Empire Conquest
Chapter 132 - 128: The Young Lotus Shoots Just Begin to Sprout

Chapter 132: Chapter 128: The Young Lotus Shoots Just Begin to Sprout

"That’s a trap, Takano is using himself as bait!"

Just when everyone was staring at Bai Zhizhan, waiting for him to make a decision, a lieutenant from the 3rd Shipborne Air Force Wing’s operations department suddenly shouted.

Was this guy on a stimulant?

However, listening to that slightly trembling voice, it was obvious he’d mustered up some cattle-thieving courage to shout it out.

Li Yunxiang’s face immediately darkened, since that lieutenant was one of his subordinates, yet he couldn’t recall his name.

But that wasn’t Li Yunxiang’s fault because he had only joined the 3rd Aviation Mixed Fleet ten days ago, following Bai Zhizhan, to become the Commander of the 3rd Shipborne Air Force Wing. By the time they had set out from Cizhou Harbor, some more staff officers had been added to the headquarters, many of whom were aviation advisors.

Not just Li Yunxiang, even Bai Zhizhan couldn’t recognize them all.

After all, Li Yunxiang wasn’t He Yongxing, who could remember the name of every subordinate.

Bai Zhizhan still hadn’t uttered a word.

At this, Li Mingbo actually started to laugh.

Do not forget that he is a veteran from the 21st Sub-fleet, who, even if he hadn’t witnessed it personally, surely knew of Bai Zhizhan’s early glories.

"Lieutenant Zhou Yongtao, you should know that Takano is a staunch adherent of the battleship and big-gun doctrine. Why do you think he’s using Saiyi Navy’s two most powerful battleships as bait? Don’t tell me it’s just to cover the retreat of a defeated Mobile Fleet."

Li Mingbo’s words were essentially paving the way for this young officer, and they were loaded with significance.

Of course, those who dare to spout such bold talk in front of a commander are half insane, and they might not take kindly to others’ advice.

Was Bai Zhizhan not like this in the past?

"Indeed, Takano is an adherent of the big-gun doctrine, not only proposing the ’Three-stage Interception Tactics’ but also actively pushing the construction of super battleships. However, after the two days of battle, unless he’s blind or an arrogant fool who turns a blind eye to facts, he would surely realize the era of battleships is over. But, the fleet he’s trying to cover is not the Mobile Fleet that has lost all its carriers, but the 5th Air Corps, which still has Saiyi Navy’s last two fleet carriers and has yet to join the fight."

"The problem is, we haven’t revealed ourselves yet, Takano..."

Bai Zhizhan waved his hand to cut off Li Mingbo’s words and instead turned to the lieutenant, "Are you suggesting, Takano knows we’ve entered the East Ocean?"

"He’s just guessing, but I am also making a deduction."

Bai Zhizhan didn’t say much more, just nodded his head, signaling the young officer named Zhou Yongtao to continue.

"Clearly, Takano has received the battle report, knowing that the four carriers of the Mobile Fleet are done for, and what’s left of their battleships are scurrying away. We have reason to believe that from the battle reports, Takano has deduced that the attacking force is the Special Mixed Group who fought yesterday and realizes that this group is to his west. Because they’re far enough away and the second batch of Attack Aircraft Group dispatched by the Special Mixed Group didn’t catch up with the Main Battle Corps, Takano would be convinced that the Special Mixed Group poses no threat to him for now and need not worry about an attack from the west. According to the maximum sailing speed of the Main Battle Corps, they could enter the Two-car Strait in a few hours. As ship-borne aircraft can’t operate at night, Takano could easily wait until dark before directing the other corps by electrical command. But why would he reveal his position at this time?"

Bai Zhizhan remained silent, and the others maintained their silence as well.

This analysis was well-constructed and made logical sense.

If it had been someone else, perhaps a senior advisor with more experience, it might have been more persuasive, and support could have been immediate.

"There’s a possibility that the Fifth Air Corps has already moved northward and is en route to the Two-car Strait, perhaps even passing through the Two-car Strait into the Flame Sea to rendezvous with the main battle corps tonight," Zhou Yongtao paused briefly before adding, "If that’s the case, it can only mean that Takano, after the end of yesterday’s battle, has not given up hope and is trying to win back everything he lost in one last gamble."

"Indeed, that’s a possibility," Li Yunxiang interjected during Zhou Yongtao’s pause.

"The question is, why would Takano think that the Fifth Air Corps could turn the tide? If they could, why didn’t he incorporate the Fifth Air Corps into the Mobile Fleet? Let’s not forget, Takano is not one to hesitate, he’d bet everything if he was confident."

Li Yunxiang frowned, feeling that this youngster was not giving him enough respect.

"Another possibility is that the Fifth Air Corps hasn’t entered the Two-car Strait and is still in the Nanzhu Sea, simply on standby in the northern waters. Because he suspects we have entered East Ocean, that’s why Takano revealed his whereabouts, perhaps that telegram was meant for Sawa."

"You mean, Takano ordered Sawa to alter course to evade?" Li Mingbo was clearly surprised.

"That’s a possibility, but it’s not very likely."

"Are there other possibilities?" Li Mingbo’s interest was piqued, as throughout the years, he hadn’t come across a youngster like Zhou Yongtao.

Zhou Yongtao hesitated for just a moment, barely half a second. "Up to now, what Takano can be sure of is really just two things. The first is that we only have two carriers, one Shipborne Air Force Wing, over one hundred and sixty ship-borne aircraft, and pilots whose training is severely lacking. The other is that the situation on Sawa’s side is the same, and the ship-borne aircraft supplied to the Fifth Air Corps may not be sufficient."

"So, he’s using himself as bait to draw fire?" At this point, Bai Zhizhan finally spoke up.

"If we strike the main battle corps, we definitely won’t have the capability to deal with the Fifth Air Corps, and thus Sawa could launch a full-scale strike with all his ship-borne aircraft without any concerns for his rear. Perhaps Takano’s initial telegram was ordering the Fifth Air Corps to dispatch Reconnaissance Aircraft to search the southeastern waters near Zu Island and be ready to attack, ensuring that they could immediately engage upon discovering us."

Bai Zhizhan’s eyebrows twitched a few times.

"However, all of this is nothing, there’s still a most critical issue."

"What?" Li Mingbo asked directly; he hated it when people beat around the bush. He might have let it slide if it were General Bai, but Zhou Yongtao was just a junior Lieutenant aviation advisor.

Even valuing this youngster, there were some things he wouldn’t just tolerate.

"Takano definitely doesn’t know that the Commander of the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet is General Bai."

Li Mingbo was stunned for a moment.

General Bai twitched slightly, and Li Yunxiang, standing beside him, was also taken aback.

An onlooker is often clear-headed; it wasn’t wrong after all.

As for the analysis Zhou Yongtao did earlier, Bai Zhizhan had already thought of and thoroughly considered them, but the last point was the one thing he hadn’t considered.

Of course, neither Li Mingbo nor Li Yunxiang had thought of it either.

If Takano believed that the commander of the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet was Liu Xiangbin, all these arrangements would absolutely make sense.

To put it more directly, given Liu Xiangbin’s timid nature, he’d most likely hide in a safe area, then deploy attack aircraft to hit the main battle corps.

Besides, it’s clear Liu Xiangbin would not just stand by and watch his relative Liu Xiangzhen garner accolades alongside his nemesis Bai Zhizhan, all the while only playing a marginal role. Influenced and controlled by feelings such as jealousy, he might act out of character, or be deceived by not-so-clever tricks.

In this case, what Takano needed to do was to lure out the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.