Munitions Empire

"They don't have advanced communication equipment, and their channels are all under our surveillance, so it's impossible for them to organize large-scale bombings at night," he said, resting his hand on several black-and-white photos.

These photos were taken before the war and depicted the Dahua Empire's biplane, four-engine bombers. These aircraft looked quite outdated and could not carry many bombs.

But they were far more advanced than airships; at least they could carry bombs to the target area at a higher speed without worrying about their huge bodies being easily hit by anti-aircraft guns.

After finishing his explanation, he provided a relatively accurate statistic, "Deploying anti-aircraft guns is just a precaution. In fact, the likelihood of daytime bombing by the enemy is 80%, and the chance of it happening at night is less than 10%."

Xiao Yun furrowed his brow and asked, "How come that doesn't add up to 100%?"

He personally came to the southern oil fields to ensure their security. These oil fields were the main resource supporting Tang Country's war efforts, and no problems could be afforded.

The officer hurriedly added, "The remaining possibility is that the enemy gives up on the option of bombing... and I think that's even more unlikely! They will definitely bomb."

"Why?" Xiao Yun asked with a smile, enjoying listening to his subordinates analyzing problems. Sometimes, he could supplement his own thoughts with their ideas and come to the correct conclusion.

Without hesitation, the officer answered, "If it were me, I would put all my eggs in one basket and give it a try. The potential payoff is too tempting to not take the risk."

Xiao Yun nodded in agreement. Taking such a gamble did seem worth it; he would make the same choice.

Destroying the southern oil fields would be worth the loss of hundreds of aircraft. Even losing a thousand planes wouldn't matter.

Nevertheless, he still agreed with his subordinates' analysis and nodded, saying, "Night navigation is very complicated for us, so they probably have not mastered similar technology."

He then voiced his own thoughts, "Is there a possibility that the enemy uses an easier method for navigation... like lighting fires on the ground as a guide...?"

Tang Mo had warned him to be extremely careful concerning the southern oil fields. Therefore, he anticipated every possible action the enemy might take, leaving no detail overlooked.

His staff officers immediately started talking over each other, adding, "That's what we've been focusing on lately: flammable materials, people with questionable identities, and surrendered Dahua troops. We haven't stopped, we've been checking everything."

They had already guessed that the enemy might use ground navigation for night bombing, so they paid extra attention to surveillance, "To avoid any problems, the Army has also deployed three reconnaissance battalions in the vicinity. If there are any issues despite that... I really wouldn't know what to say."

"Without wireless communications and relying solely on ground lights for navigation, night formations are almost as good as suicide," added the Air Force technical officer who had just spoken.

It's not that lighting a few bonfires on the ground could make it easy for a formation of aircraft to fly to their target overhead at night.

With World War I-era aerial formation technology, it was questionable whether these planes would manage to reach the designated area without encountering various issues after takeoff.

In the room next to the command center, a radar operator sat in front of a screen, idly observing the electronic signals on the green display.

Soon, the operator, who had been doing nothing, adjusted his posture and stared intently at the screen—because he saw a blip on his screen that represented a flying object.

"Enemy aircraft approaching!" He put down his teacup and looked up at another non-commissioned officer beside him.

This massive piece of equipment was not particularly multifunctional; his responsibility was to detect the relative position of enemy aircraft, while the person seated beside him calculated their altitude.

The integrated three-coordinate equipment was not yet mature, so this highly confidential radar was still dedicated to measuring altitude and direction separately.

"Altitude 4000 meters!" The other non-commissioned officer calculated the altitude and then informed the duty officer of the parameters.

The duty officer picked up the phone and began notifying the air defense positions. The enemy bomber formations they had been waiting for had finally arrived.

"Woo... Woo..." Air raid alarms resounded over the entire oil field, with everyone looking up towards the distant sky.

At the once-quiet airfield runway, pilots clutched their leather caps and stylish oxygen masks as they madly dashed across the lawn towards the combat aircraft, which were fully prepared for action.

The tanks of the Butcher Fighters were already filled with fuel, and all machine guns loaded with ammunition. One after another, ground crew gave thumbs-up, stood on the wings, pulled the sprinting pilots onto the planes, and pushed them into the cramped cockpits.

"I told you they would come during the day!" a pilot exclaimed, fastening his cap over his head as he shouted excitedly at the ground crew.

The roar of the engines was so loud that they had to shout at the top of their lungs to communicate. The ground crew once again gave a thumbs-up, "You guessed right! Now guess again how many enemy planes you're going to take down later!"

"I think I can take down at least 5!" shouted the pilot exuberantly as he squeezed into the cockpit, just before the ground crew closed the hatch over him.