Salamis, Hellenic Dictatorat
Buzzling sounds. Armor platting. Screws. I could not move.
I came from all over the word: Sardegnian engine, Iris boilers, Royal Navy guns, Ironblood generators. I was the last of my kind: an armored cruiser. I received the name of my benefactor: Georgios Averof. Then came the coronation where I had the opportunity to see people, even girls with similar guns to mine! Yet, I could not move an inch. I was made of steel at that time.
War came fast. Then another war with glowing yellow girls.
In Iris, in those desperate times, it was decided that I would too be transformed from steel to a body of flesh and bones. I was finally alive. I was finally awakened from my coffin. I was free!
Or so I thought.
The trumpets of war had once again rung. We were under attack from our sisters of the Sardegna Empire. Our own sisters who, along with the Redmoon Republic, liberated the Mediterannean Sea from the Sirens. Never to this day was my blood boiling more than Elli being sunk by Sardegian submarines without a declaration of war. I stood to my comrades during the Great Feast.
"May Elli's soul rest in the Eastern Radiance. If our sisters from Sardegna want war, we will answer with the greatest resistance."
Two days later, Sardegna attacked. We were pushed back from the Otranto Strait. The enemies were almost around the Athenian Passes that leads to the Doors of the Black Sea. The enemy air superiority was no joke. We had to run for cover within range of our coastal batteries.
Then, she came up with a plan.
"Let's counterattack at the Pass when they come," said the battleship Salamis, "it will surprise them."
We received the first reinforcement from the Royal Navy for this counterattack. We could not miss such a big opportunity. Our high command received reports from the Royal Navy that Sardegna would advance on the pass in three days. How did they get such an accurate reading? Commander John Collins stayed silent on the matter. He commanded his own units, cruiser Sydney and the destroyers Havock, Hyperion, Hasty and Hero.
We were commanded by Pyrros Lappas. Ioannis Toumbas acted as our admiral. They were inspiring and, as per custom, Pyrros Lappas stood on the line of battle with the battleships Salamis and Vasilefs Konstantinos, our only modernized battleships totally outdated against the Littorio's. Our little forces gladly welcomed the help of the Royal Navy.
For now, we rested at the naval base of Salamis(1). The battle awaited us tomorrow and it left a powerful feeling of excitation in our hearts.
"I can't wait to show these Sardegnians who's the boss!" the destroyer Kountouriotis said.
"We need a good night of sleep for tomorrow's battle," Sydney said.
"She's right," I said, "We need to be ready before every battle, no matter how it is going to be fought."
"Uncle George! Uncle George! Is this the secret to your luck?" asked Spetsai.
During my career, I mostly battled the Redmoon Empire. I was the best at the time. It was only normal that I performed well. Nonetheless, I was elevated to legendary status at the time. My luck had come with the circumstances I fought in: a resurging kingdom battling against a declining empire which could not afford good surface units.
"I would not be able to give an adequate answer," I said. "Dare and courage is what a soldier need, but oneself need to understand when to retreat in the face of overwhelming odds."
"We might fallback," said the energetic destroyer Vasilefs Georgios, "but we won't surrender! Soldiers of the Hellenic Navy, we will battle until the end!"
In the living room, our destroyers were yelling like owls "Αέρα!"(2). The Hellenic Navy was energetic and lively in contrast to our puzzled allies who could not understand their joy of going into an almost lost battle. I turned toward Sydney and offered a toast.
"To our friendship," I said.
"To our courage," she simply said before drinking the wine in one go.
[…]
1) to not confuse with the battleship Salamis
2) (like the) wind
Somewhere
The Observer was bored. The Iberian Civil War had been raging for weeks now and it was calming down with every side trying to outsmart the other. Observer α turned her whole attention toward the new Sardegnian-Hellenic war, now part of the Ironblood-Intermarium War. Littorio's plans were in motion. The sinking of Elli, which should had push the Hellenic Dictatorat to declare war, only served as a warning. The Hellenic Navy would resist them wholeheartedly, refusing to be subjugate by Sardegna in contrast with the swift decision of the Österreich to collaborate with the aggressor. If their enemies wanted their islands, they would have to pay dearly for each of them. The Observer liked that course of action. More battles!
What she could not understand was the stubbornness of Littorio refusing any kind of help made by Bismarck and Gneisenau. What did she want to prove? Would Sardegna leadership really be able to mount an invasion against an enemy as determined and ferocious as the Hellenic Navy, who had gained a Spartan reputation from the war against the Sirens?
The Observer looked at the Sardegnian camp. Among the destroyers, uncertainty, boastful, worries. Littorio was confident while Doria was excited for the battle and Caio Duilio knew that they were unprepared for the invasion. Tegetthoff, who was happy with her retrofit, couldn't wait to test her new 280mm SK C/34. The Observer had doubts. Their uncertainty would counterbalance their overwhelming superiority in numbers. At the same time, two large forces, Sardegna and the Royal Navy, were meeting at Cape Spartivento in a future duel. Two battles would unfold simultaneously.
The compiler entered the dark room with the keys of Prinz Eugen and Tegetthoff. The Observer absorbed their content in her memory. It was clear now why the "queen" of the Österreich Navy was so excited for her first battle in years.
"Usefulness. I see."
As for Prinz Eugen, she was already gone with Bismarck in the Denmark Strait. Would her time in the Österreich really change destiny? She gave the keys back to the compiler who went back to her Key Room. The Observer gave her specific instructions on her future work for the battles which were about to unfold. So many keys would need updates.
The Observer zoomed her otherworldly camera on Littorio's face. She was laying down in her bed at the advanced naval base of Sazan. Fixing the ceiling, boastful and confident in front of her comrades, she seemed preoccupied when left alone. Her gaze turned suddenly towards the camera. How could one of Observer's admirer know? Littorio winked.
[…]
Cape Salamis, Day 1
Over the Salamis Pass, two giant islands formed an arch with passing clouds obstructing the sun from time to time. The recon floatplanes launched from the Salamis Naval base kilometers away used these clouds to their advantage by sneaking outside of the range of the Sardegnian battlegroups. They took valuable photographs that were evaluated by Pyrros Lappas, who used the same torpedo boat as John Collins. The two men corrected the course of their small force.
"We are going to smash their side, but our numerical inferiority cannot be overlooked," said Collins. "We will do harassing tactics to buy time before the main Royal Navy group arrive from the east."
Commander Lappas had nothing more to say.
Outside, Georgios Averof was on the same leading line as Sydney, behind the destroyer's horde. With her twin 234mm main armament, quadruple twin-turrets of 190mm and numerous 76mm AA guns, she was superior to any heavy cruiser fielded in the Mediterranean, but inferior to any battlecruiser or battleship the enemy could send her way. Despite her disadvantage, Sydney felt inspire by her presence; she was like a lucky charm.
Additional floatplanes flew over their head toward the west. The cruiser group saw something on the surface. The destroyers shot and shot at what they thought was a submarine. Without any proof, they simply thought it was an animal. Hours past as the sun slowly moved over their head and the pass appeared finally.
Three salvoes. They landed not far from them. An opened signal reached their radio.
"You took long enough! Mie Belle Signore," a familiar voice said.
Averof relayed the news to their commanders: their operation had been compromised. As they received the news, additional salvoes, this time from smaller caliber, reached their destroyers. Panthir received splinter damage.
"Hehe! It seems our submarines have been doing their job right for once!" Andrea Doria laughed with enthusiasm.
"Close your mic idiot!" Caio Duilio ordered.
Salamis, with her 356mm, and Konstantinos, with her 340mm, tried to return some sort of response to the barrages they were receiving. In vain, they were too far away. They would have to close the gap and, if the enemy react accordingly, would make sure that this gap is never closed.
Collins ordered: "Let's take refuge behind the arc! They'll have no choice but to close the gap."
The tired group ran away to the safety of the islands flanking the arc. Armed with coastal batteries, they could support them in the incoming battle. As the Sardegnians and Österreich closed in, the 150mm batteries opened fire.
[Battle A-1]
The coastal turrets rapidly turned to burning hulks as the combined barrages from Littorio, Andrea Doria, Caio Duilio and Tegetthoff made short work of them. In the meantime, their fast cruisers and their destroyers circled the islands and flanked the group in their hasty retreat.
Sydney soon faced Bartolomeo Colleoni and Giovanni dalle Bande Nere accompanied by Sardegnian destroyers. Their flanking maneuver impressed none. Hasty, Havock, Hero, Hyperion and Hereward charged into the fray with confidence. They would make short work of these tin-can cruisers.
[Battle A-2]
Georgios Averof had to take care of the southern island push where she met the joyful Luigi Cadorna and the serious Armando Diaz who were followed by their escort. They came so close to each other that they started hearing each other.
"Not so fast Cadorna! Our destroyers cannot follow," Diaz warned.
"Sorelle, in posizione!" screamed Camicia Nera. "Avanti!" (Sisters, in position, forward)
Their motto was met with the cries of the Hellenic destroyers.
"Χώρα! αφοσίωση! Αέρα!" (Country, Loyalty, like the wind)
[Battle A-3]
Vasilefs Konstantinos and Salamis tried to help their flank when they rapidly met the firepower of Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio. The battleships, with their 320mm, failed to intimidate their opponents. However, the Hellenic battleships were stuck in the pass and they were perfect targets for the destroyers and cruisers closing in with their torpedoes. Salamis warned their frontline.
"Vasilefs Georgios, Vasilissa Olga! Retreat!"
Duca degli Abruzzi and Giuseppe Garibaldi deployed their destroyer groups who unleashed a barrage of torpedoes. The battleships warned the people behind them.
"Torpedo incoming! Engage evasion tactics!"
[Battle A-4]
For the next minutes, the groups were trying to dodge torpedoes coming from all direction. The battle became a fierce firefight where gunpowder engulfed the field. Were the shells coming from friends or foe? They could not tell.
What everyone could tell was the bombers above them dropping their loads in the smokes. The shipgirls were trying to run away. The smoke dispersed itself. Georgios Averof took cover in a nearby dockyard whose ceiling resisted two bombs from the S.M 79 aircrafts. The destroyer Psara was wounded and Aetos and Ierax stopped the bleeding.
In the chaos, they had lost sight of the torpedo boat from which Pyrros Lappas and John Collins were commanding. The bombing had stopped by noon where the forces tried to regroup. There was no trace of any Sardegnians, nor the Österreich. Georgios Averof found their comrades wounded on the other island inside a naval dockyard in ruins. Lappas and Collins greeted them with relief.
Around a damaged cargo box, she found a shipgirl in critical condition. It was the cruiser Bartolomeo Colleoni. Sydney and some Royal Navy sailors were attending to her wound. Scattered on the ground, her destroyed riggings rested. Averof questioned Sydney on her presence.
"We were battling, and her riggings were torn open by an explosion. It occurred before everyone scattering themselves from the bombs. I just couldn't leave her there."
It was a miracle. They were all wounded, yet they repelled their enemies and captured one of them. Averof knew they were saving her for the precious intel she had on her. Sydney had no such goals and thought she was doing the right thing.
"I just couldn't leave her there," it resonated inside Averof's mind.
Without comfortable mattress, they had to sleep on wood planks or the cold, hard ground. Averof tried to sleep, but today's battle had struck a nerve. The cruiser realized she had been rusting away since the Great War. Finesse, marksmanship, endurance. She had to regain those assets or, else, her supposedly luck would disappear. After all, her comrades were counting on her.
[…]
During the night, commander Pyrros Lappas and John Collins did not find sleep as they were already making the battleplan for tomorrow. It would be the arrival of the main force from the east and, with the surprise they had been greeted with today, they expected Sardegnia to act accordingly. They knew where to strike. With the capture of Bartolomeo Colleoni, they had to concentrate their barrages on the "tin-can" cruisers of Sardegna to put them out of action fast. After that, they would expose the enemy battleships to their torpedo attacks, their weapon of victory.
From the radio, they received a message.
"Admiral Sir Andrew Cunningham speaking, we are around the Island of Crete and should be there by 12 today. Formidable will be sending aircraft cover in case of Sardegnian aggression, over."
The commanders rejoiced. Tomorrow, they just needed to wait for their reinforcement. The Sardegnian unwillingness for night battles was playing in their favor.
[…]
1) This story will include both the Hellenic Navy (Hellenic Dictatorat) and the Turkish Navy (Redmoon Republic)
2) I'll try to release more per week because my vacation days are counted ;(
3) Thank you for reading!