After returning to the naval headquarters and meeting Liu Changxun, Bai Zhizhan learned that the garrison of Shiquan City had just sent the latest investigation report.

It is initially speculated that it was bombers that laid mines in the Shiquan Strait.

That's right, it's a long-range bomber flying from the Austrian side.

The clue is that in the past few days, the radars deployed in Lion Springs City have detected UFOs at night. Because they did not get close to Shiquan City, and the flight altitude was very low, the aviation units deployed in Shiquan City did not dispatch and did not find out the specific identities of those flying objects.

In the report submitted, the radar operator identified it as interference caused by ocean waves.

It is for this reason that these reports go unheeded.

In order to prove this speculation, Liu Changxun has issued an order to send a long-range patrol plane to Darwin in the northwest of Austria.

If the guess is correct, then the bomber on the mine-laying mission must have been in the airfield near Darwin.

In addition, if the number of bombers deployed by the Nuland army could be known, it might be possible to make a rough inference about the mine-laying capacity and size, as well as the threat posed.

The Sixth Bureau has also received the news and is carrying out simultaneous operations.

However, there was no news of the sixth round.

A few hours later, the communications staff officer sent a telegram from Shiquan City.

As speculated, Nuland's heavy bombers were spotted at both airfields near Darwin, all B-17s, totaling more than 100 of them.

Here's the problem, too.

The combat radius of the B-17 is about 1,500 kilometers, while Darwin to Lion Springs is more than 2,000 kilometers!

Under normal circumstances, the B-17 simply could not fly to the Shiquan Strait to lay mines.

Could it be that closer to the Shiquan Strait, there is a secret base?

It's certainly impossible.

Although there are many islands in the southeast, with tens of thousands in Indonesia alone, nearly 10,000 islands in Nanzhu and thousands in the Malai region, it is obviously not easy to establish bases on these islands and large airfields that can allow heavy bombers to take off and land with full loads.

Moreover, there is also a huge risk of sending ships to deliver fuel and ammunition to these islands.

At the time, White thought it was likely that the Nuland army had built a new airfield near Darwin and deployed bombers with a longer range.

However, this speculation was quickly disproved.

In the afternoon, the Sixth Bureau sent a piece of information.

The B-17s deployed in Austria flew through special flights, making only two stopovers on Christmas Island in the central Guia Ocean and the Loyal Islands in the southwestern Guina. The route was thus divided into three sections, each covering a distance of more than 5,000 km.

The ordinary B-17, without bombs and with full fuel inside, has a transfer range of more than 4,000 kilometers.

In other words, the B-17s deployed in Austria have been improved, and the range has been increased by at least 1,000 kilometers.

This is equivalent to saying that with an appropriate reduction in cargo load, these B-17s can have a combat radius of 2,000 kilometers, so they can fly to the Shiquan Strait and drop mines.

In addition, the Nuland Army Aviation has already sent more than 300 B-17s to Austria!

Long-range patrol aircraft spotted only some of them, and another 200 were deployed at other airfields.

This is also understandable, Austria is a continent, there is no shortage of places to build airfields, so there is no need to deploy too many bombers in one airport.

In fact, this also proves the previous speculation.

Because the load must be reduced, enough bombers must be deployed to achieve economies of scale and to make minelaying operations valuable.

Liu Changxun immediately made adjustments to the deployment.

That night, a cruiser equipped with radar rushed to the south of the Shiquan Strait and used radar to search and monitor several narrow straits that ships would not pass.

In addition, the Lion Springs garrison dispatched more than 20 night fighters.

In fact, it is a long-range fighter that specializes in carrying out interception missions at night.

Compared with long-range fighters, the biggest difference is that a small radar is installed in the nose of the nose, which gains the ability to search for enemy aircraft at night.

Night fighters were born for night bombing, and their main value is to intercept bombers that attack at night.

In addition, the Navy's minesweepers and fast patrol boats have entered the Shiquan Strait.

In the evening, the latest news was received.

A minesweeper was found in the Shiquan Strait a mine laid by the Nuland army, and after being salvaged, it was confirmed that it was a 1,000-pound air-dropped mine.

This mine has a small charge and is not very powerful, and is mainly used to block ports and straits.

It is precisely because the power is weak and the threat to large warships is not too great, so submarines and minelayers are rarely used, mainly carried and deployed by bombers.

In addition, air-dropped mines are generally sunken mines, and they are mainly used in shallow waters.

If anything, air-dropped mines are still a product of this war, and the first to use air-dropped mines was the strategic aviation of the Imperial Army.

It is used to blockade the Imperial Kingdom of Narrowness.

Before the defeat and surrender of the Sagi Empire, the Imperial Land Voyage dropped about 50,000 mines on the inland seas and main shipping lanes of the Sagi Empire, especially outside the main ports.

It was precisely in this way that the shipping of the Imperial Kingdom of Sasa was completely paralyzed.

By the time the Imperial State surrendered, more than 2,000 ships of various types had been sunk by air-dropped mines, and the loss of cargo was as high as tens of millions of tons.

Before the defeat and surrender of the Imperial State, a nationwide famine broke out, and it was not unrelated to the airdrop of mines by the imperial army.

Even now, these mines have not been completely cleared!

Obviously, the air-dropped mines that appeared in the channel also confirmed the speculation of the Sixth Bureau, and the bombers deployed near Darwin laid the mines.

Late at night, new discoveries conclusively confirmed the inference.

Guided by that cruiser, the forward night fighters successfully intercepted the Nuland group and shot down more than 10 bombers.

Fast-paced patrol boats deployed in advance are heading to the sea where the bomber crashed, and the bomber wreckage will soon be found.

According to the pilot's visual report, all of them were 4-engine heavy bombers, and judging from the appearance, it should be the B-17 deployed in Darwin.

After being intercepted, some of the bombers lost their loads.

In fact, all this has been proved that the Nuland army used heavy bombers to dispatch at night to drop mines into the Shiquan Strait.

As for the purpose, there is obviously no need to say more.

These bombers were deployed in Darwin.

Although bombers could be sent to destroy the airfield near Darwin, unless they were to capture it, they could not prevent the Nuland bombers from continuing to mine the Shiquan Strait under the cover of night.

Even if more night fighters are deployed in Lion Springs, more radars are built nearby, and warships are sent on patrol, there is no guarantee that everything will be foolproof.

In any case, passive defense can at most offset part of the impact, and there is no way to completely eliminate it.

What's more, the insufficient range of the B-17 does not mean that the range of the new bomber is insufficient.

When a bomber with a combat radius of 3,000 kilometers is born, it can be airdropped and mine-laid in the Shiquan Strait, and it can choose to enter from other directions.

At that point, it will be even more difficult to defend!

Crucially, the only thing that can be used by civilian ships is the Shiquan Strait.

Before the Imperial army captured Lion Springs, the Xunfeng Strait and the Dragon's Eye Strait were blocked by the Nuland army with mines, and it was still impossible for ships to navigate.

If the Shiquan Strait is also blocked by mines, it will be a big trouble!

Could it be that for this reason you sent troops to attack Ozhou?