Empire Conquest
Chapter 433 - 429 Reasonable Inference

Chapter 433: Chapter 429 Reasonable Inference

By the night of the 15th, Bai Zhizhan had finally received the latest news.

The main force of the Bulan Royal Navy’s Domestic Fleet had returned to its home port, Spaka Bay, but the two newest Fast Battleships hadn’t returned.

Where had those two battleships gone?

There were sufficient reasons to believe that neither the "George V" nor the "Prince of Wales" had been damaged in the battle on the 10th, which meant the Bulan Royal Navy hadn’t made any adjustments, and none of the shipyards in the Bulan Kingdom that could serve main battle ships were preparing to repair battleships.

After reading the telegram, Bai Zhizhan immediately had Zhou Yongtao send a reply to the Ministry of Navy headquarters, urging Zheng Jiangming to contact the Tiaoman Navy as soon as possible.

Those were two Fast Battleships!

The "George V" class was the worst among the treaty-type fast battleships, having made too many compromises in order to achieve high cruising speeds, balance firepower strength with density, and reduce construction costs—ending up as neither fish nor fowl.

The most representative feature was the arrangement of ten 14-inch main guns in a 4+2+4 layout.

Using 14-inch main guns was a step backwards.

The two previously built "Nelson" class had 16-inch main guns, and the main force during the last great war, the "Queen Yisha" class, all had 15-inch guns.

Moreover, no main battle ship in the Bulan Royal Navy had previously been equipped with 14-inch naval guns.

Instead, the Newland Navy and the Saiyi Navy considered the 14-inch a standard caliber before the 16-inch naval guns became mainstream, equipping them on dozens of main battle ships.

It could be said, without any courtesy, that merely the ten 14-inch main guns made the "George V" class a second-rate battleship.

In the same era, the treaty-type battleships constructed by other Great Powers had greater firepower than the "George V" class!

However, the "George V" class was a genuine Fast Battleship, with a top cruising speed of 29 knots, not slower than other fast battleships.

The key point was that, before the "George V" was completed, carriers had already entered the stage of war.

As a result, before the official acceptance, the Bulan Royal Navy had shipyards install as many high-altitude guns as possible on these battleships.

According to reliable intelligence, the "George V" was equipped with 32, 40mm and 65, 20mm high-altitude guns, while the "Prince of Wales" had 48, 40mm and 70, 20mm high-altitude guns, both ships each had eight twin-mounted 5.5-inch High/Low Angle secondary guns.

This firepower setup, even compared to the Empire Navy’s "Xu Sea" class, was not too bad.

To put it another way, the place for the "George V" class was beside carriers, acting as their bodyguards.

Months earlier, Bai Zhizhan had reminded Wang Kaiyuan and Zheng Jiangming to keep an eye on the "George V" class battleships.

At that time, there was intelligence indicating that Newland Navy had proposed to the Bulan Royal Navy the exchange of three "Kola" class for two "George V" class vessels nearing completion and the "Hude," promising to return them after the "Beika" class entered service, in order to solve the problem of not having fast battleships to escort carriers.

Regrettably, the Bulan Royal Navy refused, reasoning that the "Prime Minister" class was also near completion, and that the two "Scharnhorst" class posed a significant threat.

Afterwards, all the completed "George V" class remained with the Domestic Fleet.

Furthermore, the Bulan Royal Navy had sequentially upgraded several other fast main battle ships, mainly to enhance anti-aircraft firepower.

Even though "Hude" had been sunk, there were still two "Reputation" class battlecruisers available to escort carriers.

Subsequently, the Ministry of Navy headquarters sent a telegram.

According to the intelligence provided by the Tiaoman Navy, "George V" and "Prince of Wales" might have headed south and are still in pursuit of "Prime Minister".

The reason is simple, only these two Fast Battleships are capable of catching up with "Prime Minister".

After the naval battle on January 10, the Bulan Royal Navy would conclude that "Prime Minister" is bound for the South Sunset Ocean. In fact, there’s no need to guess, the previous three Armored Cruisers were heading to the South Sunset Ocean, then slipped into the Fan Flame Ocean, before being caught by the Bulan Fleet and escaped to the Liangxia Empire.

Therefore, it’s not surprising that the Bulan Royal Navy sent two Fast Battleships to pursue southward.

The Raleigh Navy had been beaten till it’s afraid; it certainly wouldn’t dare to provoke the Land Heart Sea Fleet for some time.

As for the Locke Fleet, only "Strasbourg" managed to escape back to the homeland and upon entering Toulon Port, its Captain ordered the destruction of critical components including the Main Guns and boilers, effectively rendering the ship combat-ineffective and useless to the Tiaoman Navy.

The two Large Cruisers of the Tiaoman Navy had just returned to their homeland.

Even if these two warships were still combat-ready and possessed formidable combat power, they would require maintenance and couldn’t be deployed for another three months at the earliest.

In the short term, the Bulan Royal Navy has little to worry about in the North Sunset Ocean and Land Heart Sea.

In their response, the Tiaoman Navy also mentioned one point.

By firing a lucky shot from its guns, "Prime Minister" instantly destroyed the Bulan Royal Navy’s largest Main Battle Ship, giving the Bulan Royal Navy a resounding slap in the face. Whether it was to maintain its centuries-old Reputation or to boost morale, the Bulan Royal Navy would not let the matter rest.

The ideal way to save face would be to sink "Prime Minister".

Besides, this was closely tied to the political fate of Chur, the Prime Minister of the Bulan Kingdom.

Half a year ago, after three armoured cruisers of the Tiaoman Navy had gone on a killing spree in the Sunset Ocean and then managed to escape to the Liangxia Empire despite the encirclement and interception by the Bulan Royal Navy. What’s more critical is that these three Armored Cruisers hid near a barren island in the South Fan Flame Ocean for three months.

Although these events took place before Chur moved into the Prime Minister’s Mansion, and the impeachment of his predecessor was related to this, those three Tiaoman Armored Cruisers only reached the Liangxia Empire after Chur became Prime Minister. At that time, Chur had sworn that no matter how long he had to wait, he would sink those three Tiaoman warships.

Up to now, those three "Tiaoman"-class Armored Cruisers are still operating in the Flame Sea, training officers and soldiers for the Tiaoman Navy.

If "Prime Minister" were to repeat its feat, Chur would have to move out of the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Chur had made his career in the Ministry of Navy, and before becoming Prime Minister, he had served as Minister of the Navy!

That’s why the Tiaoman Navy was certain that those two Fast Battleships were still in pursuit of "Prime Minister".

All these deductions made sense, but they were just speculations – the Tiaoman Navy did not provide any evidence.

Bai Zhizhan was still very worried, but there was nothing he could do.

On the early morning of the 16th, after briefing Du Kang, Bai Zhizhan took the staff from the Fleet Headquarter, including Zhou Yongtao, and departed the frontline headquarter aboard a patrol plane.

Although on the evening of the 15th, Lian Xusheng postponed the attack on Lion Spring City by three days based on the bombing situation, Bai Zhizhan still had to return to the Special Mixed Fleet as planned, ensuring that he could lead the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet into battle whenever Lian Xusheng made another adjustment.

Regardless, Lian Xusheng was the supreme commander, and Bai Zhizhan had to follow his orders.

Before leaving the frontline headquarter, Bai Zhizhan specifically instructed Du Kang.

No matter what happens, never reduce the patrol intensity in the Andaman Sea, and make sure to schedule at least one Bomber patrol every day.

With discovery, immediate reporting was essential.

Based on time calculations, if Cunningham kept traveling without delay, he would definitely be able to reach the Andaman Sea before January 15.

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