Empire Conquest
Chapter 314 - 310: The Wedding Day

Chapter 314: Chapter 310: The Wedding Day

New Calendar Year 100, October 10, Old Calendar Early Third of September, Imperial Capital Imperial Palace’s South Square.

At dawn, the square was already swarming with people, not just residents of the Imperial Capital but also many from across the country who had come to join in the excitement.

It was indeed a lively scene because today was a joyous occasion for the Imperial Family of the Empire.

After being publicized for over half a year, the grand wedding of the Little Eldest Princess of the Empire was to be held today.

According to precedent, not only would there be a nationwide celebration, but the Holy Emperor would also declare an imperial amnesty in the name of the Empress Dowager, followed by the Empire Cabinet announcing reductions in certain taxes and providing relief and support to widows, the elderly, and the weak, thus showcasing the grand and benevolent heart of the Imperial Family toward the people.

Regardless, it was a day worth looking forward to.

At eight in the morning, the celebratory events officially began.

Following tradition, the Imperial Family opened the Outer Palace, allowing commoners to enter, visit, and receive celebratory red envelopes distributed by the Imperial Family.

Many commoners came specifically for these red envelopes.

For the majority of them, the red envelopes from the Imperial Family were invaluable treasures because such grand events of a princess getting married occurred only once every ten to eight years.

Being graced by the Imperial Family was surely the greatest fortune under the heavens.

Besides, being able to tour the Outer Palace was also an extremely rare opportunity.

Throughout this day, the Imperial Family had arranged many entertainment activities, such as opera performances and variety shows, catering to the tastes of the common people while also showing the Imperial Family’s approachable side. The key was to fill the entire day with time, promoting an atmosphere of celebration and good luck.

According to the customs and traditions of the Empire, the more people, the merrier, and the more festive it would be.

For most commoners, especially young people of marrying age, this was also a very, very rare opportunity.

To marry on the same day as an Imperial Princess was surely the most fortunate event, because from then on, each year’s anniversary would be celebrated along with the princess.

Indeed, many young people took this opportunity to go to the Imperial Palace and, under the public eye, propose, engage, or marry.

Of course, it was just for show, like exchanging wedding cups at the gates of the Imperial Palace or paying homage to heaven and earth.

Moreover, many families had arranged their weddings earlier on this day, and would arrive early to wait outside the Outer Palace, hoping to take a group photograph in front of the Imperial Palace.

Speaking of which, photographers were the busiest people, and photography shops were sure to be thriving.

According to unofficial counts, over ten thousand couples held weddings in the Imperial Capital that day!

Traditionally and customarily, weddings were conducted in the evening, so the entire day was filled with numerous entertainment activities outside the Outer Palace.

Additionally, fireworks would light up the night.

All in all, this day was busier than the Spring Festival.

At this moment, on Liuhuang Island in the Northwest Volcanic Islands.

After necessary maintenance, the long-range patrol aircraft that had arrived at dawn slowly left the dock and then flew eastward.

No one found it odd or paid special attention.

Several months ago, to increase the patrol strength over the East Ocean in the Northwest, the Navy’s Engineer Soldiers had built a seaplane dock and a dedicated maintenance station here, and also laid an oil pipeline to the airport to use the fuel stored in the airport’s oil depot directly.

Afterward, the Navy deployed a squadron of twenty-four "White Swan" patrol aircraft here.

As long as there were no accidents, these patrol aircraft were to deploy once every day.

Usually, these "White Swans" would carry an additional pilot to extend the patrol duration to more than twenty hours.

They typically departed at dawn and returned after sunset, then used the nighttime hours to perform necessary maintenance, and the following dawn, another crew would take over to execute the patrol mission. The greatest advantage of this arrangement was that the planes patrolled the sea area during the daytime for several hours.

These patrol aircraft were the main forces enforcing the blockade of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

Including a squadron stationed on Liuhuang Island in the south, there were two squadrons, with more than forty "White Swans" in total, maintaining a sortie rate of over 60%.

This meant that on average, about thirty "White Swans" were patrolling the Northwest East Ocean every day.

Upon spotting a vessel, the patrol aircraft’s captain would decide based on the situation whether to call bombers stationed on Liuhuang Island or summon nearby long-range cruisers to intercept. Most of the time, they called the long-range cruisers, mainly aiming to capture merchant ships.

If they encountered small vessels, especially long-distance fishing boats, they might not even need to call for support, as the patrol aircraft could intercept the fishing boats on their own.

In fact, most of them were fishing boats.

For these vessels of little value, the common tactic was to directly sink them. Unless the crew resisted with force, the process involved transferring the crew to lifeboats and reporting the coordinates of the area to nearby long-range cruisers, which would then come to pick up the crew.

It was precisely because of the many patrol aircraft that ordinary vessels could hardly pass through the blockade area.

However, today, this patrol aircraft that had taken off in the morning was different. It was not on a patrol mission, and among its crew was a special guest.

Indeed, it was Bai Zhizhan.

To ensure safety, the squadron leader, He Weigu, personally took the helm.

The main reason was secrecy; only He Weigu knew the purpose of the trip, not even the co-pilot was aware.

Meanwhile, in the Capital of the Newland Federation at Rofuss’ President Mansion.

Hale only arrived at midnight.

He wasn’t there to deliver messages, nor were there any messages to deliver. The celebration for the princess’s grand wedding had already begun, and neither the princess nor the Quasi Prince Consort could escape.

Hale was there waiting for Rofuss to issue an order.

More precisely, he wanted to witness history.

According to the last battle plan sent by Nizi, the timing window was just on the day of the grand wedding, not the three days previously mentioned, nor could they wait another two days.

The reason was that the Liangxia Navy had already adjusted their deployment, such as the 41st Special Mixed Fleet setting sail early, which surely raised their alertness.

Over the past month, the Liangxia Navy had not only strengthened the patrol forces at the Volcanic Islands but also deployed dozens of twin-engine long-range fighters on Liuhuang Island. These fighters, with a combat radius exceeding one thousand kilometers and even reaching up to fifteen hundred kilometers, were clearly targeting the Newland Navy. Adding patrol aircraft and bombers to the equation, the shore-based air force Liangxia Navy had deployed on the Volcanic Islands was already significantly strong.

As for the fleet, it had long completed mobilization; several Special Mixed Fleets had left their ports and their whereabouts were unknown.

The Liangxia Navy was clearly in full readiness, so the newly appointed Prince Consort, after completing the wedding, would definitely return to the fleet immediately.

Additionally, the planned massive armies were all moving according to plan, with the trigger point being October 10th. Unless called off now, by the latest on the night of the 10th, as various forces fell into place, especially the transport fleets arriving, the war was certain to erupt!

That’s why Nizi emphasized in the combat plans that the President had to make a decision by the early hours of October 10th.

Now it was dawn!

A decision had to be made, to either halt or continue.

Clearly, this was not a simple matter of just saying a word.

So far, Rofuss had not issued the order to commence combat operations, not because of indecision, but because there were still many uncertainties.

Even at this moment, there was no intelligence related to the whereabouts of the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

Where exactly was this fleet, with its two carriers?