Empire Conquest

Chapter 447 - 443: Going It Alone

Looking at the nautical map, Spur felt an indescribable sensation.

Cunningham could treat the 61st Special Mixed Fleet as a sacrificial offering on the altar, yet Spur could not do the same, he still had to try his best to protect the Expeditionary Fleet.

How exactly should this battle be fought?

"If I were Bai Zhizhan, I would hide south of Magas Island, keeping the distance from Xuan Continent over 500 kilometers, avoiding the shore-based Reconnaissance Aircraft as much as possible."

It was only after Tanimoto said this that Spur looked up at him.

"According to the latest intelligence, the Liangxia Navy’s ’Vermilion Bird’ Bomber and ’Thunderbolt’ torpedo bomber have begun to be delivered, and the fleet commanded by Bai Zhizhan, which had previously been active in Xu Sea and moved to Flame Sea after the new year, undertook a non-combat mission in the southern part of Flame Sea in the following days. There’s reason to believe that the fleet has been equipped with new ship-borne aircraft. Importantly, the combat radius of both types of ship-borne aircraft exceeds 700 kilometers."

"You mean, with these new ship-borne aircraft, the Liangxia Fleet can blockade the coastal shipping routes leading to Magas Strait, even if it stays in the distant ocean?"

Tanimoto nodded, offering no further explanation.

At this, Spur’s expression grew even grimmer.

According to the original plan, after entering the Fan Flame Ocean, the Expeditionary Fleet would turn northward and proceed along the coastal route near Xuan Continent toward Magas Strait.

This arrangement was actually to utilize the shore-based Air Force deployed at Magas Island and the South Xuan area.

Simply put, the shore-based Air Force would carry out reconnaissance tasks, eliminating the risk of exposing their position by dispatching ship-borne aircraft for the same purpose.

However, the original plan did not anticipate the Liangxia Fleet taking the initiative to strike.

Because when making the plan, even Spur thought that as long as they moved swiftly, there would be no need to worry about encountering the Liangxia Fleet in the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean.

According to the scenario at that time, after conquering Lion Spring City, the Liangxia Special Mixed Fleet would directly proceed to Mua Sea.

For this reason, the Bulan Royal Navy had dispatched the "Royal Ark" of the Domestic Fleet along with 2 Fast Battleships to form a special task fleet.

After arriving in the Fan Flame Ocean, this fleet would use Jibu Fortress as its base.

Afterward, their tasks would be to defend Jibu Fortress and control the shipping routes leading to Boss Bay, and to act as bait for the battle, drawing the Liangxia Navy to forcefully attack Jibu Fortress.

Indeed, the Expeditionary Fleet and the 61st Special Mixed Fleet would then travel through Magas Strait to standby north of the Comoros Islands in the Somali Sea. If the Liangxia Special Mixed Fleet moved to Mua Sea and engaged the special task fleet, the Expeditionary Fleet and the 61st Special Mixed Fleet would immediately head north to launch an attack.

That was the original combat plan.

The strategy was clear, and the operability was very high.

In this plan, there were only two key factors. One was whether the special task fleet could draw the Liangxia Fleet over, and the other was whether the Expeditionary Fleet and the 61st Special Mixed Fleet could deploy in position.

As for unexpected factors, such as the fall of Lion Spring City, it did not have much impact.

But now, there were issues with both key factors.

In fact, Cunningham had also foreseen this.

According to the telegram he sent from the "Radiant," the Expeditionary Fleet’s route was further south, or rather not as planned towards the northeast, which is not close to Far View Cape; thus, they would not be likely to go to Magas Strait upon entering the Fan Flame Ocean.

Cunningham’s reason was: Enter the Fan Flame Ocean as soon as possible to pave the way for the later 61st Special Mixed Fleet.

The 61st Special Mixed Fleet was already lagging behind; if it still followed the original plan, close to Far View Cape, and under the cover of the shore-based Air Force, to enter the Fan Flame Ocean and then along the coastal route to Magas Strait, it would appear on the left rear side of the Expeditionary Fleet, definitely entering the area most likely to encounter the Liangxia Fleet.

To put it bluntly, the 61st Special Mixed Fleet would thus rush ahead of the Expeditionary Fleet to become the bait of the battle.

Because the Expeditionary Fleet went to the south, it could not only avoid the attack by the Liangxia Fleet but also pick up the spoils after the successful baiting by the 61st Special Mixed Fleet.

Cunningham’s careful planning rung impressively clear.

Unfortunately, he clearly got one thing wrong.

Would Bai Zhizhan lead the Liangxia Fleet to strictly monitor the sea routes leading to the Magas Strait?

The main reason Bai Zhizhan dared to lead the long-distance raid with the Liangxia Fleet was that they employed new ship-borne aircraft.

As Tanimoto said, the new ship-borne aircraft of the Liangxia Navy had operational ranges that all exceeded 700 kilometers.

Among them, the "Vermilion Bird" could reach a flight distance of 2500 kilometers when performing reconnaissance missions, and patrol radii could reach up to 1000 kilometers.

What was more crucial was that the Liangxia Fleet might not make it in time.

According to the latest intelligence, the Liangxia Special Mixed Fleet had entered the Fan Flame Ocean from either the Xunfeng Strait or Longyan Strait on the night of the 19th, and it had only been over 5 days, and by the morning of the 26th, it was just over 6 days, so they must travel at full speed the entire way to possibly reach the waters near Magas Island.

Clearly, Bai Zhizhan could not allow the fleet to sail at full speed continuously.

This was not only because of insufficient fuel but also due to issues with the carriers of the Liangxia Navy.

Spur had long since received intelligence that there were problems with the propulsion system of the Liangxia Navy’s "Imperial Capital" class fleet carriers, basically unable to maintain the highest speed.

Thus, the Liangxia Fleet could at most maintain a relatively high sailing speed.

Even if everything went smoothly, by the morning of the 26th, they could only reach the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean, that is, appearing in the southeast sea area of Magas Island.

As Tanimoto analyzed, Bai Zhizhan would at most deploy ship-borne aircraft to monitor the nearby sea routes.

The key was, he definitely would not neglect the distant seas.

Here, there was another very important reason.

Did Bai Zhizhan know or guess that the "Fenjin" was also in this region?

If it was affirmative, then on what basis did he think he could use two fleet carriers, after a raid of thousands of kilometers, to defeat the Expeditionary Fleet and the 61st Special Mixed Fleet?

If it was negative, then a problem arose.

Because he did not know the "Fenjin" was also in the area, Bai Zhizhan’s focus was on the Expeditionary Fleet, and while making arrangements, he might only leave enough ship-borne aircraft to form one Plane Group, sending all other aircraft on reconnaissance missions, thus expanding the search range.

Only by making such arrangements could the entire Southwest Fan Flame Ocean be monitored to timely spot fleets coming from the west.

In any case, Bai Zhizhan would expand the search range.

If he dared to bring the Special Mixed Fleet here, he must have guessed that Cunningham was in the area, and believed that defeating the Expeditionary Fleet would allow him to control the entire Fan Flame Ocean.

Thus, regardless of whether the "Fenjin" had come, he would focus on the Bulan Royal Navy’s Expeditionary Fleet.

On the flip side, as long as the Expeditionary Fleet was defeated, the Newland Fleet would know the difficulty and retreat, similarly being able to control the entire Fan Flame Ocean.

Not only did Spur think so, even Tanimoto believed that Bai Zhizhan was a person with a very clear purpose, and he would always aim precisely.

Leading a fleet across the Fan Flame Ocean was not a trivial matter.

The only thing that could make Bai Zhizhan take risks was Commander Cunningham’s Expeditionary Fleet because before the 19th, Bai Zhizhan could only determine that Cunningham had led the fleet to the South Sunset Ocean.

Then, how could the Expeditionary Fleet be protected?

Spur rubbed his forehead vigorously, yet his brows remained furrowed.

If a warning were effective, Spur would immediately send a message to have the Expeditionary Fleet slow down, wait for the 61st Special Mixed Fleet to catch up, and then together enter the Fan Flame Ocean to avoid being defeated by the Liangxia Fleet individually.

Unfortunately, like Hall, Cunningham would surely not take the warning of others seriously.