Empire Conquest

Chapter 482 - 478: Strategic Collaboration

Standing from the perspective of the Imperial Navy, this was not a good thing.

Tiaoman forces and Raleigh forces deploying troops to the Xuan Continent had one prerequisite: the Imperial Navy must simultaneously advance into Boss Bay and, moreover, send troops to attack Jibu Fortress.

This was not simply a matter of military cooperation; it also involved political trust.

The key was oil!

To put it bluntly, like the Liangxia Empire, both Tiaoman Empire and Raleigh Kingdom almost entirely relied on imported oil; hence, they were all eyeing Boss Bay.

This was also the critical reason the Raleigh Kingdom had been vacillating.

If the Bulan Kingdom had been willing to make concessions on oil exports, it’s likely that the Raleigh Kingdom would have joined the war several months ago as a member of the Alliance Group.

Conversely, this was also the key reason Tiaoman Empire and Raleigh Kingdom agreed to send troops to the Xuan Continent.

After the Imperial Army captured Boss Bay, only by sweeping through the northern regions of the Xuan Continent and seizing the Xifan Canal could they secure oil produced from Boss Bay.

Just so, it was necessary for the Imperial Navy to capture Boss Bay.

This touched upon the core interests of the Consortium Group; there was simply no room for negotiation. The Empire also needed the oil from Boss Bay, otherwise, it would not have advanced into the Fan Flame Ocean.

However, this was not the most troublesome issue.

In fact, in the Navy’s strategic plans, attacking and occupying Boss Bay had always been a priority, and the Imperial Navy had already made arrangements.

Furthermore, advancing into Boss Bay wasn’t particularly difficult; progressing westward along the northern coast of the Mua Sea would suffice, and other than time, there were no insurmountable challenges.

As for the forces required, they were also within what the Imperial Navy could bear.

According to established plans, within one year, or even just half a year, it was feasible to capture Boss Bay and at the same time clear a shipping route from Boss Bay to the Imperial mainland.

The main problem was actually the assault on Jibu Fortress.

In late February, during Bai Zhizhan’s visit to Puzhou, the "Royal Ark" and two "Reputation" class battlecruisers passed through the Xifan Canal back to the Land Heart Sea.

Afterward, only the two "Reputation" class ships returned to the Domestic Fleet, with the "Royal Ark" remaining at Alexandria.

Clearly, the Bulan Royal Navy had already sensed the impending storm.

Precisely because of this, the Raleigh Kingdom proposed that the Imperial Navy must attack Jibu Fortress to compel the Bulan Royal Navy to reinforce the Fan Flame Ocean, thereby reducing its threat in the Land Heart Sea and ensuring successful deployment to the Xuan Continent without potential failure due to the presence of the Bulan Land Heart Sea Fleet.

As the primary force in ground combat, the Tiaoman Authority also made the same demand.

Though it was described as a feint, according to the attitudes of both nations, they wanted the Imperial Navy to treat this feint as the main attack!

Now, the problem became serious.

Although a few days ago, under the command of Liu Xiangzhen, the Imperial Navy had already captured the Maldives, controlling several larger islands, the distance to assaulting Jibu Fortress was still immensely far, let alone the massive challenge of attacking Socotra Island first.

The crux of the matter was that the Imperial Navy’s forces in the Fan Flame Ocean were severely insufficient!

In order to launch a strategic offensive in the East Ocean, the Imperial Navy had dispatched the landing fleet designated to attack Lion Spring City to Nagiu Port, leaving fewer than 20 landing ships in the Fan Flame Ocean, mostly small vessels, with their main task being to transport supplies to the front-line island garrisons.

Additionally, the ground forces were also lacking.

If there were to advance into Boss Bay simultaneously, the problem would only become more severe.

In short, the Imperial Navy could not possibly initiate an assault on Jibu Fortress in the near future, let alone capture it.

If the operation were postponed until the fourth quarter, half a year later, there might be a glimmer of hope.

Mainly, the Imperial Navy would be able to obtain several small carriers by that time, and the newly added landing craft would be sufficient to form a second campaign-level landing fleet.

Another key point was that six months later, once the Imperial Navy had captured Boss Bay, there would be no need to divide the forces.

If everything went smoothly, then the operations in the East Ocean might also have yielded results.

Unfortunately, the Tiaoman Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom did not accept such a proposal.

From a strategic perspective, it was also unrealistic.

Six months later, the Royal Bulan Navy would at least get 2 fast battleships, and the Newland Navy’s 2 fleet carriers might return.

The Tiaoman Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom simply couldn’t drag it out that long, as they would inevitably deplete their oil reserves within six months.

Certainly, the Imperial Navy had to not only launch a strong attack on Jibu Fortress but also had to capture it.

Otherwise, without securing the sea routes to the Land Heart Sea, it would be impossible to aid the Tiaoman Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom.

At this point, the Tiaoman Empire mentioned something very important.

As long as the Imperial Army captured Boss Bay and achieved absolute naval superiority in the Fan Flame Ocean, the Tiaoman Empire could persuade the Ter Republic, an ally from the previous war, to join the Consortium Group, ensuring that even without capturing the Xifan Canal, oil from Boss Bay could still be obtained by land.

If they could persuade the Ter Republic to join the war, they would obtain more than just a ground transportation route.

Certainly, it would be best to defeat the Royal Bulan Land Heart Sea Fleet.

Anyway, the Imperial Navy had to take action in the Mua Sea area, and even if it could not capture Jibu Fortress, it had to force the Royal Bulan Navy to deploy heavy forces to defend Jibu Fortress.

To this end, a sufficiently strong fleet had to be left behind.

Clearly, the Joint Fleet did not qualify as strong.

Even though the Imperial Navy had already included the "North River" and the "Nanjing" into the Joint Fleet, there were no carriers in the fleet.

Intercepting the enemy’s ships in the Fan Flame Ocean and occasionally bombarding the ports of remote areas were still within the realm of possibility.

But, to let 3 battleships and 3 armored cruisers attack Jibu Fortress without carrier support would be a suicide mission!

This also involved the Joint Fleet itself.

Though by agreement the Imperial Navy was to appoint the Commander of the Joint Fleet, and that was Liu Xiangzhen, the Tiaoman Navy had the right to make independent decisions and could decide the deployment of the 4 Tiaoman battleships like "Prime Minister" without needing the approval of the Imperial Navy.

Given the situation at that time, if the Imperial Navy did not agree to attack Jibu Fortress, the Tiaoman Navy would most likely take action on their own.

If that were the case, the Joint Fleet would have no reason to exist.

In the end, it all boiled down to the Imperial Navy needing to keep a few fleet carriers in the Fan Flame Ocean, preferably allowing the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet to stay.

carriers would be enough, but having 3 would be even better.

According to the report sent back by Liu Xiangzhen, if he had 3 fleet carriers, he was confident that he could launch an attack on Socotra Island while advancing on Boss Bay, ensuring that after controlling Boss Bay, he could use Socotra Island as a base to launch an assault on Jibu Fortress.

From a military standpoint, this was the only viable strategy to open up the sea route to the Land Heart Sea within the year.

If they waited until after capturing Boss Bay to prepare for the attack on Jibu Fortress and Socotra Island, then no matter what, it would not be possible to open up the shipping lanes within the year.

This, in turn, would definitely affect the Tiaoman Empire, negatively impacting the offensive against the hinterlands of the Giant Continent.

However, Liu Changxun had not yet made a decision on this matter.

Mainly, the Imperial Navy was now prioritizing the advance on the Howay Islands as their top task, so whether to leave a few fleet carriers in the Fan Flame Ocean would depend on the situation with the Bai Zhizhan campaign, specifically whether the Bai Zhizhan campaign required those few fleet carriers to succeed in capturing the Howay Islands.