Empire Conquest

Chapter 514 - 510: The Distant Battle

On the morning of July 21, Bai Zhizhan arrived at the command bridge early.

During these days, he had been arriving earlier than usual, having his breakfast delivered instead of slowly enjoying it at the officers’ mess, as he used to.

The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

After July 17, the Navy headquarters still sent several telegrams every day, but they no longer mentioned anything about the Joint Fleet.

At this time, no news was the worst news!

According to the unwritten rule, once the Joint Fleet received the combat order from the Navy headquarters on the 17th and entered the battle state, it would no longer receive new orders. That is, the Fleet Commander had the authority to refuse non-combat orders issued by the Navy headquarters.

That was crucial!

Since combat orders had already been issued, for the Commerce Raiding Fleet to annihilate the enemy, unless there was solid evidence or a sufficient reason, even Liu Changxun couldn’t revoke the combat order. That is, what Liu Changxun issued later were not actually combat orders.

Besides, the Joint Fleet was commanded by Admiral Lutians of the Newland Navy.

It was he who had led the "Prime Minister" across the ocean.

Although he successfully reached the Empire, his timid behavior during the operation, such as not proceeding to the Falkland Islands as ordered in the South Sunset Ocean and failing to discover the Newland Fleet in time, meant that he wasn’t well-regarded upon arrival at the Empire.

By comparison, Lansdorf, who had brought three Tiaoman-class Armored Cruisers to the Empire, was held in high esteem by the Imperial Navy.

If it were not for Lansdorf being just a Major General, Lutians would not have become the Joint Fleet Chief of Staff.

Bai Zhizhan had met Lutians several times, during the period after the battle in Fan Flame Ocean when they returned to the Imperial Capital to prepare for the march on Howay Islands. Although not well-understood, they were acquainted, but Bai Zhizhan always felt that this Tiaoman Navy Admiral was all talk and no action.

Plenty of theory, but very little practical experience and extremely poor performance in action.

Whether for personal honor or to prove the worth of the Tiaoman Navy, this aloof military leader might disregard warnings.

To put it directly, it also had to do with the Imperial Navy.

On the oceanic battlefield, it was always the Imperial Navy playing the lead role, with the Tiaoman Navy not even getting a chance to play a supporting role. Now that they had a chance to play the lead, naturally, they needed to perform well. Regardless of personal pride, it was about securing more say for the Tiaoman Navy.

Speaking of which, after the declaration of war, aside from deploying submarines for commerce raiding, the Tiaoman Navy caused more trouble than contributions.

The Expeditionary Fleet had not been heard from, indicating it was still operating according to previous orders.

A few days were enough for the Expeditionary Fleet to venture deep into the distant seas.

If sending the Commerce Raiding Fleet to the Fan Flame Ocean was a targeted operation, then what the Newland Navy was waiting for was for the Expeditionary Fleet to walk into a trap.

As expected, in an area of the North Fan Flame Ocean, the Newland Fleet was eagerly preparing.

If prepared in advance, the Newland Navy wouldn’t even need to use small carriers; deploying more escort carriers would have been enough to eliminate the Expeditionary Fleet.

Bai Zhizhan had not yet made a definitive judgment on the whereabouts of the two small carriers.

Because of his concerns, he had been on tenterhooks these past few days.

Indeed, so had Li Mingbo.

As usual, after Bai Zhizhan’s arrival, Li Mingbo first handed over his duties, mainly explaining the events of the night and the telegrams received.

However, Li Mingbo did not leave immediately.

As the Fleet Chief of Staff, he was responsible for supervising the staff changeover. Therefore, he could only leave the command bridge to rest in his cabin after the new shift of staff had taken over.

It was just a delay of about ten minutes more than usual.

But, today was different from other days.

Before 7:30am, the duty telecommunications officer delivered a newly received telegram.

It was from Navy headquarters, a battle report from the Joint Fleet.

About two hours ago, the Joint Fleet encountered the Newland Commerce Raiding Fleet in the North Fan Flame Ocean, and a fierce gun battle erupted.

The key is that the Newland Commerce Raiding Fleet definitely included Battleships, specifically the extremely powerful Fast Battleships.

It’s quite simple, the two enemy ships that exchanged fire with two "North River" class vessels maintained a very high speed and were not left behind due to insufficient speed. Their gunfire was very accurate, with combat distances exceeding 20 kilometers, striking "North River" and "Nanjiang" within ten volleys.

Moreover, the enemy ships fired 16-inch armor-piercing bullets!

Both enemy ships had speeds over 25 knots and nine 16-inch main guns, arranged in three triple-gun turrets, two forward and one aft, definitely equipped with radar targeting.

All these characteristics match the "Beika" class Fast Battleship.

However, the combat distance was indeed too far.

It makes sense, both sides had radar targeting and could spot and aim at the opponent from over 20 kilometers away, and both were equipped with modern shells.

To put it plainly, the main guns of the "Beika" class were not much stronger than those of the "North River" class.

The main issue is that both sides had problems with armor protection.

There’s no need to mention the "North River" class much; it was originally a battlecruiser that was only upgraded to a Fast Battleship after the last great war. Although the armor protection was significantly augmented to reach the standards of the treaty era, it was still not considered thick in the face of modern armor-piercing shells.

Having overly thin armor is a common issue with Fast Battleships.

Don’t be fooled by the "Beika" class being a Treaty Type Fast Battleship, newer and more cutting-edge than the makeshift "North River" class; its practical advantages were not evident, or rather, non-existent.

The reason is simple, there were too many restrictions.

Indeed, this is also the inherent meaning of "Treaty Type," where major specifications like tonnage are strictly limited by the treaty.

If they maintain sufficient distance, these four Fast Battleships could battle for hours without being able to determine a victor.

Radar only increased the hit rate and could not fundamentally resolve the inaccuracies of naval guns.

When the distance is too great, radar is powerless.

In the Northwest East Ocean Battle, both sides’ battleships fought for several hours.

Although the battle had not ended, or rather, there had been no reports that it had ended, the contents mentioned in the telegrams were frightening enough.

The Newland Navy actually dispatched two Fast Battleships to the Fan Flame Ocean!

What was Nizi thinking?

Could it be that he intended to give up Transfer Island, concentrate forces to blockade the shipping routes of the North Fan Flame Ocean, and prevent the Imperial Navy from capturing Boss Bay as planned?

To say so would be utterly fanciful.

Even if they managed to destroy the Joint Fleet by manipulation, they definitely couldn’t overpower the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet.

The Newland Navy temporarily lacked fleet aircraft carriers; the Imperial Navy could completely ignore those two Fast Battleships, at most enhancing the shore-based air force in the North Fan Flame Ocean.

After much consideration, the only possibility Bai Zhizhan could think of was that they intended to attack the Joint Fleet to sabotage the relationship between the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire.

Actually, it wouldn’t make much difference.

The Imperial Authority had already assured the Tiaoman Authority they would compensate for the losses suffered by the Tiaoman Navy.

Moreover, the Tiaoman Authority would definitely take the larger picture into account.

The bigger picture now was the capture of Boss Bay.

Even if the Joint Fleet was annihilated, once they breached the Land Heart Sea, the Imperial Navy could completely transfer two "Xu Sea" class ships to the Tiaoman Navy free of charge.

At that point, all dissatisfaction would vanish like smoke.

For this reason, was it worth using their last resort?