Empire Conquest

Chapter 509 - 505: Landing on Transfer Island

At that time, it was just a speculation.

By July 7, the situation had changed again.

During a battle that morning, the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet suffered an attack from the Newland Navy Air Force, and the enemy planes were all coming from the east.

Crucially, they encountered F4F fighters!

In the previous battles, the Newland Army had deployed purely P-series fighters, with the P-41s being the most numerous, along with the twin-engine P-38s.

These fighters were part of the Marine Corps Air Force.

It wasn’t that the Land Air Force’s fighters were better, but the production capacity for the Navy ship-borne fighters had never picked up.

Moreover, the Land Air Force’s fighters were more suitable for deployment on the ground.

To maintain sufficient combat strength, the Newland Marine Corps had consistently used the Land Air Force’s combat planes, rarely purchasing Navy combat aircraft.

This was also the first time in several months that the Imperial Navy in the East Ocean encountered Newland Navy ship-borne fighters, and there was reason to believe they came from some carrier.

Apart from the F4Fs, the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet’s air defense fighters also intercepted a batch of SBDs.

It is worth mentioning that no torpedo attack aircraft were encountered.

However, the Wei Jun believed this was not a problem since the Newland Navy’s torpedo attack aircraft had always been less effective, and in battles against carriers, dove bombers were the main force.

In summary, that afternoon, Wei Jun issued a report claiming there were Newland Navy carriers operating in the east.

Until night fell, despite arranging three rounds of scouting with ship-borne aircraft and seaplanes, they still could not locate the Newland carriers.

The problem was, Wei Jun had not reported this situation to Bai Zhizhan.

Of course, given the circumstances at the time, there seemed to be no need for a report.

According to the unspoken rule, no report meant nothing was found.

However, this led to Bai Zhizhan not doubting Wei Jun’s report or sensing any issues with it.

In the early morning of July 8, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet returned to the battlefield.

Since the Firepower Ship Fleet had already arrived on July 5 and had become the main striking force, the 22nd Special Mixed Fleet only provided air defense cover and did not expend much ammunition, thus it did not withdraw but just refueled in the rear area the same evening.

That morning, the landing operation began according to plan.

After a fierce bombardment that lasted an hour and a half, the landing operation started at 8 AM and reached the beaches of Transfer Island around 9 AM.

It was at this time that the "Firepower Ship," specifically designed for the landing, made its dramatic entrance.

To say it was a battleship was actually a misstatement.

The so-called "Firepower Ship" was actually a small landing ship fitted with large-caliber guns, using naval guns taken from battleships and heavy cruisers.

To put it bluntly, it was a case of recycling waste.

Take the main gun of a battleship, for instance—the life expectancy at maximum was only 1,000 rounds when firing armor-piercing bullets and even as low as 500 rounds for a long-caliber barrel developed for firing heavy armor-piercing bullets. However, reaching the end of service life did not equate to being unusable; it just meant less accuracy when firing armor-piercing bullets with full charges, exceeding the Navy’s acceptable error range and posing potential safety risks, thus it could not continue to be used on battleships.

Firing high-explosive bombs with reduced charges posed no problem.

Strengthening the barrel could effectively reduce the risk of the barrel bursting.

Even against sturdy targets, close-range shooting could be opted for, thus maximizing the potential of armor-piercing bullets.

In fact, there were virtually no targets on the battlefield capable of withstanding 350mm or 400mm armor-piercing bullets, eliminating the need for full-charge firing.

In addition, the barrels of the heavy cruiser’s naval guns were likewise reused.

Indeed, the Imperial Navy repurposed these ’scrapped’ barrels, equipping them on firepower ships.

As for the small landing ships carrying naval guns, they were readily available and also not expensive to build.

A 2000-ton dock landing ship generally carried two single-mounted 350mm or 400mm naval guns, and it could also carry hundreds of shells. If equipped with 200mm naval guns, it could increase to four or six guns, and the ammunition load could be raised to around a thousand.

With these battleships, during support for landing operations, there was no need for the escort battleships to remain at the landing site.

The key was that it also avoided frequent ammunition resupply for the escort battleships.

It should be noted that this was specifically devised for attacking Transfer Island because, during the attack on Sai Island or the invasion of Southwest East Ocean, ammunition resupply was not a significant issue; it was only during the attack on Transfer Island, especially before establishing a landing site, that this issue needed to be resolved.

However, the landing operations did not go well.

Before the Marines stormed the beach, the defenders of Transfer Island resisted fiercely, with no intention of surrendering.

As a result, more than ten landing crafts were sunk before they could storm the beach, and hundreds of Marines were killed before they even reached the shores of Transfer Island.

This was just a landing operation launched to capture a small solitary island less than one square kilometer in size.

According to the plan, the first wave of assault troops comprised only about a battalion’s strength, totaling less than 2000 men, and only about forty landing craft were deployed.

A casualty rate of over thirty percent was frighteningly high.

This situation was finally brought under control when two firepower ships equipped with 350mm heavy guns started their bombardment.

After successfully storming the beach, fighting continued to be extremely difficult.

Throughout the day, the landing forces were pinned down on the beach by enemy artillery, only managing to expand their beachhead positions but never moving off the beach.

Consequently, the fleet responsible for cover had to return to the landing site after dark.

Additionally, the entire night was lit up with flares to enable the Marines and battleships’ lookouts to clearly see the enemy’s positions.

The night battle was even more intense.

The Newland Army had built many underground defensive works and had a large stockpile of ammunition.

More importantly, the Newland Army had learned from the battle for Sai Island and did not centralize their ammunition stores; instead, they were scattered around different parts of the island.

Aside from being inconvenient to manage, this was not only safer but also facilitated easier access for the combat troops.

Moreover, it allowed for more flexible setup of firepower positions.

During the day’s battle, the Newland Army fully utilized small-caliber mortars that could be quickly relocated, causing great trouble for the invading Imperial Marines.

The machine gun bunkers constructed at various ammunition storage points also caused severe headaches for the Marines.

Often, just as the shelling and bombing ended, Newland’s soldiers would return to their shelters and fire machine-guns at the advancing Imperial Marines.

The landing forces were never able to break out of the beach area, heavily due to the lack of heavy equipment, particularly armored weaponry.

Relying solely on infantry, it was impossible to break through the enemy’s fire blockade on the barren beach as leaving the trenches would make them easy targets for enemy machine guns.

Fortunately, the Imperial Marines came prepared.

After months of fierce battles on Sai Island, the Imperial Marines had also mastered the common tactics of the Newland Army and found countermeasures.

On the morning of July 9th, just as dawn broke, a tank landing ship made its way onto the beach of Transfer Island under the cover of artillery.

Subsequently, under the cover and support of the Air Force, several tanks from the tank landing ship charged out.

With tanks now in the fray, the situation immediately changed.