Empire Conquest
Chapter 237 - 233 Headless Dragons

Chapter 237: Chapter 233 Headless Dragons

Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng chattered away a great deal, as both of them were pilots and shared an extraordinary obsession and enthusiasm for aircraft.

Letting them go on, they probably could have talked for three days and nights straight.

Essentially, it all boiled down to a single statement.

The bombers deployed by the Army Air Force were all twin-engine medium bombers with a payload less than two tons. Although they numbered over a thousand, their combat efficiency was extremely low.

The Army had realized their shortcomings and also recognized the value of heavy bombers.

The officers Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng had met were returning to take delivery of heavy bombers, constituting the second batch, with the first batch of pilots already piloting heavy bombers back to the frontlines.

According to what they said, the Land Air Force would definitely make an appearance with Chengfeng Company’s four-engine heavy bombers on the battlefield before the fight at Ice Storm Peninsula concluded, to undergo the test of combat, identify existing issues, make targeted improvements based on actual combat experience, and to prove the value of heavy bombers.

Perhaps, those four-engine heavy bombers had already flown over Buju, dropping their bombs.

Because Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng were particularly good at bragging, lunch lasted over two hours.

Fortunately, that afternoon, aside from organizing pilots, especially fighter pilots, for adaptation training, there were no other tasks scheduled.

Since Bai Zhizhan had arrived at his post before daylight, he went back to sleep after lunch.

This was so that he could replace Zhou Yongtao in the evening.

It was when Bai Zhizhan went to sleep and was chatting with the Duke of Zhou in his dreams, that a telegram was sent from Liuhuang Island. This telegram wasn’t only received by the Army Headquarter on Saiyi, but also by a listening station that had been set up just a few days ago outside Qiu Harbor, over a thousand kilometers away.

In the evening, the Navy headquarter sent a telegram.

When the "Heng River" received the telegram, Bai Zhizhan had just gotten up, was squatting in the toilet, and the incessant ringing of the phone made him fume with irritation.

When he came out of the toilet, someone was knocking at the cabin door.

It was Zhou Yongtao, who brought with him the telegram that had just been received.

It was indeed urgent.

The Imperial Guard Sixth Bureau had made a definitive judgment: the Commander of the Liuhuang Island garrison, Li Zhong, had been killed in a bombing, and the senior staff accompanying him were either dead or injured.

In other words, by daylight, the garrison on Liuhuang Island was like a dragon without a head.

Regarding the appointment of a new Commander, the Saiyi Army and Navy had a disagreement, with Tanimoto insisting that a Navy officer be sent to take on the commander role.

Tanimoto had plenty of reasons: The defense of Liuhuang Island would decide the naval supremacy to the south of the mainland.

Essentially, this was a Navy battle and had little to do with the Army.

However, the Army had beaten the Navy to deploying ground troops on Liuhuang Island twenty years ago, subsequently squatting there and refusing to leave, and later acquired the rights to its defense.

Moreover, when it came to combat against the Liangxia Navy, the Navy obviously had more experience.

Previously, Headquarter had used the reason of combating the Liangxia Navy to request battle aircraft from Tanimoto, who had indeed made arrangements.

Regrettably, those battle aircraft hadn’t even taken off yet.

But all said and done, those guys at Headquarter simply wouldn’t buy it, even mocking Tanimoto, saying the Navy didn’t have combat-capable ground troops, not to mention a fleet; what would they use to defend Liuhuang Island? The so-called actual combat experience was also a record of failures.

According to Headquarter’s intentions, the Navy was only responsible for supplying ships to transport troops and materials to Liuhuang Island.

Because the Navy wouldn’t compromise, Headquarter hadn’t settled on who would replace the deceased Li Zhong, hence no officer was dispatched to Liuhuang Island.

In the days that followed, the garrison on Liuhuang Island operated on its own.

Even if officers took charge and organized, without a Commander at the helm, the morale of lower-ranking soldiers would definitely be compromised, and a mutiny might even occur.

Crucially, there were not many supplies on Liuhuang Island; usually, they were replenished every ten days, and the last supply run was three days ago.

By that calculation, the remaining supplies could last about seven days at most; even with reduced rations, making it last ten days would be quite good.

By the time the supplies ran out and the soldiers started to starve, they wouldn’t have the strength to fight.

The received telegram made it clear that Liu Xiangzhen was likely to launch the landing ahead of schedule.

How much earlier?

The telegram did not specify, but it could be calculated.

At dawn, while the Special Mixed Group’s ship-borne aircraft were bombing Liuhuang Island, the two Heavy Cruiser Squads responsible for supporting the landing operation were nearby the Special Mixed Group.

According to the original plan, after the bombing started, the two Heavy Cruiser Squads would accelerate forward. It was expected that they could reach the vicinity of Liuhuang Island after dark.

The two Heavy Cruiser Squads would bombard Liuhuang Island at night, focusing on destroying the beachhead fortifications set up by the enemy.

If necessary, four Fast Battleships could be dispatched, using their massive Naval Guns to destroy those strong targets that could not be taken out by the 200mm Naval Guns.

Originally, the plan required at least five days to complete the preparatory bombardment, so there was plenty of time, and there was no need to send the Landing Fleet ahead of schedule.

For safety, the Landing Fleet would be on standby near the Special Mixed Group.

Even if the Landing Fleet departed upon receiving the message, and rushed to Liuhuang Island at full speed, the landing operation could start at the earliest in the afternoon of the 16th.

Considering the tide and the inability to provide air support at night, they might delay the landing until the morning of the 17th.

Would a day and a half be enough?

If the four Fast Battleships were used, and completely disregarding ammunition consumption, assuming there was enough ammunition, a day and a half would just barely suffice.

But the question was, would Liu Xiangzhen dare to send out the Fast Battleships at night?

Also, was there really enough ammunition?

The 400mm heavy Armor-piercing Bullets weighed more than a ton, as did the high-explosive bombs, and they couldn’t be reloaded at sea; they had to be resupplied in port.

For this reason, at least one-third of the Main Gun ammunition carried by a Battleship when it set sail were Armor-piercing bullets.

If there were no plans for ground support missions, it might even be necessary to increase the number of Armor-piercing bullets to more than half.

Generally, Battleships, especially cutting-edge Fast Battleships, would not be deployed for ground strike missions.

That’s because the lifespan of a Battleship’s Main Gun barrel was very short; it could only fire a few hundred full-charge rounds at most, and the cost of a Main Gun barrel was outrageously high.

Replacing a Main Gun barrel was also a very troublesome matter and often done concurrently with major repairs.

In comparison, ammunition was relatively inexpensive.

According to the previous plan, tasks requiring the support of the four Fast Battleships were very few, because if there was enough time, ship-borne aircraft could be dispatched for bombing runs.

The destructive power of the 750kg Air Bombs specially mounted and dropped by the torpedo bombers greatly exceeded that of the 400mm shells.

Thus, it was clear that the four Fast Battleships of the Special Mixed Group definitely did not have enough ammunition.

If the preliminary bombardment preparation was not in place, and the landing operation was hastily initiated, it would certainly encounter many unexpected problems!

Bai Zhizhan felt a massive headache, yet he could do nothing.

During dinner, he kept contemplating whether to send a telegram or not, not to warn Liu Xiangzhen, but to let Liu Xiangzhen go for it.

Why?

With the First Special Mixed Fleet backing them up, there was no need to worry too much, at least there was no need to deliberately conserve the Main Gun ammunition of the four Fast Battleships.

If worse came to worst, Armor-piercing bullets could still be used to destroy the bunkers on the island.

The results could even be very good.

The Permanent Fleet at Tuk Fortress?

Bai Zhizhan, along with the First Special Mixed Fleet, was there to intercept Lan Yun. In this battle, they aimed to annihilate the Permanent Fleet and completely cut off the Saiyi Navy’s chances of turning the tables.