Empire Conquest
Chapter 334 - 330: Forward or Backward

Chapter 334: Chapter 330: Forward or Backward

Due to the focus on shipborne air forces, the Empire’s Navy had not considered developing twin-engine heavy-duty fighters before the war.

Even after the outbreak of the war, the Navy only thought about extending the range by increasing the internal fuel and did not consider adding an extra engine to the fighters.

There was only one reason: the heavy fighters were too large to be accommodated on aircraft carriers.

Strictly speaking, it was impossible to operate them on aircraft carriers.

Years before, the Empire’s Navy had conducted tests. Taking off from an aircraft carrier was not a problem for twin-engine aircraft, but landing on one was extremely difficult. If aircraft carriers were designed to accommodate the size of twin-engine aircraft, the width of the flight deck would have to exceed seventy meters, meaning the displacement of the aircraft carrier would have to be at least 60,000 tons. Not to mention the construction costs, there were simply no shipyards capable of building a 60,000-ton carrier.

Fortunately, the Land Air Force had twin-engine fighters.

After imposing a comprehensive strategic blockade on the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, at the Navy’s request, the Land Air Force sent a long-range air force unit to Liuhuang Island, primarily consisting of several dozen specially modified twin-engine heavy-duty long-range fighters, nicknamed "Red Rabbit."

The so-called "modification" involved removing the radar mounted on the nose of the aircraft and installing a 30-millimeter machine gun, along with a drum that could hold 500 rounds of ammunition.

Though the performance of these fighters was not very impressive, mainly due to their bulkiness, they were more than sufficient against reconnaissance aircraft.

When designed, the task of "Red Rabbit" was to intercept enemy bombers at night, making it not only the first night fighter of the Empire’s Army but also the first in the world.

During the blockade mission, the main task of "Red Rabbit" was not to confront Saiyi’s bombers but to deal with smaller, faster-moving vessels.

Upon spotting ships or receiving calls from reconnaissance aircraft, they would rush to carry out strike missions.

Because it was faster and only had one pilot, and maintenance was easier, "Red Rabbit" was very popular among the frontline troops.

Using the installed 30-millimeter machine gun was sufficient against small vessels such as fishing boats.

If the 30-millimeter machine gun and drum were removed and replaced with soft oil tanks, the extra hundreds of kilograms of fuel could extend the operational radius to over 1500 kilometers.

By September, all medium bomber planes were withdrawn by the Land Air Force and replaced with "Red Rabbit."

This arrangement was to cover for Navy operations.

At the request of Bai Zhizhan, Li Yunxiang had even specifically sent Du Kang, who had previously served in the Sea Air force and later returned to the Land Air Force with him, to command at Liuhuang Island.

However, Liuhuang Island was only so large.

Although several months of construction had taken place, with the gradual cooling down of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s combat, the importance of Liuhuang Island was also gradually diminishing.

Many of the originally planned infrastructures were never realized.

Now, there were only slightly over forty "Red Rabbit" deployed on Liuhuang Island.

Although it was possible to place more fighters, the lack of maintenance facilities meant that they couldn’t guarantee the ideal sortie efficiency.

On the sea chart, the operational areas of these fighters were clearly marked.

Additionally, three locations were indicated with red triangular flags.

This morning, guided and commanded by the cruisers, "Red Rabbit" intercepted a Newland reconnaissance aircraft at each of these three spots.

All three were PBM "Sailors" and not PBY "Catherine."

Clearly, the Newland Navy had previously replaced the reconnaissance aircraft deployed at Wei Island with the longer-range "Sailor" to expand the search area.

Though the three PBMs turned away after being intercepted by the fighters, especially after receiving warning shots, the fact that so many reconnaissance planes appeared in just one morning was a significant event.

If more reconnaissance planes flew in this direction, the possibility of exposure would greatly increase in the afternoon.

In fact, Bai Zhizhan’s concern wasn’t about being exposed.

Rofuss issued a final ultimatum, so even if the 41st Special Mixed Fleet had exposed its tracks now, the Newland Navy wouldn’t launch an attack.

What Bai Zhizhan was concerned about were the movements of the two carrier mixed fleets of the Newland Navy.

In the message received in the morning, it only mentioned the presence of a mixed fleet centered on a carrier near the transport convoy but didn’t specify which mixed fleet.

More importantly, it didn’t specify which carriers.

To locate those carriers, Bai Zhizhan ordered eight cruisers to deploy all the seaplanes they carried.

Here, the previously deployed 41.2 Subsquad was fully utilized.

Seaplanes from long-range cruisers initially flew to the previously deployed heavy cruisers for refueling before setting off on their reconnaissance missions.

That is to say, in the northeast, east, southeast, and south, there were six seaplanes conducting search missions in each direction.

These seaplanes, using heavy cruisers as a springboard, expanded their search range by at least 200 kilometers and could basically fly up to approximately 700 kilometers from the "Imperial Capital."

Still, the number was too few.

To conduct a thorough search in the vast sea area, six seaplanes were definitely far from enough.

While Bai Zhizhan was pondering tactics over the sea map, Li Mingbo suggested making a turn after three o’clock in the afternoon to stay within the coverage of the shore-based fighters.

The reason was that the battle was not expected to break out until the next day at the earliest.

Continuing southeast according to the original plan would mean leaving the coverage area of shore-based air force by evening.

Furthermore, according to Li Mingbo’s estimation, after the ultimatum expired, the Newland Fleet would actively seek an opportunity to engage in battle.

Considering this, it was entirely possible to pull back and wait at leisure.

Of course, Li Mingbo was only speaking hypothetically.

Not to mention Bai Zhizhan, even Zhou Yongtao felt Li Mingbo’s suggestion sounded more like a joke.

Retreat and act like shrinking turtles?

Behind them were the Volcanic Islands and the North Ma Islands, and heading south would lead them into the patrol sea area of Guan Island, where they were even more likely to be discovered the next day.

Could they really avoid a decisive battle if it came to that?

The cover provided by shore-based fighters was only to chase away enemy reconnaissance aircraft. In the event of an attack, shore-based fighters could not offer protection.

The name "Red Rabbit" sounded good, but its air combat capabilities were even inferior to the "Typhoon." Not to mention the Navy, even the Army felt this fighter was too inadequate and withdrew them from the front lines not long after the outbreak of the war. Otherwise, they wouldn’t have generously donated dozens of them for Navy use.

Once they exposed their tracks and were attacked, their chances of misfortune greatly outnumbered their chances of fortune.

A carrier fleet’s battle centered on striking first, there was no concept of gaining the upper hand later.

If not retreating, then how should they engage?

"Wait until nightfall, then move full speed southward," Zhou Yongtao also shared his thoughts. "If the other special mixed fleet is on our side, they are surely in the northeast direction, focusing their search on the southeast sea area of the Volcanic Islands, which is where those PBMs were intercepted. We could move full speed south during the night, and at the right time, turn eastward. By dawn tomorrow, we could maneuver to their south."

While explaining this, Zhou Yongtao also traced the presumed courses of both the enemy and our fleet on the sea map.

The key point was that the unexposed Newland special mixed fleet would sail toward the Volcanic Islands during the night, ensuring they could deploy reconnaissance aircraft to search the southeast sea area of the Volcanic Islands by the next morning.

"Why do you think Rofuss issued a final ultimatum, pushing back the timing of the engagement by a day?"

"What?"

Zhou Yongtao didn’t react immediately, as he hadn’t considered this question at all.