Legends

Chapter 35~ Combining the Fleets

It was a feat impressively identical to de Gaulle's escape that Teste and Dunkerque were able to make it to Liverpool. Being forced east, they looped around the North Sea, traveling over the top of the British Isles before coming down the other side, joining the combined Anglo-American forces. Liz was beyond relieved to see Dunkerque but their happy reunion was dampened by the news that reached them from across the Atlantic.

After putting a serious dent in Tosa's forces, Tang, Barb and Wahoo made their way into Norfolk and with them came the news relayed straight from Admiral Briggs. The British girls reacted with a combination of sympathy for their American allies and anger at being duped like that. Having fought the Abyssals for so long they should have seen a trap like this coming. The American contingent of shipgirls were chomping at the bit to return home and deal with this new problem but as sympathetic as he was, Cunningham couldn't lose his reinforcements. The larger Abyssal fleet in Europe was the primary threat and it needed to be dealt with first. Briggs had informed him that Tosa was taking her sweet time feasting in New York. As horrifying as that image was, it gave the Americans time to transfer their other ships from the Pacific. With the standards fully capable of holding Hawaii and Tosa's presence over there no longer a problem given where she was now, the three Iowa's along with a Japanese contingent lead by Musashi were transferring into Virginia. Relaying that plan to South Dakota and the others gave them some relief along with the confidence that their country could beat back this invasion to her shores. Still, there was nothing like being forced to watch helplessly from the sidelines 3000 miles away.

With Cunningham having all the ships he was going to get for the foreseeable future, plans were made for a counterattack. The RAF would handle Southampton but Plymouth and Portland would be the job for the shipgirl fleet. Giving Southampton to the flyboys was a hard decision but the right one. The confined waters of the Solent would make it difficult for the fleet to maneuver when they were spotted. Plymouth and Portland had open access to the Channel and were close to the Atlantic entrance making it slightly easier. Still, slipping in undetected would be next to impossible for a surface attack, hence...

"BEHOLD, ADMIRAL. I, HMS UPHOLDER HAVE ANSWERED YOUR SUMMONS."

The need for submarines. Cunningham sighed as he resisted the urge to hold his head in his hands. The U-class of submarine all had their interesting, headache inducing quirks. From Ursula's vodka cravings to Umpire's need to be like her namesake in every sortie. And of course, there was Upholder's "inside voice". He glared at the submarine standing across from him. Her military bearing was so perfect it could make a drill instructor blush.

"Upholder, I have a task for you but first, I understand you have something to show me." He said.

"YES ADMIRAL!" Upholder whistled and the door opened again, admitting a girl who was easily a head taller than Upholder. Her high boots, long trench overcoat and steely blue gaze told Cunningham she was German. She was lanky, clearly having missed out on a few meals but her muscles were thick. Although bigger, she was lacking the British submarine's assets.

She snapped to attention, clicking her heels together as she did so. Her English was heavily accented but understandable. "Admiral German Underseaboat SM U-103, II Flotilla, reporting sir!" She clicked her heels a second time. Upholder hid a snicker behind a smile.

Cunningham supposed he should have expected this. Some ships were just too linked for one to appear without the other. "Stand at ease." He ordered. "103, Your arrival here is unexpected but not unwelcome. You'll receive a formal debriefing later and I will have Upholder take you to the mess in a minute. Would you mind waiting outside?" He asked.

"Ja, Herr Kommendant." She saluted again.

Once she had left, Cunningham turned to Upholder. "I need you and your sisters to lead the assaults on Plymouth and Portland. These attacks need to be kept as close to simultaneous as possible so to prevent any alert from going out before the RAF attacks Southampton. Otherwise it's going to be a bloodbath."

"I understand Admiral." Upholder replied. She understood how serious this situation was and took pains to lower the volume to normal speaking levels.

"A combined Anglo-American surface fleet will back you up should you need it but this needs to be a submarine operation to ensure the element of surprise remains for as long as possible. I cannot stress that enough." Cunningham said.

"Yes Admiral. But how are we getting there undetected? Abby controls both entrances to the channel so any force is going to be spotted."

"I'm counting on it." Cunningham's tone had an underlying sly tone to it, almost like a purr.

"Oh." Upholder grinned, understanding instantly. Ever since coming back she'd wanted to try this. Now she'd get the opportunity. "Who's on the rotation?" She asked.

"Achilles, Astute, Montana, Florida, and Washington." Cunningham replied.

"I WILL TELL MY SISTERS TO PREPARE FOR YOUR AWESOME AND DANGEROUS PLAN AT ONCE!!" Upholder cheered and cleared her throat when Cunningham glared at her. "I mean, I will take 103 to the mess hall first and then have the fleet gather in the briefing room so you can tell them of your awesome and dangerous plan sir." She amended. "What about 103? Is she coming with."

"Do you trust her?" Cunningham returned.

"Ah-she is WW1 design so I have no grudge and I haven't been one to get in the way of settling old scores." Upholder replied.

"I'll put her on the roster. You're dismissed Upholder."

"THANK YOU SIR!" Upholder saluted and left leaving Cunningham to douse his concern and his headache with a pair of aspirin while at the same time thanking supply for somehow never running out of the stuff.

103 stood in the hallway, acting as a guard near the Admiral's door. She gave no sign she overheard anything although Upholder had no doubt she'd took in every word. The two walked in silence for a few minutes. At last when they arrived at the mess hall, Upholder spoke. "I recommend the calamari. It's a real delicacy."

"I have learned to be wary of delicacies." 103 replied with a smile. She picked a few pieces of the squid anyways. The two sat down. "Can I ask you something." She said.

"I pulled you out of a minefield and you kept me hidden from a 3 cruiser strong Abby force. You can ask me anything you want." Upholder replied, taking a sip off her tea.

103 chuckled. "Danke. Well, ve vere taught that Underseaboots are meant to be quiet. So why-" "Why am I so boisterous?" 103 nodded.

"You know how I was sunk?" Upholder asked and 103 shook her head. "Nein." She replied.

"Well, it was my 25th patrol. I was due to return to England after giving the Italians hell in the Med. Ran into a convoy on my way out and they chased me right into a minefield." 103 winced. "Sometimes I can still hear their sonar in my head. Being loud drowns that out."

103 reached across the table, resting a hand over Upholder's. "It makes you all the more brave that you pulled me out of a minefield then." She said.

"Speak for yourself. Holding firm against a 3 ship raiding fleet takes balls too." Upholder replied.

"Nein, I held firm because I was too scared to move. Ve were fortunate they had no sonar. So you see, ve both have our coping mechanisms." 103 replied.

"Ja, I suppose we do." Upholder chuckled, reaching across and ruffling 103's hair. "Finish up, we've got a briefing to go to."

"So I heard." 103 nodded. "This is either going to be the most brilliant operation ever conceived in Europe or it'll be a disaster that makes Gallipoli look like a backyard brawl."

With an estimated 100 shipgirls from four different nations, the briefing room was packed. Each mostly stuck to their own fleet although there were a few friendly exchanges between the American and British shipgirls. Cunningham stood at the podium. Silence fell as he began to speak. "Girls, the time has come for us to fight back. This will be a joint operation with the Royal Air Force against all three of the held bases on our Channel coast." He turned to the map behind him. "The RAF will attack Southampton. At the same time, a surface fleet under the overall command of HMS Hood will distract the Abyssals, drawing them into a channel fight. This will enable two submarine fleets to slip under the mele and into the harbors of Portland and Plymouth. They will be deployed from the contingent of British and American SSNs." There some whoops and cheers from the invisible submarines as they heard this information. Like Upholder, they'd been keen to explore their modern counterparts and all loved the idea of being deployed via torpedo tube.

"Assignments are as follows. Task Force 51 will consist of Ark Royal, Hood, Repulse, South Dakota, Curacoa, Atlanta, Portland, Campbeltown, Neunzer and Davis. Task Force 52 will consist of Lafayette, Dunkerque, Teste, Prince of Wales, Maury, Chatelaine, and Huron. Three SSNs will attack Plymouth, two for Portland. The Plymouth fleet consists of USS Washington, USS Florida, and HMS Achilles. Florida will have Undine, Unity, Union, and Unique. Washington will have Upholder, U-103, Umbra, and Venturer. On Achilles will be Vox, Vigorous, and Virtue. The Portland fleet will consist of HMS Astute, and USS Montana. On Astute will be Umpire, Una, Unbeaten, Urchin, and Viking. On Montana will be Ursula, Undaunted and Upright. Any questions?" There were none. "The name for this assault is Operation Chariot 2. No Campbeltown that does not mean you can misbehave." The destroyer pouted and Cunningham prayed having Hood and Campbeltown in the same fleet together wouldn't cause too much trouble. "Departure time is 01:30 hours, good luck girls and good hunting. Dismissed!"