The second book of Azur Lane: Kaiserin has arrived and with it comes action, adventure, deception and romance!!
Will our beloved Kaiserin find true happiness in this new world filled with danger or will she succumb to the ever-growing storm on the h...
Following my orders, the entire fleet surges forward, leaving behind the transport ships. As I'd hoped, the submarines seemingly chase after us rather than focusing them down, likely determining that after they've dealt with us they could easily return later to finish off the otherwise vulnerable vessels. Likewise, they also leave the few other escorting ships we'd brought along which now use the opening to begin rescue operations for the one destroyer that got hit.
As we near the fleet from Iris Libre, I have all our aircraft carriers launch their remaining aircraft to join the air battle overhead, even as the enemy comes into range of our battleships.
Me: [Fire!]
Our main battle line opens fire first, the salvos ripping overhead as destroyers and cruisers alike continue speeding towards the enemy. They fire back but due to the long distances both sets of shells have to travel, everyone easily dodges. The naval battle has begun.
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I call it a battle but in reality, with the Empress' change of my fleet's composition before shipping us off to war, it is a foregone conclusion. Even with the enemy submarines lurking about, the fleet acts with impunity.
The initial charge sees our destroyers and cruisers swamp the enemy so fast there's little chance to react and as our battleships also close the distance, there's little choice for the opposing fleet other than to surrender.
Some try to resist but a few stray shots overhead from our battleships is enough to convince them to choose peace. Well, there's that and the fact that like us, they didn't wish to sink their countrymen, most of whom were a part of my current fleet.
Perhaps seeing this as a betrayal, the submarines turned on the girls from Iris Libre and began attacking them but with our aid they were able to drive them off and with more destroyers arriving to assist from Barcelona, they break off entirely and make towards the Atlantic.
I consider giving chase but decide against it, informing Strategic Command of their route before refocusing on the task at hand. The KANSEN portion of the Iris Libre navy now suppressed, I have our aircraft carriers use their airwing to attack the remaining vessels still guarding the coast thus paving a clear path for the transports which manage to land our invasion force without any resistance.
From there, Iris Libre's defences fall swiftly as the army steamrolls all opposition thanks to our complete dominance over the skies.
As the army continues in its mission to eradicate the very existence of the remnants of the Iris Orthodoxy, Richelieu comes up to me. At first, I'm on my guard, expecting her to try something but once I hear her words I can only smile.
Richelieu: How's my sister?
Me: She's doing fine. You can thank her when you see her. She's the one who convinced the Empress not to just kill you all.
Richelieu: That was her intention?
I shrug. Truth be told, I haven't the slightest clue why the Empress chose to spare so many of her enemies. If it were us in her shoes, I'm almost certain we'd have sought to limit our enemy's power base by eliminating most of their forces. Now that I think about it, however...
Me: Why didn't you guys attack us?
Richelieu: What do you mean? Didn't we fire shots at you and launch multiple bombing runs?
Me: Yes, but you also refrained from actually harming any of us which in turn led to me ordering our girls not to harm any of you as much as possible.
Richelieu: Ah...well, I'd received a transmission from Gascogne letting me know that it was everyone's wish for us not to needlessly sacrifice ourselves. Jean had apparently asked her to convince me not to fight to the bitter end.
Me: I'm surprised you accepted her request.
Richelieu: I didn't at first, but when Eagle Union made it clear they couldn't assist us save for a few submarines, it became clear our position was hopeless. I'd still held out hope that we could side with Rumelia but then you also attacked them and successfully contained their Empire.
Me: You make it sound like the Empress was planning for your every move. HAHA.
Richelieu: So it would seem. In any eventuality, our defeat became certain the moment your fleet set sail with the Sardegna Empire's full fleet hot on your heels. Once our aircraft spotted their ships on the horizon, I decided to issue the general surrender.
Me: Sardegna came?
She seems surprised by my shock at the news but given their fleet had separated from mine after receiving special orders from the Empress, I'd figured they'd completely left the area. To think they were shadowing us the whole time...wait, were they ordered to eliminate us all if we chose to betray or were unable to complete the task?
Shivers run up and down my spine, as the thought dawns on me. Did the Empress intend to eliminate us after all? No, she still kept Jean by her side and Gascogne was also back in Iron Blood so clearly eliminating us wasn't her objective. It must've been that she had them shadow us so that if we were unable to carry out the task against our fellow countrymen then they'd take over and finish the job for us. After all, the Sardegna fleet, even without girls from Iron Blood supplementing it would still be large enough to easily defeat that of Iris Libre.
