Salamis Pass, Evening
As the sun was going down, four destroyers were sailing toward the pass from the south. HMS Jervis, Janus, Nubian and Mohawk had sailed from Crete to the pass on order of the Royal Navy to assist in a defense-in-depth operation.
What they did not know, it was that the pass had already fallen and signals from Calcutta were not seen anywhere. The nail in the coffin was the Sardegnian transport ships appearing near the pass from the north.
"They are going to invade Salamis during the night!" said Nubian who was referencing the Salamis Naval Base.
"It seems we are too late," said Jervis on a hesitating voice.
"Their convoys seem unaware of our presence," Mohawk noticed.
"They have no radar and it is going to be dark soon," said Janus.
On their side, they had three of these wonders : a radar. As the convoy of four ships and three Sardegnian destroyers approached the southern part of the pass, the sun disappeared. From the darkness, the Royal navy struck. Gunfire, torpedoes, machine-gun. The night became a dance of fiery lights. Cries as the transport ship sank to the shallow bottom of the pass. The Sardegnian destroyers tried to react to this unforeseen attack.
[Battle A-1]
It was too late. As Mohawk closed in on Tarigo to unleash her war club weapon, she was struck by two torpedoes from Tarigo which slowed her. The nearby torpedo-boat and Sardegnian destroyers rushed to the fight. In a panic, Jervis and Janus ran away. Nubian, who looked at her wounded sister, could hear her voice.
"Just go! Leave me," Mohawk said as she violently smashed onto Tarigo's body.
Mohawk cough blood. Nubian departed the scene hoping her enemies would save her. The encounter would unknowingly save thousand sailors and Queen Elizabeth's battlegroup by buying precious time.
[…]
The moon was high in the sky. Georgio could hear the mumbles from the city of Athens. She was passing by in secret after Queen Elizabeth's battlegroup had secured their route. Together with Spetsai and Kountouriotis, they were going to the Redmoon Republic. Averof looked at the horizon where old enemies were. She had a mission and she would carry it for the eternal flagship, Vasilefs Konstantinos.
"Aren't we going east?" Averof asked to the two battleships earlier.
In front of the crowd, Salamis and Vasilefs Konstantinos stood.
"It's too late," Salamis answered, "Ironblood and Sardegna has sent their fastest units to the east to trap us on this island."
Queen Elizabeth stayed silent. Neither saddened nor discourage, her pitied eyes seemed to be doing the talking.
"We could have tried to breakthrough…" Queen Elizabeth tried to say.
Vasilefs Konstantinos hit the hilt of her sword on the wall. Silence.
"Because you, the Queen, cannot go to Athens anymore, run to Alexandria instead, gather yours forces and counterattack when the time has come. When you come back here, tell the passersby; we stayed obedient to our words until the end."
Konstantinos called Averof forward.
"Georgio, I entrust you with the mission to go to the Gates and convince the Redmoon to join our cause. The Azur Lane alliance is hanging on a thread."
Georgio Averof, who knew the Redmoon too well, was displeased with such orders. Without saying much, she accepted reluctantly. As much as she wanted to stay with her friends, her resentment against Sardegna was too strong. She wanted to hold the perpetrator of this stupid war in her hands and hit them. Konstantinos held her left hand. She gave the medal that was hid underneath her uniform.
"This was given to me by Kilkis after the Gate War, Averof. I don't want it to fall into enemy's hands."
Averof took the golden medal without hesitation knowing what the consequences was to hold such a prize.
"I will not falter!" Averof pronounced.
The destroyers Spetsai and Kountouriotis (named after the admiral) and submarines saluted Averof.
"They will accompany you on your journey," said the flagship, "Now, go comrades! We shall hold them off as long as possible. Αέρα!"
Her cry was answered in unison and repeated. The Royal Navy ship saluted.
"You have our eternal gratitude, may the gods be with you," said Warspite who hated to run from a battle.
"Your commitment was appreciated."
Salamis and Konstantinos bowed. The coastal batteries on the island started firing at the enemy ships now appearing on the horizon. The battlegroup departed leaving Vasilefs Konstantinos and her fellow soldiers who decided to stay: the battleship Salamis, Kilkis and Lemnos, the damaged cruiser York and the destroyers Panthir, Leon, Hydra, Psara, Vasilefs Georgios and Vasilissa Olga.
"Navarchída (flagship) Averof, shouldn't we replenish our fuel in Athens?" said the submarine Papanikolis who made Averof came back to reality.
"I don't want Athenians to know that we are abandoning them."
Spetsai, Kountouriotis, Papanikolis and Katsonis understood. They remained silent for the rest of the trip.
[…]
After their departure, York, who decided to give her place on the hospital ship to Colleoni, walked to Konstantinos' side.
"You had an important thing to protect?" said York to Konstantinos.
"I'll defend his tomb, until my last breath."
"What did this man do?"
Konstantinos giggled.
"It's not much about what he has done, but more with how he treated us during his lifetime."
York, along with the ex-Eagle Union battleships Kilkis and Lemnos, would use her riggings from the pier as support, as she was unable to carry it fully. Konstantinos held her head high, inhaled and ordered on a low tone to her comrades to follow her. The destroyers followed the two battleships leaving mines behind their trail, trapping them and the three shipgirls to their fate.
[…]
Eastern Mediterranean, Night
The battlegroup of Queen Elizabeth was now in the middle of the eastern Mediterranean. No shore were in sight. Only the stars and Sydney together with Abdiel were using the stars to guide them towards Alexandria. Sydney, who had lived years on the island of Tasmania, had to use the stars multiple time to guide themselves amongst the island of the southern hemisphere. Abdiel used her radio and sonar to monitor their situation.
"We are being tailed," she said.
Queen Elizabeth ordered them to continue. After all, the Sardegnian submarines never struck during the night. They will have to be prepared if they strike the next morning.
"Are we sure they are Sardegnian?" asked Barham, "we saw some Ironblood figures trying to encircle us earlier. Maybe they abandon their pursuit to let their submarines do the job."
"Ironblood submarines…" murmured the Queen.
After brainstorming, she agreed to dispatch a group to hunt the submarines or make them run away at least. She chose the destroyers, Hasty, Hereward, Legion and Gurkha, all equipped with depth charges and radars. Their group went after their first signal who seemed aware of their presence.
"Do not drop everything on the first submarine," said Hereward. "We have many to scare off."
"The minute they will see a depth charge, they will run away," Legion joked.
As they approached their target, they started dropping their charges.
[Battle A-2]
Multiple signals appeared on their radar. They were suddenly surrounded by the signals who had ran away earlier. The victim they had been dropping depth charges had to surface with a malfunctioning rigging.
"You surfaced, fool!" mocked Gurkha.
The submarine Adua tried to patch her holed riggings created by the pressure of the depth charges. Powerless, she started firing her 100mm gun at point blank range. While Gurkha took care of Adua, Legion, Hereward and Hasty dropped depth charges in the hope of forcing their opponents to surface.
From Queen Elizabeth's position, they could see the submarines. She ordered the battleships to fire while the cruisers would be guarding the transport ships.
[Battle A-3]
The Sardegnian submarines, striking individually, had to run away after they fired their torpedoes. Adua, who was taken care of by Legion and Gurkha, had left Fisalia and Smeraldo to Hasty and Hereward. In a defiant last act, Adua, Fisalia and Smeraldo launched their illuminated rounds from their anti-air guns. Soon enough, the dive bombers patrolling the vicinity dove on the destroyers, claiming Hereward who exploded in a ball of flame. Hasty was damaged and Gurkha had to extinguish herself.
"Retreat into the dark!"
They left Hereward in the middle of the illuminating rounds. Legion wondered where Formidable support was.
On their way back, two fires. A single, massive explosion tore the night sky. It had come from the line of battleships. Barham was nowhere to be seen and, beside a cloud of black of smoke, the hospital ship was sinking. Valiant was searching frantically for her knight gone in a puddle of oil and broken parts. The others were rushing to the aid of the hospital ship broken into two.
[…]
"U-331 to commander Tiesenhausen, we attacked the retreating Royal Navy with success, we sank one battleship and one merchant ship."
"All good, you can come back to the base."
"Our comrades from Sardegna seem to be in trouble."
"It is none of our concern, leave them to their fate," he coldly said.
The wolfpack departed the scene.
[…]
Sicily Strait, between the Salamis Pass, Libya and Sicily
At the same moment, the Royal Navy and Hellenic submarines had mounted an offensive of their own against the convoys on their way to Salamis and Libya. Upholder leaded the way together with her sisters Ultimatum, Unbeaten, Upright, Undaunted, Union and Usk. They also had the help of four Hellenic submarines: Protefs, Nirefs, Triton and Glafkos. For most of them, it was their trial by fire.
"The perfect opportunity to strike," said Upright by radio to her sisters.
"Are you sure?" asked Undaunted who feared the high alert of Sardegna.
Upholder, who already had three kills on her career sheet, could not wait to have another one on it.
They received a signal from Nubian: "Salamis Pass overrun; we are retreating to Malta. Beware of enemy cruisers and destroyers in your area. Mission is over."
Upholder bit her lips in anger. They would not hinder her from success! Her sister did not share the same sentiment but followed anyway. They sighted multiple ships and decided to strike while it was dark. The sisters split up in the straight and readied themselves.
Suddenly, loud sirens came from the merchant ships and tankers. Torpedo-boats appeared and made run around them, dropping their depth charges. The fearful sisters ran for their lives. Upset, Upholder fired at the first merchant ship that came into sight. Her rigging was about to crack from the pressure. She still fired her torpedoes at the giant merchant ship with the following letters on its side: Conte Rosso.
[Battle A-4]
It was a dark night illuminated by the stars and raging infernos from the damned souls aboard the Conte Rosso. Powerless, Giovanni dalle Bande Nere looked at the sinking merchant ship. Beauty swallowed by the sea. They had been in time but, despite their excellent speed, their armament against submarine was subpart. The coastal torpedo-boats commanded by humans had done more claiming four enemy submarines. The rest had disappear from the scene.
In her arms, the dying Armando Diaz had tried to stop this tragedy. She had been struck in the middle of the battle trying to chase them away and her rigging immediately sank. Giovanni dalle Bande Nere could only think about Luigi Cadorna, presently in battle at the Salamis Base most likely, ignorant of her sister's demise. Diaz stretched her arm one last time to the star.
"May I be reborn anew… next time," she said as her last breath followed.
"Don't worry… We'll be waiting."
[…]
In Malta, Upholder was violently reprimanded for her carelessness by sisters and allies alike.
"We just lost Protefs because of you!" Nirefs said with tears in her eyes.
Triton and Glafkos were saddened by her lost so early on. Also, Undaunted, Union and Usk were lost by depth charges and mines that were in the straight. Upholder had failed to predict the defense of Sardegna, which had been unusually high. Upright, who had scored a kill on Armando Diaz to save her sisters, also felt bad about Upholder's decision.
"I had to shot to kill," Upright said. At the time, she did not know that two torpedoes could do so much damage.
Upholder simply said on a dry tone: "This is war! I sank a merchant ship and you don't see me cry about it!"
"Because it Is made of steel! What would you have done if it had been like us!"
Upholder, who had a headache from all the crying and screaming, went back to her quarters where the commander of the submarines of Maltal, David Wanklyn, had witness the scene.
"What did I say earlier?"
'You may be my best, but think of your comrade's safety first,' had been his words.
"I'll listen next time," she declared like it had been a surrender.
[…]
Close to the Salamis Naval Base, Earlier
These two days had taken a mental toll on the body and mind of Littorio. Only a nap of two hours before the attack on Salamis. The higher-ups were starting to be annoying. The bad news coming from multiple fronts were irritating her.
'What a bunch of useless idiot!' is what was going through her mind.
Littorio had difficulty adapting to different situation preferring to stick to her plan A all the time. It was firing back in full swing. She acknowledge her lack of adaptability but how would she be able to predict the fall of Iris and the Taranto Raid when they were unique events beyond her control? How could she be blame for something so unpredictable?
From Cape Spartivento, she received an update from her sister, Vittorio Veneto. It had been a draw. No casualties on both side and they had withdrawn to Città Eterna for the moment being. Fortunately, Vittorio's front had not been a total loss, but it had not been a victory either.
They had no choice but to bring a victory by the morning. For their sake, honor and to not be humiliated by Ironblood.
"We won't listen to Ironblood," said Littorio. Doria, Duilio and Tegetthoff were puzzled. "While our fast cruiser and Ironblood run to encircle them, we will strike directly at their port with our force."
"But it will bring us within the range of their coastal batteries!" objected Duilio.
Doria cackled of excitement.
"An interesting development for sure! I'm in!"
Tegetthoff had a little bit of sweat on her forehead. She suddenly regretted joining forces with Sardegnian rash decision making. Duilio and Tegetthoff looked at each other. They knew their opinion mattered little in front of Littorio.
'You will have to keep up with it, sorry Teggy,' were Duilio's thoughts.
'I should have chosen Sardegnian equipment with Ironblood leadership. At least, a bad weapon can be use greatly with good leadership,' Tegetthoff thought.
Littorio brandished her sword toward the naval base of Salamis. The cruisers and destroyers advanced at full speed apart from Dalmacija who stayed by Littorio's side as anti-aircraft complement.
"Avanti Sardegna!"
Happy two years anniversary to Azur Lane! I still remember the first time I played in 2018. Time goes by so fast!