Empire Conquest
Chapter 81 - 77 One Hammer Deal

Chapter 81: Chapter 77 One Hammer Deal

"Report to the Commander!"

The telegraph officer ran over, shouting loudly, which startled Liu Xiangzhen into shuddering a few times.

After catching the telegram that was handed over, Liu Xiangzhen let the equally startled telegraph officer off the hook.

The guy must have forgotten that Liu Xiangzhen was now the Acting Commander. However, it was hard to blame him, as they used to joke around a lot.

At this moment, more than four hundred kilometers to the northeast.

This distance had already exceeded the farthest working distance of the airborne long-wave radio. Even in clear weather, they couldn’t guarantee that the telegram could be sent out.

After sending the telegram three times, they finally received a response.

It wasn’t from the Fleet’s flagship, but from the carrier "Mo River."

Using long-wave radios ran the risk of being detected by the enemy using triangulation, so the Imperial Navy had long established a rule that only the carrier the message originated from could respond.

Under normal circumstances, it wasn’t the Fleet’s flagship.

Regardless, the Fleet had received the message, and there were no worries left behind.

"Major, we’ve received a response."

"Prepare for battle."

"Yes!"

After shifting his gaze from the sea about twenty kilometers in front of him, Zhu Huasheng glanced over the dense array of instruments before him.

Twenty years of hard training boiled down to today!

Taking a deep breath, Zhu Huasheng activated the voice communication radio. "High Foot Chicken calling the Plane Group, all units initiate the attack according to the plan. Each group report your status."

The nickname "High Foot Chicken" was given by Li Yunxiang, mainly because Zhu Huasheng had a hooked nose and a long neck, which made him look a bit like an African ostrich.

As a result, this nickname became the call sign for the torpedo bomber formation he was directly commanding.

Furthermore, the "Plane Group" was also referred to as the "Chicken Group."

Reports from the various squadrons quickly came in.

"Eagles spread wings, sweeping the Four Seas!"

"Eagles spread wings, sweeping the Four Seas..."

It was unclear who started it, but the communication channel suddenly became chaotic, with the pilots yelling out the Navy Air Force’s battle cry at the top of their lungs.

Zhu Huasheng didn’t join in the cry, because the current situation was not at all optimistic.

In order to quickly locate the Saiyi Fleet, Zhu Huasheng had ordered a dispersed search fifteen minutes earlier, and since then, they had lost contact with the second Shipborne Air Force Wing.

Now, they didn’t even know where those dozens of ship-borne aircraft were!

Moreover, there wasn’t any room to be distracted.

Ahead, about twenty kilometers away on the sea’s surface, more than a dozen battleships were turning.

Though they looked like tiny black specks from afar, through a telescope one could see that one of them was an aircraft carrier of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

That’s right, it was the "Chicheng."

However, it could also be the "Jiahe."

The two carriers had similar appearances, and the differences were not very obvious. From this distance, even with a telescope, it might not be possible to identify them.

Of course, either one was an aircraft carrier of the Saiyi Navy.

Additionally, the "Chicheng" and the "Jiahe" belonged to the First Air Corps and were two of the strongest fleet carriers in the Saiyi Navy.

As expected, there were at least two more carriers nearby, namely the "Canglong" and the "Feilong."

But, they were still too far from that carrier.

Ahead, objects resembling moths were coming head-on.

That’s right, they were fighters.

Their speed was increasing rapidly, extremely agile, and their rate of climb was equally terrifying.

"It’s the Zero Fighter!"

Upon hearing the reminder from the wingman, Zhu Huasheng snapped to attention.

Yes, that was the legendary Zero Fighter.

Fuck! Zhu Huasheng cursed inwardly, almost swearing out loud.

He had not expected that the Saiyi Navy would get their hands on this fighter plane before the outbreak of the war, but this also proved that the information obtained by the Sixth Bureau was correct.

The Newland Federation and the Bulan Kingdom had always been actively helping the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, including providing aviation engines.

What infuriated Zhu Huasheng was that those guys at the Sixth Bureau had slapped their chests in guarantee, saying that the Zero Fighter wouldn’t enter service this year but next year at the earliest.

Of course, when facing fighter planes, whether it be the Zero Fighter or the Type 96 carrier fighter, you could only take hits, and no torpedo attack aircraft pilot would be foolish enough to engage with a fighter.

"Chicks, follow me."

After calling out, Zhu Huasheng then pushed down on the control stick to dive his torpedo bomber.

The torpedo bombers were very cumbersome, both in terms of speed and flexibility, far less nimble than the fighters. However, the great advantage of being cumbersome is stability. At low altitude, the stability of a torpedo bomber is the best, while the lighter fighters are different; they may not be able to fly steadily in the low-altitude turbulence.

This is why, when encountering fighters, it is best for torpedo bombers to fly as low as possible.

Even if it means flying close to the sea surface is tantamount to a nine out of ten chance of death.

"Water Chicken formation, fly slower, wait for us to draw the anti-aircraft fighters to low altitude; then you can speed up and break through."

"Water Chicken, received; we’ll strike from high altitude!"

After receiving the reply, Zhu Huasheng adjusted his communication frequency again.

In Zhu Huasheng’s hometown, "Water Chicken" refers to the Kingfisher, and he used this to refer to the dive bomber, which was quite fitting when you think about it.

"Chicks, are you ready?"

"First squad ready."

"Second squad ready."

"Third squad ready."

"Then let’s get cracking!"

This time, Zhu Huasheng shouted out loud.

As he roared, he aggressively pulled back the control stick and slammed the throttle to the max.

Accompanied by the roar and the violent trembling as if it was about to fall apart, the torpedo bomber struggled to pull up, transitioning from a dive to level flight.

Only pilots from the Imperial Navy would fly torpedo attack aircraft like dive bombers.

Of course, the key was that the "Flying Fish" was robust enough to withstand the severe shaking caused by a rapid dive, but the cost was that it was very cumbersome.

Almost at the same time, albeit a few seconds later, two dense rows of bullets rained down from the sky.

"Fire, fire, and take down those damn shrimps!" the navigator yelled loudly, even more animated than the rear machine gunner.

In the mouths of the sailors of the Liangxia Navy, the Saiyi Navy were the shrimps of the East Ocean.

"Check the torpedoes; get ready to drop the bombs!" Zhu Huasheng reminded. During the attack, the crew member in the middle would be responsible for dropping the bombs.

Out of the three people in a torpedo bomber, besides the pilot, the navigator in the middle had the heaviest task.

Several bullets hit the cockpit cover, but Zhu Huasheng was unfazed.

Now, he only had his eyes on the imposing giant warship ahead.

The "Flying Fish" was indeed cumbersome, but the good thing about being cumbersome was its robustness, such as using thicker glass for the cockpit cover.

Without hitting a vital spot, it would be very hard for the Zero Fighter’s 7.7 mm machine guns to shoot down the "Flying Fish."

The Imperial Navy had tested it; the vulnerable parts of the "Flying Fish" could block bullets from even more powerful 8 mm machine guns.

According to the manufacturer’s claims, the "Flying Fish" was the current torpedo attack aircraft with the best armored protection and the strongest survivability.

As for how good it really was, one certainly couldn’t go by the advertising.

"Major, Plane No. 3 has crashed into the sea."

Upon hearing the alert, Zhu Huasheng immediately looked to the left.

The ally plane on the left was gone; to be precise, it had been shot down and plunged into the sea.

"Hold steady, don’t panic, and don’t scatter!" Zhu Huasheng reminded the other torpedo bombers again, because being scattered made them more susceptible to being shot down.

Although this was their first real engagement, the exercises over the past few years had made Zhu Huasheng realize that the task of torpedo attack bombers was actually a one-shot deal.

Success or failure depended on this move!