Azur Lane: Kaiserin (Book 2)

Ch6: The Siege of London (1)

I don't really want to do this. I keep repeating the words to myself as our air fleet leaves Iron Blood airspace. I keep saying it but deep down, I know it isn't true. I live for that big bang. The mere thought of it excites me and as we near Royal Navy airspace, I find myself almost begging them not to give in. Just let me use it!

Pilot: One minute out!

Me: [Alright, you heard him, ladies.]

Everyone affirms. There are over 30 transport planes present, each carrying a number of KANSEN from Iron Blood and Sardegna Empire. The latter, being Iron Blood in all but name were forced to come along when they received the request but so far they haven't shown any signs of malice towards us. In fact, if anything they look more eager for the upcoming battle than we do.

The mission is simple. The Royal Navy broke the terms of our agreement by housing Eagle Union's invasion fleet and though we repelled the attack and the Royal Navy didn't directly participate in the battle, such indiscretions cannot go unpunished. As a result, we'll be razing their capital to the ground. The only one not here is Parseval who's playing my double back in Berlin and a few girls left for defence.

For their assignments, each girl was assigned to a specified group led by a senior girl as follows.

Carriers: Impero, Jade, August von Parseval (Lead)
Battleships: Jean Bart, Sovetskaya Rossiya
Battlecruisers: Prinz Rupprecht, Lützow
Cruisers: Prinz Heinrich, Prinz Eugen, Kursk, Voroshilov
Destroyers: Z23, Z48, Kiev, Vauquelin, Le Mars, Z25, Z16

Carriers: Graf Zeppelin, Peter Strasser, Chkalov (Lead)
Battleships: Arkhangelsk, Gangut, Thüringen, Giulio Cesare
Battlecruisers: Dunkerque
Cruisers: Marseillaise, Foch, Murmansk, Tallin
Destroyers: Z18, Z19, Z36, Gromky, Grozny, Tartu, Le Malin

Carriers: Aquila, Elbe, Weser
Battleships: Flandre, Gangut, Littorio (Lead)
Battlecruisers: Seydlitz, Brünhilde, Kronshtadt
Cruisers: Pola, Gorizia, Bolzano, Trento, Roon, Blücher, Emden
Destroyers: Attilio Regolo, Pompeo Magno, Alfredo Oriani, Carabiniere, Felix Schultz, Otto von Alvensleben, Z1, Z2

Carriers: Joffre, Volga, 
Battleships: Clemenceau, Gascogne, Sevastopol, Sovetskaya Belorussiya (Lead)
Battlecruisers: Agir, Odin
Cruisers: Algérie, La Galissonnière, Kuybyshev, Chapayev, Kirov, Avrora, 
Destroyers: L'Indomptable, Kersaint, Vincenzo Gioberti, Z20, Z21, Z35, Z28, Z26

Wolfpack 1: U47, U101, U37, U1206, U557

Wolfpack 2: Leonardo da Vinci, Torricelli, U556, U110, U522

Wolfpack 3: U410, U96, U81, U73

A total of 97 girls will be taking part in this operation with the others defending our coasts from any surprise attacks. Of course, moving such a large force into Royal Navy waters wouldn't go unnoticed. As such, we're doing this my way by way of airdrops with the planes flying too high for these WW2-era radars to detect. 

My fleet and Wolfpack 3 will be playing reserve until I decide to intervene. Wolfpacks 1 and 2 will hunt down and destroy any enemy they come across, working together to herd the enemy towards kill boxes while simultaneously covering each other. The other fleets, meanwhile, will all attack London as the front-line forces. Their objective, while they are to eliminate KANSEN they come across, is to destroy as much of London's infrastructure as possible. 

Bismarck really wanted to come. In fact, all the girls wanted to but I'm not so foolish as to leave myself wide open for an attack in the rear or flanks. I'm sure that's exactly what my enemies would hope for but with our forces now adequately split, unless one is meticulously watching our every move they'd easily miss the fact that Parseval is the one now playing Empress while I along with most of our fleet moves against the Royal Navy.