Empire Conquest
Chapter 250 - 246: Destruction

Chapter 250: Chapter 246: Destruction

Almost without a pause, the two consecutive aerial strikes not only demolished the steel battleships and the flesh within, but also the last shred of hope and obsession for victory.

Two plane groups, totaling no more than 70 ship-borne aircraft!

More than twenty days ago, in the Flame Sea, the Mobile Fleet withstood two attacks of this scale. But today, they couldn’t even withstand one.

The key problem was the lack of anti-aircraft fighters!

The seventy-some ship-borne aircraft, arriving in two waves, attacked with almost no interference, not having to worry about fighter assaults. It was like a training exercise. The only difference was a need to watch out for the high-altitude guns while diving to drop bombs or flying low to launch torpedoes.

The fact again proved that the high-altitude guns of the Saiyi Navy were subpar, for instance, the 25-millimeter machine guns. Against dive-bombing bombers and rapidly approaching torpedo bombers, due to slow rate of fire and low shell power, they had difficulty creating a dense and sufficiently lethal barrage.

As for large-caliber high-altitude guns, they also suffered from a problem of being too slow.

Moreover, the Saiyi Navy lacked medium-caliber high-altitude guns, such as the 40-millimeter type, which possessed tremendous power and a relatively faster rate of fire.

This battle effectively demonstrated that the Saiyi Navy’s pre-war boasts were all bluster, with no chance of translating into victory on the battlefield.

Turning high-altitude gunners into sharpshooters, taking down an enemy plane with a single shell?

No amount of training could achieve that because it wasn’t a difficulty that training could overcome.

In the fierce battle, gunners simply couldn’t stay calm and often didn’t even have time to aim at the enemy planes, typically opening fire as soon as they knew the direction of the incoming enemy. In other words, they would just roughly aim and shower the enemy with a barrage of fire.

The Liangxia Navy had long recognized this.

That was exactly why the Liangxia Empire was the first to equip fast battleships and carriers with quadruple 40-millimeter machine guns, increasing the firing rate by upping the number of guns in tandem. Additionally, they used high-capacity drums for the 25-millimeter machine guns and installed electric motors to quicken rotation and elevation.

In short, anti-aircraft machine guns need to have a sufficiently high rate of fire and a large enough ammo reserve.

They have to be powerful enough, preferably downing an enemy aircraft with a single hit.

The problems were also prominent.

The deck space and total mass of the quadruple 40-millimeter machine guns were roughly the same as a 130-millimeter naval gun, and even a battleship couldn’t carry many of them.

As for the price—that was even more painful.

And the operational costs—not to mention.

Just the 25-millimeter shells, the military’s procurement price was fifty times that of a 13-millimeter machine gun bullet! In battle, a short burst could burn through hundreds of rounds.

Without substantial funds, you may afford to buy them, but you couldn’t afford to use them.

Because of the exorbitant procurement and maintenance costs, before the war, the Liangxia Navy was generally the only one equipping 40-millimeter and 25-millimeter machine guns. Not to mention the resource-poor and notoriously parsimonious Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, even the Newland Federation hadn’t purchased many machine guns for its navy.

The Newland Navy’s carriers still had plenty of anti-aircraft machine guns that looked impressive but were ineffective.

The poor performance of Saiyi battleships in anti-aircraft combat must have alerted the Newland Navy, and it likely wouldn’t be long before they started equipping their battleships with machine guns.

During the first round of bombing, the four "Jingang" class received special attention and were all severely damaged.

Although the attack was very sudden and caught the crews of the four battleships off guard, the desire for survival quickly overcame their fear of the enemy.

After being hit, the four battleships repeated their old trick, lighting oil barrels on deck to create large amounts of smoke, feigning severe damage.

They were indeed severely damaged, just not to the inevitable point of sinking.

Luckily, this was the heartland of East Ocean, characterized by a typical maritime climate, completely different from the raging north winds of West East Ocean.

There was practically no wind on the sea in the afternoon!

The black smoke produced by burning rubber and such gathered above the battleships and created an effect similar to deploying a smoke screen, or perhaps even better.

When the second plane group arrived, the seven heavy cruisers became the scapegoats.

However, heavy cruisers were certainly not as tough as battleships.

The trouble was that the bombs and torpedoes used by the enemy planes were designed for battleships, which made them even more lethal when used against heavy cruisers.

Especially those air torpedoes set to detonate at a depth of 6 meters.

This depth setting would mean that against battleships, they would explode alongside the bottom of the hull, directly striking the battleship’s structure.

But against heavy cruisers, they would explode underneath the vessel.

All seven heavy cruisers had draft depths just over six meters!

When the second wave of attacks began, Lan Yun was inside the command bridge of the "Jingang." Although the interior and exterior were filled with black smoke produced by burning rubber and asphalt, he could clearly see those heavy cruisers nearby, which had been protecting the battleships but were now the focus of the bombardment.

In just over ten minutes, Lan Yun witnessed the seven heavy cruisers being sunk one by one.

Yes, all were sunk directly!

At least four of the heavy cruisers exploded violently after being hit by bombs or torpedoes. Three of them broke in two and sank within minutes. Another one sunk even more promptly, vanishing before the smoke from the explosion had cleared, leaving not even a shadow behind.

The remaining three heavy cruisers were somewhat luckier.

During the bomb attack, these three "Shang" class cruisers were leading the way in the front, slightly further away from the battleships, so they were attacked last.

Ultimately, none of the three "Shang" class vessels escaped; all capsized and sank shortly after the bombing.

It could be said that just because they hadn’t sunk rapidly after the attack, over a thousand officers and crew on these three heavy cruisers had a chance to escape.

Around four o’clock, the battle was declared over.

When the staff officer brought the report, Lan Yun had already left the command bridge and returned to the commander’s quarters.

Although they had shot down more than twenty enemy planes and definitely killed some pilots, the accomplishment was insignificant compared to the losses suffered.

Lan Yun had already decided; he would not miss the fourth opportunity to die for his country.

Still alive?

First the Mobile Fleet, now the Permanent Fleet—how could he face living on!?

Report to the Military Command Department?

Whoever took over command after him would report the situation of the engagement to the Military Command Department.

In fact, Lan Yun had prepared himself a long time ago.

Not a pistol, nor a dagger, but a small bottle of cyanide.

He had acquired it after arriving at Tuk Fortress, from an intelligence officer; it was meant for intelligence personnel, certain death upon ingestion.

One small bottle, the dose enough to kill a hundred men.

Typically, these were made into capsules, hidden by spies inside false teeth, ready to be bitten and ingested in an emergency as a means of suicide.

Removing the glass bottle, Lan Yun stumbled to the porthole and looked out into the distance.

Was that to the north?

Perhaps so!

That direction was his homeland, his hometown, his family, and where the spirits of the deceased found their final resting place.

In any case, he had done his utmost; he was at least without remorse!

As he prepared to open the bottle and tilt his head back to take the poison inside, a few straight lines on the sea’s surface caught his attention.

Indeed straight, and extending toward the "Jingang."

Torpedoes!?

That’s right, torpedoes, and they were heavy-duty torpedoes launched from a submarine!