Empire Conquest
Chapter 332 - 328 Divide into Three

Chapter 332: Chapter 328 Divide into Three

Where exactly was the Bai Zhizhan?

Several people were pondering this very question.

Although not particularly skilled in commanding fleet combat, Nizi did not dare to be negligent when it came to directing the East Ocean Fleet in its first battle since arriving at Treasure Harbor.

Before receiving the telegram from Huacheng, he too had suspected that Bai Zhizhan had already left the Liangxia Empire.

His assistant, Major Fox, also harbored this suspicion.

The cause for their doubts was the persisting failure to locate the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

In the pre-battle deployment, searching for and surveilling the 41st Special Mixed Fleet was of utmost importance.

The reason was simple, in the numerous war games conducted beforehand, they were able to accurately and promptly detect all Liangxia Fleets except for the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, securing opportunities to launch surprise attacks. The only ones they couldn’t detect in time and successfully annihilate were the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

For this reason, Nizi had sent Fox specifically to Wei Island and Transfer Island to assess whether more long-range patrol aircraft could be deployed there.

If there were problems, they needed to identify what work was necessary to deploy more long-range patrol aircraft.

By the end of last month, the East Ocean Fleet had already dispatched a squadron of long-range patrol aircraft to both Wei Island and Transfer Island.

Those sent to Wei Island were PBMs, not the more prolific PBYs.

These patrol aircraft, nicknamed "Sailors," possessed longer ranges and faster speeds. Taking off from Wei Island, they could cover the entire ocean area east of the Volcanic Islands. With flexible auxiliary fuel tanks installed in the cabin, they could even fly a circuit around the Northwest East Ocean. The greater speed allowed them to reach the target areas in less time, extending search and patrol durations and thus enhancing the efficiency of reconnaissance and patrol missions.

The issue was that there were simply too few of them.

With only a little over ten aircraft, they were all deployed on Wei Island, so the aircraft remaining on Transfer Island were still the PBY "Catherines."

As a result, the PBYs taking off from Transfer Island could only search the southern and eastern parts of the Northwest East Ocean and were unable to search the western area near the North Ma Islands.

Before dawn, all the patrol aircraft from these two islands were deployed.

In fact, they had already been deployed once yesterday.

Because they hadn’t found the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, Fox even once believed that the 41st Special Mixed Fleet might be hiding somewhere near the Volcanic Islands.

Aside from utilizing the patrol aircraft from Wei Island and Transfer Island, they also deployed ship-borne reconnaissance aircraft and seaplanes carried by the escort battleships of the Special Mixed Fleet.

Up to this point, there had been no message received, indicating that the reconnaissance aircraft of the Special Mixed Fleet had not discovered the 41st Special Mixed Fleet either.

It wasn’t until he received the message from Huacheng that Nizi breathed a sigh of relief.

His concern was that Rofuss had decided to take a desperate risk.

Although there was no evidence at present, there was reason to believe that Bai Zhizhan had already left the Liangxia Empire and returned to the 41st Special Mixed Fleet in advance.

Therefore, proceeding with the original plan would be tantamount to throwing lives away!

Even with ample preparation, safety could not be guaranteed.

The crux of the matter was that there were three tactical objectives that had to be achieved in this battle. The first was to annihilate the main force of the Liangxia Navy, namely the two carrier mixed fleets. The second was to protect the transport convoys heading to the Saiyi homeland, ensuring at least the safe arrival of nearly a hundred ships from the two fleets behind them. The third was to preserve their own main force, meaning the three carrier mixed fleets, with the minimum requirement being to preserve at least four of the fleet carriers.

Indeed, three mixed fleets, not two!

In fact, this was the most important adjustment Nizi had made to the composition of the East Ocean Fleet after his arrival.

According to his deployment, the 18th Special Mixed Fleet, commanded by Frey, had only one carrier, the "Sara," which had been transferred from the Sunset Ocean Fleet.

The carrier’s condition had not been very good; it had been part of the Sunset Ocean Fleet last year, primarily responsible for training aviator pilots on ship-borne aircraft.

Because of the tense situation in the East Ocean, it had only been transferred over at the beginning of the year.

The damned thing was, the East Ocean didn’t have a shipyard capable of major repairs, so over the past few months, the problems kept piling up.

Many small issues, due to improper handling, became bigger problems.

For this reason, Nizi had pulled out the "Sara" to form the 18th Special Mixed Fleet on its own.

According to his arrangement, the 18th Special Mixed Fleet was to follow right behind the First Fleet’s two main battle mixed fleets, which were the 11th and the 12th. In the lead was the 12th Special Mixed Fleet, with four battleships, and behind them was the 11th, with six battleships.

The key was that the "Sara" carried more than 80 F4F fighters.

Its sole mission was to provide defense and cover for the First Fleet.

Hal commanded the 16th Special Mixed Fleet, which possessed the carriers "Lek" and "York."

The 17th Special Mixed Fleet had the carriers "Fenjin" and "Wasp."

These two mixed fleets operated together, nominally under Hal’s overall command, but in reality, it was otherwise.

The true commander was from the 17th Special Mixed Fleet, Spur, whom Hal had recommended to Nizi.

It wasn’t that Nizi didn’t trust Hal, but Hal had fallen seriously ill last month, spending over half a month in the Naval hospital at Treasure Harbor and, as a result, missed the crucial pre-war planning phase. Before his hospitalization, he had recommended Spur to Nizi.

In fact, Hal had not fully recovered from his illness yet.

Because the fleet’s departure was imminent and, per the planned military operation, there was indeed a need for three commanders, Hal had to set out despite being ill.

To be exact, he insisted on leaving the hospital, nearly coming to blows with the doctor who refused to issue his discharge papers.

To accommodate his condition, Nizi arranged for a doctor to go aboard the "Lek" to ensure Hal could receive treatment on the battleship.

As for Spur, Nizi couldn’t say he was familiar with him, but he wasn’t a stranger, either.

Before coming to Treasure Harbor, Nizi had conducted several wargame simulations through the Ministry of Navy, and Spur, recommended by Hal, had played the role of the hypothetical enemy.

Critical to note, the hypothetical enemy was mainly imitating the Bai Zhizhan!

In Hal’s words, no one in the entire Newland Navy understood Bai Zhizhan better than Spur, so he was the most suitable to play the part.

Moreover, Spur had always served on carriers and in carrier mixed fleets.

Though not as outstanding as Hal, when it came to knowledge of carriers and naval aviation combat, Spur was certainly not inferior to Hal.

What he lacked was just an opportunity to showcase his talent.

As for the whereabouts of the two mixed fleets, Nizi did not know.

The military operation was planned and commanded by Spur, with the key element being that the 16th and 17th Special Mixed Fleets maintained secrecy.

Clearly, the 16th and 17th Special Mixed Fleets were the true main forces.

According to the battle plan, the 18th Special Mixed Fleet was to attract fire, and upon locating the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, Hal and Spur would strike to ensure the annihilation of the Liangxia Navy’s two carrier mixed fleets. As long as they could achieve a decisive victory, the following battles would be much simpler.

For this purpose, even sacrificing the 18th Special Mixed Fleet was an option.

This was also the bottom line of the entire battle plan, that at most, only one fleet carrier could be lost.

Thus, the key was finding the 41st Special Mixed Fleet!

The extra day’s time certainly held tremendous value.

Moreover, no matter where the 41st Special Mixed Fleet was hiding, once Rofuss issued the final ultimatum, the Liangxia Navy would inevitably strengthen its defenses.

Then, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet would appear on the battlefield!

Could Spur make good use of this one day?

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