Empire Conquest
Chapter 185 - 181: The Situation Has Changed

Chapter 185: Chapter 181: The Situation Has Changed

Onboard the "Imperial Capital."

When Li Mingbo emerged, the "Flying Fish" that had queued up was already entering the carrier’s landing course, flying toward the carrier, with the pilot making the final adjustments.

In front of the flight deck, a few fighters that hadn’t been sent into the hangar were present; the aviation maintenance crew had already raised the barricade net.

"Just received it."

Li handed the telegram to Bai Zhizhan and raised his binoculars to look at the "Flying Fish."

It was a squadron leader’s aircraft, and several kilometers behind, another "Flying Fish" marked with the squadron leader’s insignia awaited its turn to land. It was none other than Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng.

After reading the telegram, Bai Zhizhan said nothing.

Li Mingbo did not elaborate further, for he knew Bai Zhizhan was not in a good mood.

It had started about fifteen minutes earlier when the Navy headquarter sent a telegram. The Domestic Fleet had confirmed their wins: sinking two "Damen" class, four "Myogi" class, four "Changliang" class, along with a number of other small vessels, but failing to sink the four Battleships from the Second Main Battle Corps and the four Heavy Cruisers from the Fourth Cruiser Corps, though it was certain that all four Battleships had been severely damaged.

According to the Domestic Fleet estimations, the Second Main Battle Corps would return under the cover of the Fourth Cruiser Corps.

If conditions permitted, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had to seize this opportunity to launch another wave of strikes, sinking those four Battleships that had been badly damaged in last night’s naval battle.

But what did "if conditions permitted" mean?

If they had known in advance, Bai Zhizhan definitely wouldn’t have sent a report to Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu at dawn, urging them to come after sunrise.

Now, however, since the First Shipborne Air Force Wing had arrived, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had gained the capability to strike the main enemy force.

In addition, they had to count on the four "High Bear" class Heavy Cruisers.

The question now was not whether it was necessary, but whether it was feasible.

Before the arrival of Zhu Huasheng and Shen Pu commanding the First Shipborne Air Force Wing, the skies above the two carriers were empty, having dispatched all their shipborne aircraft.

Even after the arrival of the First Shipborne Air Force Wing, it would take another two hours to prepare.

At this rate, they could dispatch Reconnaissance Aircraft by one in the afternoon at the earliest.

There was also a prerequisite: the aviation maintenance crew had to be able to keep going.

Li Mingbo suggested using the Seaplanes launched from the Cruisers to carry out reconnaissance tasks, not only to relieve the pressure on the ship-borne aircraft but also to make full use of the time.

The problem was, Seaplanes couldn’t replace ship-borne aircraft.

According to the telegram from the Navy headquarter, the Second Main Battle Corps headed back to East Ocean from Watcher Strait between two and four in the morning; the four Battleships were at a speed of less than ten knots. The Fourth Cruiser division, which had previously accompanied the First Main Battle Corps, returned to East Ocean after four in the morning; the condition of the four Heavy Cruisers was rather good, and they could maintain a faster speed, though it was unlikely they would return alone.

Combining this information, by the time the telegram was received at nearly eleven, the distance to the Second Main Battle Corps was at least 500 kilometers, with no less than 300 kilometers to the Fifth Cruiser Corps. Clearly, Seaplanes with a patrol radius of 300 kilometers might not be able to locate these two battle groups.

This posed a problem.

To launch the strike in the afternoon, the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet would have to head northwest, towards Watcher Strait.

If the goal was to strike the Second Main Battle Corps, it would be necessary to accelerate. This could likely lead to an encounter with the forward-moving Fourth Cruiser Corps.

The key issue was that the battle might not end before nightfall.

With just one afternoon, discounting the time for reconnaissance and searching, only half an afternoon remained to allow ship-borne aircraft only one sortie each. Even not considering pilots’ quality and assuming an ideal hit rate, it might not be possible to eliminate four Main Battle Ships and four Heavy Cruisers in a single bombing run.

What’s more, there would definitely be Light Cruisers and Destroyers providing cover.

By nightfall, anything could happen.

However, in this matter, Bai Zhizhan had no other choice.

In the telegram from the Domestic Fleet, Gui Boyong unequivocally told Bai Zhizhan that if Takano bit the dust in the combat at dawn along with the Damen, he would have to reconsider the next phase of the combat operations, and this could greatly impact the ability to annihilate the Second Main Battle Corps.

Implicitly, letting the Second Main Battle Corps slip away would turn the situation against the Domestic Fleet.

As for the serious implications within, there was no need to state them explicitly.

Bai Zhizhan was not only involved in drafting the combat plans but was also the main writer, and he was acutely aware of the stakeholders involved in the combat scheme for the second phase, which had been modified dozens of times before.

There was no other way; Bai Zhizhan could only make adjustments to the combat operations.

This time, the telegram came from the leader of the squadron.

After he read the telegram and returned to the inside of the Command Bridge, Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng had already arrived.

"Sorry to have put you through this," Bai Zhizhan approached them proactively.

"Us brothers, we don’t need such formalities."

"It’s what we ought to do."

What followed was a warm exchange of pleasantries.

Although they had only been apart for just over ten days, all three felt as if they were reuniting after a long absence, given the earth-shaking events of the past ten days.

Then, Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng also greeted Li Mingbo.

"The battle is not over yet, so I won’t stand on ceremony with you," said Bai Zhizhan as he turned and walked over to the Nautical Chart Table.

As it was their first time on the "Imperial Capital," Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng found the spacious Command Bridge somewhat unfamiliar.

At this time, Li Mingbo handed over the telegrams that had just been received from the Domestic Fleet and the Navy headquarter to the two men.

As they read the telegram, Bai Zhizhan announced his plan.

Quite simply, the First Shipborne Air Force Wing would deploy reconnaissance aircraft to scout in the northwest direction, striving to find the Second Main Battle Corps and the Fourth Cruiser Corps by four o’clock in the afternoon. Then, based on the situation, launch an attack with the assistance of the Third Shipborne Air Force Wing.

"According to Commander Gui’s intentions, the primary goal is to take out the Second Main Battle Corps first; if we can continue the offensive, then we’ll consider whether or not to deal with the Fourth Cruiser Corps," he said.

"Given the current situation, it would be good enough if we can take out the Second Main Battle Corps," Shen Pu was the first to comment.

"The key is, we don’t know the exact situation of the Second Main Battle Corps," Zhu Huasheng paused briefly, then continued, "Before dawn, we received telegrams from Second Brother Li and Jin Dahan. They got a good scolding from Gui Boyong, who accused them of messing around and ruining the Domestic Fleet’s big plans."

Bai Zhizhan gave a wry smile and sighed, not engaging in the subject.

On one hand was his former superior, and on the other, his own brothers; it was difficult to say anything against either.

"Regardless, let’s send out reconnaissance aircraft first. Once we find the Second Main Battle Corps, it’s not too late to think about our next move."

"Thanks for your trouble," Li Mingbo spoke up at that moment, "The Aviation Bridge is in the back, Old Li is there; I’ll take you over."

Bai Zhizhan nodded, indicating that everything that needed to be said had been said.

Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng understood the delicacy of the situation; after all, this was the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet, a different group compared to the First Aviation Mixed Fleet.

Only after the two men left did Bai Zhizhan let out a deep sigh.

Li Jie and Jin Hong were doing more harm than good!

It could only be said that Gui Boyong was patient; he only scolded them harshly. If Bai Zhizhan had been in charge there, he might have stripped them of their captaincies on the spot.

Defying a superior’s orders, demotion was the least of the punishments.

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