Empire Conquest
Chapter 320 - 316 The Great Battle Situation

Chapter 320: Chapter 316 The Great Battle Situation

Because they were discussing matters, the dinner took a full two hours, and by the time they finished, it was already evening.

When Bai Zhizhan made his way to the Command Bridge, the sky had already darkened, and the last batch of fighters carrying out the air defense patrol mission were preparing to land.

At the rear of the flight deck, there were two longitudinally arranged "light belts," each with a hundred spotlights, and at the rear of the deck stood a landing signal officer holding a bright light baton.

Enhancing the night landing capability of ship-borne aircraft had been the most important issue for the Imperial Navy in the past few months, and it was also the most pressing problem that had to be solved.

Luckily, efforts paid off for those who were diligent.

After several months of dedicated exploration, an unknown service member suggested a whimsical idea using the principle of prisms, which allowed pilots to judge whether they were in the correct flight path by observing the color of the light as they flew towards the carrier.

To put it simply, the pilot could only see the correct color if they were in the correct flight path; if deviated from the path, they would see a different color.

Thereafter, the Imperial Navy organized technicians and pilots to conduct tests on the "Sea Dragon."

The results proved that the method was indeed feasible.

After more comprehensive testing on the "Heng River," the method was promoted to all other carriers.

That is to say, a hundred prismatic spotlights were installed at one-meter intervals on both sides of the flight deck runway. Because each spotlight was at a different angle, the pilots saw from the air what looked like two rows of lights arranged along the runway.

The use of the light belts was primarily aimed at improving the success rate of landing on the carrier.

Additionally, it was difficult to find light sources with sufficient power and suitability.

To facilitate guidance, all ship-borne aircraft were fitted with navigation lights, three in total, located on the wingtips and the belly of the aircraft.

During guidance, the carrier’s signal officers used a specialized optical device to observe the aircraft and determine if the aircraft’s flight path was deviant.

If there was no deviation, the assistant signal officer responsible for help would continue to wave a green bright light baton.

On the contrary, they would wave a red one.

For pilots, seeing a red signal meant they must immediately pull up and go around.

In summary, the current success rate of night landings had greatly improved from before. Experienced veterans could generally land on their first attempt, provided they didn’t get distracted by other things. Even if a mistake was made, they were able to go around and try again until they successfully landed on the carrier.

The key was that there was no longer a need to erect a barrier net, which eliminated a lot of trouble.

In September, the training of the two Air Force Wings belonging to the 41st Special Mixed Fleet was primarily focused on night landings.

For this, the Navy had specially constructed a runway at the air base north of Nagiu Port that simulated a carrier deck, allowing pilots to train at night.

Enhancing night landing capability at least allowed for extending the operational time till dusk, which held significant practical combat value.

However, mounting an attack during the night was still not feasible.

Although the Imperial Navy had begun to explore night combat tactics, so far, they had not found an effective way to improve the accuracy of bombing at night.

Furthermore, the safety of night flying was also a significant concern.

Even true veterans found it difficult to judge flight altitude accurately at night, let alone drop bombs and torpedoes at the appropriate distance.

Bombing fixed ground targets wasn’t a big issue.

But dealing with fast-moving warships was definitely not feasible.

If there was any other gain, it was that actual combat had proven that radar did not reveal the movements of warships, so it was possible to use air defense radar boldly.

This discovery was of great significance for fleets executing covert strike missions.

Using air defense radar could minimize the patrol range for anti-air fighters as much as possible, avoiding fleet exposure due to the fighters’ patrols.

Of course, this assumed the availability of a sufficient number of radar-equipped warships, meaning there was a need for anti-air warships to expand their patrol ranges.

Overall, compared to the outbreak of war half a year ago, the current Special Mixed Fleet had made huge improvements in both offensive and defensive capabilities.

No one was talking about taking on two opponents at once and definitely winning against an equal foe.

After the last fighter jet had successfully landed on the carrier, the lights on the flight deck were turned off.

A few minutes later, Zhou Yongtao made his way to the Command Bridge.

Although he served as a Combat Staff Advisor for the fleet, most of the time, Zhou Yongtao acted as the aviation advisor, responsible for the fleet’s air combat operations.

Fortunately, he was young enough and full of energy.

"You guys go ahead and talk, I’ll go and make some coffee."

With that, Li Mingbo left the Command Bridge.

Actually, there was not much to talk about.

The information that needed to be conveyed was all marked on the nautical chart, which could be understood at a glance.

The 41st Special Mixed Fleet was northeast of the Volcanic Islands, off the east coast of Saiyi Main Island.

Geographically, this area was the Northwest East Ocean Sea Basin.

The specific location was around 35 degrees North latitude and 155 degrees East longitude.

Because there were over a dozen battleships dispersed over several tens of kilometers, there was neither a way to mark the exact coordinates nor the need to do so.

In principle, the position of the flagship was considered the reference point.

However, the battleships were constantly moving, so there was no requirement for exact coordinates to be marked.

The 21st Special Mixed Fleet was in the northeast, more than 300 kilometers away from the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, with an approximate position of 38 degrees North latitude and 158 degrees East longitude.

Additionally, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet hadn’t concealed its movements and was continuously broadcasting over the radio channels.

Further northeast, the Newland Federation’s transport fleet was traveling along the great circular route of the North East Ocean towards the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, with a battleship squadron providing escort approximately 600 kilometers to the northeast of the 21st Special Mixed Fleet, also openly transmitting over radio channels like the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

The 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets were still behind, more precisely to the northwest of the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, heading towards the Newland Fleet.

The 42nd Special Mixed Fleet, led by four "Longxing" class ships, was at the forefront, with the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet following.

According to the marked times, by the latest around 4 a.m. the next morning, the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet would encounter the battleship squadron of the Newland Federation.

If the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet increased speed tonight, it would also appear on the southwest side of the battlefield, flanking the Newland Navy’s battleship squadron from the side.

Though there were only eight ships, four of them were Fast Battleships, and they all had artillery radar.

Before coming over, Bai Zhizhan specifically asked.

The four "Longxing" class ships of the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet were in their deployment interval period and had returned to port to have artillery radars installed and adjusted.

After the operations to land on Saiyi Mainland had ended, the four "Longxing" class ships even had their Main Gun barrels replaced.

To put it simply, all four "Longxing" class ships were in top condition.

As for those four Fast Battleships, there was even less need to talk about them.

Furthermore, all eight of the Imperial Navy’s battleships were armed with 400mm Naval guns, while of the Newland Navy’s ten Battleships, only three "Kola" class were equipped with sixteen-inch Naval guns, and the other seven all had fourteen-inch Naval guns. Just the disparity in the firepower of the main guns made it impossible to compensate.

If it really came down to a fight, the Newland Navy would likely be at a disadvantage.

Besides, with the transport fleet behind and the 21st Special Mixed Fleet lurking nearby like a Tiger, the commander of the Newland Fleet, even if confident, wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

To engage, they would have to wait until the transport fleet was out of the way.

The real cause for caution was actually the five carrier Fleet.

What both sides had shown so far was merely the front line. The 21st Special Mixed Fleet at most could be considered a frontline with the capability of a Reprisal.

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