Chapter 349: Supplies Recovery

After sailing for a while, Qin Ge and the others finally reached the designated sea area.

Along the way, they encountered five or six battles; the closest was about ten kilometers off their route.

However, Qin Ge did not order his shipgirls to stop; instead, he continued forward, for the same reason as before, because this Siren fleet could not yet threaten a fully manned grand fleet.

After reaching the designated sea area, Qin Ge and the others saw on radar a point emitting positional information, so they quickly had Biyu steer the ship toward that direction.

When they accepted the mission earlier, Ninghai had said that after reaching the designated sea area, a designated person would meet them. Thus, the small blinking point on the radar emitting a signal must be that person.

Sure enough, when Qin Ge's command ship neared that small blip, they saw a shipgirl wearing ship equipment standing on the sea surface.

That shipgirl also clearly saw them, and after linking with Qin Ge's command ship's communication device, she said, "Hello, are you the commander of the Star Sea Grand Fleet here to recover supplies?"

"Yes, I am Qin Ge of the Star Sea Grand Fleet; pleased to meet you." Qin Ge stood at the command ship's communications console and said to that shipgirl.

"Hello, I am Jiadiya of the Maritime Affairs Bureau's Logistics Department, in charge of the supplies recovery project." The shipgirl told Qin Ge, "Please have all your fleet's shipgirls come here to collect the recovery equipment and begin the recovery operation. Also, when you come, don't forget to have your shipgirls bring the mission sheet; I need to verify and sign it."

"Of course no problem." Qin Ge immediately said, then switched the communications channel: "All personnel, have your shipgirls go to the Maritime Affairs Bureau Logistics Department's shipgirl to collect the supplies recovery equipment and begin the supplies recovery operation."

"Yes."

"Received!"

Hearing a string of replies over the communicator, Qin Ge cut off the communication, turned to his shipgirls and said, "Weineituo, you will lead everyone in the supplies recovery; the mission sheet is here; go and hand it over with Jiadiya."

"Yes, Commander!" Weineituo nodded and took the mission sheet from Qin Ge's hand.

"Guanghui, you and Banremma, Xinong, Liekexindun, and Bumblebee, launch carrier aircraft to patrol the surrounding areas, guard against remaining Siren fleets; if you spot them, you have priority to open fire." Qin Ge said to Guanghui and the others.

"Yes, Commander!" Guanghui, Liekexindun, and the others nodded.

"Then let's set out." Qin Ge smiled and nodded, telling his shipgirls.

After Qin Ge finished his instructions, the shipgirls leapt onto the sea, with Weineituo leading, swiftly gliding toward Jiadiya. Meanwhile, many other command ships also had their crews disembark, swiftly gliding toward the direction indicated by Qin Ge's shipgirls.

The supplies recovery process is very simple: just use the Maritime Affairs Bureau-issued supplies recovery equipment to gather all scattered supplies on the sea surface. The only difficulty may be that the collection area is quite large, so even with fifty or sixty shipgirls, it still takes a lot of time.

This is also why the Maritime Affairs Bureau issued such a mission, because manpower is currently tight; collecting supplies over such a large area is basically impossible. They can only issue the task, letting a grand fleet formed by commanders conduct the supplies collection.

During the entire supplies collection process, because Guanghui, Xinong, and others' carrier aircraft were patrolling the air, everyone could focus on collection without worrying about the sudden appearance of Siren mass-produced fleets.

Even if residual Siren mass-produced warships appeared, a few carrier shipgirls could quickly go to support and pinpoint-eliminate them, without affecting anyone else's normal supplies collection.

And when night fell, the supplies collection was finally completed. After handing over with the Maritime Affairs Bureau's Jiadiya, Jiadiya also stamped Qin Ge's mission sheet with her seal, certifying the task as completed.

Unlike personal missions, grand fleet missions have no grading such as success or great success; there is only a simple judgment of success or failure.

So when Weineituo received Jiadiya's stamped mission sheet, he had all the shipgirls return to their respective commanders to prepare to depart.

After boarding, Weineituo reported the specific situation to Qin Ge and handed over the stamped mission sheet. Qin Ge then, via the communications device, issued a return order to all grand fleet members.

However, compared to the calm on the way there, Siren activity at night had become somewhat more frequent. Just as Qin Ge and the others were crossing the boundary between erosion level three and erosion level two sea areas, the radar on the command ship sounded an alarm.

"Commander, a Siren fleet is approaching from our 210 direction; at their speed we cannot avoid it," said Hai Lun Na, the radar watch officer, quickly to Qin Ge.

"How large is the Siren fleet?" Qin Ge immediately asked.

"According to the radar, it is preliminarily judged to be a medium-sized Siren fleet," Hai Lun Na said to Qin Ge.

Qin Ge nodded, then immediately went to the communicator: "All command ships take note: in my forward direction 210, a Siren fleet is advancing toward our fleet; all commanders direct your shipgirls, using my shipgirls' formation as the main body, and immediately assemble into a defensive formation."

"Received!" The communicator crackled with replies one after another, and Qin Ge could hear the excitement in everyone's voices.

Although they had prepared for battle, but today had passed very safely, leaving everyone somewhat disappointed; the appearance of this Siren fleet lifted everyone's spirits again.

"Since it is a night battle with limited visibility, please inform all shipgirls that command will be unified under Weineituo and Bisimai," Qin Ge said.

"Understood!"

After cutting off the communicator, Qin Ge turned to the shipgirls gathered around him and said, "Weineituo, prepare all shipgirls to meet the enemy in defensive formation, just as we usually train, prioritizing seizing air superiority."

"Also, Bisimai, you personally select an elite squad of shipgirls, leave the main force, using concealed radar to flank to the Siren fleet's side."

"When Weineituo-led main force engages the Siren fleet in fire, you launch a surprise attack from the flank, prioritizing the destruction of the enemy's main warships, quickly ending the battle."

"Yes, Commander!" Weineituo and Bisimai nodded, then turned and led their shipgirls toward the sea-entry platform.

Hao, who was nearby, smiled and walked over, saying to Qin Ge who was looking at the radar, "Frontal assault, flank sneak attack—hehe, Commander Qin Ge's tactics are really simple and clear."

Qin Ge turned his head and said to Hao, "As long as we can destroy the enemy, that's a good tactic; what do you think, Hao?"

"Of course!"