the Ironblood landings. As binoculars were useless, Eidsvold used her ears, trying to decipher any sound in the heavy storm that would come from ships.
In the meantime, her sister and comrades were docked, out of sight, in a warm room where the cold of the storm could not reach. Eidsvold was due to switch with Norge in one hour. From patrol ships, she received a signal which made her happy, but soon the signal became the readying of battle stations. Eidsvold prepared her gun. Through the fog and snow, a figure appeared. With her signal lamp, she tried to stop it. The figure continued to the fjord. Eidsvold rapidly judged the distance with the target and fired a warning shot. The figure diverged toward the coastal defense ship.
"We have come like it was agreed earlier," it was the Z destroyer 21, Wilhelm Heidkamp.
The little girl gave the paper to the taller ship. It was expected for her to sail to Copenhagen, where Niels Juel and Peder Skram were waiting, sheltered from the ongoing war and their involvement with the Royal Navy and Iris. As she was expecting the Royal Navy to make it first to Narvik, she was taken aback. What could she do? She wanted to buy a little bit of time.
"Can I contact my sisters? They are in-dock. I will tell them that you have arrived… with?"
"Oh! I am the escort of Group 1 with a sister, Z11. Our transport ships should arrive soon for the defense of the fjord."
Eidsvold took a little bit of distance and contacted her comrades.
"What!? Ironblood made it first? How?"
"I don't know. I want to fight but I want your opinion first. I don't want this to turn in an unnecessary bloodshed, especially since our commander-in-chief seem way too eager to see Ironblood come. We can sail to Copenhagen like it was agreed."
She got an immediate answer.
"Do you really think we would betray our old comrades?" Bjørgvin, ex-HMS Glatton, said.
"We are already preparing! You can signal the two destroyers that we will eat them alive!" Nidaros, ex-HMS Gorgon, laughed.
"Sister, I think you have your answer," Norge also wanted to follow the majority.
"Man your guns. We're gonna fight, girls! Til Valhall!"
"Til Valhall!" they answered back.
Eidsvold fired her red flare, signalling she wanted to fight.
"Do you really think I came alone? – Z21 clapped her hands, multiple figures approached in the fog – Everyone, let's give our best!"
Eidsvold had been played, but she did not back down and approached her enemy with the intention to fire her two 210mm gun at close range. Unbeknownst to her, the afraid Z21 had already launched her torpedoes, which hit Eidsvold three times. Her magazine belt was ignited, and she blew up, illuminating the fog and alerting the town of the impending invasion.
Further down in the fjord, Norge, Bjørgvin, Nidaros heard the explosion and the radio silence of Eidsvold. Norge desperately tried to call her sister to no avail. Bjørgvin and Nidaros started firing in the fog as their enemy were closing into the pier. Meters apart, they finally recognized seven destroyers escorted by a cruiser, Hipper herself.
An enraged Norge fired at the destroyers, missing her first salvo. Her comrades tried to follow, but the weather condition reduced the accuracy of their guns. They tried firing their secondary 150mm without a single hit. The three coastal defense ships were peppered with gunfire that barely scratched their armor. Even Hipper became frustrated and fired her torpedoes.
A second salvoes of torpedoes were launched by the destroyers. The slow ships tried to dodge them and almost made it. A single torpedo from Z11 hit Norge in the leg and detonated her magazines. The flash shattered all the windows in the vicinity and pieces of shrapnel were sent flying. A desperate Bjørgvin and Nidaros switched their main batteries to fire on Admiral Hipper who was an easier target.
"It seems we won't make it out of here alive and no rescue will come for us," Bjørgvin resigned herself to this fate.
"We are encircled and outnumbered. Where have I seen this before?"
Bjørgvin smiled with pride. They both shouted Til Valhall and rushed down, in a straight line, for Hipper. Hipper's 203mm guns were no match for their impressive armor. Hipper was stuck reloading her torpedoes and running away when Z18 came in clutch, dodging 150mm shells from the coastal ships, and torpedoed the Bjørgvin who never saw her coming. Bjørgvin's body exploded in two parts, her upper body and riggings sent flying. Nidaros, who had been shellshocked from the explosion, was finished off by the torpedoes of Z22. Peacefully, Nidaros sank beneath the waves beside her sister.
"I knew these rascals would betray our alliance the first moment they would get! We should arrest Juel and Skram before they do it to us!" Hipper shouted to herself. Z21 approached.
"Are you still able to fight?"
"No. I will go back to Trondheim for urgent repair since Glowworm's ram and now these barges damaged my pretty face too much! Wait for further order from high-command."
Hipper left the scene, stumbling and shuddered by the cold. The destroyers escorted the ships and landing crafts who took the town without a fight. Z21 received a terrible message.
"Be on high alert. Royal Navy ships in your vicinity."
[…]
Off the Lofoten Islands, Oldenburg, day 3, 0350 hours
Renown was on her way to Narvik to link with the Oldenburg navy that had decided to help the Royal Navy. At her side came destroyers for mining operations : four destroyers of the H-class, three destroyers of the I-class and one destroyer from the E-class and G-class for a total of nine destroyers. On her way, HMS Glowworm had been expected to join their forces, but she was still unresponsive hours after her last message. The cold night and the snowfall lowered their moral, as their riggings were close to freezing. Only their engine could keep them warm. Soon, they would be able to take shelter in Narvik away from the worsening snowstorm.
Her wish was shattered when her radar picked up two distinct blinks. The two invisible ships were obviously from Ironblood. She ordered the destroyers to keep formation and engage the enemy shipgirls. As the fog was thick, they could only rely on their radars to spot the enemy. The agitated waters made it difficult to adjust her guns.
"Enemy fleet in sight! All ships, fire at will!" Renown shouted to her destroyer squadron.
Renown started firing. The destroyers closed in. Minutes later, Renown was hit by two shells which failed to detonate in her rigging. The exchange continued, and the destroyers, due to the worsening weather, were forced to disengage, leaving Repulse against two capital ships.
Renown, knowing these two Ironblood capital ships could not be alone, and were right in front the path of Narvik, feared the worst. Her mission to secure the port would most likely end in failure. At least, she had to inflict as much damage as possible. The honor of the Royal Navy rested on her shoulder. The battle continued in the darkness, with only the sound of gunfire sporadically lighting up the horizon.
An hour of silence had passed in heavy waves as the battlecruiser struggled against mother nature strong temperament. Despite the struggle against the weather, Renown and the destroyers had closed the distance between her and her enemies. She could finally identify them.
"If it's not the ugly sisters," Renown said by radio.
"You are still after us?!" Gneisenau replied. "You must be fangirl!"
Both side who had been damaged in the earlier engagement and by the weather had an hour of useless exchange of fire when the two Ironblood ships decided to disengage and sailed to the Arctic Ocean where Renown would not follow them. Renown aborted the mission, as she was heavily damaged and low on ammunition. As they made their way back to home waters, Renown expressed immense regrets as she had been unable to reach the rebels who they had promised support. She passed by the command ship of Vice Admiral William Whitworth, in charge of the operations in the area.
"Where are the Oldenburg ships?"
"We don't know, and we have no news from Glowworm."
Whitworth hid the letter he had been holding in his hands, a letter he had received minutes earlier from the Red Cross, testifying of Glowworm's last charge.
[…]
After hours, the storm had finally lifted, giving a respite to the two battlecruisers who decided to make their way to Trondheim in Oldenburg. It took them multiple exhausting days to finally reached the town where Admiral Hipper had been waiting for them.
"Took you long enough!" Hipper complained. "I thought I would be left alone in this desolated wasteland!"
"Excuse us," Gneisenau said, "but we had an encounter with the Royal Navy."
"It just so happens that we did too! And some coastal defense ship that did not last long…"
"Oldenburg rebelled?" Scharnhorst asked.
"Of course, they did! We should arrest the rest of their navy in Copenhagen for treason!"
"Calm down first. We need to go back to Wilhelmshaven for repair."
The trio started their journey back to their homeland. On their way, they compiled information on the current situation of their navy.
"Blücher and Deutschland were heavily damage while trying to take Oslo and are now being repaired in Kiel," Hipper started, "I destroyed a Royal Navy destroyer, the Glowworm, close to Trondheim. We managed to land the troops in Trondheim and Narvik. In Narvik, destroyer Group 1 sank Eidsvold, Norge, Bjorgvin and Nidaros with torpedoes. It's incredible how these old ships were almost invincible against my shells. They were like battleship with cruiser armament."
"They were weak to torpedoes?" asked Scharnhorst.
"They were weak to torpedoes," Hipper answered, "since then, we lost Z21 and Z22 in Narvik, but they killed two Royal Navy destroyers. The remaining destroyers have asked repeatedly for fuel and ammunitions from high command. What shall we do about that?"
"We shall ask Bismarck how to get them out of here. For now, I think we are out of danger, as we scared their forces in the area away."
Beisfjord, day 3, 1600 hours
Lurking under the sea, the Intermarium submarine Orzel and Wilk were on their reconnaissance mission to spot the port in Beisfjord. The weather had been calmer since the middle of the day and let them navigate closer to the coast. They were running behind schedule in this side operation pushed forward on the behalf of Queen Elizabeth.
It was the rescue of their underwater comrades Sęp, Ryś and Żbik who had sought Kalmaria's neutrality when the Intermarium was overrun at the beginning of the war. They had been docked there ever since, with their disabled riggings. Lucky for them, Eidsvold had secretly ordered sympathizers in Stockholm to liberate the submarines who would reach by truck Narvik before the invasion. Unfortunately, when they arrived, only Ironblood destroyers could be seen in the fjord. Instead, they went further north to Beisfjord where they sent their message to the Royal Navy high command. Admiral Whitworth rapidly assembled the Intermarium little fleet and sent them to rescue their comrades.
Determined and excited, the Intermarium destroyers Grom, Błyskawica and Burza were following their underwater comrades, bombing the coast whenever Ironblood soldiers became visible. Their mission was supposed to be done in secrecy, but they seemed too eager to battle with Ironblood whenever possible.
Orzeł and Wilk surfaced and were shocked by the transport ships exiting the harbor at maximum capacity and at full speed. Those that could not run had barricaded themselves inside their homes. Amidst the chaos, the shipgirls called to their comrades. A coastguard, speaking a different tongue, thought he was against a Ironblood submarine. Orzeł took out the flag of the Intermarium: the white royal eagle on a red background. He called for the soldiers who escorted the three destroyers to their comrades.
They were soon together, celebrating the survival of their comrades and mourning those that were lost on that fateful September.
"Where are your riggings?" Orzeł asked.
"They were damaged beyond repair when we battled with Ironblood destroyers," Żbik answered.
"Then we will take you onboard and we will make our way to London," Wilk suggested.
Orzeł and Wilk put the girls on their riggings. With their underwater respiratory system incorporated in their bodies, they did not require any further special breathing equipment on them. The shipgirls thanked the coastguards and the soldiers when a terrifying familiar sound dispersed the crowd from the docks.
Bomber dove into the docks and bombed the installation, some bombs missing and landing close to the civilian ships. The submarines started diving while the destroyers offered anti-air support to the locals. Down the mountainside, troops from Ironblood were starting to move in the town. A coastguard shouted: "Getout of here! We will stop them!"
The little group left the harbor with only two small transport ships full of civilians. Grom, Błyskawica and Burza decided to act as their escort, leaving the submarines to reach London on their own. As Beisfjord disappeared behind them. Relieved of the silence of bombers, the battle stayed behind them…
Not for long. Bombers appeared, and their targets were in plain sight. The destroyers moved in position to cover the ships, excited to have a challenge from Ironblood. Without fear, they started firing at the bombers. The planes unloaded their bombs and went back to the coast. A single bomber was hit by Błyskawica and dove in the cold sea. Suddenly, a flash of fire and wind. Burza and Błyskawica were horrified as the torn body of Grom sank beneath the waves.
Close to Narvik, day 7, in the morning
In the planning room of his command ship, Vice Admiral William Whitworth revised his plan for his second attack on Narvik. This plan would have the effect of raising their girl's moral and turn the tide of the battle of Oldenburg by destroying a part of the Ironblood navy. Queen Elizabeth had sent her best fighter, HMS Warspite, and the carrier HMS Furious. He had received a new group of elite destroyers : four Tribal-class, Bedouin, Cossack, Punjabi and Eskimo; and five additional destroyers, Kimberley, Hero, Icarus, Forester and Foxhound.
Before the battle begun, Warspite launched her recon plane equipped with a torpedo. Furious did the same. They found the destroyers and two submarines' riggings anchored. Warspite dropped the load onto the rigging of U-64, sinking it. Furious tried attacking the rigging the immobile riggings but missed.
Alerted, the enemy destroyers prepared their riggings for battle. Z13 tried to ambush the incoming force to buy time for her sisters. Instantly spotted, she was shelled by the group. Warspite's shell went through the destroyer without detonating. With nowhere to go, the destroyer charge one last time until she could not advance anymore, visible holes and fires all over her body. Without flinching, Warspite and her group continued their way up the fjord.
Four destroyers appeared in turn. The counterattack resulted in a fierce firefight where the outgunned Ironblood destroyers tried against all odds to inflict damage on their opponents. Furious' planes were successfully pushed back, but the destroyers were pushed salvoes after salvoes to the deepest part of the fjord where no escape would be possible.
The Royal Navy destroyers, with Eskimo as their leader, gave chase, catching their enemies who were trying to sabotage their riggings and get to safety. Z19 was unsuccessful in her attempt when the torpedo from Eskimo landed, exploding her in pieces. Z12 and Z17 tried to attack the Tribal-class destroyers with their riggings anchored. Under fire, they abandoned their equipment. The remaining destroyers, seeing the desperate situation, scuttled their riggings and ran to safety in the town.
Warspite, triumphant, started bombing the military bunkers and installation, as her destroyers were retreating out of the fjord. The damage to Eskimo was immense : she had lost half of her bow.
"Good job!" Warspite complimented her comrades.
"We avenged those who were lost!" Punjabi stated.
"The old ladies can now rest in peace," Cossack added.
Warspite told admiral Whitworth by radio : "The Ironblood destroyers are no more. Narvik is cleared of enemies. The path is open."
In his command room, the admiral, his subordinates, and sailors celebrated the victory with cries of joy. It was the good news they needed for a long time. Whitworth transferred the news to Queen Elizabeth who received a frank "thank you".
This successful operation would be undone one month later, when the repaired Gneisenau and Scharnhorst would destroy Glorious, Acasta and Ardent in Operation Juno.
Azur Lane base
The Atlantic was under a bright sun of what would be a normal summer if the Sirens had not destroyed the regular cycles of the weather on Earth. The sailors off duty also took the initiative to set up their ping-pong tables, volleyball matches, tennis and they enjoyed their time around the artificial beach on top of the naval base big enough to accommodate in the thousands.
Under a sunshade, Latorre seemed depressed about the weather while Rivadavia and Moreno swam in the warm waters and played volleyball as much as they could. The commander, on his beach chair, made sure to take advantage of the rare light to bath in it for vitamins and a nice tan. Beside him sat a special radio for quick communication.
"Hey. Commander, don't want to come with me under the sunshade?" Latorre asked in her little corner. She seemed like the only one hiding from the sun.
"I'm already close, no?" the commander stood so close to the sunshade that Latorre just had to move it by a couple centimeters to cut the commander's access to his tanning source. Two sailors came to Latorre.
"Hey! Quieres venir a jugar con nosotros, Latorre?" asked one.
The commander answered without moving : "She is my secretary for today. Ask Rivadavia or Moreno."
His orders were understood. The commander knew Latorre did not want to see any sun and had the perfect lie for her not to leave his side. A shadow covered his face. He removed his sunglasses, thinking it was Latorre who had decided to get out of her hiding place. He was surprised to find himself below Oscar's gaze. In her swimsuit, she teased from above the commander who could not take his eyes from the blue and yellow pattern of the Swedish flag.
"You are quite considerate to your fellow subordinates," finally said Oscar II.
"Latorre is not my subordinate. She is the pride of someone's else fleet."
"Oh come on commander!" Latorre protested, "don't make me blush!"
"And me commander!?" Brooklyn's voice could be heard.
Brooklyn, who had done more than enough work, came in rarely seen one-piece swimsuit beside the commander.
In the meantime, the Kalmarian shipgirls surged to the beach in swimsuits offered at the entrance in a mysterious shop ran by a Sakura catgirl. As soon as the commander heard about the shop, he knew most of his funds had gone down the drain in her schemes. Since the new girls did not know about her, he could not blame those under his supervision. Instead, he asked : "Do you like the warm sun of the Atlantic?"
"It sure is something. Azur Lane as offered us the possibility of a lifetime that we would have never gotten if we had stayed in Kalmaria."
"I want to know why we weren't invited!" Charles XII closed in on the commander.
"I thought you girls were training since it's all you have been doing for the past days!" The commander explained. "I thought you didn't know how to relax!"
"Then I will relax beside you!" Charles deployed her beach chair and slammed herself on it, happy to take some sunlight.
"Hey! That was my spot!" protested Gustav V and Oscar.
As a battle erupted between the three girls, the commander was pushed aside under the sunshade where Latorre cushioned his impact. Latorre laughed. She calmed down.
"I wished my comrades were like that…" Latorre sighed.
"I have seen you girls were not close at all."
"We were stationed so far from each other and, since I was requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the war, I never had the opportunity to fight properly beside my comrades."
"Even then, when I look at the Geraes sisters and Rivadavia sisters. They seem more rivals than anything despite them belonging to the same faction."
"I wish we had that attitude…"
The commander looked at the familial dispute between Gustav, Oscar and Charles; the Drottnings talked together like they were sisters; Eidsvold, Norge, Bjørgvin, Nidaros, Peder Skram and Niels Juel were choosing which ice cream they would be buying from the greedy cat turned into a hot debate; Sverige and Carl Wrangel, Väinämöinen and Ilmarinen challenged each other in a friendly match of tennis under the supervision of Bremerton; the cruisers Fylgia Gotland, Tre Kronor, Göta Lejon and Björn Järnsida building the best sandcastles with the help of volunteers; the armada of submarines played pranks on the swimmers; and the many destroyers enjoyed their time entertaining the children. It felt like a picture had come to life in front of his eyes. Despite the hardships, despite the politics, despite wars, the family always came back together in the end. It felt like an eternity.
Latorre dragged him out of his lethargy.
"Didn't you want to take some sun?"
He came back on his feet and put his chair back up. He noticed the fight had ended with Charles being the winner somewhat.
"What was the deal?" the commander asked.
"Every hour, we take a turn to be beside… to get some sun! Hönshjärna!"
He guessed the last word was praising his high intelligence.
[…]
Somewhere
Hundreds of screens reflected on Observer α. The Siren had noticed the transfer of Tirpitz and Bismarck to the Indian Ocean and immediately sent Lurker to carry out a recon mission. Lurker transmitted what she witnessed: shipgirls training with outdated riggings. From her observation, the base seemed undefended by high class shipgirls. She confirmed her conclusions with documents stolen from Kalmaria. It was a bunch of old coastal defense ships and small ships awaiting upgrades and official integration within Azur Lane as coastal defense forces. The country had finally taken a stance on the world stage and nullified their "neutrality". Neutrality was a concept too foreign for her species, which had resulted in multiple devastating attacks, repelled only by the intervention of Azur Lane in their operations and a pesky defense by the Kalmarian shipgirls.
Observer α knew much of their tricks were useless against them. Weather? There is a machine against that. Smoke? There is a machine against that. Plot armor? There is a machine against that! Despite these information, Observer α needed more. What better than to use the good old excuse…
"Compiler!" Observer called.
A virtual screen appeared: "What do you need?"
"Do we have information on Kalmaria from other tests?"
Compiler took two seconds to analyze the data.
"We have a few tests, but the conclusions are the same: usage of torpedo recommended, battle under calm weather condition recommended… Nothing much."
Observer α acknowledge the situation. She decided to build an attacking force that would challenge the Kalmarian shipgirls to their cores. If they failed this test, they could get rid of these useless toys. One by one, Explorer, Tracker, Oceana, Breaker and Strategist entered the room.
"Girls! We have the perfect opportunity to capture the commander! You know what to do!"