Empire Conquest-Chapter 867 - 103: Making the Most of Remaining Strength
After 2 a.m., following the "end" of the fire preparation, the Iraqi troops will gradually move into defensive positions, preparing to face the impending attack.
According to the plan, the second round of fire preparation will begin around 3:30 a.m., and the duration will still be 2 hours.
In this round of fire preparation, the main force will consist of the Army and Marine Corps’ long-range artillery.
Additionally, the 4 "Flame Sea" class battleships that have arrived at Boss Bay and have been incorporated into the bombardment formation will also join the fire support operation.
These are the last remaining battleships preserved by the Imperial Navy.
The "Flame Sea" class was the last type of battleship built by the Imperial Navy during the last great war, essentially an improved version of the "Nanzhu Sea" class with enhanced protection.
Because at the time of construction, the "Xu Sea" and "Flame Sea" had already been donated to the Tiaoman Navy, and to distinguish them from the "Xu Sea" class, the lead ship retained the name "Flame Sea," while the No. 2 ship was logically named the "Xu Sea."
Compared to the "Nanzhu Sea" class, the greatest improvement of the "Flame Sea" class was actually increasing the output power of the power system, ensuring that even after enhancing protection and increasing the displacement by about 10,000 tons, the speed could still reach 33 knots, and maintaining adequate firepower.
In other aspects, there were almost no changes.
For example, it still used three triple main gun turrets, and still employed the 400 mm naval guns with a caliber length of 55, as used by the "Nanzhu Sea" class.
The firepower was not enhanced, primarily because there was no need.
When the Imperial Navy decided to procure the "Flame Sea" class, the great war was already in its final stages, and the enemy was only the Newland Federation, which was in chaos. The key point is that the main force of the Newland Navy had been annihilated, and the Consortium Group was about to launch strategic bombing on the eastern coast of Newland.
Shipyards were certainly key targets of attention.
At that time, globally, the Imperial Navy no longer had any real enemies.
Ordering the "Flame Sea" class battleships was mainly to maintain fleet size. After all, at that time, the Imperial Navy only had a few "Nanzhu Sea" class ships left, and the rest of the fast battleships were either obsolete, or unconditionally transferred or aided to allies such as the Tiaoman Empire.
For the Imperial Navy, which had a global presence, it definitely needed a sufficient number of battleships.
From the perspective of reaping the fruits of war and safeguarding global interests, the Empire needed to maintain a sufficiently powerful navy.
Moreover, for any coastal country, a battleship appearing at their doorstep is far more threatening than a carrier stationed offshore.
As the saying goes: Truth exists only within the range of naval guns.
Before the end of the great war, the Imperial Navy ordered a total of 12 "Flame Sea" class battleships in two batches, but only the first batch of 4 ships and the first 4 ships of the second batch started construction, and before Xue Yuanzheng stepped down in support of naval construction, only 6 ships completed shipbuilding.
As a result, the 2 ships that were not launched in time were dismantled.
Before the end of the great war, the first 4 ships were delivered to the Imperial Navy, and after the end of the great war, the second batch of 2 ships received funding again.
To say the least, thanks should be given to the Newland Republic, as the Newland Republic did not suffer defeat.
Furthermore, the conflict between the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire had surfaced, and the cooperation turned into confrontation, thus requiring the maintenance of a sufficiently strong navy.
These 6 battleships, the "Flame Sea," "Xu Sea," "High Narrow Sea," "Mua Sea," "Coral Sea," and "Land Heart Sea," became the swan song of the Imperial Navy battleships, and even the global navy, also known as the most powerful battleships in history.
However, these 6 battleships have had a troubled fate since their inception.
The first to be completed and delivered, the "Flame Sea" and the "Xu Sea," completed basic training for the officers and soldiers as the great war was nearing its end, and their only actual combat involved burning tens of thousands of tons of heavy oil, traveling back and forth over 20,000 nautical miles to the other side of the Earth, bombarding several port cities on the eastern coast of Newland, using up over ten thousand stock high-explosive bombs of 400 mm, and achieving the destruction of several shipyards and steel mills.
The "High Narrow Sea" and "Mua Sea" ended the war when forming combat power and did not gain any combat opportunities.
It was not until over a decade later, during the Boi War, that these 6 battleships went into action once more.
Throughout the Boi War, the fast strike fleet centered around battleships operated in Boss Bay, responsible for striking military targets in coastal areas.
However, after the Boi War ended, the strength of the Imperial Navy rapidly reduced, and all fast battleships were listed for decommissioning.
This was not surprising, as the era of battleships had long since ended.
Moreover, in the new era of naval warfare, air defense operations, originally a strong point of battleships, were quickly overshadowed by cruisers equipped with air defense missiles, and moreover, the cost of converting battleships to equip them with air defense missiles even exceeded that of building a new anti-air cruiser, and their operational efficiency couldn’t even compete with anti-air cruisers, hence even if the navy was reluctant, there was no reason to retain battleships.
Amidst the wave of large-scale disarmament, all other battleships were retired, and besides a few preserved and converted into naval museums, the rest were sold as scrap to shipbreakers, leaving only the 6 "Flame Sea" class battleships preserved due to their relatively short service life, good condition, and persistent argumentation by key naval generals, and ultimately processed as sealed reserve ships, included in the naval reserve.
When Zhou Yongtao moved into the Prime Minister Mansion and began implementing the "600+200" project, the 6 "Flame Sea" class battleships ushered in a second spring.
Of course, it was more than just being reactivated.
Before re-entering service, these 6 "Flame Sea" class battleships were sent back to the shipyard for necessary upgrades, such as being outfitted with more powerful diesel generators to power new electronic equipment like radar. However, the most crucial upgrade was the removal of all secondary guns, replaced with 6 730-type rapid-fire guns, and 8 quad "Spear" cruise missile launchers, with the secondary ammunition magazines converted to missile magazines.
This enabled the "Flame Sea" class to carry 256 cruise missiles for strike missions, capable of launching up to 32 cruise missiles at 32 targets within a 1500 km range.
This offensive capability surpassed all other warships of the same period.
Even though the "Qingzhou" class featured 128 vertical launchers, and two-thirds could be loaded with cruise missiles, in actual combat, only 4 units at most were used for cruise missiles, totaling only 32, lacking prominent long-range strike capabilities.
Of course, the main weapon of battleships is still 9 400 mm naval guns.
There being no need to use armor-piercing shells against enemy battleships eliminated, the Imperial Navy ceased the production and procurement of armor-piercing bullets post-war, but instead developed some special shells, including enhanced high-explosive bombs with a charge weight of 150 kg and a lethal radius of 250 meters.
These shells endowed battleships with extremely strong capabilities for land strikes.
It also significantly increased the lifespan of the gun barrels.
Mainly, there was no need for full charge firing armor-piercing rounds at enemy battleships, so when firing high-explosive bombs with reduced charges, the lifespan of the 400 mm gun barrels exceeded 5,000 rounds.
Moreover, the ammunition is very affordable compared to other ordnance.
The cost of bulk purchasing a 400 mm high-explosive shell is comparable to a 1,000 kg air bomb, making it an economical munition to use. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺
As for bombardment accuracy, it certainly surpasses bombers dropping from high altitudes.
Accordingly, before the second round of fire preparation, 4 "Flame Sea" class were sent here to participate in the strike against the southern coastal area of Iraq.
Furthermore, this operation is primarily coordinated with the Marine Corps.
In landing operations within the Imperial Navy’s combat missions, the main task of battleships is to provide support for landing forces.
This is also because in the Imperial Navy’s operations, the primary mission of battleships is to provide support in landing operations.
Like the saying goes: Truth remains within shooting range of naval guns.
In the second round of fire preparation, the 4 "Flame Sea" class battleships were sent over to participate in the attack against the southern coastal area of Iraq.
Nevertheless, that was not the main assault direction.
