Empire Conquest
Chapter 327 - 323: Persistent Harassment

Chapter 327: Chapter 323: Persistent Harassment

After tossing and turning for over an hour, changing direction and speed numerous times and running southward for over twenty kilometers, it wasn’t just other Newland battleships that hadn’t closed in—the four we had already encountered were still hovering around twenty kilometers to the east, showing no intention of coming in for a decisive battle.

What were these Newlanders thinking?

Seeing that it was about to get light, were they planning to wait until daylight to watch the Air Force perform?

Leaving the deciding battle to the carriers, the Newland Fleet wouldn’t necessarily come out on top.

Last night, nearly ten hours ago, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet had entered radio silence and hadn’t sent out any signals since.

In theory, during the course of one night, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet could have sailed several hundred kilometers.

The key point was that, as of now, only the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet had exposed its whereabouts.

Since we had not received news from other special fleets, there was reason to believe that the other three special fleets were still in a concealed state.

After daybreak, the Newland Fleet could only attempt a surprise attack on the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet.

What was the point of taking out the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet?

The Newland Navy’s four battleships were not far to the east—after a surprise attack on the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet, would those four battleships be able to escape?

Did they really need to go through such trouble for this kind of tit-for-tat battle?

Zhang Guozhu was puzzled, or rather, totally unable to understand.

Not far to the north, another two groups of warships from both sides were "hotly" engaged in battle.

The 42.5 Subsquad’s four destroyers were in pursuit of a merchant ship suspected to be armed, and about ten minutes ago, with Zhang Guozhu’s approval, the lead ship "Carp" had begun firing on the still high-speed freighter, but only warning shots.

It was mere suspicion; there was no way to prove it was an armed merchant ship.

Perhaps it was just a fast merchant ship.

According to the report sent by the flagship of the 42.5 Subsquad, which was the "Carp," they had observed objects resembling guns hidden under canvas on the freighter. When two destroyers closed in, the crew had already uncovered the canvas, appearing to be preparing for battle.

After receiving the warning fire, the freighter did not return fire.

Although it was over twenty kilometers away, the periodic glimmers that illuminated the night sky were still visible.

These were flares shot above the freighter by the destroyers to allow the lookouts to see the ship.

Navy headquarters had already issued orders not to fire on Newland ships unless directly attacked by Newland warships, or until orders were received to do so.

In simple terms, it was not to fire the first shot.

Everything else was negotiable.

It must be said, that freighter was quite stubborn.

After being caught up by the destroyers, it not only did not slow down but instead, using its huge tonnage, charged recklessly, or rather, relying on the fact that the Imperial Navy would not dare to fire the first shot, it continued its frantic escape.

It was clear that this was taking advantage of the relatively small size of the destroyers.

Even though fast merchant ships weren’t much faster than destroyers, the tonnage of merchant ships far exceeded that of destroyers. Nearly all fast merchant ships had a carrying capacity of over ten thousand tons, almost ten times the displacement of destroyers, and could easily sink destroyers by ramming into them.

Next to a merchant ship, a destroyer was just a little guy.

Thus, other than firing directly on the merchant ship, the destroyers could only follow behind.

Charge in front to block?

That would be suicide!

It wasn’t that they couldn’t beat the freighter in a collision; it was a matter of legal principles.

Although the Liangxia Empire had already designated the northwest of the East Ocean as a battle zone, banning third-party ships from entering in accordance with international law, the Newland Federation had not recognized the battle zone defined by the Imperial Navy, claiming the right to freedom of navigation, also in line with international law.

Therefore, if a collision occurred between ships in international waters, it would be handled according to international conventions.

According to the international maritime conventions, clear provisions are made for similar situations. Firstly, warships have the right of precedence in navigation, and secondly, they must not maliciously obstruct the free navigation of other ships.

The problem lies here.

Who dares to guarantee that the cargo ship isn’t an armed merchant vessel?

If it were a cargo ship, it would have to give way to the Empire’s Navy destroyers. If it were an armed merchant ship, there would be no need to yield, and after a collision, the entire responsibility would fall on the shoulders of the Imperial Navy.

Under the relevant international conventions, the Imperial Authority would have to hand over the commander who gave the orders.

Although it is said that during wartime, there’s no need to talk about reasoning, as long as the Newland Federation has not entered the war, they must adhere to international conventions.

If the Liangxia Empire openly violated international conventions, it would inevitably be used against them by Rofuss.

For this reason, the pursuing destroyers never got ahead to intercept.

Actually, interception wasn’t necessary; driving them off would suffice.

More importantly, before driving off the Newland ship, the 42.5 Subsquad had spotted a fleet coming from the East, or rather, one part of it.

Over forty ocean-going cargo ships, sailing at a speed of about ten knots.

Unless they were fully laden, these cargo ships’ speed was clearly below the usual fourteen knots.

In other words, the Newland Fleet had indeed slowed down.

Moreover, they were mainly in groups of three to five cargo ships forming a column.

Within each column, the gap between cargo ships was around five hundred meters; the distance separating adjacent columns ranged from three to five thousand meters.

The lead ship in each column was a bulk carrier, with many goods covered with tarpaulin piled on the deck.

However, hidden under the tarpaulin might be high-altitude guns, depth charge launchers, or individually mounted large-caliber naval guns.

Several fast cargo ships sailing alone might be armed merchant vessels.

As for the crew, they are probably all officers and men of the Newland Navy.

The situation could not be clearer.

The Newland Fleet was preparing to force its way through the blockade.

However, there’s nothing to be afraid of; the Imperial Navy was equally well-prepared.

More than a dozen commerce cruisers were already on standby, each with over two hundred Marines on board, all ready for battle.

Crucially, the commerce cruisers were sufficiently large in tonnage.

According to the plan, these commerce cruisers would rush forward after dawn, using tactics including ramming to force the Newland cargo ships to stop sailing. Then they would board the Marines on the cargo ships, take control of them, and then direct them towards Liuhuang Island or Nagiu Port.

Under international law, the Liangxia Empire has the right to seize third-party ships in the battle zone, provided the safety of the crew and the integrity of the ships and other properties were ensured.

Importantly, civilian vessels of the third party must comply unconditionally and not use force to resist.

In other words, if they resisted, then they would not be unarmed civilian vessels but rather armed vessels of a non-military nature.

Typically, "armed vessels of a non-military nature" are considered pirate ships, and international conventions do not protect pirate ships, let alone advocate for the rights of pirates.

The Bulan Royal Navy has always used international conventions targeting pirates to deal with the Tiaoman Empire’s commerce cruisers.

In short, there’s a lot that can be done in a day’s time.

For those slow ocean-going cargo ships, it would take at least two more days to reach the Saiyi port; one day is far from sufficient.

However, things would definitely not go so smoothly.

"Commander!"

As the Nautical Advisor called out loudly, Zhang Guozhu had already picked up binoculars and headed toward the side hatch, because it was clearer to look from the open-air gallery outside.

To the north, a sudden dazzling light appeared that nearly illuminated the whole night sky.

That was an orange glow, while flares were red.

It was definitely not a flare; no flare was ever so bright. That was the light of an explosion!