Empire Conquest
Chapter 344 - 340: A Moment of Hesitation

Chapter 344: Chapter 340: A Moment of Hesitation

At Liu Xiangzhen’s end, the deployment of the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet into battle actually made things difficult for him.

Although according to the original plan, the mission of the 21st Special Mixed Fleet was to provide cover for both the 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets, Liu Xiangzhen had not intended to engage in combat between main battle ships. Moreover, from his viewpoint, the most effective cover was an aggressive and proactive attack.

Otherwise, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet would not have moved forward.

Receiving a telegram from Zhang Guodong aboard the "Longxing," Liu Xiangzhen wasn’t worried at all.

In a four-on-four scenario, the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet had an absolute advantage; even if they couldn’t annihilate the enemy fleet, they would certainly cripple the four Newland battleships.

The "Longxing" class had always been touted as the "strongest pre-treaty" battleship.

In the Newland Navy, the counterpart to the "Longxing" class was the "Kola" class, which barely matched the "Longxing" in terms of firepower and protection, yet was much slower in speed.

Against the inferior "Binfa" class and "Tenna" class, capturing them would be easy for the "Longxing" class.

At that time, Liu Xiangzhen had not considered the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet.

According to his judgment, another battleship mixed fleet might likely have been positioned further east, tasked with providing direct cover for the carrier mixed fleet.

The main mission was to intercept the fast battleships during a nighttime assault.

Because of their own slower speeds, they would definitely be deployed as close to the carrier mixed fleet as possible to minimize the range of maneuverability in combat.

Being too forward could easily leave them bypassed by fast battleships.

Additionally, Liu Xiangzhen had speculated about Newland Fleet’s tactics.

They planned to use the four battleships at the front to tie down the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet and bait the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet into revealing themselves, then the carrier mixed fleet could launch an attack after dawn.

Although four battleships might be sacrificed, this would allow them to take down eight Imperial Navy battleships while ensuring the safety of the carrier mixed fleet.

Consequently, by the afternoon or evening the Newland Navy’s transport ships could continue sailing towards the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom under the protection of six battleships.

Due to the lack of direct battleship protection and because the shipborne air force could not operate at night, attacking the transport ships during the day might also expose their movements. Therefore, without support and cover, the only option left for the 21st Special Mixed Fleet was to turn back.

Of course, obtaining cover would mean deploying the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

Alternatively, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet could initiate an attack and the 21st Special Mixed Fleet provide cover.

In any case, both carrier mixed fleets needed to be deployed together to ensure the interception of the transport ships and to counter potential air strikes.

If this were indeed the case, locating the two carrier mixed fleets wouldn’t be a difficult task.

Liu Xiangzhen also inferred from this that the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet wouldn’t encounter the Newland Fleet, hence during the deployment, he had not considered the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet.

Unexpectedly, Newland’s six battleships were located near the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet!

Upon receiving the news, Liu Xiangzhen immediately thought that the Newland Navy was making a desperate gamble, planning to trade their less valuable old battleships for the Imperial Navy’s special mixed fleet.

Simply put, they were forcing the 21st Special Mixed Fleet to initiate the attack first.

If the 21st Special Mixed Fleet promptly sent its shipborne air force to attack the four old battleships, they wouldn’t be able to attack the carrier mixed fleet.

Even if the four old battleships were substandard, they could withstand two waves of bombing without an issue.

Indeed, even merely providing air defense for the 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets would consume the already limited number of fighters.

So, should they provide cover for the 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets?

To be precise, the question was whether to arrange fighter protection for the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet since the fighters protecting the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet had already departed before dawn.

Now, the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet was to the east of the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet, closer to the Newland carrier mixed fleet. The value of its four fast battleships couldn’t be underestimated which meant if the Newland carrier mixed fleet were to choose a target, they would likely attack the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet first.

Perhaps, the Newland carrier had already deployed its ship-borne aircraft.

Before dawn, Liu Xiangzhen had already dispatched all the reconnaissance aircraft.

According to his plan, these reconnaissance aircraft were divided into two groups. Four flew eastward, following the course of the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet, spreading out after passing over the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet with intervals of about 30 kilometers to search the seas east of the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet. The other four flew southeast, supported by six seaplanes from the escort battleships.

The mission of these reconnaissance aircraft was to search for the Newland carrier mixed fleet.

If the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet executed Liu Xiangzhen’s orders, heavy cruisers carrying seaplanes would search their northeast maritime domain in the early morning hours.

In addition, Liu Xiangzhen had the shipborne air force ready in advance, to enable immediate deployment upon spotting the Newland carrier mixed fleet.

Since the main target was to strike carriers, the operational radius was bound to be large, so the first wave of attack would mainly involve "Wasp" aircraft using 250 kg air bombs.

Exactly for this reason, there were 16 "Wasp" aircraft on the decks of the two "Longjiang-class" vessels.

As for the "Flying Fish" aircraft, there were eight each, with two as squad leaders and the other six also incorporating the internal soft fuel tanks normally not used.

The briefing also focused on attacking carriers.

The target identification booklets distributed to the pilots primarily detailed Newland Navy’s five fleet carriers, especially the differences in their details.

If they were to challenge battleships, "Flying Fish" aircraft would be the primary choice, and "Wasps" would need to be equipped with 500 kg aviation armor-piercing bombs.

So, were adjustments necessary?

If required, just changing ammunition would take half an hour, and preparing more torpedo bombers for takeoff would consume even more time.

Moreover, who could guarantee that the reconnaissance aircraft deployed before dawn wouldn’t spot Newland Navy’s fleet carriers?

After a brief hesitation, Liu Xiangzhen made his decision.

In fact, it was to do nothing.

Ten old battleships were simply not a concern, and even if the eight Imperial Navy battleships held some value, they weren’t decisive.

The key was that the eight battleships’ anti-aircraft firepower had been enhanced, especially the four fast battleships.

The primary value of the Imperial Navy’s fast battleships was to provide anti-aircraft cover for the carriers; their firepower was exceptionally strong.

It could be said that anti-aircraft firepower stronger than that of the "North River" class and "Xu Sea" class battleships hadn’t yet been developed!

The Newland Navy’s two "Beika-class" under construction, at least in the design stage, didn’t have strong anti-aircraft capabilities and were far inferior to the "Xu Sea" class.

Apparently, if the Newland Navy targeted the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet, it would be a good thing.

Sending aircraft to attack the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet would lead to severe damage and losses.

After losing most of their shipborne aircraft, what would the Newland carrier mixed fleet use to engage the 21st Special Mixed Fleet?

Later, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet could take advantage of the situation; wouldn’t that be killing two birds with one stone?

Of course, if they could locate the Newland Navy’s fleet carriers in time and launch a timely attack, then both the 42nd and 43rd Special Mixed Fleets could surely defeat the opposing Newland battleships. Even if they didn’t defeat them, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet could provide support.

With that being the case, what was there to worry about?

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