Empire Conquest
Chapter 133 - 129 Contradictions Front and Back

Chapter 133: Chapter 129 Contradictions Front and Back

"He?"

"Go to the back and help, and as soon as the radio is fixed, let me know immediately. Don’t forget to use the voice radio to call the nearby patrol plane. Don’t wait for a response, just report our current position while making the call so that any patrol plane listening can immediately send a report to the military port."

While instructing the co-pilot, He Weigu turned the throttle down to the lowest setting.

Initially, when he saw the Zero Fighter zooming in from below on the left, He Weigu’s first thought was that this time, he was definitely going to die.

Moreover, he deeply regretted and felt utterly unlucky.

Not long after departing from Zudong Port, the Telecommunication Soldier informed him that a part in the long-wave radio had broken and couldn’t be used normally.

If this had been discovered before departure, perhaps they wouldn’t have been dispatched to carry out the reconnaissance mission.

Then, the Telecommunication Soldier reported that he could fix the long-wave radio, but it would take some time, and whether it would work properly after repair was uncertain.

In other words, even if he thought he had repaired it, it actually might not be fixed.

Wasn’t that the same as saying nothing?

Fortunately, the voice radio installed a few months prior worked, and according to previous tests, the range of the voice radio exceeded one hundred kilometers.

This meant, if there was another patrol plane nearby, it could be contacted using the voice radio.

Therefore, He Weigu dismissed the idea of returning to base.

All patrol planes from Zudong Port had been dispatched and were operating in the northern sea area of Nanzhu Sea, definitely within a hundred kilometers around.

Afterward, he flew in a southeast direction.

About fifteen minutes ago, through a gap in the clouds, he spotted that heavy cruiser.

It was a "Ligen" class.

The four main gun turrets piled up like grave mounds at the ship’s bow and the huge seaplane crane behind the mizzen mast were its distinct external features.

Had He Weigu been less courageous or had a weaker sense of duty, he should have steered the patrol plane to return at this moment.

According to intelligence received before departure, the Saiyi Navy’s two "Ligen" class were all in the Fifth Air Corps.

Mainly, the Saiyi Navy only had four fast battleships, so only the heavy cruisers were available to provide protection for the carriers in the Fifth Air Corps.

Due to a lack of fast battleships, and the inability to build specifically anti-aircraft fast battleships, the Saiyi Navy had innovated by creating anti-aircraft-focused cruisers based on much smaller and cheaper heavy cruisers.

They were called: air cruisers.

In the Saiyi Navy, the anti-aircraft firepower of the two "Ligen" class was only second to the four "Jingang" class.

Moreover, the "Ligen" class could carry six seaplanes, primarily for reconnaissance missions, thus alleviating the carriers’ operational burden.

Clearly, these two heavy cruisers were built to accompany and support carrier operations.

Unfortunately, He Weigu’s sense of duty was too strong.

As a result, after tailing the heavy cruiser for about ten minutes, he hadn’t spotted any of the Saiyi Navy’s carriers but encountered that fighter plane.

A Zero Fighter, flying at an altitude of less than a thousand meters, seemed to be on the landing approach of the carrier.

The sea fog still hadn’t cleared, the rain clouds were very low, and it occasionally rained, making visibility extremely poor, unable to see clearly even over a few thousand meters.

Faced with the incoming Zero Fighter, He Weigu broke out in a cold sweat.

The "Fat Swan" was not only slow but also very clumsy; even though there was a 8mm machine gun on each side of the rear cabin and in the tail cabin, encountering a fighter meant certain slaughter.

Fortunately, He Weigu did not panic.

Before he could react, the "Fat Swan" had once again dived into the rain clouds.

Hidden within the cloud layer, it was temporarily safe.

However, He Weigu had no idea how long this safety would last, as it was impossible to know the extent of the cloud cover from within.

That’s why He Weigu throttled down to the lowest gear and slowed the speed.

Now, he could only pray that the rain cloud layer was large enough.

Over ten kilometers away was the aircraft carrier "Xianghe."

As the staff officer came to report, Major General Sawa was studying the maritime chart, considering how to execute the operational orders personally issued by Admiral Takano.

These were not simple orders like "launch" or "return."

Three telegrams were sent, each representing a different command.

First: The Fifth Air Corps was to head north to join the Third Air Corps and assist in blocking the Watcher Strait with the Second Main Battle Corps that had headed north the previous night; after the arrival of the transport fleet, they were to help the landing forces capture and control Guard Island and Wang Island, at the north and south ends of the strait.

Second: Deploy reconnaissance aircraft to search the northern part of the Two-car Strait and the southeastern waters near Zu Island.

Third: If the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet was located and there was sufficient time, organize the ship-borne aircraft to launch an attack, aiming to annihilate the mixed fleet.

This made things interesting!

These three orders, almost simultaneously issued, were contradictory, especially the first order compared to the last two.

To meet up with the Third Air Corps, they needed to navigate northeast, moving them away from the Two-car Strait, let alone approaching Zu Island near the north of the strait. If executing the second and third orders, they wouldn’t be able to head in the direction to meet up with the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet at least until the afternoon.

Additionally, there was combat effectiveness to consider.

The aircraft of the Fifth Air Corps had almost all been reassigned to the Mobile Fleet, while the Third Air Corps had sent primarily Zero Fighters and ship bombers that morning.

In fact, the planes from the Third Air Corps had just arrived.

Due to low remaining fuel, the ship bombers were allowed to land first, and the Zero Fighters stayed back.

Now, aboard the two aircraft carriers of the Fifth Air Corps, there were only eighteen Type 97 ship attack aircraft and forty-two Type 99 ship bombers, plus about sixty Zero Fighters.

So many fighters, but they were of no use!

Major General Sawa was extremely frustrated, but he understood very well why Admiral Takano had issued the last two commands.

If Liangxia Navy’s special mixed fleet was southeast of Zu Island, then the First Main Battle Corps, where Takano was, would be caught up by this afternoon at the earliest, or by tomorrow morning at the latest. Without fighter cover, the First Main Battle Corps would certainly be destroyed.

Takano must have been confident enough to send Sawa to search the southeast waters near Zu Island.

All these reminders were essentially hoping Sawa would seize the opportunity to annihilate the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet, now operating independently and isolated.

At that moment, a patrol plane suddenly appeared.

It was completely unexpected, with no signs at all!

If it hadn’t been for a Zero Fighter from the Third Air Corps being nearby and the pilot on high alert, it’s doubtful the patrol plane flying above "Xianghe" would have been spotted at all.

Additionally, after entering the clouds, the patrol plane continued transmitting but was using a high-frequency radio.

When the staff officer rushed to report, Sawa thought he had heard wrong.

Transmission was typically done using low-frequency longwave radios, as shortwave signals easily decay and have very short transmission distances, thus high-frequency radios are unsuitable for sending telegrams.

Could there be enemy planes near the fleet?

Or, had the Fifth Air Corps already been exposed, and the patrol plane was guiding attack aircraft group, calling in bombers after locating the aircraft carrier?