Munitions Empire-Chapter 904 - 827 He guessed the truth

Chapter 904: 827 He guessed the truth Chapter 904: 827 He guessed the truth James was shocked once again as he looked down beneath him.

The neatly organized shipyard held four Essex-class aircraft carriers, each fitted with a flight deck.

Their elevators had not yet been raised, thus from the sky, it was possible to see a square hole both fore and aft on every deck.

What was shocking was that these flat decks were neatly aligned in a row of four, displaying an overwhelming presence.

If one was accustomed to seeing aircraft carriers, it might not have been as shocking, but James had never seen such warships before, so he did not know what he was looking at.

“What is this thing…” He stared, wide-eyed, at the strange warships with their bridges offset from the centerline, unsure of what to do.

At that moment, the workers installing various parts on the deck heard the noisy aircraft engines and looked up just in time to see a Model 3 trainer aircraft fly over their heads.

...

They squinted, not understanding what was happening, but just after the Model 3 passed, a squadron of Butcher Fighter Jets followed majestically overhead, capturing everyone’s attention.

“Hey! Where did all those Butcher Fighter Jets come from?” A worker looked up into the sky and asked the foreman beside him.

The foreman, also clueless about what was happening, shielded his eyes from the sun and watched the Butcher Fighter Jets chase the trainer into the distance. “Don’t know, maybe it’s some sort of drill, they haven’t sounded the air raid alarm, right? Keep working!”

In the sky, James had not yet recovered from his shock; he didn’t understand what those ships were used for, he didn’t even know if they were warships.

How could these be warships, shouldn’t they be equipped with more cannons? Could those square holes on the decks be for mounting huge cannons?

That was frightening. Such large openings would mean enormous calibers if cannons were to be installed there—600 mm? 700 mm? It was terrifying.

As he pondered, he attempted to turn his aircraft for a closer look, but then a more frightening thought struck him.

No! That flat, unobstructed deck… it was too familiar! It wasn’t a warship, or at least not a traditional one with turrets!

Those flat decks from before… They were runways! They were aircraft runways, and he knew them all too well! These warships were meant for launching and landing airplanes!

My God! Gods above! Damn it! It was a runway! Those damn decks were flight runways! They were going to launch and land planes at sea… It was all over!

The thought chilled him to the bone, running from his feet to the top of his head.

The Fighter Jets from Tang Country already surpassed the performance of aircraft used by other nations’ Air Forces; if the Navy of Tang Country got warships capable of launching and landing planes… What could other countries’ navies even do?

With airplanes at Dragon Island, other countries’ navies would dare not approach… And if the fleet of Tang Country also had air cover, wouldn’t that mean the entire ocean was Dragon Island’s domain?

Four warships… capable of launching more than four aircraft at a time… Stukas, and those damn new attack planes… Tang Country was building an invincible fleet! Damn it!

“Hell, I must get this information out! This intelligence has to be delivered! Damn it!” He instinctively manipulated his control stick, intending to circle back for another look.

But he seemed to have forgotten something… By the time he remembered he was supposed to be fleeing, it was already too late.

20 mm caliber machine gun bullets shredded the fuselage of his Model 3 trainer from behind, bursting unimpeded into the cockpit, shattering the windshield, and destroying the dashboard.

James felt something heavy strike him from behind. Looking down, he noticed his seat had been penetrated, and a massive bloody hole gaped in his chest.

He saw that the glass overhead had also shattered; every gauge on the dashboard in front of him was damaged, and broken glass was everywhere.

The sea wind against his face felt bitterly cold; he tried to reach for the control stick before him, but his arm wouldn’t respond to his will.

Actually, his arm had been blown out of the cockpit, and the only reason he remained in his seat was because some of the seatbelt still functioned.

Coughing up blood, James’s vision blurred with the violent shaking of the aircraft until darkness completely engulfed him the next second.

In the cockpit of the Butcher Fighter Jet flying behind the Type 3 trainer aircraft, the pilot looked through the sight at the already disintegrating target but showed no signs of relaxing.

He continued to fire short bursts, sending rows of tracer bullets toward the nose of the aircraft, which was beginning to break apart, as if venting something.

The wings of the aircraft had already snapped off, and the landing gear had separated from the wing roots, with ignited petrol starting to consume the plane’s tail. In the next second, the entire aircraft became a ball of flames.

“Target has been shot down!” Seeing the aircraft turn into a ball of flames, the pilot in the Butcher Fighter Jet that first fired transmitted over the radio.

“Confirmed! Target has been shot down! Target has been shot down!” Above, another pilot in a Butcher Fighter Jet, looking down at the burning plane crashing into the sea, also relayed the message.

“Last four fighter jets take off to patrol nearby! Mark the crash location!” The voice from the control tower transmitted over the radio.

“Understood!” responded the commanding pilot, glancing once more at the debris floating on the sea’s surface.

In the distance, a patrol boat was approaching rapidly, its mast vigorously waving the Dragon Banner of the Great Tang Empire.

Outside Dragon Island, an airborne fortress circled in the sky, directly above the Laines Empire Cruiser tasked to rendezvous with James.

At that moment, inside the bridge of the Laines Empire Cruiser, the captain, with a grim expression, looked at the communiqué received on the public channel.

“The nearby waters are on high alert, the Great Tang Empire is conducting exercises, please vacate immediately.” The captain handed the communiqué to a nearby intelligence officer, and then picked up his binoculars to observe the circling airborne fortress.

“We’ve been spotted, and destroyers will soon arrive. If we stay here, it might provoke a conflict,” the captain said to the intelligence officer, his voice tense as he set down the binoculars.

This fellow was the commander of the operation—or at least the responsible party… If he didn’t agree, the cruiser could only sit here foolishly waiting.

“Sir!” one of his subordinates whispered into the ear of the intelligence officer, who appeared to be in a dilemma, “It’s already past the time…”

…

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At the Laines Empire Embassy in Chang’an, the room was packed with people. The agitated Laines Ambassador paced in the little remaining space, his voice making everyone uneasy, “What exactly is going on here? Someone explain!”

“If we don’t explain things to Tang Country, they are going to wage war on us! Do you understand what that means?” he finally stood still, glaring at several of his subordinates nearest to him.

“Sir… It might not be an operation from our side… It could be a frame-up…” one official cautiously suggested.

“Go on! You explain to the Tang Country’s Foreign Ministry! If they believe you, come and take my position!” the Ambassador angrily cut him off, scolding loudly.

“I had already sent a telegram to the Minister of Defense when I arrived… If the military had any operations, they would have informed us ahead of time…” The military officer was just as clueless, having only just heard about the incident on Dragon Island.

“You!” The Ambassador didn’t trouble the military officer further, instead turning to look at another subordinate. This subordinate typically worked as a clerk and handled intelligence matters, but his true identity was little known to others.

The man gave a signal with his eyes then spread his hands pleadingly, “Sir, I’m just a clerk, I really don’t know anything.”

He truly knew nothing; if there were operations from the Empire’s intelligence headquarters, they had no obligation to inform him. Had the operations been in Chang’an, he might have been involved, but matters concerning Dragon Island really weren’t his responsibility.

It was often better for fewer people to know about such affairs, so his ignorance wasn’t unusual. Yet, the Ambassador, relentless, kept his gaze on the covert intelligence officer, hoping to extract some useful information from him.

Pushed to desperation, the officer finally came up with a suggestion, “Sir, I’m really out of ideas here… Perhaps, we could send a cable back home to ask for instructions; surely, His Majesty could provide us with a strategy?”

“Right! Send a cable immediately to the homeland! His Majesty certainly does not want to start a war! Someone has to give us an explanation.” The Ambassador thought the suggestion feasible and instantly ordered, “Quick! Send a cable home! Make them give us an answer within thirty minutes!”

In truth, the Laines Empire had already received a protest telegram from Tang Country. The Foreign Minister was utterly frantic; he truly did not know who was causing such a massive problem for him.

As the Minister hurried to the Imperial Palace to seek an audience with Leines I, the telegram from Chang’an also arrived almost simultaneously.

Leines I was also stunned. Clutching the telegram, he suppressed the anger in his heart and squeezed out a phrase between gritted teeth, “Get me… the head of the intelligence department! Quick! Hurry!”