Munitions Empire-Chapter 634 - : 593 Radio Navigation

Chapter 634: 593 Radio Navigation

“Damn it, I’ve never been trained for sea-based flying,” a Great Tang pilot lamented as he adjusted his cap, heading towards his plane.

“Don’t worry, your leader can navigate, and we will send out radio signals to guide you to land. There’s no need to be concerned,” an Air Force Commander reassured him.

Nearly all of the Tang Army’s ground attack pilots were on missions within Qi Country’s borders, leaving mostly those stationed at Dragon Island without sea flying training.

It wasn’t entirely without exceptions; there were instructors on Dragon Island who were familiar with naval combat, but they all had to fly the precious Stuka Dive Bombers now.

With no alternative, to lead more fighters into battle, the experienced pilots all had to fly dual-seater aircraft to command and navigate.

In other words, these seasoned instructor pilots were responsible for leading the way, while the novice pilots were in charge of flying the fighters and executing attacks.

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This was the best option available, ensuring that the greatest number of fighters could be deployed in one go under complex real-life combat situations. And even though the novice pilots were inexperienced in sea flying, they could follow the instructors back after completing their attack.

This time, the backup gunners sitting in the rear of the Stuka’s cockpit were responsible for navigation; they marked their own routes and received radio navigation signals.

In essence, the veteran pilots’ mission was not to attack, but to safely bring these young pilots back from the sea.

At the edge of the airfield runway, a group of flying instructors was verifying their maps with the commander of this operation.

There was a large circle on everyone’s sea chart, and the commander pointed to it, saying, “The enemy’s movement range is most likely within this elliptical area.”

“Are you certain?” an instructor asked while scrutinizing the circle on the map.

The commander nodded and replied confidently, “Very certain. This estimate is based on the airship data we have. If the enemy intends to reach Dragon Island at night, they cannot leave this area! Once they exit this range, they would only be able to bomb during daylight.”

“Calculated with the speed of our airships? Does that mean the actual range could be smaller?” another instructor surmised, suggesting the search area could be reduced.

The leading officer shook his head and explained, “It’s uncertain because we can’t ignore issues related to payload and gas bag filling. We’ve consulted with airship engineers, who have given us a lot of relevant data.”

As he spoke, he picked up a sheet of calculation paper provided by an engineer during a previous meeting: “A fully loaded airship cannot depart from the edge of the Endless Sea and reach Dragon Island, hence they must have reduced the number of bombs carried in order to load more gas containers.”

Airship gas bags inevitably leak over time, and regardless of how high-quality the materials are, they will gradually lose air. This is the biggest issue preventing practical utilization of airships.

As the gas leaks, it must be replenished. The airships could only depend on their own equipment to refill the gas bags during flight, hence the need to reduce the payload, further decreasing their weight.

They discard used gas cylinders to further lighten the load, allowing for higher speed and easing the pressure from loss of buoyancy due to gas leakage.

“So what are we saying?” the instructors looked at the commander.

“That means their speed could be faster than we anticipated,” the commander concluded. “They could appear at any point within this ellipse, so… we must be vigilant!”

After saying this, he glanced towards the anti-aircraft guns on the runway, their barrels pointing skyward: “If you fail, those will be the last line of defense for His Majesty’s castle.”

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“Understood!” “Got it.” “Roger that!” Hearing this, all the veteran pilots nodded in agreement, one after another.

They certainly did not want to concede such a merit to the ground anti-air forces, nor did they wish to bear the blame for a missed opportunity due to negligence. The idea of Dragon’s Den falling into peril was a burden no one wanted to shoulder.

“Dismissed!” the commander waved his hand: “All units, commence your search along the predetermined routes!”

“Take off! Take off!” All the veteran pilots rushed towards their aircraft, all of which were Stuka Dive Bombers freshly produced on Dragon Island and not yet deployed to the Qi Country frontlines.

In preparation for this mission, every Stuka had been stripped of its siren devices and was not carrying any bombs. This was to increase range and to allow the Stukas to match the speed of the Butcher Fighters.

The Butcher Fighters were far more specialized for this mission. Each plane was equipped with an auxiliary fuel tank, a technique considered quite advanced in this era. It significantly extended the fighter’s range without compromising the aircraft’s agility during combat.

Butcher Fighters taxied down the runway one after another before breaking free from the pull of gravity and climbing into the sky to form up.

Then, these aircraft began to charge toward the south, following behind the leading Stuka Dive Bombers with a murderous aura.

The airship troops from Shireck were still unaware of the impending disaster; in fact, even if they were aware, it was already too late to change their fate.

Compared to the Butcher Fighter’s speed of over 400 kilometers per hour, the airships’ slow pace was practically stationary.

If it wasn’t for the need to gather intelligence, devise a battle plan, calculate bearings, and other bothersome tasks that consumed time, in fact, the search area would have been even smaller.

As they flew over the vast ocean, novice pilots began to feel tense after leaving the land of Dragon Island behind them. The waves beneath their feet offered no reference points, making everyone feel uneasy.

This was a human instinct that required training to overcome. Along with the training, technical support was essential! Without radio navigation technology, such sorties were nearly equivalent to suicide.

Basically, when base pilots carried out maritime attack missions, it was quite similar to conducting night-time bombing raids, as both lacked ground references to discern headings and could only depend on flight paths and radio guidance for blind flying to the target area.

The difference was that they could see the target during the attack, which made things a bit easier than night flying. However, at the same time, they faced the daunting prospect of not being safe to parachute in case they got lost.

“More than half of the pilots learnt how to use their life jackets just two hours before takeoff…” the commander grumbled as he tossed his logbook onto the map table, complaining to the officer who was marking the positions of the aircraft squadrons on the map.

“The Navy has already dispatched two destroyers, and in addition, they’ve relocated four merchantmen and fifteen fishing boats equipped with radio devices to the relevant waters… There shouldn’t be any serious issues,” said the officer, setting aside his compass and looking up as he spoke.

He was of Chinese descent, with black hair and black eyes, and his name was Xiao Yun. Before joining the Air Force, he had been a penal citizen, making a living in Brunas.

Being able to serve as a senior commander in the Air Force at this time meant he was very successful. He had flown Camel Fighters as well as Butcher Fighters and was well-experienced, with a good command of the Air Force’s dispatch and direction.

Simply from the mapping exercise he had just finished, it was clear that he was an outstanding commander. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have stayed behind at Dragon Island to take charge of the Air Force here.

“Three squadrons, each heading in different directions, will search the entire area without leaving any blind spots, provided that their flight paths and search ranges are correct,” Xiao Yun said, looking towards the radio operators and asking, “Is the signal normal?”

“No feedback from the signal tower yet, but everything is functioning normally on our end,” the officer stationed by the equipment immediately answered.

“Keep a close watch!” Xiao Yun ordered, then picked up the radio handset: “Seagull, Seagull! This is Big Ship, this is Big Ship! Respond if you receive.”

“This is Seagull, this is Seagull! Received, received!” came the clear voices of several lead aircraft pilots through the headset.

They were still close to Dragon Island, so the signal was very strong. Moreover, there was not much electromagnetic interference, since only the Tang Army in the world had such advanced radio equipment.

“On your way to the target area, watch what’s beneath your feet!” Xiao Yun commanded while holding the handset: “Report immediately if you spot any suspicious ships.”

“Seagull 01 understands!” “Seagull 02 understands!” A chain of acknowledgments came through the headset.

Simultaneously, the fleet that remained at Dragon Island had also dispersed. Aside from the warships assigned to lead the rescue fleet to rendezvous with the Air Force, all other vessels had already left the harbor.

Great Tang’s Navy did not have the habit of being wiped out while clustered in port; even at a disadvantage, they would set sail to tear a piece from any enemy daring to violate the Great Tang Kingdom.

However, from the time the airships were detected until now, the Shireck fleet that was the greatest concern to the upper echelons of Great Tang had not been found.

Without aircraft carriers or satellites, the ocean was simply too vast. Unless the route was known in advance, or the enemy fleet could be barricaded near the harbor, finding a fleet in the vast ocean was not an easy task.

Thus, the Tang Army’s commanders had not dared to let down their guard, unable to confirm whether the fleet existed or not, they had to proceed as if the enemy fleet was indeed present.

They were scholars; they would not take risks but would opt for the best solutions, using the most reasonable methods to face the enemy. You could call them clumsy, but they remained the finest commanders in the world.