Empire Conquest

Chapter 518 - 514: Reinforcements

Navy headquarter sent a detailed combat plan, and the person who drafted the plan was Lian Xusheng.

Because the content was too abundant, it was sent in several parts.

After reading the first telegraph, Bai Zhizhan relaxed his mind and was deeply moved.

This plan was actually sent from the front-line headquarter by Lian Xusheng to the Army Headquarter early this morning, or rather, last night local time.

The core content was only one: considering the current situation, temporarily abandon the plan to advance to Leaf Castle and focus all forces on advancing to Baku.

Besides, he aimed to enter Baku before the onset of winter.

Here, Lian Xusheng played a clever trick—he only guaranteed an entry into Baku but not the capture of Baku.

Never underestimate the difference of a single word.

Although Baku is not a big city, as the largest and sole oil production site of the Luosha Federation, it is definitely heavily guarded, and capturing it would be extremely difficult.

Of course, entering Baku would suffice.

Almost all of the oil of the Luosha Federation comes from Baku, and it is this oil field that enables the Federation to build a massive mechanized unit and dare to stand off against the two superpowers from Giant Continent and West Continent, the Liangxia Empire and Tiaoman Empire.

Without Baku, the tanks of the Luosha Army would be immobilized.

Another key point is that Baku is located on the west side of the Broad Sea, in the eastern part of the Caucasus Mountain Range, and across the Chains Land Bridge to the west is the Mo Sea.

Strictly speaking, Baku is actually in a mountain plain inside the eastern part of the Caucasus Mountain Range, surrounded by mountains on three sides except the east side by the Broad Sea.

The only terrestrial access is along the north of the Broad Sea.

The oil produced in Baku is transported via pipelines and trains to the hinterlands of the Luosha Federation, such as Astrakhan and Volgograd.

Once the Imperial Army bypasses the Broad Sea and enters the Chains Land Bridge, they will be able to cut off the railway and oil pipelines from Baku to the hinterlands of the Luosha Federation.

The key lies here.

From Semyozornoye to the west, the terrain is almost flat. After reaching the northern Broad Sea, logistics support efficiency could also be improved through water transportation.

In this direction, the Luosha Army has no natural defenses.

Besides, in the plains, the combat effectiveness of Armored Forces can be maximized!

Do not forget that Lian Xusheng’s forte is commanding Armored Forces in rapid assaults.

In the Ice Storm Peninsula campaign, there were considerable limitations, and it couldn’t prove much; the outside world once doubted whether Lian Xusheng’s abilities were inflated, having substantial exaggerations. Especially after Tiaoman Empire entered the war, the Tiaoman Army launched a lightning attack on the Locke Republic, defeating this adversary from the last great war in four years with astonishing speed, creating a military miracle that astonished the world.

It wasn’t until Lian Xusheng returned to the hinterland battlefield of the Giant Continent and planned and directed the assault on Karaganda that his capabilities were acknowledged.

Subsequent battles proved that Lian Xusheng’s ability to command armored troops in rapid assaults is second to none compared to Tiaoman generals.

On the contrary, advancing towards Leaf Castle would mean entering the Western Siberian Plateau, with many natural barriers and numerous densely populated cities along the way.

Regardless, Leaf Castle has been a strategic fortress meticulously fortified by the Luosha Federation for centuries.

Even though the distance north to Leaf Castle is much shorter, considering the difficulties related to logistics support, especially the impossibility for armored units to launch rapid assaults, the difficulty of the operation is much greater.

At least from Lian Xusheng’s perspective, it’s best to avoid the complex terrains of plateaus and mountains.

Of course, advancing to Baku is not that simple.

The primary issue, in reality, is to deal with the reprisal from the direction of Leaf Castle.

Do not forget, the Luosha Federation has always considered Leaf Castle as the main support point on the eastern defense line, deploying heavy troops and stockpiling a large amount of combat materials there.

If the Imperial Army had not moved north and continued its push westward, the Luosha Army stationed at Leaf Castle would have inevitably launched a reprisal at the first opportunity.

So, how to deal with the reprisal from the Luosha Army?

According to Lian Xusheng’s report, an advance to Baku would require at least 200,000 ground troops. Even in defensive operations, increasing the weight of infantry, without affecting the offensive, logistical support could sustain up to 100,000 troops in Semyozornoye for defensive combat.

Clearly, 100,000 troops were not enough.

Not to mention that Lian Xusheng needed to command the offensive operations; even if he stayed in the rear, he definitely couldn’t withstand at least two million troops from the Luosha at Leaf Castle with only 100,000 troops.

Given this, Lian Xusheng emphasized a very critical factor in his battle plans.

Time!

Delaying the start of the offensive until the end of August, using the previous month to stockpile ammunition and other combat materials on the front line as much as possible.

Additionally, accelerating the advance of the Armored Forces to ensure reaching near Baku before the end of November.

Only by arranging this way could it be ensured that within the three months of launching the offensive, the pre-stocked materials could be utilized to deploy about 200,000 troops north of Semyozornoye, set up a defense line, and withstand the reprisal from the Luosha Army, striving to hold until winter.

Once it came to winter, defense was no longer a concern.

Of course, it wasn’t that the Imperial Army was more effective in winter, but rather that Armored Forces could not attack during winter, allowing focus on logistic support for defensive troops.

To say it all, all this had a lot to do with launching an early offensive.

Before spring, Lian Xusheng had launched an attack, not only consuming a large amount of combat materials but also reducing the time to stockpile materials by a month.

Now, the impact had become apparent.

If the attack had not been launched early, the Imperial Army wouldn’t have been able to capture Semyozornoye in May.

The problem now was, if the offensive was postponed until the end of August, during the following month, the Imperial Navy would need to play the lead role.

Although it wasn’t mentioned in the telegrams, the meaning was very clear.

Of course, whether attacking Baku or advancing to Leaf Castle, the Navy had to exert all its effort to attack Transfer Island and could not slack off.

From another perspective, Lian Xusheng decided to march to Baku, which actually related to the current situation.

It was also what Bai Zhizhan lamented about.

Lian Xusheng certainly received news of the heavy damage to the Joint Fleet and thought of Bai Zhizhan’s predicament before he submitted the battle plan for attacking Baku.

As for this plan, it surely had been prepared well in advance.

Perhaps, Lian Xusheng also had another battle plan focusing on attacking Leaf Castle.

Regardless, Lian Xusheng prioritizing Baku over Leaf Castle at this time was related to Bai Zhizhan, as if to share Bai Zhizhan’s concerns.

Truly seeing it from the Army’s perspective, which aimed at swiftly defeating the Luosha Federation, it should actually advance to Leaf Castle.

Leaf Castle was not only a strong military fortress but also the administrative center of the Luosha eastern region, the third largest city in the country, known as "East Capital."

Indeed, the city’s name originated from Empress Catherine, who catapulted the Luosha Empire to its peak.

However, that much was all the help Lian Xusheng could provide.

To put it plainly, Bai Zhizhan needed to capture Transfer Island by the end of August at the latest, at least securing a winning position.

If it dragged into September, far after the Army launched a strategic offensive, even if Liu Changxun intervened, he couldn’t obtain enough resources for Bai Zhizhan.

Clearly, this was the dilemma facing Bai Zhizhan.