Empire Conquest

Chapter 463 - 459: Racing Against Time

Because they were too close, they intermittently received signals from the ship-borne aircraft’s radio.

After the battle had commenced, Zhou Yongtao immediately rushed to the aerial combat command center, where a set of broadcasting equipment was available, and the reserve pilots were also on standby there.

Bai Zhizhan did not go over and stayed on the Command Bridge.

In fact, Bai Zhizhan was already regretting his decisions.

The fight initially took place between the fighters from both sides.

Even though the performance of the "Xiaotian" was much better than that of the "Wildcat", there were just too few of them.

Moreover, after the Northwest East Ocean Battle, the Newland Navy had intensified relevant training and encouraged pilots to sum up tactics against enemy aircraft.

Of course, fundamentally speaking, it was still the numbers that played a decisive role.

After the engagement, the "Xiaotian" fighters providing escort were tied up by two squadrons of "Wildcats" and could not cover the bombers and torpedo bombers that were following.

In addition, the four squadrons assigned strike missions arrived one after another, rather than all at once.

This meant that the anti-air fighters could deal with the incoming bombers and torpedo bombers individually, and each time they could commit a sufficient number of fighters.

What Bai Zhizhan regretted most was that the flight deck of the "Fenjin" was filled with ship-borne aircraft.

In other words, Spur had not managed to organize an attack in time!

If he had sent out the second "Xiaotian" squadron instead of keeping them back for air defense, perhaps there wouldn’t have been a subsequent fight.

The battle rapidly escalated to a fierce stage.

Two "Vermilion Bird" squadrons and two "Thunderbolt" squadrons launched assaults in the order they arrived, all of which were intercepted, and they were shot down before or after dropping their bombs.

According to the Newland Navy’s statistics, less than 10 Liangxia fighters managed to successfully drop bombs or torpedoes.

Out of the 32 ship-borne aircraft, only 3 managed to escape after being damaged.

Additionally, all 8 "Xiaotian" fought until the last moment, with only 2 retreating after running out of ammunition.

The battle was declared over at around 7:30 AM.

After Zhou Yongtao returned, Bai Zhizhan immediately had him make arrangements to send the already airborne fighters towards the Newland Fleet to intercept the enemy’s Attack Aircraft Group.

Of course, they also needed to have the standby fighters take off in time to welcome back the returning ship-borne aircraft.

Having successfully withstood the assault from the 11th Special Mixed Fleet, Spur would certainly order an immediate Reprisal, sending out the ship-borne aircraft laid out on the flight deck.

As to whether to launch a second strike on the Newland Fleet, Bai Zhizhan had not yet made a decision.

It was quite simple, he didn’t have any spare ship-borne aircraft available.

The 11th Special Mixed Fleet carried a total of 16 ship-borne aircraft squadrons, with only 122 aircraft available for use. The "Thunderbolts" were the fewest with only 32 aircraft, two squadrons per carrier. The "Vermilion Birds" were slightly more numerous, with only 38 aircraft. The additional 6, which were always tied down on the flight decks, were not in good condition. The most numerous were the "Xiaotian" Fighters, reaching a count of 52 aircraft.

Having launched two waves of attacks, especially after deploying two escort fighter squadrons in the first wave, the 11th Special Mixed Fleet was left with only 28 fighters, 16 of which were still in the air. Even of the remaining 12, four were placed in the hangars.

Obviously, to attack the Newland Fleet again, they would first need to recover the returning ship-borne aircraft.

Of course, not all was bad news.

The attack on the Bulan Fleet was a great success. According to the report from the lead aircraft, both Bulan carriers were hit and seemed likely to sink soon.

The "Radiant" took at least three 500-kilogram bombs and four air torpedoes.

The "Terrifying" was hit by five bombs and five torpedoes.

To have survived such a ferocious attack would have been strange!

Even if they didn’t sink immediately, they had certainly lost their combat capability.

The concern now was the two Fast Main Battle Ships.

Merely 250 kilometers away, the two battlecruisers could arrive within five hours.

Indeed, the lead pilot had mentioned in his report that he hoped a second strike against the Bulan Fleet could be launched in a timely fashion.

Clearly, that was just the pilot’s suggestion.

To the north, the battle was far from over.

After 8 o’clock, the fighters from both sides encountered each other more than 100 kilometers north of the 11th Special Mixed Fleet.

Obviously, Spur had deployed the same strategy as in the Bai Zhizhan, sending out fighters first to disrupt the enemy’s rhythm and to try to intercept the enemy’s ship-borne aircraft with all his might.

In the sea area between the two fleets, a chaotic battle had broken out.

Before, both offense and defense had clear objectives.

Especially when conducting air defense operations, the support from anti-air warships allowed for organized command and coordination, and the fighter operations were carried out methodically.

Now, fighters from both sides had strayed far from their fleets, and things had descended into disarray.

To put it bluntly, it all came down to the pilots’ individual skills and quality.

As for the outcome of the battle, it wasn’t actually important.

The key point was that after fighters were let loose, they quickly entered into a state of self-forgetfulness and forgot their primary mission.

In any case, the approximately 40 fighters from both sides soon scattered in all directions.

The "Xiaotian" indeed had the upper hand, but it was impossible to shoot down all the "Wildcats" in one blow.

After 8:30, when the last of the returning ship-borne aircraft had landed, Bai Zhizhan finally issued the attack order, still grouping them into squadrons.

This time, Bai Zhizhan was almost certain of success.

After the previous round of combat, especially the ongoing air tremors, Spur likely had no fighters left to deploy.

As long as they could fly over the Newland Fleet, he was confident he could sink the "Fenjin."

At 8:40, the "Vermilion Bird," flown by Shen Pu, took off from the "Peijing" to commence the second strike on the Newland Fleet.

It was just about 2 minutes later on the "Longjiang."

Time was everything, and there was no room for delay.

However, Bai Zhizhan did not underestimate the enemy this time; in addition to sending 4 "Xiaotian" for escort, he kept the extra 8 fighters back as reserve.

If he was able to launch an attack immediately, why couldn’t Spur?

Spur had sent out fighters in advance to attack the 11th Special Mixed Fleet, clearing the way for the Attack Aircraft Group through an offensive escort.

As expected, the Newland Fleet’s bombers and attack aircraft would take off after the fighters.

The "Fenjin" had not lost its fighting capability; even if its rhythm was disrupted, or it needed time to prepare, it was certainly capable of deploying ship-borne aircraft before 8:20.

Spur’s reprisal would arrive around 9!

The key factor was the distance, which was extremely close.

Just 200 kilometers, and even if all the Newland ship-borne aircraft took off fully loaded, they would have enough fuel to fly around, avoiding interception from the fighters.

In theory, the attack could come from any direction.

For the defending side, keeping an eye on all directions was almost impossible, let alone simultaneously intercepting enemy planes coming from multiple directions.

In the midst of the chaotic battle, the situation was even more complex.

Don’t forget, the 11th Special Mixed Fleet only had 2 Fast Battleships and could at most direct air defense fighters in two directions.

Without the guidance and command of the Anti-Air Warship, the efficiency of the fighters in air defense warfare would be halved!

Sinking the "Fenjin" was important, but preserving the two fleet carriers was even more critical.

If two Bulan carriers had already been sunk, protecting his own carriers would have great strategic significance.

Of course, at such a critical moment, Bai Zhizhan wouldn’t think too much about it.