Empire Conquest
Chapter 160 - 156 Intentional Difficulties

Chapter 160: Chapter 156 Intentional Difficulties

Zu Island, Lotus Military Port, Naval Air Station.

"Zhu, that’s enough," Shen Pu interjected.

"What is he even..." Zhu Huasheng grumbled.

"Ease up, don’t stoop to his level. Doesn’t Bai always say, ’If a dog bites you, you don’t bite back’?"

Although Zhu Huasheng was still furious, Shen Pu’s words helped him regain his composure.

This wasn’t a matter of petty grievances. It was about being crushed by someone of higher rank, and if things escalated, others would certainly be dragged into the mess.

Zhu Huasheng glanced back at the Major General standing behind the second-floor window, still watching them, before he walked towards the military vehicle parked on the roadside.

Indeed, that man was Liu Xiangbin.

After arriving at the Lotus Military Port, Naval Air Station, Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu were informed that Liu Xiangbin had been appointed as the Acting Commander of the Zubei garrison headquarter by the Navy Headquarters.

The two had a bad feeling at that moment.

However, considering that the garrison headquarter was located in Zubei City and Lotus Military Port was just a small port, plus the Base Commander guaranteed full support, they didn’t dwell too much on it. They were only temporarily deployed to Zu Island and were to return to their Wing’s station after the battle ended.

The war had already erupted, and even if Liu Xiangbin was inept, he wouldn’t dare to do something that could harm the Empire.

No one would be shown leniency in military law violations, not even a Prince—everyone guilty would be executed without exception.

Unfortunately, they had oversimplified the situation.

Just before two in the afternoon, when a message was delivered by a fighter from the Aviation Mixed Fleet, Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu were discussing how to arrange the reconnaissance operations, Liu Xiangbin arrived.

His first command, after deboarding the aircraft, was to prohibit all aircraft at the air station from taking off.

This included the First Shipborne Air Force Wing.

He justified it by saying it was a preparation for the military operations against the North and South Sado Islands and necessitated mobilizing every available resource.

That’s precisely why Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu went to confront him.

Technically, their ranks were still slightly lower than his.

Don’t forget, Liu Xiangbin was a Navy Major General, while Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu were just squadron leaders and Majors—a rank comparable to that of Li Yunxiang’s.

At least, Li Yunxiang was still officially the Commander of the First Shipborne Air Force Wing.

Regrettably, Li Yunxiang wasn’t there.

When negotiating with Liu Xiangbin, they didn’t emphasize their affiliation with the Aviation Mixed Fleet. Liu Xiangbin had been the Acting Commander of this unit before being replaced by Bai Zhizhan after a blind draw—not an intentional move against him. But a spiteful and petty person wouldn’t care about that. Mentioning the Aviation Mixed Fleet in his presence would be like rubbing salt into his wounds.

How could a vindictive person tolerate such provocation?

The two only brought up one issue: the First Shipborne Air Force Wing was temporarily on Zu Island following the deployment instructions from the Southern Fleet, which didn’t involve the operations Liu Xiangbin mentioned for advancing to the Sado Islands.

Simply put, the First Shipborne Air Force Wing wasn’t under the jurisdiction of the Zubei garrison commander.

Bluntly put, it was a clear case of not interfering with each other’s operations. "You walk your broad road; I’ll cross my log bridge. Let’s just coexist peacefully."

As a result, Liu Xiangbin agreed not to interfere with them, but he also wouldn’t provide any support.

During the ensuing argument, Liu Xiangbin made calls in front of them to all the senior officers of the air station, ordering them not to assist the First Shipborne Air Force Wing’s personnel or aircraft in any way—not just withholding fuel but also denying the use of base facilities and equipment.

Furthermore, Liu Xiangbin ordered the temporary requisition of the First Shipborne Air Force Wing’s combat aircraft.

Not just requisitioned them—temporarily seized them.

In his words, as the highest-ranking commander, he had the authority to mobilize whatever combat forces were within his jurisdiction to fulfill the tasks assigned by higher-ups.

Any objections?

Alright, proceed with the standard procedure, submit a report to the Navy Headquarter, and let the Navy Headquarter issue the adjustment orders.

The key point is, the Zu Island garrison is an independent unit, not under the jurisdiction of the Southern Fleet or the Domestic Fleet, only following orders from the Navy Headquarter.

This arrangement is simply because Zu Island is situated between the Xu Sea and the Flame Sea.

Over the past decades, Zu Island had always been the buffer zone between the Domestic Fleet and the Southern Fleet, thereby clearly defining the jurisdiction of the two fleets.

Liu Xiangbin had orders from the Navy Headquarter, while Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu had orders from the Southern Fleet.

Obviously, unless they could secure orders from the Navy Headquarter, even if Liu Xiangbin was intentionally making things difficult, Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu couldn’t do anything about it.

At that moment, Zhu Huasheng was so angry he almost resorted to violence.

Thankfully, Shen Pu wasn’t confused by anger.

Even though Liu Xiangbin wasn’t their direct superior, assaulting a Senior General was no trivial matter.

"What do we do now?"

After calming down, Zhu Huasheng wasn’t as enraged.

He began to display a furious demeanor, playing a double act with Shen Pu. If the two of them were too compliant, Liu Xiangbin would definitely take advantage of them.

"First, we need to find a way to get a message to Bai, letting him know we’ve run into trouble here and can’t proceed as he planned."

"Try the Base Commander."

"We need a legitimate reason."

Zhu Huasheng rubbed his forehead before saying, "That idiot told us to get orders from the Navy Headquarter, right? Just say we’re sending a report to the Navy Headquarter."

"That won’t be easy," Shen Pu’s point was simple, the telegraph operators were base personnel, and others might not dare to go against the garrison commander’s orders.

Liu Xiangbin couldn’t touch the two of them, but dealing with disobedient soldiers under his command was a piece of cake.

It’s wartime now, under the military law of the Imperial Navy, commanders have absolute authority to act first and report later against soldiers who disobey orders.

"Then we might as well send a report to the Navy Headquarter."

"You mean, the Navy Headquarter will forward the telegraph to Bai and them?" Shen Pu was somewhat doubtful, or rather worried, since they were just low-ranking majors.

"Regardless, this is the only way now."

Zhu Huasheng was blunt, and Shen Pu, without further thoughts, nodded in agreement.

At this time, it was already past three in the afternoon.

Third Aviation Mixed Fleet, "Imperial Capital."

The aviation service personnel were still busy; after the morning’s battles, fewer than a hundred ship-borne aircraft were operational, including over forty fighters.

Following orders, the service personnel first prepared the torpedo bombers and bombers capable of undertaking reconnaissance missions for take-off.

However, Bai Zhizhan had yet to issue orders for deployment.

Indeed, he was waiting for news.

If Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu followed his instructions by deploying reconnaissance aircraft to locate the First Main Battle Corps, there would be no need for the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet to dispatch reconnaissance aircraft.

Once the First Shipborne Air Force Wing located the First Main Battle Corps, they would strike at the opportune moment.

Of course, which main battle corps to strike at would be determined by the actual situation at that time.

The only certainty was that the afternoon’s bombing would mainly target battleships.

For this reason, Bai Zhizhan had already instructed Li Yunxiang to make arrangements, specifically telling the service personnel to set bomb fuses and torpedo depths according to the standards of targeting battleships.

Additionally, he had the pilots familiarize themselves with the bombing targets in advance.

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