Twenty hours in Operation Gaudo

Unit Ponente was about to refuel in the Dodecanese. From there, they would go alongside the coastline and trap any units from the Royal Navy trying to intercept them at Crete. If it wasn't the case, they would bomb Alexandria along with Unit Scirocco coming from the west in Tobruk. The flagship of Unit Ponente, Littorio, thought of this plan as infallible. Together with Tegetthoff and Giulio Cesare, they would finally assert they domination over the Eastern Mediterannean while the Western Mediterranean, and Gibraltar, was still pending. The pieces on the chessboard were moving in position.

Unit Sud of Vittorio Veneto was approaching the island of Crete.

Unit Scirocco had reached the Fortress of Tobruk and was awaiting additional fuel from the mainland for this operation.

Littorio opened the letter she had on herself at all time since its arrival one week ago. It was a message from the coders of Ironblood who had intercepted messages from the Royal Navy in Alexandria. Their undercover agents confirmed their findings. It was a golden opportunity served on a golden plate.

While the main fleet was running for Malta, Gibraltar and the mainland for repairs, they left only the legendary Warspite behind. If they could corner the warrior and destroy her, it would be a double victory. Everything was falling into place as expected, her building as solid as a pyramid. At her side, Giulio Cesare was reviewing the orders of battle given by their high command. In fact, Littorio had convinced the higher-ups to follow her instincts. They obliged.

Sardegnian Order of Battle : Unit Ponente

Battleship Squadron North (19)

Battleships: Littorio / Giulio Cesare / Tegetthoff (3)

Cruisers: Dalmacija / Raimondo Montecuccoli / Muzio Attendolo (3)

Destroyers: Dubrovnik / Beograd / Ljubljana / Mărăști / Mărășești / Regele Ferdinand, Regina Maria / Camicia Nera / + 5 Sardegnian destroyer (13)

Submarines: U-75 / U-97 / U-331 / U-559 (4)

Sardegna Order of Battle : Unit Sud

Main Fleet (22)

Battleships: Vittorio Veneto (1)

Heavy Cruisers: Fiume / Pola / Zara / Trento / Trieste / Bolzano (6)

Light Cruisers: Duca degli Abruzzi / Giuseppe Garibaldi (2)

Destroyers: Ascari / Carabiniere / Corazziere / Alpino / Bersagliere / Fuciliere / Granatiere Emanuele Pessagno / Nicoloso da Recco / Vittorio Alfieri / Giosuè Carducci / Vincenzo Gioberti / Alfredo Oriani (13)

Sardegna Order of Battle : Unit Sirocco

Battleship Squadron South (15)

Battleships: Andrea Doria / Caio Duilio (2)

Cruisers: Alberico da Barbiano / Alberto da Giussano / Emanuele Filiberto Duca d'Aosta / Eugenio di Savoia (4)

Destroyers: Sardegnian destroyers (9)

Submarines: Tricheco / Topazio / Uarsciek / Dessie / Malachite (5)

Her well-thought plan made her smile unconsciously. Littorio could not wait to make Gneisenau swallow her words. Two weeks ago, after the annihilation of the Hellenic remnants, Gneisenau expressed her displeased with Sardegnian's failure.

"You were outnumbering and outgunning Azur Lane at the Salamis Pass! What kind of excuse do you have this time!" Gneisenau shouted.

"Look, look! They had reinforcement from the Royal Navy and our air force decided to be late!" Littorio said.

"And you should try to fix them! You seem to be more in charge than your higher-ups anyway!"

The heel of Littorio's boot would stomp Gneisenau's forehead, leaving an indisputable trace of Sardegnian's success.

Her overconfidence was not shared by Giulio Cesare and, especially Tegetthoff who already had her mind elsewhere. Indeed, this was to be her last operation in the Mediterranean before moving for the planned invasion of the Northern Union. Her presence in the Black Sea was required. Tegetthoff had the permission to use the Gates from the Redmoon to pass her fleet in the Black Sea. Her group would attack the island of Crimea and the Caucasus mountains in the south.

Redmoon Republic, days ago

As the discussion was at a standstill, Yavuz showed a little bit of hospitality for the travelers and allowed them to rest in the castle. In their guest lounge, Spetsai, Kountouriotis, Katsonis and Papanikolis played and eat while Georgios Averof remained on the couch, deep in her thoughts. How to convince them? For this riddle, she could not rely on luck, but the old flagship entrusted her with this job and hoped it would be done. Averof, who used to live peacefully and obey without a word, was now the one giving orders in a changing world. It felt like a heavy weight on her shoulders.

After their two days had passed, Averof received a notification from Osmân that their stay could be extended for another two weeks and she was authorized to use the phone of her embassy. She contacted a number that was not in Alexandria and, knowing she was wiretapped, gave false information away. The ambassador went along with her story.

"We are out of fuel and demand that funds be transferred our refueling. We will depart in the night five days from now on."

Averof had no intention to stay one more night at this place. It was too dangerous in this situation and she thought the Redmoon Republic was doomed to join the Crimson Axis. She aborted her mission not out of calculations, but out of fear for her comrades and herself. Averof had to make the Sardegnian pay for what they had done.

It was decided in the night to escape the castle and be out of the Strait by the morning, far from Yavuz and her underlings.

It was a starry night; the water was calm. A small mist was covering the surrounding area. The sailors were awaiting a small party thrown by Averof. The men did not know of the trick they fell into. Their riggings and turrets were there, fully loaded. Averof thanked her luck and they went under way.

"Sorry Yavuz, I cannot trust you," she thought.

As soon as the submarines went into the water, they resurfaced.

"Three people in front of us!" Papanikolis said on the radio.

From the mist, they appeared.

"Not satisfied by our hospitality? Sultân Osmân Evvel said on mocking tone.

"They fell right into our trap," Fatih Sultan Mehmed laughed.

Yavuz appeared, "You know, Averof, there are three kind of people I hate in this world, Betrayers are the bottom and below them rest the liars."

Averof bit her lips. She wanted to wake up from that nightmare if it was one. But the mist and the five silhouettes remained. Averof saw no escape and ordered everyone to be ready for battle.

"You want to resist?" Yavuz said with snark, "but it totally useless."

A grand total of sixty-gun barrels was pointed towards them. Averof reconsidered and ordered everyone to lay down their weapon.

"Can I interpret this as a declaration of war?"

"A declaration of war?!" they laughed in unison. "Who is there to witness? We will simply kill you right there right now and hand over the bodies to Sardegna to seal our deal with the Crimson Axis or you can surrender now and we will still hand you over to Sardegna."

Averof had no idea that she had walk right in the Wolf's mouth. What had Konstantinos been thinking when she wanted her to go to their most likely enemy. It was like she had committed suicide during the battle without knowing it. The deadlock left her comrades saddened as they knew their only choice remaining. Averof stood, frozen.

Papanikolis and Katsonis tried to make a run for it when they were intercepted and surfaced by Redmoon submarines. Dumlupınar and Sakarya held Papanikolis while Gür and Saldıray held Katsonis. The submarine Atilay announced the news to Yavuz who laughed.

"It seems your last allies couldn't make it out?"

"What do you want!" cried Averof out of desperation. "I promise on my body to hand it to you!"

"All our territory stolen by the Royal Navy, Sardegna and Iris. Oh wait! It might be too much to ask!" they laughed again. The group seemed to take an almost sickly pleasure in torturing their old comrades that they saw as nothing more than traitor, filth in the bottom of a dumpster. Pests that Sardegna would take care off. "Sardegna and Ironblood have promised us all the territory the Royal Navy and Iris stole from us. In compensation, Sardegna negotiated with us for territorial compensation in the Northern Union. In this gamble, we are the winners and we are proving to the world that the godly Averof is nothing more than a scrap of lucky iron. We were once defeated by your little iron ass, but we are now the victors!"

Yavuz unleashed a barrage of words she had held inside for so long. This hatred had emptied all at once and nothing remained. Her comrades were clapping, happy that she spoke for them of what they had to endure. Averof looked at the girl with bewilderment. In their time with Redmoon, the foreign battleships had become its vessel, its spirit. Their hate was not only theirs, but a cry of all the inhabitants who had to endure the war and that would be betrayed in the end. Averof realized that the ignorant higher-ups had created monsters in flesh and armed to the teeth. They were dangerous, not only for them, but for Azur Lane as a whole. Their aggressivity is what was lacking Sardegna. If Sardegna and Redmoon teamed up to attack Alexandria, it would be the end of the Western Mediterranean and the ravine between Averof and her goal would grow ever so distant.

Yavuz was in front of her, her smile so large every teeth was showing. Hate seemed to blind her and she viewed Averof as nothing more than a Hellenic ship. Yavuz's eyes burned red. She pointed her front turret on Averof's forehead.

"What will it be, Miss. Seitan Papor?"

They both knew it would be a one-sided bloodbath. Still, the Hellenic spirit made her unable to surrender. All Averof's turrets pointed her enemy.

"Perfect," Yavuz grinned. "The perfect Casus Belli!"

Averof's eyes opened wide. She realized her mistake too late. As they were both about to fire, a single straight line of light separated them and pushed them away from each other. Thinking it was the work of one another, they starred at each other.

"Look! On the hill!" Atilay shouted.

A figure that looked like a Siren stood on top of a hill, sword in hand. They immediately assumed the worst.

"You sided with the Siren? You are even worse than I thought," Averof hypothesized.

"I could say the same thing to you!" Yavuz replied.

The voice of the Siren reached their ears with ease like the Siren had been right beside them.

"I'll be borrowing the machine, Yavuz," the Siren revealed without consideration and a mocking tone.

Averof did not know about the "machine" but she could guess it was something the Siren had left behind during the war. She was even more afraid and frozen by the fact that a Siren was there meaning they were back. The Siren seemed to know their expression.

"I am The Swordman, and I am your nightmares, but in no way am I a Siren."

Averof sighed of relief but was not convinced. Yavuz's expression was more telling as she had a little rictus of defiance on her face. Yavuz did not understand why this "Swordman" was interrupting their reunion.

"If it is a test from Ironblood, know that I was ready to hand them over to you."

"I am neither with the Crimson Axis, nor Azur Lane. Like I said, I am your nightmares."

A blue ball could be seen over the castle, engulfing the surroundings in a white light. Then, it struck Yavuz's eyes, like it did the first time.

[…]

Cape Bon, twenty-one hours in Operation Gaudo

A little group of five destroyers, Legion, Gurkha, Sikh, Maori and Isaac Sweers located the two cruisers spotted earlier by Illustrious' recon aircraft. They moved in position to corner the cruisers trying to move in open water and run away. The cat and mouse game rapidly turned in disfavor of Sardegna. The cruisers were slowed down by their backpack overloaded.

When the cruisers were encircled by the destroyers, they were by then completely exhausted by their nightly run. Maori and Sikh looked at their weakened preys with a grin of satisfaction.

"Tried to pull a sneaky on us."

"How did you find us?" asked Barbiano, "We went into the opposite direction after we saw the plane disappear!"

"Well, we have carrots," laughed Sikh, "it makes for good eyes."

"And what makes you think we will surrender after you encircled us! You are only puny destroyers after all," Guissano said.

To show they were not playing around, Maori called in a cruiser squadron, a Maltese squadron and a carrier. Seeing they had no chance to fight, they laid down their weapon, but not before setting ablaze their shipment and throwing it in the water. Gurkha, Sikh and Maori wanted to beat them for burning valuable food, but Legion held them.

"We have accomplished our mission," Legion said. "Let's go back to Malta for the continuation of the operation."

Cape Matapan

Cruiser Force D was making their maneuvers to lure the Sardegnian battlegroup in a fight against their overwhelming forces. They transferred each course they were taking to Queen Elizabeth and her sisters. Valiant and Warspite stood by her side and were planning the best course to approach. They were not afraid an inch, conscious Sardegnian intercepted signals could have been false.

But Admiral Cunningham had been serious about this. He mounted a counter-operation in less than a week. They had used of the best weapons of deception. They had left Warspite alone in the port with destroyers while Queen Elizabeth and the rest of the ship hid in an underground bunker after a fake departure. It was transmitted as real information to their high-command and it had been made easy to intercept on purpose. By pursuing their action, the Sardegnians were proving they knew nothing of what was going on and accepted every information as face value.

Queen Elizabeth would play her counter trap card. It was to be a decisive battle. Formidable, who stood behind them, expressed her concern.

"What if I miss?"

"If you at least send the message," Warspite answered, "your job is done."

Cruiser Force D had been chased by the Sardegnian heavy cruisers without heavy consequences, both side failing to make effective fire. Formidable launched her first wave, which made it in the battle late and did nothing of significance. Queen Elizabeth ordered her cruisers and destroyers to retreat toward them when they received an observation from Orion: "They are turning back!"

Queen Elizabeth, Warspite and Valiant received the news of the capture of Barbiano and Guissano. It was the perfect opportunity. As their enemies were turning tail and sabotaging their own operation, they would strike. Queen Elizabeth pointed the horizon with her staff, ordering Formidable to launch a wave. Crete and Malta would do the same.

[Battle A-1]

Vittorio Veneto had received the news from the torpedo boat Cigno of the capture of Barbiano and Guissano. All ships were ordered to turn back in the airspace of Sardegna to ensure safety for future encounters. Vittorio Veneto, perplexed, could not believed they had been seen by a coincidence. Something was at play. Was their plan already falling apart?

"They seem to know our presence beforehand," noticed Pola.

"I can't be pessimistic and say they knew," Zara added, "but they knew."

"We scared them off for now. What do we tell Littorio?" Bolzano asked with a hair ball in her throat.

Their faces became green with anxiety. Vittorio Veneto had suggested herself to lead the bait and the bait was now ordered to run away from any potential battle. It would not make Littorio happy in the least. For now, they could only hope from an answer from the Supermarina.

As the group was concerned with Littorio's possible outburst of anger, they failed to notice the planes heading for them. It was too late. Vittorio Veneto tried to maneuver her group out of harm's way. She was hit herself in her right left leg, bursting the propeller and shattering her skin with shrapnel. The cruisers formed a defensive formation around Vittorio Veneto to protect her from further damage but were reduced to Veneto's atrocious 19 knots. For three hours, they waited with dread, when they saw the beasts of the sky coming down.

[Battle A-2]