Empire Conquest

Chapter 579 - 575: The Final Reprisal

After nightfall, the battle reignited once again.

This time, the attackers were not combat aircraft but the torpedo boats that Bai Zhizhan had always worried about.

Fortunately, with Zheng Jiangming’s reminder and under the arrangement of the Sixth Bureau, both Special Mixed Fleets had timely prepared for a night raid.

Just like daytime anti-air operations, the key to dealing with torpedo boats was prompt detection.

To put it vividly, torpedo boats were like torpedo bombers flying over the sea, capable of launching two or even four heavy torpedoes.

At night, detecting torpedo boats with radar was even more challenging than detecting ultra-low-flying enemy aircraft.

Fortunately, the speed of torpedo fast boats was much slower than that of aircraft.

Although most of the time, radar detected torpedo boats at a distance of about 20 kilometers, the effective range of Bulan Royal Navy’s heavy torpedoes was less than 10 kilometers. To ensure accuracy, it was necessary to minimize the distance to 5 kilometers or even closer.

In other words, battleships had about 15 minutes to intercept torpedo boats.

That night’s battle showed that the most effective weapon against torpedo boats was various medium-caliber High-altitude Guns.

Among them, the 80mm High-altitude Gun was the best.

This medium-caliber High-altitude Gun, officially equipped to the Imperial Navy during the war, had a firing rate of 60 rounds per minute and used twin turrets, effectively doubling the rate to 120 rounds per minute. The ammunition density investment far exceeded that of the twin 130mm High-altitude Gun firing at 32 rounds per minute and surpassed the four-barreled 40mm High-altitude Guns in terms of total ammunition delivered over time, possessing the highest integrated combat efficiency.

Moreover, the effective range of the 80mm High-altitude Gun was on par with the 130mm High-altitude Gun.

In air defense, its ability to destroy aircraft was essentially no different from the 130mm High-altitude Gun, as it could also shoot down tactical aircraft with a single shot.

For combating small vessels, the destructive power of the 80mm high-explosive bomb was sufficient, with actual damage effects no less than that of 130mm shells.

Of course, it far exceeded the 40mm High-altitude Guns.

For this reason, after first being equipped on Long-range Cruisers and proving its combat efficiency, the 80mm High-altitude Gun began to be widely installed on various battleships. Major battleships enhanced their long-range anti-air interception firepower by additional installations. On some cruisers, 80mm High-altitude Guns replaced some of the 40mm guns. On Destroyer and other smaller battleships, they completely replaced the 40mm guns.

Now, the battleships of the Special Mixed Fleet were all equipped with 80mm High-altitude Guns and were the undeniable pillars in air defense and close-range combat.

Many times, just relying on dense barrages, the 80mm High-altitude Guns could repel attacking enemy aircraft or ships.

Speaking of which, it was also thanks to this new type of High-altitude Gun.

In that night’s fight, the destroyers and cruisers of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet formed intense fire barriers in the sea areas 30 kilometers and 50 kilometers away from the carriers. Throughout the night-long battle, they intercepted over twenty attacking torpedo boats.

In addition, the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet was also attacked.

Because the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet was at the front, attracting most of the torpedo boats, the ability to bypass them and attack the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet with torpedo boats was not significant; most were stray units that couldn’t organize a threatening attack.

The intense battle lasted until after 4 a.m.

It must be acknowledged that Bulan Royal Navy fought very bravely, seemingly at any cost.

However, on the side of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet, the confirmed results included 23 vessels sunk, with more than half of the torpedo boats sinking after massive explosions, leaving no survivors from the officers and crew. On the side of the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet, six were sunk, with the officers and crew also facing grim fates.

According to information obtained later, Bulan Royal Navy had launched a total of 30 torpedo boats that night, all of which suffered battle damage!

Only one was not directly sunk during the battle but sank on the way back.

Among these 30 torpedo boats, out of a total of 572 officers and crew, only just over 30 survived.

After such a heavy cost, there were still decent military achievements.

The Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet had one heavy cruiser and three destroyers struck by mines, among which two destroyers were sunk, and the other two withdrew from the battlefield before dawn.

Due to severe damage, two warships had to end their expedition to the Xifan Canal ahead of schedule.

In the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet, there was also one destroyer sunk, and another had its bow blown off by a torpedo.

Fortunately, because the damage control was very effective, the destroyer without a bow didn’t sink and reached Socotra Island several days later, entering the dry dock for repairs. Three months later, this lucky and very resilient destroyer rejoined the battle sequence.

This battle sufficiently proved that, in narrow waters, especially at night, small high-speed vessels like torpedo boats pose a great threat to large warships.

However, this was the Royal Bulan Navy’s last reprisal.

The battle ended in the early hours of the morning, and with it the Bulan military’s counterattack action was declared over.

Crucially, during the whole day of battle, the two Special Mixed Fleets of the Imperial Navy didn’t stop, still advancing towards the Xifan Canal as planned.

After a full day’s journey, the two Special Mixed Fleets were less than 700 kilometers away from Suez City to the south of the canal.

Just after 10 AM that day, well prepared, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet took the initiative to send Plane Group to bomb Suez City.

Thus, the battle for the Xifan Canal began.

By having the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet fire the first shot, it was seen both as a reward for the bravery and skill of the fleet’s officers and men and as a compensation for the fierce battles of the previous two days.

It was this first shot that earned the entire officers and men of the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet medals awarded by the Emperor of the Tiaoman Empire, and they also became honorary citizens of the Tiaoman Empire.

By the afternoon, the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet joined the battle.

Throughout the day, the two Special Mixed Fleets launched a total of five attacks, deploying ship-borne aircraft more than 400 times, focusing on bombing Suez Port.

Crucially, they blockaded the entire canal.

Being able to freely attack the Xifan Canal was connected to a prerequisite condition.

The Xifan Canal has no locks!

As the sea level of the Narrow Sea and the Land Heart Sea has almost no difference, unlike the Wangxi Canal, the Xifan Canal does not need locks to regulate water levels.

Indeed, it was because of this that the canal could be bombed and blockaded without worrying about being unable to navigate it after its capture.

By this point in the battle, whether to blockade the canal was not even a question.

The Royal Bulan Navy had already withdrawn the large warships deployed in the Narrow Sea, leaving behind only fast boats like torpedo boats. Since the Jibu Fortress had already been surrounded by the Imperial Army, and maritime shipping routes had also long been severed, there was no need to send supply convoys through the Xifan Canal into the Narrow Sea.

As for the fleet, that was even less likely.

The Royal Bulan Navy still had a fleet to utilize?

Speaking of which, regarding the issue of blockading the canal, the Royal Bulan Navy was even more proactive.

The reason was simple, since they couldn’t hold the Xifan Canal, they could only block it to prevent the Imperial Fleet from entering the Land Heart Sea.

Before dawn, the Royal Bulan Navy deployed dozens of various small vessels to start laying naval mines in the Xifan Canal.

This also indicated that the Royal Bulan Navy had given up on the Jibu Fortress, and even on the entire Fan Flame Ocean.