Empire Conquest

Chapter 471 - 467: Choices

Liu Changxun didn’t raise all these problems just to complain to Bai Zhizhan; he wanted Bai Zhizhan to step up.

Even if complaining, Liu Changxun should’ve gone to Xue Yuanzheng.

"What does the top brass mean by this?"

"The Grand Secretary’s attitude is very clear. Before achieving strategic victory in the Northwest, we’ll handle naval affairs ourselves," Liu Changxun said with a bitter smile and a sigh, "Even if we send Lian Xusheng over, it would take at least half a year to make a breakthrough. From my understanding, not only do we have to bear this burden ourselves, but we also need to take on some of the Grand Secretary’s worries. In the coming half year, the Navy won’t be able to get much in the way of resources."

Bai Zhizhan nodded and rubbed his forehead vigorously.

Actually, Liu Changxun’s words were already quite euphemistic.

Shifting strategic focus to the Northwest was mainly for political reasons.

Before returning to the Imperial Capital, Bai Zhizhan had learned that the Tiaoman Empire’s envoy had been visiting the Prime Minister Mansion almost every day, emphasizing to Xue Yuanzheng the difficulties faced by the Tiaoman Empire.

Moreover, the Empire’s news media had also been focusing on the situation of the Tiaoman Empire.

This directly resulted in new queries, or rather, increased pressure on Xue Yuanzheng, who now had to use all his strength to preserve the Tiaoman Empire.

This surely had something to do with the Song Family.

Furthermore, it was highly likely that the Tiaoman Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom would soon dispatch troops to the Xuan Continent to open up a second front against the Bulan Kingdom.

If that were the case, the Empire’s Army in the Northwest would have to make some significant moves.

In terms of overall strategy, this also meant that the Imperial High Command might have already decided to first defeat the Bulan Kingdom and the Luosha Federation, then combine forces with allies to surround and attack the Newland Federation.

Hence, the Empire’s investment in the East Ocean direction wouldn’t be substantial in the short term.

Actually, Bai Zhizhan could understand this choice.

Through several previous engagements, especially the fierce battle at Sai Island, the Imperial High Command had clearly realized that hopes of defeating the Newland Federation quickly were very slim. If the confrontation with the Newland Federation was going to be a long-term war of attrition, they would first have to trim the Newland Federation’s wings.

That basically meant dealing with several weaker enemies first.

This was also related to the battles in the Fan Flame Ocean.

In just a few days, they had captured Lion Spring City and then sunk two Bulan carriers in a Fleet showdown. Victory had come far too easily.

Not just the Imperial High Command, even Bai Zhizhan felt defeating the Bulan Kingdom would be a piece of cake.

That said, this was also key to the Imperial High Command exerting pressure on the Tiaoman Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom, urging them to quickly deploy troops to the Xuan Continent and advance on the Xifan Canal.

To put it bluntly, they wanted to kick them while they were down.

The Bulan Royal Navy, having suffered a recent defeat, had morale plummet to rock bottom, and its main force had become virtually idle on the home front and in the Fan Flame and Land Heart Seas.

If they could take this opportunity to seize the Xifan Canal in one sweep, perhaps they could force the Bulan Kingdom to surrender!

Let’s not forget that the Bulan Kingdom is an island country, and a typical colonial suzerainty at that, with very scant resources on the homefront, extremely dependent on its colonies. The most relied upon colony of the Bulan Kingdom – the Fanluo region on the north coast of the Fan Flame Ocean – had its shipping routes to Fanluo pass through the Xifan Canal.

Of course, if the Imperial Navy cooperated in controlling the Fan Flame Ocean and blocked the sea routes near Far View Cape, they could completely cut off the shipping route from the Bulan Kingdom to the Fanluo region.

Having achieved victory in the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean Battle, blocking these routes wouldn’t be difficult.

Without its most precious colonies, what would the Bulan Kingdom have left?

Maple Country at the furthest north of Gu Continent and Ao Country in Aus had already freed themselves from Bulan Kingdom’s control. They were merely overseas territories of the Bulan Royal Family in name, with governors appointed by the King or Queen of Bulan. Even if Maple Country and Ao Country were to offer full support to the Bulan Kingdom due to national, cultural, and religious factors, they could not be exploited and dominated by the Bulan Kingdom like actual colonies.

Besides, Maple Country and Ao Country are too "small."

Here "small" doesn’t refer to land area but to population.

According to statistics from more than 20 years ago, the Fanluo region had nearly 300 million people, while Maple Country and Ao Country combined had a population of less than 50 million.

After the last great war, Bulan Kingdom, with a population of 40 million, was able to stand on equal footing with the Newland Federation, which had over 100 million people, and the Liangxia Empire with a population exceeding 400 million. As one of the world’s three major first-class powers, it maintained a first-class navy, relying on the Fanluo region.

Without the Fanluo region, unless the Newland Federation provided full-scale support, Bulan Kingdom would be defeated within half a year, at most a year.

The key question was, to what extent could the Newland Federation provide support?

Clearly, this was an unknown.

As long as the Liangxia Navy maintained its offensive momentum in the East Ocean, exerting pressure on the Newland Navy and forcing the Newland Federation to focus its strategic priorities on the East Ocean while the Imperial Army deployed heavy forces on the mainland battlefield and launched a strategic offensive against the Luosha Federation, the Newland Federation would hardly have any support left to give to Bulan Kingdom.

Furthermore, from a strategic value perspective, Bulan Kingdom without the Fanluo region couldn’t even be considered a second-rate power.

In this all-out war of life and death, how much capital would the Newland Federation invest in a declining empire?

If the Newland Federation had inadequate resources and had to make choices, then after the Tiaoman forces seized the Xifan Canal, it would be very likely that Bulan Kingdom would be abandoned.

To put it bluntly, even if Bulan Kingdom were defeated, the Tiaoman forces wouldn’t be able to cross the North Sunset Ocean.

On the other hand, if the Luosha Federation were defeated, the Liangxia Empire could join forces with the Tiaoman Empire. With their backs free from worry, the Liangxia Navy would inevitably launch a fierce attack in the East Ocean.

Without Bulan Kingdom to restrain them, the Tiaoman Empire would surely increase its investment in the east.

However, given the current situation of the Tiaoman Empire, it would, at most, play a supporting role in the siege against the Luosha Federation, merely assisting the Liangxia Empire.

Even if Luosha Federation were inferior, it could still hold out and fight for some time.

If the Luosha Federation were defeated, Bulan Kingdom, even if it could hold out for a few more years, wouldn’t have much impact on the Tiaoman Empire and the Liangxia Empire.

Having understood this point, Bai Zhizhan dared to assert that the Imperial High Command would definitely encourage and persuade the Tiaoman Empire to send troops to the Xuan Continent as soon as possible.

Therefore, shifting the strategic focus to the interior was not so surprising.

"So, it seems we may need to make some adjustments to our overall strategy."

After Bai Zhizhan spoke, Liu Changxun merely nodded, allowing him to continue.

"First of all, we must quickly take Sai Island."

"Before you returned to the Imperial Capital, I had already issued the order. The Marine Corps will deploy Reserve Teams as soon as possible, striving to complete the sweeping operation within this month."

"The key is, we may have to give up Guan Island."

"What?"

Liu Changxun was clearly taken aback, probably not expecting Bai Zhizhan to be so aggressive.

Whether it was before the start of the war or after it began, all the battle plans emphasized attacking Guan Island after recapturing the North and South Sado Islands.

The reason was to expand the strategic depth of the Empire.

At least until now, no one had thought about giving up Guan Island.

"We’re on the offensive, not defending. With Sai Island as a springboard, that is already enough. There’s no need to waste time and military strength on Guan Island."

"There are tens of thousands of enemies there, and..."

"There are tens of thousands of enemies in Lion Spring City as well, and the same in Sri Lanka."

"That..."

"About this matter, let me talk with Li Yunxiang, and I’ll give you a definite answer."

Upon hearing what Bai Zhizhan had to say, Liu Changxun finally understood.