Empire Conquest

Chapter 557 - 553 Navy Base

In the following days, with Li Yunxiang accompanying him, Bai Zhizhan visited several military bases nearby, including the Trincomalee Military Port.

The Navy, after careful selection, ultimately chose Trincomalee, not because the Colombo Port wasn’t large enough, but rather because they wished to avoid any conflict with the Army, who had made their move first.

Trincomalee had been a military port in the past, but it was one belonging to the Royal Bulan Navy.

Before the Empire’s Navy dominated the Fan Flame Ocean, Trincomalee served as a transfer port between Mumbai and Lion Spring City, primarily providing supplies for passing ships. During the era of the Ironclad Ships, there was also the largest coal depot in the North Fan Flame Ocean region, capable of supplying coal for the boilers of the entire fleet.

As the Empire’s Navy wasn’t seeking military occupation, Trincomalee was abandoned during the era when the Empire reigned over the Fan Flame Ocean.

After the end of the last great war, the Royal Bulan Navy focused on developing Colombo and did not return to Trincomalee.

It was only now that Trincomalee was once again receiving attention.

Similar to the situation with Li Yunxiang, the construction work at Trincomalee was also progressing vigorously.

According to Bai Zhizhan’s understanding, the Navy had received a considerable fund and planned to transform Trincomalee into the top military port in the North Fan Flame Ocean region within a bit over a year.

Initially, the Empire’s Navy had no plans to undertake construction in Sri Lanka, at least they hadn’t considered establishing a major naval base of a home port caliber there.

From Lion Spring City to Sri Lanka wasn’t far, and the naval base at Lion Spring City was sufficient to support the fleet’s operations in the North Fan Flame Ocean.

Even to Gwadar, it was only a few thousand kilometers, not considered distant for the fleet.

Moreover, there were many other areas that needed construction, and relatively speaking, the threat on the North Fan Flame Ocean front wasn’t severe.

The annihilation of the Joint Fleet changed everything.

Regardless of the reasons for the naval battle losses, following the catastrophic defeat of the Joint Fleet, the Empire’s Navy had to address the defense needs of the North Fan Flame Ocean.

Between Lion Spring City and Gwadar, there indeed needed to be a large naval base that could support the fleet.

This was why the Empire’s Navy opted for Trincomalee.

According to the plan, the expansion of the military port was divided into three phases. The first phase, which focused on expanding the outer harbor, had been completed and put into use.

Currently stationed at the outer harbor was a Fan Flame Ocean Battle Zone escort squadron.

As adjustments would be made according to actual situations, the troop strength of the escort squadron wasn’t fixed, although the variations were not large.

Most of the time, nearly a hundred escort ships were present, primarily small coastal vessels, and most were deployed on missions outside.

Stationed long-term in Trincomalee was a coastal patrol detachment, whose main task was to protect the military port and prevent enemy submarines from laying mines outside the harbor.

Additionally, there was the 14th Patrol Aircraft Squadron based in Trincomalee.

It must be said, long-range patrol aircraft were more functional than small ships.

Because they needed to cover convoys coming from Lion Spring City and watch over the shipping routes to the Maldives and Gwadar, perfectly situated in the middle of the North Fan Flame Ocean routes, Trincomalee served as the central base for patrol aircraft in the region, deploying up to about 200 patrol aircraft at most.

Undoubtedly, anti-submarine patrol aircraft were the number one nemesis of submarines.

Mainly used for anti-submarine patrols, the patrol aircraft deployed in the North Fan Flame Ocean were mostly second-hand units retired from the main force, among which the "White Swan" alone numbered over a hundred. However, in anti-submarine operations, what mattered was not the flight speed or maximum altitude.

Indeed, the "White Swan" was particularly suited to perform anti-submarine patrols.

This large patrol aircraft, not only capable of carrying 3 tons of weapons and ammunition, when fully fueled, could fly over the open sea all day, and even reach 2000 kilometers away to patrol for four hours.

During the long-range patrol missions, additional crew members could be carried to lighten the workload.

Some "White Swans" even had modified toilets and bunks.

In simple terms, the large body could accommodate more things, which naturally had numerous benefits.

Having several "White Swans" take turns in the battle was akin to employing a relay tactic, which could even deplete the oxygen inside the submarine through its strong endurance.

This was definitely not an exaggeration.

There were already three such combat cases, all confirmed by the Navy.

In simple terms, upon detecting a submarine, nearby patrol aircraft would be immediately called via radio to provide support, taking turns to drop deep water bombs in the area where the submarine was operating, making it risky for the submarine to surface while also deterring it from moving quickly due to concerns about draining its batteries.

Sometimes, large charges of hand grenades or mortar shells could be used to mimic deep water bombs.

With some luck, it might only take 2 to 3 days to force the enemy submarine to surface and surrender.

Even with bad luck, it would only take 5 to 7 days.

Often, enemy submarines would surface to launch a counterattack before running out of electricity or oxygen, and they were mostly sunk by the patrol aircraft using rockets or bombs.

Among the three existing combat cases, 2 Newland submarines were sunk, and an additional one surrendered after surfacing.

Currently, the second phase of the project was underway, mainly constructing a deep water pier in the outer harbor to service large warships and cargo ships.

Besides that, oil depots, ammunition depots, and military camps were being constructed between the outer and inner harbors.

If one were to say, what Trincomalee lacked was infrastructure.

Whether it was the size of the harbor or the average depth of the main channels, Trincomalee surpassed Colombo, making it the best harbor in the North Fan Flame Ocean area.

This was also the key reason why the Imperial Navy chose Trincomalee.

Of course, it also had to do with Trincomalee’s remote location.

The greatest benefit was that secrecy was easier to maintain, effectively blocking information to enhance the confidentiality of fleet and ship activities.

Once the harbor expansion project was fully completed and the inner harbor was put into use, Trincomalee would become the home base for the Imperial Navy’s Fan Flame Ocean Fleet. At that time, this place would be able to support hundreds of ships, even housing the entire Fan Flame Ocean Fleet.

But for now, large ships that needed to enter port still had to go to Colombo.

Tiaoman Navy’s "Prime Minister" was inside Colombo Port.

Although initially, the "Prime Minister" was supposed to return to the Empire’s home port via Lion Spring City and undergo repairs, after a comprehensive survey by the engineers, the Tiaoman Navy followed the Imperial Navy’s suggestion to only perform limited repairs on the "Prime Minister". Once the sea routes were cleared, it would then return to Tiaoman’s home port to undergo repairs at the Tiaoman Shipyard that built the ship.

For this reason, the "Prime Minister" remained in Colombo.

The Imperial Navy had sent a self-propelled floating drydock to Colombo, and the "Prime Minister" was lying inside it.

If one were to say, the self-propelled floating drydock was the Imperial Navy’s ace.

Before the outbreak of the great war, the Imperial Navy had only 2 large floating drydocks. Now, over 20 floating drydocks had been put into use, including 8 that were 50,000-ton class and another 12 reaching 30,000-ton class, with more than 10 additional floating drydocks under construction.

The key was that all these floating drydocks employed modular design, allowing for very convenient disassembly and assembly.

In a sense, the floating drydocks designed and built after the outbreak of the war were key to maintaining the Imperial Navy’s powerful combat capabilities.