Empire Conquest
Chapter 175 - 171 Troublemaker

Chapter 175: Chapter 171 Troublemaker

On the "Longxing."

Half an hour ago, the lookout reported from the Light Cruiser Squad that the battle in the southwest had ended. All four of Saiyi’s light cruisers had been sunk, and at last, Gui Boyong could breathe a sigh of relief. After dealing with an urgent matter, he even made a special trip to the cafeteria to get himself a cup of coffee.

Relaxation was one thing, but he still had to stay on the Command Bridge until the battle was over.

At this time, just after two in the morning, it was the easiest time to feel sleepy.

Drinking freshly ground coffee that had just been brewed was indeed a comforting experience.

Gui Boyong always took great pride in his appreciation for coffee, for Bai Zhizhan had only developed the habit of drinking coffee after following his example.

But before the coffee even had a chance to cool, bad news arrived.

Two "Xu Sea" class Fast Battleships had appeared and opened fire on two "Damen" class ships.

What were those idiots thinking!?

While the Captain was still reporting the situation, Gui Boyong slammed his fist onto the table, causing the coffee cup to fall and spill hot coffee all over the ground.

Seeing Gui Boyong’s sudden outburst, the Captain immediately shut his mouth.

One couldn’t blame Gui Boyong; any other Commander with a shorter temper might have already started cursing.

After several hours of effort, we had almost crippled the second Main Battle Corps, held back the first Main Battle Corps, and gained a victorious position. Who would have thought that Li Jie and Jin Hong, loyal followers of Bai Zhizhan, would come out to make trouble halfway like Cheng Yaojin?

It was definitely sabotage!

Worried the first Main Battle Corps might escape?

Could they?

The third Aviation Mixed Fleet, commanded by Bai Zhizhan, was in the West East Ocean, with the whole next day to act. Even if the third Shipborne Air Force Wing suffered heavy losses, there was still the first Shipborne Air Force Wing stationed on Zu Island as reserves. Not to mention annihilating, at least it would severely damage the first Main Battle Corps.

Moreover, what if they did escape!?

Losing all of its carriers, the Saiyi Navy would surely be defeated. Even if the two "Damen" class battleships returned to Saiyi’s domestic ports, they could do nothing but wait to be destroyed.

Once Liu Xiangzhen’s Special Mixed Group arrived, no matter how many battleships the Saiyi Navy had, they would not be able to turn the tide.

The battleships that escaped, if they did not scuttle themselves, would be used as war reparations after the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s defeat.

The same went for the four battleships of the second Main Battle Corps.

That was exactly why we did not pursue relentlessly.

Military strategy states, "Do not chase the desperate enemy."

Takano was the desperate enemy; relentlessly pursuing would only force him to fight to the death.

To put it more bluntly, after realizing defeat, Takano would rather someone challenge him to a fight to the death, allowing him to fulfill his value as a Saiyi Navy serviceman.

Gui Boyong could understand Takano’s feelings best.

Gui Boyong and Takano came from the same era, with very similar experiences, both deeply influenced by tradition.

In comparison, the slightly younger officers, like Bai Zhizhan, did not understand Takano as well.

Moreover, fleet battles decided by naval guns often turned into a "kill a thousand, lose eight hundred" situation, where both sides suffered. Therefore, after achieving primary objectives, a Fleet Commander typically made strategic choices to conserve strength, not engaging in a desperate fight to the death with the enemy.

In fact, in the age when battleships ruled the seas, the concept of "complete annihilation" did not exist.

In the past great war, several fleet battles ended with both sides suffering, and the side that had the advantage did not pursue victory further.

Rather, it was with the advent of the carrier era that battles resulting in "complete annihilation" began to appear.

The naval battles of the previous days had met the criteria of "complete annihilation" by eliminating the opponent’s primary combat forces, and the victorious side’s gains far surpassed those of past fleet battles.

Now, Gui Boyong deeply regretted it.

Originally, it was he who had recommended Li Jie and Jin Hong as Captains of the two Fast Battleships.

Recommending them was mainly to show respect to Bai Zhizhan, but also for the sake of Bai Zhizhan’s well-being. The two were schoolmates and close friends of Bai Zhizhan. Appointing them as Captains provided an even stronger justification for the Navy headquarter to allocate two Fast Battleships to the Special Mixed Fleet where Bai Zhizhan served.

Having two loyal friends as his guardians, Bai Zhizhan could charge into battle with much less concern for what lay behind him.

In essence, it was all for their benefit.

But now, these two fools were chasing minor military achievements, completely disregarding the bigger picture!

Gui Boyong felt an urge to hit someone. If those two fools were standing in front of him right now, he would definitely slap each of them across the face!

If still not satisfied, he would turn his hand and slap them each again.

While Gui Boyong was pondering what to do, Captain Li Jiaheng, a Colonel, received a call from the first officer.

Knowing that Gui Boyong would be angered and that the situation was indeed serious, he had come to the Command Bridge specifically to report to Gui Boyong.

Before coming, he had instructed the first officer to call him if there were any important updates.

"Alright, understood." After hanging up the receiver, Li Jiaheng hesitated briefly before saying to Gui Boyong, "The lookout has determined the distance between the two sides to be around twenty kilometers."

Gui Boyong’s brow rapidly twitched several times.

"Two ’Damen’ class ships are sailing toward the southwest, and they’ve begun to return fire with their Main Guns, but no flashes from explosions have been observed."

"Did you just say twenty kilometers?"

Li Jiaheng nodded, affirming that Gui Boyong had heard correctly.

"These two fools... they aren’t that stupid after all."

Hearing Gui Boyong say this, Li Jiaheng couldn’t help but laugh.

The key point was, Gui Boyong’s face looked much better.

Why?

That was a combat distance of twenty kilometers!

During their acceptance tests, the two "Xu Sea" class ships had demonstrated powerful night Gun Battle capabilities, proving just how valuable the fire-control radar was.

Let’s not forget, the issue with the fire-control radar was reliability, not its performance.

Moreover, during the acceptance tests, the Domestic Fleet summarized several tactics for using fire-control radar in nighttime battles.

To put it simply, if the timing of the firing was mastered and the speed of the Fast Battleships was fully utilized, it could render the enemy ships without fire-control radar incapable of responding!

What’s the key?

Without fire-control radar, the enemy could only observe when the other side fired and then roughly estimate the enemy’s course and speed based on the distance and interval between two instances of firing. This information was used to calculate the enemy’s trajectory and set the firing parameters.

It was very complicated and wildly unreliable.

If the enemy changed course and speed after every firing, the estimated trajectory would be way off, far from reaching the fire control standard.

In real combat, the deviation often exceeded one-tenth of the firing range.

In fact, this was also the key reason why the efficiency of nighttime gunfire was so low.

Before the advent of fire-control radar, unless the weather was exceptionally clear, the sky cloudless, and a full moon present, nighttime Gun Battles seldom took place beyond ten kilometers.

Anything beyond that was akin to wasting shells.

With fire-control radar, things were different.

Radars could "keep an eye" on the enemy ship continuously, measuring the distance to the enemy in real time, not just estimating the enemy’s trajectory, thus there was no deviation.

The key was to maintain a significant distance from the enemy ship.

A few months prior, Gui Boyong wrote a report requesting that the Navy headquarter place a greater emphasis on long-range battles and ammunition, enhancing the investment in these areas.

The two "Xu Sea" class ships firing from a distance of twenty kilometers was equivalent to giving Gui Boyong a peace of mind.

It didn’t matter if some shells were wasted. As long as the two Fast Battleships remained unharmed, that was enough.