Empire Conquest
Chapter 394 - 390: Petty

Chapter 394: Chapter 390: Petty

This intelligence played a decisive role.

As early as October, when Bai Zhizhan proposed using the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s surrender ceremony to lure the Newland Navy into action, he mentioned that the target was not the Empire’s warships, but the personnel attending the surrender ceremony; therefore, there was no need for the fleet to approach Saiyi’s mainland too closely. If medium bombers were loaded, the Newland Fleet could launch an attack from more than 1,000 kilometers away.

To prove this hypothesis, the Empire’s Navy conducted specific tests, with significant assistance from the Sixth Bureau.

The first was to demonstrate that twin-engine medium bombers could take off from carriers under certain conditions, though they could not land on them.

On the last day of October, the Empire’s Navy conducted a takeoff test on the "Peijing" using a Type 96 land attack aircraft provided by the West Saiyi Regime.

The results indicated that by appropriately reducing the weight of the bomber and having the carrier sail into the wind at 30 knots, the Type 96 land attack aircraft could easily take off from the carrier. If God were generous, such as by generating strong winds, it could even take off at its maximum weight.

Newland Federation’s B-25 "Mitchell" was quite similar to the Type 96 land attack, although nearly twice as heavy, but it was equipped with better engines. Given the takeoff of the Type 96 from the "Peijing," the B-25 could surely take off from the "Fenjin."

It was virtually impossible for them to take off from small fleet carriers.

The reason was simple: small fleet carriers had shorter flight decks and slower sailing speeds, potentially failing to provide the B-25 with sufficient speed to become airborne.

Thus, the Sixth Bureau proposed monitoring the movement and deployment of the B-25s to determine whether the Newland Navy intended to use the carriers to launch medium bombers for long-range strikes, thereby proving whether Bai Zhizhan’s judgment was correct and if there was a need for action.

The result was that after more than ten B-25s disappeared from the air station on Ford Island in Treasure Harbor, Xue Yuanzheng immediately approved the combat plan submitted by Bai Zhizhan.

On that day itself, Liu Changxun took a transport aircraft to Nagiu Port and then transferred to a patrol plane to head to the "Longxing."

Everything went smoothly, almost entirely within Bai Zhizhan’s expectations.

Although Bai Zhizhan had proven prescient in several previous battles and many of his speculations had been proven correct, Liu Changxun was still a bit worried.

It was all going too smoothly!

It seemed as if Bai Zhizhan was the chief director of this charade, with everyone, including the officers and soldiers of the Newland Navy, performing according to his command.

But what use was there in worrying?

Seeing the land ahead on the left front, Liu Changxun put away his thoughts.

That was the Shanpu Peninsula to the left of the entrance of East Capital Bay, a bit further inside was Saiyi Navy’s former mother port, Hengxu Fire Navy Base, and to the north was Hengbin Port south of East Imperial City. The site of the surrender ceremony was there, precisely in the deep water anchorage area of Hengbin Port.

Initially, Xue Yuanzheng planned to set the signing location ashore.

The reason was that retreat and evacuation would be more convenient.

After weighing the pros and cons, it was still decided to hold it on a battleship, as it was uncertain whether Newland Navy’s bombers could even reach the airspace above East Capital Bay.

Later, Peng Huaisong suggested docking the "Longxing" next to the pier.

Unfortunately, it was vetoed.

It wasn’t that the suggestion was meaningless, but it was unfeasible.

Months ago, Hengbin Harbor had been bombed into ruin, and all deep water piers had been destroyed; there was no reason to repair a pier just for the signing ceremony.

Besides, there wasn’t enough time.

Of course, the Navy made a significant concession.

Representing the Imperial Military, Army Commander Peng Huaisong was the first to sign the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s surrender document, and Liu Changxun merely signed on behalf of the Empire’s Navy.

Liu Changxun himself had no objections.

It wasn’t that the Army made the greatest contribution, but rather the Army would remain to occupy and station troops in the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, while the Navy was only responsible for a few military ports.

It could be said that this was picking up a great bargain.

Since they picked the easy deal, they shouldn’t play coy now.

According to Peng Huaisong’s words, the Army is given the thankless tasks while the Navy enjoys all the benefits, leading to accusations of favoritism from Xue Yuanzheng!

Xue Yuanzheng made it clear to Peng Huaisong and Liu Changxun that the war was far from over.

Implicitly, he suggested that when another enemy country is defeated, it would then be the Navy’s turn to undertake the thankless tasks and leave the benefits for the Army.

Not unexpectedly, the likely candidate would be the Newland Federation.

If given the choice, Liu Changxun would definitely prefer to be on the Imperial Warship in the Boma River few years later, signing the surrender document of the Newland on behalf of the Imperial Military.

After dallying a few more minutes, Liu Changxun returned to the Command Bridge only when he could clearly see the lighthouse at the very tip of the peninsula.

That was the first lighthouse of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, ordered by Chen Bingxun.

In the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, it was known as the "National Shame Tower."

Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers to the southeast on the "Peijing",

After breakfast, Bai Zhizhan visited various departments, so by the time he returned to the Command Bridge, it was already past ten in the morning.

It’s worth mentioning that, aside from last month, when the "Imperial Capital" suffered severe damage and returned to the Imperial homeland with the "Peijing", Bai Zhizhan had never been aboard this carrier.

Even last month, Bai Zhizhan had only been in the Command Bridge and the Commander’s cabin and hadn’t visited other areas.

Of course, the officers and sailors aboard the "Peijing" definitely recognized Bai Zhizhan.

However, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t recognize all the officers and sailors of this carrier.

Even among the officers on the "Imperial Capital", Bai Zhizhan only knew those he frequently encountered, with the majority still looking unfamiliar.

Because of this, Bai Zhizhan often ridiculed himself for not being cut out to be a Commander.

Since leaving port, Bai Zhizhan had made daily rounds to various departments. This wasn’t just to familiarize himself with the key personnel of each department quickly but also to demonstrate to the officers and sailors on this carrier that the imminent battle was critical, and everybody needed to be alert.

Regarding this, Li Mingbo and Zhou Yongtao saw no necessity.

Even Shen Pu and Zhu Huasheng thought that they should have chosen the "Longjiang" as the flagship from the start.

After all, the "Longjiang" was initially Bai Zhizhan’s flagship, and most of the officers and sailors there were familiar faces and fans of Bai Zhizhan.

Why not choose the "Longjiang"?

Bai Zhizhan’s reason was that, after repairs, this carrier hadn’t been tested according to standards, and there were undoubtedly many safety risks.

In reality, he didn’t want to fall out with Liu Xiangzhen.

More importantly, after this military operation, the "Longjiang" would need to return to the 21st Special Mixed Fleet, effectively being handed back to Liu Xiangzhen.

If Bai Zhizhan had commandeered the "Longjiang" as his mother ship, he would have burnt his bridges.

As the saying goes, they would still have to face each other again under the same roof, so there was no need for irrevocable fallout.

Moreover, according to Navy headquarters’ plans, once the "Imperial Capital" was repaired, the three carriers built and commissioned before the war would assemble into a three-carrier mixed fleet. Eventually, four more large carriers would form two more special mixed fleets. If Bai Zhizhan took over the "Longjiang", his chances of commanding the three-carrier mixed fleet the following year would increase, and he could forget about settling down on a large carrier.

Of course, Bai Zhizhan wasn’t that scheming.

To quote his own words, the Command Bridge of "Peijing" was more spacious, and he was used to it, unsure if he could adapt back on the "Longjiang".

Regardless, it really was a plausible reason.

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