256: Chapter 256 Actual Testing

"Wu Sha, how is his level?"

"To start with the conclusion, there are no issues with his decision-making direction." Ushakov sat down. "His overall understanding is accurate. In the first simulation, his priority was to occupy advantageous areas and deploy reconnaissance aircraft while ensuring air superiority within the defense perimeter."

"And then?"

"He has a concept of electronic warfare, but likely lacks practical experience in specific operations. After I suppressed his communication channels, he immediately chose to concentrate the fleet behind areas that could provide cover, prioritizing the survival of the capital ships."

"Continue."

"In the absence of information, he chose to... uh, lay mines, and then retreated the fleet back to the starting point of the safe zone. Of course, in doing so, he was considered to have failed."

"In other words, he avoided combat the entire time."

"Yes."

"What about the second simulation?"

"The second was a head-on encounter. Both sides' surface units would reveal their information upon entering the high seas, but there was a key stronghold in the center of the sea area with a mission objective that had to be secured."

"What did he do?"

"He avoided combat, but not entirely."

"How so?"

"Submarines. He invested his limited unit selection resources into nuclear attack submarines and long-range strike capabilities. Simply put, he used a large number of aviation units and missiles as a feint, with submarines as the main force."

Kuznetsov closed her eyes, thinking as she sat in her new rocking chair. "Did he go all-in?"

"No, he didn't attack my fleet directly, but took an unconventional approach." Ushakov hesitated for a moment. "He chose to bypass the fleet and instead blew up the target area and my port, forcing a draw."

Kuznetsov tilted her head to the side and then opened her eyes. "His combat philosophy focuses on preserving his own strength. From his perspective, that isn't necessarily a problem."

"But from the perspective of an actual battlefield, the problem is serious." Ushakov touched her short hair. "If the mission objective is something that must be obtained... or if the objective is simply to destroy the enemy fleet, then there's a problem."

"Go on," Kuznetsov said, looking at her.

"In the third simulation, I set the rules to a war of annihilation and added supply constraints. Once supplies were insufficient, one had to return to port or be resupplied by a supply ship."

"He couldn't hold back this time, could he?" Kuznetsov took the tablet handed to her by Ushakov with interest.

"In fact, he was quite... cunning." Ushakov sat on the sofa to the side. "After the battle began, I scanned a large number of drone signals, which initially made me think he intended to use a massive fleet of aircraft for a decisive battle with me."

"And then?"

"They were all damn Kasatkas, disguised as Gerans and Orions to harass and scout me. There were also at least twenty decoys in the water."

"It seems you suffered quite a bit."

"Yes, but he didn't choose any high-tier units at all." Ushakov wiped away non-existent sweat. "His trump card was three Woodcutters, coordinated with eight Udaloy IIs and three Yasens. Under the cover of a massive aviation force and electronic suppression, he attempted to inflict hard kills on me. My goodness, we only have three Woodcutters in total."

"And then?"

"He underestimated our capabilities. Based on general anti-air data, his missiles were basically all intercepted by the Ship Girl units, and his aviation forces were suppressed by the Ship Girls, unable to break through effectively."

"Whose general data?"

"Mine."

Kuznetsov rubbed her temples. "In other words, he knows how to fight a decisive battle?"

"A little, but not much. The core issue isn't whether he can fight, but that he doesn't seem used to having Ship Girls as the core of the battlefield, and... his timing for a decisive battle isn't very smooth."

Ushakov hesitated. "Combining the first two simulations, I feel he has a relatively negative attitude toward decisive battles. Overall, he is more inclined toward attrition and consuming the enemy's effective strength at a low cost."

"...Also," Kuznetsov stood up and looked out the dark window, "regarding the concept of Ship Girls, he doesn't view them as combat units from an officer's perspective, but truly as... targets to be protected?"

"From his actions, that is indeed the case." Ushakov frowned. "Is he really... a Commander of Ship Girls?"

"Ushakov."

"What is it?"

"How old is he?"

"...I don't know."

"Don't know." Kuznetsov crossed her arms. "We still know too little about him, but conversely, he seems to know us very well."

"Yeah... but should we ask him directly?"

"If there's an opportunity, we'll see." Kuznetsov shook her head. "To summarize, his current problem is that he's unfamiliar with commanding Ship Girls, and he lacks the confidence and resolve for a decisive battle."

"If I had to add one more thing, it's that when I checked his operation logs afterward, I found that except for the main combat units, all other units were operated with pre-set waypoints."

Ushakov recalled, "When unexpected events occurred, he didn't adjust those waypoints. I judge that in an emergency, he cannot accurately process information for all units."

"I see." Kuznetsov sat back down. "Wu Sha, I'm a bit tired. Go get me a bottle of vodka; I plan to sleep for a while."

"Kuzna?"

"What?"

"Drink more hot water."

"Cough, cough, cough..." Kuznetsov was nearly choked with anger. "Ushakov!"

"On this point, I still support that little guy." Ushakov chuckled. "The hot water is in the kettle."

"Fine, fine, fine. I just won't drink it."

Kuznetsov crossed her arms and held her head high, looking as if she would never speak to her again.

"Even if you ignore me, I'm still not giving you any. We'll talk when you're better."

Kuznetsov ignored her and just closed her eyes, letting exhaustion take over once more.

He is a Commander of Ship Girls, but he might not be cut out for command...

Who exactly is he?

Ushakov quietly left the room and closed the door.

The sound of a kitchen knife hitting a cutting board came from the kitchen; Li Ming must be cooking.

"Li Ming?" She walked over.

"Hmm?" Li Ming looked up. "What's wrong?"

"Kuzna fell asleep again. Shall we go out for a drink?"

"I refuse. If you get wasted, I'll just grab you by the leg and drag you back." Li Ming was expressionless.

"You can't do that! What if I'm exposed?"

"I'll get an eyeful then."

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