Munitions Empire

The pilots of the Qin Country's Air Force fighter jets also felt a bit embarrassed. They rushed hurriedly to the anchorage area, only to find out their fleet had already fled?

It's one thing that they couldn't find the fleet, but without the fleet's guidance, these pilots of land-based fighter jets who had traveled far had very little sea navigation training.

Everyone was in a state of panic; jet fighters inherently have limited fuel. If they run out of fuel without finding their fleet, and fly back on the wrong course without landing on land, are they supposed to swim back?

Therefore, the tense Air Force pilots immediately swooped in upon discovering the returning Navy carrier-based jets.

They didn't know that the Tang Country's naval aircraft had long been updated; they only knew the Pirate Fighter model, which the Tang Army had used!

Isn't this a coincidence? If the Navy used Sea Hurricane or Sea Spitfire, or even used Land Aviation P-series planes unseen by Air Force pilots, they wouldn't be so easily attacked.

But they were indeed using Pirates, a model that had previously played the role of Great Tang Empire fighter jets during exercises, and everyone bit down directly in their tense state.

If communication had been smooth at this time, the situation probably wouldn't have escalated to this extent. Unfortunately, electromagnetic interference still made communication extremely difficult for both sides.

Land Aviation couldn't find the channels of Sea Aviation, Sea Aviation was unaware of Land Aviation's calls, and the Fleet couldn't facilitate communication or dispatch... Plus, both forces had rarely cooperated before, which eventually led to a vicious incident where land-based Air Force fighter jets savagely attacked Navy carrier-based jets.

About 15 Pirate Fighters from Sea Aviation were shot down, while the Air Force depleted its reserve fuel during the air battle.

There was no choice but for the jet fighters to begin their return journey, with each going back to their own home, leaving the Navy with an inexplicable loss.

"Are these Qin Country people deliberately teaming up with Tang Country to trap us?" In the bridge of the Dorne Empire's carrier Eternity, the Dorne Empire Navy Fleet Chief looked pale with anger and grumbled to John Cleves.

John Cleves, of course, knew that this wasn't the case, but the incident of having friendly forces hit left him disgusted.

However, as the Commander of the Joint Fleet, he now realized he might really need the subsequent cover of land-based fighter jets.

After all, the Navy's fighter jets amounted to around 600 in total, though he reckoned there were fewer than six hundred left now. But land-based aircraft still had several hundred usable jets, potentially being a lifeline for the Navy.

"Change course! Retreat toward the northwest!" Weighing the pros and cons, John Cleves prepared to move closer to the shorelines of Shu Country for more support.

After issuing the direction change order, he continued, "Increase the radio frequency. Try to send notifications using the highest level of encrypted messages and inform the Qin Country about our position."

There was no choice but to reveal the retreat route to them if relying on them was necessary. Even though communicating via telegram could easily go wrong at this moment, the Joint Fleet had to make the attempt.

...

On the Great Tang Empire Fleet's side, a destroyer at the forefront of the fleet detected the third submarine of Qin Country using active sonar.

Of course, a discovered submarine wouldn't escape pursuit from Tang Army destroyers. Despite Tang Army's helicopter anti-submarine technology being immature at this time, Qin Country's submarine technology was far worse.

The submarines built by Qin Country produced noise akin to a massive speaker underwater. To the sonar operators of the Tang Country, Qin Country's submarines were like giant music players.

Conducting an underwater concert several dozen meters deep, facing mature sonar detection technology and surrounded by anti-submarine rockets, depth charges, torpedoes... The outcome for Qin Country's submarines was predictable.

These submarines were actually very courageous, attempting to surface to periscope depth before detection, trying to report the location of the Great Tang Empire Fleet seen by them to their superiors.

Unfortunately, all these efforts were in vain. Under strong electromagnetic interference, not a single telegram from these submarines was sent, and their bravery only exposed their own positions with no other effect.

"That's the fourth Qin Country's submarine... They seem to have deployed a vast alert area..." The Chief presented the anti-submarine report from destroyer troops to Bernard and said, "Our position might be exposed."

"In this current state, exposed is exposed... If they manage to organize a counterattack and can fly overhead, I'll write a resignation report when I return." Bernard chuckled, placing the reviewed report on the sea chart table.

Bernard was utterly right; the information reported by the carrier-based aircraft troops and radar reconnaissance intelligence provided by the Early Warning Aircraft had confirmed that many enemy warships had been sunk.

Although Bernard was unsure about how many carriers had been sunk on the opposing side, their combat capabilities must have been significantly impacted.

As long as he played according to his rhythm, there was no reason for his fleet to be successfully countered by the Joint Fleet. Whether considering the quality of carrier-based planes or fleet combat power, his advantage was so massive it felt like a gulf.

"You certainly don't need to write your resignation report." The Chief laughed along, "According to plan, the third batch of carrier-based aircraft attacks will soon commence."

"The opposing fleet is trying to change direction, leaving behind many damaged warships. Should we allocate some effort to deal with them?" The Carrier-based Aircraft Commander confirmed some messages from the Early Warning Aircraft and Voyagers electronic jamming aircraft and came over to ask.

"No need, when we roll over them later, let the destroyers and cruisers sink those damaged warships." Bernard waved his hand grandly.

The Carrier-based Aircraft Commander's mouth twitched... A simple hand wave, and the warships pick up the slack, but whose account will the sinking achievements belong to?

Though he internally complained a bit, he wouldn't actually ask such a brainless question. After standing at attention and saluting, he shared this bad news with the Navy carrier-based troops' officers and men.

While the Great Tang Empire Navy was already calculating how to allocate merits, on the Joint Fleet side, Supreme Commander John Cleves only then learned about the near total annihilation of his second alert fleet.