Empire Conquest

Chapter 481 - 477: Breakthrough from the Ground

This actual situation, in fact, is the force that could be mobilized.

However, the primary factor determining troop strength was in another direction.

Before returning to the Imperial Capital, Bai Zhizhan received a telegram from Zheng Jiangming.

The Tiaoman Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom had agreed in principle to launch a military campaign against the Xifan Canal on the Xuan Continent within the first quarter.

The key was that the Tiaoman Empire had agreed to send troops to the Xuan Continent to undertake the main combat tasks.

It must be said that this was also related to the Empire’s Army, or rather, to Lian Xusheng.

Although he had only just arrived at the Northwest Front, the reputation of the "Armored War God" was not simply hot air. On the first day of March, the armored forces he dispatched captured Karaganda.

This was a key juncture for the march on Leaf Castle and the first military fortress in the heartland of the Giant Continent held by the Luosha Federation.

Before Lian Xusheng returned, the Imperial Army had been delayed there for a full five months.

Of course, the season was the main problem. After the onset of winter last year, the Imperial Army ceased offensive operations and had not made a renewed assault on Karaganda.

However, Lian Xusheng’s impactful role couldn’t be denied either.

According to the original plan, the attack was supposed to be launched in late March, when it would be warmer and daytime temperatures would rise above freezing.

Instead, Lian Xusheng overturned the original plan and advanced the attack by a month.

Although this created a great deal of trouble for the attacking troops, to the point where thousands of tons of antifreeze had to be transported to the front line, it also caught the enemy by surprise. The Luosha Army guarding Karaganda never anticipated that the Imperial Army would launch an offensive before the arrival of spring.

The Luosha Army had pitifully little in the way of combat supplies stockpiled at the front, and even their ammunition was severely insufficient.

As a result, after breaking through the Luosha Army’s outer defensive lines, it took less than ten days for the Imperial Army to seize this fortress, known as the "Eastern Versailles," destroying and capturing over 300,000 enemies and killing the Commander-in-chief of the Luosha Army’s southeastern front.

This surprise attack could be described as stirring.

However, according to the words of the soldiers of the Army, it was actually a redemption of their honor.

After capturing Karaganda, regardless of the humiliation suffered previously, it could all be cast aside, and no one dared to say the Imperial Army was useless.

The key was that the situation had been drastically opened up.

Karaganda was an eastern region of the Luosha Federation and the first railway hub in the heartland of the Giant Continent, as well as the center of the road transportation network.

Before this, the Imperial Army had to build roads and railways while advancing, so their speed couldn’t be fast at all.

Afterward, they could use the railway lines of the Luosha Federation to progress.

Although the Luosha Federation used narrow-gauge railways, which were different from the Empire’s standard gauge, Karaganda had always been a rail transport hub with a locomotive factory.

Before the war, the Empire had been exporting railway locomotives to the Luosha Federation, so they were capable of producing train engines and carriages suitable for the Luosha Federation.

Additionally, the trade between the Empire and the Luosha Federation before the war almost all went through Karaganda as a transfer point.

According to intelligence held by the Sixth Bureau, Karaganda Railway Station had a daily dispatch capability of at least 50,000 tons, enough to meet the logistics needs of a 2-million-strong army.

In summary, after capturing Karaganda, everything was easy to discuss.

Of course, for the Luosha Federation, it meant a completely different situation.

The key was that from Karaganda to the west, all the way to Leaf Castle, there were no natural defenses to hold!

Not even a few rivers along the way!

Thus, no matter how well-prepared the Luosha Army’s defensive arrangements were, they had to be ready to defend Leaf Castle to the death, or at least they needed to reinforce it.

If it was just a matter of holding Leaf Castle; that would not be a big deal.

Leaf Castle was the most fortified military fortress the Luosha Federation had on this side of the Giant Continent, and it was their third-largest city which they had painstakingly developed for hundreds of years.

In the beginning, even the Imperial Army, led by Emperor Shiwu, had failed to capture Leaf Castle!

The key was that Leaf Castle was backed by the Ula Mountains and was naturally easy to defend but difficult to attack.

However, in Emperor Shiwu’s era, military operations didn’t need to consider the issue of fuel.

It was precisely because of this that the Imperial Army dared to launch a strong attack on Leaf Castle instead of sweeping down to ravage the northern coast of the Broad Sea.

Now, it was obviously different.

The Luosha Army not only needed to defend Leaf Castle desperately but also had to hold the plains between the Broad Sea and Ula Mountain to prevent the Imperial Army from attacking Baku.

From a strategic perspective, the importance of Baku was actually above that of Leaf Castle.

Baku was not only one of the top three oil-producing regions in the world but also the only oil-producing area of the Luosha Federation, which could be said to be the lifeblood of the Luosha Federation.

If they lost Baku, the Luosha Federation would have no oil available!

In addition, to the west of Baku lay the eastern plains of the West Continent, which had the best climate, soil, and sunlight conditions of the Luosha Federation.

That area was the granary of the Luosha Federation!

If we say that decades ago, due to limitations in transport capacity, the Imperial Army still didn’t dare to proceed rashly and had to attack Leaf Castle.

Now, with the railway, the Imperial Army could completely bypass or abandon Leaf Castle and go directly to attack Baku, then sweep through the eastern plains of the West Continent.

Moreover, after taking Baku, they could head north, circumvent Leaf Castle from behind, and surround it entirely.

With the road to the rear cut off, no matter how many defenders there were in Leaf Castle, they would have to surrender.

Without supplies from the rear, all it would take is one winter to starve or freeze the millions of soldiers and civilians in Leaf Castle to death!

Therefore, after Lian Xusheng captured Karaganda, the problem facing the Luosha Army was that they had to defend the entire front from Leaf Castle to the Broad Sea.

This meant that more troops needed to be deployed.

At a conservative estimate, at least 5 million were needed, and they had to be deployed in echelon depth.

Up to now, the Luosha Federation had mobilized more than 7 million troops.

That meant that over 70 percent of the forces would be used on the eastern side.

Then, how many forces could be used to attack the Tiaoman Empire?

Besides the lack of forces, the Luosha Army was also short on main battle weaponry.

The Imperial Army had invested a large number of Armored Forces, and if the Luosha Army wanted to hold the front, they would definitely need to deploy enough Armored Forces in the east.

Just as on the naval battlefield where only a carrier can match a carrier, on the vast land battlefield, only tanks can counter tanks.

As a result, the Luosha Army couldn’t expect to deploy too many Armored Forces on the Western Front.

How many Armored Forces did the Luosha Army have available?

Take tanks as an example, now probably no more than 5,000 could be fielded, and not more than a third of the total could be committed to front-line combat.

If more tanks were used for defense, then it was certain that fewer would be invested in the offense.

Even under the most optimistic estimates, the number of tanks the Luosha Federation could use on the Western Front wouldn’t exceed 500, at most forming 3 Armored Divisions.

In summary, as the Imperial Army exerted force in the northwest direction, the situation of the Tiaoman Empire greatly improved, and at least there was no danger of annihilation anymore.

According to information provided by the Sixth Bureau, the Tiaoman authorities had already made preparations to recover lost territory within the year.

However, the likelihood of implementation wasn’t high.

Given the current situation, the significance of advancing into the Xuan Continent and attacking Xifan Canal was even greater.

It was precisely for this reason that the Tiaoman authorities had agreed that as long as the Raleigh Navy seized command of the sea, they would deploy at least 4 Armored Divisions to participate in the offensive operations on the Xuan Continent.

On the Xuan Continent, this was a considerable force.

In the North Xuan area, north of the Saha Desert, the Bulan Army had a total of fewer than 100 tanks.

Based on this estimate, perhaps Xifan Canal could be taken within half a year.