Empire Conquest-Chapter 770 - 57 Dilemma_2
"Furthermore," the "Wujiang" was temporarily free from the risk of exposure.
So, was it necessary to launch a preemptive attack?
Noticing changes on the display screen, Ran Wenqiang immediately furrowed his brow as the speed of the three Bulan battleships noticeably slowed.
What was their intention?
Were they turning to retreat, or coming back to search again?
If they planned to retreat, why come all this way in the first place?
Moreover, a carrier battle group was still dozens of kilometers away!
Ran Wenqiang instantly figured it out.
Those three Bulan battleships had completed their tactical positioning. In simple terms, the lead Type 42 Destroyer had reached just outside the harbor, and the two Type 22 Escort Ships were only slightly behind. Hence, the Imperial Submarine lurking outside the harbor now found itself between these three battleships and the fleet to the east.
Unless it launched a preemptive attack, the Imperial Submarine hiding outside the military port would be trapped!
"Captain!"
"All hands, prepare for battle!"
After a new icon appeared on the screen, Ran Wenqiang immediately issued the command.
It was a high-frequency signal from the east. After comparison, the submarine’s fire control computer determined it was a low-flying anti-submarine helicopter.
However, it was still too far away.
More importantly, that anti-submarine helicopter might have been flying at medium to high altitude earlier — after taking off from a carrier or another battleship — cruising at higher altitudes to save fuel before descending to search the sea area closer to the sea surface.
Despite the helicopter’s loud noise, high-frequency noises attenuate quickly during transmission, so their range was limited.
Only when flying low could the submarine’s passive sonar pick up the noise emitted by the anti-submarine helicopter.
The critical point was, without a specific target, the anti-submarine helicopter wouldn’t fly at low altitudes near the sea surface.
Considering the abrupt slowdown of the three Bulan battleships, it wasn’t hard to deduce that the Bulan Fleet was aware of the Imperial Submarine outside the military port and was coming specifically for it.
This Imperial Submarine was none other than the "Wujiang."
Fortunately, Ran Wenqiang had already ordered a state of readiness earlier, though he hadn’t yet stationed all the crew at their posts. So, when he gave the combat command, it took less than half a minute for over 80 crew members to man their positions and prepare for battle.
In fact, there were only 46 combat stations on the "Wujiang," requiring no more than 46 crew members, the rest being damage control personnel.
Immediately afterward, Ran Wenqiang had the gunner input target data for three heavy torpedoes, ensuring that in a crisis, they could fire all three.
In truth, what worried Ran Wenqiang was not the three surface warships or the anti-submarine helicopter, but the possibility of Bulan submarines lurking nearby.
In the North Sunset Ocean, or at least in its eastern maritime region, the only real threat to the "Wujiang" came from several Bulan Royal Navy attack submarines.
The entire West Continent Group, only the Bulan Royal Navy possessed large attack submarines.
Ironically, the Bulan Royal Navy’s technology for building large attack submarines actually came from the Liangxia Empire, a product of military cooperation between the two.
Initially, to control the Bulan Kingdom, or more precisely, to divide the West Continent Group through the Bulan Kingdom, the Liangxia Empire had retained several military bases in the Bulan Kingdom and also enhanced military cooperation with the Bulan Kingdom, the most influential aspect of which was rearming the Bulan Royal Navy.
Having suffered greatly from submarines during the Second Global War, the Bulan Kingdom, when rebuilding its navy, placed significant emphasis on anti-submarine warfare. Apart from developing the "Invincible" class, which focused on anti-submarine capabilities, the Bulan Royal Navy also prioritized large attack submarines.
Of course, with technological advancements, in post-war anti-submarine warfare, the most potent anti-submarine weapons were no longer ships and patrol aircraft, but more advanced submarines. Post-war large attack submarines were almost exclusively tasked with anti-submarine missions, while only small submarines focused on controlling the seas.
Thus, with the help of the Imperial Navy, the Bulan Royal Navy was the first to acquire the technology to build large submarines post-war and had continued to develop it since.
The Bulan Royal Navy’s "Trafalgar" class was one of the most advanced large attack submarines of today.
In fact, the naming alone indicated how much hope the Bulan Royal Navy had pinned on this class of submarines.
The issue was the quantity—too few, or rather, the Bulan Kingdom lacked the ability to let the Royal Navy procure too many of the exorbitantly expensive large attack submarines.
To date, the Bulan Royal Navy only had ten large attack submarines, of which only four were of the "Trafalgar" class.
Among these 10 large attack submarines, at least one was patrolling over the South Sunset Ocean, and another was stationed on the route from the South Sunset Ocean to Bulan Kingdom. Of the other eight, at least four were in the military port, and it was certain that one was undergoing major repairs in drydock. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
From this, it was evident that the maximum number stationed near the domestic shores could only be four.
Two of those had to operate south of the homeland, namely in the Biscay Bay, to protect the strategic routes leading to the Xuan Continent, especially to the Land Heart Sea.
Moreover, one had to operate near the North Sunset Ocean route.
Thus, the maximum that could be deployed in the North Sea, facing Scapa Bay, was at most one.
If not handled well, there might be none at all.
The key point was that the Oakland Islands laid north of Bulan Kingdom’s homeland, allowing not only the deployment of the domestic fleet but also the use of shore-based patrol aircraft from the homeland.
Even if anti-submarine missions had to be carried out here, it wasn’t necessary to use large attack submarines.
The Royal Navy’s few "Supporter" class small carriers, mainly operating near the homeland, were meant to compensate for the inadequacy of the large attack submarines.
Besides, "Wujiang" was in the North Sea, and on the other side of the Oakland Islands was the vast North Sunset Ocean, better suited for submarine activities.
If submarines had to be deployed, they would be to the north or west of the islands.
Of course, having one large attack submarine was sufficient.
Speaking of which, just one opportunity was needed to take down "Wujiang."
However, there was no more time for Ran Wenqiang to wait.
Only about 3 minutes later, the icons on the screen changed once again.
What flew in from the east were not one but two anti-submarine helicopters, previously flying close together, so passive sonar had not detected them.
Now, the two helicopters had separated.
They were definitely two "Sea Kings," and in typical anti-submarine warfare, one would carry out the advance deployment of sonar buoys or use a dipped sonar to search for submarines, while the other followed behind to ensure immediate launch of the anti-submarine torpedoes if the first detected a submarine.
Moreover, the three warships to the west had also turned.
The situation could not have been clearer!
Delaying any further, by the time the anti-submarine helicopters arrived, even if "Wujiang" immediately launched torpedoes to sink three Bulan cruisers, it would have no chance to escape.
Acting now, there was still a chance to escape.
Ran Wenqiang was not someone indecisive. Even as a submarine captain, he surely needed to be patient, but that did not mean hesitancy.
In fact, most submarine captains were indeed of a decisive nature.
After issuing the attack order, locking three heavy torpedoes on three Bulan cruisers with full-speed and fully-guided mode, Ran Wenqiang specifically instructed the navigation officer to record the directive, especially the time it was given.
18:52, Eastern Section 1 time.
About 3 minutes later, "Wujiang" fired the first heavy torpedo.
To avoid interference, the other two torpedoes were launched at intervals of 30 seconds.
Of course, what remained was to wait and prepare for the attack.
The torpedo launch generated a significant noise, especially the sound of air bubbles bursting when high-pressure air blew the torpedoes out of the tubes, which could be heard from a long distance and definitely could be captured by the enemy vessels’ passive sonar and the anti-submarine helicopters’ sonar buoys.
If there was another Bulan submarine nearby, it could also detect "Wujiang."
However, to determine "Wujiang’s" exact location based on the noise would require being sufficiently close; it was highly improbable if slightly farther away.
In other words, if the Bulan submarine was far enough, it would need to use active sonar to locate.
That, too, was the opportunity Ran Wenqiang was waiting for.
As soon as that submarine broke its silence and used active sonar, thereby revealing its position, "Wujiang’s" remaining torpedoes would become useful.
Yet, what Ran Wenqiang received was not what he had hoped for.
