Empire Conquest

Chapter 492 - 488: The Key Point

After all the warships behind him had caught up and seen the light signals sent out, Bai Zhizhan proceeded to the "Top-Level Officers’ Dining Hall" located at the base of the superstructure.

Calling it "Top-Level" was, in fact, a pun.

With a fifty percent increase in the personnel of the Fleet Headquarters and a thirty percent increase among the shipborne air force pilots, a special dining hall for senior officers had been set up on the superstructure, mainly open to staff officers of the Fleet Headquarters and pilots from the shipborne air force.

In terms of location, the dining hall was above the main body of the ship, while the other dozen dining halls were inside the ship.

Even if they were officers, the ship’s personnel mostly dined in the dining halls on the lower levels.

It had to be said that it was also because the superstructure of the large aircraft carrier was massive enough to house a dining hall that could serve dozens of officers and men simultaneously.

Moreover, this dining hall also doubled as the Fleet Headquarters meeting room and officers’ entertainment center.

During non-combat periods, a film was screened here every evening.

But now, this place served as a meeting center.

When Bai Zhizhan arrived, the chefs had already prepared the meals, and Li Mingbo, Zhou Yongtao, along with several heads of the main departments, were chatting leisurely.

Of course, they were not discussing any serious topics.

As long as Zhou Yongtao was present, the group was more interested in some tabloid news.

However, this was also beneficial.

Even the strongest soldiers could not always be in a state of high alert; they needed to relax in their downtime to maintain good condition.

And that was why the Imperial Navy had always used methods such as increasing entertainment facilities, providing spacious living areas, and regularly scheduling family visits and holidays to keep the officers and men in optimal condition when deployed, enabling them to perform more actively in battle and exhibit the strongest combat power.

According to Bai Zhizhan’s custom, he discussed official matters only after his arrival.

The first thing to confirm was the tactical cooperation with the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet.

According to the plan, the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet would accompany the 21st Special Mixed Fleet throughout the entire operation, primarily communicating through two specialized flagships, the "Qinling" and the "Kunlun."

However, several liaison officers must be sent to the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet to ensure effective cooperation in case of unintended circumstances.

It wasn’t that Bai Zhizhan didn’t trust Wei Jun; it was just that there were Navy regulations to follow, and things had to be done according to the rules.

Wei Jun had previously been the captain of a heavy cruiser and served as the commander of a cruiser squadron without direct experience in commanding aircraft carrier operations.

Although Bai Zhizhan had arranged for Zhu Huasheng to go to the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet and also sent a dozen staff members there specifically responsible for the fleet’s air operations, in most cases, it was still Bai Zhizhan who issued commands, indirectly leading the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet in battle.

Crucially, after reaching the battlefield, the two Special Mixed Fleets would definitely not stay together.

This made the arrangement of liaison personnel even more necessary.

Of course, this was the simplest matter. Li Mingbo and Zhou Yongtao had already discussed and identified the main personnel; they were just waiting for Bai Zhizhan’s order.

The second matter was to finalize the combat operations.

Simply put, this involved the commander officially issuing the combat orders.

After the departure of the fleet, the Fleet Commander would announce the battle plan to the captains and main commanders of the various ships, clarifying the main combat tasks, thereby bringing the fleet’s officers and men into combat readiness—it was a tradition of the Imperial Navy with unique symbolic significance.

Traditionally, the fleet had to follow the orders of the Navy Headquarters until the combat orders were issued; from that point on, commands would only come from the Fleet Commander.

From this moment, the Fleet Commander gained the authority to make unilateral decisions.

This was standard procedure and posed no difficulty.

What really needed to be discussed was the battle plan itself.

That was what Bai Zhizhan was most concerned about.

On June 15, after sending a message to Liu Changxun, Bai Zhizhan finalized the combat plan, or to be exact, only the main part of it.

It wasn’t that Bai Zhizhan was being lazy, but the combat plan was too complex.

For one thing, up to now Bai Zhizhan had not received accurate intelligence on the two small carriers of the Newland Navy, namely the "Wasp" and the "Assault Team Member."

The "Assault Team Member" was previously known as the "Ranger," just renamed according to the new naming system.

According to an earlier report, the "Wasp" was in Yotun Port, while the "Assault Team Member" was operating between the Howay Islands and the mainland Newland.

Once these two small carriers entered the East Ocean, they constantly trained shipborne air force.

During that time, the "Wasp" also traveled numerous times to the Southwest Eastern Ocean to deliver combat planes to the islands’ bases there.

However, the problem was, these pieces of intelligence had been sent at the beginning of the month, and the last sightings of the "Wasp" and "Assault Team Member" were on May 27 and May 29, respectively.

That meant, more than half a month had already passed!

The Empire Navy had been continuously preparing for a large-scale offensive, would the Newland Navy stay indifferent?

Speaking nothing else, just in May, the Newland Navy, mainly employing escort carriers, sent their ship-borne aircraft to islands along their returning routes during homecomings, to enhance the defensive deployment in the Southwest Eastern Ocean and strengthen the surveillance of all major sea areas.

Additionally, they had significantly increased the military deployment on Wei Island.

According to intelligence provided by the Sixth Bureau, just the combat planes stationed on Wei Island exceeded 150, including at least 100 long-range bombers.

Furthermore, the materials stored on Wei Island were enough to sustain the defending troops for half a year.

To enhance defensive capabilities, or rather, to safeguard the nearby seas, the Newland Navy also deployed over 20 torpedo fast boats to Wei Island!

These fast boats, weighing only dozens of tons, could carry 4 heavy torpedoes and, with a speed of over 40 knots, launch nighttime attacks on large warships under the cover of darkness.

Not much needs to be said about Transfer Island.

Since Transfer Island has no water source, drinking water can only be obtained by desalinating seawater, so the production capacity of the desalinating plants directly determines the size of the garrison.

At the beginning of the year, the Newland Navy built a second seawater desalination plant on Transfer Island.

Correctly speaking, they installed a second set of seawater desalination equipment.

This allowed for an increase in thousands of stationed troops and the deployment of more combat planes.

Water was necessary not just for personnel; almost all engines required water as coolant.

Additionally, the concrete needed for constructing defensive works also required fresh water.

Similar to the situation on Wei Island, the combat planes deployed on Transfer Island were also primarily bombers, mainly used for reconnaissance and search tasks.

However, the difference was that the Newland Navy also deployed dozens of long-range patrol planes like PBYs on Transfer Island.

Transfer Island, part of the Howay Islands and situated at the westernmost side of the islands, took on escort anti-submarine tasks, necessitating a sufficient number of patrol planes.

All these were threats!

Exactly because there were too many uncertainties, when drafting the plan, Bai Zhizhan prepared contingent measures for the most probable changes.

Achieving perfection was clearly impossible.

For this reason, commanding officers needed to adapt to situations as they arose.

Additionally, it was crucial to strengthen control over the battle situation, making utmost efforts to let developments unfold as planned.

Here, it involved those two dedicated flagships.

If anything, these two flagships were key to successfully capturing Transfer Island.