Munitions Empire

John Cleves judged that the anti-ship missiles of the Great Tang Empire were launched from destroyers and cruisers, which was wrong from the start. Incorrect intelligence information led to an incorrect deduction process, and the incorrect deduction process made the result very absurd.

When several Pirate Fighters wobbled towards the direction of the attack to investigate, the first batch of attack aircraft from the Great Tang Empire had already returned.

They had completed the guidance of the missiles and achieved significant results: with one attack, they hit an aircraft carrier and successfully destroyed that carrier built by the Dorne Empire itself.

This carrier built by Dorne was an early work, its fire suppression system was almost non-existent, its internal structure was unreasonable, the number of planes it carried was too few, and its watertight compartments had problems.

In short, it was a showpiece, and an unqualified showpiece with many defects even in normal use.

From a certain perspective, the fact that this carrier was the first to be sunk was absolutely a blessing in disguise for the unified fleet. If John Cleves had to choose an aircraft carrier to be sunk, he would rather it be this one.

However, that being said, if it were not this carrier that got hit, a single anti-ship missile might not have been able to sink a carrier...

In fact, after that anti-ship missile hit the carrier's hangar, it ignited the temporarily stored fuel and ammunition inside, and the subsequent explosions were not caused by the missile's destructive power itself.

Plus, the damage control personnel on this carrier indeed had little experience, and the commander was not particularly capable, so this old carrier of the Dorne Empire exploded, broke apart, and sank rapidly.

Speaking of the 10 aircraft carriers at the core of the unified fleet's strike power, the strongest are actually the Essex-class aircraft carriers purchased from the Great Tang Empire. In John Cleves' view, as long as these aircraft carriers built by the Great Tang Empire are fine, he still has the capital to resist.

After all, these carriers have a reasonable design, more carrier-based aircraft, stronger strike capabilities, and higher defensive capabilities; they are the kind of sturdy and durable mainstays.

As for the battleships... although there are many, John Cleves knows that these gunboats are basically useless in naval battles.

Didn't you see that the battleships of the Mirage Country Navy all lost their heads after a night raid? The era of using such things for close combat is over; their best use is to block the docks and bombard coastal defenses on the other side...

Because the shell fired by the 380 or 350 mm caliber heavy guns on these battleships still has quite satisfactory power within a 20-kilometer range.

It's just that they must get within that distance alive, which requires the cover of aircraft carriers, or in other words, it can only be done after completely destroying the enemy's fleet.

After losing an aircraft carrier, the carrier-based aircraft sent out by John Cleves also did not find the Great Tang Empire's naval fleet.

In fact, at a relatively short distance, the various warships of the unified fleet could still use radios with increased power.

It's just that upon hearing that using the same method to increase radio power on the army side would attract missile attacks, the navy was reluctant to use this method easily.

But even under strong electromagnetic interference, if the distance is close enough, radios can still be barely usable: the premise is that your distance is close enough, and far enough away from the interference source.

So the fighter jets sent out for reconnaissance by the unified fleet still have a way to complete their search mission. Because the scope of the search according to common sense is actually not too large.

The known radar detection range is about 40 kilometers: this is due to the curvature of the planet itself; radio waves cannot turn, affected by the planet's surface curvature, the radar detection distance is roughly this long.

So, the attack distance of the Great Tang Empire's naval fleet launching anti-ship missiles will not exceed the radar detection range, so this "Great Tang Empire fleet" should be within the area 40 kilometers, at most less than 100 kilometers, in the attack direction.

Such a certain thing, even an old-fashioned propeller aircraft flying over 100 kilometers does not take 20 minutes, so in John Cleves and others' view, they would soon wait for the result.

Once the exact location of the enemy is locked, the attack aircraft that have already started to take off can implement strikes! As long as they bite into this Great Tang Empire fleet and keep attacking this fleet, the Great Tang Empire Navy's aircraft carrier fleet will have to show up for cover.

Then the decisive battle will unfold over this Great Tang Empire fleet, both sides continuously pouring in their respective carrier-based aircraft, constantly consuming, constantly losing...

While the unified fleet has 10... now 9, aircraft carriers, with over 600 carrier-based planes, it's impossible for the Great Tang Empire to have so many planes to mutually exhaust each other.

By then, the defeated Tang Army fleet, stripped of a large number of carrier-based aircraft, would be like a woman stripped naked, and their unified fleet could ravage them at will.

However, the idea is very ideal, but reality is cruel. After waiting painfully for 20 minutes, when their own Stuka Attack Aircraft had pretty much taken off and formed up, the fighter jets sent to investigate intermittently sent back confusing intelligence.

The communication was not smooth, the content of the message was not certain. But the general meaning was that they had not found the Great Tang Empire's fleet, and needed to expand the search range.

Dozens of kilometers is already the limit of the communication equipment, beyond that, there's no way to ensure it won't be interfered with. This distance is ensured because the naval and air force radio equipment has higher power than the army's.

No way, the army's communication antennas, over ten meters long, need to be set up, while naval warships have them available casually...

"The fighter air unit hasn't found the enemy's fleet... What do we do if the attack aircraft units fly out rashly and can't find the enemy's fleet?" The chief of staff of the unified fleet seemed hesitant, looking at John Cleves and asked.

On the other side, the commanders of the Qin Country were also dumbfounded. They had no naval warfare experience and had just enthusiastically taken off with the carrier planes alongside the Dorne Empire Navy's carriers, but now didn't know where to attack the enemy.

Originally, joint operations of two fleets were prone to issues of chaotic deployments and lack of coordination, now compounded by electromagnetic interference, poor communication, and unclear operational targets... everyone became even more bewildered.

Should they wait for the fighter air unit that had intermittent messages and confusing intelligence to return with definite intelligence, or immediately set the attack aircraft units off... this question left John Cleves bewildered.

He knew that this decision could very likely determine the victory or defeat of the entire naval battle.