Empire Conquest
Chapter 180 - 176 Is this an Illusion?

Chapter 180: Chapter 176 Is this an Illusion?

Bai Zhizhan had not allowed the pilot to take off, and the situation was becoming increasingly perilous.

Just past seven o’clock, under Bai Zhizhan’s non-opposition, Li Mingbo ordered the Communication Advisor to issue a combat readiness order to the Destroyer squadron moving to the right front and southeast direction of the carrier. Next, he inquired with the chief engineer of the "Imperial Capital." If the boilers were to operate at overload, how long could they maintain that? Implicit in his question was that when the Destroyer squadron launched its assault, the carrier would need to accelerate to get away from the enemy ships behind.

When Li Mingbo had made these arrangements, it was already ten minutes past seven.

The Imperial Guard Army soldiers brought life jackets, and the atmosphere inside the Command Bridge grew tense. In the last salvo, the enemy ships had managed a straddling shot at the "Imperial Capital" and two shells had fallen over a hundred meters away. By the spread, it was only luck that had kept them from a direct hit.

By now, the distance had closed to less than seventeen kilometers.

Perhaps, the next salvo could hit the "Imperial Capital."

Perhaps having wasted too many shells or possibly due to overheating of the gun barrels, the enemy ships had actually decreased their firing rate after the distance had closed.

Maybe, it was just for better aiming.

"Brother Li, I suddenly started thinking about something."

Out of nowhere, Bai Zhizhan blurted out, startling Li Mingbo since he hadn’t called him that in many years.

"I’m wondering if all this would still have happened if I hadn’t had that drink back then."

"Are you asking me?"

Bai Zhizhan turned back only to look at Li Mingbo.

"To be honest, I really don’t know," Li Mingbo paused for a moment before adding, "but at that time, could you have not taken that drink?"

After Li Mingbo finished, Bai Zhizhan was stunned for a while before he bitterly smiled and shook his head.

Looking back twenty years ago, even aboard the lookout of the "North River" Battleship, knowing what would come, Bai Zhizhan would surely have taken that drink.

Moreover, before taking that drink, Bai Zhizhan had already done something that changed his destiny.

What did all this now, have to do with that courage-boosting drink?

As Bai Zhizhan grew reflective, Li Mingbo grabbed the microphone placed next to him.

"Yes, what... wait a minute!"

Li Mingbo didn’t hang up the phone, instead, he started walking toward the forward port windows with it.

Fortunately, during its design, it was considered important to provide ten meters of cable connecting the microphone to its base, allowing the commander to walk freely around the bridge with the microphone.

The armor meant to protect against shrapnel had come down, blocking all the portholes, but a long, narrow viewing slot had been made at the level of the joined plates.

It was essentially a thin slit that one had to get close to in order to see the situation outside clearly.

Moreover, the viewing slot was covered by an iron piece that could slide up and down; it had to be raised to look through the viewing slot outside.

This design was to block the light inside the bridge at night.

What had happened?

Bai Zhizhan didn’t ask but followed right over.

It was broad daylight, and the light coming through the viewing slot was a bit dazzling.

Outside there was nothing but the sea.

Not even seagulls.

The nearest land was hundreds of kilometers away, and few seabirds would venture this far out to look for food.

Moreover, with shells continuously flying and landing nearby, even if there were seabirds following the ships, they would likely have been scared away by now.

"What are you looking at?"

"Report!"

The communication officer suddenly appeared behind him, shouting loudly, which startled Bai Zhizhan into shivering repeatedly.

These guys are really frightening without any sense of guilt.

Apparently not wanting to be criticized, the communication officer didn’t say much and handed the telegram to Li Mingbo, who had already turned around and was closer.

Li Mingbo quickly glanced at the telegram and then handed it to Bai Zhizhan.

No explanations were given; everything needed was in the telegram.

Taking the telegram, Bai Zhizhan first froze, then turned around, pulled up the metal plate, and looked outside through the observation port.

A few minutes later, Bai Zhizhan saw several columns of smoke in the southwest direction.

At that moment, the carrier shook violently a few times.

Li Mingbo had already returned to his post, and before the shaking had stopped, he had picked up the handset to ask the captain what had happened.

"A near-miss round, at the rear, landed less than a hundred meters from the stern."

"Is there any damage?" Bai Zhizhan’s face didn’t look good at all; being hit at this time would indeed be extremely unlucky.

"No damage found yet, but the outlook isn’t promising."

"Turn southwest, slow down if necessary." Bai Zhizhan paused slightly, then added, "Let the captain do what is necessary without worry. No matter what, hold on for another few minutes. And don’t forget, send the message we just received to the destroyer squadron."

"The telegram has already been sent," the communication advisor quickly replied.

Bai Zhizhan nodded his understanding, then shrugged at Li Mingbo, signaling him not to stand there dazed, but to hurry and deliver the orders.

When Li Mingbo had conveyed the orders to the captain, Bai Zhizhan finally took a long breath.

That telegram had come from the "Wuzhou".

At the same time the telegram was received, the lookout had seen smoke from four battleships but couldn’t determine exactly which navy they belonged to.

At that moment, based on experience, the lookout concluded that these were four large battleships, each displacing over ten thousand tons, and all at high speed.

As a result, when the captain called, Li Mingbo was startled and couldn’t believe it.

Where did the Saiyi Navy come up with four ten-thousand-ton battleships?

At best, the Saiyi Navy’s large battleships were not supposed to appear here at this time.

The only explanation could be the few heavy cruisers of the West East Ocean Fleet from the Newland Federation stationed at Guan Island.

But the Newland Federation had not yet entered the war.

Moreover, for those heavy cruisers to arrive in time, they would have had to have set out on the morning of the 26th; any later, and they surely wouldn’t have made it.

Two days had passed, and the Empire’s intelligence service couldn’t possibly have no clue.

In other words, upon discovering the departure of Newland’s heavy cruisers from Guan Island’s military port, the Navy headquarter surely would have sent a telegram to warn Bai Zhizhan.

Indeed, Li Mingbo hadn’t reported to Bai Zhizhan right away. He wasn’t intentionally concealing it, he just wanted to see it with his own eyes before letting Bai Zhizhan know.

Soon after, the communication officer brought over the received telegram.

Interestingly, the communication officer also couldn’t believe that the four "Wuzhou"-class heavy cruisers had unexpectedly returned and eerily appeared in front of the "Imperial Capital."

In the vast sea, the chance of two unlinked fleets meeting by accident was lower than winning a lottery jackpot.

Worried that there was an error in the telegram, the communication officer didn’t hand it directly to Bai Zhizhan, but instead gave it to the more approachable Li Mingbo.

Of course, these were just side issues.

It was indeed four "Wuzhou"-class heavy cruisers.

Additionally, four light cruisers were maneuvering at a faster speed towards the enemy ships’ rear, preparing to strike with torpedoes after engaging in battle.

Actually, on seeing those smoke pillars, Bai Zhizhan felt as if he was not fully awake, suspecting it might be due to a lack of rest in recent days causing him to be disoriented and possibly imagining illusions, like a daydream or completely fictitious images.