Empire Conquest

Chapter 501 - 497 Preparation for War

In the afternoon, Nizi adopted Spur’s suggestion and, in the name of Fleet Commander, sent a telegram, requesting all submarines operating in the waters east of the Volcanic Islands and the North Ma Islands to report their status, whether or not they had encountered the Liangxia Fleet, and to report their whereabouts to the Fleet Headquarters as soon as possible.

By evening, a total of 14 submarine reports had been received.

According to the arrangement of the submarine force, this was almost all of the submarines operating in the waters east of the Volcanic Islands and the North Ma Islands.

Based on these telegrams, particularly the submarines’ locations, a process of elimination could be used to make a rough estimate of the Liangxia Fleet’s movements.

At that time, the only certainty was that it was highly unlikely that the Liangxia Fleet would sail southward.

Of these 14 submarines, 7 were located southeast of the Volcanic Islands, all en route to the West East Ocean, that is, in the first half of their mission.

The distribution range of these seven submarines was not very wide; they were concentrated in the eastern part of the North Ma Islands, near several major southbound shipping lanes.

The key point was that none of these seven submarines had encountered the Liangxia Fleet.

Clearly, the probability of a fleet comprising nearly a hundred large and small warships avoiding scattered submarines was extremely low, unless their movements had been tracked.

On the balance of probabilities, that was also unlikely.

Even if the intelligence agencies of the Liangxia Empire were formidable and able to obtain the submarines’ sailing information, it was absolutely impossible to track every single submarine’s status.

Submarines seldom sent messages to their rear command while on a mission.

In addition, once submarines were at sea, the captain would often decide the course based on the actual situation.

In practice, specific patrol routes were not set for submarines; at most, a key search area would be designated, with the rest left to the captain’s discretion.

At night, after receiving the final analysis report, Spur took off in a seaplane from Treasure Harbor, heading for the Wasp, which was on standby southeast of the islands.

In the afternoon, Nizi had already issued orders for the Assault Team Member, still operating on the eastern side of the islands, to head south, meet up with the Wasp, and be incorporated into the 51st Special Mixed Fleet led by the Wasp, forming the 51.2 Subsquad with several escort battleships.

Furthermore, two North Carolina-class fast battleships undergoing acceptance testing near the west coast of the mainland also received a telegraphed order to head at full speed to join the 51st Special Mixed Fleet.

Nizi also dispatched 4 heavy cruisers, 6 light cruisers, and 10 destroyers to the 51st Special Mixed Fleet.

As for the supply ships mentioned by Spur, according to Nizi’s plan, after he led the 51st Special Mixed Fleet to Aus, they would be dispatched from the Southwest East Ocean Fleet.

Indeed, Spur was headed to the Southwest East Ocean.

When proposing this tactic, Spur had clearly told Nizi that if they were to engage in battle with the Liangxia Navy, they could only fight according to their own rules.

Simply put, it was a game of "you play your way; I play mine," and they would see who couldn’t hold out in the end.

If they fought according to the Liangxia Navy’s tactics, that is, engaging the Liangxia Fleet in the Central East Ocean, the Newland Navy would certainly be utterly defeated.

Nizi was not impressed with Spur’s theory, feeling instead that Spur was shirking responsibility.

However, in the end, Nizi still agreed to Spur’s request.

The key point was that the Newland Navy had nowhere left to retreat.

If the Liangxia Navy was still trapped in the West East Ocean, if they hadn’t taken the Volcanic Islands and Sai Island, and if they didn’t pose a threat to Guan Island, this tactic might work.

Having sufficient strategic depth also meant having enough time to do whatever it takes.

The current problem was that the Newland Navy had already lost the North Ma Islands, and Wei Island was unable to hold a defensive line, with the Howay Islands soon to come under attack.

If the Howay Islands were to be captured, they would almost lose the entire East Ocean.

In such a situation, how could they afford to engage in guerrilla warfare with the Liangxia Navy?

Or perhaps there was no longer any room to trade for time.

The only way to gain enough time was to hold the Howay Islands at all costs, stalling the Liangxia Navy with a desperate defense.

But, the Newland Navy did not even have the means for such a fierce struggle anymore.

Moreover, even if they staunchly defended the Howay Islands, the fleet was unnecessary, as those two small carriers would be of little use.

The pity was that no other options remained.

Otherwise, Nizi would not have let Spur make his own decisions.

According to Nizi, they were at the point where they could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.

Perhaps Spur really could work a miracle.

Of course, Nizi had not put all his cards on the table either.

That same evening, after Spur had departed, Nizi issued an order for combat readiness, directing all battleships remaining in Treasure Harbor to set sail for a rendezvous and standby.

In reality, it was a bit early.

Even if the Liangxia Fleet traveled day and night, it would take ten days to reach the vicinity of Treasure Harbor, and eight days to attack Transfer Island.

However, sending the battleships out to sea earlier was mainly to increase the state of combat readiness.

As for Nizi, he did not have much to work with either.

Among the remaining battleships, a few old ones were so slow that they could only stay in the eastern part of the islands, serving to boost morale.

The truly useful ones were actually a few heavy cruisers, more than ten light cruisers, and a large number of destroyers and torpedo fast boats.

Indeed, the main force was the torpedo boats.

Two-thirds of Newland Navy destroyers were engaged in escort duties in the Sunset Ocean, and the remaining third were mostly in the Southwest East Ocean escorting convoys to Aus. The rest were in the Northeast East Ocean, with few available for fleet operations.

After consulting with generals, including Hal and Frey, Nizi also sent an additional batch of torpedo boats to Transfer Island.

Additionally, they set up temporary anchorage sites on several small islands and atolls east of Transfer Island, storing in advance some of the fuel and ammunition needed by the torpedo boats. This was to facilitate launching torpedo boat attacks using these islands and atolls as support points against the Liangxia Fleet’s attack on Transfer Island once the fight began.

What the Newland Navy was not lacking now were transport ships large and small.

To hold Guan Island, the Newland Navy had requisitioned many vessels. Now, nearly all these vessels were around Treasure Harbor.

Although they were all medium-sized cargo ships with a displacement between 1,000 and 5,000 tons, their strength lay in their numbers.

And they had relatively fast sailing speeds.

Indeed, the emphasis on developing fast cargo ships showed that the Newland Federation had long been preparing for war.

In terms of economy, fast cargo ships were far less efficient than regular ones. In peacetime, only a few goods requiring obvious timeliness were transported by fast cargo ships. The main value of fast cargo ships lies in wartime, as they can significantly increase the efficiency of goods transportation.

Before the outbreak of the great war, the Newland Federation encouraged its shipping companies to purchase and operate fast cargo ships through subsidies, creating the world’s largest fleet of fast transport ships and a shipbuilding industry chain second only to the Liangxia Empire and the most refined among the Western Powers.

Now, the Newland Federation’s transport fleet and shipbuilding industry were the foundation of the Alliance Group.

The stability of the Newland Navy in the East Ocean relied on the massive fleet of transport ships.

It was precisely because of this that they were able to strengthen the defensive fortifications of islands like Transfer Island in the days to come and prepare for the decisive battle with the Liangxia Fleet.

Still, the key remained with the Air Force.

Truth be told, the shore-based air force, with its thousands of operational aircraft, might be Nizi’s most valuable asset and the source of his confidence.