Chapter 149 03.0148: "The Beginning of Air Warfare"

At the same time, inside the Indefatigable.

Horatio led his guards towards the nearest ship's hospital bay. God knew how long this battle would last.

He needed to find a naval doctor to get some medicine to refresh his mind and treat the minor injuries that were aching him.

As he walked, he looked through the porthole and saw another large-scale Space Marine Thunderhawk bombing squadron set sail.

These huge scarlet fighters were first deployed towards the end of the Great Crusade as replacements for the Type 6 "Stormbird" gunships.

The various weapons carried on the Thunder Eagle can arm this super bird that roams the void and the atmosphere to the teeth.

When Horatio had read the setting before, it was recorded that many Space Marines who rode it for the first time felt uncomfortable, as they found it lighter and more fragile than the reliable Stormbird.

But Horatio didn't think so after riding in it last time, because no matter how fragile the Space Marines' vehicles were, they were still sturdier than those of mortals.

Under the same attack conditions, the Star Eagle might have simply lost control and turned into a pile of scrap metal.

Even if a Thunder Eagle breaks down an engine, it can still hold on. Even if it cannot break through the atmosphere and fly back to the battleship, it can still fly to the ground airport.

Even if they were unlucky enough to become the 40K prisoner and crashed, the excellent impact-resistant suspension and armor plates would most likely save the lives of the two Space Marine pilots.

As a result, the Thunderhawk became increasingly widely equipped due to its cheapness, power and versatility, and by the end of the 41st Millennium it had become the iconic vehicle of the Space Marine aviation force.

Moreover, the huge Thunder Eagle Cannon is powered by an advanced machine soul-assisted electric transmission, which allows for smooth operation and extremely fast rotation speed.

Last time, Blood Angel used the Thunder Eagle to send Horatio back.

The enthusiastic Blood Angel gunners also let Horatio sit on it for a trial ride. They took him to the airspace where the wreckage of abandoned ships was densely floating. There, under the guidance of the Blood Angel gunners, Horatio used the powerful Thunder Eagle cannon to destroy many wreckages like target practice.

Some of the wreckage of the abandoned ships even hid one or two Death Guard Plague Marines. After the wreckage was shattered by the Thunder Eagle cannon, observers saw their fat corpses floating in the void.

Although the systems on board the Thunderhawks are complex, they are sturdy and reliable, and are all controlled by an M33 "Cygnus" class machine spirit.

Utilizing aetheric and phlogiston feed coils, purge shields and pseudo-synaptic relays, the Cygnus is capable of a cognitive speed of 40000 co/s and the maximum thinking capacity of 10000 brains, rivaling even the most powerful Reaver Titan Machine Spirits.

Three squadrons of Thunder Eagles were seen diving down from a higher void plane. With the assistance of the Machine Souls and the extraordinary control of the two Astartes pilots, the Blood Angels' Thunder Eagles were like hell divers falling from the sky, deftly avoiding the incoming close-range defense lasers and artillery shells.

The Thunder Eagle Cannons on top roared and bombarded the gun deck of the Murder-class cruiser. The salvo of 18 Thunder Eagle Cannons instantly destroyed the three side cannons, and blew the cultists inside into foam in the void.

When these soaring falcons approached the ship's spine and bridge at an extremely fast speed, the Astartes bomber operator pressed the bombing switch.

Six plasma bombs whizzed out from under the wings, tearing and melting a long line of armor on the spine of the ship.

The pilot immediately raised the nose of the plane and rushed towards the bridge of the enemy ship.

They were not afraid of the intercepting fire from the bridge. Unfortunately, a Thunderhawk from the first squadron was shot down and crashed into the lower bridge, catching fire.

But the members inside did not die under the protection of thick armor. The Blood Angel crew who only suffered some minor injuries jumped out of the Thunderhawk gunboat and smashed into the lower bridge, raised their chainswords and bolters and directly transformed into a strike team and started a bloody killing and revenge.

The inexplicable and sudden appearance of the Astartes stunned the mutinous officers on the bridge. Before they could call for reinforcements, they were chopped into pieces by the crew members who rushed over.

The other crews are still continuing their combat mission. "Lock on: middle of the bridge"

"Lock complete"

『Hymn of Rage has been activated』

The melta missiles mounted on the wingtips on both sides rushed forward, and 30 melta missiles drew dense wakes in the void and hit the bridge directly.

Boom boom boom!
The successive huge explosions caused the outer structure of the top of the bridge, which was filled with skulls, to be shaky. Countless huge skeletons and fangs of alien monsters shattered and collapsed from above, smashing onto the hull below, causing another round of collapse, crushing many damage control crew members who went to the bridge to put out the fire, and blocking the subsequent roads.

After firing all their anti-ship weapons, the three Thunderhawk squadrons sailed away in style, with the combat guns on top of them turned their muzzles backwards, continuously causing explosive damage to the enemy's ship's hull as they moved away.

[A perfect void bombardment.] Horatio couldn't help but applaud the Blood Angels' bombardment squadron.

A budding idea sprouted in his mind: the Imperial Navy did not pay much attention to the use of aircraft carriers, mainly because aircraft carriers would affect the artillery combat capability of battleships.

But if a large number of cheap small warships are used as escort aircraft carriers and incorporated into the rear guard fleet, wouldn't it be possible to put the vanguard, main force, and rear guard fleets to use together?
After all, the naval battles in the 40K universe look like fierce competition between sailing warships no matter from which aspect and dimension.

However, as long as there are a certain number of aircraft carriers, they can still perform well and even play a key role in the entire naval battle.

But Horatio soon sighed, because the resistance to proving this tactical idea was too great.

Although the Imperial Navy is considered to be a relatively open-minded branch of the military in the Empire, it is notoriously conservative and old-fashioned when it comes to tactical innovation.

The reasons given by the top Navy officials are simple and straightforward: we don't have enough production capacity, we are short of warships everywhere, and the number of reserve personnel is greater than the number of ships needed. We don't have that many resources left for aircraft carriers. We might as well build a few more classic, practical, and tough Moon-class cruisers.

Moreover, the use of carrier-based aircraft was generally considered an ineffective and dishonorable behavior in combat by the top brass of the Imperial Navy.

It is precisely because of this prejudice that the Empire's naval pilots are generally not taken seriously, there is a lack of research on the use of aircraft, the fleet lacks aircraft carriers, fighter jets cannot be used in a concentrated manner, and individual aviation squadrons are reduced to disposable bomb-destructing soldiers...and so on.

Due to various circumstances, the lives of naval aviation pilots in battle are almost calculated by the hour, just like the Void IG (Interstellar Army), whose average lifespan is only 15 hours.

Horatio could understand the thinking of the naval top brass; caliber was the sword that determined victory in naval battles, and large ships and huge guns were the cornerstones of the Imperial Navy.

Most naval commanders also do not approve of capital ships being built like the Oberon-class battleships, which want everything but are good at nothing.

I believe that a battleship should just fulfill its primary duty of engaging in battle line combat. If it cannot do so, then it is not a good battleship.

Although Horatio did not fully agree with it, releasing carrier-based aircraft to seize air superiority and leaving it to specialized light aircraft carriers to do so, freeing up the battleship's aviation deck was indeed a good choice.

Moreover, the imperial star sea is vast, and the deterrence range that a light escort aircraft carrier can cover is much wider than that of a ship-borne weapons warship. Its range can even be doubled, effectively curbing pirates and protecting transport routes.

A seed of experimental idea was planted in Horatio's mind.

But if we want to explore a suitable route, the road ahead is still long and arduous.

There are many areas that need further improvement, from the selection of ship hull, construction difficulty, squadron size, tactics and strategies, to changes in existing cruising modes.

Many details still need to be refined through the actual conditions of various star regions of the empire and the practice of future void wars.

　Please give me a monthly ticket~Please give me a recommendation ticket~(●｀●)Thank you! Please give me a little! This month, my child wants to experience the feeling of 1000 last time!
　　
　
(End of this chapter)