Empire Conquest

Chapter 516 - 512: The Truth Revealed

Although we had been receiving a trickle of messages forwarded from Navy headquarters, it wasn’t until evening that we received the final battle report.

All three Tiaoman-class Armored Cruisers had sunk in battle, while the "Prime Minister" had sustained heavy damage; two North River-class had also been damaged.

In the final moments, it was the three Tiaoman-class cruisers that deliberately slowed down to intercept the pursuing Newland cruisers and destroyers, and they were successively hit by heavy torpedoes. Ultimately, because the damage was too severe and they could not sail quickly, they were sunk by bombs and torpedoes dropped by enemy aircraft.

Thanks to this, the three Fast Battleships were able to shake off the enemy ships pursuing them.

The "Prime Minister" was a bit slower and was still providing cover for the three Armored Cruisers during the retreat, so it was particularly targeted by enemy aircraft, being hit by at least five aviation armor-piercing bombs and four air torpedoes. Fortunately, the enemy aircraft used 500-pound bombs.

The two North River-class had each taken several shells during a gun battle with two Beika-class before dawn, and the Newland Fleet’s initial air strike in the morning had targeted these two fast battleships with exceptionally strong anti-aircraft firepower, worsening their damage.

As a result, when the Commander ordered the retreat, the two North River-class were the first to turn and break off from the fight.

What was crucial was that they were also the fastest.

Even with some damage, both North River-class battleships could reach a speed of 29 knots, slightly faster than the "Prime Minister" and surpassing the three Armored Cruisers.

However, the escape of the three battleships wasn’t solely due to the action of the three Armored Cruisers.

While the three Armored Cruisers were bravely blocking the pursuing enemy ships, bomber groups that had taken off from Lion Spring City arrived, followed soon after by groups from Sri Lanka.

Although both bomber groups were intercepted during their attack and scattered by anti-aircraft fighters, failing to pose a threat to the Newland Fleet or even approach the Newland carriers, the very arrival of the bomber groups must have put immense pressure on the Newland Fleet Commander.

Additionally, in the few hours before the arrival of the bomber groups, the three Fast Battleships had already sprinted north for over 200 kilometers.

If they continued the pursuit and launched another attack in the afternoon, it would delay them by at least two hours.

Thus, they could potentially enter the operational range of shore-based fighters before retreating.

If unlucky, they could even be bombed in the afternoon.

Given the limited air combat capability of the two small carriers after launching three consecutive strikes, they might not be able to organize enough fighters for air defense operations.

What’s more, the Tiaoman Navy’s twin-engine medium bombers were capable of using air torpedoes for anti-ship missions, and their combat power was certainly not to be underestimated.

This was learned from the Saiyi Navy.

Though it was a measure of last resort, if there had been enough carriers, the Imperial Navy would not have relied on shore-based air forces, but in actual combat, the twin-engine bombers demonstrated great tactical flexibility, sometimes even acting as long-range fighters, hence they were highly valued by the Navy.

Shortly after the arrival of the bombers, long-range fighters from Lion Spring City had also reached the vicinity of the Joint Fleet, driving away Newland’s reconnaissance aircraft.

It was because of this, around midday, that the Newland Fleet turned to disengage from the battle.

With that, the fierce battle finally came to an end.

But the situation was far from optimistic.

The "Prime Minister" had been extremely damaged, as reported by the Commander, at the conclusion of the battle, the ship had taken on over 5,500 tons of water, and the leaks in the hull were still not plugged; its internal watertight compartments were also inadequate, casting doubt on whether it could make it to Sri Lanka.

Furthermore, only one of its boilers was still operational.

Only one diesel generator remained to power the pumps, and it could only drive two of them.

If the water intake couldn’t be controlled, that is, if the pumping rate was less than the rate of intake which would cause the last boiler and engine to stop working, they would have to consider abandoning the battleship, and if necessary, have it sunk by the accompanying destroyers.

The reasoning was simple, there might be Newland submarines lurking nearby.

The key issue is that it’s too far away from both Sri Lanka and Lion Spring City.

Patrol aircraft can fly over, but they can’t ensure continuous patrols, and their search range is very limited, as is the cover they can provide.

Even if the "Prime Minister" was saved, it would be very difficult to repair.

This battleship was built by the Tiaoman Empire; not to mention the craftsmanship, but the standards it used are vastly different from those of the Imperial Navy.

Of course, the Imperial Navy doesn’t have any spare parts for the "Prime Minister," and many large-mass or large-size pieces of equipment can only be transported by sea.

Simply put, the Empire’s shipyards may not be able to repair this Tiaoman battleship.

If all the necessary equipment must be custom-made, or if the battleship needs major modifications to use Imperial parts, the repair cost will be terrifyingly high.

Of course, it would also require a lot of time.

All things considered, it would be better to build a new fast battleship.

The two "North River" class battleships are temporarily at no risk of sinking.

These two battleships must return to the shipyard, and maybe they will have to stay in the dry dock for several months, which means they won’t be able to engage in sea battles for a very long time to come.

Actually, repairing the "North River" class also poses a hugely difficult challenge.

The reason being, many of the equipment on the "North River" class has been discontinued, and they can only be custom-made by manufacturers—it is troublesome to procure the compatible spare parts.

Actually, this is also the key reason why the Imperial Navy has always been reluctant to have the "North River" class charge into the fray.

By contrast, because a total of six "Longxing" class ships were built and all are still in service, the Imperial Navy has a stock of spare parts, making maintenance easier. That’s also why, throughout the entire war, the six "Longxing" class ships have been very active.

After this battle, the Joint Fleet is temporarily "nonexistent."

Beyond that, there are definitely two small carriers in the Newland Fleet.

According to the battle reports, Newland Fleet launched two bombing missions, deploying less than 70 ship-borne aircraft, and also deployed about 40 fighters for air defense operations.

A total of just over 100 aircraft, which is roughly the maximum capacity of two small carriers.

Another key point is that among the aircraft attacking the Joint Fleet, there were more than 20 TBF "Avenger" torpedo attack aircraft.

For escort carriers with shorter flight decks and no catapults, the TBF is a bit too large.

Over the North Sunset Ocean, Newland Navy escort carriers still carry the outdated TBD, mainly because they can’t operate the TBF smoothly.

To put it another way, even for small carriers, operating TBFs is quite difficult.

It appears then, that only small carriers could deploy TBFs and launch torpedo attacks with them, definitely not escort carriers.

The most important point is that the interval between the two waves of attacks was less than two hours.

Such a rapid deployment speed must be from small carriers equipped with catapults.

Combining all this information, we can definitively conclude that this fleet came from Treasure Harbor, and the commander is very likely to be Spur.

Actually, this also explains why the Newland Navy did not send a fleet here to Transfer Island when the Imperial Marine Corps had already landed successfully; it’s because Bai Zhizhan led his fleet to attack Transfer Island, while Spur took his fleet to the Fan Flame Ocean!