Empire Conquest
Chapter 345 - 341 Liu Xiangzhen Takes Action

Chapter 345: Chapter 341 Liu Xiangzhen Takes Action

Liu Xiangzhen didn’t make any adjustments, but the events that followed almost entirely surpassed his expectations.

Around 7:15 a.m., the flagship of the 42.2 Subsquad "Zizhou" sent a telegraph. A seaplane launched by it discovered several large battleships about 150 kilometers to the northeast. The seaplane not only came under fire from high-altitude guns but was also shot down by Newland fighter planes as it approached.

The telegram emphasized the word "fighter."

However, it didn’t mention "ship-borne."

Furthermore, the location where the seaplane was intercepted was about 200 kilometers from the 42.1 Subsquad and over 400 kilometers from the 43.1 Subsquad. If the Newland carrier mixed fleet was there, it could at most provide air cover for the two main battle groups and deploy aircraft to attack the 42.1 Subsquad. Because it was too far away, it was very difficult to bomb the 43.1 Subsquad.

Of course, the possibility of the carrier battle group being south of the area where the seaplane was shot down was not excluded.

Still, in principle, Liu Xiangzhen still tended to believe that the report from that seaplane was mistaken and that it might have encountered a seaplane fighter.

If things happened suddenly, it was possible that the seaplane was shot down by high-altitude guns.

Based on previous deductions, the Newland Navy’s carrier mixed fleet was more likely in the southeast, not the northeast.

Previously, Liu Xiangzhen had the 42 Special Mixed Fleet deploy seaplanes to search in the northwest direction primarily to find the other six battleships and to monitor the transport fleet that had stopped moving and lost contact after being attacked yesterday—that was more than a hundred ocean freighters!

Although Navy headquarters hadn’t issued orders yet, there was reason to believe that after the battle with the Newland Navy began, intercepting the transport fleet would surely be necessary. No matter the outcome of the fight, they couldn’t allow those ocean freighters carrying millions of tons of strategic materials to reach the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

At the strategic level, after the Newland Federation entered the war, the first to suffer would be the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

As expected, the war against the East Saiyi Regime would end within this year, or at the latest, by the first half of next year.

Thus, stopping the Newland Fleet from reaching the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was essential no matter what.

When making this plan, Liu Xiangzhen hadn’t even considered the presence of the Newland carrier mixed fleet.

However, the situation was not as expected.

At 7:25 a.m., the "Zizhou" sent another telegraph.

Another seaplane searching in the northeast direction was intercepted. Crucially, before it was shot down, this seaplane sent a telegraph claiming it had spotted a Newland Navy fleet carrier and identified it as a large "Lek-class" carrier based on the shape of the superstructure.

Either the "Lek" or the "Sara."

This judgment was unlikely to be wrong.

The Lek-class, converted from battlecruisers and similar to the "Longjiang-class", had the most notable feature of an outrageously large superstructure.

Indeed, the superstructure of the "Longjiang" class was also not small.

Furthermore, it was emphasized in the telegram.

About ten minutes prior, right after receiving orders from the mother ship, this seaplane had decreased its altitude, which enabled it to avoid the Newland fleet’s fighters.

Otherwise, it would have been shot down by a fighter before it even spotted the carrier.

Here, it’s important to mention Colonel Li Jiaheng, the former captain of the "Longxing" who had been reassigned as the commander of the 42.2 Subsquad.

It was he who, based on previous battles, deduced that Newland warships were equipped with air-search radars and timely commanded the seaplane to reduce its flight altitude.

The area where the carrier was spotted was south of where the previous seaplane had been shot down, and the distance was less than 50 kilometers.

That carrier was sailing south!

Although the pilot did not clearly see the carrier’s registration number, and perhaps there was none at all—as the Imperial Navy would often erase registration numbers before setting out on expedition, perhaps the Newland Navy would do the same—based on the black smoke emitted by the carrier at high speeds, it was tentatively determined to possibly be the "Sara."

Earlier intelligence had indicated that the state of the "Sara" was not very good, hence it had always been with the Sunset Ocean Fleet.

Was this a Newland’s 16th Special Mixed Fleet?

"Is the ’Lek’ nearby?"

Furthermore, the Newland 16th Special Mixed Fleet is moving south at full speed, indicating that they have targeted the 43rd Special Mixed Fleet and may soon launch an attack with ship-borne aircraft.

Regardless, four Fast Battleships are definitely more attractive than four old Battleships.

It was clear that the Newland 16th Special Mixed Fleet was ready to make a move.

Only five minutes had passed.

At 7:30 AM, the ’Zizhou’ sent a telegram for the third time.

Another seaplane had been intercepted, and in the telegram sent out, it claimed that the enemy plane was an F4F "Wildcat" Fighter.

That’s a ship-borne fighter from the Newland Navy!

Moreover, within a range of 1000 kilometers nearby, there is no island capable of deploying ship-borne fighters.

Undoubtedly, that "Wildcat" must have come from a Newland carrier.

This confirmed the report of the second seaplane.

At this point, Liu Xiangzhen did not hesitate any longer.

At 7:35 AM, Liu Xiangzhen issued the order to strike.

As previously planned, each of the two carriers would launch two squadrons of bombers and one squadron of torpedo bombers, each accompanied by a squadron of fighters for escort and protection. Split into two large Plane Groups, each was responsible for attacking one Newland carrier, and coordination was to be managed by the commanders of the groups themselves.

Usually, whoever arrived first would attack first, and the late arrivers would be responsible for searching and attacking the other carrier.

For these veterans, there was no need for excessive explanations on tactics.

At 7:45 AM, the first "Flying Fish" took off from the ’Longjiang’.

Due to the overloaded takeoff, the catapult had to be operated beyond its normal capacity, so the "Flying Fish" was scheduled to go first to ensure a successful takeoff.

In fact, the attack range was still a bit too long, already exceeding 500 kilometers.

Therefore, after taking off, the ship-borne aircraft were required to maintain cruising speed as much as possible, and the cruising speed of the "Flying Fish" was the slowest among the three types of ship-borne aircraft.

This was precisely why the "Flying Fish" needed to take off first, to allow for regrouping and formation during the flight.

When it was the "Wasp’s" turn to take off, the ’Longjiang’ changed course to the northeast.

Busy until 8:15 AM, the last "Xiaotian" finally left the flight deck.

However, the ’Longjiang’ did not change course and kept heading northeast.

Considering the possibility of intense combat, it was necessary for the carrier to continue in the direction of travel to shorten the flight distance for the returning Plane Groups, ensuring that those "Flying Fish" and "Wasp," which already had limited range, could still return to the carrier after completing their attack mission without having to make an emergency landing at sea due to fuel exhaustion.

To maximize the results of the battle, it was crucial to do everything possible to preserve the ship-borne aircraft.

Missing this opportunity, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet’s Bai Zhizhan would certainly not be kind!

However, Liu Xiangzhen did not let the aviation service personnel idle.

Having located the Newland 16th Special Mixed Fleet, dealing with the Newland 17th Special Mixed Fleet was the job for Bai Zhizhan, and up to now, the location of the Newland 17th Special Mixed Fleet was still unknown. Therefore, after arranging for anti-aircraft fighters to take off, other ship-borne aircraft needed to be readied on the flight deck.

The key was to prepare for attacking the Main Battle Ships.

Besides deploying tactics in advance, the service department also needed to prepare 500-kilogram aviation armor-piercing bombs specifically for attacking Main Battle Ships.

If Bai Zhizhan successfully wiped out the 17th Special Mixed Fleet, then before sunset, ship-borne aircraft needed to be launched to send ten Newland Main Battle Ships to the bottom of the sea.

This way, by the time the battle results were tallied, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet would be the main contributor.

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