Empire Conquest

Chapter 576 - 572: The Critical Battle

"_"What’s the situation like back home?"_

"It’s relatively calm. Our control over public opinion in the early stages was effective, and our main crackdown on traitors has gained widespread support from the military and the public."

Bai Zhizhan coughed impatiently a few times.

Clearly, that wasn’t what he wanted to know.

"In my opinion, the situation is still not very optimistic," Zheng Kaiyuan sighed and said, "The Tiaoman Empire is putting a lot of pressure on the Grand Secretary, and on the Giant Continent battlefield, because we’ve stopped advancing, the Luosha Army is already adjusting their deployment and may launch an offensive before the winter."

"Winter?"

"The Alliance Army has landed in North Xuan and intensified the attack on Malta, clearly intending to force the Tiaoman Empire to reinforce the Land Heart Sea area, reducing their defense capabilities on the West Continent battlefield." Zheng Jiangming paused briefly before continuing, "Intelligence indicates that once the landing in North Xuan is successful, as long as the Luosha Federation launches an assault on the eastern front in the West Continent, the Newland Federation and Bulan Kingdom will open a new front. Not just to honor their promises, but to swiftly defeat the Tiaoman Empire and gain an absolute strategic advantage."

"A direct landing on the West Continent?" Bai Zhizhan had guessed as much.

Zheng Jiangming nodded and said, "The landing in North Xuan can be seen as a warm-up exercise, after all, the Alliance Group hasn’t fought a large-scale amphibious battle before, and the Newland Army hasn’t participated in large-scale combat either. It’s akin to a seriously unexercised fat person needing to launch a small-scale amphibious operation to let the usually pampered, and frankly incompetent, Newland soldiers understand war."

At this moment, Bai Zhizhan’s brows were tightly furrowed.

Although what Zheng Jiangming said was a bit shocking, the reasoning was correct.

On a strategic level, only a swift defeat of the Tiaoman Empire could possibly lead to defeating the Liangxia Empire.

Let’s not forget that in the last major conflict, it was after the defeat of the Tiaoman Empire that the Liangxia Empire gave up the will to win and sat down to negotiate with the Alliance Group. If the Tiaoman Empire hadn’t been defeated, the Liangxia Empire would definitely not have agreed to a ceasefire. If the war continued, the outcome would be difficult to predict.

"What are the chances?"

"More than fifty percent."

After a long sigh, Bai Zhizhan rubbed his forehead hard.

Clearly, this was also why it was necessary to take the risk of advancing through the Narrow Sea and to swiftly attack the Xifan Canal, and why the Grand Secretary needed to remove domestic rebels with an iron hand.

In a sense, what happened in the following months would determine the outcome of the entire war.

As long as we persevere and seize the opportunity, there’s a good chance of ultimate victory.

Conversely, the best result you could hope for would be a ceasefire with the Alliance Group, replaying the last conflict, with war breaking out again in a few decades.

Of course, those facing tests were not only the Liangxia Empire, but also the Tiaoman Empire and the Bulan Kingdom.

To put it simply, it was a matter of who would fall first.

The decisive battleground was the Xifan Canal.

As long as the Imperial Navy could forcefully seize the Xifan Canal and clear the route to the Land Heart Sea, even if it couldn’t reach Nara Fortress or the Fan Flame Ocean, it could still deliver supplies to the Raleigh Kingdom and the Ter Republic’s West Continent area and then transport them by rail to the Tiaoman Empire.

Additionally, it could also conveniently deploy troops to the West Continent.

To put it bluntly, as long as the Xifan Canal is captured, the Tiaoman Empire won’t be defeated.

As for other critical battlefields, even Malta, which seems crucial right now, cannot decide the final victory.

At the strategic level, there are, in fact, only two decisive factors: the Xifan Canal to the west and the Howay Islands in the East Ocean.

The key point also lies in the fact that if the Xifan Canal is lost, the Bulan Kingdom will inevitably be defeated, and the hardliner Chur is sure to be ousted.

By then, the Bulan Kingdom might well seek an honorable exit from the war.

In fact, there have already been signs of this.

According to Zheng Jiangming, last month, several politicians from the Bulan opposition party sent ceasefire signals to the Liangxia Empire through Neutral Countries.

To be more specific, as long as the Liangxia Empire was willing to guarantee and earnestly protect the core interests of the Bulan Kingdom, such as restoring the Bulan Kingdom’s sphere of influence before the outbreak of the war, they would find a way to bring down Chur or have the current government dissolved. After taking control of the caretaker Cabinet, they would then commence ceasefire negotiations with the Empire.

However, the Imperial Authority didn’t respond.

The reason was simple: the Empire couldn’t possibly make a promise to restore its pre-war sphere of influence.

By this point, it was impossible to go back to the situation before the outbreak of the war.

To put it bluntly, the most that the Empire could offer was to maintain the status quo at the time of the ceasefire and possibly return some areas controlled by the Alliance Group, such as Aus and the Maple Country, back to the Bulan Kingdom or let the Bulan Kingdom manage them on their behalf. But when it came to the highly valuable Fanluo region, and the order on the Giant Continent, the interests of the Consortium Group must be prioritized. It simply wasn’t possible to handle them according to the wishes of the Bulan Kingdom.

Of course, there was no absolute necessity for negotiations yet.

Or rather, there hadn’t been an opportunity for Chur to be ousted from office, so there was no need to engage in secret negotiations with those powerless opposition politicians who were all talk.

However, this also reflected

that within the Bulan Kingdom, there were indeed anti-government forces; and this undercurrent would grow stronger with the shifting situation.

It was precisely for this reason that it was believed, after taking control of the Xifan Canal, the Bulan Kingdom might surrender or at least withdraw from the Alliance Group.

According to the analysis by the Sixth Bureau, even if the opposition didn’t succeed and Chur managed to keep his position as Prime Minister, the Bulan Kingdom would try to strike a deal with the Consortium Group before losing all bargaining chips to ensure a place in the post-war world.

Wang Kaiyuan’s statement was most representative.

Whether it’s the current Chur or the great politicians of history, they were all nationalists who cared about the core interests of the Bulan Kingdom.

If even the country’s core interests couldn’t be preserved, what would be the point of winning the war?

Conversely, as long as the nation’s core interests could be maintained, why not surrender?

If this was indeed the case, victory was surely on the horizon.

Of course, that was also the main reason for Zheng Jiangming’s presence at the Special Mixed Fleet No. 11.

Although he didn’t state it explicitly, the implication was clear: he was here to oversee the battle, not sent by Liu Changxun but by Xue Yuanzheng.

Yet Xue Yuanzheng had given enough respect.

Zheng Jiangming was a diehard supporter of Bai Zhizhan, so he would certainly consider Bai Zhizhan’s interests and not limit his actions under the guise of overseeing the battle.

At Special Mixed Fleet No. 12, it was a different story.

A Senior Intelligence Officer from the Sixth Bureau was sent there, and he is a confidant of Wang Kaiyuan. According to Zheng Jiangming, that guy is a true intelligence worker.

In other words, he’s not someone who can be easily influenced.

Even Liu Xiangzhen, as bold as he might be, with the Liu Family supporting him from behind, wouldn’t dare to clash with the Sixth Bureau, after all, the Sixth Bureau reported directly to the Grand Secretary.

But Bai Zhizhan didn’t give it much thought.

In the current situation, what was needed most was a decisive victory, specifically, quickly taking control of the Xifan Canal!

For this purpose, the Imperial Authority had sent not just two intelligence officers.