Munitions Empire
Chapter 1386 - 1386: 1303 They may not have aircraft carriers

Blomayer knew it was time to show his capabilities; as the Supreme Commander of the Navy, he should demonstrate his usefulness somehow.

Thus, he began to contemplate. No one disturbed him, instead quietly waiting for this Rear Admiral to come up with a suitable countermeasure.

The warning fleet straight ahead had been attacked, so most likely the enemy fleet was on the route! This was Blomayer's conjecture.

Evidently, this conjecture was very reasonable: the best interception point for the adversary to come and block was right ahead on the Laines Empire fleet's route.

The distance? Blomayer cautiously estimated it to be around 80 to 120 kilometers. He believed he was already giving the Great Tang Empire Navy a lot of face with this.

According to speculation, the attack range of the Great Tang Empire's Styx Anti-ship Missile should be about 40 to 50 kilometers (a figure guessed by various countries). Blomayer doubled this distance, believing he was planning for the worst-case scenario.

This range was clearly within the strike scope of carrier-based aircraft; like his joint fleet's commander John Cleves, he first thought of counterattacking.

Naval battles are like this: if you remain passively under attack, no matter how solid your warships are, or how many you have, you cannot win. Only by actively launching an attack, sinking the enemy's warships, and destroying their fleet can you achieve victory in a sea battle.

So, Blomayer decided to initiate a preemptive strike, sending out the first wave of strike aircraft to seize the initiative!

Therefore, he said to Leines I, "Your Majesty, we should launch the carrier-based aircraft! Advance forward in search! Find the enemy fleet! Launch the attack!"

At this point, he was somewhat proud because he felt that the naval commanders on the Tang Country side were a bit too complacent: they didn't launch their carrier-based aircraft over the warning fleet to attack his main fleet immediately!

This could be considered a major oversight, essentially giving him the initiative… Upon thinking of this, a bold idea suddenly popped into Blomayer's mind.

The opposing side didn't dispatch carrier-based planes to launch an attack first… Could it be that they didn't have an aircraft carrier at all?

Or, perhaps their aircraft carrier was still in the port of Dragon Island, and what was blocking his fleet straight ahead were merely the patrolling Tang Army destroyers?

Thinking about it carefully, it was entirely possible! If the opponent didn't know his fleet had already reached this position, they wouldn't deploy their carrier fleet in time to launch an attack.

In other words, the Tang Army was simply not prepared for battle! They only had a few patrol destroyers hastily engaging in battle; their aircraft carrier fleet should still be near Dragon Island!

He only needed to eliminate these destroyers, then change the route, to surprise attack the hastily arriving Tang Army carrier fleet from another direction!

Victory was at hand! Heaven bless the Laines Empire; perhaps they could earnestly and legitimately claim victory in this naval battle!

Thinking of this, he couldn't wait to explain his thoughts to Leines I. Indeed, everyone hearing this explanation unconsciously breathed a sigh of relief!

Exactly! This was entirely possible! The attack was merely by a patrol destroyer task force of the Tang Army, possibly only two or three destroyers.

Relying on their anti-ship missiles, they wanted to halt the Laines Empire fleet's advance, buying time for their main fleet to prepare for battle.

As long as they annihilated these few destroyers and continued advancing, they could seize the initiative for the Laines Empire!

"Launch the carrier-based aircraft! Launch immediately! Find those damned Tang Army destroyers! Sink them!" Leines I excitedly commanded, feeling the strength returned to his body, clearing away the impacts of previous suffering.

He seemed to see victory ahead if the Tang Army fleet indeed lacked an aircraft carrier, then to him… it would really be a sitting duck.

But the reality was that Blomayer's conjecture, like that of John Cleves, was utterly wrong: the Tang Army's anti-ship missiles were not fired from destroyers at all!

The Tang Army's carrier-based planes launched over a dozen anti-ship missiles in one go and immediately returned, under the cover and coordination of electronic warfare aircraft and early warning aircraft, the entire attack was meticulously executed.

The second batch of carrier-based aircraft had already taken off, and the third batch was starting to arm themselves in the hangar. The Tang Army only had one aircraft carrier, leading to a limited number of attack aircraft, forcing them to whittle down the huge Laines Empire fleet piece by piece.

Even though there were only about 80 carrier-based planes, the advanced nature of the Tang Army carrier fleet still enabled them to remain unassailable.

The counterattack of the Laines fleet was destined to be futile, because the Great Tang Empire fleet was several hundred kilometers away, never having approached the Laines Empire fleet.

The Sea Spitfire Fighters escorting the Type 97 carrier-attack aircraft was tottering towards the sea area, without spotting a single Great Tang Empire ship. There lay only a vast expanse of sea, with intense electromagnetic interference from the Great Tang Empire's Wanderer Electronic Warfare Aircraft.

Carrier-based aircraft that left the open sky of the Laines Empire fleet would lose radio navigation there, losing contact with the fleet…

These planes could only return as promptly as possible: they were relatively fortunate because their flight direction coincided with the fleet's advancement direction. Navigation was ineffective, but it was still relatively easy to find their carrier fleet.

Meanwhile, the Great Tang Empire Navy submarine troops, having received orders, have begun moving into attack positions. Attacking the Laines Empire's main fleet may be challenging, but firing on those transport ships laden with materials and personnel posed no issue.

Since the other side's speed was very slow, even upon discovering the submarines, they couldn't accelerate. Firing torpedoes at these ships was basically target practice.

Soon, white trails began to appear on the tranquil sea surface, rushing rapidly towards the various transport ships in the distance.

"No need to aim! Save the wire-guided torpedoes!" In the dimly lit interior of the submarine, the Tang Army captain, glued to the periscope, bellowed orders upon seeing the prey on the distant horizon.

There were too few destroyers on the opposing side to ensure the safety of such a massive scale of the fleet. There were breaches everywhere, everywhere were flaws…

A minute later, a catastrophic explosion occurred within the transport fleet of Laines, with a tremendous bang, a transport ship was cut in half, severed into two pieces.

Because of carrying a large number of goods, the bow and stern of this transport ship quickly turned upwards, and the middle part rapidly sank into the ocean.

Almost at the same time, another transport ship experienced a massive explosion, with the torpedo hitting the hull, blasting the transported grain into the air.