Empire Conquest

Chapter 452 - 448: The Signal to Retreat

By the time Zhou Yongtao had finished his breakfast and gone to give the pilots their task briefing, Bai Zhizhan had made himself a cup of coffee.

He should’ve gone back to sleep, considering he was busy all night long.

But at this time, Bai Zhizhan simply couldn’t sleep.

Unfortunately, before he could sit down to savor his coffee, the communication officer delivered a newly received telegram.

Sent from Navy headquarters, it contained two pieces of information.

First, the destroyer squad sent out as scouts was attacked by Bulan bombers to the east of Throat Strait, just as they were about to enter the Andaman Sea.

Since it had just happened, it was impossible to determine the origin of those bombers.

Second, Bulan troops had reinforced Sri Lanka with a batch of fighters, all ship-borne aircraft, with at least 20 being F4Fs provided by the Newland Federation.

According to the Sixth Bureau’s assessment, these "Wildcats" must have come from the "Royal Ark."

Mainly because the range of the F4Fs wasn’t enough to fly directly from Jibu Fortress to Sri Lanka, and because the F4Fs received by the Bulan Royal Navy were given priority to the shipborne air force.

Furthermore, Bulan’s Royal Air Force received P-series fighters from the Newland Land Air Force.

Before waging war with the Liangxia Empire, Bulan’s forces did not deploy advanced fighters in the Fanluo region.

Due to the backward infrastructure and the scarce number of proper airfields, deploying advanced fighters would have been unable to operate normally.

On the contrary, those older, less sophisticated planes were more reliable and therefore more popular with the colonial garrisons.

These two events indirectly confirmed the speculation of Bai Zhizhan and Zhou Yongtao.

The Bulan military was beginning to strengthen its defense deployment in Sri Lanka, perhaps aiming to buy some time, including attacking the Imperial Fleet emerging from Throat Strait.

The key was to let the Imperial Navy know that there was a Royal Navy carrier fleet in the Mua Sea!

Knowing that the "Royal Ark" was still active in the Mua Sea and not having located the two "Radiant" class ships, as well as the Newland Fleet’s position, where should the Liangxia Fleet head next?

As Bai Zhizhan pondered this question, Zhou Yongtao rushed over.

Clearly, the communication advisor had contacted him.

"If you ask me, this is a challenge handed to us, inviting us to a decisive battle," Zhou Yongtao started with a cold laugh before continuing, "I bet Cunningham will move northward from the coastal route, waiting for an opportunity north of Magas Strait. While we’re dealing with the ’Royal Ark,’ he will strike from behind. If luck serves him, he might even believe he can annihilate us in one fell swoop."

"Want to bet on it?"

Zhou Yongtao was taken aback, then said, "Bet? Who’s afraid?"

Bai Zhizhan smiled, but this time he did not directly take out the money.

At this moment, Zhou Yongtao also realized he had been outmaneuvered by Bai Zhizhan.

"You overlooked a very critical issue," Bai Zhizhan paused slightly before saying, "What makes us so sure that the ’Royal Ark’ is the one operating in the Mua Sea?"

"This...

"Moreover, what makes Cunningham so sure we’ve come to the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean and that, at this time, just after confirming that there is a Bulan carrier in the Mua Sea, he would immediately turn to head north? Up to now, we haven’t encountered him, so why wouldn’t he think we are in the North Fan Flame Ocean?"

Bai Zhizhan hadn’t finished speaking when Zhou Yongtao’s brows knitted tightly.

"Conversely, if Cunningham assumes we’ve already made our move and he intentionally reveals the ’Royal Ark’ to lure us to head north toward the Mua Sea, then why would he use a tactic we could easily predict, taking the coastal route and heading north via the Magas Strait?"

"You mean, this is deliberate?"

Bai Zhizhan nodded and said, "The biggest issue is actually timing. Lion Spring City has just been captured by us, and the Bulan Royal Navy has completed adjustments quickly; they even dispatched bombers to deal with our fleet and sent reinforcements to Sri Lanka. Their response time is too fast. Even if the Bulan Kingdom had prepared beforehand or knew that they could not hold Lion Spring City, it would still take a few days to adjust their troop deployments in Fanluo."

Zhou Yongtao first sighed before taking out a hundred-yuan bill and placing it in front of Bai Zhizhan.

Bai Zhizhan didn’t stand on ceremony, knowing that if you bet, you must be prepared to lose.

"If it’s intentional, then we can be certain Cunningham wouldn’t be foolish enough to go into dangerous areas, and he probably wants us to continue focusing on the coastal waters near the Xuan Continent."

"So, you’re saying he’s still in the south?" Zhou Yongtao let out a long breath.

Bai Zhizhan nodded but didn’t continue the conversation, his expression serious.

"If that’s really the case, then we need to be worried about the Newland Fleet as well."

"The only thing I truly can’t figure out is, if Cunningham’s Bulan Fleet is operating in the south and hasn’t moved northward, then where did Spur’s Newland Fleet go? Are they with the Bulan Fleet, lagging behind, or have they already turned around to return?"

"The probability of them returning is almost zero."

After Zhou Yongtao said this, Bai Zhizhan just nodded.

"If the two fleets haven’t split up, then Cunningham wouldn’t need to stay in the south; with 3 fleet carriers, he could just seek a decisive battle with us, having enough confidence to win."

"So, according to you, the two fleets are operating separately?"

"If not, there would be no reasonable explanation!"

Upon hearing Zhou Yongtao say this, Bai Zhizhan rubbed his forehead vigorously.

That’s where the problem lies.

It was just that, what Bai Zhizhan couldn’t understand was why Cunningham and Spur would choose to operate separately.

Was it a matter of command authority?

If that was the case, the Alliance Group deserved to be defeated!

Despite having 3 fleet carriers, their combat power was not stronger than that of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet.

Operating together, they could stand a chance against the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet, having at least the capital to defeat it.

Separated, they would only be crushed one by one!

Not to mention anything else, even the "Fenjin" could only deploy a little over 30 ship-borne aircraft at a time, and since the performance of the "Wildcat" was inferior to the "Xiaotian," it might not even be able to penetrate the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet’s anti-aircraft net. If it were just the Bulan Fleet launching an attack, it would be even more trivial.

However, as Zhou Yongtao had said, this was the only explanation that made sense.

This arrangement was just to draw the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet away, allowing Cunningham to lead the fleet north and thus avoid a decisive battle in the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean.

Furthermore, it would allow Spur to take the "Fenjin" to Aus.

In other words,

After losing Lion Spring City, the Bulan Royal Navy and the Newland Navy knew when to retreat and no longer sought a decisive battle against the Empire’s Navy in the Fan Flame Ocean.

So, was that it?

Turning to return was indeed the safest choice, especially as Cunningham and Spur might beat a retreat—even if the Newland Fleet hadn’t turned to return, they might still pull back several hundred kilometers. After receiving concrete news that the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet had appeared in the North Fan Flame Ocean, they would then proceed.

From a timing perspective, they only needed to wait patiently for a few days.

Clearly, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet couldn’t drag this out for a few days.

Two fleet oilers had already turned to return, and the remaining fuel would run out on February 2nd, while at the earliest, the two fleet oilers would not return until February 1st.

The most prudent course of action for the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet would be to turn and retreat.

Yet, this was precisely what Bai Zhizhan found hardest to accept.