Empire Conquest
Chapter 178 - 174 Meeting Head-On

Chapter 178: Chapter 174 Meeting Head-On

When the first reconnaissance aircraft took off, Bai Zhizhan glanced at the wall clock, it was 5:15.

Punctual to the minute, very meticulous.

That was Li Yunxiang.

Soon, three more "Flying Fish" were successively catapulted.

Since the location of the transport fleet was already roughly determined, four reconnaissance aircraft were dispatched from the "Imperial Capital." Upon locating the transport fleet, these aircraft did not need to return. They lingered near the transport fleet, guiding the following attack aircraft group and directing the battle from the front.

For this, the pilots of the four reconnaissance aircraft were all elites who had participated in the previous battles.

On the flight deck above, the aviation service personnel did not stop, they had already started preparing the fighter jets for takeoff.

Since no reconnaissance aircraft were deployed, the attack operations would be initiated by the "Peijing," which would send out the first wave of ship-borne aircraft.

These matters were arranged by Li Yunxiang, so Bai Zhizhan need not worry.

Relatively speaking, at this time, the most relaxed person on the carrier was Bai Zhizhan. If it were a fleet exercise, he would set up a beach chair on the open gallery outside the Command Bridge, brew a cup of coffee, prepare a couple of pastry plates for afternoon tea, and watch the ship-borne aircraft perform takeoffs.

Of course, that would be on the "Longjiang."

The Command Bridge of the "Imperial Capital" was more spacious, but the outside gallery was very narrow, not even spacious enough to set up a beach chair, and felt crowded with just a few people standing.

Besides, it was a bitterly cold early morning, not a sunny afternoon.

Not to mention going outside, even inside the Command Bridge, the temperature was only five degrees Celsius.

Because the ship had been sailing at high speeds for several days, the boiler issues were mounting. Thus, after consulting Bai Zhizhan, the Captain ordered the heating for all non-essential departments to be shut down to reduce the load on the power system. The Command Bridge was considered a "non-essential department".

Leading by example was essentially a basic code of conduct for Navy officers.

There was still about an hour before dawn, no need to send the fighter jets up immediately.

Even if the Saiyi Navy sent out Model 97 boats for reconnaissance followed by Model 96 attack aircraft groups to shadow them, they still had to wait for daylight to launch an attack.

Therefore, after arriving at the Command Bridge, Bai Zhizhan had Li Mingbo go to have breakfast first.

Only after eating well would one have the energy to direct a battle.

When the ringing of the telephone arose, Bai Zhizhan was initially stunned, and only after a few seconds remembered that Li Mingbo had gone to the cafeteria.

"Command Bridge, this is Bai Zhizhan."

"Commander Bai... Reporting to the Commander, we’ve just received a report from the reconnaissance aircraft, a sighting of an unidentified vessel suspected to be an enemy ship."

"What!?"

Bai Zhizhan was taken aback by the Captain’s words.

How long had the reconnaissance aircraft been deployed?

Not even ten minutes?

Even the first one that took off was just about forty kilometers to the north at this time, and the other three were not yet forty kilometers from the "Imperial Capital."

How could enemy ships be discovered so close!?

However, the Captain wasn’t making things up.

The reconnaissance report was quickly verified.

The reconnaissance aircraft circled back and, during a close-range reconnaissance, came under fire from a High-altitude Gun. The pilot visually identified four heavy cruisers sailing southward at full speed.

Crucially, the pilot was Major Ji Yeshang, a triple-decorated elite squadron leader.

He had commanded the battle against the Third Air Corps the day before.

After the plane group returned, Bai Zhizhan had specifically met with and commended him, hence he recognized his voice, and the impression was still very profound.

Mainly because his surname was too uncommon, similar to that staff officer named Zhang Xiaohua.

Clearly, Ji Yeshang wouldn’t falsely report enemy movements.

Thirty kilometers to the north, four of the Four Capital Saiyi Navy’s Heavy Cruisers were traveling at full speed southward, heading directly toward the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

Undoubtedly, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had been exposed.

Before even discussing when it had been exposed, just those four Heavy Cruisers alone were deadly enough.

What to do now!?

As Bai Zhizhan pondered strategies, Li Mingbo, Li Yunxiang, and Zhou Yongtao successively arrived at the Command Bridge.

They had all either received a phone call or been contacted by an officer sent by the Captain.

The situation was extremely urgent, sparing no delay, Bai Zhizhan issued the order to turn, and also instructed Li Yunxiang to immediately make arrangements for the fighters to take off after turning.

The reason was clear, it was likely that the squadron of 96 land attack aircraft would soon arrive.

Deploy "Flying Fish" and "Wasp" to attack those four enemy cruisers?

It wasn’t the time yet.

Even if bombers and torpedo bombers could take off, they still had to wait until after dawn.

Additionally, it wasn’t guaranteed they could deploy ship-borne aircraft.

The "Imperial Capital" class’s maximum speed was only 32.5 knots, and Li Mingbo had called to inquire, finding out that due to boiler issues, the actual maximum speed might only reach 31 knots, and couldn’t be sustained, only capable of running for a few hours before they would need to slow down.

Could this speed allow them to escape the four Heavy Cruisers?

Definitely not!

According to confirmed war reports, four "Shang" class ships had joined the Mobile Fleet, four "High Bear" class with the First Main Battle Corps, four "Myogi" class with the Second Main Battle Corps, and two "Ligen" had followed the Third Air Corps to destruction. Therefore, among the eighteen Heavy Cruisers of the Saiyi Navy, the only ones that had not yet appeared were the first ever built two "Valley Eagle" class and two "Qingye" class.

The maximum speed of these four Heavy Cruisers was claimed to be 34.5 knots, but in reality no less than 33 knots!

Additionally, these four Heavy Cruisers were equipped with eight-inch Naval guns, whose maximum range exceeded 25 kilometers, and the power of an eight-inch shell was sufficient to destroy an unprotected carrier.

There was no need to sink it, just destroying the flight deck would suffice.

Theoretically, in just an hour and a half, those four Heavy Cruisers could close the distance to 25 kilometers, by which time it would be just about dawn.

Even if, due to the long distance, they couldn’t hit their target, it wouldn’t matter much.

They just needed to keep firing at the two carriers, forcing the carriers to continually maneuver tactically to evade the incoming shells. That in itself would be enough.

While executing tactical evasions, the carriers would not be able to launch ship-borne aircraft.

Under bombardment, the carriers couldn’t risk lining up bomb-laden and fully fueled aircraft on the flight deck.

As the distance closed, perhaps by noon, the Saiyi Navy’s Heavy Cruisers might catch up and then use their Naval guns to sink the two fleet carriers.

Additionally, the Saiyi Navy’s Heavy Cruisers were also armed with the immensely powerful "Spear" torpedoes.

Bai Zhizhan deeply regretted.

In the early morning, while preparing to deploy Reconnaissance Aircraft, in order to save some fuel, Bai Zhizhan had called back two destroyers that should have been patrolling ahead.

This arrangement was primarily to avoid providing fuel to these nearly empty fuel tanker destroyers before returning.

The key issue was that the fleet’s carriers were not fleet oilers; they could only stop to refuel alongside which was not only very troublesome but also time-consuming.

To refuel a few destroyers with a hundred tons of fuel each would take several hours.

If some fuel could be saved, the refueling operation could be postponed a day, allowing arrangements to be made after leaving the combat zone.

Don’t forget, Bai Zhizhan had always been worried about a stealth attack from Saiyi submarines.

If Bai Zhizhan hadn’t made this adjustment, the two advanced destroyers would have certainly spotted the Heavy Cruisers in time.

Now, however, regret was useless.

After making the arrangements, Bai Zhizhan broke radio silence, ordering the destroyers still lingering nearby to return at full speed, to provide cover for the carriers.