What the hell is a private enterprise?

Chapter 578 Revenge (600 monthly votes in July)

After calming Mark down, Wayne didn't stop for a moment. Even though he hadn't slept for 24 hours, he kept his eyes open and worked on the battle plan.

Last night he was worried that mosquito gnats would launch a nighttime air attack, so he temporarily mobilized multiple early warning aircraft and a large number of fighter jets to be on standby, but fortunately there was no serious danger.

But by daybreak, there was no time to rest, because the Third Fleet had arrived!

According to infrared satellite reconnaissance data, last night the main warships of the slow fleet and the fast fleet of the Third Fleet joined together. A total of more than 110 warships converged and headed south together. They have already advanced several hundred kilometers and are only about 600 kilometers away from the shore.

The coalition forces also worked tirelessly throughout the night to prepare their aircraft: more than 200 fighter jets is no small number!

The first air battle on the 24th involved mostly aircraft from the British mainland. The aircraft were in good condition, well-maintained, and the maintenance teams were skilled. Almost all of them were able to launch attacks in a short time according to the combat readiness requirements and rules.

The second air battle was much more troublesome, especially since the aircraft arriving from allies could not be seamlessly maintained. They had to be put into battle almost immediately after only a little refueling, reducing their combat effectiveness by at least 7%.

The more than 200 fighter jets prepared on the 25th are even more troublesome:
The main forward operating bases were damaged and needed repair; ammunition and fuel reserves were insufficient and needed to be allocated and replenished; the pilots who participated in the previous day's combat were extremely exhausted and needed to be rotated; and finally, there was one more thing to add:
With an increased proportion of allies, the variety of fighter jets, their maintenance conditions, and even types of ammunition differ, and they cannot be commanded and operated under the same system.

Even though the Empire went to great lengths to airlift large quantities of weapons and ammunition from its homeland overnight, and the Chicken also took the gold and promptly dispatched ground crew and supplies, it was still far from enough.

From the afternoon of the 24th to 5 a.m., the Empire alone conducted 60 large-scale air operations, including a large number of air defense systems that were squeezed out and directly deployed to forward bases.

In order to unify command, the Convention authorized the establishment of the North Sea Air Command, and hundreds of high-ranking personnel from allies arrived in Oldgrove, squeezing out a large sports activity room as a temporary command center.

When will Blackbird be able to deploy?

"The earliest is 7 o'clock, which is two hours later."

"Why does it take so long?"

"One of the flap's movable surfaces has failed. Lockheed engineers said it's an electromechanical fault and the part needs to be replaced."

"They must catch the sunrise!"

The reports from his subordinates made Wayne somewhat uneasy. Of the two Blackbirds that arrived in Britain, only one was actually operational. The other was said to need to have its fuel system checked and would be delayed for a day. Now, the second aircraft also seemed unreliable.

It's winter now, and in the high-latitude northern part of the region, it doesn't get light until 9 a.m., and it starts to get dark again around 15 p.m.

Sunrise and sunset at sea are each 1.5 hours earlier or later, meaning that the period from around 7:30 to 16:00 is suitable for reconnaissance and attack.

Blackbird must conduct reconnaissance shortly after 7 a.m. to provide sufficient intelligence for the attacking aircraft.

According to his confirmation, only about 140 fighter jets were on standby at that time, and the rest were almost all allies. It would take at least 9 or 10 o'clock to complete the preparation work.

However, in addition to the intensive deployment of operational plans, Wayne also had to take time out of his busy schedule to participate in a conference call at Prism Building:

The Prism Building is already plotting revenge against the lost empire, preparing to unleash the Amazon floods ahead of schedule to inundate Hans!
……

"The Lost Empire has a huge appetite!"

Brian paced back and forth in the small room with his hands behind his back. Robin, Tren, and Bender sat on the sofa, their faces also grim. Several key figures were squeezed around them; they were capable of making almost any decision for the United Kingdom.

Although Wilson was kicked out, he did not return but secretly stayed in Groningen and contacted Blair through a confidential line.

After he truthfully recounted his experience, the others immediately realized that the scholar had encountered a soldier.

Blair was even somewhat annoyed. He had long suspected that negotiations with the Lost Empire couldn't proceed according to conventional methods. He had indeed reminded Wilson of this, but perhaps his approach wasn't deep or direct enough, which led to the trouble. However, after the first unpleasant encounter, Teren and he had some differing opinions:

“Only a captain negotiated with us. I highly suspect that the Lost Empire’s high command didn’t receive any information at all, and that he acted on his own initiative!”

This guess is quite reasonable, but after thinking about it, Blair shook his head and said:
“I said we can’t treat them with common sense. Actually, we all know that U-boats are not that backward, especially in terms of communications.”

"That's it."

Seeing that the Royal Air Force had also suffered heavy losses, Band's mood improved slightly; at least he didn't have to worry about being singled out for retribution. He explained:
"Since the high-density activities of U-boats in the first half of the year, experts have discovered that their submarine activities are very organized and their coordination ability far surpasses ours. They may have mastered unknown and highly efficient underwater communication technology. As for playing tricks on us... it won't do them any good. Wilson is now just an ordinary trade manager at BP and an external professor at a university. He can easily distance himself from any information leaks."

"They said they'd talk again in 24 hours, but I'm afraid there will be some big moves today!"

Band got up and walked to the wall-mounted map:
"The Third Fleet has adjusted its deployment, and after dropping some civilian ships, its speed has reached 25 knots. If we really don't care, the battleships can bombard the coastal cities tonight!"

Terren: "Is this their response? Look at the Prism Building's prepared response: over 500 anti-ship missiles are enough to destroy any fleet!"

“Nothing is absolute in this world,” Band replied coldly.

"Does the Royal Navy think they're going to lose?!"

"Hard to say."

"You coward! The Invincible could have escaped, the sailors even wrote letters requesting to join the battle, but you refused to go. I..."

"Enough! Shut up if you still approve of me!"

Blair interrupted the two. Although it was already 6 a.m., it was still pitch black outside the window.

Christmas Eve has passed, but no one in the entire Daiying region truly celebrated it.

The gifts and activities prepared by numerous businesses for Christmas Eve were all rendered useless, which alone would severely damage the livelihoods of countless small shops, further irritating Blair.

"Things have come to this point, and battle is inevitable."

The Prime Minister's heart was practically bleeding when he said this. Although Prism Building was willing to cover the costs of ammunition, supplies, and food for the Allied Forces in this battle, the United Kingdom would still have to sign an agreement to repay them.

Britain hasn't even finished paying off its debts from World War I and World War II, and now it has to take on another one!
Previously, colonies could be sold to offset costs, but now the United Kingdom can only bleed itself dry, which is undeniably painful.

After careful consideration, he looked at Bender and Teren:
"Generals, I would like to know how confident the Allied forces are of victory?"

Teren: "Over 90%."

Band: "Around 70%"

The two spoke almost simultaneously, but both seemed to have a high probability of winning.

But Blair still said:

"Keep Wilson in Groningen and keep him in touch!"

The small group inside the room quickly dispersed to attend to their respective tasks. At 7:20 AM, two messages arrived from the Oldgrove base:
-
The northern sea area will be affected by the cyclone, resulting in severe weather and storms.
-
The Blackbird reconnaissance aircraft took off on schedule.

(End of this chapter)