In the early morning, the Mengjia Bay sea surface, sunlight pierced through the thin sea fog like countless golden arrows, illuminating the deep blue.
In the endless expanse where the water and sky merge, a massive fleet is sailing across Mengjia Bay. The prow of the ships cuts through the waves lightly. Under the sunlight, the steel-built warships are cloaked in a golden sheen, making them appear particularly majestic and powerful.
This fleet is the main naval combat group dispatched by India, which has deployed the majority of its naval forces to encircle and annihilate the Jieke Group's stealth cruiser.
It consists of one 43,000-ton aircraft carrier Vikrant, one 6,700-ton Delhi-class destroyer.
Four 7,500-ton Kolkata-class destroyers, which are the largest destroyers in India's fleet, including Kolkata, Kochi, Chennai, and Paknan.
Two 5,000-ton Rajput-class destroyers, Rajput and Rana.
Two nuclear submarines with 6,000-ton displacement, Vikrant and Arijat.
Two 28,000-ton replenishment ships, Deepak and Shadi.
Three 6,200-ton Shivalik-class frigates, the largest frigates in India's fleet, including Shivalik, Satpura, and Shaya Haishi.
Additionally, there are 15 Brahmaputra-class and Kamorta-class frigates, each with a displacement of 3,000-4,000 tons.
In total, the fleet comprises 30 warships above 3,000 tons of displacement, with a total displacement exceeding 230,000 tons. This represents the entirety of India's current active main combat ships, signifying the country's determination to win this naval battle.
At this moment, in the communications duty room of the Vikrant aircraft carrier, the duty communications officer looked ecstatic as he removed his headset, reporting the newly acquired intelligence to the carrier's command center.
Minutes later, an emergency meeting was convened on the aircraft carrier's island.
Admiral Kumar stood at the head of the command center's meeting table. He was the fleet commander of this Indian naval fleet.
Seated in the meeting room were senior officers of the fleet, including those from the carrier's own command system, destroyer squadron commanders, and carrier air wing commanders, among others.
"Latest intelligence, the Beautiful Country's satellite has detected the navigation trajectory of the stealth cruiser, coordinates: 91.4316054, 6.8910390."
Kumar picked up a photo—a satellite image showing clear navigational wakes of a large vessel.
"What, we've located the target."
"Great! As long as we know the rough area, we can conduct thorough searches, and now the enemy has nowhere to run."
"We've been circling the sea for a week; finally, we've found them."
Excitement visibly spread across the faces of those present, their emotions evident.
This massive fleet had been at sea for almost a week, failing to locate the Jieke Group's stealth cruiser due to their satellites being continuously targeted and destroyed by the Jieke Group in suicide attacks, causing intermittent surveillance.
Additionally, the target was only a single cruiser, not a carrier combat group.
A carrier combat group spans several tens of kilometers, making surveillance comparatively easier.
As a result, tracking the stealth cruiser had been extremely difficult over the past week.
"Immediately dispatch recon aircraft to the coordinates to verify if the stealth cruiser is in the area. Also, operate sea search radars at full power to locate the precise position of the stealth cruiser. I need detailed intelligence on the enemy."
Kumar's gaze shifted as he issued orders to the carrier air wing flight commander.
The air wing commander promptly issued notifications to redirect the nearby surveillance aircraft to verify the presence of the stealth cruiser in the coordinates provided.
If the enemy was indeed there, further detailed reconnaissance would be needed to ascertain the enemy's combat intentions, configuration, speed, etc.
The rest of the officers waited in the command room, their faces tense yet excited.
Time ticked by slowly, Kumar resting his chin on hands, a solemn expression on his face.
The silence was finally broken after 18 minutes.
A communications officer burst into the command room, clutching a document file, shouting excitedly, "Commander, Recon Aircraft D-8 went missing, but before losing contact, it successfully relayed intelligence back. Confirmed, we have found the Jieke Group's stealth cruiser. The enemy ship is 409 kilometers southeast of us, cruising at 20 knots. There is only one ship."
Kumar's eyes lit up as he reviewed the intelligence file, which detailed the enemy's status, and the transmitted image validated that it was indeed their target stealth cruiser, alone without any accompanying vessels.
Kumar's lips curled, unable to contain his grin any longer.
Finally, unimaginable riches had landed on his lap. Sinking this stealth cruiser would make him a national naval hero in India, bringing wealth and fame in abundance.
As for failure, he did not consider it a possibility.
With a massive fleet of 30 warships against one, the advantage was vastly in his favor. If they still lost, they might as well find a tofu block to bash their heads against.
"Transmit the order to launch all carrier-based aircraft, loaded with anti-ship missiles and precision-guided bombs, and commence electronic countermeasures."