Empire Conquest
Chapter 303 - 299: Rotational Deployment

Chapter 303: Chapter 299: Rotational Deployment

Guarding against the sudden entry of the Newland Federation into the war had been the number one task for the Imperial Navy in the past few months.

At the end of March, Liu Changxun issued an order to split the original 21st Special Mixed Fleet into two, effectively establishing the new 21st and 41st Special Mixed Fleets, and appointed Liu Xiangzhen and Bai Zhizhan as Commanders, alternately deploying them in the West East Ocean and the Northwest East Ocean.

In the following two months, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet under the command of Liu Xiangzhen was deployed in the Northwest East Ocean, responsible for enforcing a strategic blockade against the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, providing air cover for the cruisers and patrol aircraft performing the blockade mission, and keeping watch over Guan Island and Honu Island, executing strategic vigilance duties.

The 41st Special Mixed Fleet, centered around two "Imperial Capital" class ships, returned to Mast Harbor for repairs and maintenance.

This arrangement was primarily because the condition of the two "Longjiang" class ships was somewhat better.

After concluding combat operations against the Permanent Fleet, both "Imperial Capital" class ships returned to the shipyard for their first comprehensive overhaul since commissioning, but due to design limitations, their condition had always been subpar, with quite serious issues.

These problems were exposed during the battle for the Volcanic Islands.

According to statistics from the Special Mixed Group, during the combat operations against Liuhuang Island, the sortie rate of the "Imperial Capital" and "Peijing" was equivalent to 88% and 85% of the "Longjiang," respectively, particularly during sustained operations, where the propulsion systems and catapult devices struggled to maintain stable and prolonged operation.

Additionally, prior to the assault on the Volcanic Islands, both "Longjiang" class ships underwent mid-term maintenance, resolving some longstanding problems by replacing key components, including installing new valves for the hydraulic catapults, effectively enhancing reliability and stability, ensuring operational efficiency.

During the two months they were replaced, both "Imperial Capital" class ships underwent a second round of maintenance separately in Puzhou and Cizhou.

It could be said that this was also the first improvement after commissioning, mainly to address various issues that had come to light during combat operations.

By the end of May, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet was officially established at Nagiu Port.

At this time, the Imperial Navy had already defined a naming convention for fleets.

Simply put, it was based on the port.

Since Nagiu Port is the home port for the Fourth Fleet, any ships with Nagiu Port as their home base, no matter where they operated, fell under the Fourth Fleet’s name.

The Second Fleet’s home port was Guan Island, although, for the time being, they used Mast Harbor, home to the Domestic Fleet.

On the last day of May, Bai Zhizhan finally led the 41st Fleet out of the port.

After that, there was a three-month deployment period.

Strictly speaking, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet did not reach the Volcanic Islands until June 10th.

The delay of a few days was mainly due to testing the two aircraft carriers en route and urging pilots to intensify training, so as to quickly reach optimal condition.

Once on the battlefield, there would be no time for comprehensive systematic training.

It wasn’t until June 15th that they replaced the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

The delay of these five days was mainly for joint training with the 21st Special Mixed Fleet, as well as allowing the staff from Fleet Headquarters to exchange combat experiences.

After all, this was Bai Zhizhan’s first time commanding the 41st Special Mixed Fleet on a Battle Zone patrol mission.

For the next two months, until August 25th, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet was active in the West East Ocean to the east of the Volcanic Islands.

Their mission was singular: to search for and intercept cargo ships attempting to travel to and from the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, providing cover for the cruisers executing pursuit tasks.

Of course, they also had to keep an eye on the Newland Navy’s East Ocean Fleet.

For over two months, Bai Zhizhan didn’t have a single night of peaceful sleep.

By his estimation, the probability for the Newland Federation to enter the war was greatest between June and August.

Actually, this was the key reason Liu Xiangzhen had to hold out until mid-June, for Bai Zhizhan to take over on June 15th.

As Liu Changxun put it, having Bai Zhizhan command the 41st Special Mixed Fleet at the forefront meant that if the Newland Navy tried to launch a surprise attack, they would certainly have reservations. Perhaps they would send all five carriers to deal with Bai Zhizhan, leaving them unable to wipe out the Liangxia Navy in one fell swoop.

In essence, Bai Zhizhan was there to attract fire.

By comparison, the strategic blockade of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was a minor issue.

The main force consisted of cruisers, especially those equipped with large-caliber naval guns, having a range exceeding ten thousand nautical miles, able to operate independently in open waters for several months.

These cruisers were all converted from fast cargo ships.

Before the outbreak of the war, the Imperial Navy had invested in shipping companies to build a large number of fast cargo ships, so they could be commandeered during wartime.

Through simple retrofitting, such as the installation of large-caliber naval guns, these fast cargo ships were transformed into commerce cruisers.

Although they were no match for real warships, they were definitely more than capable against ordinary vessels.

The cargo ships had vast internal space, allowing them to carry ample provisions and provide more living and entertainment spaces for the crew, resulting in superior sustained combat capability.

For the Liangxia Navy, which had control over sea power, commerce cruisers were a more ideal choice than submarines.

Critically, they did not carry the political risks associated with "unrestricted submarine warfare".

In those two months, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet returned to Mast Harbor. Two of the "Longjiang" class, which had been active at sea for four months, went back to the shipyard for necessary maintenance and inspection while the officers and crew got some rest, and they seized the opportunity to replace their ship-borne aircraft.

It wasn’t until this time that the "Typhoon" fighters were entirely withdrawn from the front-line combat units.

The delay in updating the aircraft was mainly due to a lack of time, as it took several months for pilots to undergo adaptation training just to replace ship-borne aircraft.

Fortunately, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet had taken care of this task right after being established and had already switched to the new model of ship-borne aircraft before sailing.

Regrettably, until the 21st Special Mixed Fleet came back to relieve them, the Newland Federation had not entered the war.

After that, Bai Zhizhan returned to the Imperial Capital.

After a hard two months of vigilance, he lost a considerable amount of weight and got tanned even darker.

That was what Bai Zhizhan could not understand the most.

During the 41st Special Mixed Fleet’s execution of the strategic blockade, Bai Zhizhan frequently communicated with the Navy headquarter, essentially exposing his whereabouts on purpose to lure out the Newland Fleet.

At the end of July, Bai Zhizhan even commanded the fleet to the Northwest of the Howay Islands, about 1500 kilometers away, openly intercepting several Newland cargo ships. During this period, he sent cruisers to chase and shell a fleeing cargo ship, and still, nothing happened.

It was as if the 41st Special Mixed Fleet didn’t exist — not even a Navy patrol plane from Newland appeared, let alone their fleet.

Over the course of more than two months spent on patrol, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet detained and directly sank over a hundred Newland merchant ships. In addition, they expelled several hundred more. If the ships that were spotted by the 41st Special Mixed Fleet and then chased off by remote patrol aircraft were included, the number would certainly surpass a thousand.

Even though the officers and sailors on board the commerce cruisers were very courteous when intercepting merchant ships, leading to no serious casualties, the captured cargo ships and their cargoes were worth a fortune. Many of them were directly confiscated and taken into state ownership according to Imperial law after their detention.

They could endure this!?

In the joke of the Fleet’s officers and men, if they could endure this, then they had to believe that the Newland Navy personnel didn’t believe in God; they believed in Buddha.

Even so, Bai Zhizhan did not relax his vigilance.

Danger often comes when one gets complacent.