Empire Conquest

Chapter 488 - 484: Traditional Allies

On the first day of June, Bai Zhizhan set off towards Liuhuang Island to make the final preparations for the attack on Transfer Island.

According to the deployment plan, two Marine Divisions acting as the vanguard had already arrived at Liuhuang Island in early May and had announced they were preparing to attack Guan Island.

In addition, Liuhuang Island had always been the main gathering place for the Landing Fleet.

During the attack on Sai Island, the landing craft and transport vessels all assembled at Liuhuang Island and then proceeded to Sai Island under the protection of escort battleships.

By the later stages of the campaign, no vessels were allowed to operate alone without the accompaniment of escort battleships.

The reason was simple: Newland submarines were too rampant.

It could be said that the military operation to attack Transfer Island officially began at this time.

Of course, there was still about a month until the start, and there was a prerequisite: that Newland’s Navy’s two Fleet carriers were still under repair in the shipyard.

On this very day, in the North Xuan region, the Tiaoman Army also formally launched an operation to advance toward the Xifan Canal.

As per the promise made earlier, the Liangxia Navy’s Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet returned to the Mua Sea that day and also deployed ship-borne aircraft to bomb Jibu Fortress.

As for the operation to attack Socotra Island, it was relatively unimportant in comparison.

On May 25th, the Liangxia Navy had launched a surprise attack on Gwadar Port in the northern part of the Mua Sea and easily took control of several nearby villages and towns.

Put simply, these were just a few fishing villages, with the nearest city being hundreds of kilometers away.

Due to the lack of roads, let alone railways, this natural harbor had never been developed and never received attention from colonial authorities.

Besides, the Fanluo region did not lack natural harbors – Karachi was just several hundred kilometers to the east.

Obviously, there was no need to develop two ports within a few hundred kilometers of each other.

From an economic standpoint, it would have been a losing proposition.

Savvy colonizers would definitely not engage in losing propositions.

During its heyday, the Bulan Army in the Fanluo region would have definitely attacked, and they would have easily defeated the landing Imperial Army.

Unfortunately, those days of glory had long passed.

The Bulan Royal Navy had already retreated to Jibu Fortress, conceding much of the Fan Flame Ocean. The Bulan Army in the Fanluo region had also lost the motivation to keep fighting.

Forget about launching an offensive; holding onto their current positions would be considered good enough.

The Liangxia Navy’s occupation of the fishing villages was not to challenge the local tribes, nor was it an opportunity to march into the Fanluo region; it was in preparation for the advance into Boss Bay.

The choice of Gwadar Port was due to its natural deep-water harbor.

Indeed, this was one of the few natural deep-water harbors in the northern region of the Mua Sea.

If there had been a sufficient population nearby, such as a large river or an oasis, Gwadar Port might have already developed into a strategic stronghold on the northern coast of the Mua Sea.

What was lacking in this place was people.

Interestingly, in the Fanluo region, what was in abundance was people!

While it couldn’t support Fleet operations, it could provide services for transport vessel convoys, deploy escort battleships and patrol aircraft, and become an important support point along the route.

Additionally, ground troops could also be deployed there.

If a forced attack on Boss Bay was necessary, troops could be sent there in advance to occupy it, allowing for flexible mobilization and deployment.

In summary, it was only a matter of time before the Imperial Navy landed in the Fanluo region and advanced into Boss Bay.

In fact, given the situation at the time, from the standpoint of the Bulan Kingdom, there were definite concerns that the Imperial Navy might attack Boss Bay in the near future.

Indeed, it didn’t matter whether an attack on the Socotra Island was carried out.

As long as the Imperial Navy followed the plan and either invaded Boss Bay or at least postured to launch a strong assault, it would serve as a better deterrent than attacking Socotra Island.

This move also had an unexpected result.

On June 3, Bai Zhizhan received a telegram from the Navy headquarters.

On the day he left the Imperial Capital, which was June 1, the ambassador of the Ter Republic visited the Prime Minister Mansion shortly after his departure.

The next day, the Ter Republic officially declared its joining of the Consortium Group and announced a declaration of war against all the nations of the Alliance Group!

Of course, the Ter Republic did not join the war without reason; they had secured significant benefits from the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire.

Actually, on that same day of June 1, the ambassador of the Ter Republic also met with the Prime Minister of the Tiaoman Empire.

According to the pre-negotiated outcome, after the end of the great war, both the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire would recognize the Ter Republic’s position as the hegemon within the traditional sphere of influence of its imperial period, and the Ter Republic agreed to allow the exploration of Boss Bay’s oil by the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire.

Of course, there was still an unresolved issue; there was an apparent conflict of interests between the Ter Republic and the Raleigh Kingdom in the East Continent Heart Sea.

However, this did not prevent the Ter Republic from joining the war.

After all, the Raleigh Kingdom was a second-tier member, and the Liangxia Empire and the Tiaoman Empire would not block a traditional ally for the Raleigh Kingdom.

Furthermore, the incidents that occurred before had severely weakened the Raleigh Kingdom’s voice within the Consortium Group.

The first advantage brought by the Ter Republic joining the war was that it reduced the difficulty of the invasion into Boss Bay.

In addition, it opened up a third front against the Luosha Federation.

However, what was most critical was that it reconnected the Liangxia Empire with the Tiaoman Empire.

After advancing into Boss Bay, the Liangxia Army only needed to move north to capture and control the Boi Country to clear the way to the Ter Republic, and between the Ter Republic and the Tiaoman Empire, there were only a few neutral mini-states that were mostly inclined to ally with the Tiaoman Empire.

Of course, the Ter Republic’s declaration of participation in the war was to launch an attack on the Boi Country.

To put it simply, it was the Boi Country, to be precise, the continuous support by the Bulan Kingdom of this puppet state to contend with, suppress, and weaken the Ter Republic’s influence in its traditional sphere of influence, to achieve hegemonic rule over the region.

The Ter Republic’s sudden declaration of war was the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

Before this, there might have been a glimmer of hope within the Bulan Kingdom that by first defeating the Tiaoman forces in the North Xuan region and then recapturing Malta Island, it would be possible to regroup and at least control Boss Bay, to fight a decisive battle there against the Liangxia Army coming from afar.

But now, as the Ter Republic entered the war, hopes of turning defeat into victory had vanished.

For starters, the Boi Country definitely couldn’t hold on, and after a swift defeat, the Bulan forces deployed there would have no choice but to retreat westward toward the Xifan Canal to avoid encirclement. In doing so, they would be effectively relinquishing the oil fields of Boss Bay.

Moreover, the problem remained that the Bulan forces aiding the Boi Country totaled fewer than 5,000 men.

Without retreating, they would fight to the death and heroically perish, but it would not change the outcome of Boss Bay’s fall.

Perhaps the best the Bulan forces could do was blow up the oil fields or even set them on fire before retreating to create as much trouble as possible for any successors.

If nothing else, putting out the fires in the oil fields would take a considerable amount of time.

This also meant that in the short term, the Imperial Navy would have to increase its input in the direction of the Fan Flame Ocean, which would inevitably affect the combat operations above East Ocean.

At least, from the perspective of Bai Zhizhan where he was positioned, this was not necessarily a good thing!