Empire Conquest
Chapter 173 - 169: The Third Eye

Chapter 173: Chapter 169: The Third Eye

Southwest of Watcher Strait, on the "Flame Sea" Battleship.

"Report!"

"What now!?"

As the communications officer ran over to report, Jin Hong instantly stood up—or more accurately, he jumped up from his seat.

"The voice radio is adjusted and can be normally used."

"Then what are we waiting for? Get on with it!"

With that, the officers and soldiers in the command bridge sprang into action.

After giving the orders, Jin Hong finally sat down and took a deep breath to calm his emotions.

This had started a few hours earlier.

If nothing had gone wrong, the "Xu Sea" and the "Flame Sea" would have arrived before one o’clock in the morning, but unexpectedly, there was a problem.

It wasn’t Jin Hong’s "Flame Sea", but Li Jie’s "Xu Sea".

Firstly, a boiler malfunctioned, incapable of reaching maximum pressure, which resulted in the connected steam turbine’s output power dropping by about ten percent.

Fortunately, this only reduced the "Xu Sea’s" maximum sailing speed by 0.5 knots, not too significant an impact.

However, just as they were about to rush to the battlefield—precisely at half-past eleven the previous night—during a routine system check, an officer from the electronics department discovered that the gun-aiming radar installed at the top of the command bridge wouldn’t start and was also difficult to repair onboard.

Now, there was trouble.

The gun-aiming radar was the secret weapon of the two "Xu Sea" class Fast Battleships!

Several months ago, the two "Xu Sea" class had completed all propulsion tests except for the limit speed, but the Navy had been delaying their combat deployment because of issues with the equipped gun-aiming radar, whose reliability still hadn’t met the standards.

If the war hadn’t erupted, the Navy would have waited until the radar was perfected before enlisting these two battleships.

The radar’s unreliability wasn’t the fault of the shipyard or the company producing the radar, since this was the world’s first gun-aiming radar.

Technologically, the development of the gun-aiming radar was far more challenging than that of air-search radar.

What made things worse was that the Imperial Navy had set a very high standard.

It was designed to be paired with the battleship’s main gun.

What does that mean?

The clutter created by sea surface reflections made the development of the radar extremely difficult and caused repeated delays in progress.

After long-term efforts, all the technical challenges had been addressed, leaving only the issue of reliability.

Without a functioning radar, the combat effectiveness of the "Xu Sea" class might not surpass that of the "Longxing" class.

The "Xu Sea" class was the first—and only—type of Fast Battleship built by the Imperial Navy to treaty standards, cramming nine 400mm main guns into a 35,000-ton vessel while still reaching a top speed of 29 knots necessitated compromising on armor protection.

Although it featured an angled main armor belt and was designed based on "key protection" theory, the armor protection of the "Xu Sea" class was still very poor. Within the Navy, traditionalist generals considered the "Xu Sea" class as a battlecruiser, not meeting the standards of a battleship.

In theory, the "Xu Sea" class could not withstand the impact of heavy armor-piercing bullets across its full range of gunnery.

In fact, due to such poor protection, only two of the "Xu Sea" class were built.

To put it bluntly, if it came to a bayonet fight with the enemy, the "Longxing" class was the ideal choice, whereas the "Xu Sea" class was better suited for sniping from the rear.

This was precisely the reason the Imperial Navy first equipped the "Xu Sea" class with gun-aiming radars.

Moreover, the "Xu Sea" class was outfitted with an upgraded model of the 45-caliber 400mm naval gun, designed to maximize the power of heavy armor-piercing bullets across its entire firing range.

It is said that the gun-aiming radar was specifically developed for the "Xu Sea" class.

Thus, under Li Jie’s command, the two ships reduced their speed to twenty knots while all officers and soldiers were mobilized to find alternative solutions.

Fortunately, there is strength in numbers.

The method was also very simple: the "Flame Sea" would lead, using a radio to provide firing parameters to the "Xu Sea."

Interestingly, both battleships were not equipped with radios!

It wasn’t surprising, as the radio had only just been introduced this year, while the two "Xu Sea" class had already been completed before that.

Luckily, the seaplanes they carried were equipped with radios.

Although the working distance was somewhat limited, only a few tens of kilometers, it was enough for the two battleships fighting side by side.

However, they had to reinstall the antenna and pull a compatible low-voltage power cable.

While the electronics department officers struggled with the radios, Jin Hong was almost driven mad.

Tens of kilometers away, Gui Boyong, commanding the Domestic Fleet, was engaged in fierce combat with the Second Main Battle Corps while the two newest "Xu Sea" class could only wait anxiously.

With Jin Hong’s temper, it was fortunate he did not lose it completely.

According to the servicemen on the "Flame Sea," during those hours, Jin Hong did not hold back on swearing, and Li Jie, his old buddy, was often mentioned in particular.

Still, the two "Xu Sea" class did not just wait idly during this time.

Although their speed had been reduced to twenty knots, the two battleships continued sailing toward the Watcher Strait.

Right from the start, Li Jie had dispatched four destroyers accompanying him to launch a surprise attack on four light cruisers blocking their way, and the assault was successful.

The destroyers launched torpedoes from several kilometers away and then turned away to disengage.

The four Saiyi Navy light cruisers engaged with the Domestic Fleet’s Light Cruiser Corps were severely damaged and failed to notice the destroyers appearing ahead.

As a result, after being struck by torpedoes, they even thought they were under attack from the Domestic Fleet’s Light Cruiser Squad.

The attacking destroyers had not even been spotted promptly, let alone the two battleships following them.

By now, it was two fifty in the morning.

Twenty kilometers east of the "Flame Sea" was the flagship "Damen" of the First Main Battle Corps.

Though the "Flame Sea" was responsible for providing the firing parameters, it was the "Xu Sea" that would lead and fire first.

Twenty kilometers was indeed a very long distance.

At such a distance, the decisive factor would be the ability to range and aim.

As for other factors, such as the relative angles of the ships’ courses and their impact on the gun battle, they could be said to be negligible.

If they couldn’t range and aim, it would all be futile!

Clearly, in the night, over such a vast distance, traditional optical rangefinders were absolutely incapable.

To put it precisely, it surpassed the limit of human vision.

Never mind that humans had lost their night vision through evolution; even with the abilities of a cat, it would be impossible to see targets several tens of kilometers away at night.

At two fifty-two, the "Xu Sea" reported that it had completed fire control setup, setting the firing time to one minute after communication.

At fifty-three past, the nine main guns of the "Xu Sea" opened fire.

Almost simultaneously, the "Flame Sea" also fired its first full salvo.

At the time, the lookouts and gunners on both battleships didn’t see the enemy ships, they all set their firing parameters based on the data provided by the fire control officers.

As for the data, it was provided by the gun-laying radar.

In fact, the target was just a spot on the radar screen. The so-called fire control data were just several groups of values calculated by the electronic officers based on this.

This was also the first time in the history of naval warfare that a naval gun battle had been conducted at night without the involvement of optical rangefinders.

As for the outcome, it was without a doubt!