Empire Conquest
Chapter 326 - 322: In Strict Formation

Chapter 326: Chapter 322: In Strict Formation

Before 1:00 AM, Zhang Guozhu had already received a message from Colonel Luo Dingbang, the commander of 42.3 Subsquad, from the "Jiangcheng" Light Cruiser.

Luo Dingbang was Zhang Guozhu’s old subordinate.

Back then, when Zhang Guozhu was the captain of the "North River" Battlecruiser, Luo Dingbang was his second officer.

Over the subsequent twenty years, Luo Dingbang had constantly followed Zhang Guozhu, almost as his right-hand man.

When Zhang Guozhu took up the position of Fleet Commander of the Fourth Fleet, Luo Dingbang went on to become the Chief of Staff of the Special Mixed Fleet 42 and also served as the commander of the light cruiser subsquad.

It wasn’t that Zhang Guozhu didn’t want to assign him heavy cruisers; the four "Zizhou" class ships were temporarily incorporated into the Special Mixed Fleet 42.

Previously, these four "Zizhou" class ships belonged to the Special Mixed Fleet 21, tasked with providing coverage for carriers, with the subsquad’s headquarter unchanged.

According to Luo Dingbang’s report, escort battleships, likely heavy cruisers, had moved forward to protect the transport convoy.

However, something was clearly wrong with this report.

The Newland Navy’s East Ocean Fleet had only ten heavy cruisers in total.

According to earlier intelligence, after enhancing their anti-air firepower, all these ten heavy cruisers were assigned to protect carriers, incorporated into the carrier mixed fleet.

Other heavy cruisers?

Two "Pengke" class were with the Nanzhu Country Sub-fleet and had gone to Ao Country a few months ago under the guise of joint training. According to the latest intelligence, these two heavy cruisers headed to the Fan Flame Ocean a few days ago to assist the Bulan Royal Navy in searching for three concealed Tiaoman armored cruisers.

Six "Beian" class were in the Sunset Ocean Fleet, with four of them going to the Bulan Kingdom, incorporated into the Bulan Royal Navy’s Domestic Fleet. The other two were in Mo Bay and the Caribbean Sea respectively, serving as the flagships of two sub-fleets, escorting convoys between the mainland’s East Coast and Wangxi Canal.

Upon receiving the report, Zhang Guozhu instructed Luo Dingbang to reconfirm the nature of the enemy ships.

Shortly afterward, Luo Dingbang corrected the error, identifying four light cruisers.

Light cruisers against light cruisers, what else was there to say?

Over the next few hours, Luo Dingbang sent a report every half hour.

Notably, there wasn’t much need for reporting.

Both sides maintained restraint and carried out tactical maneuvers while closing in, seemingly using this method to signal each other to back off.

In Luo Dingbang’s words, the two fleets were like two male peacocks in heat.

As the distance closed, they resembled agitated bulls.

Around 3:00 AM, "Jiangcheng" began to use its loudspeakers to demand the Newland warships to leave the combat zone designated by the Empire Navy.

The Newland Fleet, instead of paying heed, claimed it was the high seas where the Newland warships had the right to transit freely.

After an unsuccessful negotiation that lasted fifteen minutes, "Jiangcheng" fired a warning shot.

Afterward, the Newland Fleet turned away and broke visual contact.

The Newland Fleet did not withdraw but traveled at full speed to the north, seemingly trying to escape the 42.3 Subsquad with their speed.

As a result, the 42.3 Subsquad had to travel north at full speed.

Given this scenario, it seemed that these Newland warships were trying to draw away the 42.3 Subsquad to allow the ships behind them to continue moving forward or to cover the main battle ships behind them.

According to intelligence, the First Fleet of the Newland Navy’s East Ocean Fleet had already arrived and was definitely nearby to the east.

Indeed, once the 42.3 Subsquad had left, the Newland First Fleet would launch a full-speed assault on the four "Longxing" class Battleships.

However, the following turn of events was somewhat unexpected.

After sailing northward for half an hour, those Newland light cruisers suddenly made a 180-degree turn, taking the opportunity to shorten the distance from the 42.3 Sub-squad.

Around four in the morning, the 42.3 Sub-squad encountered the First Fleet of Newland, more precisely a battleship formation.

However, there were only four battleships, not the ten expected.

Even at night, the tall bridges made it possible to identify that two of the ships were "Tenna" class and two were "Binfa" class battleships.

Fortunately, the 42.1 Sub-squad commanded by Zhang Guozhu had already arrived.

Upon spotting the 42.1 Sub-squad, the Newland battleship formation immediately changed course.

Although both fleets had pre-treaty battleships constructed during the last great war without deep modernization improvements, the four Newland battleships couldn’t compare to the "Longxing" class; there was not only a significant difference in tonnage, even the caliber of their main guns wasn’t on the same level.

In a real battle, those four Newland battleships wouldn’t stand a chance.

Yet, what Zhang Guozhu was really concerned about weren’t the four battleships.

Before this incident, several Newland light cruisers had been steadily heading south without slowing down.

After over an hour of sailing, the Newland light cruisers had gained a lead of over twenty kilometers.

During this time, the 42.1 Sub-squad had also been traveling south after the Newland battleships, but at a much slower pace.

As for the 42.3 Sub-squad, they kept their speed consistent with the 42.1 Sub-squad in front, waiting to accelerate after the 42.2 Sub-squad arrived.

What is the opponent trying to do?

Actually, there’s no need to guess.

The transport fleet was surely trailing behind, only earlier they had slowed down their speed. Upon discovering the 42 Special Mixed Fleet, the four battleships pushed forward and after encountering the 42.1 Sub-squad, turned to head south, clearly intending to draw the 42 Special Mixed Fleet away from the transport fleet.

Moreover, they wanted to force out the 43 Special Mixed Fleet!

This was also the key reason why the three "New Mo" class and three "Kola" class battleships had not appeared.

However, where the other six battleships were depended on how the Newland Fleet Commander guessed the whereabouts of the 43 Special Mixed Fleet.

If the Newland Fleet Commander assumed that the 43 Special Mixed Fleet followed the 42 Special Mixed Fleet and would catch up by speed after the encounter, then those six battleships were likely trailing behind, positioned east of the 42 Special Mixed Fleet but out of the radar’s detection range.

If the Newland Fleet Commander speculated that the 43 Special Mixed Fleet was to the south or southwest of the 42 Special Mixed Fleet, possibly prepared for a decisive battle, then the other six battleships might be located in the southeast, perhaps not far south of the 42 Special Mixed Fleet.

In Zhang Guozhu’s view, whichever scenario it was, once the battle started, the Newland Navy would first seek to annihilate the 42 Special Mixed Fleet.

Even if it came at a considerable cost, they would strive to sink the four "Longxing" class ships.

Although the "Longxing" class seemed outdated compared to the four fast battleships of the 43 Special Mixed Fleet, they were very strong compared to the Newland Navy’s battleships. Even faced with the powerful firepower of the "Kola" class, they held a significant advantage in speed.

The "Longxing" class being "the strongest pre-treaty" wasn’t just an empty boast.

The crux was that if the Newland Fleet couldn’t destroy the 42 Special Mixed Fleet promptly, the situation would become even less favorable once the 43 Special Mixed Fleet intervened.

In terms of combat capability, Newland Navy’s ten battleships were not on par with the eight battleships of the Empire’s Navy.

For example, in terms of firepower delivery, even without considering the range of the main guns but only the mass of the shells, the firepower of the Empire’s eight battleships was 1.4 times greater than that of the ten Newland battleships.

But could it really be so easy to destroy the 42 Special Mixed Fleet?

The value of the 42 Special Mixed Fleet was in acting as a shield at the forefront, creating opportunities for other special mixed fleets.

Honestly speaking, if it really came to a fight, the Newland Fleet might not dare to engage in a decisive battle.

Zhang Guozhu had long been mentally prepared, yet the developments of the situation were completely unlike what he had imagined.

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