Heavy Bombing

Another dragon arrived at Silver Island, carrying another key member of tonight's operation: Xiwo, who had come from Red Luo Port.

The old elf leaped off the dragon's back and immediately spotted the enormous H-6 WZ floating on the water, marveling at it.

"Is this the loot you got after slaying that super dragon?" He floated into the plane, stroking the smooth, hard skeleton inside the cabin, flicking his fingers to produce a crisp sound. "Truly excellent material!"

"Of course," Su Ming replied, "We really struck it rich in that battle."

The battle against the Super Crystal Dragon not only provided our side with a large amount of top-grade bone materials for modification, but also mountains of scales and muscle.

Alchemists are currently focusing their research on the properties of these materials. As methods of use are developed, Su Ming has serious doubts about the design of the next generation of combat units from the Final Bone Mad Machines.

"With such excellent material, I'm even thinking of switching to a necromancer," Xiwo joked.

He entered the cabin, where a nautical chart hung, and the sprite quickly completed the calculations.

"According to intelligence, the main Naga Clan force set off the day before yesterday." He marked an area on the nautical chart. "Based on their speed of movement, this is the most likely location now."

Under the mechanic's control, the Rainbow Drone quickly arrived at the corresponding sea area and dropped multiple sonar buoys on the sea surface. Most of them were passive, with only a few being active sonar emitters.

Before long, a large number of signals resembling "schools of fish" were detected. These targets were distributed in a long and scattered line from below the surface to a depth of 100 meters in the sea, swimming towards Brown Gold Island.

Xiwo leaned closer to the screen, carefully examining the characteristics of the sonar echoes, and quickly made a definitive judgment, "That's right, these are the Naga swarm!"

An alarm sounded, and the active acoustic devices were all destroyed by the Naga in the sea. However, the data system had already recorded the data and quickly completed the statistics: there were approximately 30,000 suspicious targets, scattered in a marching column that was four kilometers long and about 600 meters wide.

"Wow, there are so many!" Su Ming exclaimed with some emotion. As far as he knew, the total population of the Naga Clan was less than a million.

"The Naga can be considered a race where everyone is a soldier," Xiwo explained. "However, I estimate that of these 30,000 Naga, less than a third are elite warriors; the majority are likely second-line or support units."

The attack method planned for tonight had already been determined: dropping depth charges. After trying various underwater attack methods, they finally found that the simple and unpretentious explosive detonation, which created overpressure in the water, had the most significant destructive effect.

The Naga Clan arrested last time were all used as test subjects for precise testing. Through underwater explosion tests of different yields and distances, they obtained data showing that a 200-kilogram depth charge is the most economical configuration, achieving a kill rate of over 80% within a 20-meter radius.

"We need to drop bombs in arrays at 40-meter intervals." Su Ming quickly began calculating, "The Naga will try to escape, so we need to extend the bombs outwards by 100 meters on both sides. This will require 2,000 bombs to cover the target on a flat surface."

"These Naga are distributed in water a hundred meters deep, which means three layers of bombs, a total of 6,000," Xiwo interjected, then asked with great uncertainty, "Can your aircraft carry them all?"

Size is not an issue, but each depth charge weighs 225 kilograms, so 6,000 depth charges would weigh a total of 1,350 tons!

Su Ming turned his head to the side; the mechanics had already completed their calculations. "The target sea area is 500 kilometers away; the round-trip fuel consumption is approximately 60 tons!"

This quantity is significantly smaller than expected, and with the reserved excess fuel, this sortie only requires 100 tons of fuel.

The H-6 WZ has an empty weight of 1200 tons and a maximum takeoff weight of 2600 tons. Therefore...

"That leaves 1300 tons of payload." Su Ming frowned. This feeling of being just a little short made him uncomfortable. Although dropping fewer bombs wouldn't affect the overall operation.

"No, that's not true!" Miao Xin said proudly, "These past few days Fengshou and the others have optimized the aerodynamics of the fuselage again, increasing our maximum takeoff weight by another 200 tons!"

"That's amazing?" Su Ming was somewhat surprised.

Miao Xin glanced regretfully at the twelve massive engines mounted on the fuselage. "This isn't the structural limit of this aircraft, but it is our power limit."

"Be content!" Su Ming laughed. "With a maximum takeoff weight of 2,800 tons, one sortie can accomplish the work of an entire air division—what more could you ask for!"

****

Most of the depth charges had already been loaded before Su Ming arrived. After confirming the shortfall, the logistics personnel quickly completed the replenishment and recalculated the load balance.

About half an hour later, the plane finally roared and began to take off.

Despite its enormous load, the twenty-four large coaxial propellers created miniature storms, much like hurricanes, propelling the behemoth forward at an accelerated speed.

The H-6 WZ under heavy load showed a clear difference. Previously, it could be seen to rise and fall with the waves, but now it could only be seen to cleave the waves like a rock, with its fuselage height remaining almost unchanged.

Miao Xin had to increase the pull on the stick to get the aircraft into the step taxiing phase.

Because it was fully loaded, in addition to testing whether the aerodynamic and control systems were functioning properly, she also needed to observe whether the center of gravity was balanced.

Sure enough, the plane showed a backward tendency during its brief period of airborne flight.

"The tail is too heavy!" Miao Xin quickly warned.

She immediately prepared to announce the abort of the takeoff.

Anyway, this is on the sea, and there are "runways" everywhere that can be used, so there's no such thing as decision speed.

But Xiwo confidently declared, "No need, continue taking off!"

He unbuckled his seatbelt, grabbed the seat next to him with one hand, and raised the other.

As a magical aura emanated, Levitation Spell was cast on the tail of the H-6 WZ, stabilizing the sinking fuselage.

Miao Xin immediately turned to look at Su Ming, her soul fire carrying a question.

Su Ming quickly calculated the Magic Power cost of the Xiwo spell in his mind, and nodded after a moment, indicating that he could continue.

After receiving confirmation, Miao Xin pulled the control stick, H-6 WZ broke free from the sea and took off.

Xiwo, who was maintaining the Levitation Spell, suddenly changed his expression - why was his Magic Power being consumed so much all of a sudden!

Fortunately, after the plane took off smoothly, Su Ming opened the bomb disposal port at the rear of the cabin and jettisoned 100 depth charges without hesitation, reducing the weight on the tail section.

"It's okay!" Miao Xin said, "My center of gravity is under my control now!"

Xiwo immediately withdrew his spell, only to feel his legs go weak and he almost lost his balance. Fortunately, a sharp-eyed mechanic had already gotten up and helped him back to his seat.

"Thank you for your hard work, Mr. Xiwo," Su Ming said, suppressing a smile.

Suspending tens of tons of weight is not difficult for this Grand Magus Mentor, but the energy gap when the plane takes off is not something that can be easily filled.

The simple rule of conservation of energy still applies in this other world.

****

The flight then proceeded smoothly. Miao Xin deployed the cruise flaps, H-6 WZ, dragging its heavy body, cut through the airflow above the sea and sped toward the target area.

Xiwo had recovered. He wiped the thin layer of sweat from his forehead, looked out the porthole at the vast waves crashing behind him, and at the cylindrical depth charges piled up on the deck full of bomb racks, and was filled with emotion.

"With such a powerful weapon in your hands, no wonder you dare to boast that you'll wipe out the Naga clan tonight," he said to Su Ming.

Su Ming was analyzing the sonar detection data he had collected earlier. The Naga's marching formation contained a lot of auxiliary supplies, some of which were clearly war machines.

In addition, the Naga also harnessed many whales to help transport the equipment.

"Mr. Xiwo, you mentioned last time that the Naga race is developing weapons for attacking ships," Su Ming inquired. "Is that true?"

"They're equipped with a heavy underwater firing weapon," Xiwo replied. "It's a copy of your torpedo, loaded with about two tons of alchemical explosives, used for bottom-drilling attacks on ships; it's extremely destructive."

While the alchemical explosives from another world have a slightly higher yield than TNT, their detonation velocity and detonation pressure are actually quite low. They're adequate for use on land, but their effectiveness diminishes in the extremely dense underwater environment.

Su Ming estimated that the Pansy's current "Everwatching Obelisk Defense System" was sufficient to withstand weapons of this caliber. His concern was that the enemy's numbers and weapon power might increase, or that their shield-breaking technology might be upgraded.

Therefore, it's necessary to decisively take down the Naga, a race that inhabits the sea!

With the deployment of the second batch of sonar buoys by the Rainbow Drone, the Naga army's new location was also found. They were seven or eight kilometers west of their intended position, clearly indicating that the previous sonar reconnaissance had alerted them.

However, unlike before, the Naga Clan have now stopped marching and are no longer swimming in the sea.

"It's their sleeping time now, the opportunity is perfect!" Xiwo explained, "Any later and they'll become more scattered as they drift in the water."

Without delay, Su Ming immediately ordered, "Miao Xin, plan the flight path and prepare to begin bombing!"

"Immediately!"

The H-6 WZ quickly adjusted its direction, flying in a zigzag pattern, and soon arrived at the Naga army's column axis. Miao Xin increased altitude and speed, flying straight towards them.

"Altitude 60 meters, speed 180 knots," she reported loudly to the commander. "Contact with the enemy in three minutes!"

"Switch to bombing configuration!" Su Ming commanded.

The crew rushed to the cabin and opened all twenty bomb disposal hatches on both sides. Each hatch was equipped with a pneumatic drop device and connected to racks for storing depth charges.

After the bomb release port opened, the air resistance on the aircraft increased. Miao Xin pulled the throttle to the maximum, and all twelve engines entered their highest speed. The huge fuselage trembled slightly, and the roar was deafening.

The mechanics opened the valves of the ejection system, and high-temperature, high-pressure gas from the engine rushed in.

"Air intake complete!"

"Ejection system ready!"

Xiwo kept a close eye on the distance between the aircraft and the Naga formation on the screen. As the sonar signal ahead drew closer, he decisively waved his hand.

Inside the cockpit, the bomb release indicator lights flashed red, and the mechanics pulled the bomb release switches. Propelled by the powerful high-pressure gas from the engine, depth charges were launched at high speed from the twenty bomb release outlets.

The furthest of them glided for a full 400 meters before crashing into the water; the catapult output decreased in succession, and by the last two windows at the rear of the cabin, the bombs were almost in freefall, falling onto the sea surface that the H-6 WZ was speeding past.

The mechanics adjusted the air pressure to ensure that the bombs were spaced 40 meters apart, watching as each batch of twenty bombs fell rapidly onto the sea like a shower of petals, forming a spectacular bombing line.

"The aircraft's speed is decreasing!" Su Ming reminded him, staring at the speedometer. "Coordinate with reducing the firing rate!"

"Understood!" the mechanics replied.

Because some of the engine's thrust was diverted to the bombing system, there was insufficient power. To coordinate with the bombing, Miao Xin preferred to reduce the flight speed rather than lose altitude. She continuously increased the leading-edge flap angle to compensate for the lack of lift.

But as the aircraft continued to drop bombs to reduce weight, the flaps were quickly retracted, and the plane began to increase speed again.

****

As the H-6 WZ roared menacingly toward the Naga army at high speed, the advance troops were the first to detect the anomaly. They alerted the main force and simultaneously surfaced to assess the situation.

But this had no effect. Just as the Naga Sentinels could make out the outline of the giant object in the night, the H-6 WZ, with its overwhelming momentum and shielded by magic, mercilessly rolled over them.

The enormous sound waves made the Naga dizzy, and the surging waves swept them away and scattered them.

Upon receiving the alert from the outposts, the Naga Queen immediately ordered all her people to be on alert.

She was waiting for further intelligence from the sentries scattered throughout the area, but she noticed that the strange sounds above were getting closer and more piercing, and an ominous premonition began to rise in the Naga Queen's heart.

She suddenly looked up and heard something enormous sweep across her head at an incomprehensible speed, leaving only a deafening wave that churned and rolled endlessly across the sea.

Immediately following were the sounds of heavy objects falling into the water, one after another, cylindrical objects falling densely into the sea.

The Naga Queen realized something was wrong and immediately let out a sharp whistle, signaling all her people to scatter to the sides and flee from these unidentified objects.

But more depth charges continued to fall, their coverage extending to both sides, covering the entire area where the Naga were located. These bombs sank rapidly after hitting the water.

Upon seeing this, the Naga Queen let out another howl, signaling her people not to approach and to stay away from them!

But the next moment, a flash of white light appeared in the sea ahead. The sea suddenly rippled, as if something had swept across the first batch of depth charges that had reached their designated depth and exploded with a bang.

Then, more depth charges were detonated in succession, like a barrage of firecrackers spreading rapidly across the dark sea.

The Naga scattered in panic, only to find the bombs were everywhere. Before they could even figure out how to avoid them, the explosions were already upon them.

The surrounding seawater suddenly compressed violently, then expanded abruptly. Many Naga didn't even have time to let out a scream before they fell completely silent.