Empire Conquest

Chapter 566 - 562: The Man Who Worried Needlessly

Three days later, on November 4th, the 11th Special Mixed Fleet finally arrived in Aden Bay and launched an air strike against Jibu Fortress that very day.

The three-day delay wasn’t a waste of time; it was necessary to wait for the landing ships and the mine-sweeping squadron to catch up.

Moreover, the 12th Special Mixed Fleet was still on its way to the northeast Fan Flame Ocean.

Due to spending a day and a half en route for fuel and ammunition resupply and the essential repair of several battleships that were damaged but still battle-worthy, the arrival of the 12th Special Mixed Fleet in the northeast Fan Flame Ocean was postponed from the originally scheduled November 4th to the 7th.

The three extra days were also advantageous.

During these three days, the engineering corps expanded two field airports on Bali Island, and the Land Air Force subsequently deployed two Tactical Air Force squadrons, adding more than 200 combat aircraft. The Navy’s shore-based air force took the opportunity to dispatch patrol aircraft to scour the entire Alaphra Sea.

On November 7th, it was still the 11th Special Mixed Fleet that made the first move.

In the early morning of that day, two Shipborne Air Force Wings went all out, launching three successive air strikes of over 60 sorties each against Jibu Fortress.

This was the limit of a large carrier’s operational capacity.

By afternoon, the supporting fleet had arrived outside Jibu Fortress and bombarded it.

This marked the first time since the outbreak of the war that the Empire’s naval ships bombarded Jibu Fortress and entered the Mand Strait for the first time.

It was this round of fierce and unexpected artillery fire that officially signaled the commencement of the assault on Jibu Fortress.

By this point in the battle, even if Bulan General at Jibu Fortress was a fool, he could deduce that there was a special fleet of the Empire’s Navy in Aden Bay.

If Bulan’s forces had a few radio listening devices, they could also detect several dozen large landing ships hundreds of kilometers to the east of the fortress. A simple comparison of radio signals would confirm that these landing ships were the same ones that had been active in Boss Bay earlier.

So, would the Newland Navy be unaware?

During dinner, Bai Zhizhan specifically called in the Communication Advisor to inquire about any messages from the 12th Special Mixed Fleet or from the northeast Fan Flame Ocean.

In fact, he had asked more than a dozen times.

Unfortunately, the Communication Advisor’s answer remained the same.

Not only Li Mingbo and Zhou Yongtao but also the other staff members could see that Bai Zhizhan had been anxious all day and had never looked in good spirits.

Bai Zhizhan’s concerns were not unfounded.

As long as the Commander of Jibu Fortress wasn’t too incompetent, or the news of the assault was reported in time, then a few days earlier, the Bulan Royal Navy could have made an accurate judgment and informed the Newland Navy, and Spur would definitely not miss such an excellent opportunity.

Three days was enough time to get a lot of things done!

If on November 4th, the day when the 11th Special Mixed Fleet began bombing Jibu Fortress, Spur’s Newland Fleet was near Perth, then in these three days, he could have maneuvered at least 2000 kilometers, and might even have reached the west side of Liu Xiangzhen.

Of course, that’s assuming he had advanced knowledge of the 12th Special Mixed Fleet’s movements.

That’s the key.

While there were ample reasons to believe that the whereabouts of the 12th Special Mixed Fleet had not been leaked and that the Navy headquarters had done an excellent job in maintaining secrecy, by now, especially after the appearance of the 11th Special Mixed Fleet, deducing the movements of the 12th Special Mixed Fleet wasn’t that difficult.

If Spur made the right judgment and boldly took action, then today would be the most likely time for him to launch a surprise attack!

The reason was that only after today’s several large-scale bombings, one could be certain that the 11th Special Mixed Fleet was still in Aden Bay.

In the previous days, because the bombings weren’t intense, it wasn’t clear if those combat aircraft originated from carriers or from Socotra Island.

Perhaps, this was precisely the opportunity Spur had been waiting for!

Perhaps due to Bai Zhizhan’s ill mood, the staff wisely hastened their meal, and the chef in charge of the officers’ mess hall also made a few of Bai Zhizhan’s favorite pastries especially for him.

In fact, Li Mingbo had given the chef a heads up, so the chef was prepared.

"Anyway, you should still eat something."

"I’m not hungry," Bai Zhizhan said, as he picked up his coffee cup.

He had barely touched his food that day, but he had drunk quite a bit of coffee.

"Worrying now is useless, and besides, Liu Xiangzhen and Wei Jun are veterans. They definitely have a sense of measure. Moreover, no news right now is actually the best news."

Bai Zhizhan gave a smile and glanced at his wristwatch.

"I’m on duty tonight, in case you..."

"It must be past 8 p.m. over there."

Li Mingbo paused, not quite grasping the meaning behind Bai Zhizhan’s words.

"If there’s no news by now, then there won’t be any news for today," Bai Zhizhan exhaled. "Just like you said, no news is good news. Not engaging with the Newland Fleet is better than suffering a defeat in battle. To be honest, I haven’t eaten much today and I’m actually feeling a bit hungry."

Li Mingbo was speechless, but he immediately gestured to the chef to bring over the prepared dinner as soon as possible.

After wolfing down dinner, Bai Zhizhan didn’t go straight back to his cabin to rest; instead, he took a stroll on the flight deck.

The last batch of ship-borne aircraft returning from their attack mission had already landed, and since they would be taken down for resupply at night, there was no need to arrange a night patrol; the aviation service personnel were busy cleaning the flight deck and removing foreign objects that might have been generated during aircraft takeoff and landings, identifying any potential safety hazards.

Actually, this was part of the daily routine.

Even in wartime, unless the carrier had been severely damaged and lost its combat ability, no matter how exhausting the day’s fighting was, or how important tomorrow’s operations were, they had to perform a thorough cleanup of the flight deck after the day’s aviation operations had concluded.

Additionally, this task had to be completed by the personnel of the aviation department themselves.

Even if manpower was insufficient, at most they could ask flight crew members for assistance.

After all, it was after paying the price in blood and lives that the Empire’s Navy established this rule.

Prior to the outbreak of the great war, one-third of the Empire Navy’s aviation safety incidents were related to foreign objects on the flight deck or safety hazards.

More importantly, accidents during the landing phase often resulted in both the loss of the aircraft and the death of the pilot.

It is evident that it’s the responsibility of the aviation personnel themselves, including the pilots, to ensure flight safety and their lives, not the responsibility of the Fleet’s officers and crew.

The integrity and cleanliness of the flight deck is the foundation of safety.

Walking around the flight deck served as a bit of post-dinner exercise that supposedly aided digestion, but in reality, Bai Zhizhan was seeking to calm down.

Like Li Mingbo said, worrying was futile.

Only after he had calmed down did Bai Zhizhan return to the Commander’s quarters.

No special orders were necessary; Li Mingbo always took the night shift.

In fact, right behind the Command Bridge, there was a small cabin with two three-tiered bunk beds, designed for the duty officers to rest.

As long as they were in combat status, Li Mingbo would sleep there. The quarters specially designated for the Fleet Chief of Staff were often used for storage.

Having an officer on duty also meant that any surprise situations could be immediately addressed.

That night, no emergencies arose that required Li Mingbo’s attention.

In fact, no unexpected incidents occurred in the days that followed.

It seemed that all of Bai Zhizhan’s concerns were unnecessary, more like unnecessary worries.