Empire Conquest

Chapter 453 - 449 Waiting for the Opportunity

Although the Bulan Fleet and the Newland Fleet had not yet been detected, Bai Zhizhan was certain that Cunningham and Spur were somewhere hundreds of kilometers to the southwest.

Winning this battle meant that victory was within reach.

Of course, even if they were to withdraw now, there was a great chance of securing a total victory, but it would require more time and incur greater losses.

To give up now, Bai Zhizhan was indeed very reluctant!

"If we lower our speed now and control consumption to minimize unnecessary spending, the remaining fuel should last until February 3rd," said Li Mingbo, who had just returned to the Command Bridge, not Zhou Yongtao.

"By then, even if the two fleet oilers haven’t returned in time, we should be able to rendezvous with the oilers sent by Li Jie from the Landing Fleet."

While saying this, Li Mingbo handed the telegram he had just received to Bai Zhizhan.

After seeking approval from the Navy headquarters, Li Jie had already arranged for the 11.3 squadron with four Heavy Cruisers to escort four oilers through the Xunfeng Strait into the Fan Flame Ocean, speeding towards them at full cruising speed, expected to arrive by February 6th.

To rendezvous on February 3rd, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet would have to turn back by January 31st at the latest.

"We can also arrange it this way," Zhou Yongtao said after reading the telegram. "Have the two fleet oilers meet with squadron 11.3 to get fuel and then return at full speed. Therefore, even if we turn back on February 1st, we can still meet the fleet oilers by February 3rd."

"That would break radio silence," someone remarked.

"It won’t matter as long as we can annihilate the Bulan and Newland Fleets before then," responded another voice.

Li Mingbo did not argue with Zhou Yongtao, but turned his gaze towards Bai Zhizhan.

"The risk is too great; for now, let’s set the return time for January 31st," Bai Zhizhan decided. "No need to arrange for a second wave of reconnaissance aircraft, but remember to dispatch more air defense fighters to strengthen fleet air defense and expand the scope of air defense patrol. If we’re not mistaken, this battle will drag on for a few more days."

After giving the orders, Bai Zhizhan left the Command Bridge and returned to his quarters to sleep.

Li Mingbo was speechless, and Zhou Yongtao was somewhat concerned.

However, it was only a matter of a few hours.

By about 8:30 a.m., when all 32 "Vermilion Birds" had reached the last turning point and completed the first half of the flight, and no reports from reconnaissance aircraft had come back, it indicated that Bai Zhizhan’s guess was not wrong; the Bulan and Newland Fleets had likely pulled back.

If that was the case, there indeed was no need to continue reconnaissance operations.

For safety’s sake, more air defense fighters certainly needed to be dispatched.

In addition, the two escorting Battleships should take turns activating their air search radars to ensure timely detection of any approaching enemy aircraft.

As for anti-submarine measures, Li Mingbo did not even think about it.

It wasn’t that he was unconcerned, but worry would not help.

There were only four Destroyers!

To avoid attacks by submarines, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet always kept a distance from maritime traffic routes and performed timely evasive maneuvers.

Whether this was effective depended mostly on luck.

In Li Mingbo’s words, if their luck ran out and they happened to encounter an enemy submarine, a few heavy torpedoes could send two carriers to the bottom of the sea.

Fortunately, up to now, their luck had been good.

By noon, with the return of the last "Vermilion Bird" reconnaissance aircraft, even Zhou Yongtao went back to his cabin to sleep.

There was nothing that could be done about it; Zhou Yongtao hadn’t rested the night before, while Li Mingbo had slept peacefully.

In fact, there wasn’t anything urgent.

The entire afternoon, aside from receiving a few telegrams from the Navy headquarters that weren’t all that important, there were only some minor matters.

At this time, in the middle of the Fan Flame Ocean.

Two fleet oilers were proceeding one after the other, with the "Honghu" leading and the "Zehu" following.

During the night of the 25th, after the last fuel supply for the battleships in the 11th Special Mixed Fleet, the two fleet oilers turned to return home.

Although there was not much fuel left, their speed was not slow.

The reason was simple: after refueling at the port, the two fleet oilers needed to go back and rendezvous with the 11th Special Mixed Fleet, and there was no time to waste.

Before departure, Li Mingbo had specifically instructed Major Robbin Kay, the Captain of the "Honghu."

If the two fleet oilers could not return in time, the 11th Special Mixed Fleet might not make it back to the homeland and could very likely run out of fuel on their way back.

Li Mingbo also mentioned that as long as the two fleet oilers could return on time, he would apply for awards on behalf of the two Captains as the Fleet Chief of Staff.

In truth, even if Li Mingbo hadn’t said anything, Robbin Kay would have understood.

Moreover, he was well aware that only by traveling at high speeds could he avoid potential dangers.

Fleet oilers are, after all, just oilers, at best considered armed oilers.

Even after being rebranded as Fast Combat Support Ships, with only minimal armament, they were not sufficient to take on anything more serious than pirates, let alone constitute a true battleship.

Without the protection of Anti-submarine Warships, fleet oilers operating alone were easy targets for submarines, and high-speed navigation was the only way to avoid being attacked.

A maximum speed exceeding 25 knots was the fleet oilers’ best defensive maneuver.

Previously, the Imperial Navy had already lost five fleet oilers, three of which were sunk by submarines in the West East Ocean!

The key point was that all three fleet oilers were travelling at speeds below 20 knots when they were ambushed by enemy submarines.

Despite the fleet oilers’ displacement of over 20,000 tons, in order to reduce construction costs, they were built to civilian standards and inherent weaknesses such as large oil tank compartments, thus their damage resistance was extremely poor, even worse than some merchant ships with smaller compartment structures.

A single heavy torpedo hitting a critical point was enough to send a fleet oiler to the bottom of the sea.

Because of this, the Navy headquarter had issued a specific order.

Unless operating within a fleet, fleet oilers must maintain a speed above 20 knots and periodically perform anti-submarine evasive maneuvers.

Now, the two fleet oilers were cruising at around 24 knots.

To return as quickly as possible, they did not perform the anti-submarine evasive maneuvers as regulated.

In Robbin Kay’s view, there was no need to worry too much in the central region of the Fan Flame Ocean, as the nearest shipping route was thousands of kilometers away.

The Imperial Army had just captured Lion Spring City, and with ships operating in the northeast of the Fan Flame Ocean, the Newland Navy and Bulan Navy submarines had all gone there.

The likelihood of encountering submarines in the central region of the Fan Flame Ocean was very low.

Besides, a speed of 24 knots could shake off any submarines attempting pursuit, so unless they were extremely unlucky and ran straight into a submarine’s firing range, there was no need to worry about being attacked.

In the vast ocean, the probability of a direct encounter with a submarine was even lower.

In the evening, after having dinner, Robbin Kay returned to the Navigation Bridge and allowed the First Officer to go for his meal.

In any case, they had safely navigated for almost a day. If there had been any danger, it would have passed already.

Although the likelihood of an ambush at night was higher, as long as they maintained sufficient speed, the submarines would probably not seize the fleeting opportunity.

Of course, Robbin Kay still performed his duties.

After starting his watch, he observed and searched the surrounding sea area, and only after confirming there was nothing out of the ordinary, did he proceed to write in the navigation log.

But today, there was no need to write a navigation log.