Empire Conquest
Chapter 120 - 116: Hurrying is Useless

Chapter 120: Chapter 116: Hurrying is Useless

The flagship of the Special Mixed Group, "Longjiang."

Although at 7:40 AM they had grasped the whereabouts of the Mobile Fleet, it was true, the reconnaissance aircraft that discovered the Mobile Fleet had taken off from the "Longjiang." But by now, at 8:20 AM, they hadn’t launched the ship-borne aircraft carrying torpedoes and bombs.

The reason was simple; when they received the reconnaissance report, the Special Mixed Group was accepting ship-borne aircraft sent from the rear.

Two carriers, each replenishing with sixty ship-borne aircraft.

Even at the rate of one aircraft per minute, receiving sixty ship-borne aircraft would take a full hour. Since some pilots came from the Reserve Forces and had not previously landed on a "Longjiang"-class carrier, there were several mistakes, making the actual time taken even longer.

Of course, these issues had been anticipated during the arrangements, and all the ship-borne aircraft were equipped with auxiliary fuel tanks. After reaching the airspace above the Special Mixed Group, they could still fly for at least an hour and a half, while the bombers and torpedo bombers with longer ranges could fly for two hours; there was plenty of time.

As a result, they were busy until just after 8:00 AM, when the final "Flying Fish" landed on the "Longjiang."

However, it was still far too early to launch an attack.

Because there were too many ship-borne aircraft received at once, and during the arrangements, they certainly hadn’t anticipated discovering the Mobile Fleet so quickly and finding it only a little over three hundred kilometers ahead, which meant the first few dozen "Typhoon" fighters all landed on the carrier. To make room for the following aircraft to land, these fighters had to be stored in the hangar, placed at the very back, making the turnaround quite cumbersome.

Even so, many ship-borne aircraft remained on the flight deck.

This couldn’t be helped; after all, a carrier is only so big, and only the front part, situated between the catapults, could be used for recovery, with an elevator taking two minutes for each aircraft. Thus, the fastest rate of recovery would inevitably leave some aircraft on the flight deck.

These ship-borne aircraft would definitely be concentrated in the take-off area at the front end of the flight deck.

Additionally, the hangar couldn’t fit sixty ship-borne aircraft.

A "Longjiang"-class hangar typically only accommodates six squadrons of ship-borne aircraft, about fifty in total; the excess had to be parked on the flight deck.

Only now had the ground crew managed to move the aircraft parked at the front to the rear of the flight deck.

"How much longer will it take?"

"At least an hour, maybe an hour and a half," Zhuang Bisheng was also quite helpless; he was more anxious than Liu Xiangzhen and wished he could deploy the Attack Aircraft Group immediately.

Before this, he had gone to the Aviation Services Department to urge them twice, and the response he received was "doing our utmost."

Liu Xiangzhen smiled bitterly and sighed.

What else could be said?

Even though time was precious, all they could do now was to patiently wait and also to prepare for the impending strike!

Yes, they had to quickly strengthen the Fleet’s air defense!

The telegram sent back by the reconnaissance aircraft emphasized one point: the Mobile Fleet’s Attack Aircraft Group was taking to the skies, and the first to take off were the fighters. It was estimated that two carriers each deployed three squadrons of bombers and attack aircraft. The target of these Plane Groups was very likely to be the Special Mixed Group.

Why was it "very likely"?

The reconnaissance aircraft had been shot down soon after, without mentioning the direction of the Attack Aircraft Group in the telegram!

Furthermore, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet commanded by Bai Zhizhan had already skirted Zu Island and entered East Ocean before dawn, so they were not in the Flame Sea. The distance from the Mobile Fleet was definitely over five hundred kilometers, beyond the Mobile Fleet’s strike range, and even beyond the reconnaissance aircraft’s search area.

In this vicinity, other than the Special Mixed Group, was there any target worth the Mobile Fleet’s full effort?

Yet, neither the fighters in the sky nor the radio monitoring stations on the various battleships had detected any enemy reconnaissance aircraft or unusual radio activities.

As for the radar, it had not yet been activated.

The reason for not using radar wasn’t the fear of exposure but rather its reliability was not high enough.

Because its average working time without failure was less than an hour, and after running for a cycle, it required five Telecommunication Soldiers to spend eight hours on maintenance and repairs. If a fault occurred, it might take days and nights to fix. Therefore, radar could only be activated and used when the enemy’s situation was clear, or after the Fleet itself had been exposed. When not in use, the antenna had to be wrapped in waterproof covers.

Indeed, it was useful, yet far too delicate.

If the reliability cannot be improved, there’s no way it could be widely adopted.

According to the reconnaissance aircraft’s report, the Mobile Fleet’s Attack Aircraft Group will arrive at the earliest by 9 A.M.

For this reason, "North River’s" radar was activated at 8:45 A.M.

What needs to be done now is actually to quickly strengthen the Fleet’s air defense, sending more fighters into the sky to patrol, and to expand the air defense zone before the enemy planes arrive.

After yesterday’s battle, Liu Xiangzhen had ample confidence in the radar.

Under the guidance of the radar, air defense fighters could expand the interception range to over one hundred kilometers, and could even prevent enemy planes from discovering the Fleet.

That’s exactly why, after freeing up space at the front end of the flight deck, maintenance personnel began to bring the fighters that had been sent to the Hangar back up to the flight deck. Next, they would refuel and arm these fighters and carry out the necessary checks, while the aviation staff concurrently assigned tasks to the pilots.

These tasks had already been arranged, so there’s no need for Liu Xiangzhen to worry.

"Report!"

After the Telecommunication Soldier shouted, Zhuang Bisheng immediately stopped him and turned around to walk over.

After giving instructions and sending the Telecommunication Soldier back to the bridge, Zhuang Bisheng walked up to Liu Xiangzhen.

"There are three more minutes until 8:30 A.M., it’s about to start."

Liu Xiangzhen was startled for a moment, then realized what was coming.

Last night, the Imperial Chief Minister had declared war on the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom through a radio broadcast. After that, he left room for negotiation, issuing an ultimatum to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. If the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom surrendered before 8:30 A.M. today, the Liangxia Empire would temporarily cease targeted military actions.

No response?

Then the war would commence!

Actually, this touches on a rather sensitive issue.

The Grand Secretary is not the supreme Commander of the Imperial Army, nor is he even a military commander, so he does not have the authority to declare war on a hostile nation.

Legally, only the Empire’s supreme Commander, the Emperor, has the authority to declare war!

Strictly speaking, the Grand Secretary is the head of the civil servants, serving as the great supervisor of the rear during Emperor Shiwu’s era, replacing the Emperor in managing and operating the Empire.

In terms of rallying power, only the Emperor can unite all the military and civilians of the Empire against external threats.

For this reason, the Emperor will declare war on the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom through a broadcast at 8:30 A.M. today, which is when the ultimatum expires, and he will also issue a war mobilization order.

Having the Grand Secretary speak first served as a preliminary step.

According to the Eastern culture, the most important figure is always saved for last, hence the saying "the finale takes the stage at the end."

In fact, this has always been the procedure followed in the history of the Empire when declaring war.

Since the war has already erupted, the declaration of war itself is secondary.

What’s crucial is the war mobilization.

If the Grand Secretary’s broadcast speech is optional listening, then the declaration of war and mobilization decrees issued by the Emperor are mandatory listening.

And they must be listened to with utmost seriousness!

Do not forget, the Emperor is the supreme Commander of the Imperial Army and is also the one to whom the military personnel swear their allegiance!

In the past, soldiers had to bow their heads in submission when listening to such decrees.

Now it’s not so strict, but it’s still necessary to treat it with earnestness.

Of course, soldiers who are on a mission or actively carrying out a mission do not need to follow these cumbersome rituals.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.