Empire Conquest

Chapter 480 - 476 Preparation Stage

On the morning of March 10, Bai Zhizhan returned to the Imperial Capital.

Although the military operation to advance into the Howay Islands would not commence until June at the earliest, some major decisions certainly needed to be made immediately.

The first was to abandon the operation to attack Guan Island.

During Bai Zhizhan’s time in Puzhou and Jeju Island, Liu Changxun, after consulting Xue Yuanzheng, had already adjusted the deployment.

During the campaign for the Howay Islands, the plan was to rely mainly on the Navy’s shore-based air force to bomb and blockade Guan Island.

In fact, the operation had begun on March 5.

To increase the bombing intensity, the Sea Air had also borrowed over a hundred heavy bombers from the Army Air Force to form its own long-range fighter squadron.

Additionally, the expansion of airports on Sai Island and nearby islands had begun.

According to the plan devised by the Navy headquarters, ultimately, 500 bombers and a roughly equivalent number of long-range fighters could be stationed on Sai Island and other islands.

Of course, whether it would be necessary to deploy so many combat aircraft at that time was uncertain.

Besides the air force, the Navy headquarters also arranged for submarines to participate in the battle.

However, the mission of the submarine force was not to attack the shipping routes to Guan Island, but to lay naval mines outside the Apra Military Port on Guan Island.

If all went well, the submarine force would be able to deploy thousands of naval mines near the Apra Military Port by March.

Although the density of the mines was not high, it was sufficient to blockade the port.

If necessary, bombers could also be deployed for minesweeping missions.

This was also something learnt from the Newland Army.

Not long ago, the Newland Army’s bombers had laid a large number of naval mines in the Xunfeng Strait and Longyan Strait, making these straits unusable.

Regarding minesweeping and blockading, these were sufficient to cripple the defending forces on Guan Island.

According to intelligence provided by the Sixth Bureau, after the loss of Sai Island, the Newland Military had strengthened its deployment on Wei Island and Transfer Island and had sent an additional engineering unit to Tuk Fortress. However, they hadn’t reinforced Guan Island, and even the military supplies sent to Guan Island had decreased somewhat.

Although it couldn’t be proven yet, there was reason to believe that the Newland Military had de-prioritized Guan Island.

Intelligence analysts pointed out that the Newland Navy might have withdrawn some combat troops from Guan Island to reinforce the defenses on other islands.

The most compelling evidence was that the freshwater plant on Guan Island had never reached its maximum capacity.

While this was largely related to the cessation of defensive construction, according to intelligence gathered, the production capacity of the freshwater plant was insufficient to meet the daily needs of 40,000 people.

It must be said, Guan Island was simply too close to Sai Island.

Based on previous battles, the Newland Navy must have realized that without control of the sea and air, it was simply impossible to defend an island fortress.

Moreover, compared to the shipborne air force, the tactical flexibility of the shore-based air force was very poor.

Although theoretically, because it could deploy heavy bombers and long-range fighters at land-based airports and deploy long-range patrol aircraft at ports, the combat power of the shore-based air force surpassed that of the shipborne air force. However, practice had repeatedly shown that range and quantity only enhanced some combat power in defense; they couldn’t solve the fundamental problem that the initiative was always in the hands of the attacker.

In naval battles dominated by air forces, control of the battlefield was more important than anything else.

Whether in the East Ocean or the Fan Flame Ocean, the side that seized control of the battlefield invariably won the final victory.

Without initiative, no amount of deployed forces could compensate.

To maximize the value of the shore-based air force, a strong fleet was also needed.

Simply put, only a strong fleet could adopt proactive defensive tactics and have a hope of defeating a strong enemy in defensive battles.

"The problem now is that the Newland Navy simply has no fleet available."

"The Sixth Bureau had determined long ago that the ’Fenjin’ was already in the New City Shipyard, and it was expected to be fully repaired only by the end of the year. The ’Lek,’ which suffered heavy damage in the Northwest East Ocean Battle, wouldn’t be repaired until July and then had to undergo testing, only to be handed over to the Newland Navy in October at the earliest."

"This meant that for the next few months, the Newland Navy would have only two small carriers available."

"Of course, even counting those already built, there were at most three."

"Due to performance limitations, three small carriers might not match up to one large carrier."

"This was also the key reason the Newland Navy abandoned Guan Island."

"After Sai Island had been occupied by the Empire Navy, Guan Island became an exposed position for the Newland Navy in the West East Ocean, and its fall was only a matter of time."

"As the saying goes, retreat to leap further."

"Retreating to Wei Island, at least they wouldn’t have to worry about being struck by the shore-based air force, and the Empire’s attack on Wei Island would surely lead with the Special Mixed Fleet."

"To the south, Tuk Fortress held more defensive value."

"All in all, abandoning Guan Island was actually about consolidating the defense line in order to shorten its length and increase the density of the defensive forces."

"Of course, the main reliance was on the island bases at the rear."

"At least near Tuk Fortress, the Newland Army had taken control of over a dozen islands in the past few months, establishing a strategic defense line centered around Tuk Fortress."

"Indeed, this was also key why Bai Zhizhan was reluctant to move south."

"Even with four large carriers, the Empire Navy was not powerful enough to overpower the strategic fortresses of the Newland Navy relying only on its fleet."

"From a tactical standpoint, before attacking Tuk Fortress, it was necessary to capture a forward base, needing to seize an island also defended by the Newland Army nearby."

"Isn’t this just like attacking Sai Island?"

"Once that island was taken, there would be no need to attack Tuk Fortress."

"Don’t forget, the Empire Navy’s fierce assault on Sai Island was actually in preparation for attacking Guan Island, but they found out that once Sai Island was taken, there was no need to attack Guan Island."

"The key point was that the Newland Army would certainly learn its lesson and would definitely fiercely defend the islands near Tuk Fortress, creating more trouble for the Empire Navy."

"Relatively speaking, on the side of Wei Island, it seemed more advantageous for the Empire Navy."

"Of course, from Bai Zhizhan’s personal perspective, as long as conditions allowed, they should directly attack Transfer Island, there was no need to waste time on Wei Island."

"The reason is simple."

"In nature, Transfer Island and Wei Island are quite similar."

"Geographically speaking, according to geological origin, Transfer Island belongs to the Howay Islands, being the westernmost island of the archipelago, but it is about 2000 kilometers from the main islands in the eastern part of the archipelago, and the nearest island capable of building an airfield is also several hundred kilometers away."

"Simply put, Transfer Island is also an isolated island."

"Since both are isolated islands, why attack Wei Island?"

"To put it bluntly, after taking Transfer Island, it was possible to directly block Wei Island."

"At least from a tactical level, it was essentially no different from abandoning Guan Island, both involved bypassing the fiercely defended areas of the Newland Army to lower combat difficulties."

"In Army terms, it involved avoiding the strong and attacking the weak."

"Of course, this could be described as exploiting one’s strengths against the enemy’s weaknesses, to avoid unnecessary losses as much as possible."

"Of course, compared to attacking Wei Island, since the distance for the attack is farther and because the island’s garrison could receive stronger support from the rear, the difficulty of the operation was certainly greater. However, there was no fundamental difference and no insurmountable difficulties."

"Still, how to fight would ultimately depend on the actual situation."