Chapter 54
The meeting to plan the convoy was held in complete secrecy.
However, it was impossible to keep the results completely secret.
It was a massive formation: thirty sailing ships of several thousand tons each, with many monsters in tow, plus five 3rd-class battleships serving as escorts.
Of course, such a massive convoy required countless people to be mobilized.
The Eastern trade guilds weren't fools either, so they kept the talk about the 'convoy' hidden...
"Hmm, the number of ships preparing to depart has increased lately."
"The Eastern Royal Navy is also on the move. It looks like they're planning a large-scale operation timed to the ships' departure dates."
Even from surface-level information alone, it wasn't that hard to figure out what was happening.
Besides, over the past year the South had worked hard to plant spies in the heart of the East.
They spared no means or methods, whether that meant throwing money around, using women to manipulate people, using drugs, or wiretapping.
"This is a special truth serum developed by the Intelligence Bureau. It contains madman weed, which scrambles the target's mind. If mixed in the right amount, it can break their will and extract answers."
"I bribed one of the Eastern Royal Navy captains. It cost a great deal of money, but from what I heard, it seems worth the price."
"These are the results of wiretap magic."
The South's economy was overwhelmingly larger than the East's.
What's more, because power in the East was split between the nobles and the trade guilds, fund management was much harder than in the South's fully centralized system.
The East didn't place all that much importance on intelligence, either.
Unlike the South, which lavishly backed its intelligence bureau right after the military and businesses, the East's intelligence agencies were just token mage groups.
While the South waged espionage with cutting-edge technology and funding based on chemistry and engineering, the East used only thousand-year-old magic.
That gap soon led to the South's complete victory in intelligence warfare.
"Hmm... a convoy, huh. They're doing something interesting."
"They say the departure date is June 17 at 6 a.m."
"Are you sure?"
"I heard it directly from the captain of a 3rd-class battleship."
By now, all the information on the East's convoy had already fallen into the South's hands.
"By the way, a convoy, huh. Guess people think alike everywhere."
The best defense against an unknown underwater threat is a convoy. Better to stick together than scatter—merchant voyages were no exception.
Most underwater monsters would bolt the moment they saw two Tusoteuthis swimming side by side.
So the merchant ships in the convoy could relax.
'It'd be meaningless anyway.'
By now, the number of our submarines had already climbed past 50. If we set our minds to it, hunting down a convoy would be no trouble at all.
"What's the convoy's route?"
"They say it's a route that passes east of the Belfort Archipelago. The detailed navigation plan is being confirmed by piecing together information gathered by the Intelligence Bureau."
"Can we complete it within a week?"
"Of course!"
Man, the East's information management is pretty sloppy too. To think we'd have all this information in our hands just one year after the information war started.
A modern nation lives and dies by intelligence. And the fate of a nation that gave up its lifeblood was already set.
The next day, Lucila came into the grand duke's residence carrying documents with detailed information.
"The convoy's size is estimated at around 40 ships."
"40 ships? What's the breakdown?"
"30 merchant ships, five 3rd-class battleships, and five supply ships. For escort, they're said to have underwater monsters, including two Tusoteuthis, trailing along."
Just by the makeup, you'd think they were heading out to war.
...Of course, even then, they'd be no match for our submarines.
The East wasn't entirely without underwater detection, either. There are creatures like the Ichthio, a 10-meter-class monster with dolphin-like biological sonar.
Compared with Earth's dolphins, which can detect about 200 meters underwater through echolocation, these things can detect up to 2 kilometers.
So are those things dangerous?
'Well, I'm not sure.'
Dolphins' biological sonar—echolocation—is certainly impressive. But it isn't suited for modern warfare.
Such excellent senses are actually far too vulnerable to the frequencies emitted by a submarine's active sonar.
After Turkish warships conducted exercises in the Aegean Sea, there was an incident where 15 dolphins died en masse.
The blame was placed on the active sonar used by the warships.
If even dolphins' echolocation, which can only detect 200 meters, is like that, there'd be no way the Ichthio, with sensory abilities keen enough to detect 2 kilometers, would be fine.
"Let's dispatch 20 submarines."
Submarines were a terrifying force in both World Wars.
Even Britain and the United States, who knew submarines' strengths and weaknesses and prepared all kinds of countermeasures like destroyers, sonar, and aerial reconnaissance, were terrified by them.
Could enemies who didn't even know submarines existed really counter them effectively?
"As much as possible, have them target the merchant ships before the underwater monsters."
It was time to show those Eastern bastards who dared block the sea the terror of the submarine force.
***
The sky on June 17, the day the convoy set sail, was cloudy.
The humid, salty air and the dim sky combined, making the atmosphere at departure time utterly gloomy.
As if that weren't enough, raindrops began to fall from the sky. The dark weather and the steady drizzle made it almost seem as if the sky were crying.
"What is this, a funeral? Why is everyone so gloomy!"
"Hurry up and move! As if the bad rumors about the sea weren't enough lately, slave shipments have dropped! Right now, black slaves are worth whatever price you name!"
"Yeah! As long as we bring them back, it's all profit anyway, so think about the payout and cheer up!"
Though some of the crew tried hard to lift the mood, they couldn't erase the peculiar gloom brought on by the dark weather.
It was because of the rumors about a sea monster circulating among the sailors.
The mysterious monster that had brutally killed that Tusoteuthis. The one that had sunk as many as 40 ships so far.
How could they casually set foot in waters where such an unknown creature lurked?
"This weather..."
Sailors are more superstitious than anyone else.
Because in the face of nature's power, human struggle was insignificant.
And such gloomy, ominous weather planted a strange unease in the sailors' hearts.
"Eh, whatever. It'll probably be fine."
"Yeah. They said the navy itself would be escorting us..."
"Let's get moving already. They said if we're late, we won't even make it into the convoy."
Even so, they could still suppress their unease thanks to the convoy's existence.
It's scary to head out alone into the vast open sea, but if you travel together in a group, it's not so frightening. After all, even the East's greatest force, the Tusoteuthis, would be protecting them.
So the sailors weighed anchor, pressing the unease in their hearts down deep.
Was the worry merely a needless concern after all?
Unexpectedly, even after leaving the harbor and reaching the middle of the open sea, nothing at all happened.
Rather, around noon the gloomy sky cleared and shone down on the convoy.
The line of ships cutting through the sunlit, glittering sea gave the sailors a strange sense of relief.
After twelve hours had passed since the voyage began.
By the time the fading sunlight was shining on the sea, the sailors' tension had eased somewhat.
"Yeah, that mysterious sea monster must've gotten scared and run off."
"Maybe I would have run too? Look, the line of ships stretches all the way to the far end there."
Under the darkening sky, the sailing ships began lighting torches one by one.
The sight of the torchlit sailing ships heading into the fading night was beautiful in its own way.
Once they crossed the Belfort Archipelago, a vast sea with nothing in it would stretch on for days.
The sea was originally calm and boring... but with the convoy, it would be a pretty interesting voyage.
The crew of the slave ships went to bed with those light thoughts in mind.
What filled the crimson sun's place was pitch-black darkness.
June 18, 1:00 a.m.
Ethan, captain of the U-7, ordered the entire fleet to prepare.
In the dark underwater depths, the quiet whir of the submarines' screws began to echo.
June 18, 1:18 a.m.
The Ichthio circling the escort fleet and scanning the waters below began to scream in pain.
It was a strange sight. The other underwater monsters were swimming just fine, but only the Ichthio was writhing as if it were about to die.
The mages rushed in to give emergency treatment, but it was already too late.
One Ichthio had died, and most of the Ichthio had lost their direction-sensing ability.
The sailors continued on, uneasy.
Because nothing had happened during the day.
No one had thought that a monster would ambush such a massive fleet.
That misconception was shattered a little later.
June 18, 1:57 a.m. In the middle of the fog-shrouded sea.
Boom-!
With a tremendous explosion, one slave ship bringing up the rear blew apart.