Empire Conquest
Chapter 74 - 70 Tut Tut Tut

Chapter 74: Chapter 70 Tut Tut Tut

7:15 AM, flagship "Chicheng" of the Mobile Fleet.

After watching the last ship attack aircraft take off, Lan Yun finally raised the binoculars hanging from his neck and looked towards the "Jiahe," some ten kilometers away.

A few minutes later, a red flare shot up from the "Jiahe," signifying that all ship-borne aircraft had taken off.

By this point, the Air Corps of the first squadron had both carriers completed their aviation operations, deploying a total of twenty-two fighter aircraft, twenty-one bombers, and thirty-two attack aircraft.

It wasn’t long before a thunderous roar echoed through the sky as a dense group of planes flew in from the east.

These were the ship-borne aircraft deployed by the second Air Corps, comprising eighteen fighters, twenty-two bombers, and twenty-six attack aircraft.

These two groups of ship-borne aircraft would merge en route and then launch an attack under the leadership of Colonel Genda from the first Air Corps.

However, that wasn’t all.

The Air Corps of the second squadron had not yet flown far when the aviation maintenance personnel on the "Chicheng" became busy, starting to move aircraft from the hangar onto the flight deck and loading fuel and ammunition. Since a pre-flight check had already been performed in the hangar, the deck preparation process only needed engine warm-up and hydraulic system check, greatly simplifying the pre-flight operations.

Still, it would take over an hour to ready the thirty-some ship-borne aircraft.

For this day, for the attack operation that had already begun or was in progress, the aviation maintenance personnel from both Air Corps had rehearsed countless times over the past few years; everything was so well-practiced — not just perfected but even possible to complete blindfolded.

All these efforts aimed to save precious time in combat, even if years of hard training had managed to reduce the loading time by a mere half-minute.

In combat, time meant everything!

According to the battle plan, there would be two continuous waves of air raids.

Of course, "continuous" only meant not having to wait for the first wave of air raids to end.

There would definitely be a time difference between the two waves, roughly one and a half hours — the time needed to prepare for take-off.

After completing the second wave of air raids, they would decide whether to go for a third wave based on the results of the bombings. If so, the aircraft from the first wave would be responsible for it.

Precisely because of this, the main force of the first wave of bombings came from the most elite first Air Corps.

Not to mention anything else, Colonel Genda was Saiyi Navy’s top ship-borne aircraft pilot and the most trusted aviation combat commander by Takano and Lan Yun.

However, Lieutenant Colonel You Yong, who was in charge of commanding the second wave, was also excellent.

He was the aviation combat commander of the second Air Corps and the second in command of the Saiyi Navy’s shipborne air force, second only to Genda in skill and position.

The second Air Corps would act as the main force in the second wave of air raids.

For this, the second Air Corps planned to deploy twelve fighters, thirty-eight bombers, and twenty-two attack aircraft carrying bombs for horizontal bombing.

Additionally, the first Air Corps would also deploy over sixty ship-borne aircraft.

Over an hour later, after the second wave of attack aircraft set off, the Mobile Fleet would be left with fewer than forty aircraft assigned for air defense duties.

In the subsequent hour, before the first wave of attack aircraft group returned, the situation for the Mobile Fleet was extremely perilous.

If attacked during this period, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Yet, Lan Yun did not feel worried.

After the first bombing succeeded, the Liangxia Navy would be too busy to concern themselves with their own problems.

Besides, not knowing where the Mobile Fleet was, how could they attack it?

By the time the Liangxia Navy regained their senses, the second wave of bombings would have already begun.

A few hours later, even without a third wave of bombings, the Mobile Fleet would already be on its triumphant return.

As it turned out, the key was the first wave of bombings.

Precisely for this reason, Lan Yun had dispatched Coloned Genda, having the most elite carrier aircraft unit from the first Air Corps execute the most challenging initial attack.

Lan Yun knew that Genda would not disappoint him!

Indeed, it was so.

As with past exercises, Colonel Genda’s aircraft, a Saiyi 97 ship attack painted with the squadron commander’s insignia on its nose and tail, continued to fly at the forefront as always.

It was like the leading goose in a flock.

Unlike the other ship attacks in the formation, Genda’s had an antenna on its canopy cover connected to the tip of the tailfin.

The antenna was connected to a long-wave radio, exclusive to the commander’s aircraft, with a working range of several hundred kilometers, enabling communication with the fleet.

After taking off, Genda spent half an hour organizing the groups and assigning tasks to the squadron leaders, wing commanders, and flight leaders.

Half an hour later, land appeared.

Indeed, that was the homeland of the Liangxia Empire.

Behind that coastline, precisely beyond the coastal hills, lay the famous Chengjiang Military Port, the Southern Fleet’s home base of the Liangxia Navy.

Originally a natural harbor, it had been renovated and dredged to accommodate large battleships with a draft of less than ten meters, capable of harboring hundreds of vessels. The islands to the southeast of the harbor were vast, providing shielding and protection for the harbor.

Now, almost half of the Liangxia Empire’s Navy was moored in the harbor!

"All wings attention, all wings attention, proceed as planned, everyone proceed as planned."

After issuing the final order, Genda quickly wobbled the fighter left and right several times.

That was his signature move, signaling the following wingmen to keep up and prepare for torpedo deployment.

Meanwhile, the telegraphist in the back activated the radio and sent a three-letter telegram as agreed upon.

"Tap, tap, tap..."

It sounded like interference noise.

However, for the radio operators of the Mobile Fleet, this wasn’t noise but a signal that the first wave of planes had arrived successfully and was about to launch the attack.

At that moment, Genda pulled up the Saiyi 97 ship attack.

Initially, to avoid detection by the watchmen at Chengjiang Port, the flying altitude had been lowered to under one hundred meters, but now that was no longer necessary.

In the Saiyi Navy’s shipborne air force, almost all commanders were ship attack pilots.

It couldn’t be helped, as only the ship attacks had three seats, allowing the other two crew members to support the commander.

In fact, it was the same with other navies, where wing and squadron commanders were almost always torpedo attack aircraft pilots.

As the altitude increased, the harbor finally came into view.

Indeed, neatly arranged next to the deep water pier in the middle were more than a dozen main battleships, in three rows, with four ships each, and each set arrayed in three vessels.

There were twelve in total, definitely!

"Colonel, do you see it, do you see it?" The navigator behind him shouted excitedly, more thrilled than on a wedding night.

It was right to be excited, and it was worth the excitement.

"The intelligence is correct, we will attack according to the plan!"

"Sir!"

"All wings attention, disperse by squadrons, enter bombing sequence in order. The first squadron follows me, now disarm the safety!"

"Number two, received."

"Number three, received."

"Number four, received. Long live the Imperial Navy’s fortune in war!"

"Long live the fortune in war!"

After the last pilot shouted the slogan, the other pilots shouted it out in unison.

Genda didn’t shout the slogan; all he thought about now was dropping the 800-kilogram air torpedo hanging from his plane and hitting one of the battleships below!