Empire Conquest

Chapter 546 - 542 Joint Meeting

On September 9th, the day before the Fleet returned to Nagiu Port, Bai Zhizhan took the patrol plane that came to meet him and returned to Nagiu Port ahead of schedule.

After stopping over in Nagiu Port and Jeju Island, he arrived back at the Imperial Capital the following morning.

Although Liu Changxun had long made arrangements to heavily propagate the great victory at the Galapagos Sea Battle, and Xue Yuanzheng also intended to do so, Bai Zhizhan was not interested. Before returning to the Imperial Capital, he had sent a telegram to Liu Changxun, indicating he did not wish to participate in any promotional activities.

After disembarking from the plane, he went straight home. Regardless, for Bai Zhizhan, who was a father for the first time, returning home to see his wife and child was the greatest reward.

That evening, Bai Zhizhan also visited the Empress Dowager in the palace.

As for the propaganda, it was not delayed but merely included an additional item.

At the celebratory banquet organized by the Navy Fraternity, Liu Changxun jokingly told the distinguished guests from all walks of society that General Bai who returned triumphantly was eager to see his son who was born during his deployment, so he could not attend the celebration, hoping everyone would understand.

As a result, Bai Zhizhan not only became the invincible general who was victorious in every battle but was also seen as a good family man.

It was also at the celebration that donations sufficient to build a large carrier were raised. The same model of portable binoculars used by Bai Zhizhan sold for ten times the price in the thousands. By regulation, the income from the sale of memorabilia would be added to the Disabled Soldiers’ Relief Fund.

On the same day, Liu Xiangzhen also returned to the Imperial Capital.

As Liu Changxun had guessed, Liu Changxun had already adjusted the deployment of the Fleet. Since the "Longjiang" and the "Peijing" were due for major repairs, and there was no immediate need to deploy the Special Mixed Fleet at Transfer Island, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet and the Second Fleet’s two Special Mixed Fleets were exchanged.

Moreover, Liu Xiangzhen was transferred to the Twenty-Second Special Mixed Fleet to serve as its Commander.

By September 13th, Lian Xusheng had also returned to the Imperial Capital.

According to Xue Yuanzheng’s plans, a senior military meeting would be called in the near future.

The sole topic for discussion was whether to launch a strong attack on Jibu Fortress while attacking Boss Bay or to bypass Jibu Fortress and go directly to attack the Xifan Canal.

Clearly, this was a new option that arose after the Ter Republic entered the war.

Before that, the only choice for advancing to the Land Heart Sea was to launch a strong attack on Jibu Fortress, then proceed to attack the Xifan Canal from the Narrow Sea.

After the Republic entered the war, The Imperial Army could choose to march overland to the Xifan Canal.

In fact, this was the main reason for calling Lian Xusheng back.

Although it was only September and early autumn in the Empire, it was already deep autumn in the hinterlands of the Giant Continent, and winter was not far off.

After being held up at Atla, the Imperial Army could not possibly organize another offensive before the arrival of winter, which was before the beginning of November.

Next was a long winter of five months.

Evidently, unless the Imperial Army intended to launch an assault in the harsh winter of minus 30 degrees Celsius, there was no need for Lian Xusheng to continue staying at the Northwest Battlefield.

Open a new front in the Two River region?

Because the issue was of great importance, directly determining the life and death of several key allies, Xue Yuanzheng convened a joint military conference at the Prime Minister Mansion two days later on September 15th.

The crux of the matter was, it involved coordinated operations between the Navy and the Army.

Bai Zhizhan arrived half an hour early, intending to thank Lian Xusheng in person. Little did he expect, Lian Xusheng had arrived at the Prime Minister Mansion before dawn.

Until the meeting started, Bai Zhizhan did not get the chance to meet Lian Xusheng.

Despite being deeply moved, Bai Zhizhan was also quite helpless.

Nearly a month had been lost after the Galapagos Sea Battle, and both the Navy and Army had still done nothing.

No matter how they planned to fight next, they had to set the broad guidelines, and there was no time left to delay.

After the meeting began, the first topic of discussion was whether it was necessary to open a ground battleground in the Two River region and whether to focus on the ground battleground.

For the former, there was actually no controversy.

Even Navy Generals like Liu Changxun, He Yongxing, Gui Boyong, Liu Xiangdong, Bai Zhizhan, and Liu Xiangzhen all admitted the necessity of opening up a ground battlefield.

However, when it came to the latter question, the differences between the Army and the Navy were quite clear.

At the meeting, several Navy Generals, including Bai Zhizhan, believed that the focus should remain on naval routes, even if the Army could bypass Jibu Fortress. They doubted whether the Army could take the Xifan Canal without Navy support, given that logistics for ground advancement could not be guaranteed.

It is necessary to cross the vast Mua Desert from Boss Bay to the Xifan Canal, and there are almost no roads along the way, let alone railways.

Without roads, how could one talk about supplies?

Historically, the main force in combat on the Mua Peninsula has always been camel cavalry.

Camels don’t need to drink gasoline—water from oases is enough.

Despite Boss Bay being the largest oil-producing region globally, with nearly all oil fields underneath being of low extraction difficulty, there is no petrochemical industry on site!

The closest petrochemical plant is in the Ter Republic, which also has very limited output, and there is no way to transport it to the front lines on the Mua Peninsula.

Clearly, this posed a logistical challenge that Army officers could not deny.

At the meeting, people like Peng Huaisong only emphasized one point: they could rely on the Ter Republic to effectively resolve the logistical support issues.

As for how "effective" that would be, no one mentioned.

What puzzled Bai Zhizhan a bit was that Xue Yuanzheng seemed to favor the Army’s plan, which involved bypassing, or even abandoning, Jibu Fortress and marching directly overland to the Xifan Canal.

Halfway through the discussion, Bai Zhizhan once thought that perhaps they were preparing to treat a feint as the main attack.

The logic was simple.

As long as the Army exerted force on the Mua Peninsula and threatened the Xifan Canal, it might force the Bulan Kingdom to voluntarily give up Jibu Fortress.

After all, if they lost the Xifan Canal, then holding Jibu Fortress would definitely be impossible.

However, what Bai Zhizhan couldn’t figure out was that during the morning discussion, Lian Xusheng had remained silent, not expressing any opinion regarding the operation to advance on the Xifan Canal.

It seemed that he was merely a spectator.

If they were truly using the ground movement as a feint, even if they didn’t put Lian Xusheng into play, they should at least let him share his opinion, which is to say, hear his advice.

After all, what Lian Xusheng was best known for was his rapid assault operations.

On the Northwest Battlefield, the battles leading up to the encounter at Atla, were all long-distance raids that achieved unbelievably successful outcomes.

Marching on the Xifan Canal would require crossing the Mua Desert no matter how it was fought—typical rapid assault operations.

Given that Lian Xusheng hadn’t spoken, was this planning to take the deception seriously?

Or was there another plan in play?

If so, what could be more important than attacking the Xifan Canal and advancing to the Land Heart Sea?

The discussion continued until noon, when the meeting was temporarily adjourned.

After announcing the recess, Xue Yuanzheng left the conference room.

As the meeting was to continue in the afternoon, and as dozens of Senior Generals from both Land and Sea Forces were present—with the exception of Li Yunxiang, who had not returned, all other famous War Generals were present—the staff at the Prime Minister Mansion had prepared a lavish lunch to honor these generals who had performed exhaustive and commendable service.

Clearly, Bai Zhizhan had little appetite.

After eating something casually, he went to find Lian Xusheng, who was still savoring the dessert after the meal.

If there was indeed another plan, it had to be clarified before the afternoon session began.