Empire Conquest

Chapter 512 - 508: Doubts and Suspicions

As for what Bai Zhizhan was worried about, there was no need to guess, as anyone could figure it out.

Was that really an escort aircraft carrier?

Since most were converted from cargo ships, and newly built ones also used the hulls of cargo ships, the shortcomings of escort aircraft carriers were actually very pronounced, primarily their slow speed.

Of course, to cover an average transport fleet speed of around 10 knots, excessive speed wasn’t necessary.

The speed of the escort carriers usually remained below 20 knots, with some even less than 16 knots.

As for the fast escort carriers, due to their small numbers, the Newland Navy treated them like precious assets, and almost all were stationed in the Southwest East Ocean.

In pursuit of speed, the fast escort carriers had poor endurance and were unsuitable for expeditionary warfare.

In addition, the high speed of the fast escort aircraft carriers was relative; they were faster than regular escort carriers but still slower than fleet carriers.

Usually, they could only reach about 25 knots.

Could such a slow speed keep up with the commerce cruisers?

According to the first report, which was a telegram sent by an escort destroyer, the enemy ships fired from 20 kilometers away with fierce firepower, suggesting they were probably not the rudimentary sighting-equipped commerce cruisers but actual heavy cruisers, and possibly even more powerful entities.

Thus, the escort carriers could fall even further behind.

When rapid maneuvering was required, escort carriers became a burden on the fleet!

Heading towards seas far from the protection of our air forces to carry out commerce raiding missions would frequently require fast maneuvers, even prolonged high-speed cruising.

Clearly, even if positioned towards the rear or moved in advance, escort carriers could still hamper the entire fleet.

From any perspective, the Newland Navy had no reason to assign slow escort carriers to commerce raiding missions.

Moreover, there was no intelligence indicating that the Newland Navy had obtained escort carriers capable of approximately 30 knots.

To put it plainly, the ships that could achieve such speeds were actually small carriers.

Could it be that the Newland Navy had dispatched two small carriers to the Fan Flame Ocean?

But, what would be the point of that?

Without this doubt, Bai Zhizhan would dare to conclude that the Newland commerce raiding fleet attacking the transport fleet in the Fan Flame Ocean contained at least two small carriers and two fast battleships, and even those six heavy cruisers that so far had not appeared on the Transfer Island battlefield.

It was only during dinner, while the cooks prepared supper, that Bai Zhizhan raised this concern, allowing the strategy officers to voice their opinions.

This was Bai Zhizhan’s usual approach, and the officers were quite responsive.

Not to mention, the more proactive officers had been given important roles previously.

However, opinions among the officers were diverse and significantly divided.

After much discussion, half the officers thought there were indeed escort carriers, not just one but several, positioned behind the commerce raiding fleet just to provide air protection, not engaging in frontline combat, ensuring they could turn back immediately if endangered.

The other half expressed concern that they might actually be small carriers, although they did not believe that the fleet included fast battleships.

The reason was: if it was merely to carry out commerce raiding missions, there was no need to deploy powerful fast battleships.

As for sending small carriers to the Fan Flame Ocean, it actually made sense.

Staying in the East Ocean was equally futile, so better to protect the commerce raiding fleet in the Fan Flame Ocean while also training ship-borne air force personnel.

Seizing the opportunity, letting aircraft pilots conduct a few combat missions before facing the ultimate decisive battle with the Imperial Fleet would ensure superior performance.

However, sending fast battleships to the Fan Flame Ocean was implausible.

The main issue was that there were no ports in the Fan Flame Ocean capable of supporting fast battleships, not even any deep-water piers where fast battleships could berth.

In addition, two "Beika" class ships had been delivered to the Newland Navy at the beginning of the year and were still undergoing acceptance testing.

According to the information provided by the Sixth Bureau, the design of these two battleships had issues, which caused serious bow dipping when sailing at high speed, even affecting the main gun turrets at the front. Additionally, there was noticeable resonance, which directly compromised the safety of the battleships.

Even though they were already capable of combat, there were definitely many unresolved issues.

Clearly, sending them to the Fan Flame Ocean was asking for trouble.

The key point was that fast battleships were not needed for commerce raiding missions, as heavy cruisers were sufficient.

In any escort fleet, there was no ship capable of engaging a heavy cruiser in combat, nor would any navy assign heavy cruisers for escort missions.

It was evident that most of the staff were optimistic.

Bai Zhizhan did not participate in the discussion, which was his usual practice.

After dinner, Bai Zhizhan finally brought up the topic.

The first question was why the Newland Navy wanted to make a move in the Fan Flame Ocean.

Just to divert the attention of the Imperial Navy?

Clearly, that made no sense.

The Imperial Marine Corps had already landed on Transfer Island and established a landing field. After consolidating the beachhead positions, they would advance into the interior of the island.

It was evident that as long as the Imperial Marine Corps remained on Transfer Island, the Newland Army’s reprisal could not possibly succeed.

To drive the Imperial Marine Corps off Transfer Island or annihilate the landing forces was easier said than done!

Even if the two Special Mixed Fleets were to withdraw, leaving behind the landing fleet and the support fleet, they would definitely withstand the reprisal launched by the Newland Navy.

Once they entered the landing operation phase, four "Nanzhu Sea" class fast battleships were incorporated into the support fleet.

For the Newland East Ocean Fleet, temporarily without carriers and fast battleships, those four "Nanzhu Sea" class were invincible behemoths.

As for blockading the Fan Flame Ocean’s shipping lanes, that was even less feasible.

A surprise attack could succeed because the Imperial Navy was unguarded.

Once the Imperial Navy strengthened their defenses, it wouldn’t be so easy.

It should be noted that the Imperial Navy also had escort aircraft carriers, and with enough support points in the North Fan Flame Ocean, they could deploy shore-based air forces to enhance the protection of the shipping lanes.

Additionally, the Imperial Navy’s shore-based air forces had enough bombers and long-range fighters to exert strong control over a 1000-kilometer maritime zone.

When the Newland commerce raiding fleet came to attack again, they would inevitably receive a severe setback.

Actually, there was no need to make adjustments; just intensifying patrols would deter the Newland commerce raiding fleet.

Moreover, on the Fan Flame Ocean, there were two strong fleets, namely the Imperial Navy’s Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet and the Joint Fleet formed with the Tiaoman Navy.

Any fleet had enough capability to defeat or even annihilate the Newland commerce raiding fleet.

Even the slightly weaker Joint Fleet possessed three fast battleships and three armored cruisers, along with a varying number of light cruisers and destroyers.

In fact, upon the discovery of the Newland commerce raiding fleet, the naval headquarters made adjustments, ordering the Joint Fleet previously active in the eastern Mua Sea to return to Bengal Bay.

This move was to prepare for the encirclement of the Newland commerce raiding fleet.

Clearly, in front of the Joint Fleet, the commerce raiding fleet was barely worth mentioning!

Then, how could they execute commerce raiding missions?

The key point was also that moving the Joint Fleet did not conflict with, or rather, did not affect the operations on Transfer Island.

To put it more harshly, even if the Joint Fleet were ambushed or completely annihilated, it would not shake the Imperial Navy’s resolve to attack Transfer Island.

However, that was the key issue.