Chapter 817
Shocking! The invincible myth of the aircraft carrier fleet has been shattered.
Chapter 817 Shocking! The myth of the invincible aircraft carrier fleet has been shattered.
The key point is that this can be achieved with only a very small number of anti-ship missiles!
In other words, their fate is no longer in their own hands, but depends entirely on whether the Longxia Navy will launch a third attack on them!
Previously, they had always held the initiative, watching the enemy tremble in fear under their relentless attacks. But now, the tables have turned, and they are the ones trembling with fear.
"Perhaps, no, it can't be?"
After a moment's hesitation, Willis replied noncommittally, "Does the Dragon Summer Navy's warships possess an inexhaustible supply of anti-ship missiles? In the first half of the conflict, they went all out to defeat the Fukuno carrier fleet. Did they not need ammunition?"
"Even with the home advantage, it's impossible for them to be at full strength when facing us. That's right, it's absolutely impossible!"
He repeated that last sentence, as if to convince himself and everyone else.
However, he was unaware that during the period of pause, all three combat corps of the Longxia Navy had received ammunition replenishment from the comprehensive supply ship and were ready to meet them at full strength!
Then, as if he had no intention of stopping there, the vice-captain spoke up again: "Captain, the battlefield is near the homeland of the Longxia tribe. The Longxia Navy can take advantage of the previous truce period to resupply."
When the captain noticed that his expression was not quite right, the first officer quickly added, "Of course, this is just a guess."
These words undoubtedly had a huge psychological impact on Captain Willis, almost making him spit out a mouthful of blood.
This is practically a death sentence for the Enterprise carrier fleet! If the other crew members were to overhear this, there would likely be a riot.
They've already fallen to this point, what the hell is the point of intercepting them? They're going to die anyway, so they might as well lie down and wait for death to come! Before they die, they can do all the things they've always wanted to do but never dared to before.
The thought of the soldiers' possible riot made Willis feel his heart tremble!
"You must never tell anyone what you've said, understand?"
Willis glared at the first officer and warned sternly, "Otherwise, you'll bear the consequences!"
Even when he was warning the other party, he didn't dare to speak loudly, for fear that his argument with the vice-captain would be heard by the other crew members and cause a chain reaction!
The vice-captain was clearly taken aback for a moment, but when he saw someone looking over, he immediately understood and hurriedly nodded very solemnly.
He felt he had done something extremely foolish, and it was only thanks to Captain Willis's timely reminder that a major disaster was averted. If this news had gotten out, it would have greatly shaken morale and damaged the troops' spirits.
If morale collapses, it's uncertain whether the soldiers will continue to operate weapons to intercept incoming anti-ship missiles, and he cannot afford the consequences!
At such a crucial moment, he has become the one who is holding us back, which is really unacceptable!
The next second, Willis realized something was wrong and urgently ordered, "Pass the word down: the entire army, form battle formation and retreat! Retreat now!"
He knew very well that staying in this area would only allow the Longxia Navy to lock onto them and continue launching anti-ship missiles. If a third wave of anti-ship missiles came, they would really be buried at sea!
If you keep going forward, you'll just be handing yourself over to get beaten up, and there won't be any way to fight back!
If they actually did that, and it accidentally got out, they would become the laughingstock of the entire planet. Knowing they were out of weapons, they would be walking right into a trap and getting beaten up. They must be completely insane!
However, a major problem has now arisen for them: even the fastest Arleigh Burke-class destroyers in the fleet can only reach a top speed of 32 knots. Even if they were to accelerate to 35 knots, they still wouldn't be as fast as the YJ-801 anti-ship missile, which has reached three times the speed of sound.
One section is equivalent to 1.852 kilometers, and this is specifically used to calculate the speed of ships, especially naval vessels.
Compared to missiles, even when a ship moves at its maximum speed, it is almost as if it has not moved at all in a short period of time.
If he wants to completely escape the anti-ship missile attack, the Enterprise carrier fleet would need to sail at full speed for more than two hours, and there might be a sliver of hope.
After the new operational orders were issued, Willis approached the vice-captain and lowered his voice, saying, "Contact headquarters immediately and tell them about our current situation. Let them think of a solution."
"If we can't come up with a solution, we'll all be doomed. There will be a precedent on Earth where our aircraft carrier fleet has been sunk!"
"Do you understand?"
The vice-captain stiffened and hurriedly nodded solemnly, saying, "Understood, Captain, I'll contact them right away."
On the other side, at the headquarters of the garrison base.
In the command hall, Generals Cruise and Koro were extremely agitated, both feeling incredibly anxious and worried about the safety of the front lines, especially since it concerned the life and death of the Enterprise carrier fleet!
They were as restless as ants on a hot pan, enduring agonizing torment. Five minutes finally passed, but they felt no relief, because there was still no news from the front lines.
"Signalman, have you received any news from the front?" General Koro asked impatiently, glancing at the time on the wall.
"Reporting to the general, not yet," the communications soldier replied truthfully.
General Koro frowned and immediately started yelling: "If there's no signal, why don't you contact the USS Enterprise? Why wait? Fuck!"
"General, we have tried to contact you several times, but there has been no response."
The communications soldier didn't dare to lose his temper and suppressed his anger, replying, "We just made contact again."
"Then connect it quickly!"
"I can't wait any longer," Koro yelled impatiently. He was getting really anxious; the less news he got, the more frustrated he became.
Just then, the communications soldier discovered that the link signal on the communicator had suddenly been established and urgently reported, "Reporting to the general, we have made contact."
"Captain Willis has sent a new battle report, it's very urgent."
Upon hearing this, General Cruz and General Coro exchanged a glance, their faces simultaneously turning grave. "Reporting, General, Captain Willis reports that the Enterprise carrier fleet is currently facing critical shortages of anti-aircraft missiles, close-in weapon systems, and close-in missiles, making it unable to support a second, effective counterattack..."
"They have already organized a second counterattack, but their interception capabilities are limited, and we will suffer even greater losses..."
"The situation at the front is critical. They've requested that we find a solution as soon as possible, otherwise the Enterprise carrier fleet will be in grave danger..."
After quickly reporting this extremely serious news, the communications officer's heart sank to the bottom. If the Enterprise carrier fleet hadn't been in dire straits, it probably wouldn't have sent back such a battle report.
This is no battle report; it's practically the Enterprise carrier fleet's final farewell!
The news was all bad, and both Cruise and Koro felt a chill run down their spines, a coldness that seemed to rise from the soles of their feet to their very core. It was as if the news itself was a biting Siberian wind, drastically lowering the temperature of the entire command center by several degrees.
Almost everyone present looked extremely solemn, as if they had lost their parents!
Meanwhile, in a certain sea area in the eastern part of the Longxia tribe.
In the main control room of the 10,000-ton destroyer of the First Combat Group, Captain Chen was closely monitoring the development of the battle situation at the front.
Seeing that many of the anti-ship missiles launched in the first wave were shot down by the three lines of defense set up by the Enterprise carrier fleet, he did not feel any surprise and remained very calm.
In any case, the Eagle Tribe's carrier fleet is far superior to that of the Eastern Wilderness Tribe; their combat capabilities are worlds apart, they are not even in the same league.
Even so, he still saw more than forty anti-ship missiles successfully penetrate the defenses and launch a final sprint attack on the enemy ship, and a ripple of joy immediately rose in his heart.
It's already reached the final, cutthroat stage. He doesn't believe that the SeaRAM and the Phalanx CIWS can shoot them all down without any escaping!
Sure enough, it didn't take long for an anti-ship missile to successfully penetrate the defenses and crash directly into one of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers, followed by a second one.
Soon, he saw several anti-ship missiles successfully penetrate the defenses and crash head-on into another Arleigh Burke-class destroyer, followed by a very loud explosion.
In fact, from the very beginning, when they launched the first wave of anti-ship missile attacks, they had already entered the coordinates and firing parameters of the warships to be attacked. However, in the end, they encountered enemy interception.
Therefore, no one can guarantee that the remaining batch of anti-ship missiles will still attack their respective targets as they did at the beginning, or that they will group together to attack a few warships.
He also realized that if all the remaining anti-ship missiles were concentrated to attack a few warships in the carrier battle group during the final sprint, the sinking of enemy ships would be maximized.
As a result, two of the Arleigh Burke-class destroyers were unlucky and were directly attacked by anti-ship missiles in turn.
This situation actually benefited Willis and his men; they were incredibly lucky because other warships took the hits, and they didn't lose as many ships.
Conversely, for Captain Chen and his crew, it wasn't a big deal; sinking the enemy ship was a very worthwhile trade.
A single Arleigh Burke-class destroyer costs $2.5 billion, not including the various weapons and ammunition it carries, as well as personnel training costs. In contrast, how much does an anti-ship missile cost?
Su Dingping considered the cost issue from the very beginning and greatly reduced cost expenditures. In particular, after large-scale mass production, the cost was controlled to a very low level.
Sinking two Arleigh Burke-class destroyers is equivalent to inflicting more than five billion dollars in damages on the enemy.
Furthermore, the air force fighters coming to reinforce are already on their way. Moreover, both the First and Second Combat Groups possess a sufficient number of missiles of various types, demonstrating their formidable military strength!
Of course, Captain Chen has not yet determined whether the ship hit was an Arleigh Burke-class destroyer or a Ticonderoga-class cruiser. If it was the latter, the result would be even greater.
After a moment of contemplation, Captain Chen activated the fleet's data link system and established a communication channel with the Second Combat Group.
"According to radar monitoring, we sank two enemy ships in the first wave of attacks, achieving a resounding victory. We shattered the myth of the Eagle Tribe's invincible aircraft carriers in one fell swoop."
"We have finally overthrown the oppression of the Eagle Tribe's aircraft carrier fleet and entered a new era."
Captain Chen's words naturally resonated with Captain Dong and the others. At that moment, they felt incredibly triumphant and exhilarated, finally able to release the pent-up frustration that had been building up in their hearts for so long.
Soon, Captain Dong's hearty laughter rang out in the communication channel.
"Hahaha, this is so satisfying! The Enterprise carrier fleet has finally met its match."
"Seven years ago, they oppressed us. All our predecessors and comrades died with regrets. Now we have avenged them. Now we will collect some interest first."
"Once we sink the entire Enterprise carrier fleet, we can use this victory to commemorate them and let them rest in peace!"
These words naturally won Captain Chen's approval. The tragedy of seven years ago will never be repeated. Seven years later, they have rewritten the myth of the invincible Eagle Tribe aircraft carrier fleet with their actions.
After the second wave of anti-ship missiles arrived, he had reason to believe that it would cause even greater damage to the USS Enterprise!
Captain Chen responded with deep agreement: "You're right, we'll make them pay an even greater price! But at the same time, we must also face an even fiercer storm."
"This storm is definitely a Category 12 typhoon. It's not just about the two aircraft carrier fleets from the Eagle Tribe. They might send even more aircraft carrier fleets to our area to attack us."
"Ultimately, it's because our strength is insufficient, which allows the enemy to retaliate using other means."
Captain Dong, however, said with considerable pride, "What's there to be afraid of! If the Eagle Tribe really dares to have a life-or-death battle with us, then we'll go all out. We'll call Zhou Qinglei and the others back and face this powerful enemy together!"
"We are not the Kei tribe, where we will be trampled upon by a powerful enemy. Moreover, we possess trump cards in our hands; we can sink as many of their aircraft carriers as they come!"
(End of this chapter)