Chapter 373: Opinions

"What are your thoughts on this battle, Instructor Qin Ge?" Zhang Shiping asked, pretending to be casual.

However, from his perked-up ears and the commanders surrounding Qin Ge, one could see they weren't being casual at all.

Qin Ge smiled and said, "Didn't we just say that? Just follow the orders."

"Instructor Qin Ge, just give us the lowdown—not what was said at the meeting, but your own opinion," a major-level commander said to Qin Ge.

"Alright, since you're asking for my opinion, I'll tell you what I think," Qin Ge said with a smile.

This Siren Tide is far more severe than the ones you've experienced in past years.

So I didn't follow your previous defensive approach; I adopted mobile warfare to weaken the Sirens' attacking force.

This tactic has a relatively high success rate, but that high rate presupposes that we have full grasp of enemy movements, which is why I organized the carrier battalion to conduct full-sea reconnaissance.

As long as we grasp the movements of the enemy Siren Fleet, we will have absolute initiative.

In other words, when and how the battle unfolds is up to us. Once the Siren Fleet enters our reconnaissance zone, they become the passive side.

Furthermore, you must absolutely obey orders in this battle; when the retreat order is given, you must retreat immediately, because by the time the order is issued it's already somewhat late, and any further delay could put you in danger.

For the members of your grand fleets, remember this well.

As Qin Ge spoke, Zhang Shiping and several other fleet commanders kept nodding. This was already who-knows-how-many times they'd heard Qin Ge tell them to obey orders.

It seems this is indeed of utmost importance; later, I must emphasize to my fleet members to follow orders and retreat promptly.

Seeing Zhang Shiping and the others listening intently, Qin Ge smiled and said, "Of course, because this is a group-type regional operation, you needn't worry about your fleet being isolated and without support."

I and Director Qinglong have decided on flexible allocation, just as mentioned in the meeting earlier: when you engage the Sirens, you'll not only have air support from carrier shipgirls forming carrier aircraft groups,

We will also coordinate nearby fleets to give you long-range artillery support; with this firepower advantage, we will swiftly destroy the Siren Fleet and then conduct another sweep-and-destroy.

Therefore, the demands of this mobile warfare on you are not high; the highest demands are on command personnel and intelligence systems, so you needn't worry about facing large numbers of the Siren Fleet's main force.

Upon hearing Qin Ge say that, Zhang Shiping and the others finally set their hearts at ease. After all, the earlier meeting's method of implementing mobile warfare was nothing more than having them tease the whiskers of the main force cluster of the Siren Tide.

Although it sounds exciting, actually carrying it out is still somewhat nerve-wracking.

Now that their duties and tasks are clear and they know the key to this battle, everyone has nothing left to worry about.

In the midst of the conversation, several people walked together to the port, where Qin Ge looked up and saw his distinctive command ship, with the shipgirls and fleet members waiting beneath it.

"Hehe, this time we'll entirely rely on Instructor Qin Ge's command, so we won't bother him. Our fleet also has some things to deploy, and we must convey his suggestions properly," Zhang Shiping said to Qin Ge.

"You flatter me," Qin Ge said, waving his hand with a smile. "But you really should brief the fleet members on the main points of this meeting, so they won't worry about this battle."

Then we'll see each other on the battlefield.

"Mm." Several people nodded, then bade farewell to Qin Ge and headed toward their respective command ships.

Qin Ge then smiled, watching the crowd's retreating backs, and walked toward the shipgirls coming to meet him.

"Commander."

"Commander."

"Mm, everyone, thanks for waiting," Qin Ge said to the group.

"What's the situation exactly, Commander?" Li Chenming asked.

"We've just finished the mobilization meeting; now the commanders of all the grand fleets have gone back to prepare. Next, we plan to go with Director Qinglong to deploy to the frontline fleets and launch a full assault on the Siren Tide," Qin Ge told everyone.

"What do we need to do?" Chen Bo Jun asked Qin Ge.

"At that time, follow unified allocation; this time it's not a defensive operation by individual grand fleets, but a group operation using the entire Shenhua City grand fleet as a collective."

"The exact distribution isn't clear yet, but one thing is certain: our grand fleet will serve as reserves and will not directly participate in frontline combat," Qin Ge told everyone.

"Not participating in frontline combat?" Prince Ou Gen Qin Wang smiled. "It seems Commander Qin Ge has already confirmed the overall tactics, right?"

"Yeah, this time we're mainly conducting mobile warfare. Therefore, I must control the overall situation with unified allocation, which means I can't appear in the grand fleet to command you in battle," Qin Ge said.

"Mobile warfare based on a group fleet as the system? My lord, that's an excellent plan—it should minimize losses to the greatest extent, right?" Tiancheng smiled. "However, given the number of our carriers and the Maritime Affairs Bureau's carriers, it seems insufficient to support an information network across the entire sea, right?"

Qin Ge nodded. "Exactly, so this time I've decided to recall all the shipgirls from the grand fleets, leaving only one or two carrier shipgirls per grand fleet to provide air support, while the rest will serve as our eyes."

"Hiss, that's a bold idea, Commander," Prince Ou Gen Qin Wang said. "But will the commanders of those grand fleets agree to this?"

Qin Ge laughed and said, "If each grand fleet contributes ten carrier shipgirls, they could potentially receive a hundred carrier shipgirls' worth of air support—do you think that's a bad deal?"

"To be frank, Commander Qin Ge's tactical planning this time is truly wildly imaginative," Prince Ou Gen Qin Wang said, his eyes lighting up with a smile.

"Wildly imaginative?" Qin Ge dipped his head slightly, looking at the bow of the command ship, where York City and Aisaikesi were coming into view below, and said, "I actually think it's rather conservative."

"Then, Commander, what do you think our chances of victory are?" Guanghui asked Qin Ge.

"We can't afford to lose, because if we do, the disaster will befall all of Shenhua City."

"So, there's no room for any chance of failure; we must succeed," Qin Ge said.

"Yes!"

The shipgirls and grand fleet members' expressions grew solemn, and they all nodded.