Empire Conquest
Chapter 248 - 244: Oil Tanker Gets Bombed

Chapter 248: Chapter 244: Oil Tanker Gets Bombed

The Liangxia Navy actually attacked an oil tanker flying the Newland flag!

Moreover, those ship-borne aircraft came from the north.

The Liangxia Fleet had already bypassed the Volcanic Islands and appeared in front of the Permanent Fleet?

How could that be possible?

The Volcanic Islands, especially those in the north, were less than a thousand kilometers from the Saiyi mainland, not far at all, with not much space for fleet maneuvers. Even if the Liangxia Fleet had four carriers and enough fighters, they wouldn’t dare get close to the Saiyi mainland.

Besides, how could the patrol planes stationed on the mainland have failed to spot the Liangxia Fleet?

It definitely wasn’t what it seemed!

The Liangxia Fleet must still be in the south, and those aircraft were meant to attack the Permanent Fleet. Because they didn’t find the Permanent Fleet, they attacked the oil tanker on their way back.

That was entirely possible!

In the last battle in the Flame Sea, after the aircraft carriers of the Mobile Fleet were totally destroyed, the aircraft group dispatched by the Liangxia Fleet ignored the cruisers they encountered and only attacked a few damaged battleships on their way back, otherwise, the four Fast Battleships wouldn’t have managed to escape.

The pilots of those ship-borne aircraft must have received orders to first take out the four Fast Battleships, to avoid wasting bombs on the oil tanker.

So, where was the Liangxia Fleet exactly?

When Lan Yun suddenly realized what was happening as the staff officer marked the location of the attacked oil tanker on the sea chart,

the four oil tankers were actually in the location where the Permanent Fleet was supposed to be.

To be precise, they were on the course the Permanent Fleet was supposed to be on.

The four oil tankers did not change course, and continued to head north towards the North Ma Islands, which was the very route meant for the Permanent Fleet. Because they received Tanimoto’s warning, the Permanent Fleet had veered east by hundreds of kilometers and did not adjust their course thereafter. Without Tanimoto’s warning, the Permanent Fleet would now be on that route, assuredly ahead of the oil tankers.

This perfectly explained why the attack aircraft group appeared from the north.

The Liangxia Fleet was targeting the Permanent Fleet and was perhaps within 200 kilometers of the oil tanker, otherwise, where would those ship-borne aircraft get so much fuel to carry bombs and torpedoes, fly around north of the oil tanker, and then launch an attack on their way back.

From this, it could be very likely theorized that the commander of the Liangxia Fleet had guessed the whereabouts of the Permanent Fleet.

Which fleet had dispatched the attack aircraft group?

Was it the one commanded by Liu Xiangzhen, supporting the Marine Corps attacking Liuhuang Island, or the one commanded by Bai Zhizhan, consisting of only one carrier?

Lan Yun had a headache, as the telegram hadn’t mentioned anything related.

The only related aspect was the scale of the attack aircraft group. There were more than thirty planes, mostly bombers, with not many torpedo bombers.

Mainly bombers?

Lan Yun read it through again carefully, his brows furrowed tightly.

If they were coming for the Permanent Fleet, why predominantly use bombers?

The Saiyi Navy had always been learning from the Liangxia Navy, hence they knew early on that torpedoes were more threatening than bombs when hitting battleships.

Actually, the main strike force of the Saiyi Navy Air Force was the Type 97 ship attack, not the Type 99 ship bomb.

As for the Liangxia Navy, similarly, it primarily employed "Flying Fish."

As long as the focus was on targeting battleships, the plane group would definitely be led by torpedo bombers.

Also, just over thirty planes seemed too few.

To attack the Permanent Fleet, which had four Fast Battleships and seven Heavy Cruisers, nearly a hundred ship-borne aircraft would be needed, over thirty planes were clearly insufficient.

Could it be that the attack aircraft group wasn’t targeting the Permanent Fleet?

Was there a need to expose their presence for four oil tankers and two not-so-valuable destroyers?

Clearly, that made no sense at all.

Thinking this, Lan Yun’s headache only grew worse.

If he could, he really wanted to break the silence and telegraph Tanimoto.

"Commander!"

This time, when the communications officer hurried over, Lan Yun didn’t notice.

After catching Lan Yun’s attention, the communications officer didn’t say much, just handed over the just-received telegram.

The telegram from the Military Command Department was still a battle report, but it didn’t have much to do with the fleet—it came from the headquarters of the defense forces on Liuhuang Island.

In the afternoon, the Liangxia Fleet had once again heavily bombarded Liuhuang Island.

According to the defending army’s report, in just over ten minutes, the Liangxia battleships had fired hundreds of 350mm and 400mm huge shells.

From this, it could be inferred that there were at least four fast battleships near the landing site.

Afterward, the Liangxia Navy’s ship-borne aircraft had carried out three waves of bombings on the defenders’ rear positions, deploying around 300 flights of aircraft.

Since the bombings were conducted in three consecutive waves, it could be determined that at least four carrier fleet ships had participated in the battle.

Clearly, all of these matched the earlier intelligence that Liu Xiangzhen’s Special Mixed Group included four carriers and four fast battleships.

The key was, the Special Mixed Group was at Liuhuang Island.

Therefore, the attackers on the oil tankers must definitely be Bai Zhizhan’s fleet!

With only one carrier, deploying over thirty ship-borne aircraft in one wave was about the limit.

Regarding the use mainly of bombers, it might be because there was no need to use torpedoes, or perhaps the torpedo bombers had jettisoned their torpedoes early to save fuel.

The telegram also mentioned that the Military Command Department had already dispatched more patrol aircraft to increase the patrolling strength around the Volcanic Islands and the waters north of the Volcanic Islands.

This was obviously meant to reassure Lan Yun that there was no need to worry about threats from the north.

Lastly, Tanimoto once again emphasized the importance of following the plan to launch an assault on Liuhuang Island’s landing grounds.

To grab Lan Yun’s attention, Tanimoto mentioned in the telegram that the defensive forces on Liuhuang Island were second-rate troops, and after Li Zhong’s death, no one was able to command the entire army, and the Army wouldn’t cooperate, so even with all their might they couldn’t hold out much longer. Or rather, because they exerted all their might, the casualties and consumption were huge, the morale collapsed even faster after the battle conditions turned, meaning they could at most hold out for another two or three days.

To put it bluntly, the defenders on Liuhuang Island were still holding out because there was a Permanent Fleet, and they could see a glimmer of hope.

If hope were dashed, thousands of officers and soldiers might surrender.

Over at Buju, hundreds of thousands of troops had surrendered suddenly without any signs beforehand!

Now, the Liangxia Marine Corps had already begun fortifying the landing ground, preparing to bring heavy equipment onshore.

Once a makeshift dock was built for transport ships to unload tanks and heavy artillery, even if the Permanent Fleet attacked, it might not be able to turn the tide.

In one sentence: The assault on the landing ground must strictly follow the plan.

No later than the morning of the 20th!

Was this sending the Permanent Fleet to their deaths?

Lan Yun was somewhat speechless, but he couldn’t say much, because when he had led the Permanent Fleet away from Tuk Fortress, he had already put life and death out of his mind.

He had wanted to die for his country several times before, but unfortunately, he had not managed to do so.

Moreover, it was nearly three in the afternoon now.

More than three hours later, it would start getting dark.

If Liu Xiangzhen’s four fast battleships were still near the landing site by evening, then nobody could stop the Permanent Fleet from launching an assault on the landing ground.

Bai Zhizhan had at most two fast battleships; Lan Yun had four here. In a fight, it was still uncertain whose deer would die!

"Woo—"

Just then, an alarm sounded.

It was a sustained sound.

Indeed, it was the air raid siren for enemy planes approaching!