The Strait, twenty-two hours in Operation Gaudo
The sun had disappeared behind them and left them in darkness, with their searchlights as the only mean to adjust their course. Unit Ponente would arrive to the Dodecanese at midnight exactly and they would strike tomorrow in the early morning when the sun would come back to help them. For this very reason, and the lack of enemy reconnaissance plane, Littorio ordered her comrades to rest their weapons while the men aboard the cargo and tankers would rest. Rhodes was awaiting them.
A sudden flash blinded the entire squadron. Two enemies, not further then forty meters away, were pointing their searchlights and guns at them. Littorio immediately recognized Yavuz.
"What are…"
Then Littorio also noticed the presence of Georgios Averof, the cruiser who had taken the flagship position from Konstantinos.
"Ohoh I see…"
"Wake up girls!" Yavuz shouted to the entire Sardegnian squadron.
They were facing each other. The entire Sardegnian squadron against two shipgirls. Giulio Cesare and Tegetthoff were not so sure of what was happening.
"Handing me Georgios Averof? How friendly of you."
"Sorry Littorio, you are wrong," Yavuz said. "I am sorry to tell you that you lost your right to pass in our waters. Go back immediately or I will consider it a declaration of war."
"Why so hostile?" Littorio asked. "Did this little pest convince you to join their righteous vomiting cause?"
"And what is so righteous about conquering other people's land?"
"Other people's land? We have been invaded and conquered so many times. Divided. Destroyed. An history of constant war and betrayals and you are telling me that these are not our lands! They paid these lands with their blood and sweat! And we lost it to the likes of you! Fucking conquerors telling me to keep it to my territory! You made me made! Realllll madeee. Consider yourself lucky. Get out of my sight and let us through to the Dodecanese via your territory and I'll ignore the matter."
Littorio had no choice to bet. If they went through international waters, they would be in range of the Royal Navy's bombers.
Yavuz Sultan Selim realized why the Leader did not want to go further than the Gate after the war. The Redmoon should keep itself to its remaining territory and leave in peace with other nations. When the threat arise, they shall answer the aggressor with a bang. Littorio's words could be consider a declaration of war since the Gates were their territory in a distant time lost to memory. Yavuz could understand the frustration of losing one's greatness, but this had to stop, especially with the threat of the Siren still at large. Without her knowledge, Littorio had helped in the advancement of Azur Lane and Yavuz wanted to thank her. If it had not been for their invasion, Georgios Averof would have never shown her the light. Was it a miracle dice roll? Yavuz could only imagine.
"Averof. No, Georgios. Thank you for showing me the light."
"It is time to act," Averof said.
Yavuz cleared her throat and made her point clear.
"Sorry but I can't let you through. They might have been your lands before, but we have no where to go because of the Sirens. I'll defend our rights and sovereignty from your crooked ass until my last breath!"
"Now that I look at it. You have only been two so far. Where is the circus?"
Littorio's searchlights move from left to right and exposed the cruisers and battleships who had been hiding in the shadows. Redmoon's guns were ready to fire, but they remained silent. Littorio understood why.
"Then I will go on ahead," Littorio said.
"Make another step and fired upon," Yavuz repeated.
Littorio's confident smile faded. She ordered them into formation and for the cargo ships to run away to Rhodes. Yavuz looked at them with pity and waited with her allies, having complete trust in Yavuz.
"They want war..."
"Time to see what these little babies can do!" Reşadiye said.
The searchlights were closed and the salvoes illuminated the night.
[Battle B-1]
The week before
After Georgios Averof arranged a deal with the Hellenic commander Pyrros Lappas as the mediator with the Royal Navy, they waited for the shipment within the fortress. It was decorated to the brim with gold and ancient artifacts from the Redmoon and, surprisingly, with Hellenic and Sardegnian decoration from centuries ago. Pots of various origins, portraits of various people, arts of various makers, literature of international authors. Georgios Averof was surprised by their taste for refined culture, an antithesis of the despots they were painted as.
"Terrorizing the inhabitants!" Yavuz laughed.
"This is what my higher-ups had told me!" Averof tried to defend herself.
"This is not the world of centuries ago. We have better things to do with our time! For example, I hung out from time to time with Dante Alighieri when she was alive, acting as a proof-reader for her."
"Was those advancements made on the behalf of the Leader?"
"Yeah. If the empire had cast shadow on the Redmoon, his Republic made it shine one more as a bright red. The Redmoon Republic would be naught if it were not for his valiant effort."
"What was his stand on us? I thought he used you as slaves."
"Ahahah! I owe it to him for standing before you today. He saved me from being handed over to Azur Lane. He saved my life and the life of all my friends and dear comrades. My debt is immeasurable, and I will continue his legacy, even in his absence," Yavuz vowed.
After some days, a secret detachment reached the Gates from the outside. They came in through a secret backdoor and the leader of the detachment, Pyrros Lappas, rushed to the Hellenic shipgirls. He had been worried about their fate since their separation at Salamis. He had gone with Queen Elizabeth and he had watched them disappear in the horizon. Yavuz grew impatient.
The man showed their new comrades, courtesy of the Royal navy under the destroyer Kipling supervision: H80 and H87 destroyers and P611 and P612. They saluted their new flagship and swore allegiance to the Redmoon. Yavuz renamed them accordingly with the list she had in hand. The destroyers became Demirhisar and Sultanhisar and the submarines became Oruç Reis and Murat Reis. Yavuz was a little underwhelmed by the delivery but commander Lappas reassured her. He unloaded a metallic box sealed with three different locks. Only after a lengthy call could he open the box with the secrets inside. Height little objects had been wrapped in solid tape. Special engineers from his torpedo boat carefully unpacked them.
"What are these little boxes?" Yavuz asked.
"They are called radar. They are first generation radar that will let you see in the dark, through smokescreens and everything made of gases or smoke."
It sounded like fantasy when the man said that these would render certain tech obsolete. The man said.
"This little boxes will be fitted to your towers. Because we only have height because of shortages, only capital ships will receive it."
By this, he meant Averof, Yavuz, Reşadiye, Hamiss, Mehmed, Evvel, Peyk and Berk. The destroyers and submarines would be able to rely on Demirhisar and Sultanhisar and the submarines would be able to rely on Oruç Reis and Murat Reis, all equipped with first generation radars. Yavuz had no idea of the value of such a gift. It could only be tested in combat. For the moment, she remained skeptic.
"Can we really trust these machines?"
"I know it is difficult to believe, but it works similar to sonars, but above waters."
Yavuz accepted things as it was and accepted that her conning tower would be fitted with a parabolic shaped antenna and the machine. But wait! There was more. Lappas handed over a paper with a contract on it. In summary, it promised a refit for all five battleships with modern guns and other equipment from the Royal Navy. This last part would only be carried out when they would officially join the war on Azur Lane's side. Yavuz signed.
"Sardegna and Ironblood brought the numbers. You brought the quality," Yavuz said.
"I had to beg for better terms," Lappas explained, "and we were lucky to fasten the construction of the destroyers you had bought before the war. All of this in less than six days."
"We are thankful. Lappas, Averof."
"It's not like we have much to lose," the man sighed.
"As long as you carry your part of the contract, we will help you."
"About that," Yavuz asked, "if this had to be done within days, what is happening?"
The commander sat down and ordered them to stay silent on the matter. Kipling had the same serious look on her face.
Hellenic Order of Battle (Commander Pyrros Lappas)
Force C (17)
Battleships: Reşadiye / Reshad-I-Hamiss / Fatih Sultan Mehmed / Sultân Osmân Evvel / Yavuz Sultan Selim (5)
Cruisers: Georgios Averof / Peyk / Berk (3)
Destroyers: Kipling / Spetsai / Kountouriotis / Kocatepe / Adatepe / Tınaztepe / Zafer / Demirhisar / Sultanhisar (9)
Wolfpacks (9)
Wolfpack I: Katsonis / Papanikolis / Gür / Oruç Reis (4)
Wolfpack II: Dumlupınar / Sakarya / Saldıray / Atılay / Murat Reis (5)
[…]
The Strait, present time
Behind the battle, Commander Lappas stood on his torpedo-boat, watching the fireworks of the battle beginning with a little bit of stress tightening his heart. They had lost against the overwhelming and superior Sardegnian navy. Now, they had the perfect opportunity to retaliate. In his cabin, on his desk, he had his telephone ready to call in aircraft supports. Admiral Cunningham had sent only a small squadron for a single sortie and told him to use it efficiently. Lappas knew that the planes were doing other missions around Malta, Crete, and Alexandria, where the main action was unfolding. Another thing he was using on his desk was the microphone he had prepared for the squadron of submarines.
"Papanikolis, do you hear me well?"
"Yes. We are ready to strike at command."
"The war has been declared. You are free to fire at will on everything you see," the commander ordered.
Papanikolis relayed the order to Oruç Reis, the leader of the first wolfpack, and Murat Reis, the leader of the second wolfpack. While the first wolfpack would hunt for the ships, the second pack would make sure to keep at bay any enemy submarines from their line of battle.
"Have a good hunt!" Murat Reis said.
Katsonis and Papanikolis had been put on the hunter team because of their obvious feeling of revenge toward Sardegna. The same could be said for Gür, a submarine of Iberian origin, who clearly supported the Republicans in the war of Iberia, enemies of Sardegna in the region. Oruç Reis was there to lead them and give valuable information picked on her radar. Because it was the night, she could afford to stay close to the surface, where the signals were better.
There was two tankers and three cargo ship steaming at full speed toward Rhodes. When they were far from the battlefield, Oruç Reis decided to strike. The four submarines formed a column in the darkness of the water. Her allies relied on her information to place themselves accordingly.
"Papanikolis, turn yourself a little bit to your 10 o'clock."
They readied themselves at one kilometer of their target and fired all available torpedoes in a devastating barrage. The ships became torches that illuminated the night. The submarines did not overstay their welcome, seeing the ammo ship engulfed in explosions like firecrackers.
[Battle B-2]
In the darkness of the night, only illuminated by gunpowder, they were totally outclassed in the precision department. Littorio clenched her teeth in despair. She had not been prepared for night fight and they were exhausted from travelling all day. Giulio Cesare and Tegetthoff could only use the enemies' gun as bearing. Soon, a fire on Mehmed started and illuminated the Redmoon battleship.
"Concentrate on her."
While Mehmed combated the fire on her rigging, Yavuz used herself as a shield. As a battlecruiser, it was admirable but also suicidal.
"I'll shield her for you!" Hamiss protested.
"Keep firing!" Yavuz shouted. Your seven turrets are more important than my mere three!"
They admired Yavuz's courage and obeyed her. Luckily for Yavuz, Sardegna had difficulty landing their shots. Tegetthoff fared better than her allies with her 280mm guns from Ironblood, but their low caliber meant she only shrapnel damage. Littorio was the true beast. If one shell penetrated her riggings and detonated, she would go down in a ball of flames.
While the battleships were brawling, the cruisers and destroyers had launched everything at close range before running as far as back to their battleship lines. Excepted for Georgios Averof, who stayed in the middle of the battle, serein and firing without interruption.
[Battle B-3]
Soon, the Sardegnian cruisers and Dalmacija had their riggings disabled. Averof had fired in a way that only armed their riggings. It came at a high cost of possibly causing an ammunition detonation, but it did not come, for Averof's luck reigned supreme. Averof smiled in front of her opponents who could not understand how a slow armored cruiser like her could dodge torpedoes that easily and make them as vulnerable as pinned down infantry.
However, it could not be further from the truth. Averof had a radar and sonar on her. These did wonder to detect the torpedoes coming and she took evasive action by slowing herself down and doing small turn in the darkness of the night, only firing when she was back in her original position. Averof orchestrated her plan after Yavuz decided to trust her with her cruisers and destroyers.
"I entrust you with my friends. I want them all back and alive," Yavuz had demanded.
"It shall be done," she had answered. Before the battle, she told Peyk and Berk: "Stay beside me and follow my movement. I want you in the darkness at all time."
While the Hellenic and Redmoon destroyers had released their torpedoes at the beginning of the battle in multiple V-formations, Averof kept the two cruisers closed to herself to make her enemies even more predictable. Indeed, she used their torpedoes to make her enemies move in foreseeable spots where her volleys could be as accurate as possible. In her enemies' eyes, it looked like incredible luck. Averof knew deep down that her skill could be interpreted as such.
Then a sudden explosion, of a magnitude proportion, rocked the water and sent in a strong wind wave. They were pushed aside toward the bank of the Strait. Far away, a mushroom of fire could be seen rising to the sky like a new sun. They were now stuck close to the bank and the torpedo craft of Pyrros Lappas was torn apart and left on the bank like a whale stranded on a beach. Averof rushed to his aid. In the night sky, two Ju-87 came down. Peyk and Berk readied their 88mm and shut them down with accurate fire.
The second wolfpack felt the shock through the water. They had no time to rest when Murat Reis picked up signals approaching the vulnerable ships closed to the shore. Dumlupınar, Sakarya, Saldıray, Atılay and Murat Reis activated their riggings and rushed toward the enemies.
"Stop right there!" Murat shouted in her microphone.
"It seems we have been spotted!" U-559 noticed.
"What do we do, U-331?" U-97 asked.
"We will not go before showing these one a lesson!"
The underwater duel started.
[Battle B-4]
After accurate fire, they launched all their torpedoes at each other. Because they were submerged, it was difficult to take evasive action. Seeing a torpedo from a U-boat coming closer, Dumlupınar turned her rigging toward the shore and beached herself. In the meantime, the destroyers had recovered from the explosion and started launching their depth charges. The U-boats ran away, with U-75 being forced to surface from her broken down hull. She was captured. U-557, with a submarine torpedo detonating near her, cracked her hull and slowed her down while she was running away with her comrades.
While the explosion and the submarines had bought times, the Sardegnian squadron was kilometers away toward the west, toward Salamis. Holding commander Lappas, Averof wanted to thank the gods. He showed his thumb, smiling, with some bones broken. The sailors, also wounded, laid on the sand, exhausted.
Yavuz made them come back to reality. With the explosion of earlier, they had to assess the situation.
And there was nothing to access except pieces of metal and woods. The Sardegnian convoy had been reduced to ashes by Papanikolis and her comrades. Katsonis, Papanikolis, Gür and Oruç Reis searched relentlessly in the debris. Their revenge wasn't worth that much damage. They searched and searched. Yavuz looked at the debris with sorrow. In one night, the Sardegnian had lost their lives trying to accomplish their goal. Without a single body remaining, they had no way of honoring their lives.
With the sun coming, nothing more could be done and they sailed toward the Gate with Kipling and volunteer submarines on a chase for the Ironblood submarines.
Yavuz thanked her comrades and thanked her frenemy for showing her that hatred was not the answer. Of course, Averof had no idea how she reached this conclusion, but Yavuz did not need approval to believe in her own narrative.
Littorio, blinded by hatred and a desire to conquer others, had failed to see that her ideals would lead to her own destruction. Yavuz, who did not want to lead her navy in such a fashion, refused to sided with the one who courted her country for resources and, instead, sided with her old enemies and to push back the invaders once again. The Hellenic and Redmoon navy seemed bond by an inexplicable fate.
"Aren't we neighbors after all?" Averof said on a joyful tone.
Yavuz pat Averof's shoulder.
"And the best neighbors we could have asked for!"