Munitions Empire

In the southern part of the Great Qin Empire, at the original Shu Country port, a Qin Country naval admiral furrowed his brows as he looked at the officer delivering the message and questioned, "What exactly do you mean?"

"Just now, a fishing boat sent a message on the public channel, saying that on their way back, they saw some aircraft with very strange sounds..." The officer nervously repeated what he had just said.

"What do you mean by very strange sounds?" This Qin Country admiral was previously a commander in the Qin Army and was reassigned here to the Navy due to his high competence.

Precisely because of his high competence, he was so concerned about such an incomplete piece of information: just moments ago, he had ordered a connection with the joint fleet maintaining radio silence, hoping to confirm the fleet's safety.

"The person in question is not a professional soldier, so they provided only limited intelligence. Their telegram mentioned that the sounds were loud and they had never seen anything like it before." The officer regretfully shook his head and said.

There was no choice; the message came from a fishing boat using a civilian public channel, and after sending the message, there was no further response on the channel.

Communications were disrupted, and more information was out of reach. With the principle of not missing any messages, the Qin Country officer came to report this rather vague information.

Upon hearing this description, one could easily think of advanced fighter jets, as practically neither Qin Country nor Shu Country had ever seen such novel jet passenger aircraft.

But why would there be jet aircraft near the sea around Shu Country? It defies logic... The Qin Country naval admiral couldn't stop speculating in his mind, hoping to deduce something.

"Report!" At this moment, the officer responsible for communication walked in, stood at attention, saluted, and reported to his superior, "We have transmitted five telegrams, but there was no response from the joint fleet."

"Are there any submarines, transport ships... or patrol aircraft near the fleet?" The admiral had already begun to worry, as a bad premonition crept into his mind.

"There should be a patrol plane and two submarines... However, none have returned any messages..." The communication officer immediately answered.

Upon orders, he had contacted nearby ships, but none responded to him, as if all vessels in that sea area had vanished.

"They've been interfered with." Of course, the naval admiral had heard about the Northern Line Army's encounter. Tang Country somehow activated some weapon that could completely paralyze all communications equipment within hundreds of kilometers of the Qin Army.

This communication and command disruption left the army completely in chaos, making it impossible for the Qin Army to fight. The passive situation on the northern front was largely related to the Tang Army's interference.

To counteract this interference, almost all Tang Army regions were laying wired communication facilities, and it was heard that communication methods like telephones could effectively resist Tang Army's interference.

Now, it seemed that the Navy was also being interfered with, indicating that the joint fleet was no longer safe: they had already been discovered by the Tang Army, and the Tang Army had likely already launched an attack on the joint fleet.

"Things aren't looking good... If the fleet was ambushed, our plans would be completely ruined!" The Qin Country naval admiral grabbed the phone on his desk and commanded, "Hello? It's me! Connect me to the Air Force Command! Yes... Yes! It's me."

He paused for a moment, then continued, "Communications with the joint fleet have been severed, and intelligence indicates jet aircraft are active near the sea area..."

On the other end, the Air Force commander was evidently stunned; he hesitated for a few seconds before denying, "Impossible! We haven't launched any jet fighters!"

It was a joke; jet fighters were treasures of the Air Force, and those deployed near the Shu Country port were a scarcity. How could he bear to let these precious jewels fly out recklessly?

"I know!" The naval admiral certainly knew it wasn't Air Force training or patrols, and he spoke with some weight, "Immediately launch all jet fighters that can fly... head towards the joint fleet's anchorage! You might be the only reinforcements the Navy can expect."

After a few seconds of silence, the Air Force commander finally spoke, "I understand, I will launch all the fighter jets and head to the joint fleet's anchorage."

He didn't hesitate because he knew the naval admiral on the other end of the line isn't someone who would call for Air Force support lightly, so the issue must be extremely serious.

After hanging up the phone, the naval admiral looked again at his subordinates, "Find a way to restore communications! Contact the joint fleet... Immediately confirm their status once communication resumes."

"If they indeed suffered an attack, have them move to the port immediately!" His thoughts were simple: nearing the port would at least provide coastal defense troops' support, offering some assistance and preventing lone battles.

After all, he was an Army admiral, with limited experience in naval battles, so he first thought of the bulky defense strategy of nearing the coastline.

In reality, naval fleets would rather flee in the open sea than hide in the port because entering the port means losing the Navy's most valuable mobility, and being trapped and freely attacked in the port is the most humiliating and worse-than-death outcome for the Navy.

"Yes!" Several officers hurried to do their tasks; they were not sure whether the joint fleet had indeed been attacked. They just confirmed that the Tang Army was interfering with their communications, and jet fighters appeared near the joint fleet's anchorage.

Of course, merely relying on such intelligence couldn't prove the joint fleet was in trouble, and some even felt that even if the Tang Imperial Fleet reached nearby, it was uncertain that the joint fleet would suffer.

After all, there were over 600 aircraft and 10 aircraft carriers; what fleet would dare challenge such a formidable opponent?

What they didn't know was that, at this very moment, on the flagship Grace Empire "Long Live Dorne" aircraft carrier's bridge, John Cleves had confirmed that the number of fleet ships sunk surpassed seven!

Additionally, a battleship was hit and ablaze, now in rescue efforts. Similarly damaged were two cruisers and five destroyers.

Indeed, several destroyers and cruisers were sunk, and an aircraft carrier was sunk... Now, the joint fleet was extremely desolate.