"What the fuck is this piece of shit," I said to myself, slightly giggling while looking at my newly commissioned battleship. "You are one hell of a beautiful battleship."
Slightly less expensive than the Yorktown despite being 47,000 tons at full load, the two sister ships Prussen and Hannover of the Prussen-class battleships really just look like the SMS König-class from WWI but with WWII aesthetics.
The only missing thing is her casemate guns, which I made them turreted. Still, she's quite a battleship that doesn’t look American at all, and so I decided to give her a gernam name. What a surprise use a German hull, and you get a German-looking battleship.
It looks aesthetic enough, so who cares? I’m the one here making this stuff.
After enjoying the view for a while, I eventually sent her to be stationed at Port 8.
Meanwhile, I came back to my kitchen, which has now, unironically, become my planning room after countless days of using it for all my shenanigans.
But first, I went to the cabinets below and grabbed a few large potatoes. After paying for them with credits, I went ahead and peeled them, cutting them into small sticks as my mind began turning toward my next step now that I have battleships.
As I prepare the potatoes to make quick and easy French fries, I feel somewhat confident that I can now go through the archipelago without worrying too much. The Prussen class, all things considered, is very packed and armored to the point where I’m very confident she could take a beating and still win with all the redundant systems I put in place to keep her operational to some degree despite battle damage. Well… under a series of assumption, at least
As I put the fries in the air fryer, letting them crisp, I decided—why the hell not? It’s been many, many days since my last encounter with the enemy, and they haven’t really done much counterattacking. It’s as if they’re ignoring me. Is there a larger threat somewhere out there they’re busy with, or what?
I shook my head, pushing those thoughts aside for a while to focus on my own operations. It’s not like I want their full attention I just really want to know who these Shadow entities are, if I’m being honest.
I tapped my fingers as I looked at the map. I went to one of the drawers, pulled out some pins and rubber bands, placed them on the table, and began marking things down.
“I suppose this will be their first baptism in the seas. I haven’t finished their sea trials, but I think they’re doing what I designed them to do,” I said to myself.
The plan i came up with while waiting, simply put, send the two Prussen-class battleships into the main inlet of the archipelago, accompanied by one New York City-class and two Seattle-class ships for AA coverage a force recon mission, more or less. In support, just in case, would be the aircraft carrier Yorktown and my two Cheapskate-class carriers hanging back with escort ships. If things go south, at least there’d be some fighter cover they could rely on while retreating.
But after some thinking and taking my newly fried potato fries, I switched my decision to turn it into a night operation. My ships are more than capable of handling nighttime operations, because it might give me a better chance of slipping through without being spotted. All things considered.
But as I stood there, I shook my head again. Considering how accurately they were hitting my Miami-class, it’s probably no surprise if they’ve got nighttime capabilities too.
Eventually, I chose to stick with the original plan i came up with earlier, It’ll just take a bit longer for them to get air support if things go sideways but that’s a risk I’m willing to take, all things considered. Still, as I stood there thinking...
Why the hell am I limiting myself?
I said that to no one, upon realizing that my logistics were supporting me very well, thank you very much. If this is how things should be done, then what I need is a naval offensive.
I rubbed my chin, eyes on the map.
It had been updated day by day, expanding it myself as I scouted further using floatplane tenders converted cargo freighters I commissioned on the side.
“Maybe what I need is a massive offensive,” I muttered, turning the idea over in my mind. I had, like what fourteen heavy cruisers, eight light cruisers, two battleships, two light carriers, one fleet carrier, and a bunch of destroyers just idling around the ports?
I nodded slightly. I wasn’t that weak, force-wise. Sure, Im low on capital ships side, but I could still hit hard and expand rapidly to secure these territories before the enemy could react.
I gave myself the green light. After finishing my fries, I got to work planning. I decided I’d form three task forces to accomplish my objective, pulling some destroyers off convoy escort duty to support the effort.
With that, they’d advance rapidly across many of these islands, bypassing defenses, if there were any, and capturing and securing key strategic interests I’d identified so far.
Once that happens, I’d expect a counterattack. So I’d have to and immediately construct land-based aircraft facilities on the captured islands, along with naval facilities to handle repairs and resupply.
It took me hours, being the only one doing the planning. The timetable was loose but achievable. The logistics train would follow behind the main force. Construction of the island facilities would take only half a day, and from there I could begin deploying land-based aircraft securing both my warships and my airspace, especially in Yorktown’s absence.
Eventually, the plan was finalized.
Task Force North and Task Force South would flank the sides, capturing and securing islands while serving as recon elements. Task Force Center would push through the middle with the two battleships, four Miami-class cruisers, two Seattle-class AA cruisers, and ten Color-class destroyers.
It will be the one I believe can take on any force present in the area, while the two southern and northern task forces will simply consist of the rest of my heavy cruisers, light cruisers, and some destroyers.
Task Force Yorktown is, simply put Yorktown, two of my Cheapskate-class light carriers, two of my remaining Seattle-class cruisers, and ten Color-class destroyers to act as a backline support group behind Task Force Center.
And for the final stroke the destroyers and cargo freighters. They’ll be the ones delivering supplies and aircraft to the islands once secured. They’ll primarily transport oil and aircraft and ammunition to establish air superiority in the area. It doesn’t seem very feasible on paper… but I trust myself, and honestly, that’s all I need.
I decided to name the operation The Triple Offensive, because many days had passed since I first started planning this, and I was tired really running low on creative juice.
But as I continued preparing things, I eventually renamed the operation to Operation Trident, to better represent the three-pronged offensive I was about to launch.
