Elder brother's garrison

Page 1372

“Nelson.” On the beach, Veneto, who was watching Rodney and Rome fight, suddenly started chatting with Nelson beside him. “Actually, I noticed something back when Rome was conducting exercises with the admiral.”

"Huh? What?" Nelson turned to look at Veneto.

“…Before, when Rome was training with the Admiral, she hadn’t even mastered the skills yet, and her combat power was much weaker than it is now.” Veneto stared at the sea and said to Nelson, “The Admiral’s land-based ship equipment is powerful and well-defended. Given the performance of Rome’s ship equipment at that time, her chances of defeating the Admiral were extremely slim.”

“…” Nelson nodded silently, waiting for Veneto to say the next thing.

"However, facing the Admiral's formidable ship equipment, Rome didn't give up after the exercise began. Almost without hesitation, she instinctively devised a battle plan to defeat the Admiral." Veneto recounted this to Nelson as if it were nothing out of the ordinary. "First, through observation, she concluded that while the Admiral's ship equipment was indeed powerful, the Admiral herself lacked combat experience, and the Admiral's laser cannon required a period of charging before continuous use. Then, Rome devised a plan: during the intervals when the Admiral's laser cannon was charging, she would use her own cannon fire to create high splashes, then use this as cover to approach the inexperienced Admiral and attack her directly, thus defeating her—although she ultimately lost the exercise, but…"

do you know?

From observing the admiral's ship equipment characteristics in Rome to clearly devising a winning strategy, it only took Rome a few moments to process these ideas.

“…” Nelson looked at Veneto in surprise.

“That exercise between Rome and the Admiral was just a spur-of-the-moment idea from Yubari and me. Rome couldn’t possibly have had the opportunity to prepare beforehand. We even practically forced them onto the water during the exercise.” Veneto gazed at Rome on the sea and smiled slightly. “Then… through the exercise between Rome and the Admiral, I discovered something. That is, although Rome is still very weak, she is a gladiator with a remarkable talent for winning.”

“Gladiator?” Nelson looked at Veneto.

“Yes, Gladiator.” Veneto looked at Nelson. “Rome is like the most talented gladiator in the arena. On the path to victory, Rome… has an instinct that even I can hardly match. No matter how strong the opponent is, or how slim the hope of victory is, she can always rely on her instincts to accurately choose the path that is closest to victory.”

"Ok?"

As Nelson listened to Veneto's words, he finally began to appreciate the strange flavor of it all.

"In a normal battle, due to the gap in experience and technique, Rome might really not be able to defeat Rodney."

Veneto turned to Nelson and smiled, saying...

"But things are different now. This is an exercise, a performance battle where both sides' ship girls can show off their personalities. If it were a regular offensive and defensive battle, Rome would definitely be defeated by Rodney due to the huge gap in experience. This time, Rome did not choose to avoid Rodney's sharp edge, but chose to use all its strength to confront Rodney head-on, using its most proficient methods to fight Rodney and see who can last until the last breath."

In the end, Rodney did indeed fall for the trap.

The show battle format of the ship girl exercises allowed Rodney to act more freely, unlike during actual campaigns where she had to consider the overall situation. Naturally, her fierce fighting style meant she knew no retreat in this battle, creating a sliver of hope for defeat in what should have been a sure victory. This was Rome's talent; she once again seized this sliver of opportunity and then, with a clear strategy, continued the battle.

"Going head-to-head with Rodney..." Nelson hummed in agreement. "But... even if it's a head-on clash, Rodney's combat experience should be superior to Rome's, right? Look at the situation on the sea; isn't Rome being pushed back step by step by Rodney, and will be taken down in a few minutes?"

"Rome's greatest strength is perseverance. It's just that she enjoys being pushed to the brink every day at the naval base," Veneto said confidently to Nelson. "In this state, she could hold on for hours, let alone minutes. But what about your Rodney? In this life-or-death situation, if she can't overwhelm Rome in one fell swoop... the momentum will wane, and then it will be exhausted. Right now, she's probably in a bind, isn't she?"

“… Nelson.”

Nelson looked at Veneto, who was smiling confidently, and fell silent.

On the sea.

Rome, on the verge of collapse, held firm like an iron tortoise against its impending doom. Rodney bombarded Rome relentlessly, using every trick in the book to expand his advantage, but Rome stubbornly maintained its previous position, as solid as a rock.

Even ship girls can't withstand a sustained, large-scale, all-out, and relentless attack.

Over time.

Rodney, on the offensive, began to flush slightly, his breathing became somewhat disordered, and he grew weak.

at the same time.

Seemingly sensing Rodney's weakening aura, Rome, which had been holding firm at the critical point, began to slightly expand its position. Peeking at Rodney's figure lurking on the sea, the cannonballs gradually became sharper, showing a tendency to launch a counterattack against Rodney.

“You’re right.” Nelson nodded slightly and said to Veneto with a serious expression, “After all, with you as her older sister training her at high intensity, Roma is indeed the best at fighting in such extreme battle situations. If Rodney can’t break through this stalemate in time, perhaps… she will really be exhausted by Roma and turn the tide.”

“…” Veneto revealed a confident smile.

“However,” Nelson said, a more confident smile appearing on his serious expression, “Veneto, I also have something to tell you.”

“…What is it?” Veneto raised an eyebrow.

“Veneto Rodney is one of the seven great ships known as the Biggest. Her glorious history, accumulated over many years, has culminated in the development of her skills.” Nelson revealed a confident expression. “We are the most dazzling presence in the naval arena. We, the Biggest, are naturally the ships that have brought the concept of attack to its fullest potential. Rodney did accept Rome's challenge, but that was definitely not because she fell into Rome's trap… She simply had confidence in her own offensive capabilities.”

You must never underestimate my sister.

No matter what, she was, in history, the one who used overwhelming firepower to destroy Bismarck's battleships.

On the sea.

Just now.

Just as Rome's offensive threatened the weakened Rodney, suddenly, Rodney's aura, which had just weakened, expanded wildly like an inflated balloon, leaping to a state that was even more rapid and explosive than before.

A dazzling red light flashed on Rodney's body.

Rodney, on the sea, swiftly pulled up the gun emplacement behind him.

"Boom"

The sound of cannons echoed throughout the heavens and the earth.

A sea of ​​fire rose.

"—Damn it!"

Chapter 1776 My Proud Sister

Well known.

In the main gun turrets of artillery ship girls, each gun barrel fires only one shell per shot. If artillery ship girls want to increase the number of shells they fire, they can only do so by increasing the number of main gun barrels firing simultaneously and increasing the number of firing waves.

That's it.

This is common knowledge that is generally accepted by all ship girls in the world.

However, the skills possessed by the ship girls are often illogical and mysterious phenomena that cannot be explained by science.

Like now.

Rumbling--

On the sea.

With a thunderous roar of cannon fire, Rodney, whose offensive had already somewhat exhausted itself, raised the barrel of his main cannon high the instant Rome counterattacked. Then, a torrent of orange-yellow shells poured out of Rodney's main cannon barrel one after another. A large number of shells exploded out of Rodney's main cannon barrel without warning, turning into a dense and scorching rain of bullets that instantly covered the sea surface where Rome was located.

A battle-hardened, highly skilled ship girl with excellent ship equipment might be able to create an army-like formation in a short time by relying on continuous powerful fire and tricky, precise firing angles.

But in any case, this is just a show of force.

Logically speaking, the number of turrets a ship girl can possess is limited. Therefore, in terms of the amount of damage dealt by tilted artillery fire per unit of time, a lone ship girl can never truly compare to an entire ship girl army. This is not a matter of technology or individual strength, but a difference in hardware.

but……

At this moment, the amount of barrage gushing from Rodney's main cannon was far greater than the attack she had unleashed when she was locked in a fierce confrontation with Rome. Rodney's barrage had now far exceeded the physical limits that a ship girl could achieve, truly upgrading her firepower from the level of an individual ship girl to the level of an army.

In an instant, the overwhelming flames and falling steel covered the sea where Rome was located, the water surface cracked inch by inch, and the rumbling sound echoed across the sea. Water splashed into the sky and dispersed the clouds.

"This...is this Rodney's firepower..." On the beach, Little White stared in astonishment at the sea surface of the training ground, which looked like it had been bombarded by a fleet, and murmured, "Rodney's skills are just too...powerful..."

Although Rodney and Nelson had been back at the naval base for a long time and had participated in several expeditions with Xiaobai, destroying a number of Abyssal ships, this was still the first time Xiaobai had personally witnessed Rodney fully unleashing his skills.

have to say.

The scene was truly magnificent and fierce.

No wonder so few of the ship girls in the naval base enjoy practicing with Rodney...

Who would want to spar with a ship girl who possesses such formidable skills and doesn't know how to hold back...?

"The ship girls have a wide variety of skills, but they can actually be roughly divided into three categories." As fireworks splashed across the sea, Lexington turned her head, held up three fingers, and explained to the murmuring Xiaobai, "These three categories are attack skills, defense skills, and support skills—which, as the names suggest, are skills that can form offensive means, skills that can form defensive means, and skills that can strengthen oneself or one's comrades, or weaken the enemy in some form."

“Oh…” Xiaobai nodded, then blinked. “Then… for example, Lexington, your skill is a kind of support skill?”

“Yes.” Lexington nodded.

"I've never seen this kind of classification in textbooks before."

“Of course you can’t see it, Little White, because the three skill categories I just mentioned are actually categories that our naval base defined privately,” Lexington said with a smile.

"Huh?" Xiaobai was taken aback.

"After all, ship girls with skills are extremely rare in the entire ship girl community. They're so rare that there aren't even many characteristics to use for precise classification. If you find one or two ship girls with skills in an outer naval base, you're lucky." Lexington said with a slight smile, "However... in our naval base... we have quite a few ship girls with skills, so we gradually developed the three types I mentioned to you before."

"Oh." Little White nodded and smiled at Lexington. "The categorization is very clear. I think it's good."

“Yes…” Lexington nodded deeply, her gaze shifting to Rodney, who was still unleashing a torrent of firepower on the sea. She paused slightly. “The skills of ship girls, like their ship equipment, also have some differences in quality. Rodney’s skills are offensive skills… As for quality, they are among the best in the naval base. If Rodney were to unleash such firepower… Rome is probably in serious trouble now.”

"..." Xiaobai glanced at the sea that Rodney was bombarding, swallowed hard, and acquiesced.

Rodney and Rome used live ammunition in their exercise. Before the exercise began, in order to achieve a fairer experience, their main guns were voluntarily replaced with MK6s of the same caliber from their ship equipment space. Rome is a ship girl who has received special training from Veneto Sparta for many years and is used to being beaten up. In addition, as a ship girl, she also has the protection of being heavily damaged. Although Rodney has fierce firepower, Rome's safety is guaranteed... but it still hurts when she gets beaten up.

Xiao Bai glanced at the Empire beside him.

The Empire quietly raised its head, silently watching the cannon fire gushing from the Rodney's ship rigging. Its eyes were clear and pure, like a calm pool of water, reflecting the intense scene on the sea.

"...Looks like the results of this exercise are in, Veneto. Under such overwhelming artillery fire, even Rome would be crushed in one fell swoop." Nelson, standing at the very front of the beach in front of Xiaobai, took out his phone and snapped several photos in Rodney's direction before turning to Veneto with a smile and saying, "I admit I underestimated your Rome a bit before, but indeed, it seems a little too early for them to defeat my Rodney."

“…” Veneto stared at the flames rising from the sea without speaking, seemingly acknowledging Nelson’s statement.

“Veneto, don’t be discouraged. Although this battle was a defeat for your Rome, she has proven her potential to us. It may be a little early, but one day, Rome will become one of the most dazzling ship girls in the naval base.” Nelson said to Veneto with satisfaction, holding his phone which had taken more than a dozen photos.

“…” Veneto closed his eyes and remained silent.

but.

Just now.

Veneto's previously tense lips curled up slightly.

then.

"Boom!"

A loud sound, distinct from Rodney's, suddenly rang out in the center of the sea, where flames were rising.

Suddenly, a shell pierced through the fog, leaping into the sky like a small mudfish leaping over the dragon gate amidst a hail of shells.

Compared to Rodney's barrage of bullets, this shell was quite small and insignificant; it should have been buried and swept away by the raging barrage.

But this leaping shell, with an indomitable spirit inherited from somewhere, stubbornly pierced through the dense barrage of bullets and soared into the sky before everyone's eyes.

Subsequently.

The projectile continued its trajectory, hurtling towards Rodney who was controlling the barrage. It slammed into Rodney with a loud bang, lifting him off the surface of the sea and sending him flying backward for a considerable distance, tumbling several times on the water before finally coming to a stop.

Debris from the ship's equipment fell from the sky like blooming flowers.

Rodney was thrown back by the sudden shot, and the barrage of bullets, having lost its source, finally stopped. The rumbling sound finally ceased on the sea, leaving only the lingering echoes and buzzing sounds.

The rising seawater crashed back onto the surface, creating a torrential downpour.

"Wh...what?!" Nelson, who was taking pictures of Rodney on the beach, widened his eyes, his hands trembled, and his phone fell to the sand with a thud. "Rodney...Rodney!!"

Nelson, eager to protect his sister, immediately started running towards the sea.

However, just as Nelson took a step, Veneto, who had been resting with his eyes closed, swiftly reached out and grabbed Nelson's wrist.

"Nelson, wait a minute," Veneto said softly to Nelson as he opened his eyes.

Nelson stood still, his earlier dazed state slowly returning to normal.

“Ah…yes, it was just a drill…” Nelson looked at Veneto and let out a somewhat apologetic sigh. “Sorry…I was a little hasty just now. But what exactly was that shot…”

"Don't forget, Rodney isn't the only one who's mastered this skill," Veneto said with a slight smile to Nelson. "Big Seven's absolute dominance in offensive skills is indeed rare among all the naval bases. In comparison, Roma's skill, which she learned from the Admiral, is far inferior to Rodney's Big Seven in both proficiency and quality so far... But... Nelson, do you remember what I just said?"

"What you just said?"

"What my sister Rome is best at is quickly finding any fleeting possibility of victory in seemingly hopeless situations. Although her skills are not as good as Rodney's, and her ship equipment is not as powerful, Rome's true strength is not her ship equipment or her skills, but herself."

Speaking of it.

Veneto flashed a confident smile.

Chapter 1777 Rodney Has His Eyes on You

"oops!"

After being hit by that sudden cannon shot, Rodney and his ship equipment were dragged a long way towards the water behind him, tumbling several times before finally coming to a stop.

along the way.

Rodney's scattered ship equipment debris covered the water's surface.

Rodney lay motionless on the water, staring at the sky.

"what……"

Generally speaking, ordinary shells shouldn't be able to penetrate Big Seven's firepower and pose a threat. But that incredibly resilient shell just now defied the barrage and charged straight at him...

The instant the shell hit him.

Rodney didn't feel pain, but rather a sense of emptiness, as if his thick armor was as fragile as paper under this single shell. The shell easily tore through Rodney's heavy armor defenses, leaving him severely damaged in one shot.

"Was it a skill from Rome...?" Rodney lay on the water, rubbing his belly blankly, staring at the azure sky. "I heard that after the Roman girl practiced with the Admiral, she was moved by him and suddenly mastered a skill... Could that cannonball just now have been..."