Empire Conquest
Chapter 151 - 147 Trap

Chapter 151: Chapter 147 Trap

After setting aside his worries, Bai Zhizhan finally managed to sleep peacefully.

It was only for a few hours, as he awoke before dawn.

After breakfast, Bai Zhizhan returned to the Command Bridge.

"These were all received last night, nothing unexpected. I can’t take it anymore; I need to get some proper sleep, don’t come wake me before lunch."

"Alright, you go rest."

Once Li Mingbo had left, Bai Zhizhan sat down and picked up the telegrams left by Li Mingbo.

There were only two pieces of important news.

After three in the morning, the "Wuzhou" sent a telegram, reporting that it had encountered the First Main Battle Corps at Two-car Strait and had retreated after the engagement. Before the gun battle ended, the First Main Battle Corps had turned to head northeast, but their destination could not be deduced.

In the final battle, the cruiser squadron sank and damaged several pursuing Saiyi warships.

Before sending the telegram, the cruiser squadron had shaken off all enemy ships and was heading towards Watcher Strait, hoping to catch up with the First Main Battle Corps.

Wei Jun specifically mentioned that, upon catching up with the First Main Battle Corps, they would immediately send a telegram to report.

Afterwards, the "Wuzhou" sent another telegram stating that if they did not catch up with the First Main Battle Corps and had not received any orders from Bai Zhizhan, they would return to Xu Sea from Watcher Strait, expected to arrive by the evening of the 28th. The implication was that if there were other arrangements, they would have to be contacted by telegram beforehand.

Another message came from the Domestic Fleet, personally signed by Gui Boyong.

He had received Bai Zhizhan’s telegram and would, before dawn, dispatch all seaplanes to monitor Watcher Strait and search the sea area to the east of the strait.

For this purpose, the Domestic Fleet had already dispatched four heavy cruisers at full speed.

Mainly, as the seaplanes had a limited range, it was necessary for the heavy cruisers to advance two hundred kilometers to enable the seaplanes to fly to the eastern waters of Watcher Strait to carry out the reconnaissance mission.

There were a total of sixteen seaplanes, all set to take off before five in the morning.

Since the telegrams were sent before five, the four heavy cruisers would not immediately report to the flagship, so it was temporarily unclear how many seaplanes had successfully taken off.

Gui Boyong mentioned in the telegram that, upon receiving the news, he would immediately contact Bai Zhizhan.

Moreover, the dispatch included the communication frequency used by the seaplanes, meaning that as long as they were within radio working distance, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet could intercept the seaplanes’ telegrams.

Although sixteen seaplanes seemed like a lot, Bai Zhizhan was not reassured at all.

The truth was, due to a consistent lack of importance placed on them, shipborne seaplanes of the Imperial Navy had always confronted various issues. In fact, over the past decade or so, the Imperial Navy had consistently used shipborne seaplanes as search and rescue platforms during combat to search for crew members who had fallen into the water, such as parachuting and crash-landed pilots, and had never considered using shipborne seaplanes for reconnaissance missions.

The reason was simple: seaplanes were slow and had short ranges.

Although the issue of short range had somewhat improved, the problem of slow speed had never been resolved. Dragging huge pontoons, even when equipped with the best engines, they were definitely much slower than contemporary ship-borne aircraft, making them far less efficient for reconnaissance tasks.

Moreover, before the great war, the Imperial Navy had never experienced a situation where ship-borne aircraft were insufficient.

Among the global navies, the fleet carriers of the Imperial Navy had some of the top capabilities for deploying combat aircraft, with a particular emphasis and value placed on aerial combat capabilities.

Not to mention, in combat conditions, the "Imperial Capital"-class could accommodate up to three additional squadrons, comprising over twenty ship-borne aircraft.

Bai Zhizhan made the second-handed arrangements.

By the time he arrived at the Command Bridge, Li Yunxiang was in the air combat center below, arranging missions for the pilots who were first to sorties today.

It was a reconnaissance mission!

Two carriers, each deploying eight "Flying Fish" aircraft, all of them commander’s aircraft, and all equipped with long-wave radios. To achieve sufficient range, they all took off overloaded and carried a large auxiliary fuel tank hanging from the central point on the fuselage. The critical point was that the reconnaissance aircraft, flying northwestward towards the North and South Sado Islands, had to return to Zu Island after spotting the target, which was the third Air Force Wing. If no orders from the fleet were received thereafter, they were to be temporarily assigned to the first Shipborne Air Force Wing which had already reached Zu Island.

Simply put, there was no need to fly back.

It was not a matter of insufficient range, but that the reconnaissance planes returning could potentially expose the third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

However, such an arrangement also presented prominent issues.

After yesterday’s battle, only forty-seven torpedo bombers remained in the third Shipborne Air Force Wing, including two cobbled-together spare planes. After deploying sixteen planes for reconnaissance missions, the remaining thirty-one planes were only enough for one attack.

If two attacks were needed, then there would be no torpedo bombers available for the second round!

As for bombers, there were plenty!

Originally there were sixty-four, and only seven were lost yesterday. Including the spare planes, there were now fifty-nine, enough for two rounds of attacks.

Fortunately, the targets were the third Air Force Wing’s two small fleet carriers, where dive bombers were the primary force.

Thus, there were sixteen seaplanes and sixteen torpedo bombers assigned to the reconnaissance mission.

In Li Yunxiang’s words, as long as the third Air Force Wing followed behind the second Main Battle Corps or accompanied it to the Watcher Strait, deploying fighters from the rear to provide air cover for the second Main Battle Corps, they would definitely be located by the reconnaissance planes.

The North and South Sado Islands stretch from northeast to southwest, acting like a chain lying between the Xu Sea and the West East Ocean, with the Watcher Strait in the middle of the islands. Geographically, the Watcher Strait is the boundary between the Northern Sado Islands and the Southern Sado Islands, but its exact location is slightly towards the southwest, not exactly in the middle. For this reason, the Watcher Strait is closer to Zu Island.

This determined that the third Air Force Wing could only operate southeast of the Watcher Strait.

Go to the south of the Strait?

That area was too close to Zu Island, easily spotted by patrol aircraft from Zu Island and vulnerable to attacks by the shore-based air force stationed there.

Yesterday, the shore-based air force from Zu Island had already attacked the second Main Battle Corps.

At the time, the fifth Air Corps’s Zero Fighters provided cover, but did the third Air Force Wing have that many Zero Fighters?

East side of the Strait?

Possible, but then it would not be able to rendezvous in time with the first Main Battle Corps, which was full-speed returning.

At least according to the telegrams from the "Wuzhou," after changing its course, the first Main Battle Corps was likely heading directly towards the Watcher Strait.

Don’t forget, the Navy’s two new fast battleships had already returned to the Xu Sea.

In the Saiyi Navy, besides the four "Jingang" class ships that had not yet escaped, the only ones that could block the two fast battleships at the Watcher Strait were the first Main Battle Corps’ two "Damen" class. Although the "Damen" class was not fast, its sixteen-inch naval guns were sharp enough. Theoretically, only the sixteen-inch naval guns of the "Damen" class posed a threat to the Empire Navy’s new fast battleships.

It was apparent that the third Air Force Wing was likely to move south to meet the returning first Main Battle Corps.

Now, the trap was set, just waiting for the enemy to throw themselves into the net!