Empire Conquest

Chapter 575 - 571: Three Waves of Attack

December 1st in the morning, north of Zugel Island in the southern Narrow Sea.

After the last "Mosquito" was shot down, it took more than ten minutes before the commanding long-range cruiser of the anti-air combat signal to lift the air combat state.

Then, the officers and soldiers on the carrier got busy.

There were two main reasons; they had to quickly allow the fighters that had participated in the air defense combat to return and land, and also allow the standby fighters to urgently take off.

This was only the first wave of attack, and the day’s battle was not over yet!

Actually, this wave of attack had already proven everything.

Most importantly, there had been no reconnaissance aircraft spotted before they were attacked!

Moreover, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet had not been on the usual southern route but had shifted to the northern route at dawn.

If the Royal Bulan Air Force could guess this much, it definitely was not solely by luck.

That is to say, the Royal Bulan Air Force had a rough grasp of the location of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet without deploying reconnaissance aircraft.

Of course, it could also be said that they had deduced the rough location of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet.

Although there were sufficient reasons to believe that last night, when entering the Narrow Sea through the Mand Strait, there might have been one or several Bulan royal navy torpedo boats nearby, exposing the fleet’s movements, the lack of exact intelligence, or not knowing the overall operational intent of the Imperial Navy—that is, dispatching the fleet to attack the Xifan Canal—meant that the Royal Bulan Air Force could never have guessed the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet’s destination.

Without a doubt, this was the crux of the matter.

Given the current situation, even if the Imperial Navy held an absolute advantage, it first needed to seize Jibu Fortress before considering marching on the Xifan Canal.

Actually, once Jibu Fortress was taken, taking the Xifan Canal wouldn’t be too difficult.

Because the fortress was surrounded, and the Bulan troops defending it did not have much fighting spirit, coupled with the Imperial Army’s advantage in troop strength and the initiative of the attack, launching a heavy attack would surely overcome Jibu Fortress in the near future, most likely within one to two months.

Was that one to two months crucial?

Obviously, the answer was no.

Even though the Alliance Army had already landed in Casablanca and secured the port, it would still need time to gather forces and also time to stock up on supplies.

The Tiaoman forces had already taken action, and it was nearly impossible for the Alliance Army to seize Tunisia within one to two months.

Evidently, there was no need to enter the Narrow Sea ahead of schedule.

Of course, even if the Imperial Fleet was discovered, it could still be assumed that it was to control the Mand Strait, in preparation for the upcoming march into the Narrow Sea.

Even if there were concerns about the Imperial Fleet moving northward, they should have first deployed reconnaissance aircraft and after confirming the whereabouts of the Imperial Fleet, then launched an attack.

Clearly, the Royal Bulan Air Force hadn’t done so.

They had launched the attack directly.

Crucially, the intensity of the attack was very high.

In the first wave of attack after 8 a.m., about 40 "Mosquito" bombers arrived, at least half of them carrying air torpedoes.

Just half an hour later, the second wave of attack arrived, also with 40 "Mosquito" bombers.

However, this time they were all armed with bombs.

If not for being prepared, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet might have already been bombed.

The reason was very simple: in order to intercept the first batch of arriving "Mosquito" bombers, the 20-plus fighters that took off in the early morning were all at low altitude, none at high altitude.

The "Mosquito’s" speed was too fast, and the fighters had a tough time intercepting them.

Of course, the half-hour difference in time was also crucial.

In that half-hour, 32 "Xiaotian" from the 4 squadrons on standby on the carrier urgently took off, and 3 squadrons promptly climbed to 8,000 meters, which allowed them to intercept those high-altitude raiding bombers in time and gave the enemy no chance.

The battle was not over yet.

Around 9 o’clock, the third wave of enemy planes arrived, still "Mosquito" bombers, but this time in greater numbers, divided into two groups totaling over 60 aircraft.

By this point, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet had no fighters left to deploy.

The crucial thing was, before entering the Mand Strait, specifically before Zheng Jiangming arrived, Bai Zhizhan had no idea he would face such a perilous situation.

As a result, each of the two carriers had three fighter squadrons on board.

Because they were on a surprise mission, they carried more dive bombers and torpedo attack aircraft.

Fortunately, timely cover provided by the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet arrived.

In the end, it was the four "Xiaotian" fighter squadrons sent by the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet that managed to repel the final wave of attacks launched by the Bulan Royal Air Force.

During the entire battle, the Bulan Royal Air Force deployed about 150 "Mosquito" bombers.

Without prior preparation, or rather without receiving reliable intelligence in advance, the Bulan Royal Air Force could not possibly have deployed so many bombers for a combat mission in one morning.

Moreover, nearly all of these bombers did not return.

Such a decisive, no-cost-spared attack operation had to be supported by sufficiently reliable intelligence.

According to the intelligence provided by Zheng Jiangming, because the fierce battle in Malta was not over, and the Alliance Army that landed in Casablanca had not advanced eastward, the route from Nara Fortress to the Xifan Canal was essentially paralyzed, making it extremely difficult to transport equipment and supplies to the Xifan Canal.

So far, there are less than 200 "Mosquito" bombers deployed in the canal area that could still take to the skies.

Additionally, the Special Mixed Fleet was still over 1000 kilometers from the Xifan Canal.

That meant that the Bulan fighters stationed near the Xifan Canal could not possibly fly over.

Indeed, this was evidence.

The logic was, without sufficient confidence, the Bulan Royal Air Force would never send bombers to attack the fleet without providing fighter escorts.

The commanders of the Bulan Royal Air Force believed they could reduce casualty rates through a surprise attack.

In fact, achieving the surprise element of the sneak attack gave them a great chance to annihilate the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet and perhaps even the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet.

Don’t forget, the "Mosquito" remains the fastest twin-engine plane to date.

To cope with nighttime bombings, the Bulan Royal Air Force had also converted the "Mosquito" into a night fighter.

Furthermore, with its incredible speed, the "Mosquito" has become the absolute main force for conducting nighttime bombing operations against the Tiaoman Empire.

There is also reason to believe that the Bulan Royal Air Force was targeting more than just the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet.

The key point is, one doesn’t need to deploy three bomber groups to deal with an unprepared Special Mixed Fleet.

Clearly, the battle that morning had proven all these points.

When the antiaircraft fighters were returning one after another, Bai Zhizhan and Zheng Jiangming had already returned to the officers’ mess.

Li Mingbo was very tactful, not only did he not follow them, but he also stopped Zhou Yongtao and others.

After learning that Zheng Jiangming had arrived, Zhou Yongtao realized that something very significant must have occurred and was thus extremely cautious.

After the battle that morning, he became even more prudent and cautious.

To put it frankly, Zhou Yongtao was somewhat afraid of Zheng Jiangming.

In his words, those in intelligence work like Zheng Jiangming always carry an aura of chilling solemnity that sends shivers down one’s spine.

To put it politely, it inspired respect but distance.

Less politely, it was somewhat sinister.