Empire Conquest
Chapter 85 - 81: Lose Every Move with One Wrong Move

Chapter 85: Chapter 81: Lose Every Move with One Wrong Move

It took Liu Xiangzhen just five minutes to explain the situation to Lan Yun.

During that initial round of attack, about a hundred and fifty enemy planes came. If all these fighters were ship-borne aircraft, or to say, all came from carriers, then there must have been four, because the Liangxia Navy’s Fleet carriers could not deploy more than forty ship-borne aircraft at a time even under the best conditions.

Moreover, the carrying capacity of Liangxia Navy Fleet carriers was around ninety aircraft each.

This means that, in the next round of attack, there would also be about a hundred and fifty ship-borne aircraft.

The key was that the second round of attack would surely arrive within an hour and a half.

Based on intelligence gathered in the past, the operational radius of Liangxia Navy ship-borne aircraft was around four hundred kilometers, and the "Flying Fish," when equipped with an air torpedo weighing over seven hundred kilograms, would have an operational radius less than four hundred kilometers and a cruising flight speed of around two hundred and fifty kilometers per hour.

If the second wave of the attack aircraft group was refueled and armed immediately after the first wave took off, and the ship-borne aircraft were sent into the air right after receiving the message, even if attacking at the maximum operational radius, the second wave of the attack aircraft group would surely arrive before one o’clock in the afternoon.

It was now eleven thirty in the morning.

What can be done in an hour and a half?

Before even considering what could be done, they didn’t even know where the enemy, namely the Special Mixed Fleet, was!

Of course, if they could find the Special Mixed Fleet, or to say, know where the Special Mixed Fleet was, there wasn’t much that could be done with the current condition of the Mobile Fleet.

Because the "Jiahe" was damaged and had lost its aviation operation capability, a quarter of the combat power was lost.

What could be salvaged were only the fighters previously sent out by the "Jiahe," which all needed to be recovered to refuel and rearm.

The remaining three carriers, about two hundred ship-borne aircraft, could launch a maximum of two attacks.

Furthermore, with about seven hours left until darkness, taking into account round-trip flight and re-preparation, this time was only enough for launching two attacks.

In any case, after nightfall, the Mobile Fleet must retreat. Because there were only four Fast Battleships, it was necessary to avoid encountering the Special Mixed Fleet at night.

The key was still finding the Special Mixed Fleet.

As for the plan, Tanimoto had also mentioned it.

Immediately, a few ship attack planes capable of reconnaissance missions would be launched from the "Chicheng" to follow after the returning Liangxia plane group; it wouldn’t take long to find the Special Mixed Fleet.

In addition, it was essential to initiate the attack first, or more accurately, to send out the attack aircraft group in time.

For this, it was necessary to next organize the fighters from the "Canglong" and "Feilong" that were very well-stocked with ammunition and fuel and hadn’t participated in the air defense battle, and form them into an escort group to follow behind the reconnaissance ship attack, sweeping any encountered enemy planes along the way.

After discovering the Special Mixed Fleet, they would handle the air defense fighters, providing cover for the following attack aircraft group.

This action could also serve the purpose of luring the enemy, making the enemy commander make a wrong judgment and send out air defense fighters to deal with the less-threatening escort fighters.

The key, actually, was the actions that would follow.

The three carriers able to continue fighting were to launch their ship-borne aircraft in the order of ship bombs first, followed by ship attack, and to use squadrons as the basic assembly units, with the squadron leaders in charge of command, to launch assaults on the Special Mixed Fleet separately. Before inflicting heavy damage on the carriers, they were not to attack any other battleships of the Special Mixed Fleet.

This arrangement had one very prominent advantage; it wouldn’t occupy the flight deck for a long period.

Simply put, it allowed for retaining a few fighters on the flight deck at all times to ensure that if an emergency occurred, such as another attack, the fighters could be immediately sent into the air.

The downside, however, was also very clear.

Because a portion of the flight deck was occupied, the ship-borne aircraft had to take off on a shortened runway, meaning the ship bombers and ship attackers definitely could not take off fully fueled. Therefore, after ascending, they had to operate separately and could not form a large plane group, posing coordination difficulties during the attack.

Without a doubt, the success rate of the attack would be lowered, and they would suffer greater losses.

Tanimoto explicitly mentioned that if the Liangxia Navy’s ship-borne aircraft could launch dispersed attacks, why couldn’t the Saiyi Navy’s?

The key point was that the main objective of launching the attack first was not to annihilate the Special Mixed Fleet but to contain its offensive.

Liangxia Navy’s "Longjiang" class, under normal circumstances, could carry eighty-four ship-borne aircraft, and in battle, this number could reach nearly a hundred.

Moreover, the Special Mixed Fleet was operating close to home waters, probably already covered by shore-based fighters, so there was no need to consider fleet air defense.

Theoretically, the Special Mixed Fleet could launch three consecutive waves of attacks!

As already mentioned, the only forces left in the Mobile Fleet could mount two waves of attacks.

According to Tanimoto, no matter whether the Special Mixed Fleet was commanded by Bai Zhizhan or Liu Xiangzhen, they would not hesitate to use all their ship-borne aircraft for the offensive.

Both were advocates of offensive victories among the Young Turks faction.

Since it was already too late to stop the second wave of the Special Mixed Fleet’s attack, what could be relied upon and what would determine the outcome, was whether it was possible to prevent the Special Mixed Fleet from launching a third wave. If successful, there still might be a small chance of winning, or at least, it wouldn’t get worse. If not, the Mobile Fleet would definitely face total disaster at some point in the afternoon, and might not even be able to organize the remaining ship-borne aircraft for a counterattack.

Simply put, if you lose with one move, you lose every move.

If it was impossible to regain the initiative, then what followed would be a constant state of being on the receiving end of blows.

This was no exaggeration; it had been repeatedly proven in military chess simulations.

To persuade Lan Yun, Tanimoto also stressed that the pilots of the Mobile Fleet were the elite of the Saiyi Navy, capable of completing their missions even in the most adverse conditions. Just give them a chance, and they would act to repay the Commander’s trust with success.

While Tanimoto was saying these words, Genda stood by, expressing his strong will to annihilate the Special Mixed Fleet.

"General, the prosperity of the Navy, the survival of the Imperial Country, hinges on this one action!"

He did not forget to emphasize this in conclusion.

Mentioning the Imperial Country, even if Lan Yun was still hesitant, he would undoubtedly be moved, as all Navy Generals took the rise and fall of the Imperial Country as their personal duty.

Fortunately, this time Lan Yun did not hesitate.

Seeing Lan Yun nod, Tanimoto dared not delay and immediately looked toward Genda.

Genda did not ask any questions; he snapped to attention and saluted, then turned and ran out of the Command Bridge. Clearly, he too was worried that Lan Yun might suddenly change his mind.

Shortly after, Genda arrived at the aviation operations center located on the lower level of the island structure, also known as the pilots’ ready room.

Several dozen aircrew captains, the pilots, were already prepared.

Genda did not immediately assign tasks but first sought out Captain Qiaoben of the Ship Attack Squadron, ordering him to immediately take the Type 97 ship attacker and pursue the returning enemy fighters.

Additionally, several more ship attackers had to be dispatched to ensure they could tail the enemy fighters and locate the Special Mixed Fleet.

He did not personally undertake the reconnaissance mission, not because he wanted to stay back and accumulate combat merits or out of fear, but because his own aircraft had not yet been repaired. During the attack on Chengjiang Port, his plane was hit by anti-aircraft machine guns, riddling the fuselage with a dozen holes. Although it was not severe, it would take some time to patch up these holes.

Of course, Captain Qiaoben was the leader of the Ship Attack Squadron, so his capabilities were undoubtedly not in question.