Empire Conquest
Chapter 86 - 82: Thinking Alike Without Prior Consultation

Chapter 86: Chapter 82: Thinking Alike Without Prior Consultation

On the "Heng River" carrier.

By the time the staff had delivered the consolidated battle report, it was already past twelve. Regarding the results of the attack, or more precisely, the catastrophic losses suffered, Liu Xiangzhen couldn’t believe it, and others were left speechless. Unfortunately, this was an undeniable fact.

Out of one hundred and fifty ship-borne aircraft, fewer than thirty had returned, including eighteen that were escort fighters.

To be precise, only eighteen fighters, seven dive bombers, and four torpedo attack aircraft returned, all of which had to make emergency landings in the waters east of Foot Island.

That is to say, all the dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft that had been sent out were lost!

As for personnel, the situation was even more tragic.

According to the messages received so far, including Major Zhu Huasheng of the Second Squadron of the First Wing, dozens of aircrew were either killed or missing.

There certainly were survivors, but there couldn’t be many.

At this rate, with two more round of attacks, the Imperial Navy’s shipborne air force would be left with nothing.

Victory?

The only confirmed success was that a dive bomber from the First Shipborne Air Force Wing had scored a hit, dropping a bomb that exploded inside the "Jiahe," though it was only visually observed, and it couldn’t be determined whether the carrier had sunk.

Additionally, the Second Shipborne Air Force Wing had attacked the "Chicheng," but unfortunately, neither the bombs nor the torpedoes hit.

What was fatal was that the "Canglong" and "Feilong" from the Second Air Corps were not found.

Had the Second Air Corps not shown up?

Clearly not!

About half an hour earlier, Liu Xiangzhen had received a telegram from Chengjiang Port indicating that more than two hundred enemy aircraft had bombed in two waves.

Clearly, this was an intensity only four carriers could match.

Considering that the two "Ruihe" class of the Fifth Air Corps had only been commissioned recently and had not formed an effective combat force, and that the two small carriers of the Third Air Corps were not suitable for large-scale combat, it was essentially certain that accompanying the First Air Corps was the Second Air Corps.

In fact, only the pilots from the Second Air Corps could carry out such a difficult attack.

So, where was the Second Air Corps?

According to reports, about fifty kilometers south of the First Air Corps there was a thunderstorm cloud, so it was reasonable to believe that the two carriers were hiding under the cloud layer.

Of course, whether that was true or not, an immediate second round of attacks had to be launched.

In fact, after receiving the message from Zhu Huasheng, Liu Xiangzhen had already ordered the squadrons to dispatch their ship-borne aircraft as soon as possible.

Time was everything!

From a tactical perspective, if one could launch a second round of attacks before being discovered by the enemy, victory was virtually in hand.

The logic was simple: the Mobile Fleet was surely preparing for the attack and wouldn’t have many air defense fighters available. If they couldn’t launch a timely reprisal, when they were attacked again, the Mobile Fleet might not be able to withstand it and thus may not have a chance to retaliate.

This was not Liu Xiangzhen’s speculation, but rather an experience derived from combat drills.

For this reason, Liu Xiangzhen personally arranged the attack tactics.

According to the plan, the First Shipborne Air Force Wing would continue the assault on the "Chicheng."

There was no other way, as it was the flagship of the Mobile Fleet, and had been Lan Yun’s flagship before the war, according to pre-war intelligence.

The two squadrons of the Second Shipborne Air Force Wing would delay their arrival time by controlling their flight speed by fifteen minutes.

Why?

If successful, the First Shipborne Air Force Wing would have already taken out the "Chicheng," allowing them to focus their efforts on the two carriers of the Second Air Corps.

This was the critical point.

Liu Xiangzhen had made it very clear, two squadrons each dealing with a carrier, aiming for heavy damages, not seeking to directly sink them.

To clarify the priorities for the pilots, Liu Xiangzhen had mentioned that after the second round of attacks, there would be a third round; thus, a heavy damage would certainly lead to sinking!

In fact, half an hour had passed since receiving Zhu Huasheng’s report.

While Liu Xiangzhen was making tactical arrangements, all four carriers had started to launch their ship-borne aircraft, though the fighters were the first to take off this time.

To increase their endurance, these fighters were all fitted with an auxiliary fuel tank under their fuselage.

Because auxiliary fuel tanks add dead weight, especially when the fuel inside is not yet depleted, they reduce the maneuverability of the fighters. Therefore, the Empire’s engineers had specifically designed a type of expendable rack which could be discarded along with the auxiliary fuel tank when necessary.

The value of the auxiliary fuel tank was indeed very significant, normally extending the fighter’s endurance time by an hour.

Fifteen minutes prior, at 11:45, the first dive bomber took off from the Heng River.

Positioning the dive bombers at the forefront was also a necessity due to the air bombs being lighter and easier to mount, thus requiring less preparation time before take-off.

With the help of the catapult, the Heng River had launched sixteen dive bombers within ten minutes.

As for the lifespan of the catapults, who could pay attention to that now?

Another ten minutes or so dragged on.

It was only just past noon when the Heng River finally catapult-launched the first torpedo attack aircraft.

By that time, the fighters and dive bombers that had taken off earlier were already far off.

The Plane Group didn’t assemble over the Fleet but formed units during the flight, with the squadron as the basic combat unit, with squadron leaders responsible for command.

It was clear that the tactics Liu Xiangzhen employed were nearly identical to Tanimoto’s.

Just before 12:15, the last few torpedo attack aircraft took off.

The four carriers, however, were not idle.

Though overheated from intensive use, rendering the catapults inoperable for at least a half-hour of cooling, by order, the four carriers still sailed into the wind. Next, they were to each deploy six fighters to enhance fleet air defense. As it was for air defense, there was no need to carry auxiliary fuel tanks. They could take off at normal weight, relying on their own power without needing catapult assistance.

In fact, this was a distinctive feature of the "Typhoon" fighters.

In their design, the Navy had required that they be able to take off at normal weight without catapults, ensuring they could be quickly airborne in emergencies. Consequently, due to an excessive emphasis on low-speed stability, the high-speed performance of the "Typhoon" fighters was quite poor.

This battle had proved that compared to the Zero Fighter, the Typhoon’s maneuverability was particularly inferior.

And yet, despite the Typhoon’s poor performance, they could only make do.

When making this arrangement, Liu Xiangzhen had not anticipated that this order would change the fate of two special mixed fleets, four carriers, and thousands of officers and soldiers.

At that time, the Second Aviation Mixed Fleet was ahead, facing a northeast wind.

The First Aviation Mixed Fleet was about fifty kilometers behind, facing a northwest wind!

Don’t forget, it was already noon by then.

In the northern waters of the Flame Sea, especially near the land and islands, the wind direction changes around noon, evening, and midnight each day.

As a result, after half past noon, the two carriers of the Second Aviation Mixed Fleet turned northeast, while the two carriers of the First Aviation Mixed Fleet turned northwest.

This spread the distance between the two special mixed fleets!

In another half an hour, the Mobile Fleet’s Plane Group would strike.

And thus, the two fleets, moving in opposite directions, would embark on different fates!

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