On the Celestial River, a fleet from Jiangzhou is sailing.

Among them, the two giant aircraft carriers are particularly eye-catching.

Both aircraft carriers are large container ships that have been modified, each approximately three hundred meters long, with a full-load displacement of around one hundred eighty thousand tons.

If we only talk about displacement, the full-load displacement of large container ships even exceeds that of ordinary aircraft carriers.

Numerous planes are parked on the carriers' decks, with more planes inside the hangars.

On the sides of the boats, 20mm and 40mm cannons are installed as close-range defensive weapons.

As for other modifications, there aren't many; being able to carry planes and perform ski-jump takeoffs is sufficient for carriers now.

Beside them are twenty escorting warships, among which two battleships are the fleet's main forces.

At the bow, there are two twin-mounted, 356mm caliber naval guns.

These are designed in accordance with last century's North Carolina-class guns.

On both sides of the battleship hull, eight 133mm secondary guns are equipped, in addition to numerous cannons and anti-aircraft machine guns.

Inside the hull, there is a torpedo cabin capable of launching eight torpedoes.

The aircraft carriers can deploy planes, but in a real naval battle, battleships remain the undisputed main force.

The two aircraft carriers and two battleships are at the core of Jiangzhou's First Fleet, invested heavily by Zheng Jinnan as a crucial resource for future dominance of the Celestial River and entry into the sea.

This time leading the team is the commander of the First Fleet, also Zheng Jinnan's adopted son, named Chu Yuan.

Zheng Jinnan's children all perished in the apocalypse, thus he developed a habit of adopting children, and Chu Yuan is his favorite son.

He even initially considered Chu Yuan when cultivating a Level 3 Mutant but later chose his adopted daughter Hua Wushuang due to concerns about failure.

Chu Yuan now commands Zheng Jinnan's most powerful First Fleet, with twenty thousand naval soldiers under his command, a high and mighty position indeed, groomed as a successor.

In the command room of the aircraft carrier, Chu Yuan is sipping coffee.

Beside him, the adjutant is discussing the trip to Wanguo Island.

"Young Marshal, as we head to Wanguo Island, should we proceed unimpeded or what?"

Chu Yuan shook his head: "It's not so easy to proceed unimpeded; Wanguo Island's navy combined has over a hundred ships, not so easily dealt with. We only need to maintain a suitable distance for strategic deterrence; this time, we're just backing Cao Zhenxu."

"I see. With our current speed, we'll reach the vicinity of Wanguo Island by tomorrow night; shall we slow down?"

"No need. Tonight, we'll rest at Jinling Port; isn't there a survivors' base, doing some Qinhuai River painting boat thing? We might as well visit and let my men relax."

The adjutant thought for a moment: "Young Marshal, going there is fine, but it risks letting soldiers slacken, what if there's an incident...?"

Chu Yuan snorted coldly: "There won't be any incidents; the people of Wanguo Island will be grateful if we don't provoke them. There's no force nearby that can rival us."

"But wasn't a warrant issued, stating Ye Fan might be at Wanguo Island?"

"You know it's a warrant, which means even if Ye Fan comes, he won't bring many people; even if some more come, what fear does the First Fleet have? We're the force conquering the seas; are we supposed to fear the Dawn Army, which doesn't even have a navy? You're really too timid."

The adjutant, reprimanded for a couple of sentences, also felt he was worrying unnecessarily.

Although the Dawn Army has some air power, separated by countless mountains and rivers, they're unaware of our movements, making this concern excessive.

Nevertheless, he cautiously instructed the fleet's soldiers: "Keep observing, stay alert, the health department should ensure sanitation and disinfection, prevent infections, even without zombies or the Dawn Army, Wanguo Island isn't fully reliable, don't let anyone exploit weaknesses."

Everyone agreed, the necessary tasks still had to be done.

......

Inside Ye Fan's third villa.

Electronic warfare soldiers were tapping away, sending telegrams.

Compared to frequent radio channel switching, telegrams were quicker.

The telegram's firsthand source was the reconnaissance of the War Eagle Dark Cloud over the Celestial River.

The War Eagle was truly a reconnaissance marvel; soaring in the high skies, even if spotted, it's just a bird, rarely does anyone suspect a bird to be a spy.

Through the Red Alert System's visual transformation, the scenes seen by the War Eagles are transmitted back to the electronic warfare soldiers here for detailed analysis.

"Jiangzhou First Fleet, two aircraft carriers, approximately one hundred aircraft, mostly models from the latter half of the last century."

"Escort fleet, consisting of eight main warships: two battleships, two cruisers, four frigates."

"Other vessels totaled ten, including four cargo ships carrying soldiers and armored units, and six submarine chasers for patrolling."

"Other hovercraft, landing crafts, and assault boats, quantities unspecified."

"Total manpower around twenty thousand, led by Jiangzhou First Fleet Commander Chu Yuan."

"Opposing fleet slowing down, lead submarine chasers are reaching Jinling Port, home to a base numbering over a hundred thousand."

"Confirmed...confirmed, Jiangzhou First Fleet is docked at Jinling."

The electronic warfare soldier quickly organized an array of data and used telegrams to send it back to Dawn City.

Over in Dawn City, they swiftly organized all the documents, paired them with the battle plan, and sent them to Ye Fan's orderly Wang Meng.

Upon hearing Wang Meng's report, Ye Fan sprang up excitedly.

This is what Cao Zhenxu relied on, Jiangzhou First Fleet, has finally arrived.

Perhaps because it's in the inland river, and perhaps they've been living the good life for too long, this fleet docked at a port midway through, according to the video relayed back from the War Hawk's perspective, many officers on the ship were probably off to indulge in revelry.

Ye Fan immediately asked the communicator to relay the message: "Where are our Dawn Army's planes?"

"Report, Commander, as per your instructions, aside from retaining five fighter jets at Dawn City, the remaining fifteen fighter jets and ten bombers, gunboats, and ten Night Hawk helicopters, and ten transport aircraft have all arrived at Golden City Airport."

Ye Fan calculated: "Golden City is still somewhat distant from here, helicopters probably won't make it in time to join the attack, but it doesn't matter, fighter jets and bombers should be enough to solve the problem—what's the detected anti-air firepower of Jiangzhou First Fleet?"

"Report, Commander, Jiangzhou First Fleet does have anti-air capabilities. They are actively developing missile technology, currently already having some low-altitude short-range anti-air missiles, in addition to anti-air artillery and anti-air machine guns as firepower."

Ye Fan understood upon hearing this, the enemy is also working hard on missile technology, but fortunately, they haven't surpassed us.

Aside from the slight threat posed by some short-range anti-air missiles, our fighter jets and bombers cannot be dealt with by anti-air artillery and machine guns.

"No matter, everything can't be perfectly foolproof, even if there's some loss this time, the operation must proceed. Let the staff department decide how to fight; my only demand is one—absolutely do not let the First Fleet arrive at Wanguo Island, if possible, let them stay within Celestial River."

"Understood!"

The communicator quickly relayed Ye Fan's instructions, and soon, the Dawn Army's operations staff department drafted the battle plan.

Tonight, Dawn Army's aircraft fleet will fly over two thousand kilometers for a night raid on Jiangzhou First Fleet.

......

Lynk is the captain of the Dawn Army's first strategic bomber, now the captain of the bomber unit.

He has already led the bomber squad, under the escort of fifteen Attack-8 fighters, arriving at Golden City for two days.

He knows the main force is already advancing toward Wanguo Island, yet he's still here waiting, growing somewhat impatient.

He yearns for battle, every soldier of the Dawn Army yearns for battle; after finishing off Hai Shan Wei, he hasn't had a chance for actual combat.

Unexpectedly, before the main force reached Wanguo Island, the air force suddenly received combat orders.

The higher-ups required them to quickly finish dinner, then convene.

He roughly knew the meeting content: Dawn Army's air force will set off after midnight and reach Jinling Port at Celestial River before dawn, to night raid Jiangzhou First Fleet.

Although the commander is not currently in Jiangzhou, they've long designated Jiangzhou as the enemy; a night raid on the First Fleet would be an early strike on enemy war potential.

After consuming the nutritious pilot meal, Lynk and his comrades headed to the meeting room to receive the order from the staff department.

After accepting the order, everyone collectively rested, sleeping for four hours.

Dawn Army's soldiers have this ability: they don't suffer from insomnia, can sleep on command, and be full of energy from just four hours of sleep.

Lynk and others slipped into their sleeping bags and quickly fell into deep sleep.

Four hours later, the assembly call sounded, everyone woke up, tidied themselves, and arrived at the dark airport.

By now, it was already one-thirty in the latter half of the night, where one couldn't see their hand in front of their face.

Air Force Major Shen Long stood in front of the crowd, assigning tasks to Lynk and the other pilots.

"This time, a total of twenty-five aircraft will participate in the operation!"

"Among them, fifteen are fighter jets, tasked with securing air superiority: if the enemy's aircraft carriers launch fighter jets, then fighters are to take them down."

"However, the highlight of this operation is still the bomber squadron. Lynk, because we only have ten bombers, the expectation on you this time is accuracy in bombing, especially those two aircraft carriers and two battleships; absolutely send them into the Great River, otherwise these assets pose a significant threat to our upcoming navy!"

Lynk immediately stood at attention: "Rest assured, Major, if I can't send these four ships into the Great River, I'll crash the plane right into them to sink them."

"Nonsense, the commander values soldiers' lives above all, no one can forsake them lightly. Remember, now is when the enemy's defenses are most lax; such an opportunity may not come again, so this time has to be a total success. The commander won't forget anyone's service; we're about to expand Dawn Army into a division, and there will be officer positions waiting for you!"

"Victory to Dawn Army!"

"Mission guaranteed!"

All pilots roared in unison, each excited, faces flushed.

This is also a tradition of the Dawn Army: an obsession with rank; upon hearing the chance of promotion, they almost want to rush into battle immediately.

"Move out!"

Shen Long waved his hand, then personally boarded a fighter jet.

Lynk and the others also boarded their planes; after the engines roared to life, the aircraft took off from Golden City Airport, heading straight South!

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