Empire Conquest
Chapter 88 - 84: Soaring through the Sky and Staying Grounded

Chapter 88: Chapter 84: Soaring through the Sky and Staying Grounded

On the flagship of the Mobile Fleet, inside the command bridge of the "Chicheng."

The communications officer came to report that when the ship attack ceased transmitting, it was already twelve fifty. Everyone on the command bridge, including Lan Yun, appeared highly anxious. The sole exception was Tanimoto, who still stood motionlessly in front of the nautical chart.

The Combat Staff Advisor had already circled two areas on the nautical chart, located to the south and southeast of Foot Island, the same areas mentioned in the telegram.

A staff member wanted to remind Tanimoto but was stopped by Lan Yun.

Although they hadn’t located the Special Mixed Fleet yet, the encounter of the "97" ship attack was enough to prove Tanimoto’s speculation, that the Special Mixed Fleet was to the west.

What remained unclear was whether the reconnaissance aircraft had encountered the anti-aircraft fighters of the fleet or escort fighters.

Of course, Lan Yun and most of the staff leaned towards the latter.

The main reason was that the area of the encounter was less than three hundred kilometers from the Mobile Fleet, within the operational radius of the ship-borne aircraft. If it had been the former, the reconnaissance plane would have definitely spotted the Attack Aircraft Group on an assault mission beforehand instead of just two solitary fighters.

Furthermore, the reconnaissance aircraft explicitly mentioned in the telegram that the returning plane group was still flying west, while the fighters had come from the southwest direction.

The current question was whether the Special Mixed Fleet was east of Foot Island or perhaps to its southeast or south.

As Lan Yun had not yet spoken, the staff held back their opinions.

However, everyone felt that the former possibility was greater, even Lan Yun thought so, especially since the returning plane group was flying towards Foot Island.

No matter how skilled the commander of the Special Mixed Fleet was, he wouldn’t dare abandon the ship-borne aircraft.

Besides, before the attack was launched, who could have predicted that the casualty rate would be so high and that only a few dozen fighters would return after completing the attack? Therefore, it was not possible to arrange in advance for the fighters to land on the airfields of Foot Island, rather than returning to the carrier to prepare for the next attack.

Of course, not everyone thought this way.

"We might have severely underestimated the commander of the Special Mixed Fleet."

Tanimoto suddenly spoke up, immediately drawing everyone’s attention, and Lan Yun furrowed his brows even tighter.

"All we can be sure of now is that the returning torpedo bombers are flying towards Foot Island, and the faster bombers and fighters had flown away much earlier," Tanimoto turned around, only to find everyone staring at him. "Has anyone considered that the Special Mixed Fleet might be beyond four hundred kilometers?"

"How is that possible, this..."

Lan Yun pressed his hand down, silencing the Combat Staff Advisor.

In fact, before Tanimoto had spoken, Lan Yun had already harbored such worries, but it seemed too unbelievable to vocalize them.

"If your guess isn’t wrong, then..."

"The Special Mixed Fleet must be on this side," Tanimoto pointed on the nautical chart, then continued, "Not southeast of Foot Island, but a bit further, on the southern side."

Lan Yun stared intensely at the spot Tanimoto was pointing to, his expression turning very grim.

"Why do you think it isn’t on the eastern side of Foot Island?" the Combat Staff Advisor, fired up and bold even with Lan Yun standing nearby, queried Tanimoto.

After all, Tanimoto was a guest advisor, even if he was Takano’s man, and couldn’t just wield authority recklessly.

Tanimoto didn’t respond, feeling the question was too simple to warrant an answer.

However, at this moment, Lan Yun’s gaze also turned over to him.

"There are several airfields along the eastern coastal region of Foot Island, capable of accommodating hundreds of aircraft. It is reasonable to believe that the Special Mixed Fleet wouldn’t be too close to Foot Island, definitely more than one hundred kilometers away. Otherwise, it wouldn’t make much sense; they might as well use the fighters stationed at the coastal airfields. Even if it’s just one hundred kilometers away, the direct distance from us would still be three hundred kilometers, and the slowest torpedo bombers could cover three hundred kilometers in just one hour."

"Is that so?" the Combat Staff Advisor still appeared unconvinced.

Tanimoto only smiled and did not continue.

Actually, everything had been explained thoroughly.

If the Special Mixed Fleet were indeed on the eastern side of Foot Island, then about forty-five minutes ago, the second wave of the Attack Aircraft Group would have already flown over the Mobile Fleet.

However, Lan Yun still had not taken a stance.

It was simple—Tanimoto was just speculating, and he had not ruled out other possibilities.

What if the Special Mixed Fleet, after launching the first wave of attacks, turned to retreat?

Don’t forget, in the first wave of attack, the loss rate of combat aircraft was as high as 80 percent!

Such a high loss—who could afford it?

Strategically, since Chengjiang Port had been bombed, all twelve main battleships of the Southern Fleet had been heavily damaged, with several already sunk.

If the Special Mixed Fleet were lost, what would the Liangxia Navy have left to play with?

Whoever was commanding the Special Mixed Fleet, before making a decision to desperately engage with the Mobile Fleet, would certainly think thrice and then calm down.

Choosing to preserve strength and turning the Special Mixed Fleet to retreat would definitely be a wise decision.

There is a common saying in the Liangxia Empire: "As long as the green mountains are there, one need not worry about firewood."

As long as the Special Mixed Fleet is still there and the four carriers remain intact, there’s no fear of not having a chance to recover.

Besides, the Navy is not the Army; any Navy general knows how difficult it is to build a warship and would definitely not joke with battleships.

Even if Tanimoto’s speculation was not wrong, Lan Yun still had to think more comprehensively.

If the Special Mixed Fleet were even farther away, say beyond four hundred kilometers, which is beyond the operational radius of the Type 97 and Type 99 ship bombers, would they still launch an attack?

Don’t forget, this is the Flame Sea, over two thousand kilometers away from Saiyi’s mainland!

For an unrealistic victory, should pilots take risks?

If they found and attacked the Special Mixed Fleet, that would be more than good.

But if they didn’t find the Special Mixed Fleet, and the deployed ship-borne aircraft could not return, what then?

Leave a few battleships behind to search and rescue the downed pilots?

Who could guarantee that the remaining battleships would definitely be able to rescue all downed pilots, and that they wouldn’t be discovered or attacked by enemy ships?

Moreover, who would be responsible for the loss of more than a hundred ship-borne aircraft?

Tanimoto would not consider these issues, but Lan Yun had to.

Not to mention the Saiyi Navy, even the Liangxia Navy, unless forced to, would absolutely not engage in uncertain battles, let alone engage recklessly.

In fact, this is exactly the difference between a Combat Staff Advisor and a Commander.

Advisors can afford to be fanciful, but a Commander must be grounded in reality because an Advisor is only responsible for providing maxims, while the Commander bears the outcomes and responsibilities.

Clearly, one cannot expect a Commander to meet the standards of an Advisor.

"Your speculation does indeed make sense, but..."

"Commander, this is our best opportunity; if we just give up..."

Noticing Lan Yun’s expression, Tanimoto held back and did not say the rest of his thoughts because they were too harsh and would serve no purpose other than to offend.

Don’t forget, Tanimoto was just a guest Combat Staff Advisor sent by Takano; here, nobody treated him as a peer.

In the Fleet Headquarter, the least welcome were the guest advisors sent by superiors.

To put it bluntly, Lan Yun could completely ignore his opinions as irrelevant.

Just then, the communications officer who had reported earlier ran back in, looking very panicked, clearly indicating that something bad had happened.