Empire Conquest
Chapter 444 - 440 Absurd Command

Chapter 444: Chapter 440 Absurd Command

If, after the "Denmark Strait Battle," Saville had made the correct judgment that the "Prime Minister" had separated from two large cruisers and was heading to the South Sunset Ocean with two oil tankers and two destroyers, the Bulan Royal Navy still would have had the opportunity to sink it in the North Sunset Ocean.

The reason is simple, the "Prime Minister" couldn’t sustain speeds over 25 knots indefinitely.

Even if it had sufficient fuel, its boilers and steam turbines couldn’t handle it.

Of course, the key issue was still the lack of fuel.

At a speed of 19 knots, the "Prime Minister"’s range exceeded 8000 nautical miles, but at 25 knots, it couldn’t even cover 3500 nautical miles, and at 29 knots, it could only manage 2500. It was evident that the fuel carried by the two fast oil tankers was far from sufficient.

Moreover, refueling required a reduction in speed.

In short, after breaking free from the Domestic Fleet, the "Prime Minister" would definitely have to slow down, potentially even to a cruising speed of 19 knots.

Clearly, the Domestic Fleet didn’t face the problem of insufficient fuel.

Crucially, the Domestic Fleet had carriers, which could deploy ship-borne aircraft to search for the "Prime Minister."

In short, if accurate judgments were made, then there was a high probability of re-locating the "Prime Minister" within three days and sinking it.

Regrettably, including Cunningham, no one considered the possibility of the "Prime Minister" breaking through alone.

Of course, this was also related to the intelligence agencies.

Before the "Denmark Strait Battle," the intelligence agencies had predicted that the two large cruisers would accompany the "Prime Minister" to the Denmark Strait.

As it turned out, this judgment was very accurate.

After the battle, however, the intelligence agencies were convinced the Tiaoman Fleet had turned back, taking the original route home.

At that time, the intelligence agencies presented a persuasive piece of evidence, pinning down the location of the two large cruisers through radio positioning.

It must be said, the Royal Navy also bore significant responsibility.

The day after the battle, a submarine sent a telegram claiming to have spotted a fleet with several large battleships of unknown identity in the strait.

Crucially, the area where the submarine encountered the unidentified fleet was the same area where the two large cruisers were located.

It wasn’t just Saville, even Cunningham did not harbor any doubt, or rather, believed the Tiaoman Fleet had turned back after their breakthrough attempt had failed.

At the time, Cunningham did nothing.

But that was as good as having done everything.

Because Cunningham didn’t break radio silence, therefore the next day, Saville ordered two fast battleships to the Land Heart Sea with the "Royal Ark."

As for the fast oil tanker that was discovered and sunk by the ship-borne aircraft, Saville didn’t take it seriously.

According to the telegram he sent to Royal Navy headquarters, he was convinced it was a decoy dispatched by the Tiaoman Fleet Commander to divert the Domestic Fleet.

Saville also thereby concluded that the Tiaoman Fleet had already turned to break out.

Since he had already sent two fast battleships with the "Royal Ark" to the Land Heart Sea as planned, at the time, Saville did not pursue the Tiaoman Fleet any further.

Actually, this was also part of the plan.

If nothing unexpected happened, Saville would return to Scapa Bay with the main force of the Domestic Fleet and keep an eye on the Tiaoman Fleet hiding across the North Sea in their port.

Afterward, pretty much everything was smooth sailing.

Until half an hour ago, when Cunningham received a telegram from Navy headquarters, he found out that the "Prime Minister" hadn’t returned to the Tiaoman Empire, but had surfaced in the South Sunset Ocean, east of the Falkland Islands, and was likely heading towards the islands.

According to speculation, it was very possible that after a long voyage, the "Prime Minister"’s power equipment or propulsion system had failed.

After all, the Super Battleship had only been subjected to acceptance testing in Wave Bay after its completion, and had never undertaken a long voyage.

Having sailed rapidly for more than ten days without any malfunctions was the real anomaly.

As for how the "Prime Minister" was discovered, according to the telegram, it was the Tiaoman Empire’s personnel who had been purchasing supplies in Argentina on Nangu Continent and had chartered a deep-sea fishing vessel. However, due to the overly greedy customs officer they bribed, the news was sold to an intelligence agent of the Bulan Kingdom.

Afterward, the intelligence agent took a chartered seaplane to a Light Cruiser patrolling the South Sunset Ocean.

Because they already had precise intelligence, it didn’t take much effort to find the deep-sea fishing vessel carrying hundreds of tons of fresh vegetables and fruits. They followed the fishing vessel and discovered the "Prime Minister," which was being resupplied from the fishing vessel under the cover of nightfall.

The following day, the intelligence agent also found leaked oil in the area, concluding that the "Prime Minister’s" power or propulsion system had malfunctioned.

However, finding the "Prime Minister" again would not be so easy.

The intelligence agency only speculated that the "Prime Minister" would find a sheltered bay to anchor in to repair the damaged equipment.

As for the two Large Cruisers, they had already returned to the Tiaoman Empire.

Following orders from the Royal Navy’s headquarter, Cunningham had to dispatch Reconnaissance Aircraft to search for the "Prime Minister." If the intelligence agency’s judgment was correct and they found the Battleship near the Falkland Islands, they must sink it before considering moving into the Fan Flame Ocean.

The reason had already been mentioned earlier.

The "Prime Minister" was in the South Sunset Ocean not to execute a raiding mission but to prepare for a visit to the Liangxia Empire.

Furthermore, if the "Prime Minister" received support from the Liangxia Navy and operated in the South Sunset Ocean for some time, it would surely have a significant impact.

Not to mention anything else, countries like Argentina on the Nangu Continent are traditionally friendly nations to the Tiaoman Empire.

In Argentina alone, there were over a million Tiaoman expatriates.

On the Xuan Continent side, there were several colonies that once belonged to the Tiaoman Empire and were divided among the victorious countries such as the Bulan Kingdom after the last major war.

Many Tiaoman descendants still lived in these colonies, some of whom had already quietly organized themselves.

No one could guarantee that these countries and colonies would not switch sides because of the arrival of the "Prime Minister."

From a military perspective, destroying the "Prime Minister" was not much of a challenge.

Send a few Reconnaissance Aircraft over, locate the "Prime Minister," and then launch an attack.

One sortie would be enough.

Whether they could sink the "Prime Minister" was actually irrelevant; as long as they could inflict heavy damage and force it to be delayed for ten days to half a month in the anchorage due to lost navigational ability, that would be sufficient.

Two "Nelson" class Battleships from the Domestic Fleet had already moved southward and were expected to arrive in early February.

If necessary, several more escort aircraft carriers and small carriers would be deployed.

However, they must act now to prevent the "Prime Minister" from escaping the view of the Bulan Royal Navy once again after repairing the malfunctioned equipment.

What is militarily feasible does not necessarily mean a full engagement can be carried out.

Today is January 23rd!

As early as five days ago, Cunningham had received reliable intelligence that the Special Mixed Fleet of the Liangxia Navy, led by Bai Zhizhan, had likely entered the Fan Flame Ocean through the Xunfeng Strait or the Lombok Strait to the east of Lion Spring City, with at least two Fleet carriers and at least two Fast Battleships.

Moreover, Liangxia troops had already landed in Lion Spring City on the 21st.

Stay to deal with the "Prime Minister"?

Cunningham had always thought that if Chur was really so indifferent to the bigger picture and only cared about his own interests, it would serve him right to be chased out of the Prime Minister’s Mansion.

Unfortunately, it was an order issued by the Royal Navy’s headquarter, without any room for negotiation!