Empire Conquest
Chapter 145 - 141: A Sigh of Relief

Chapter 145: Chapter 141: A Sigh of Relief

Although he had long been mentally prepared, Bai Zhizhan still couldn’t accept it when worry turned to reality.

Li Mingbo was very tactful; he called Zhou Yongtao and together, they left the officers’ recreation center.

"You shouldn’t overthink it either; we have to look at this from another angle," said Li Yunxiang, who didn’t leave and could now stay to counsel Bai Zhizhan. "If you think about it on the bright side, Liu Xiangzhen’s absence is actually leaving the opportunity for glory to us. What’s there to be unhappy about?"

"Use soldiers that just gained real combat experience as a stepping stone to climb ranks?"

Li Yunxiang rolled his eyes and replied, "You, sometimes, are too kind-hearted like a woman. To put it bluntly, when Liu Xiangzhen makes decisions, does he consider these things? I’m not saying he’s always right, but as the fleet’s highest commander, you have to think about more important things. I believe that the thousands of officers and soldiers of the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet look up to you because they believe that following you will lead them to victory and honor, not just to go home, nor to live long. If they don’t even have this awareness, they don’t deserve to wear the Imperial Navy’s uniform!"

As Li Yunxiang spoke these words, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t help but offer a bitter smile.

Of course, Li Yunxiang knew that Bai Zhizhan was just feeling emotional, or rather, he wanted to vent the frustration that had been building up in his heart; it wasn’t genuine weakness.

If necessary, Zhu Shijian would just send him off to the Naval Academy without him having to apply.

"Let’s not talk about useless things. How shall we fight tomorrow?" Li Yunxiang brought the conversation back on track.

Bai Zhizhan rubbed his forehead and sighed again.

"If it really comes to that, we also..."

"There’s actually nothing to worry about for tomorrow’s battle. Zhou Yongtao has already made it very clear—first find and take out the biggest threat, the Third Air Corps, at least sink or severely damage those two small fleet carriers. Once we’ve removed the threat from behind, we can go all out and kill to our heart’s content."

Li Yunxiang nodded, refraining from responding.

During dinner, Zhou Yongtao had shared this tactic with Li Yunxiang, and after getting his approval, only then did he mention it in front of Bai Zhizhan.

Let’s not forget that Zhou Yongtao is from the Third Shipborne Air Force Wing and is now under Li Yunxiang’s command.

"What really irritates me are the Mobile Fleet’s four fast battleships. To speak frankly, if we can take out those four fast battleships, even if we let two Main Battle Corps escape, together with Takano, I won’t feel a bit heartbroken. I might even pop open a bottle of champagne to celebrate."

"Are you willing to buy champagne now?" When Li Yunxiang said this, it wasn’t because Bai Zhizhan was stingy, but because there was an anecdote related to champagne and cheap liquor.

Bai Zhizhan rolled his eyes and had an expression of not wanting to bother.

Li Yunxiang chuckled, then changed the subject, saying, "Can a cooked duck still fly?"

"Do you think it can’t?"

"Four ’Jingang’ in the Flame Sea, it can’t be..."

Bai Zhizhan smiled and waited for Li Yunxiang to shut up before continuing, "It took all afternoon, but the Special Mixed Group hasn’t found those four fast battleships. Unless Liu Xiangzhen wasn’t putting in his full effort, the only explanation is that the four fast battleships didn’t flee east after being struck."

Li Yunxiang furrowed his brows, saying, "In the afternoon, Liu Xiangzhen would not have held back."

"That’s certain; he would definitely have wanted to expand his success at that time, especially since, apart from the four fleet carriers, those four fast battleships were of greatest value. Moreover, if the Special Mixed Group continued to head east, the only threat they would face at night would be those four fast battleships."

"So, could it be that he was worried about an ambush, and that’s why..."

"It’s a possibility, but not a very likely one."

Li Yunxiang looked utterly perplexed, clearly not having figured it out.

"Don’t forget, Liu Xiangzhen also has four fast battleships in his hands, two of which are the formidable ’North River’ class. Even if they encountered the enemy at night, they wouldn’t be at a disadvantage, at least there’s no need to worry about being caught off guard with a head-on blow. Besides, like me, he is a traditionally trained officer, and he certainly knows to send cruisers ahead for reconnaissance at night. If he were to encounter the remnants of the Mobile Fleet at night, he would probably welcome it."

After Bai Zhizhan explained this way, Li Yunxiang finally understood.

"According to my estimate, the four ’Jingang’ definitely turned south to avoid us."

"Headed to Marra City?"

Bai Zhizhan sighed bitterly and continued, "In such an obvious situation, how could Liu Xiangzhen not think of this? Even if he didn’t think of it immediately, after the first unsuccessful reconnaissance, he would definitely guess it. Therefore, all he needed to do in the second reconnaissance was to send a few reconnaissance aircraft south, and he would definitely find the four fast battleships. Unfortunately, he did not make such an arrangement."

"This... you mean, he did it on purpose!?"

Bai Zhizhan nodded and sighed again.

"But... how does this benefit him?" Li Yunxiang was dumbfounded, looking completely in disbelief.

"Do you think the four ’Jingang’ will go to Marra City?"

"If they don’t go to Marra City, where else could they go?" Li Yunxiang clearly lacked confidence; after Bai Zhizhan spoke up, he started to worry that his own conjecture was flawed.

"If they do go there, that would be perfect. Even if the Newland Federation doesn’t detain the battleships, they might not provide supplies either. The key is, we have so many intelligence operatives arranged in Marra City; we would definitely discover the four battleships. Once the matter escalates and is dragged on for a few days, we’ll have our trap set up. Do you think, after being driven out of Marra City, the four ’Jingang’ would still have a chance to escape back to Saiyi territory?"

"If they don’t go to Marra City..."

"They would only need to refuel once and the four fast battleships could bypass the Nanzhu Islands from the south and head to Saiyi Navy’s Tuk Fortress in the Southwest East Ocean!"

"What!?" Li Yunxiang was extremely shocked.

"Although the Saiyi Navy might not have made preparations in advance, sending a few oil tankers to refuel the four fast battleships after leaving the Flame Sea is not a difficult task."

"But going to Tuk Fortress, going there..." Despite his shock, Li Yunxiang quickly regained his composure.

The island reef fortress, which belonged to the Imperial Navy more than twenty years ago, had been usurped by the Saiyi Navy and turned into their main base in the Southwest East Ocean.

"Still haven’t figured it out?"

Li Yunxiang furrowed his brows; he truly hadn’t figured it out, or rather, he found it hard to believe.

"Don’t forget, the telegram from Navy headquarters mentioned the second phase of the operation."

"That’s the problem." Li Yunxiang hesitated slightly before saying, "The second phase of the operation is divided into two strategic directions, and we advocate moving south, which first requires taking down Tuk Fortress. Isn’t the arrival of the four ’Jingang’ there the perfect justification for supporting the move south?"

"And then?"

Li Yunxiang paused, not quite understanding, and looked over at Bai Zhizhan.

"Using this as a reason, we go to Navy headquarters to argue our case forcibly and end up with the excuse for creating a small clique?"

Hearing Bai Zhizhan put it that way, Li Yunxiang froze in shock.

Evidently, this was the key!

If Bai Zhizhan’s analysis was correct, Liu Xiangzhen definitely let the four fast battleships escape on purpose, and his goal was to ensure that the eastward plan he proposed would prevail in the next phase of operation, eventually becoming the primary direction for the next strategic offensive.

If that was really the case, Liu Xiangzhen’s scheming was too formidable!

Tip: You can use left, right keyboard keys to browse between chapters.Tap the middle of the screen to reveal Reading Options.

If you find any errors (non-standard content, ads redirect, broken links, etc..), Please let us know so we can fix it as soon as possible.

Report
Follow our Telegram channel at https://t.me/novelfire to receive the latest notifications about daily updated chapters.