Empire Conquest
Chapter 186 - 182: Bad News Keeps Coming

Watching the enemy plane turn and fly away, Takatoku closed his eyes and let out a heavy sigh.

Before dawn, he had received a telegram from headquarters stating that the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet was no longer in the Xu Sea but had already entered the East Ocean, and just south of Nagiu Port, more than three hundred kilometers from the Watcher Strait as of yesterday evening. However, at that time, Takatoku hadn’t taken it seriously.

The telegram also mentioned that last night, after a submarine heading to the Tuk Naval Base spotted the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet, headquarters immediately adjusted their plans, ordering the Sixth Cruiser Corps, which had been escorting a convoy, to rush southward, trying to intercept the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet before dawn.

The battle situation indeed was developing in that direction.

Shortly after headquarters sent the telegram, the "Rixiang" intercepted a telegram sent by the "Qingye," a heavy cruiser stating that the Sixth Cruiser Corps had encountered the enemy and was in full pursuit of two carriers, estimating they could catch up with and sink both carriers after daybreak.

The telegram from the "Qingye," which was news of the battle with the enemy ships, perfectly matched the predictions made by headquarters earlier.

Because the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had not used long-wave radios and had not communicated with the outside world, when they appeared east of the Two-car Strait in the early morning of the 27th and attacked the cruisers of the First Main Battle Corps, they might not be able to reunite with the carriers and could possibly return solo after completing their mission.

Without the protection of the cruisers, the two fleet carriers stood no chance against four heavy cruisers.

Clearly, the battle over there was almost a guaranteed victory.

If that was the case, what was there to worry about?

Even though the battle of the Second Main Battle Corps had ended, and it would take months, maybe even over a year, to repair the four battleships after returning to Saiyi territory, Takatoku always believed that the Saiyi Navy’s battle was far from over.

Without carriers, could they not still fight?

Without Takano, did the Saiyi Navy lack a commander capable of leading fleet operations?

Don’t forget, Lan Yun was still there, and the four fast battleships incorporated into the Mobile Fleet would arrive at the Tuk Naval Base in a few days.

The key point was that the two super battleships would be completed next year.

With two world-class super battleships, was there still a fear of not being able to defeat the Liangxia Navy?

Where he expected a sweet dream, it shattered once again.

Approaching noon, upon receiving the message forwarded by headquarters, Takatoku was immediately terrified.

The Sixth Cruiser Corps faced powerful resistance, all four heavy cruisers were sunk, and they were unable to destroy the two carriers before encountering the ambush.

According to the last telegram sent, the two carriers still retained their air combat capabilities!

The four heavy cruisers sacrificed in vain, only managing to drive the two carriers south by over a hundred kilometers.

Still in the morning, the bombing operation organized, planned, and executed by the Military Command Department also declared a failure.

Nearly a hundred Type 96 land attack planes, repeatedly intercepted before reaching the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet. Although some managed to reach the fleet after a tough battle and dropped bombs, not a single one hit, leaving both carriers completely unscathed.

The loss of the land attack plane group was severe, with less than ten making it back!

Soon after, the troop transport convoy was bombed, all transport ships were sunk, and all the attacks were carried out by carrier-borne aircraft.

After receiving this telegram, Takatoku called several captains.

Not for anything else, just to prepare for the worst-case scenario that might arise.

The captains understood this all too well.

All four battleships were heavily damaged; even without being bombed, it was highly probable they couldn’t make it back to Saiyi territory and might sink en route.

Speaking more seriously, if the weather worsened, with stronger winds and higher waves, these four battleships all risked sinking. If unlucky enough to encounter a Liangxia Navy submarine, they wouldn’t even need divine intervention; a few torpedoes could send all four battleships to the seabed.

If they were bombed, the outlook was dire.

Takatoku personally made arrangements.

If the worst case scenario were to occur, we could only abandon the battleship and have the Captain arrange for the officers and soldiers to transfer to a cruiser and take the cruiser home.

At this point, Takatoku emphasized one thing.

Commander-in-Chief Takano had already followed the "Damen" in sacrificing himself, and the Saiyi Navy was facing the most severe test it had in a century, requiring all officers and soldiers to work together.

Above all, the Imperial Country comes first!

The two super battleships, currently being urgently constructed, did not have their crew assigned yet, and thus it was essential to save the officers and soldiers to allow the super battleships to form combat capability in time.

In Takano’s words, once the battleships were built, without people to man them, they were just piles of scrap metal.

After convincing four Captains, Takatoku made a second arrangement. He sent a telegram to Colonel Nabe aboard the "High Bear," ordering him to lead the Fourth Cruiser Corps to come quickly.

Dispatch the Fourth Cruiser Corps to deal with the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet?

Let’s not talk about hundreds of kilometers away; even tens of kilometers away, the Fourth Cruiser Corps might not be able to take on the four "Wuzhou" class heavy cruisers.

Although Takatoku never considered carriers as the main force, he was extremely knowledgeable about the battleships’ performance.

To put it accurately, he also had a bit of self-awareness.

The "High Bear" class was known as the "Strongest Treaty Type Heavy Cruiser," but the Liangxia Empire’s "Wuzhou" class had already broken the treaty constraints, belonging to the post-treaty type heavy cruisers. Strictly speaking, they continued using the treaty period’s 200-mm naval guns only because the development of new naval guns had not kept up.

After noon, about half an hour ago, the four heavy cruisers had caught up.

When that reconnaissance aircraft approached, the "Yishi" under the protection of "High Bear" even fired several shots into the air, even if it was ineffectual.

Now, The Second Main Battle Corps had already been exposed, and even the Fourth Cruiser Corps had been discovered.

What else could be done?

"Report!"

The communication officer suddenly ran over, shouting loudly, causing Takatoku to shudder.

A telegram, just received.

Forwarded by the Military Command Department, a piece of confirmed intelligence.

Just before dawn, precisely, after the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet was discovered by the Sixth Cruiser Corps the previous night, the aircraft from the First Shipborne Air Force Wing, stationed at Zu Island’s Lotus Military Port Naval Air Station, had already left. It was presumed they were likely flying towards the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

With the reinforcement from the First Shipborne Air Force Wing, was there anything the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet wouldn’t dare to do?

"Commander..."

"Go give the order." Takatoku didn’t turn around, handing the telegram to the approaching Captain. "The situation is beyond salvage, our efforts end here."

Upon receiving the telegram, the Captain immediately froze.

Even though the First Shipborne Air Force Wing wasn’t completely organized, it had over eighty ship-borne aircraft, most being bombers and torpedo bombers.

Not to mention finishing off the already dying Second Main Battle Corps, even sinking all four heavy cruisers wouldn’t be a difficult task.

At worst, they could still severely damage eight battleships.

Let’s not forget, the Liangxia Navy’s Domestic Fleet was right behind them, potentially catching up at any moment, boasting six battleships!

Hesitation could kill more people!

As the Captain abruptly snapped back into reality, Takatoku had already disappeared.

After a moment of surprise, the Captain went to issue the orders.

As for Takatoku, he had already decided to live or die with the flagship.