Empire Conquest
Chapter 338 - 334: Fully Deployed

Chapter 338: Chapter 334: Fully Deployed

Upon receiving the telegram from Imperial Navy Headquarters, it was already evening.

Then, a series of telegrams related to combat operations arrived one after another.

The Sixth Bureau suspected that Rofuss had already arranged for Congress to grant war authorization, and therefore, after the final ultimatum expired, Rofuss would formally declare war on the Liangxia Empire.

If that were true, related combat orders had already been telegraphed to the various special mixed fleets of the Newland Navy.

Consequently, Imperial Navy Headquarters had also issued orders requiring all special mixed fleets to ensure combat readiness at night and to enter a state of battle by dawn.

Yet they still could not fire the first shot.

According to the deployment of the Navy Headquarters, the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet would sail eastward at night, maintaining close contact with Newland’s First Fleet to prevent a surprise attack at dawn. The key was to compress the operational space of the Newland Fleet and seek to find the carrier mixed fleet hidden to the east.

As expected, the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet would dispatch seaplanes at night.

They weren’t on a reconnaissance mission but instead would use the cover of darkness to fly to the east side of Newland’s First Fleet, then land on the water’s surface and wait to take off again the following morning.

This way, they might just manage to locate the carrier mixed fleet hiding behind the First Fleet before the fighters on Newland’s carriers could take to the skies.

This tactic had been devised by a staff officer from the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

Although the seaplane pilots were in for a rough time, it was worth it as long as they could find the Newland carrier mixed fleet.

The 43rd Special Mixed Fleet would also head east at night.

However, the course of the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet lay to the south and was more than a hundred kilometers away from the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet’s route.

Like the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet, the 43rd was primarily tasked with dealing with Newland’s First Fleet, constricting the carrier mixed fleet’s field of operation.

Of course, the former took priority.

With only four fleet carriers, and without knowledge of the Newland carrier mixed fleet’s whereabouts, once combat began, Liu Xiangzhen and Bai Zhizhan might not be able to provide cover for the two main battle mixed fleets, let alone attack Newland’s First Fleet. The two main battle mixed fleets needed to cooperate fully.

Without the support of the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet, the 42nd was certainly no match for Newland’s First Fleet.

After all, the enemy had ten battleships.

Moreover, the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet had another important task.

To shield the 21st Special Mixed Fleet following behind.

Indeed, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet was behind the 43rd, traveling eastward at the same speed.

If a carrier mixed fleet was behind the First Fleet, and the 21st remained in its original position, that is, behind the 42nd Fleet, then by tomorrow morning, when the main battle kicked off, it would be impossible to launch an attack with ship-borne aircraft no matter what.

This wasn’t just due to the great distance but also because of the dozen or so battleships in the middle.

Even if an attack was launched, it could not achieve the element of surprise.

As for the other carrier mixed fleet, that was Bai Zhizhan’s concern.

Besides, with the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet out front as a shield, what was there to worry about?

Although the two special mixed fleets maintained a distance of about 200 kilometers from each other, to the Newland Navy, the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet was no less valuable than the 21st. If they couldn’t swiftly take out the 43rd and instead spent hours dealing with the 21st, the Newland Navy might very well pay the price with their First Fleet, putting its ten battleships into grave danger.

To preserve the First Fleet, they had to prioritize attacking the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

Precisely because of this, Liu Xiangzhen determined that it was relatively safe to follow behind the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

The 41st Special Mixed Fleet and the 21st Special Mixed Fleet had not used the radio, both reporting through the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet, so their whereabouts had not been exposed.

Currently, the only one that had not reported its position was the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

In fact, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet was also heading east, just to the southeast, and at a slightly slower speed of about twenty-five knots.

Shortly after nightfall, the four "Wuzhou" class heavy cruisers of the 41.2 Subsquad had already rendezvoused ahead.

To be precise, earlier, the "Wuzhou" and the "Changzhou" from the east and southeast had joined forces, and the "Yuzhou" from the northeast and the "Shazhou" from the south were still speeding up to catch up. Since the "Wuzhou" and the "Changzhou" were a bit slower, the "Yuzhou" and the "Shazhou" would catch up by dawn.

According to the plan, these four heavy cruisers would sprint at full speed towards the east, which is where the Newland carrier mixed fleet was most likely to be located.

The sole mission of the 41.2 Subsquad was to get as close as possible to the Newland Fleet at night.

If they could encounter the Newland Fleet, that would be even better.

Even if they couldn’t, it was no concern; they would pose as the 41st Special Mixed Fleet after daybreak.

Then, the "Wuzhou" of the 41.2 Subsquad would use the radio to continuously coordinate with the reconnaissance aircraft and seaplanes, striving to maximize the efficiency of scouting and searching.

Bai Zhizhan had personally promised the Wei Jun that at the break of dawn, there would be a squadron of eight "Xiaotian" fighters overhead.

After dinner, Bai Zhizhan didn’t go to rest but returned to the Command Bridge.

"Are you not going to sleep?"

When Li Mingbo approached, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

Although Li Mingbo’s words had no mocking intent, Bai Zhizhan knew he was referring to that first battle, the surprise attack on the Saiyi Navy’s Permanent Fleet by the Fifth Air Corps. Before that, everyone else was too nervous to sleep, while only Bai Zhizhan had gone back to his cabin and slept through the night.

"Actually, there’s no need to be too anxious."

"If you said you weren’t anxious, that would be strange," Bai Zhizhan let out a long breath. "Back then, when facing the Saiyi Navy, I wasn’t scared at all because Takano was all bark and no bite. His expertise was the old ways, and apart from that, it was just that, in that last battle of the previous war, he showed impressive performance, or rather he was just lucky enough to earn fame. As for his few proteges, whether it’s Lan Yun, Sawa, or Kuroshima, they were all pretty much useless – definitely not impressive. If you had to mention one, it would be Tanimoto who’s slightly more formidable, it’s just that he’s too green, didn’t get many chances. But now, our opponents, the commanders of the Newland Navy, are certainly not incompetent."

"They’re not much better, either," said Li Mingbo as he handed a coffee cup to Bai Zhizhan.

Taking the cup, Bai Zhizhan shook his head with another wry smile, feeling that Li Mingbo was being somewhat overconfident.

"Otherwise, the Newland Navy wouldn’t have invited Tanimoto as an advisor," Li Mingbo wasn’t taking things lightly; he just wanted to use this way to help Bai Zhizhan relax a bit.

"When did Tanimoto go to the Newland Federation?"

"Didn’t the Sixth Bureau send intelligence before?" Li Mingbo replied, "It mentioned the suspicion that Tanimoto and a group of Saiyi Navy officers who had participated in naval battles went to the Newland Federation. The intelligence also mentioned that these Saiyi officers didn’t go to the Newland mainland but were likely in Treasure Harbor, some even becoming instructors."

Bai Zhizhan was stunned at first, then he slapped his forehead a few times forcefully.

Li Mingbo wasn’t talking nonsense; indeed, there was such intelligence.

Bai Zhizhan had seen it too, just misunderstood it.

In his memory, the intelligence indicated that Tanimoto had sent a group of experienced naval officers to serve as advisors to the Newland Navy, not that Tanimoto himself had gone.

That was why Bai Zhizhan hadn’t taken it to heart.

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