Empire Conquest

Chapter 622 - 618: Emergency Retreat

Even though a great battle was imminent, Bai Zhizhan wasn’t tense at all.

The commanders of the four Special Mixed Fleets were all brought up by Bai Zhizhan: Li Mingbo was calm and stable, Wei Jun was bold and valiant, Li Jie and Jin Hong each had their own strengths. In terms of individual abilities, all four had their shortcomings, but when it came to cooperation, there was no issue whatsoever.

Besides, there was Zhou Yongtao overseeing the whole situation.

Don’t look down on Zhou Yongtao for his youth, not only was he more than a decade younger than Wei Jun, but he was also a generation younger than Li Mingbo and the other three. However, everyone knew that the person most likely to inherit Bai Zhizhan’s mantle, or rather, the one most likely to take the throne as the number one general of the Empire’s Navy after Bai Zhizhan, was him.

Compared with Bai Zhizhan, the biggest difference between them was that Zhou Yongtao was over twenty years younger.

If compared to Bai Zhizhan over twenty years ago, Zhou Yongtao might even have a slight edge.

Don’t forget that soon after Bai Zhizhan was reutilized, the last great war came to an end, providing him with few opportunities to showcase his abilities.

Zhou Yongtao was far luckier.

He had already made a name for himself before the outbreak of the great war and was highly regarded by Bai Zhizhan, giving him plenty of opportunities to demonstrate his capacity without having to wait another twenty years.

Of course, personal talent was still the key.

To put it bluntly, even the proudest Wei Jun admitted that Zhou Yongtao’s military talent was second only to Bai Zhizhan and surpassed all other generals.

In Li Mingbo’s words, battlefield intuition was a talent that couldn’t be learned and could only be envied and resented.

Of course, Zhou Yongtao had always served as a Combat Staff Advisor and often issued orders on behalf of Bai Zhizhan.

Exactly for this reason, after dinner, Bai Zhizhan went to sleep as usual, leaving all the command work to Zhou Yongtao.

When he woke up, what awaited him was not the ongoing offensive operation.

Moreover, the phone call that woke him came more than an hour early.

It was only 3 a.m.!

By the time he rushed to the command center, Zheng Jiangming had already arrived and was discussing with Zhou Yongtao.

Without saying much, Zhou Yongtao handed Bai Zhizhan the telegram he had received more than ten minutes earlier.

It was an order from the Navy headquarters, more precisely, a directive relayed by the Navy headquarters, issued by the Grand Secretary, and signed by Xue Yuanzheng.

The content contained just one directive.

Suspend the combat operations against the Howay Islands, all Combat Fleets to retreat at full speed to safe waters, and await new instructions.

"What do we do now?"

Only after Bai Zhizhan’s gaze shifted away from the telegram did Zhou Yongtao ask this question.

Actually, asking this seemed somewhat redundant.

The order was issued by the Grand Secretary, so no matter the reason, it had to be carried out, with the first step being to turn the Fleet around to retreat.

According to the plan, the Fleet was to dispatch the first wave of ship-borne aircraft at 4 a.m.

On board the nearby "Pu," duty personnel had already brought the ship-borne aircraft designated for the first wave of attacks onto the flight deck, preparing for the offensive.

Additionally, before Bai Zhizhan arrived, Li Mingbo had inquired about the matter via a voice radio.

There was nothing surprising, as the orders were delivered simultaneously to all Special Mixed Fleets, so Wei Jun and the others were undoubtedly waiting for Bai Zhizhan’s orders.

This also showed the prestige of Bai Zhizhan within the Fleet.

According to military regulations, commanders of the Special Mixed Fleets like Li Mingbo had no need to wait for Bai Zhizhan’s orders and were obliged to immediately carry out the Grand Secretary’s directives.

However, Zhou Yongtao did not mention anything about the Special Mixed Fleets.

After pondering for half a minute, Bai Zhizhan made a decision, which was nothing more than a nod.

Zhou Yongtao didn’t ask any more questions and had the Communication Advisor who had been standing by go to issue the orders.

"Remember to alert all the Special Mixed Fleets to strengthen their air defenses before dawn, to cope with the potential attacks after sunrise."

Bai Zhizhan added a special reminder before heading towards the door that led to the open-air corridor.

Zhou Yongtao had thought about following him but, seeing that Zheng Jiangming had already caught up, he dismissed the idea.

Clearly, at this time, it would be better for Zheng Jiangming to step forward.

Decades of friendship stood between them, and even if Bai Zhizhan harbored any resentment, he wouldn’t unleash it on Zheng Jiangming.

"It shouldn’t be bad news."

Turning his head to glance at Zheng Jiangming, who had followed him out, Bai Zhizhan sighed and didn’t respond.

The "Qinling" was already turning, its large angle of tilt indicating that it was at full helm; moreover, it wasn’t slowing down as usual.

On the contrary, the "Qinling" was still accelerating!

The priority was to get as far away from Honu Island as possible before dawn.

Because the other three Special Mixed Fleets were farther away—especially the Twenty-Second Special Mixed Fleet, which had been responsible for executing a feint and was now over 300 km southwest, beyond the working distance of the voice radio—they had to use the long-wave radio to issue the retreat order.

As expected, the wireless signals transmitted by the "Qinling" had been intercepted by the monitoring station on Honu Island.

Even the worst-equipped Newland Army would definitely deploy reconnaissance and patrol planes before dawn, as well as prepare bombers and attack aircraft for an assault.

If someone like Nizi or Spur were personally directing operations, they might even send out an attack plane group immediately.

Of course, if they knew Bai Zhizhan was on board the "Qinling," then whoever commanded the operations on Honu Island would immediately dispatch all available combat planes without hesitation.

Even losing all their combat aircraft would be a worthwhile trade if they could kill Bai Zhizhan.

In a sense, killing Bai Zhizhan was the Newland Federation’s only way to avoid defeat, as it would earn them a respite.

More than ten minutes later, several fighters roared overhead; they were the anti-aircraft fighters deployed by the "Pu."

Yet, there were still more than two hours till dawn, was there a need to be so anxious?

However, it was understandable.

Given Li Mingbo’s meticulous ways, he would leave nothing to chance.

Furthermore, Li Mingbo, who had followed Bai Zhizhan for decades, was one of the few generals willing to take a bullet for him and would not disregard Bai Zhizhan’s safety.

With auxiliary fuel tanks attached, those "Xiaotian" could patrol the skies above the fleet for five hours, so they wouldn’t need to return before daybreak.

Soon after, the Communication Advisor brought news.

The three Special Mixed Fleets had received the retreat order, and via voice radio, they had all reported back and were turning to retreat following the contingency plan.

Only the Twenty-Second Special Mixed Fleet had not sent any messages.

But that was also part of the plan.

Because it was acting alone, it would only break radio silence and contact the other fleets if it came under attack.

Zhou Yongtao had also made arrangements, which was to send a telegram every fifteen minutes to ensure that the Wei Jun on the "Imperial Capital" received the retreat order.

In addition, all Special Mixed Fleets had strengthened their air defenses, ensuring that there would be enough fighters for air patrol duties from dawn to noon.

And, just to be safe, each of the three Special Mixed Fleets had one Anti-Air Warship staying behind to ensure that any enemy aircraft coming from the islands could be promptly detected.

Since the three Special Mixed Fleets were within 100 kilometers of each other, with the Twenty-First in the middle, they could provide mutual cover.

Strictly speaking, the other two fleets were providing cover for the Twenty-First Special Mixed Fleet.

Fortunately, there was no other threat for the moment.

According to intelligence provided by the Sixth Bureau, the main force of the Newland Navy was either in Sunset Ocean or by the Wangxi Canal, with none near the Howay Islands.