Empire Conquest
Chapter 252 - 248 Patience

Chapter 252: Chapter 248 Patience

January 25th, Southwest of Liuhuang Island.

After the "Heng River" completed its turn and had its course adjusted, the "Xu Sea" and the "Flame Sea" waiting ahead simultaneously sounded their horns as if greeting the "Heng River," urging this dawdling companion to hurry up since they had grown impatient from waiting.

On the elevating platform outside the island superstructure.

"There’s no need for farewells, it’s not as if we’re parting for life and death," Li Mingbo said, but when the time came to say goodbye, he still felt reluctant to leave.

"No matter what, you must take care," Bai Zhizhan gave Li Mingbo a hug.

"So must you!"

Bai Zhizhan patted Li Mingbo on the shoulder a few times before stepping back.

After greeting friends like Zhou Yongtao, Shen Pu, and Zhu Huasheng, Li Mingbo stepped onto the elevating platform, below which was a tender.

The staff officers who had come with Li Mingbo had already descended to the tender.

"If you ask me, I’d just let Old Li stay, I don’t believe Liu Xiangzhen could do anything."

"That’s easy to say, but you have to consider Old Li’s position. Liu Xiangzhen can’t do anything to us, but dealing with Old Li? Isn’t that just a matter of saying the word?"

Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng spoke to this extent, leaving Zhou Yongtao no room to interject.

"Give the order, it’s time to go home."

Following Bai Zhizhan’s command, Zhou Yongtao didn’t dare to dally and immediately returned to the command bridge.

"Old Bai?"

"You guys aren’t young anymore, don’t you think that starting with those words is quite inappropriate?"

"Zhou isn’t an outsider, besides..."

"It’s precisely because he isn’t an outsider that we shouldn’t be saying such things in front of him. You guys started saying that Liu Xiangzhen can’t handle us, but dealing with Old Li would just be a matter of saying the word. Don’t you think if someone took this opportunity to go after Zhou, they wouldn’t even need to say a word?"

After being chastised by Bai Zhizhan, Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng calmed down.

"You go inside, I want to be alone for a while."

"Alright, we’ll have dinner together in a bit."

Zhu Huasheng still wanted to say something, but Shen Pu patted his shoulder and pulled him into the island superstructure.

Watching the departing tender, Bai Zhizhan felt an indescribable feeling inside.

Five days ago, in the early hours of January 20th, Bai Zhizhan received an order from Liu Changxun to temporarily replace the Special Mixed Group on Liuhuang Island.

The Special Mixed Group had been fighting for five days, and the ammunition and aviation fuel on the four carriers were nearly depleted; they needed to retreat for replenishment. The same was true for the several heavy cruisers in the Special Mixed Group; their ammunition was nearly used up, and they couldn’t continue to support the Marine Corps.

Replenishing ammunition was very troublesome and would take several days.

The officers and soldiers of the Special Mixed Group also needed rest, especially the ship-borne aircraft pilots, who had been operating at high intensity for several days and were about to collapse from exhaustion.

Now, only the First Special Mixed Fleet could take over.

On the afternoon of the 20th, the First Special Mixed Fleet rushed to the southwest of Liuhuang Island.

What Bai Zhizhan didn’t expect was that Liu Xiangzhen had sent Li Mingbo with a group of staff officers to the "Heng River" to be responsible for the handover between the two fleets.

This arrangement did not change Li Mingbo’s position.

On paper, Li Mingbo was still the commander of the second carrier battle group within the Special Mixed Group, under Liu Xiangzhen’s command, following his orders.

In fact, when Bai Zhizhan saw Li Mingbo, he guessed Liu Xiangzhen’s intentions.

What was his relationship with Li Mingbo?

Twenty years ago, aboard the "North River," had it not been for Li Mingbo grabbing him, Bai Zhizhan might not have set foot in the Imperial Navy’s Cemetery, but instead, he would have reported to the Disabled Veterans Center—if he ever recovered—achieving none of what he had now.

Falling from the top of the masthead wasn’t something to be taken lightly.

Clearly, Liu Xiangzhen sent Li Mingbo over because he wanted Bai Zhizhan to keep Li Mingbo.

As long as Bai Zhizhan did so, Liu Xiangzhen would be able to report him to the Navy headquarter!

It was an obvious move against Bai Zhizhan, and it was related to the battle on the 19th.

On the morning of the 20th, the Navy headquarter had already determined that the First Special Mixed Fleet had made the main contribution, while the submarine that sank the four battleships, the "Blue Ringed Octopus," was considered to have made a secondary contribution, based on the same rationale that had attributed the main credit for annihilating the Second Main Battle Corps primarily to the Domestic Fleet.

The evaluation result from the Navy headquarter left the Southern Fleet’s generals with nothing to say.

The First Special Mixed Fleet had annihilated the Permanent Fleet and even replaced the Special Mixed Group in supporting the landing operations, so the main feat of this battle would naturally be recorded under the First Special Mixed Fleet’s name.

If another expedition were to be led by the fleet, who else had a reason to object to Bai Zhizhan being the leader?

Moreover, last time at West East Ocean, Bai Zhizhan used two carriers to win a battle, and this time he achieved a great victory with just one carrier.

No matter what standard is used for evaluation, Bai Zhizhan is indisputably and unquestionably the Empire’s top War General in the Navy!

Liu Xiangzhen?

At most, he could rank second.

He had four carriers at his disposal, yet he stayed southwest of Liuhuang Island, missing out on the opportunity to annihilate the Permanent Fleet on the 18th.

It’s clear that, unless Bai Zhizhan acted foolishly, he would surely rise high in status upon his return.

If Liu Xiangzhen wanted to turn the tables, he would have to figure out how to make Bai Zhizhan act foolishly, and his method was to send Li Mingbo over, making things difficult for Bai Zhizhan.

This was blatantly a way to give Bai Zhizhan a hard time.

What troubled Bai Zhizhan was not only what Liu Xiangzhen did, but also Li Mingbo.

After arriving on the "Heng River," Li Mingbo deliberately kept a distance from Bai Zhizhan and the others, always behaving in an official and professional manner.

At first, Bai Zhizhan thought Li Mingbo had changed.

But later, Li Mingbo himself could not keep up the act and after being dragged for a few drinks by Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng, he revealed the situation.

He too guessed Liu Xiangzhen’s intentions, and out of concern for Bai Zhizhan, he did not want Bai Zhizhan to make a mistake for his sake.

Stealing talents from other fleets is a big taboo.

Not to mention without the approval of the Navy headquarter, even with it, it’s difficult to gain the support of the grassroots officers and soldiers.

That’s the sense of belonging in the Navy.

In fact, it was apparent in Bai Zhizhan.

Although Bai Zhizhan did not join the He Family, he always considered himself part of the Domestic Fleet, so even though he had a good relationship with Liu Xiangdong, calling each other brothers, he never thought about going to the Southern Fleet, and Liu Xiangdong never invited him.

Similarly, Gui Boyong certainly never considered taking Liu Xiangzhen away from the Southern Fleet.

That’s the reality.

Even knowing that Li Mingbo was not having a comfortable time in the Special Mixed Group, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t force him to stay and could only patiently wait for an opportunity for a transfer.

If Bai Zhizhan did that, not only would he be unable to have Li Mingbo transferred, but he would also make Li Mingbo’s situation even more difficult.

Even if Liu Xiangzhen didn’t give him a hard time, the staff of the Special Mixed Group would make his life difficult in the fleet, finding fault with him at every turn and making things uncomfortable for him.

Therefore, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t do anything, or rather, shouldn’t do anything.

Now, the Special Mixed Group had already returned.

After hearing the roaring sounds from the sky, Bai Zhizhan snapped back to reality and turned to walk into the island structure of the ship.

The noise was from the Plane Group dispatched by the Special Mixed Group, flying toward Liuhuang Island to carry out the last bombing mission for the day, but it looked more like a show of force toward the First Special Mixed Fleet.

The Plane Group was flying right this way!

Why fly over from anywhere else when they could, instead opting to fly low right over the "Heng River"?

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