Hikaru nodded in understanding and gave Glowworm a little push, signaling her to pay attention.
In the era of big-gun battleships, ships like Yamato had main guns with a range of 40 kilometers, and with the aid of fire control systems, they could even reach 50 kilometers. That said, to ensure accuracy, battleship gunfire was typically limited to 20 to 30 kilometers.
For shipgirls, whose targets were generally smaller, their engagement range was much closer. Still, during training exercises, it wouldn't make sense to have them firing at each other from a distance. Not only was the hit rate too low, but the ammo cost would be enormous.
In the historical Battle of Jutland, German battleships fired around 3,600 heavy-caliber shells, with only 120 confirmed hits—an accuracy of 3.33%. The British side had an even lower hit rate of just 2%. And that was with many hits occurring at close range. This highlights how poor naval gunnery accuracy could be.
While shipgirls' rigging is much more accurate—and their precision increases as they level up—modern shipgirl battles still favor close-range skirmishes. Some even go so far as to engage in melee-like battles using their rigging.
The academy's training exercises follow this philosophy as well. One, they equip shipgirls with blanks that are less than 1% as powerful as live ammo; and two, they encourage close-quarters combat.
Hikaru watched as, after some instructions from Elizabeth, Glowworm nodded obediently. Elizabeth then fetched a purple dummy shell rigging set from a stationed shipgirl and offered it to Glowworm. But Glowworm shook her head repeatedly in refusal.
Elizabeth's face twisted slightly with confusion. She turned to Hikaru and said, "She says she doesn't need blanks. She won't be using artillery or torpedoes in the exercise."
That was beyond absurd. Sure, some destroyers were fitted entirely with AA guns to provide cover for capital ships, focusing on defense rather than offense. But in a one-on-one exercise? If a destroyer doesn't rely on torpedoes or guns—what's she going to win with, her head?
Glowworm wasn't even the kind of shipgirl with some special gimmick or unique talent. Elizabeth herself, for example, was skilled in melee combat—but that's not something just any shipgirl can pull off.
Hikaru, however, smiled knowingly and gave Glowworm a thumbs up. "That's right. She doesn't need ammo."
Glowworm puffed her cheeks in grievance.
Elizabeth hesitated. "Well, if you say so..."
She had been about to warn Glowworm not to sneak in any live rounds, lest she accidentally sink her opponent. But then again, shipgirls weren't malicious like that. Besides, even if Glowworm loaded herself with full batteries, she'd probably have to fire point-blank at Wilhelmina's face just to scratch her.
What really made her pause was the faint unease in her heart. This Glowworm... seemed different somehow from the one she was used to seeing.
Shaking off that feeling, Elizabeth turned to Wilhelmina. "I don't have to remind you, do I? You're a veteran."
Just as Wilhelmina was about to take the blanks, Masaki waved his hands as if he'd been wronged. "No no no, my Wilhelmina's max level. Pitting her against a brand new shipgirl is just bullying. It'd prove nothing. Let's have his Myoukou try instead."
Myoukou's eyes lit up as she looked at her admiral.
Takao frowned. "That might not be a good idea. Wilhelmina's a destroyer, same as Glowworm, so at least she'd give Glowworm some relevant experience. Myoukou's a heavy cruiser. Same level, but in combat a heavy cruiser completely outclasses a destroyer. Myoukou won't be teaching Glowworm anything—she herself is barely out of the docks."
Destroyers were often nicknamed "elementary schoolers" in this world, while heavy cruisers were their natural predators. A total mismatch.
Glowworm clenched her fists, fuming. She was seriously mad now. Why was everyone acting like she was bound to lose? She was Glowworm—the fearless Glowworm! The very first ship to be built by her commander!
Of course, none of the others noticed Glowworm's darkening expression. Masaki waved it off. "This is just to break Hikaru's naive ideas about heading into battle. We can worry about gaining experience later."
Takao nodded—fair enough. And besides, he was curious to see his shipgirl in action too.
Elizabeth handed the blanks to Myoukou and went over some safety reminders for the exercise.
The most important of which: Don't aim at the shore. Even with stationed shipgirls on watch, an accident here could be disastrous.
Myoukou equipped the blanks and nodded seriously, though the sparkle in her eyes betrayed how excited she was.
She was more than happy to give a British ship a beating.
Perceptions between shipgirls of different nations were heavily influenced by history.
Take HMS Hood, for instance. She was famously blown apart by the German battleship Bismarck. As a result, Bismarck was considered Hood's natural enemy, and people viewed her as superior. The shipgirls inherited that baggage, too—so the girl named after Hood likely bore a grudge toward Bismarck. This kind of rivalry was common among shipgirls.
Myoukou didn't dislike Glowworm, but she was absolutely ready to beat her down.
"Just a destroyer, huh? Piece of cake."
Once the prep was done, Myoukou gave Glowworm a glance, then stepped into the water and activated her rigging.
Glowworm's eyes burned with determination. She tilted her head slightly and said, "Sorry, Myoukou-oneechan. I'm going to win."
Myoukou chuckled. You're the underdog here, and you're the one mouthing off?
Takao chuckled and clapped Hikaru on the shoulder. "Your shipgirl's got guts. But honestly, she's probably going to get wrecked. Prepare yourself."
Hikaru nodded. Once they stepped into the training arena, he knew he had to be ready for Glowworm to get hurt. If she couldn't even hold her own against a level 1 heavy cruiser, then all of Hikaru's future plans would have to be reevaluated.
Still… this wasn't just about victory. After spending these past days with her, Hikaru found he'd grown quite fond of the little Glowworm.
While they were talking, Glowworm activated her rigging.
Everyone onshore stared in surprise.
Myoukou's gear was textbook: a +7 Japanese twin 203mm gun she had awakened with, and the blanks she'd just been handed.
Glowworm's setup, on the other hand, was weird enough that Elizabeth and the others couldn't help but ask:
"What's with all the armor plates? You carrying those for fun?"
"Glowworm doesn't get mini-armor plating on awakening. Where did those come from?"
"Being tanky doesn't help if you can't fight back, you know."
Hikaru ignored them. Truth be told, this was his first time seeing Glowworm's full rigging, since it was hard to deploy on land and most of her fuel and ammo had been sent with the main fleet searching for him.
And activating the rigging cost resources.
So yeah—this was the first time he'd really seen her in full battle mode.