Empire Conquest

Chapter 551 - 547: Sudden Incident

Returning to Navy headquarter, after meeting Liu Changxun, Bai Zhizhan learned that the garrison had just sent the latest investigative report from Lion Spring City.

The preliminary hypothesis was that bombers had laid the mines in Lion Spring Strait.

Indeed, they were long-range bombers that had flown in from Aus.

This clue came from the fact that in the preceding days, radars deployed in Lion Spring City had detected unidentified flying objects at night. Since the objects had not approached Lion Spring City and were flying at particularly low altitudes, the air force stationed in Lion Spring City had not been dispatched to clarify the identity of these flying objects.

In the submitted reports, radar operators had identified the detections as interferences caused by ocean waves.

It was for this reason that these reports had not been taken seriously.

To prove this hypothesis, Liu Changxun had already issued an order to send a long-range patrol aircraft to Darwin in the northwest of Aus.

If the guess was correct, the bombers that carried out the mining mission would definitely be at the airfields near Darwin.

Additionally, if they could obtain information on the number of bombers deployed by the Newland Army, they might be able to roughly estimate the capacity and scale of the mining ability and the threat it posed.

The Sixth Bureau had also received the news and was acting in synchronization.

However, they had not waited for news from the Sixth Bureau.

A few hours later, the communications advisor brought a telegram sent from Lion Spring City.

Just as speculated, at two airfields near Darwin both hosted Newland Army’s heavy bombers, all B-17s, totaling over 100.

That’s where the problem lay.

The operational range of the B-17 was about 1500 kilometers, whereas Darwin to Lion Spring City was over 2000 kilometers!

Under normal circumstances, B-17s would not have been able to fly to Lion Spring Strait to lay mines.

Could there be a secret base closer to Lion Spring Strait?

Clearly, that was an impossibility.

Even though the Southeast region was filled with numerous islands—including over ten thousand in Indonesia and almost as many in Nanzhu Country, and thousands in the Mala area—establishing a base on these islands that could enable heavy bombers loaded for takeoff and landing at a large airfield was obviously not an easy task.

Moreover, sending ships to deliver fuel and ammunition to these islands also involved significant risks.

At that point, Bai Zhizhan felt that the Newland Army had likely built a new airfield near Darwin and had deployed bombers with a longer range.

However, this speculation was quickly debunked.

By the afternoon, the Sixth Bureau had delivered a piece of intelligence.

The B-17s deployed in Aus had been flown in specially, stopping only twice en route, once on Christmas Island in the central part of East Ocean and once in the Loyalty Islands in the southwest of East Ocean. The route thus broke into three segments, each exceeding 5000 kilometers.

Normally, the range of a B-17, without bombs and fully fueled, was just over 4000 kilometers.

That is to say, the B-17s deployed in Aus had been modified, with their range increased by at least 1000 kilometers.

This meant that, with an appropriately reduced load, these B-17s had an operational range of 2000 kilometers and thus could fly to Lion Spring Strait to drop naval mines.

Additionally, the Newland Land Air Force had sent over 300 B-17s to Aus!

The long-range patrol aircraft had only discovered part of them; another 200 were deployed at other airfields.

This was understandable—Aus is a continent with plenty of room for airfields, eliminating the need to deploy too many bombers in one location.

In fact, this also perfectly proved the earlier speculation.

Because the load had to be reduced, it was necessary to deploy enough bombers to achieve a scaling effect and to make the mining operation worthwhile.

Liu Changxun immediately made tactical adjustments.

That same night, a cruiser equipped with radar arrived south of Lion Spring Strait, using radar to search and monitor several narrow straits vessels would not pass through.

In addition to this, over 20 night fighters were dispatched from the garrison in Lion Spring City.

Actually, they were long-range fighters specifically designed to perform interception missions at night.

Compared with regular fighters, their primary distinction was the installation of a small radar at the nose, which granted them the capability to locate enemy planes at night.

Night fighters were developed specifically to counter nighttime bombings, their main value being the interception of bombers attacking under the cover of darkness.

Additionally, the Navy’s minesweeping ships and fast patrol boats had already entered the Lion Spring Strait.

By evening, the latest news was received.

A minesweeping ship in the Lion Spring Strait had discovered naval mines laid by the Newland Army, and after salvaging them, confirmed they were 1000-pound aerial-dropped naval mines.

These mines were not heavily loaded with explosives and were not very powerful, primarily used to block ports and straits.

Due to their relatively weaker potency, they posed a lesser threat to large battleships, thus submarines and minesweeping ships seldom used them. They were mainly deployed and laid by bombers.

Moreover, aerial-dropped naval mines were generally bottom mines and were mainly used in shallow waters.

It should be noted that aerial-dropped naval mines were a product of this great war, and the Imperial Army’s Strategic Air Force was the first to employ them.

They were used to blockade the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

Before the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom surrendered in defeat, the Imperial Land Air Force had dropped approximately 50,000 mines into the inner sea and main channels of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, especially outside major ports.

As a result, the maritime transport of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was completely paralyzed.

By the time the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom surrendered, more than 2000 ships of various types had been sunk by aerial-dropped mines, with the loss of cargo reaching tens of millions of tons.

Before the defeat and surrender of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, there was a nationwide famine that was closely related to the Empire’s aerial minelaying.

Even now, these mines have not been completely cleared!

Clearly, the presence of aerial-dropped mines in the strait also confirmed the Sixth Bureau’s speculation that the bombers deployed near Darwin were laying the mines.

By midnight, new findings finally confirmed the speculation.

Guided by the cruiser, the deployed night fighters successfully intercepted the Newland Plane Group and shot down more than ten bombers.

Fast patrol boats that had been pre-deployed were rushing to the area where the bombers had crashed, soon to locate the wreckage.

According to the visual reports of the pilots, all were four-engine heavy bombers, and judging from their appearances, they should be the B-17s deployed in Darwin.

After being intercepted, some bombers jettisoned their payloads.

In fact, this had already proved that the Newland Army was deploying heavy bombers to drop mines in the Lion Spring Strait under the cover of night.

As for their purpose, it clearly needs no further discussion.

These bombers were stationed in Darwin.

Although bombers could be dispatched to destroy the airfields near Darwin, unless troops were deployed to seize control, it would not be possible to prevent Newland bombers from continuing to lay mines in the Lion Spring Strait under the cover of night.

Even if more night fighters were deployed in Lion Spring City, more radars built, and battleships sent on patrol, it could not guarantee absolute security.

In any case, passive defense could at best mitigate some of the impacts but could not completely eliminate them.

Moreover, the fact that B-17s lacked the range did not mean newer bombers lacked the range.

When bombers with an operational radius of 3000 kilometers are developed, laying mines in the Lion Spring Strait could be conducted from different directions.

Then, the difficulty of defense would be significantly increased!

A critical point is that now, only the Lion Spring Strait allows passage for civilian vessels.

Before the Imperial Army captured Lion Spring City, both the Xunfeng Strait and the Longyan Strait were blocked by the Newland Army using naval mines, to this day preventing ships from navigating them.

Should the Lion Spring Strait also be blocked by mines, it would cause significant trouble!

Could it be, because of this reason, that an offensive would be launched against Aus?