Empire Conquest

Chapter 517 - 513: Interlocking Rings

During dinner, Bai Zhizhan said nothing.

It wasn’t until around 10 p.m. that he convened his main staff again after receiving a reply from the Navy headquarter.

In the evening, upon receiving the battle report from the Joint Fleet, Bai Zhizhan had the Communication Advisor send a telegram to the Navy headquarter.

The content was just one line, inquiring about the Army’s situation on the Giant Continent.

Before setting out, which was in late June, Bai Zhizhan had inquired about the situation on the battlefield in the hinterland of the Giant Continent, and the response from the Army headquarter was vague. They mentioned only that the ground forces under the command of Lian Xusheng had advanced to the southwest of Kushmulen Lake and captured a small town called Semyozornoye.

This was not just any ordinary small town.

That is to say, the Army had advanced to the south of Leaf Castle before the summer’s arrival.

Of course, this doesn’t necessarily mean they could capture Leaf Castle within the year, or even necessarily launch an attack on it.

Although there was an entire summer to advance northward, what needed more consideration was whether to first attack Baku to the west.

This was the biggest issue.

No one denied the importance of capturing Leaf Castle, but neither did anyone deny the significance of taking Baku.

So, was it to march on Leaf Castle, or to attack Baku?

This was a multiple-choice question that required an answer, and for the time being, it seemed to be a single-choice question.

The reason was simple: from Semyozornoye eastwards to the heartland of the Empire, there was only one railway line, and it was a narrow-gauge railway.

In theory, the maximum capacity of this railway could only support about 10 divisions in combat at the front line.

Even taking into account the roads, the total transport capacity could support at most 250,000 ground troops in an offensive at the front.

If all were infantry, it could be increased to 400,000.

If the force was primarily Armored Troops, it was a maximum of 250,000.

Here, the combat consumption of the Air Force had not even been considered. They’d have to deploy the Air Force further to the rear and increase the scale of the Strategic Air Force sorties.

In short, logistics support was a huge headache.

Even Lian Xusheng, with a force of 250,000, could only launch an offensive in one direction; don’t even think about initiating attacks in two directions simultaneously.

So, was it to march north to attack Leaf Castle, or to head west to assault Baku?

Clearly, this was the key reason why the Army headquarter had not given a clear reply.

When Bai Zhizhan sent the inquiry, the Army headquarter might not have made a decision yet and thus could not provide a definitive response.

Before this, Bai Zhizhan was not very concerned about Lian Xusheng’s situation.

As long as he could fight well on Transfer Island, keeping the Newland Army too busy to care for anything else, and forcing them to send reinforcements to Transfer Island, it would be the greatest help to Lian Xusheng.

But now it seemed obviously not so simple.

After suspecting that Spur had taken two small carriers to the Fan Flame Ocean, Bai Zhizhan immediately thought that this might also be related to the battles in the interior of the Giant Continent.

Of course, it was certainly related to the battles on the West Continent.

To put it bluntly, if the Luosha Army launched an offensive on the Western Front, that is, on the battlefront with the Tiaoman Empire, after Spur severely damaged the Joint Fleet, it would definitely create immense pressure on the Tiaoman Empire and ultimately the burden would shift onto the shoulders of the Liangxia Empire.

By then, even in the most ideal scenario, the Liangxia Empire would have to increase its commitment on the Giant Continent battlefield.

In any case, only if Lian Xusheng launched a fierce attack could they contain the Luosha Army, and also relieve the threat to the Tiaoman Empire.

As a consequence, the Empire’s commitments in East Ocean and Fan Flame Ocean would decrease.

The key point was, this completely disrupted the rhythm of the Empire’s Army on the Giant Continent battlefield.

As a direct result, the Army might not be able to capture Leaf Castle according to plan in the autumn of this year, nor might it be able to conquer Baku.

If neither of these objectives was achieved, all the efforts of the year would have been in vain.

Waiting until the winter season arrived, the Luosha Federation would gain at least four months to adjust troop deployment and thereby strengthen and fortify the eastern defense lines.

This also meant that in the year 102 of the New Calendar, the Empire’s Army would still be engaged in fierce battles deep within the Giant Continent.

Additionally, the Tiaoman Empire might not be able to hold out until the year 102 of the New Calendar.

If the Imperial Navy could not capture Boss Bay as planned and secure the maritime shipping routes, then the Tiaoman Empire might very likely run out of oil this winter.

If the Raleigh Kingdom was also taken into account, the problem became even more prominent.

Although the contributions of the Raleigh Kingdom were negligible and its military forces were even of trash level, but with a population of 40 million and a fairly decent industrial base, the Raleigh Kingdom was one of the major countries around the Land Heart Sea, possessing irreplaceable strategic value.

A large population implied huge energy consumption.

At least on a strategic level, this forced the Imperial Navy to shift its focus to the Fan Flame Ocean; it was absolutely essential to capture Boss Bay this year and clear the route to the Land Heart Sea—allowing oil to be delivered by ship to the Raleigh Kingdom and then transported to the Tiaoman Empire overland.

Now, with the Joint Fleet having suffered heavy losses, there was no choice but to divert the Special Mixed Fleet from the East Ocean.

In addition, it was necessary to gather the Marine Corps to launch a strong assault on Jibu Fortress.

This was simply one link in the chain locking into the next—each link was indispensable!

Similarly, this was exactly the situation the Newland Navy wanted to see.

Regardless of what happened in the Fan Flame Ocean, it was hardly of any concern to the Newland Federation.

As long as it could hold the Howay Islands and bait the Imperial Navy at Transfer Island, the Newland Navy could secure the East Ocean front.

Of course, among these factors, what was most important was actually not the situation at Bai Zhizhan but at Lian Xusheng’s front.

To sum it up in one sentence,

If Lian Xusheng could advance according to the plan, even if only in one direction, whether it was capturing Leaf Castle or taking Baku, it would deliver a fatal blow to the Luosha Federation and force it to focus on the eastern front, thereby temporarily relieving the pressure on the Tiaoman Empire.

With the easing of the war, the Tiaoman Empire would be able to hold out longer.

Don’t forget, the Tiaoman Empire had the most complete coal chemical industry in the world, capable of relying on abundant coal resources to mitigate the problem of insufficient oil.

As for domestic production and living, the Tiaoman Empire had always been coal-based.

It was evident that its oil demand was mainly reflected in military aspects, especially the enormous consumption generated by large-scale wars.

From another perspective, this was precisely why the Empire’s Army was launching an offensive deep within the Giant Continent—to reduce the war consumption of the Tiaoman Empire.

Of course, if Lian Xusheng chose to march on Baku, that would be even better.

As long as Baku was captured, the Imperial Navy would not necessarily need to rush to Boss Bay, nor would it need to spend time and manpower to launch a fierce assault on Jibu Fortress.

To put it accurately, they could gain a few additional months.

Thus, Bai Zhizhan could confidently attack Transfer Island. If things went well, it might even be possible to push further after occupying Transfer Island.

Furthermore, by the end of the year, the Newland Navy would have no choice but to deploy the 2 repaired carrier fleet and engage in a decisive battle with the Imperial Navy.

Put simply, this would be the first "match point" of this war.

As expected, it would be a decisive fleet engagement.

As long as the next fleet clash was won and the last 2 carriers of the Newland Navy were destroyed, the Imperial Navy could hope to force the Newland Federation into surrender in the year 102 of the New Calendar and secure the final victory.

Even if the Newland Federation did not surrender and held out longer, it was bound to lose the war.