Empire Conquest
Chapter 443 - 439: The Biggest Surprise

Chapter 443: Chapter 439: The Biggest Surprise

In the South Sunset Ocean, aboard the carrier "Radiant".

Within the modest command bridge, a few main staff members stood in front of a sea chart, only Cunningham sat in a chair nearby.

He was the fleet commander, no one dared to speak out.

In Cunningham’s hands was a telegram received half an hour ago from the Royal Navy headquarters, also signed by the Prime Minister.

It contained just one directive: "Eliminate the Tiaoman Fleet that has arrived in the South Sunset Ocean. Zu flagship ’Prime Minister’ must be sunk."

This was a combat order, and the fact that the Prime Minister had signed it clearly had an ulterior motive.

As for what that motive was, Cunningham was well aware.

The year prior, the "Tiaoman" and two other armored cruisers had gone on a killing spree in the Sunset Ocean, sinking dozens of merchant ships and finally escaping unscathed from a fleet dispatched by the Royal Bulan Navy to seek refuge in the Liangxia Empire, a humiliation that led to the resignation of the former Prime Minister.

Now, with similar tactics resurfacing from the "Prime Minister," could Chur rest easy?

To put it strongly, if the "Prime Minister" got away, Chur would have to resign!

In fact, Saville had not managed to destroy the Tiaoman Fleet in the North Sunset Ocean or prevent the "Prime Minister" from breaking through, which was beyond initial expectations.

When devising the combat plan, including Cunningham, everyone thought eliminating the Tiaoman Fleet would be a piece of cake.

The Tiaoman navy was no longer what it once had been—during the last great war, it was the third-ranked navy globally that always kept the Royal Bulan Navy on edge.

Even if their entire navy was mobilized, Tiaoman had only three main battle ships.

Out of those, two were large cruisers.

Across from the North Sea, the Royal Bulan Navy Domestic Fleet had eight main battle ships, including two fast battleships, plus one fleet carrier and one light carrier, and with shore-based air force support from the homeland, they not only had an absolute advantage in force but also controlled nearly all favorable conditions.

What was there to worry about?

Yet unexpectedly, they still capsized in the gutter.

Of course, the responsibility didn’t lie with Saville; it was mainly due to the weather.

After the Tiaoman Fleet set out, the entire North Sea was shrouded in fog and never cleared up, rendering the patrol planes, which were the main reconnaissance force, useless.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for the Tiaoman Fleet to slip out of the North Sea.

However, to say Saville was innocent would be unfair.

He had moved the Domestic Fleet away from Spaka Bay several days early but didn’t take proactive measures, such as dispatching destroyers or other small vessels to monitor the coastal waters near the Kingdom of Viking’s territory. Instead, he stayed in the open ocean, fearing encountering the Tiaoman Fleet in the dense fog.

A few months earlier, the Domestic Fleet’s carrier "Glory" had been near the Kingdom of Viking and, due to the dense fog, failed to detect the approaching Tiaoman battleships in time. After several hours of fierce resistance, they were sent to the bottom of the sea by the naval guns on Tiaoman’s two large cruisers.

This battle resulted directly in the dismissal of the Domestic Fleet Commander.

Afterward, to prevent a similar tragedy, the Royal Bulan Navy specifically mandated that in extremely poor visibility and bad weather, carriers must keep all boilers operational to maintain sufficient pressure to ensure they could accelerate away in case of danger.

Unless absolutely necessary, they also had to steer clear of areas near the coast frequented by Tiaoman fighter planes.

In short, Saville had failed to trap the Tiaoman Fleet in the North Sea.

What happened next made Cunningham even more puzzled.

Knowing that the Tiaoman Fleet had already left the North Sea, or at least likely had, Saville still delayed in the North Sea for a full three days.

As a result, by the time he led the Domestic Fleet in pursuit, the Tiaoman Fleet had already escaped far away.

Unable to find the Tiaoman Fleet, Saville became even more cautious, temporarily focusing on the area south of Iceland, naturally assuming that the Tiaoman Fleet had already headed south for a surprise attack, preparing to intercept the transport fleets sent from the Newland Federation to the Bulan Kingdom.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t an unfounded assumption.

Although the Tiaoman Fleet’s primary task was to intercept the transport fleets heading to the Luosha Federation, turning their guns towards the Bulan Kingdom after coming up empty-handed was also reasonable.

Nevertheless, there was no reason for the "Prime Minister" to have made a pointless journey.

With Saville’s conservative tactical mindset, he would certainly worry about the threat to the maritime trade routes, and might not be able to accurately determine the whereabouts of the Tiaoman Fleet.

At the time, upon receiving the news, Cunningham nearly lost his composure.

The crux was that after the Tiaoman Fleet had set sail, all the fleets that could not reach their destinations in time had returned home.

There were hardly a few transport fleets left in the entire North Sunset Ocean!

Moreover, what could be done by intercepting a few fleets?

The Bulan Kingdom had already completed military mobilization, continually seeking to expand its domestic strategic reserves, and the nation’s military and civilians had gradually adapted to the harsh wartime regulations. Even if they lost a few fleets, even if no transport ship arrived in port for the next six months, the Bulan Kingdom would not be defeated.

In other words, if they could have discovered the Tiaoman Fleet in time and ultimately sunk the "Prime Minister" for a few transport fleets, it would have been extremely worthwhile.

By the time Saville reacted and dispatched battleships and aircraft to search for the Tiaoman Fleet, it was too little, too late.

Saville’s most serious mistake was missing the opportunity to annihilate the Tiaoman Fleet in the North Sea.

Even if the weather was bad, deploying three radar-equipped Fast Main Battle Ships could have destroyed three of Tiaoman Navy’s main battleships in a gun battle.

To say the least, adverse weather conditions were actually advantageous for the radar-equipped Bulan Main Battle Ships.

After a turn of fortune, when the armed merchant ship spotted the Tiaoman Fleet, Saville had another excellent opportunity, and he almost seized it.

Unfortunately, he did not join the battle on the "George V" but stayed on the "Nelson."

The reason was that the "Nelson" was the flagship of the Domestic Fleet.

At that time, the "Prince of Wales" had been in service for less than a month, and the "George V" had returned to the shipyard for repairs due to equipment faults after its commissioning. According to the original plan, the repairs of the "George V" were to continue until the end of the year, perhaps only returning to service early next year.

If the Tiaoman Fleet hadn’t struck, the "George V" wouldn’t have returned at that time.

Because the two new fast battleships were not in optimal condition, both having some issues, the flagship of the Domestic Fleet remained the incredibly slow "Nelson."

One might say, Saville could have chosen the "Hude" as the flagship.

Nevertheless, during that short gun battle which lasted just over ten minutes, he didn’t command from the frontline but waited for news on the flagship in the rear!

Had he been on the "George V" or "Prince of Wales," he wouldn’t have ordered a retreat.

Even if ending the battle voluntarily, he could still have tracked the Tiaoman battleships beyond the firing range using radar and relied on speed to keep up with the Tiaoman Fleet.

Even if trailing far behind, the "Prime Minister" couldn’t have escaped.

The most likely scenario would have been that upon realizing they couldn’t break through, the Tiaoman Fleet Commander would order a turn towards returning home, abandoning the push south.

Regardless of whether they decided to battle it out in the North Sunset Ocean or let the Tiaoman Fleet escape back to their homeland, none of these subsequent events would have occurred.

At the time, Cunningham even thought for a while that the Tiaoman Fleet had already given up and was on its way back to its homeland.