This situation lasted until the afternoon of the 5th.

Stark was startled when the communications staff officer hurried over with the message. After reading the message, his mood was even more up-and-down.

From Diego Military Port, a submarine on a search mission south of the Khowaii Islands spotted a Liangxia fleet heading north.

According to the submarine report, the speed of this task force is about 16 knots, and there are dozens of warships large and small.

Crucially, it could also be Task Force 41.

The word "probably" is used in the report, indicating that the submarine did not visually observe the enemy ship, but made a judgment based on the intercepted noise signal.

If an enemy warship is seen, the submarine captain will give an affirmative statement.

Herein lies the problem.

The speed of the fleet is not fast, and the distance between the submarine and the fleet is definitely relatively long, so it is difficult to obtain a clear noise signal.

Just sailing at cruising speed, the characteristic noise of the aircraft carrier is not noticeable.

Perhaps, those were several amphibious assault ships.

In July, the Liang Xia Navy sent the amphibious expeditionary fleet subordinate to the Fourth Fleet to the southwest and the east, and temporarily incorporated it into the Sixth Fleet. For more than two months since then, the fleet's amphibious assault ships, integrated landing ships, and dock landing ships have been running around the southwestern and eastern seas.

Probably in anticipation of the imminent outbreak of the Great War, the Liangxia Navy has been actively strengthening the deployment of troops on the island chain defense line in the past two months. That is why the amphibious expeditionary fleet was sent to the southwest and the eastern sea, responsible for transporting troop supplies to the forward islands.

The key is that the Liangxia Navy strengthened the defense of the main islands from west to east.

Relatively speaking, the amphibious expeditionary fleet is more suitable for this type of delivery mission.

Although merchant ships are cheaper and there is no shortage of ships, many remote islands have no ports for merchant ships to dock, let alone loading and unloading equipment. Besides, merchant ships are also unable to carry and operate heavy transport helicopters.

To say that in many places, amphibious warships capable of carrying heavy transport helicopters are the only option.

Of course, there was also a hovercraft that was capable of delivering dozens of tons of cargo at one time, and had few requirements for the site.

The Liangxia Navy has always had a tradition of using landing ships to be responsible for logistics support at forward bases, but in the past, it mainly used landing ships that were about to be retired or had already been decommissioned.

According to Stark's information, in the second half of last month, the amphibious expeditionary fleet operated west of the Lane Islands, sending supplies to officers and soldiers on several atolls.

These atolls are actually all desert islands.

The Liangxia Navy did not send troops to these islands, but only built radar stations, communication relay stations, space observation stations, and other facilities with military purposes on some of the islands, and arranged for officers and soldiers to guard them, so it was necessary to regularly deliver supplies and replacement personnel to these islands.

Apparently, according to the arrangement of the Liangxia Navy, the amphibious expeditionary fleet will then go to the Laine Islands.

On October 4, the day of the war, the amphibious expeditionary fleet was likely on its way to the Lane Islands.

Maybe it's already there.

If this is the case, then after the entry of the Republic of Nuland into the war, the amphibious expeditionary fleet will abandon its original mission and go directly to return to Jumbo Harbor. Even after the bombing of Jumbo Harbor, the Amphibious Expeditionary Fleet would rush back and coordinate with Task Force 41.

If nothing else, there must be a lot of wounded waiting to be treated, and the only large hospital ship in the Fourth Fleet is in the amphibious expeditionary fleet. This hospital ship alone can treat more than 2,000 wounded, while several hospitals on Honu Island do not have so many beds in total.

Obviously, what the submarine found might be the amphibious expeditionary fleet that was returning to Zhenbao Harbor, not the 41st Task Force commanded by Bai Huawei.

Crucially, even the 41st Task Force is not a good thing.

That fleet is sailing north, not east!

Stark's plan was that Task Force 41 was to go to Yotun Island or retreat westward, rather than return to the Khowaii Islands to stand by.

If you want to say, this is also an unlikely scenario.

The Khowaii Islands were heavily bombed, with a group of bombers arriving almost every few hours. If Task Force 41 returns to the Khowaii Islands, it is very likely that its whereabouts will be exposed, and it will certainly be hit. At that time, there will be no need for Stark to intervene, and the Air Force will dispatch a large number of strategic bombers to send Task Force 41 to the bottom of the sea with hundreds of long-range anti-ship missiles.

Clearly, Task Force 41 was not returning to the Khowaii Islands, but intended to take the shortest possible route through the Khowaii Islands to the Northern Guia.

If this is the case, it can only mean that the Liang Xia Navy has discovered the 51st Task Force!

Thinking of this, Stark was really frightened. He immediately called a staff officer and asked about the relevant situation, that is, whether there was a possibility of revealing his whereabouts.

It's just that this kind of "self-examination" is meaningless.

Although before the Nuland Republic entered the war, the Western Continent Group launched a space war, destroying most of the military satellites of the Liangxia Empire, and the focus of the attack was the reconnaissance satellites deployed in low-earth orbit, but no one dared to deny that the Liangxia Empire has the strongest space launch capability in the world today, and the degree of militarization is extremely high, with a large number of small launch vehicles that can be launched urgently in wartime.

In fact, after the outbreak of the global war, the Liangxia Air Force has been carrying out network replenishment launches without stopping for a day.

Basically, we will take immediate action whenever we need to, and we can put a replacement satellite into orbit within a few hours at the earliest and a few days at the saviest.

In order to obtain a powerful, at least sufficient wartime launch capability, the Liangxia Air Force not only stored a large number of military satellites, but also developed several kinds of carrier rockets aimed at different orbits, the main force of which is three types of solid-fuel carrier rockets with extremely advanced performance, which have only appeared in recent years.

To say, this is also the reason why the Liangxia Empire has not paid attention to ballistic missiles.

These solid-fuel launch vehicles only need to make simple modifications to the control system, and then install warheads to become real ballistic missiles.

If it is only used as a launch vehicle, a liquid-fueled rocket engine is more suitable.

Comparatively speaking, the main feature of solid-fuel rocket engines is that they react quickly and require little preparation before launch.

This feature is of great significance in the military sphere, but not so prominently in the civilian sphere.

The Liangxia Empire focused on building small solid-fuel launch vehicles, which were not only used for emergency launches, but also for the development of ballistic missile reserve technology.

The point is that there are too many satellites launched by the Liangxia Air Force urgently, and most of them are small satellites deployed in low-earth orbit. The regression period of these satellites is often only a few hours, and the orbital altitude is mostly about 300 kilometers, which makes it extremely difficult to track and monitor.

As a result, it is not possible to accurately estimate the orbits of these satellites.

It is impossible to say at what point one or even more reconnaissance satellites have passed over the waters where Task Force 51 is located.

Well, the Liang Xia Navy has mastered the whereabouts of the 51st Task Force!

It's just that Stark is not worried about encountering the 41st Task Force, but that Bai Huawei has guessed his combat intentions.

As long as Task Force 51 is found to be in the North and East Ocean, and south of the Aliu Islands, it is certain that Stark's operational intentions can be deduced.

In this way, Bai Huawei may not come to the decisive battle with the fleet.

On the other hand, if Stark had commanded the 41st Task Force of the Liang Xia Navy, he would not have gone to the 51st Task Force for a decisive battle, but would have confronted the 51st Task Force from a relatively safe distance, so that the Nuland Navy would give up the idea of attacking the Howaii Islands.

Not to mention a few months, even if it drags on for a few days, Stark can only return home with Task Force 51.

It's undoubtedly a situation that Stark has been trying to avoid.

Of course, Stark also made relevant plans.

If such a situation is to occur, there are only three countermeasures that can be adopted.

First of all, the 51st Task Force took the initiative to go south, and with the assistance of the Air Force, in fact, the Air Force mainly dispatched bombers to suppress the shore-based aviation on the Khowaii Islands, to find the 41st Task Force of the Liangxia Navy, and to win sea supremacy through a decisive battle of the fleet.

The second option was to make a feint the main attack, that is, to return to the Aliu Islands, attack one of the islands, and lure or force Task Force 41 to come to the decisive battle. If the Liang Xia Navy is still indifferent, it will take the Aliu Islands, and even consider sending troops to the Arras region.

As for the last option, it is to go home, give up the idea of attacking, and do everything possible to strengthen the local defenses.

If Stark were in charge, he would be the last one.

The first option is too risky, the odds of winning are extremely slim, it is simply to die, and even if it wins, it is only a tactical victory. Whether it is the annihilation of the 41st Task Force or the storming of the Howaii Islands, it will make the Liangxia Empire exert all its strength to deal with the Nuland Republic. After missing a strategic opportunity to become the main rival of the Liang Xia Empire, the Nuland Republic will only lose even more.

The secondary choice is actually a chicken rib, or to save the face of politicians. Not to mention how difficult it is to attack the Aliu Islands and Arras region, even if it is successfully won, it is equivalent to digging a hole for itself and becoming more passive at the strategic level.

In Stark's view, if the first round of assault ends in failure, it will definitely lose the war, the difference is only how badly it loses. From the perspective of winning with less loss, the best choice is actually to rely on the mainland, relying on thousands of kilometers of Dongdong Guia to meet the Liang Xia army. As long as they can win the battle to defend their homeland, there is a way to force the Liang Xia authorities to accept this unsatisfactory ending.

The key to keeping the enemy out of the country is to preserve enough elite troops, especially the fleet.

Without a fleet to act as a barrier, relying only on the air force and land force will certainly not be able to hold the coastal defense.

Unfortunately, it's not up to Stark to decide.

According to the plan, it was up to the Supreme Commander to decide on the decisive battle with the Liang Xia fleet before attacking the transit island.

At this point, we have to wait for the instructions of the Gray House.

Actually, it didn't make Stark wait long.

At around 5 p.m., the communications staff officer delivered the latest report.

Not from submarines, but from the CIA, which was taken over by the Pentagon.

To be precise, submarines discovered the waters north of the Liangxia fleet, but did not find a fleet, not even a larger fleet.

Crucially, the expeditionary landing fleet is located west of the Laine Islands, more than 1,000 nautical miles from the sea area reported by the submarine.

Because there are photographs taken by reconnaissance satellites, the credibility of the information is very high.

In other words, it is very likely that the submarine found Task Force 41, and the fleet did not sail north, as reported by the submarine.

Didn't go north, where did it go?

When it was time for dinner, the command of the Navy sent the latest order.

The original plan is still being carried out, except that until the location of Task Force 41 is located or the whereabouts of Task Force 41 are determined, consideration could be given to postponing the attack on the Transit Island by 12 to 24 hours and using this time to complete the combat mission against the Khowaii Islands.

Actually, this is also telling Stark that there is no need to think about wiping the ass for the Air Force.

With the extra 24 hours, it was possible to launch three large-scale bombing sorties, hundreds of bomber sorties, and thousands of cruise missiles.

The command of the Navy made such an arrangement, still for the sake of insurance.

Of course, Stark has taken various scenarios into account.

Most likely, Task Force 41 turned around in the afternoon and headed east to Yotun Island, and did not enter the sea area searched by reconnaissance satellites.

However, it is also possible that it will go south to join the amphibious expeditionary fleet.

If the Liangxia Navy intends to strengthen the defense of the Khowaii Islands, especially those islands to the west, it will definitely need an amphibious expeditionary fleet.

The more than 10 amphibious assault ships and integrated landing ships have irreplaceable value when transporting troops.

Crucially, the Liangxia Navy may also need to strengthen the deployment of the second island chain defense line, from the main island of Saoyi to the south, through the North Malaysia Islands and Micronesia, and then south to the New Hebrides to the east of the Coral Sea, then these more than 10 landing ships will be even more needed.

In addition, Task Force 41 may have turned back to its homeland.

The only thing that is certain is that Task Force 41 did not continue its voyage north.

However, Stark was not happy.

If it's the first case, it's even better. Even if the second scenario occurs, it's not bad. The problem is that if the third scenario arises, it is not necessarily a good thing.

The reason is also very simple, on the way back, Task Force 41 can turn to the Transit Island at any time to deal with the Nuland army attacking the island.

If that were the case, Stark's dream would still be in vain.

Fortunately, the Navy Command had taken the situation into account and mentioned in the telegram that it was trying to ascertain the whereabouts of Task Force 41.

In order to accomplish this task, the Pentagon also ordered the NSA to cooperate with the CIA to carry out an emergency network replenishment launch.

If all goes well, we will receive the news on the night of the 5th, and the latest will be in the early morning of the 6th.

As long as it can be determined that the submarine found the 41st Task Force, it will not be difficult to find the fleet using reconnaissance satellites.

All it takes is time.

Of course, whether or not Task Force 41 was found, Stark had to make a decision before dawn on the 6th.

To put it simply, when the time comes, it will either launch a combat operation to attack the transit island according to the original plan, or the combat operation will be postponed for more than half a day.

Since there was no need to make decisions during the night, after dinner, Stark returned to the commander's quarters.

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