Chapter 1005: Siren Fortress Battlefield

Intense artillery fire continuously erupted on the sea surface, shooting up towering columns of water; the sky‑full of smoke shrouded the originally dark‑red sea, making the place look as terrifying as purgatory.

However, the two sides fiercely fighting in this sea seemed to have long grown accustomed to such a sight.

It seems only this kind of scene can fully unleash the most violent side hidden in their hearts, letting them unleash firepower without restraint and reveal a cruelty utterly unlike what they showed before.

"Wuzang, lead the Sakura Empire to suppress the enemy's left‑side firepower; don't aim at Enterprise's hull—concentrate fire and take out one of her main guns!"

On the battlefield, Bisimai kept issuing orders, relying on Gneisenau's defensive and offensive posture shifts, giving her more chances than others to observe Enterprise's movements, which is how this scene came about.

Following Bisimai's directions, countless lightning and shells bombarded one of Enterprise's main guns, while even more shells were fired to block her movements.

When the shells were about to strike Enterprise's main gun, they were blocked by a blue thin film; the Sakura Empire forces were not discouraged but instead continued their assault.

The shield module within the overload module could be called utterly shameless—so long as it has energy, it can block most artillery strikes.

Although most of the attacks were blocked, some still hit Enterprise's guns. The originally blue‑black barrels were scorched, yet this did not affect their ability to fire; only the firing interval seemed to have grown a little.

Although this difference was extremely slight, Bisimai still managed to detect it.

"Confirm the attack is effective, continue the assault."

"Understood."

However, maintaining this attack rhythm meant enduring more fire—not just for the attackers, but also a severe test for the defending ship girls.

The more damage they sustained, the fiercer Enterprise's counterattacks became; moreover, such a massed assault made it easy to spot the concentration of their positions, allowing the enemy's barrage to pour in, worsening the defensive pressure they already faced.

"The enemy's firepower is too overwhelming—whether it's the main force fleet or the vanguard fleet, watch your positions, don't over‑concentrate, or your defensive shields could shatter in the next second."

Ou Gen Qin Wang, who was persisting in the vanguard, quickly spoke into the communicator. This remark was not meant for the Iron Blood faction alone, but for all factions present.

But even with her warning, the positions of the hundreds of ships were still too dense compared to the lone Arbiter Enterprise.

Soon, under a barrage of missiles falling from the sky, the already fragile crystal shield shattered instantly, leaving both the vanguard fleet and the main force fleet completely exposed to Arbiter Enterprise's attacks.

Despite the Yujin Fleet's delaying action, the whole force soon began to suffer damage.

"Baltimore, belonging to the White Eagle, has suffered over 70% hull damage; request temporary withdrawal from combat for emergency repairs!"

"Kursk, belonging to the Northern Union, has reached the 80% damage critical point; request temporary withdrawal from combat for emergency repairs!"

"..."

For a moment, such reports kept ringing in the communicator, invisibly imposing enormous pressure on everyone.

"Approved—if hull damage exceeds sixty percent, you may withdraw on your own, retreat to a safe distance for emergency repairs, then rejoin the battle! When withdrawing, report to the squadron flagship, provide cross‑covering fire, and avoid formation disorder."

Bisimai's voice sounded in the communicator; the rapid reports abruptly stopped, and immediately a large number of attack formations shifted to defensive ones, with dozens of ship girls, under cover, steadily retreating to a point slightly farther from the battlefield.

Following Bisimai's words, while retreating they covered each other, and did not let their original wounds worsen during the relatively chaotic formation—a fortunate outcome.

However, this result is greatly tied to the Iron Blood faction's recent high‑intensity combat and their mutual coordination and rapport.

Nowadays, the ship girls of the Qin Ge Fleet are no longer the former squad that had little combat experience, rich tactics but poor cohesion. After prolonged fighting and mutual adjustment, they have become very good at mutual cover and alternating attacks.

Thus, even though dozens of ships withdrew to the periphery for repairs, the corresponding firepower did not diminish.

"Hmph, really an annoying mouse!" Enterprise said, frowning.

Although the ship girls of Qin Ge are far weaker than theirs, that does not mean she is immune to the damage they inflict.

Moreover, they are all vessels with contracted souls; although their firepower cannot match that of the original prototype ships, they still possess considerable strength, and in terms of potential they even surpass some prototype vessels.

Although her own innate strength is indeed formidable, if she were to unleash it fully, she could completely cut a path of seven advances and seven retreats through these ships' formations.

But obviously the situation before her does not allow her to do that; more than a dozen Yujin lines relentlessly fixed their gaze on her. Just as in the earlier plan, they did not inflict excessive harm on her, yet the iron chains and elusive sigils constantly swirling around her made her extremely cautious.

These Yujin attacks cannot be likened to ordinary ship assaults; even she must treat them with caution. Thus they impose a great restraint on her—even without directly attacking her, she dare not, or simply cannot, reactivate those Yujin formations to strike the ships behind her.

The battlefield remained locked in this stalemate, just as the original plan had envisioned; her defeat was merely a matter of time.

Even though Enterprise despised such a plan and wanted to fight heartily, thinking of everything the plan entailed, she still concealed her belligerent mindset.

At that moment, in an unknown space above this sea, Akagi yawned boredly, glanced dubiously at the enthusiastic young man beside her, and exclaimed, "Dear, how can you be so pleased with such a boring battle?"

The young man stared for a moment, then laughed, "Of course—I rarely get to see such a scene. The showdown between Arbiter, Yujin, and the ships, although everything was planned, you don't need to bring that mindset; simply watching this battle pure and simple is still quite splendid."

You see how those ships cooperate; even facing Enterprise's formidable firepower they can remain composed. Moreover, when damaged ship girls are repaired, they can keep formation intact and firepower undiminished, showing that their usual tactical training includes instruction in this area.

"Isn't all of this interesting?"

"Well, as long as you like it, that's fine."