Empire Conquest

Chapter 547 - 543: Splitting Forces into Two Paths

Without asking, the mere question startled Bai Zhizhan.

Indeed, there was a secret plan, and it was strategically risky.

According to the information disclosed by Lian Xusheng, the plan originated from the Prime Minister Mansion, surely Xue Yuanzheng’s intention, with Peng Huaisong merely speaking on Xue Yuanzheng’s behalf.

This information was confirmed in the afternoon meeting.

When the meeting resumed, Xue Yuanzheng proposed to use the pretext of advancing on the Xifan Canal to deploy troops to Boss Bay and assist the Ter Republic in annihilating Boi Country to the north of Boss Bay.

Xue Yuanzheng gave three reasons for this arrangement.

First of all, only by annihilating Boi Country could the safety of the oil fields be ensured, and a steady flow of oil from Boss Bay be secured.

Obviously, as long as Boi Country existed and remained a member of the Alliance Group, it would not be without action.

Merely deploying a small number of patrol aircraft to monitor the oil tankers and other vessels entering and exiting Boss Bay would pose a deadly threat to the maritime routes.

We mustn’t forget that there are plenty of Bulan Kingdom and Newland Federation submarines in the Fan Flame Ocean.

Reliable intelligence indicated that with submarines undertaking blockade missions, their efficiency could increase manifold.

If combat aircraft were to be deployed to Boi Country, submarines might not even be needed, as bombing alone could paralyze the shipping lanes in and out of Boss Bay.

Indeed, it might even be possible to use naval mines to blockade Boss Bay.

If we delay a few more months, even the perishing chrysanthemums would cool.

The second reason was that, after taking control of Boi Country, moving northward into the Broad Sea would pose a threat to Baku on the western shore of Broad Sea.

Although Broad Sea was called a sea, it was merely a lake.

Although the Imperial Navy couldn’t dispatch battleships to Broad Sea, by deploying the Air Force in Boi Country, Baku’s oil fields could be destroyed.

Without oil from Baku, the Luosha Federation would hardly last half a year.

More crucially, if one could move north from Boi Country, there might be a chance to cross the Caucasus Mountains and attack Baku by the coming spring.

By doing so, there would be a greater certainty of occupying Baku in the first half of the next year.

From a strategic perspective, achieving this goal would give hope of defeating the Luosha Federation in the second half of the next year.

As for the third reason, it involved the Ter Republic.

Before the Ter Republic entered the war, Xue Yuanzheng had made a promise that after the great battle, the regions originally belonging to the Ter Empire would fall within the sphere of influence of the Ter Republic.

This included Boi Country.

Mainly, it was Boi Country.

We must not forget, in the Xuya Region to the west of the Two River basin facing the Land Heart Sea, due to the dispute with the Raleigh Kingdom, the ownership has not yet been determined.

That’s why the Ter Republic has been emphasizing the ownership rights of Boi Country.

According to the Ter Authority’s propaganda, reclaiming Boi Country was key to reviving the glory of the imperial era!

As such, if even Boi Country could not be captured, Xue Yuanzheng’s promise would be worth nothing.

In Xue Yuanzheng’s words, under the current overall situation, the value of the Ter Republic is certainly no less than that of the Tiaoman Empire; it is a core ally that must be preserved.

Thus, there was no room for negotiation about attacking Boi Country.

The main force wasn’t the Empire’s Army, but the Ter military.

According to Peng Huaisong’s briefing, the Ter Republic had already mobilized 500,000 troops, along with 250,000 Reserve Team, and the Empire’s Army only needed to commit several divisions of Armored Forces.

In fact, at the morning’s meeting, Peng Huaisong emphasized that being able to solve logistical support was related to this.

The Empire’s Army sending troops to participate in the war was essentially an offensive to breach fortifications.

After the breach, the occupation operations would be undertaken by the Ter troops.

In this way, not only was the burden of logistical support greatly reduced for the Empire’s Army, but there was also no need to divide forces from the main front.

As for the attack on the Xifan Canal, it was indeed a feint, and it was led by Ter troops.

According to Peng Huaisong’s briefing, the Ter Army would deploy 5 Cavalry Divisions and 10 Infantry Divisions to launch a simultaneous offensive toward the Xuya Region.

The main force was still the Imperial Navy.

This involves the attack on Jibu Fortress and whether it’s necessary to capture Socotra Island.

Xue Yuanzheng didn’t make any specific requests but just let Yang Zhiyuan, the director who rushed over in the afternoon from the Sixth Bureau, give an intelligence briefing.

There was sufficient intelligence to indicate that the Alliance Group was planning a strategic counteroffensive against the Tiaoman Empire and it was very likely to open a second front through a landing operation.

The only uncertainty was the enemy’s landing location.

According to Yang Zhiyuan’s briefing, there were five possible locations.

The first was the southern region of the Kingdom of Viking, namely the southern part of the Svia Peninsula.

The second was the western region of the Locke Kingdom, the southern shore of the Dover Strait, such as the Calais Region or the Normandy Region.

The third was the Northwest area of the Xuan Continent, to the west of the North Xuan area, somewhere along the coast facing the North Sunset Ocean.

The fourth was the mainland of the Raleigh Kingdom, particularly Sicily.

The fifth was an island in the eastern part of the Land Heart Sea, such as Trick Island, which was captured by Tiaoman forces at the end of last year, north of the Xifan Canal.

Relatively speaking, the likelihood was higher for the three middle locations, with the greatest likelihood being the third location.

The reason was that landing in the western part of the North Xuan Region not only presented less difficulty in warfare but also the Locke Colony Government there was more inclined to collaborate with the Alliance Group, so after landing, it would be possible to gain local support and avoid direct confrontation with Tiaoman forces in the initial stage of the landing.

Of course, the key was the difficulty of the operation.

Whether going to the western part of the Locke Kingdom or landing on Sicily, without absolute naval dominance, and when air superiority was not complete, the difficulty of the operation would be enormous.

Because of the immense difficulty of the operation, achieving success would require the deployment of a sufficiently large force.

Considering the current situation, even if the Alliance Group had already mobilized a large number of ground forces and there was no problem with equipment and supplies, it might still be the case that there were not enough transport ships to support a large-scale landing operation, so logistical support might not keep up after a successful landing.

In Yang Zhiyuan’s words, based on the current situation of the Alliance Group, even if they won all subsequent battles, launching a landing operation toward the West Continent would take at least three years to initiate.

In the absence of an overall advantage, the Alliance Group had no reason to undertake strategic risks.

From this perspective, landing in the western part of the North Xuan Region was the most ideal choice.

Of course, in his briefing, Yang Zhiyuan didn’t forget to mention that the possibility of the other four scenarios also existed and could not be completely ruled out.

In addition, he also provided some valuable evidence.

Among these, the most important was that the Newland Federation had already resumed strategic assistance to the Bulan Kingdom, and ships heading to the Bulan Kingdom significantly outnumbered those returning to the Newland Federation.

The ships that stayed could very likely be related to the landing operation.

According to reliable intelligence, the transport ships now docked in the Bulan Kingdom’s ports could not only send about 15 divisions’ worth of troops to the North Xuan Region but also simultaneously transport about three months’ worth of combat supplies. Since the fleet wouldn’t need to enter the Land Heart Sea, there was no possibility of being bombed, so following a successful landing, the Bulan Kingdom could still deploy transport ships to supply the Landing Forces with weapons and supplies.

Of course, no matter where the Alliance Group opened a second front, the Empire must accelerate its advance into the Land Heart Sea.

Only by quickly taking down the Xifan Canal and opening a route to the Land Heart Sea could vital support be provided to the Tiaoman Empire!