Empire Conquest

Chapter 470 - 466: Dispute Over Direction

Although Liu Changxun didn’t state it explicitly, once Sri Lanka was conquered and the march into Boss Bay faced no insurmountable obstacles, the Navy had to shift its focus back to the East Ocean.

The question was, should they head south first or east first?

It was also the most severe internal division within the Navy.

Historically, led by the Liu Family, the Southern Faction had always advocated for a southern advance, arguing for an initial attack and occupation of the Aus Continent after consolidating homeland defense, at least initiating strategic expansion in that direction, and then establishing a defensive perimeter to ensure absolute safety in the Flame Sea and West East Ocean areas.

This was also related to the history of the Navy.

Back in Chen Bingxun’s era, the Navy had devised a strategic plan to invade the Aus Continent and had scheduled it after clearing the Fan Flame Ocean.

Chen Bingxun personally drafted the plan, which received full support from Emperor Shiwu.

Before the attack on Jibu Fortress, the Navy had already completed preparations for deploying troops to Aus. At Tuk Fortress, sufficient supplies for a two hundred thousand-strong army to campaign for a year had been accumulated, the expeditionary forces had conducted adaptability training in the Mala region, and even the declaration of war had been drafted.

According to the plan, after capturing Jibu Fortress, the next move would be to deploy troops to Aus.

Unexpectedly, Chen Bingxun fell in battle outside Jibu Fortress, and the Navy’s expansion momentum abruptly halted.

As Liu Changxun put it, attacking Aus was more like a sentimental attachment for the Navy, even a legacy, carrying strong symbolic significance.

Most representatively, every Navy Commander drafted a plan to attack Aus upon taking office.

It was sentiment, opposing the attack on Aus was akin to forgetting one’s ancestors.

On this issue, Liu Changxun elaborated further.

Now, apart from the traditional Southern Faction rallied around Liu Xiangzhen, even the relatively open-minded Liu Xiangdong advocated to attack Aus.

The reason Liu Xiangdong gave was that only by attacking Aus could they ensure strategic security on the flank.

This reason seemed sufficient.

The Imperial Army already controlled the Flame Sea and its surrounding regions, commonly known as the Southeast, and had secured the strategic route to the Fan Flame Ocean, about to march into Boss Bay, thus preserving the Southeast and defending the southern naval routes was the Navy’s subsequent important task.

As long as Aus remained under Newland Army control, it was always a threat.

Moreover, even when considering deploying a concentrated force to the Howay Islands, attacking Aus should be considered. The Newland forces in the Southwest East Ocean were an immense threat that could not be ignored, inevitably impacting the Navy’s operations in the Middle East Ocean direction.

Yet, this seemingly sufficient reason was fundamentally flawed.

As for why, it was mentioned earlier.

Although Aus was vast in territory with its core in the Southeast and a population of less than 20 million mainly concentrated in a few cities,

across the expansive hinterland, the west, and the north, it was almost entirely uninhabited desert with little value.

For the attackers, the vast desert was a natural barrier.

For the local Newland Army, it served as a shield.

In fact, crossing the Aus desert by vehicle was almost as difficult as crossing the East Ocean by boat.

Thus, even if the Newland Army controlled the Aus Continent, they couldn’t possibly use it as a springboard to attack the Southeast or march into the Fan Flame Ocean.

Strategically, the main purpose of the Newland Federation’s deployment to control Aus was to contain the Liangxia Empire, forcing it to waste time and resources in that direction.

Then, marching into the Southwest East Ocean and attacking Aus would be playing right into the enemy’s hands.

As for advancing into the Middle East Ocean and attacking the Howay Islands, it was even less related to Aus.

Despite the immense size of the East Ocean, being the world’s largest ocean and equivalent to half the Earth’s surface area, the shipping routes connecting the Gu Continent and Aus were limited to only three. First, from the western coast of the Newland Federation, through the Howay Islands and many islands of the Southwest East Ocean to the northeast of Aus. Second, from the Wangxi Canal, across the entire East Ocean, ultimately reaching the eastern part of Aus. Third, from Joint Angle heading west, continuously sailing near the Southern Hemisphere’s West Wind Belt, reaching the southeast of Aus via New Zealand.

Among these three routes, only the first two have value.

The third route has basically no economic value because it is almost entirely within the unfavorable West Wind Belt and involves sailing against the current.

The first two routes both pass through the Middle East Ocean.

It is apparent that the Empire’s attack on the Howay Islands should truly concern the Newland Federation. Once the Imperial Army captures the Howay Islands, they could easily sever the main maritime route to Aus, effectively forcing the Newland Federation to relinquish the entire Southwest East Ocean.

From a strategic perspective, holding the Howay Islands is the only hope of securing Aus.

The reasoning is simple, and the Newland Federation’s intent to deploy troops to control Aus is thus clear.

If so, why attack Aus?

Using Bai Zhizhan’s words, it is completely unnecessary.

There are also issues in practical implementation.

From a tactical perspective, the first step in attacking Aus is actually to capture Tuk Fortress, gaining a foothold into the Southwest East Ocean.

The problem is that in the Southwest East Ocean, unlike the Middle East Ocean, the islands are densely scattered.

Capturing Tuk Fortress is just the beginning.

To the south, there are the Bismarck Archipelago, New Guinea, Solomon Islands, New Caledonia, and the Coral Sea, which is larger than the Flame Sea.

Moreover, most of these islands are only a few hundred kilometers apart.

Taking them one by one?

Even if the Imperial Navy is brave and skilled in battle, and the Marine Corps are fierce and tenacious, it would not be possible to land in Aus without two to three years.

Do not forget, the battle at Sai Island hasn’t concluded, and the Imperial Army hasn’t even landed on Guan Island yet.

The defense at Tuk Fortress is certainly superior to that on Guan Island, arguably one of the strongest military strongholds in the entire East Ocean.

As for the southern islands, most are uninhabited and barren, posing severe challenges for large-scale military operations.

Once there, the tropical rainforest may well become the number one enemy of the Imperial Army.

By then, forget fighting the enemy, facing diseases like malaria and other tropical diseases could easily devastate the Imperial Marine Corps.

It should be mentioned that the distance from Guan Island to Tuk Fortress is, in fact, the longest.

This means that once the first step is taken, that is, deploying troops to attack Tuk Fortress, there is no turning back; the only option is to keep pushing forward.

Furthermore, the first step is also the most difficult.

Even under the most optimistic estimates, attacking Tuk Fortress would require deploying 30,000 troops and at least half a year.

The crux of the matter is that several carriers must be deployed.

With the current state of the Imperial Navy, if the Special Mixed Fleet is sent to attack Tuk Fortress, it definitely won’t be able to deploy troops to the Howay Islands.

It’s a choice between one or the other.

The main issue with the Imperial Navy at the moment is that there aren’t enough carriers.

If there were enough carriers, it wouldn’t just be two directions; even including the Fan Flame Ocean for a simultaneous attack on three fronts wouldn’t be an issue.

About half of the generals support Liu Xiangzhen, and some maintain a wait-and-see attitude, hence there is lesser support for deploying troops to the Howay Islands.

As for the reasons, Liu Changxun hasn’t said, nor needs to spell it out.