Munitions Empire

The ships that had assembled for the rescue of the five pilots finally began to concern themselves with the fate of the officers and soldiers of Shireck who were adrift on the water's surface; to them, this was definitely good news.

One after another, ropes were thrown down and the captives were hauled onto the ships. After they were stripped of their clothes and confirmed to not be carrying any weapons, they were locked in the spare watertight compartments.

A crowd huddled together, much like pigs and sheep. Though it seemed humiliating, it was still better than remaining in the water.

The guards who watched over them politely and professionally explained in detail the use of the valves inside the watertight compartments before they left.

Every captive from Shireck was painfully aware that by opening those valves, they could allow water to flood into the warship, causing it to list to one side.

However, they also knew that if they did so, the compartment they were in would quickly fill with seawater, and there was no way to make the guards outside the door open it to let them out.

Thus, to avoid everyone ending up underwater in a tin can again, the Shireck officers conscientiously drove those near the valves to the absolute safe corners.

As a result, actually, many of the Shireck POWs from this incident were indeed saved. According to post-event statistics, although they had missed the optimal rescue window, at least 1000 people became survivors of Shireck's stealth attack fleet.

As for the more than ten thousand Shireck and Gobur Kingdom sailors who perished, truly no one cared.

Such is war, devoid of any mercy.

"It's really speechless, the navy actually says that they don't even know what ship rescued the five pilots?" Xiao Yun, looking at the liaison officer and several officers from the air force who had come to deliver the message, could hardly believe it.

"Yes, that ship isn't part of our fleet, nor a civilian vessel; therefore, we don't know about its existence," the liaison officer explained with a shrug, stating the plain truth.

Xiao Yun also knew that their air force also had some planes that "didn't exist," at least even he didn't know what those planes looked like or what functionality they possessed.

But really, is such an absurdity acceptable? A non-existent ship rescued his pilots? How on earth could he write this report?

"The telegram sent by the other party was delivered directly to the shipyard," the liaison officer had to explain further.

The docks used for building submarines are classified and, in theory, do not exist. This non-existent dock informed the shipyard, notifying the shipyard's officials that a non-existent ship had saved five pilots…

At this point, it seemed it was not the time to worry about the non-existent ship: upon hearing that the entire stealth attack fleet had been annihilated, the navy's main fleet immediately headed north without looking back.

The task of rescuing the Shireck POWs was left entirely to the naval guard forces of Dragon Island and the now-proven "powerful air force."

With the performance of the planes having reached a sufficient height, no one doubted the air force's capabilities in naval warfare anymore.

Sinking 45 enemy ships was a good example. With such a force guarding Dragon Island, Bernard felt very reassured.

In fact, the navy's chief commander no longer cared about the safety of Dongwan Port and Linshui Port, for he knew that the air force there was fiercer and more numerous.

Hence, his purpose in heading north this time was very clear: it was to blockade Beiyuan City, even to seal off the Sheng Kingdom and to seek a decisive battle with the main force of the Sheng Navy.

Tang Mo, as a witness and participant in the entire war, had finally experienced firsthand the terrifying difficulty of maintaining a maritime hegemony.

No matter how many warships or planes you have, completely protecting the countless maritime routes is a fool's dream.

Construction is always more difficult than destruction; maintaining these routes requires a vast fleet of escort ships, powerful national strength, and a ruler's unwavering determination and perseverance.

Yet, to disrupt or slow down these transport lines is much simpler: a swift and agile fleet, or a few elusive submarines, are more than enough.

Luckily, Shireck didn't have equivalent technology; otherwise, for Tang Mo to win this current war would not be so easy.

Just dozens of outdated, slow, and weakly armed scrap warships were enough to tie up the powerful main fleet of Great Tang for over half a month. If the opposing sides were equally matched, the Endless Sea might have already been turned upside down by now.

Another hour passed, and the submarine, which could only make one-sided contact for secrecy reasons, finally sent back another telegram detailing the condition of the pilots.

It was only then that Xiao Yun finally learned that one of his pilots had perished, with the remaining four unscathed.

This relieved him greatly: the loss of one pilot was bearable, especially since accidents at this time could also result in the loss of a pilot.

So all that was left was to wait, only this time the wait was much more at ease, a simple, relaxed anticipation.

No matter what, submarines couldn't outpace warships in speed; the first to return were actually the two Weigang-class cruisers that had reached the battle zone only after it was dark that night.

The Weigang-class, formerly known as the Wolf-class cruisers, though built earlier, were still quite advanced technically, at least with respect to speed, they weren't outdated yet.

Although the Great Tang Group had already started building newer, more technologically advanced cruisers, the Weigang-class cruisers remained the backbone of the Great Tang Navy's strength for the short term.

The next vessels to return were the technically newer and better-conditioned Fengshun-class destroyers, which had sacrificed firepower and protection for mass construction. They were adept at patrolling, search and rescue, and making quick getaways.

All the vessels returning from their missions had rescued some of Shireck's prisoners to varying degrees, followed by the arrival of the outdated, slow-moving ironclad warships that had already begun to be phased out extensively.

If they hadn't been slated for complete retirement, they wouldn't have been reduced to doing odd jobs around Dragon Island. These warships were no longer suited for fleet operations, so they could only languish near the island, utilizing what little utility they had left.

The vessel that truly made a difference and saved people—the one that didn't exist—was still afloat at sea at that moment.

There was no helping it. To slightly increase the underwater speed, the Great Tang submarines, which had copied the design of the U-boats, didn't even have a surface speed of 20 knots.

Of course, if fully submerged, their pitiful speed would be less than 7 knots—that's roughly only about 12 kilometers per hour.

In fact, this experimental submarine couldn't reach 7 knots underwater, so the speed that should have been close to 13 kilometers per hour was essentially equivalent to 12 kilometers per hour.

As for its surface speed, the submarine was only comparable to the old ironclad warships. In order to keep the mission secret, it took a rarely trafficked route, circling around, which is why it was the last to arrive at the submarine's secret rendezvous point.

Consequently, on the afternoon of the following day, just before dinner time, the four rescued pilots finally stood before Xiao Yun.

Their appearance only pleased Xiao Yun for a few seconds. Their ensuing conversation soon caused Xiao Yun's temper to flare.

"Exactly what vessel rescued you?" In the beginning, Xiao Yun was merely curious, and so he asked casually, but things soon began to get awkward.

"Sorry, sir. We cannot say anything," the pilot replied, somewhat helplessly.

It truly wasn't within his power to decide on that matter, because as soon as they made landfall, several officers from the intelligence department showed their IDs to the pilots on the dock.

The dragon emblem on the IDs and the ranks below, along with the units to which these individuals belonged and the professions they practiced, all invoked a chilling, bone-tingling sensation of dread.

In fact, anyone involved in cases handled by this group could boast they didn't wet themselves with fright.

After these individuals clarified their intentions and had the pilots sign non-disclosure agreements, they could basically say nothing at all. Discover hidden tales at My Virtual Library Empire

To the pilots, they might as well have been transported back to Dragon Island directly by angels, swam back on their own, or subdued a whale and rode on its back to return...

In short, they could return any way they fancied, except by encountering a non-existent vessel.

They never saw the pipes-filled cabins or the command center dim with instrument lights; naturally, they also never saw a strange ship emerging from underwater.

Everything was non-existent, everything unspeakable...

"Then how am I supposed to write my report?" Xiao Yun fumed, feeling betrayed by his own subordinates.

The pilot was equally frustrated, as he was unable to mention any details to his superior officer at that moment and even had to lie: "We were rescued by a fishing boat."

"Which one?" Xiao Yun asked with a hollow laugh.

"The Finkel Number," the pilot continued without even a blush.

"The Finkel Number?" Xiao Yun, who certainly did not know of any Finkel Number, was not in charge of Dragon Island's ship scheduling.

"Yes, the Navy will have records of it, the Finkel Number," the pilot nodded with certainty. He even began to hypnotize himself into thinking that the submarine that had rescued them was indeed called the Finkel Number.

"..." Xiao Yun watched wordlessly as he turned to the standing electrician.

The electrician nodded, wearing a face of devout belief: "That's right! Sir!"

Xiao Yun then looked at the navigator and the bombardier.

"The Finkel Number! A very fine fishing vessel, sir," the two promptly replied, even describing the appearance of the fishing boat as if they had truly seen it.

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Two chapters today, catch-up chapters to follow the day after tomorrow.