Munitions Empire

The scene fell silent, everyone looked at the Navy Supreme Commander as if they were watching a madman.

The boldness of the Laines Empire was entirely derived from their fence-sitting strategic decision: they didn't have the courage to start a war with the Great Tang Empire first, but later had the guts to join the cake-sharing, and it's very bold.

Now, including the Dorne Empire, they're essentially taking advantage of the inevitable battle between the Qin Country and the Tang Country to muster courage to study matters related to the second anti-Tang war.

Dorne's Navy is the strongest, plus they can join forces with the Qin Empire's Navy, so they are the most proactive. In contrast, the Laines Empire has always considered itself just a makeweight.

Since they're just a makeweight, they can't possibly start a war with the Great Tang Empire first. They have to wait until other countries start to enter the fray before pushing their chips forward to follow.

Anyway, in the eyes of the Laines Empire, the navies of several northern Empires are not strong, the Dorne Empire and Great Qin Empire are entangled with the Great Tang Empire, so no one is contesting Dragon Island with them.

Leines I looked at Navy Commander Blomayer, his face full of expressions of "Did you not understand the situation?"

Blomayer gritted his teeth and began to explain: "Your Majesty! Everyone! Please let me explain..."

The scene turned awkwardly silent, everyone seemed very interested in the topic of the Navy Supreme Commander's madness, and they all looked at Blomayer, waiting for his crazy speech.

Blomayer did not let these people wait long, he began to explain: "Simply engaging with the Tang Army's aircraft carrier fleet, to be honest, even if the opponent only has one aircraft carrier, our chances of victory are not high."

Actually, this is a very humble statement, as he is fully aware of his Navy's training situation. Within a year, he knows better than anyone the combat effectiveness of the trained naval aviation.

Frankly speaking, the Great Tang Empire's naval aviation also lacks training experience, but their advanced technology allows them to crush their opponents.

Without experience, they'll gain experience through real combat, since the opponent is very weak, they can easily accumulate experience and train their crew in real battle conditions.

But the Laines Empire Navy, coming in directly to challenge the Great Tang Empire, this super-difficulty mission, does not have this opportunity; they come in challenging a boss with outdated weaponry and equipment.

It's well known that the naval aircraft exported by the Great Tang are slightly inferior to those for their own use, which is an open secret.

Therefore, Blomayer is very clear his navy cannot complete the mission, he can only take an alternative route: "The opponent is backed by Dragon Island, if there's land-based air defense cover, we won't gain any advantage. As soon as they deploy jet fighters, our carrier-based aircraft are just targets for them."

The fleet losing air defense implies what many wars have already answered. Leines I also knows that once near Dragon Island, his fleet faces not just the Great Tang Empire's carrier-based aircraft but also land-based fighters!

And the Great Tang Empire's land-based fighters are terrifying jet fighters, not something naval carrier-based aircraft can compare to.

What Leines knew, Blomayer knew too, so he planned this crazy operation: "Therefore, my suggestion is, before the Great Tang Empire enters a state of war, find the right opportunity to deploy the naval fleet and launch a surprise attack on Dragon Island!"

He clenched his fist and confidently painted a tempting picture: "Once our surprise attack succeeds, we can leverage the numerical advantage of carrier-based aircraft! According to my plan, the first task for carrier-based aircraft is to attack Dragon Island's land airports, crippling the enemy's land-based high-performance fighters."

"At the same time, another batch of carrier-based aircraft will strike the port, sinking the Great Tang Empire's carrier fleet! Only with this can we hope to gain air supremacy near Dragon Island!" As he spoke, he gesticulated more and more fluently.

This plan, excluding the probability of success, is indeed very tempting. At least it provides the weak Laines Empire Navy with a slim chance, a chance to inflict heavy damage on the Great Tang Empire's main fleet.

For this, Blomayer also made precise calculations: "We can deploy 5 aircraft carriers at the start of the war! Mobilize around 360 carrier-based aircraft! If operated correctly, the first wave of attack can concentrate over 100 planes to simultaneously strike the port and land airports, it is possible to succeed."

According to his calculations, 50 planes could invade Dragon Island and destroy all the known airports, the opponent's jet fighters won't be able to take off.

However, he has no idea how many airports there are on Dragon Island, and the Dragon Island map was roughly drawn by spies of various countries, who were studying at Weigang, before the aircraft crossed Dragon Island case.

The locations of the two marked airports are somewhat inaccurate, and... after so many years of development, the Great Tang Empire has built more than two airports on the island.

But these aren't important. What matters is that if the naval aircraft enter Dragon Island, they will likely cripple those jet fighters! Once this is successful, the Laines Navy's grave concern is resolved!

Hence, Blomayer confidently continued: "We must cripple the enemy's aircraft on the ground, only then can we better cover the landing fleet's operation in the coming days!"

"Besides! We actually have advantages in certain aspects, like the number of battleships! They have 6 battleships, as long as we can control the airspace, we can block Dragon Island's port with these battleships!" Finished with the idea of bombing the port with planes, Blomayer thought again about his battleships.

Once the air raid succeeds, battleships can approach for bombardment, and the attack power against the port will be exponentially increased! This is no joke! When battleships engage, the Great Tang Empire fleet in Dragon Island port will face annihilation.

"This way, our 350 mm and 380 mm caliber guns can be put to use! Within a day or two, all warships in the enemy's port will be crippled, unable to interfere with our landing operation plan!" In his excitement, Blomayer's voice was raised.

He spoke eloquently, as if the entire plan was really feasible. In his view, only by first eliminating the Great Tang Empire's Air Force and Navy can there be a chance to capture Dragon Island.

In reality, there's no need for Great Tang Empire military professionals to refute, many on-site could hear the wishful thinking embedded in this plan.