Empire Conquest
Chapter 315 - 311: Oversight of Intelligence

Chapter 315: Chapter 311: Oversight of Intelligence

"Is there any news?"

Hale shook his head. If there had been news, he would have advised Rofuss by phone and wouldn’t have made the trip, even though the State Department was not far from Grey Palace.

Rofuss didn’t say much more, turning his attention back to the documents in front of him.

Hale felt somewhat awkward, thinking he might have been worrying unnecessarily. After all, even the President wasn’t in a hurry, and yet he couldn’t sit still, which made him seem somewhat impatient.

Of course, this wasn’t about patience.

On the first day of the month, two "Imperial Capital" class carriers from the 41st Special Mixed Fleet had left Nagiu Port, accompanied by four destroyers, and entered the West East Ocean waters.

At that time, the Newland Federation’s intelligence agencies hadn’t taken it seriously.

The logic was simple: the two "Xu Sea" class fast battleships that were part of the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, along with several cruisers, were still at Nagiu Port and hadn’t set sail. The crucial factor was that the two "Imperial Capital" class ships had undergone necessary repairs during their month-long stay at Nagiu Port.

That was not unusual.

Affected by their initial design, the two "Imperial Capital" class ships were constantly troubled by minor issues, requiring checks and maintenance at port after every deployment.

Even during deployments, the two "Imperial Capital" class ships often had problems.

If significant repairs were carried out, especially related to the propulsion system, they would certainly need to run a few trials before being redeployed.

That was the reason they only took four destroyers with them, while the other battleships remained at Nagiu Port.

Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case.

Three days later, on October 4th, the Newland Federation’s intelligence agencies received reliable information that the four "Wuzhou" class heavy cruisers, originally part of the 21st Special Mixed Fleet which hadn’t sailed with the fleet in late August and remained at Mast Harbor, had departed.

Also deployed were four newly commissioned light cruisers and four destroyers.

Crucially, these twelve warships did not head to the Northwest East Ocean to rendezvous with the 21st Special Mixed Fleet but went to Nagiu Port, or more precisely, to the waters near Nagiu Port.

From this, it was inferred that they might have been integrated into the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

The key point was that these twelve warships had left Mast Harbor on October 1st.

Because Mast Harbor was a military port, previously the home base of the Domestic Fleet, the Newland intelligence agencies had not been able to get the news on the same day.

A day later, on the evening of October 5th, two "Xu Sea" class ships left Nagiu Port and finally drew serious attention from the Newland intelligence agencies.

The problem was, this intelligence also arrived a day late.

This represented the Newland Federation’s most lethal issue: its intelligence operations against the Liangxia Empire were highly dependent on the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, without a complete intelligence network of its own.

It was undeniable that there were racial issues involved.

However, this was also related to the lack of emphasis on intelligence work.

Alternatively, this could be attributed to the Newland Federation’s severe lack of experience in major power confrontations.

Before the outbreak of the great war, relying on the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom for intelligence was not problematic, as they were allies, and the Saiyi’s intelligence operations were mainly targeted at the Liangxia Empire.

Now, however, the problem was very serious.

Especially since after the establishment of the West Saiyi Regime, many Saiyi intelligence personnel had defected to the Liangxia Empire and also betrayed other intelligence operatives.

In fact, several Saiyi spies lurking within the Liangxia Empire had already defected over the previous few months.

As a result, the intelligence network controlled by the East Saiyi Regime had virtually collapsed overnight.

By the time the Newland Federation’s intelligence agencies caught on, it was already too late for any remedy.

Indeed, when collecting intelligence on the Liangxia Empire, the Newland Intelligence Agency often found itself willing but powerless. Often, they could only speculate based on publicly reported news, which is to say they were very passive. Not only was there no guarantee of timely and effective information, but reliability was also a problem.

Just a few days ago, it was like this.

In the first intelligence report, it was mentioned that two "Xu Sea" class ships had gone out to conduct joint training with two carriers to exercise the replenished new soldiers.

To enhance credibility, it specifically highlighted the new soldiers.

Since the outfitting work of the four Fast Battleships was in the final stage and expected to be delivered ahead of schedule, the Liangxia Navy had been using the existing Fast Battleships to train new soldiers. Accordingly, the two "Xu Sea" class ships were definitely more appropriate than the upgraded Fast Battleships.

The greatest benefit of doing so was enabling the four Fast Battleships to quickly reach combat readiness after delivery.

Of course, the same was true for the carriers.

Interestingly, only a few hours later, the Naval Intelligence Bureau sent a second report.

The two Fast Battleships had already returned to the Xu Sea and were heading towards Long Sorrow, likely to rendezvous with the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet there.

Rofuss flew into a rage at that time and had Hale call the Minister of Navy, demanding an immediate explanation for the two contradictory reports from the Naval Intelligence Bureau.

Unfortunately, it couldn’t be "immediately."

By October 7th, the Naval Intelligence Bureau only received definite news that the two "Xu Sea" class ships were just outside Long Sorrow, and had also met up with two "North River" class ships, forming the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet.

Moreover, the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet, primarily composed of four "Longxing" class ships, had also left Long Sorrow on the night of October 6th.

Judging by the timeline, by October 7th, all eight Battleships had entered the West East Ocean and were very likely to have reached the northwest region of the Volcanic Islands.

Although there was no reliable intelligence, there was reason to believe that the eight Battleships were grouped into two Special Mixed Fleets.

Nothing strange about that, "Longxing" class ships are slow, and forcing them together would only drag down the four Fast Battleships and be of no practical value.

The key was that all eight Battleships were extremely powerful.

In terms of combat power, they far outmatched the ten Battleships of the Newland Navy’s East Ocean Fleet, especially the four Fast Battleships, which were undoubtedly the most formidable forces on the seas aside from the carriers. If a battle were to occur, the Newland Navy East Ocean Fleet might not hold an advantage in a fleet battle.

However, what truly needed to be guarded against was not the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet or the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet.

If the 41st Special Mixed Fleet had been deployed on October 1st, then by October 8th, it could possibly appear anywhere in the Northwest East Ocean.

In other words, the Newland Intelligence Agency had "lost" these three powerful Special Mixed Fleets.

It was at this time that the Naval Intelligence Bureau concluded that the Liangxia Navy had grown wary and thus preemptively deployed several Special Mixed Fleets.

But what "judgment" was there to make of that?

Without being alert, would the Liangxia Navy bother with so many maneuvers?

Besides, the Newland Navy was also mobilizing and had been sending out fleets in succession. If the Liangxia Navy had not strengthened its defenses, that would indeed be problematic!

It wasn’t until yesterday afternoon that a Saiyi Navy patrol plane spotted the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet in the northeast sea area of the Volcanic Islands, identifying the four "Longxing" class Battleships.

Another patrol plane might have spotted the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet, namely the four Fast Battleships.

Unfortunately, when the patrol plane attempted to approach, it was shot down by fighters, and in its telegram, it only mentioned suspected main battle ships of considerable size.

Additionally, this sea area was not far from the patrol area of the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

That is to say, what this patrol plane discovered may have been the Fast Battleships of the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

The crux of the matter was that even now, there was no news related to the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

As if that massive Fleet had just disappeared from the ocean.