Summoning Japan: Flights of the Fancy

Chapter 10 - A Fleet of Patchworks

"One missed the mark?"

Samejima's muttering sounded surprisingly audible to those present in the CIC and FIC of the Hyūga. Noticing the stares of those around him, he continued. "Hitting the waterline was a miss. That thing (X) only modified the terminal guidance program of the ASM-2, so it won't penetrate the armor of the vital parts. Originally, it was supposed to aim for the funnel."

"Even if you hit the funnel directly from above, it won't reach the engine room."

At the words of the fleet staff, Samejima frowned slightly.

"I know that much. My target is the exhaust gas. The exhaust gas from the steam turbine's boiler gets hot. I was planning to make a hole at the base of the funnel and scatter it onto the upper deck and superstructure. It won't sink the ship, but it can restrict human activity like damage control. If you want to stop the exhaust gas, you have no choice but to stop the ship."

Whether that strategy was truly effective or not, it was quite a devious plan. The gazes of those around Samejima changed slightly. The parties involved were unaware, but that miss changed the fate of the Grade Atlastar.

. . .

Bragston's legs gave way, and he fell on his backside with his crotch wet. With a long military career, Bragston knew this wasn't the first time, but it had been a while.

It was understandable. While tracking the trajectory of the SSM through the telescope, he found it shunting beneath the telescope's field of view, and in the next moment, an explosion echoed through the rear gunnery command post. Moreover, the secondary gun turret, which should have been below him, was thrown into the air leaving flames in its wake. Bragston instantly understood what had happened. It was one of the anticipated scenarios: a detonation in the ammunition magazine.

The elevator hole of the secondary gun turret was one of the few openings into the vital parts. It was known in advance that if a powerful explosive detonated inside the secondary gun turret, the shockwave of the high-temperature gas generated by the explosion could reach the ammunition magazine through the elevator hole. However, it hadn't been considered a significant problem. The reason was the accuracy of the ship's guns. Hitting an enemy ship with the main guns was challenging enough. Aiming for the secondary gun turret was like aiming for a hole-in-one in golf. It wasn't impossible, but it was considered a needless worry. However, it had become a reality. Bragston, while thinking about what a stroke of bad luck it was, assessed the situation.

Looking around, he saw two artillerymen serving as his assistants exposing themselves to the same embarrassment, but there seemed to be no immediate danger to their lives. Bragston was grateful that the secondary gun turret had not collided with the aft deck. Unbeknownst to him, they were blessed with another stroke of luck. If the funnel had been destroyed, the aft deck would have been directly exposed to the high-temperature exhaust gas.

The aft gunnery command post was protected by armor, at least to some extent. Bragston checked the area below through the observation window. As expected, there was a considerably smaller scene compared to earlier, but flames and smoke were rising from the elevator hole of the secondary gun turret. Whether it was due to the heat or the impact of the explosion was unclear, but it didn't matter; the result would be the same if the ammunition magazine of the secondary guns detonated. If the main gun ammunition magazine had exploded, the Grade Atlastar's hull would have likely snapped in two. However, if it was the secondary gun ammunition magazine, the hull should be able to withstand it—

"Fuck!"

Bragston realized. The ammunition magazine of the secondary guns was separated by bulkheads. However, if the fire continued, the bulkheads would become hot. The ammunition magazines of the rear secondary gun turret and the third main gun turret were separated by just one bulkhead. Moreover, the rear turrets had never had a chance to fire. Both ammunition magazines were fully loaded.