Empire Conquest
Chapter 136 - 132: Strike When the Time Comes

Chapter 136: Chapter 132: Strike When the Time Comes

This telegram came from Navy headquarters.

The shore-based Air Force stationed on Zu Island would launch before three o’clock to attack the second Main Battle Corps previously discovered by patrol aircraft, planning to dispatch thirty Bombers and twenty Fighters.

The message concluded by mentioning that the Aviation Mixed Fleet would consider whether to participate in the attack action at their discretion.

Navy headquarters didn’t directly issue an order, and that was unavoidable because the current position of the Aviation Mixed Fleet was unknown.

Moreover, according to the operational codes of the Empire’s Navy, even the Navy Commander-in-chief does not have the authority to remotely control the Fleet.

Once on the battlefield, the Fleet Commander is the only decision-maker and is the sole person responsible for all decisions made.

At this moment, it was two forty, twenty minutes away from three o’clock.

Bai Zhizhan didn’t delay and immediately gave the order for Li Yunxiang to arrange the missions for the pilots and for the ground crew to begin refueling and arming the ship-borne aircraft immediately.

This was Bai Zhizhan, decisive in action when needed.

Following that, the "Imperial Capital" turned first.

As for the attack tactics, Li Yunxiang had already planned them thoroughly.

The first wave of the attack would launch thirty "Typhoon," sixteen "Wasp," and sixteen "Flying Fish." The escorting Fighters would split into two formations, with the fourteen of the leading formation tasked with drawing away the anti-aircraft Fighters and the accompanying sixteen providing close cover for the Bombers and torpedo aircraft. "Wasp" and "Flying Fish" were mixed into one squadron each to form an Attack Aircraft Group, each led and commanded by a squadron leader and a wing commander. The first wave of the attack focused on incapacitating carriers, so each Attack Aircraft Group targeted a separate carrier.

Indeed, the tactical intent was also apparent from the formation.

Although the Aviation Mixed Fleet had not yet engaged with the Saiyi Navy, the massive losses from the battles of the previous day forced Bai Zhizhan and Li Yunxiang to admit that the Empire Navy’s ship-borne fighters were far inferior to the Zero Fighters.

Moreover, more than half of the pilots of the Shipborne Air Force Wing were newcomers!

Even the so-called "veterans" were also entering the battlefield for the first time.

That is why Li Yunxiang had arranged for a full thirty Fighters, nearly half of the total.

According to Li Yunxiang’s planning, the first round of the assault could cripple the fifth Air Corps and at least severely damage two carriers, securing a decisive victory.

Next, the second wave of the attack was divided by Li Yunxiang into two batches.

At least, that was his initial arrangement.

According to his original plan, as soon as the first wave of the attack was launched, immediately begin the flight deck rotation process, allowing the deck crew to prepare eight Fighters, eight Bombers, and eight torpedo aircraft for takeoff as swiftly as possible, forming an Attack Group and taking off without delay.

In total, only twenty-four ship-borne aircraft.

That is to say, each carrier only needed to prepare twelve ship-borne aircraft.

This number represents the number of aircraft that could be launched in the shortest time and at maximum efficiency after launching the first wave of Attack Aircraft Group at full capacity.

In simple terms, having more than twelve or fewer than twelve aircraft would reduce the utilization efficiency of the flight deck and the supply points.

According to this plan, the first batch of the second wave of the attack would actually depart half an hour late.

But now came the trouble.

Considering the potential counter-attack, as well as the anti-air Fighters that ascended at noon having to return to the carriers for refueling, the fleet’s air defense needed to be prioritized.

The crux was here!

The two "Imperial Capital" class carriers together carried fifty Fighters, among which two were squadron leaders’ reserve aircraft, not used most of the time and in partial disassembly, requiring several hours for assembly, hence the actual number of available Fighters was forty-eight, with thirty-eight already deployed in the attack!

In addition, there were eight on air patrol.

That is to say, after the first group of aircraft in the second round of attacks took off, there were only two left on standby on the carrier!

This meant a considerable amount of time would need to be spent on maintenance and inspection of the returning air defense fighters, during which nothing else could be done.

Even if everything went smoothly, the problem was not yet solved.

Of the remaining ten fighters, should they be dispatched to escort the Attack Aircraft Group, or kept back for air defense?

Clearly, this was a problem!

It was precisely for this reason that Li Yunxiang had initially made preparations for both options, waiting until the first round of attacks was over to decide which tactics to use, based on the results.

Clearly, this was not working.

The first round of attacks began before three o’clock, and even in the best case, it would take until after four-thirty, or perhaps even five o’clock, to get the combat report. Even if the second batch of fighters for the second round of attacks were promptly dispatched at that time without any delay, it would be past six-thirty by the time they flew over the Fifth Air Corps.

By then, it would already be nightfall.

Moreover, the Fifth Air Corps was to the southeast, where night fell a bit earlier.

As a result, Bai Zhizhan personally made adjustments.

After the launch of the first round of attacks, he immediately called back the eight air defense fighters, replacing them with another eight, to maintain the basic air defense strength. Then, he started preparations for the second round of attacks, dispatching only eight fighters to escort, leaving the other two behind.

In fact, it meant that the eight fighters which had been performing air defense duties would, after maintenance, go on to perform escort duties.

At most, it would take only an hour, meaning that by four o’clock, the sixteen Dive Bombers and twelve torpedo attack aircraft for the second round of attacks could take off, and the eight fighters on escort duty could be in the air before half-past four.

Of course, the escorting fighters would definitely need to speed up to catch up with the Bombers and Attack Aircraft that had departed earlier.

The truth was, the fleet’s air defense would be extremely vulnerable until half-past four, or to be precise, before four.

However, if they couldn’t even take this small risk, what was the point of fighting a battle?

As for other concerns, they simply couldn’t afford to pay attention to those now.

Before three o’clock, the first two "Flying Fish" were successively catapulted from the "Imperial Capital," and the first round of attack operations officially commenced.

To be precise, only the ship-borne aircraft were getting started.

In addition, all the "Flying Fish" took off overloaded.

Actually, this was an advantage of the "Imperial Capital" class, with its hydraulic catapults having 15 percent more power than those of the "Longjiang" class.

For this reason, the "Flying Fish" could take off with a full load even after being fitted with a torpedo.

Because of insufficient catapult power on the "Longjiang" class, the "Flying Fish," when equipped with a torpedo, had to carry about two hundred kilograms less fuel. Squadron leaders and flight leaders, needing to command combat operations and sometimes conduct reconnaissance, would offload some of the armor to carry more fuel for extended range, requiring the engine to work overtime during take-off.

The "Wasp" faced the same situation.

Although lighter than the "Flying Fish," the "Wasp’s" engines were also inferior, and it was only after the increase in catapult power that it could take off overloaded.

The additional fuel loaded due to overload allowed the "Flying Fish" and "Wasp" an extra hundred kilometers of flight distance.

In combat, this extra range allowed pilots to complete their attack operations more comfortably, rather than hastily dropping bombs and torpedoes in order to return to base.

In less than half an hour, the "Imperial Capital" had launched all thirty-one of its ship-borne aircraft. The "Peijing" did the same, completing its launch operation within half an hour.

All that was left was to wait patiently.

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