Chapter 282 05.0281: "Set sail! Evolution Squadron!"

"Hey, Louise, Farida." After the meeting, he walked towards the two of them: "We are finally setting sail. What positions have you been assigned?"

"Reporting to the lieutenant, I am affiliated with the 25th Disciplinary Squadron of the Gothic Fleet and am assigned under the command of Military Inspector Carson. I am responsible for mobile inspections of discipline." Farida Hood, the acting military inspector, reported in a serious and expressionless manner.

Of course, this behavior does not mean that her relationship with Horatio has fluctuated again.

In fact, he and Farida were still cuddling in bed last night, enjoying each other's affection before setting sail.

However, the Supervision Regulations clearly stipulate that the military supervision committee members and naval officers on the same ship shall not have any relationship beyond official business.

Therefore, if she doesn't want to be transferred, then her deep relationship with Horatio must not be known to others for the time being, and it is best for both parties to maintain this official and distant mode in front of outsiders.

"I am at the Armed Dispatch Command Center, responsible for the ship's security risk investigation."

The Armed Dispatch Command is an independent command responsible for dispatching the naval armed forces on the entire ship. As a member of it, Louise and other officers belonging to this department are the only officers on the ship who wear armor instead of uniforms on a daily basis.

The mobile inspection team is responsible for patrolling all the sentries on the ship, checking the armed sailors' on-duty status, military appearance and discipline, and guarding against possible hidden dangers. They are also responsible for acting as a mobile court on the ship to arbitrate conflicts between crew members.

"Both sides are mobile teams, so it might be a bit tiring. Thank you for your hard work, Louise and Farida."

This was within Horatio's expectations, as the internship nature of the reserve officers and trainee military supervisors meant they would be assigned to specific executive positions.

Fideo, like himself at that time, went to the macro artillery array under the combat department.

Leidos went to the damage control dispatch and hull maintenance team under the engineering department.

Archie went to the lookout's bow shield-top observation tower.

Henry Harvey went to the bottom landing and take-off deck managed by the Boat Department to control the take-off and landing of the shuttle boat.

Only David Betty, who came from a wealthy family, was a little better, but only a little.

He went to the drawing room of the navigation department, which was probably still floating in the ocean of nautical chart scrolls.

"There's no such thing as tiredness for me, Lieutenant." Farida saluted coldly.

"Me too."

"I'm right here. If you need anything, you can come to me directly. By the way, Farida."

Horatio took out the Sky Eagle pendant and said, "This is the pendant of the military supervisor Melina. Inquisitor Ravenno decided to give it to you. Please accept it."

Farida took the bronze eagle of extraordinary significance from him.

"Thank you." She saluted solemnly again.

After chatting for a while, both of them went to their respective mobile inspection posts. It was important to leave a good impression on their internship supervisors.

Horatio skillfully made turns and twists, passed through the maze of corridors, and arrived at his post.

"Lieutenant Cochrane, I'm Captain Michel, the chief officer of the communications department." Captain One-Eyed, who had met once in the captain's office, and Horatio saluted each other.

The man had an eye patch on his right eye and a very intimidating scar on his face. He had a shaved head and looked very energetic. His fierce aura and the gleam in his eyes were frightening enough.

"This is Lieutenant Horatio Cochrane, deputy chief of communications," he introduced to the two second lieutenants next to him who were about twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

"Lieutenant Cochrane, thank you for your guidance." The two lieutenants saluted in unison.

Horatio returned the salute.

When he was still training at the Naval Academy, he had practiced in the communications department of a non-rated ship, so he was very clear about the responsibilities of the position.

The Communications Department is managed by a Navy Captain, a Navy Lieutenant, two Navy Ensigns, and several Warrant Officers, and has 3-4 reserve officers under its command.

The department implements a three-shift system under daily navigation duty, third-level combat alert, and second-level combat alert states.

In the absence of officers, a 4-hour + 4-hour or 2-hour + 6-hour shift system will also be used.

Ensure that the post is operational 24 hours a day, with each officer on duty for at least 8 hours a day.

Its duties include being responsible for routine communications throughout the ship, including wired and wireless communications, and sending and receiving holographic signal flags.

It is also responsible for the management, installation, maintenance and information collection of the ship's closed-circuit television (surveillance probes) and internal sensors.

As well as maintaining the confidentiality of our own communications and deciphering intercepted enemy communications.

The Communications Department is also responsible for training the relevant personnel of the naval armed forces on board the ship on communication equipment and regulating communication discipline. Of course, these tasks that require leaving the bridge are usually assigned to the reserve officers.

Sometimes they even needed to send naval liaison officers to the Imperial Guard.

In addition to the above, for flagships like the Indefatigable, the Communications Department also has the functions of fleet communications, including coordinating fleet navigation formations, combat formations, inquiring about the status of each ship, etc.

In addition, the Communications Department has four shipboard clerical officers from the Ministry of the Interior.

They are responsible for writing communication logs and communication records. This is a very critical command and coordination department, and the four commissioned officers in charge are particularly important.

Normally everyone is on duty during the first shift before sailing.

Four officers were now standing on the front platform of the huge command bridge.

"All units report that preparations are complete. Captain, please give instructions." Horatio reported to Captain Peru.

"Power department, start the engines! Navigation department, determine the route! Communications department, contact the ships and tell them to set sail!"
-
At the same time, in the Navy Department office.

"Mr. Venuska Katalia, the Gothic Forge World has manufactured a batch of new ships that can fill the ecological niche of the attack ships that the Imperial Navy has been missing for ten thousand years."

Colonel Lord Elphinstone knocked on the wooden door, and after getting permission, he came to Katalia's desk and reported.

Once upon a time, raiders were important equipment during the Great Crusade, serving as flexible scouts and route harassers in naval battles.

However, due to design problems, almost all the attack ships later defected to the Chaos side.

Because of this ignominious history, the Imperial Navy generally held prejudices against this type of warship, and from then on the Empire had no new attack ships available.

"drawing."

The captain handed over the three-view drawings of the new ship design to the Lord Admiral.

The image drawn on the paper appears to be a small, streamlined ship with a graceful shape.

Its main armament is torpedo devices. There is a single-shot light macro turret on the ridge of the ship, and two torpedo launch holes on each side of the bow. When facing the enemy head-on, it can fire four torpedoes at once.

There is also an independent torpedo tube at the stern and a stern torpedo compartment that can carry three torpedoes.

The hull has some kind of experimental optical camouflage holographic force field, combined with a slender bow design with a small frontal projection and low visibility.

According to the results of sea trials, when the ship is hidden in the void with the bow pointing towards the enemy ship, it is difficult to be observed and detected by ordinary optical sensors.

The detection waves of conventional auspicious instruments either directly filter out the slender and narrow hull as debris, or judge it as a fighter plane.

In order to avoid repeating the widespread mutiny of past attack ships, this batch of experimental equipment that has yet to be tested is designed without the ability to navigate in subspace.

It belongs to the "non-classified ship" sequence, and in principle only a naval captain is needed to command it.

The ship needs to be loaded into a 'dock ship' converted from an 'Imperial Bell' class freighter.

In wartime, they can be transported to the war zone via the subspace channels, and attack boats can be deployed in teams of six to hunt freely.

But because of this, it has groundbreaking use of automated components on board, and there are not many redundant equipment, so only 4000 crew members are needed to drive this 1.2-kilometer-long ship.

The saved space allows the ship to carry an astonishing 24 standard Helios-class torpedoes of the Imperial Navy, which is more than the reserve torpedoes of an Imperial Navy cruiser, and can carry out up to 6 rounds of quadruple torpedo salvos.

Although this also sacrifices living comfort to a certain extent, most of the space inside the ship is occupied by torpedoes.

The officers had a small Roman cathedral-style bridge to live in, which was much smaller than those on other ships, perhaps only 50 square meters, while the crew could only set up hammocks in the gaps of the torpedoes.

The speed is acceptable, not too fast, nor too slow, and the armor level is lower than that of destroyers of the same tonnage. Ships of this tonnage are strengthened in this aspect, and the cost-effectiveness is indeed very low. Presumably, the camouflage force field is the guarantee to ensure survivability.

“The ship was an experimental piece of equipment, and only twenty-five were produced.

It has not been named yet, but it is called the 'E-type attack boat' within Gothic Forge World. Let's see if anyone is interested in testing it."

"Captain, what impression do you think Horatio Cochrane left on you?" Looking at the ship drawings, Katalia suddenly mentioned a naval star that was about to set sail.

The Lord Colonel was slightly stunned, and after a moment of contemplation, he made a pertinent comment: "Lieutenant Horatio showed many extraordinary qualities in the hidden threat of Abyss Port this time.

Reliable and capable, he prefers action to empty promises.

I really admire his flexibility and the fact that he always has backup plans behind his seemingly radical moves.”

Admiral Katalia nodded.

“Please schedule a trip to Gothic Forge World for me in the near future so that we can test the effectiveness of this new combat equipment.

The Imperial Navy, which has been lacking attack ships for thousands of years, really needs a replacement.

Especially since we are gathering our fleet to participate in the Second Damocles Gulf Expedition, the Tau's commerce raiding fleet has already caused considerable trouble to the front lines.

Perhaps this batch of new weapons can make those blue-blooded aliens' "trade fleet" that constantly provide blood transfusions to the front line taste the pain of having their supply lines cut off.

And it is time for Lieutenant Horatio Cochrane to embark on his journey of captaincy training.

Or, the path of a squadron commander."

　Thanks to book friend 20190307105956624 for the reward and support to Wenshu Ting!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)