Empire Conquest

Chapter 552 - 548 Internal Troubles

Shortly after dawn, during breakfast, a final report arrived from the Garrison Headquarters in Lion Spring City.

The fast boats and patrol planes that were dispatched at night had found the wreckage of Newland bombers and captured more than a dozen pilots, who were confirmed to have come from Aus, piloting B-17 bombers with the mission of dropping mines in the Lion Spring Strait.

Additionally, an entire Bomber Wing was stationed in Aus.

According to the Newland Army Air Force’s wartime organizational structure, a wing is the highest level operational unit, succeeded by groups, squadrons, and flights at the tactical level, and if necessary, an air division above the group. Therefore, a wing typically has actual strength ranging from 500 to 1000 aircraft.

Of course, there are exceptions.

For instance, the Expeditionary Air Force Wing sent to the Bulan Kingdom had more than 2500 bombers!

From this, it can be inferred that the number of heavy bombers near Darwin must be well over 300— at least 500, and possibly up to 1000.

According to the Sixth Bureau’s assessment, if the Newland Authority intends to use aerially deployed mines to blockade the Lion Spring Strait, forcing the Empire to deploy troops to Aus, they would station a sufficient number of bombers.

How many are considered sufficient depends on the efficiency of the bombers’ mining operation.

A B-17 can drop 2 naval mines at a time, and accounting for combat losses, to achieve effective mining density, the number of deployed bombers must not be less than 1000. If the sortie rate of the bombers is considered, at least several hundred more would be needed.

This means that the Newland Army will definitely continue sending bombers to mine Lion Spring City.

"What’s your take on this?"

"Do you need to ask?"

Liu Changxun gave a wry smile and sighed, but did not respond.

"The Newland Navy has made so many moves; without exception, they aim to force us to attack Aus to secure more than two years of breathing space," Bai Zhizhan knew Liu Changxun was playing dumb, but that was his style.

"Indeed, but speaking out about it openly, no one can afford to overlook it."

Bai Zhizhan sighed and said, "Especially under the current situation, if the Lion Spring Strait faces the threat of being unnavigable due to naval mines, even if the Grand Secretary is unwilling to compromise, we must consider taking necessary actions to ensure the shipping routes to the Fan Flame Ocean remain unobstructed."

"Li Yunxiang should still be in Sri Lanka."

Hearing Liu Changxun say this, Bai Zhizhan’s brow twitched rapidly.

Clearly, Liu Changxun was more seasoned.

If Li Yunxiang could be persuaded to deploy long-range bombers in the Southeast region near Aus to bomb and stymie the Newland Army’s mining operations, the risk of the Lion Spring Strait being blockaded by naval mines could be eliminated, or at least mitigated, thus avoiding the need to dispatch troops to Aus at this critical juncture.

"That’s just one thing."

"Don’t worry, I’ll make the necessary arrangements," Liu Changxun said briskly.

Having said this, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t say much more.

What the Navy could currently do was to deploy more minesweeping ships to ensure the main routes remained clear and reduce unnecessary losses.

In addition, more Night Fighters should be stationed, and if needed, their own night flying units could be formed.

Compared to passive defense, arranging Night Fighters to intercept mining bombers is the most effective defense mechanism.

Fortunately, these were not problems.

Bai Zhizhan did not delay; he boarded a transport plane and left the Imperial Capital by evening.

After sending Bai Zhizhan off, Liu Changxun did not idle away either; following the secretary’s organization of the received intelligence, he went to the Prime Minister Mansion overnight.

The sinking of transport ships after hitting mines in the Lion Spring Strait could not be concealed, nor was there any need to hide it.

In fact, when Liu Changxun had his secretary go to the airport to bring Bai Zhizhan back, he had already phoned Xue Yuanzheng to report the situation.

"I’ve already sent Bai Zhizhan to find Li Yunxiang."

"This matter is far from simple!"

After saying this, Xue Yuanzheng sighed heavily.

Liu Changxun also let out a sigh but didn’t continue the conversation.

"We’ve just resolved our strategic direction issues by attacking Boi Country to stabilize the Army and assigning enough tasks to the Navy, so the situation won’t become one-sided for the time being. Who would have thought, before we could catch our breath, the Newland Army would strike at our soft underbelly."

"Perhaps it’s just a coincidence." Xue Yuanzheng had said so much that it would not be good for Liu Changxun to continue staying silent.

"Do you believe in coincidences?"

Liu Changxun was speechless, but he didn’t argue with Xue Yuanzheng.

"If it really were a coincidence, that would be fantastic. My worry is that it’s not a coincidence but rather related to certain forces within our ranks."

"Grand Secretary..."

"I don’t want to admit it either, but we must face our predicament and bravely acknowledge and accept the reality."

Liu Changxun hesitated briefly before saying, "Even if we believe this to be true, we can’t prove it, let alone find evidence."

"Regardless, we must thoroughly investigate this matter."

"In the current situation..."

When Xue Yuanzheng’s gaze turned to him, Liu Changxun tactfully shut his mouth.

In fact, before coming here, Liu Changxun had already thought about it. The Newland Army choosing this moment to deploy Bombers in Aus, sending them on minesweeping missions, attempting to use Naval mines to blockade Lion Spring Strait – it was clearly targeted, likely based on reliable intelligence.

In simple terms, there was a traitor within the Empire.

It was precisely because of such concerns that Liu Changxun had come to the Prime Minister Mansion overnight to find Xue Yuanzheng.

Clearly, Xue Yuanzheng had harbored similar suspicions earlier.

If put into words, it was the pacifists who were causing mischief.

Ultimately, there was just one point.

If the Imperial Navy had to launch an offensive against Aus, then after the war on the Giant Continent came to an end, which is after defeating the Luosha Federation, they could force the Newland Federation into surrender without much effort. By then, the Newland Federation would most likely propose exchanging Aus and Southwest East Ocean for peace.

In such a scenario, even if Xue Yuanzheng insisted, he might not be able to continue the war.

Don’t forget that even during the era of Emperor Shiwu and Chen Bingxun, the ultimate goal of the Empire was no more than to conquer and rule the Aus continent.

If the Empire could seize Aus without spilling blood and govern half the world, why continue fighting?

Such great exploits, even if not surpassing Emperor Shiwu, would not be far behind.

As mentioned before, this would only be a temporary victory; the war would not end but instead be suppressed, to erupt again in twenty or thirty years.

So, after twenty or thirty years, could the Empire win once again?

Not to mention anything else, the pre-war plans were all aimed at completely defeating the Alliance Group of the Western Powers to achieve an overall victory in the great war.

Abandoning the plan midway was never Xue Yuanzheng’s style.

To avoid halfway failure, the first step was to eliminate internal threats.

In a sense, the only thing that could bring down the Empire was an internal peril.

"This matter, arrange it when you get back. I will personally find Peng Huaisong and use the Army’s military operations as bait. After obtaining evidence, we’ll catch them all in one swoop."

"What do we need to do?" Liu Changxun stood up, knowing that Xue Yuanzheng’s words meant the conversation had come to an end.

"No matter what happens, we must ensure the operation to advance into Boss Bay and attack Jibu Fortress proceeds as planned, with absolutely no delay."

"Understood, I’ll go back and arrange everything immediately."