Empire Conquest

Chapter 536 - 532: Moving Towards the Goal

The ones who truly encountered trouble were not Xue Yuanzheng and Liu Changxun, but Rofuss and Nizi.

After returning to their homeland, Nizi didn’t linger; after refueling, the transport plane took off again and arrived in Huacheng the next day.

As soon as he disembarked from the plane, Nizi went straight to the Grey Palace.

It was not only to explain the situation to Rofuss in person, he also needed to find a way to convince Rofuss to adjust the overall strategy.

If they didn’t adjust, defeat was inevitable.

So, how exactly should they adjust?

If Nizi hadn’t thought it through, he certainly wouldn’t have hurried back.

In fact, several months earlier, right after they lost the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean Battle and the last fleet carrier was sent to the shipyard for repairs, Nizi had already prepared for the worst and had thought of a method, but he hadn’t told Rofuss.

After that, Nizi never found the opportunity to discuss this matter with Rofuss.

The key was one thing.

Do everything possible to lure the Liangxia Navy to deploy to the Southwest East Ocean, ideally to attack Aus.

On a strategic level, only the Southwest East Ocean and Aus were large enough to accommodate enough troops and to serve as a distraction for the Liangxia Empire.

The capacity for troops in other directions was too small.

Even the Luosha Federation was not up to par.

As long as the Liangxia Empire shifted its focus to the Giant Continent battlefield, barely 3 million troops would be needed to sweep through the entire Luosha Federation.

Moreover, the consumption of the Army was far less than that of the Navy.

Fighting backed by their homeland was also much easier than a campaign thousands of miles away.

With the industrial strength of the Liangxia Empire, as long as the oil problem was resolved, operations on the direction of the Giant Continent would not have a significant impact on East Ocean. Or rather, as long as they had sufficient oil, the Liangxia Empire had the capability to launch a strategic offensive on both land and sea simultaneously.

It was clear that the only way to contain the Liangxia Navy was through the Southwest East Ocean and Aus.

And it could also contain the Liangxia Army.

If the Liangxia Empire decided to attack Aus and occupy that continent, they would need not just the Navy’s fleet, but also millions of ground troops.

The key was combat inland.

The Marine Corps, formidable as they were, excelled only in island battles where they could be supported by the fleet, but they relied on the Army when pushing deep inland.

Because it was combat in locations tens of thousands of kilometers from their homeland, the actual number of troops mobilized would certainly be greater.

Moreover, they had to consider the poor infrastructure in Aus.

So, how could they possibly lure the Liangxia Empire to march to the Southwest East Ocean and attack Aus?

After losing the Northwest East Ocean Battle, the Newland Navy had been striving in that direction, hoping to turn the Southwest East Ocean into the next major battleground and putting much effort into this, but the results had been either insignificant or completely nonexistent.

Up to now, apart from dispatching submarines for missions to disrupt enemy logistics, the Liangxia Navy had shown no inclination to deploy to the Southwest East Ocean.

It appeared that location simply wasn’t important.

Of course, if the goal was to win this war, that is, to defeat the main competitor, the Southwest East Ocean and Aus indeed had little value.

The era of establishing colonies and seizing overseas territories was long past.

No matter which side won this great war, the post-war world would inevitably be different; the old colonial practices would definitely not work.

In other words, one side in the war could no longer acquire global benefits through plundering as in the past.

Thus, there was even less reason to expend military forces in the Southwest East Ocean and Aus.

To put it bluntly, if you couldn’t keep the territory you conquered and had to eventually withdraw your troops, why engage in military conquest at all?

War inevitably led to deaths.

If the flames of war were brought to the Aus continent, even if it was occupied, the occupiers would only make enemies of the local people.

Even though the population of Aus was sparse, the Liangxia Empire could not, like in the Middle Ages, exterminate the indigenous residents to acquire the land of Aus.

In fact, as a rising old power, the Liangxia Empire had never engaged in barbaric expansion.

On the contrary, by defeating the Newland Federation and securing a final victory without attacking Aus, the Empire could not only dominate Aus as victors post-war but also avoid making enemies with the natives, facilitating control over Aus and access to its resources after the war.

It was, perhaps, only the resources of the Aus continent that the Liangxia Empire truly valued.

The fact that the Liangxia Navy had never deployed troops to the Southwest East Ocean, while the Newland Navy had been active there, clearly illustrated that both sides were advancing towards their strategic objectives, attempting to set the pace and force their opponent to follow.

However, up until now, it was the Liangxia Navy that held the initiative.

The Newland Navy had made three efforts and fought three decisive sea battles, all ending in failure.

More importantly, the Liangxia Navy had never been confused or lost its bearings.

If the current situation were to continue, perhaps within two years, the war would end with a complete defeat of the Alliance Group.

Could the situation still be turned around?

Of course, there were ways.

Nizi had always valued Aus and advocated for deploying sufficient forces there, even making significant concessions to the Army, including appointing Mike as the commander-in-chief of the Aus Corps, in charge of military operations in the Southwest East Ocean and directly commanding the vessels under the Third Fleet.

Fundamentally, Aus was very close to the southeast region of the Giant Continent and not far from Lion Spring City.

In the past, a distance of over 2000 kilometers might not have been considered close, even seen as quite remote.

But in an era dominated by the Air Force and bombers ruling the skies, a distance of more than 2000 kilometers was not considered far at all.

Not to mention anything else, the main bombers of both sides boasted operational radii exceeding 1500 kilometers.

Additionally, the newly developed super bombers were sure to achieve an operational radius of 2000 kilometers, and possibly extend further to 2500 kilometers.

Critical too were the long-range fighters developed for strategic bombing, which were gradually coming into their own.

Thus, using Aus as a base for the Strategic Air Force would undoubtedly be a significant combat force, potentially key in forcing the Liangxia Empire to attack Aus.

Not to mention anything else, if strategic bombing could be carried out against Lion Spring City, blocking the Throat Strait and cutting off the main maritime artery connecting the east and west—even if it involved only deploying naval mines in the Lion Spring Strait—it could force the high command of the Liangxia Empire to decide to attack Aus.

In the last great war, the Alliance Group had done just that, though at that time they had blocked the Watcher Strait.

To block the Lion Spring Strait, bombers with operational radii of at least 2500 kilometers, or even more, were needed, and the current heavy bombers in service, like the B-17 and B-24, could not fly that far carrying several naval mines and thus relied on the development of new bombers.

It was for this reason that Nizi had specifically returned to Huacheng to meet Rofuss at the Grey Palace.

Using new bombers for minesweeping missions would mean taking resources from the Army Air Force, and even without considering political and strategic issues, it was necessary to first resolve matters with the Army Air Force.

As only a Navy Admiral, Nizi had no authority to meddle with the Land Air Force.

With the independence of the Land Air Force nearly settled, granting it considerable autonomy, even the Army’s Chief of Staff had limited influence.

This matter had to be handled by Rofuss.