Empire Conquest -
Chapter 324 - 320: A Worthy Opponent
Chapter 324: Chapter 320: A Worthy Opponent
If Spur commanded the 16th Special Mixed Fleet did not follow Frey’s 17th Special Mixed Fleet, where would he go?
Transport fleet to the north?
Obviously, that was not his style.
According to Bai Zhizhan’s understanding of this Major, although he had a mild temperament, he was extremely determined and had a great spirit of adventure. Otherwise, the hot-tempered Hal would not have admired him so much, later becoming close friends and even recommending him to Nizi.
Without Hal’s recommendation, Nizi wouldn’t even know who Spur was.
Actually, the key point was simple.
The Imperial Navy’s special mixed fleets were definitely to the south of the transport fleet. If the 16th Special Mixed Fleet went north, it would effectively be using the transport fleet as a shield. Once the battle started, even if the 16th Special Mixed Fleet was fully equipped with fighters, they would never stop the Imperial Navy’s ship-borne aircraft from sending over a hundred transport ships to the bottom of the sea. Moreover, there were two special mixed fleets dominated by battleships, coming fiercely.
Of course, Nizi would not let the 16th Special Mixed Fleet hide to the north of the transport fleet either.
Following behind the transport fleet?
Obviously, that was equally impossible, for the same reason.
If they were positioned to the south of the transport fleet, covered by Frey’s 17th Special Mixed Fleet, and responsible for watching the 21st Special Mixed Fleet, then Spur only had two choices. One was to follow behind Frey, providing cover. The other was to actively move forward, replacing passive defense with an active attack, striving to discover the 41st Special Mixed Fleet before the war began, thereby seizing absolute initiative.
Obviously, the latter possibility was much greater.
This was Spur’s style!
Another point aligned with the strategic objectives of this operation.
The reason was simple: unless the Imperial Navy took the initiative to attack and launched a war against the Newland Federation, after the normally covert 41st Special Mixed Fleet exposed their tracks, they would inevitably choose to retreat, making it impossible to stop the Newland Federation’s transport fleets heading to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.
Initiating an attack?
Rofuss would definitely desire that!
Not to mention that the Imperial Authority was not ready to declare war against the Newland Federation; even if they were prepared, if they encountered road construction along the way to deliver a declaration of war and ended up delivering it a few hours late, it would amount to an undeclared war, and the Liangxia Empire would become the party that deliberately launched the war.
Sounds familiar?
The Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was a case in point.
Although once a full-scale war broke out, it mattered little who started it, from Rofuss’s perspective, a war deliberately manufactured and launched by the Liangxia Empire would allow him to mobilize over two hundred million Newland citizens in the simplest way possible, enabling this war machine, only second to the Liangxia Empire’s, to be mobilized in the shortest time and then unleash a powerful war capability competing with the Liangxia Empire.
Another key point was that the Liangxia Empire really had no intention of starting a war with the Newland Federation.
Otherwise, Xue Yuanzheng would have approved the operational plan to attack Treasure Harbor in June when the main force of the Newland East Ocean Fleet was there.
That being so, even if letting the 16th Special Mixed Fleet take a huge risk was worth it.
Even if the 16th Special Mixed Fleet was completely destroyed, or even at the expense of the 17th Special Mixed Fleet, as long as it could unite over two hundred million Newland citizens against a common enemy, why not?
Rofuss had this audacity, so did Nizi, but what about Spur?
Even if Spur’s audacity was slightly less, it would not be by much, certainly far surpassing Frey.
However, he was a tactical-level commander, who would consider more practical issues, such as trying to secure a greater victory while ensuring the completion of the mission.
At least, he would try to preserve the fleet in the event of a sudden attack, even if just saving a few carriers.
In this case, the 16th Special Mixed Fleet’s position would be slightly further back, perhaps to the south of the 17th Special Mixed Fleet, rather than to the southwest.
With this realization, Bai Zhizhan suddenly became aware that he had once again fallen into an old trap.
"Zhou Yongtao, do you think the Newland Navy knows I’ve already arrived here?"
"This..."
"More directly, if Spur is commanding the 16th Special Mixed Fleet, would he believe that I’m holding a grand wedding in the Imperial Capital and haven’t returned to the fleet?"
"Maybe he would."
Bai Zhizhan shook his head before he responded, "If I hadn’t come back, then the one commanding the 41st Special Mixed Fleet would definitely be Li. Given his personality, he would honestly stay behind the 21st Special Mixed Fleet and provide cover. Even taking you into account, the position of the 41st Special Mixed Fleet could at most move slightly to the south, about a hundred kilometers behind where we are now. Your courage definitely surpasses Li’s, but you’re too young, and Li is a bit stubborn or rather conservative, so he might not take your advice."
Li Mingbo rolled his eyes, but he didn’t retort against Bai Zhizhan.
"If that’s really the case, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet would definitely not advance. Hence, it makes complete sense for Spur’s 16th Special Mixed Fleet to advance to the southwest of Frey’s 17th Special Mixed Fleet. This means, the 16th Special Mixed Fleet is currently not far to our east."
Zhou Yongtao didn’t speak; he just nodded.
While Bai Zhizhan spoke, he was also thinking.
According to Bai Zhizhan’s speculation, the distance to the 16th Special Mixed Fleet wouldn’t exceed 400 kilometers and would close to within 200 kilometers at night.
If so, by evening, the 16th Special Mixed Fleet would have already entered the reconnaissance aircraft’s search range.
The reconnaissance aircraft hadn’t spotted the 16th Special Mixed Fleet, so there was reason to believe that Bai Zhizhan’s speculation was problematic, at least not so reliable.
"If it’s another scenario, where Spur has already received news, or rather suspects something, then the 16th Special Mixed Fleet definitely wouldn’t be there."
Bai Zhizhan did this too, going around in a big circle, yet with one sentence he looped right back.
"Then where would it be?" Li Mingbo asked on behalf of Zhou Yongtao.
"I don’t know."
Bai Zhizhan’s response was crisp and clear, catching the questioning Li Mingbo off guard, and even Zhou Yongtao couldn’t help but laugh.
But, that was indeed the case.
From an observer’s perspective, if Spur was commanding the 16th Special Mixed Fleet and was certain that Bai Zhizhan had silently returned to the fleet, he definitely wouldn’t follow a predictable tactical movement, as he understood Bai Zhizhan very well, knowing that Bai Zhizhan wouldn’t act conventionally.
Furthermore, Spur would definitely learn from the Saiyi Navy’s devastating defeat experiences and lessons.
Speaking of capabilities, he was far superior to Lan Yun.
Unfortunately, all of these were speculations, as currently it was even uncertain if Hal really was in Treasure Harbor, let alone if Spur was definitely heading to the 16th Special Mixed Fleet.
At this moment, the telecommunications officer arrived again.
News from the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.
It was already 10 p.m., which was the first timeline in the battle plan.
The 21st Special Mixed Fleet had already established contact with the 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets and would turn off the radio after sending this telegram.
The Newland Federation’s transport fleet was still sailing westward, neither turning nor slowing down.
All intelligence indicated that the Newland Navy would definitely not retreat.
The First Fleet would definitely reach the front of the transport fleet at night to clear the way.
As expected, around 4 a.m., the advancing 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets would see the Newland Navy’s First Fleet battleships via radar.
Perhaps, the battle would ignite at that moment.
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