Empire Conquest
Chapter 103 - 99: Half a Fleet

Chapter 103: Chapter 99: Half a Fleet

"There’s news, there’s news!"

When Li Mingbo ran over shouting, he attracted everyone’s attention, looking as if the sky was about to fall.

Fortunately, Li Mingbo had already noticed it.

After glaring at a few navigation staff members who were snickering, Li Mingbo managed to control his emotions and walked over to Bai Zhizhan.

Although he was still a Nautical Advisor, Bai Zhizhan was personally in charge of air combat and there was no possibility of engaging in a gun battle with the Enemy Fleet; crucially, no Chief of Staff had been appointed yet, so on many occasions, Li Mingbo took on the responsibilities of the Chief of Staff for the Special Mixed Fleet.

To put it simply, he managed the staff at the Fleet Headquarter.

"We just received a telegram; old Zhu and old Shen have both been found."

"What!?"

This time, Bai Zhizhan’s reaction of surprise startled everyone.

After Li Mingbo spoke, he suddenly stood up, almost jumping.

"Old Shen is unharmed, and old Zhu is only slightly injured. Both have already reached the Navy base at Foot Island and are prepared to return to the fleet by plane early tomorrow morning." Li Mingbo paused briefly before continuing, "Additionally, over two hundred crew members have been rescued; however, many of them are seriously injured, especially the fighter pilots. Those who are able to fly will return to the fleet tomorrow morning."

"So, does this mean the Special Mixed Group will regain its combat capability by tomorrow?"

"It’s the First Aviation Mixed Fleet." Li Mingbo took a deep breath. "’Heng River’ has controlled the flooding and is expected to arrive at Chengjiang Port in three days. According to the telegram, the damage is very severe; even with a smooth return to Chengjiang Port, it would take several months to repair."

"Several months?"

Li Mingbo nodded and then said, "Fortunately, by tomorrow morning at the latest, the First Shipborne Air Force Wing should restore its combat capability."

Bai Zhizhan also nodded.

"Oh, I nearly forgot. Saiyi did not bomb the Southern Fleet’s oil depot and the fifty-thousand-ton floating dry dock at Chengjiang Port. Liu Xiangdong mentioned in his telegram that the Mobile Fleet might have been prepared for a third wave of attacks, but because the Special Mixed Group launched an attack first and crippled the ’Jiahe’ in the first round, they did not launch a third wave. Anyway, it was extremely lucky that the oil depot and dry dock were not bombed."

When Li Mingbo said this, Bai Zhizhan did not interrupt but furrowed his brow.

Li Mingbo wasn’t exaggerating: the oil depot and the fifty-thousand-ton floating dry dock at Chengjiang Port were equivalent to half a fleet. In the long run, saying they were equivalent to a fleet wasn’t an exaggeration.

The value of the oil depot goes without saying; even Major Tanimoto from the Saiyi Navy knows that.

However, truth be told, the value of the fifty-thousand-ton floating dry dock exceeds that of the oil depot.

It is the only floating dry dock in the southern ports of the Empire that can accommodate carriers and main battle ships, and the Empire has only two such docks; the other is in the Domestic Fleet’s homeport. Globally, there are only five giant floating dry docks capable of accommodating main battle ships. Apart from the two in the Liangxia Empire, there are two in the Newland Federation, and the last one is in the Bulan Kingdom, showcasing their strategic value. The critical point is, only these three countries can build such giant floating dry docks because of their immense military value, and they are banned from export!

Since the outbreak of war, that dock became even more valuable.

Let’s not forget, there are also twelve bombed battleships in Chengjiang Port!

Without this dry dock, another one would need to be called from Mast Harbor, and the Domestic Fleet might not agree, as they may need the dock to repair their damaged battleships in a few days. Without the dock, the efficiency of repairing battleships would definitely decrease significantly.

Even in the most optimistic estimation, without the dry dock, repairing those battleships would take at least three years.

Conversely, it could be shortened to a year and a half.

Moreover, there’s the "Heng River," severely damaged during the battle and also in need of repairs. Without the dry dock, it’s uncertain if it can be fixed within a year. With the dry dock, according to the recent message, it would take at most half a year, perhaps even four months to repair.

Of course, Bai Zhizhan was most delighted to know that Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu were both safe.

At this moment, the communication officer who had started chatting with Li Mingbo ran over.

"Report, Commander, five more minutes."

Li Mingbo was momentarily stunned, then glanced at his watch. It was already 8:25 according to Imperial time. He didn’t say much but shifted his gaze to Bai Zhizhan.

"It seems there won’t be any changes. Go get ready."

"Yes!"

After the communication officer turned and walked away, Li Mingbo then nodded to his communication advisor, signaling him to issue orders to the other battleships.

Although they were just over a hundred kilometers from the Imperial mainland, Bai Zhizhan had ordered the fleet into battle readiness early in the morning, after receiving the news that Chengjiang Port had been raided. All battleships were to maintain radio silence, only receiving telegrams and not sending any, not even using shortwave radios.

And the reason was clear, beyond Foot Island lay the East Ocean.

Furthermore, several hundred kilometers to the southeast was the Nanzhu Sea, where the Saiyi Navy and the Newland Navy were conducting joint exercises!

With the speed of an aircraft carrier, several hundred kilometers equated to roughly a dozen hours of voyage. Including the combat radius of the carrier-based aircraft, it wouldn’t even take that long.

Let’s not forget, the Fifth Aviation Wing was still active in the Nanzhu Sea.

To monitor the Imperial Navy, the Newland Navy had set up several radio listening stations on the Nanzhu Islands, capable of intercepting radio waves of almost all frequencies.

Soon, a noisy static emitted from the speaker.

It was the internal broadcasting system of the battleship, now connected to an oversized radio which was receiving the broadcast signal from the Imperial National Radio.

In the afternoon, the Navy headquarter had sent orders.

If there were no changes to the plan, precisely, if no message of change was received, the Imperial Grand Secretary would read the declaration of war against the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom at 8:30 through a national broadcast.

If nothing else occurred, they were to organize the troops to listen to the broadcast punctually.

The necessary arrangements had already been made. Each battleship was equipped with a radio capable of receiving the broadcast, and many officers had their own radios as well.

Even though radios were expensive, most naval officers could afford them.

In fact, announcing pivotal events via radio broadcast had become quite commonplace.

Ten years ago, after Xue Yuanzheng was elected as Grand Secretary, he was the first to recite the mandate decree to the national audience live on air.

From then on, radio broadcasts gradually replaced newspapers.

Today, radio broadcasting has become the sole medium for releasing significant news, especially time-sensitive major news.

For instances like declarations of war, if released through newspapers, there would be a delay of at least a day, preventing timely updates for the military and civilians nationwide.

Through radio, news could almost instantly reach the entire country.

Additionally, this method had also been adopted by other countries. For example, four years after Xue Yuanzheng’s election, the newly elected President of the Newland Federation delivered his inaugural speech via radio.

"Bai, it’s time."

Li Mingbo, who had been watching the time, alerted Bai Zhizhan, who was staring blankly at the nautical map, as 8:30 had just arrived.

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