Empire Conquest

Chapter 586 - 582: Making History

Two armored forces were making simultaneous headway on both sides of the canal, simply unstoppable.

In Bai Zhizhan’s view, the Tiaoman army had suddenly become proactive, not because they had a change of heart, but because they didn’t want to let the Imperial Army control the Xifan Canal. Once they controlled the strategic channel connecting both oceans, they’d be able to freely access the Land Heart Sea and even send troops to the North Xuan region.

With the current situation, especially after the Imperial Army had dispatched troops to Boss Bay and, with the help of the Ter Republic, began moving west, no one could prevent the Empire from reaching into the Land Heart Sea. However, from the standpoint of the Tiaoman Empire, maintaining supremacy in the North Xuan region was crucial no matter what.

If the Imperial Army were to enter the North Xuan region, the Tiaoman military would probably be sidelined.

Despite the North Xuan being on the southern coast of the Land Heart Sea and not far from the Tiaoman Empire’s mainland—almost the entire World Island away from the Liangxia Empire—the Tiaoman Empire was blockaded and couldn’t reach North Xuan by sea, while the Liangxia Empire could deploy troops and supplies via naval transport.

When compared like this, the advantage actually lay with the Liangxia Empire.

Now, the only thing stopping the Imperial Army was the Xifan Canal.

This was the key reason why Lian Xusheng led the assault force to the area, and Rommel suddenly became active, initiating a northward push along the western shore of the canal with his armored forces.

In Bai Zhizhan’s eyes, as long as the canal was under control, it didn’t matter who controlled it.

The Tiaoman Empire didn’t have the capital to command sea control, so how could it defend the canal?

If it really came to a head, the assault force under Lian Xusheng’s command could easily crush the Tiaoman Army under Rommel, especially with the backing of the Special Mixed Fleet.

Even without Fleet support, the Imperial Army’s armored forces could easily defeat the Tiaoman Army’s armored forces.

In Lian Xusheng’s words, Tiaoman’s armored weaponry, like tanks and assault guns, were so finely machined they were like pocket watches displayed in a cabinet.

Fit for battle?

The reliability was just too poor!

This had long been proven on the battlefield.

Tiaoman tanks had advanced performance but were often rendered inoperable due to their low reliability, and, as a result, they couldn’t compete with the Luosha tanks that had come straight off the tractor assembly line. Crucially, because they used such complex manufacturing processes, Tiaoman tanks’ production levels could never really get off the ground.

On the Giant Continent, the situation was the exact opposite.

The Imperial Army, from the beginning, hadn’t placed excessive demands on tank performance. Instead, they aimed for mass production during war, ensuring sufficient general performance while making production as easy as possible and reducing maintenance difficulties during use.

It was precisely this strategy that allowed the Imperial Army’s armored forces to move freely and effectively across the challenging Northwest Battlefield.

At this point, the Tiaoman Army had shifted its thinking, beginning to learn from the Imperial Army and even importing several main battle equipment production technologies from the Empire.

Of course, a face-off was definitely not on the cards.

The rapid advancement of ground forces was greatly related to the Fleet moving north in sync.

To put it bluntly, the Fleet moving north from the canal temporarily substituted the Artillery, providing far superior fire support, especially the few Battleships which outperformed the Artillery.

By firepower calculation, 1 Large Destroyer equaled 1 heavy artillery battalion.

The crux of it was, there were no targets on the ground that could withstand the Main Gun of a Battleship.

Not to mention the crumbling morale of the Bulan forces guarding the canal—if they hadn’t already fled at the sight of combat, they were probably petrified by the mere presence of behemoth battleships and their heavy artillery.

It was precisely because of this that the attack progressed so smoothly.

Although it wasn’t an utterly rout by fear, once the Battleships or Heavy Cruisers fired their Main Guns and the shells whistled down, the Bulan army would mostly give up resistance. Even if they didn’t surrender right on the spot, they would abandon their defensive positions en masse, rushing towards the rear defenses.

In just two days, the armored forces commanded by Lian Xusheng caught sight of the Land Heart Sea.

On December 23, after two additional days, the Tiaoman forces on the west bank of the canal, under Rommel’s command, advanced to the outskirts of Alexandria.

This was the stronghold of the Bulan Army in the Xifan Canal Zone.

Although the collapse of the Bulan Army was faster than anyone had anticipated, over the previous ten-plus days, Montgomery had still reinforced the defenses of Alexandria.

Of course, it was only a last gasp.

After a probing attack, Rommel ordered the Tiaoman Army to switch from offense to defense and then gathered forces to begin intercepting the Bulan Army coming from the west, namely from Alaman, preparing to fight a decisive battle of annihilation outside of Alexandria.

On the same day, under full protection from the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet burst through the Xifan Canal and entered the Land Heart Sea.

Although Alexandria’s Bulan Army tried to intercept the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet and employed heavy artillery during the process, aside from attracting artillery fire and bombing, it achieved no other results.

A key point was that two fast battleships were leading the charge.

In a contest of firepower, the coastal defenses of Alexandria, set up by the Bulan Army, were no match for the battleships’ main guns.

The next day, the Twelfth Special Mixed Fleet also entered the canal.

Additionally, the armored forces commanded by Lian Xusheng started to cross the river a bit further south, preparing to join the siege of Alexandria on the west bank of the canal.

Naturally, this was the result of discussions between the high commands of both sides.

Simply put, the Liangxia Army was only to participate in the battle for Alexandria and, unless given consent by the Tiaoman Empire, not to deploy troops to the North Xuan region.

Moreover, it was agreed that, once taken, Alexandria would be occupied and administered by the Liangxia forces, serving as the home port for the Imperial Fleet in the Land Heart Sea.

Clearly, both sides had made compromises.

Given the circumstances at the time, without the support of, or direct participation by, the Imperial Army, Rommel would not have been able to annihilate the local Bulan forces, no matter what.

Allowing those Bulan forces withdrawn from Alaman to return to Alexandria would have been unthinkable.

Let’s not forget that Alexandria was the stronghold of the Bulan Royal Navy in the Land Heart Sea and the stepping stone for controlling the Xifan Canal fortresses and advancing into the Fan Flame Ocean.

In that not-so-large harbor, there was a stockpile of ample war materials.

With sufficient manpower, it could be defended for half a year without issues.

The crux was that only by capturing Alexandria could the Xifan Canal be navigable.

This was also the key reason Montgomery abandoned Alaman to defend Alexandria and was prepared to fight Rommel to the death there.

Likewise, it was for this reason Rommel decided to first surround and annihilate the Bulan forces withdrawn from Alaman.

Of course, for the Imperial Navy, simply gaining a bridgehead in the Land Heart Sea was enough.

No matter what the future held, as long as they captured Alexandria and secured a foothold in the Land Heart Sea, they wouldn’t need to worry about controlling the nations around the Land Heart Sea.

In fact, this marked the first time since the birth of the Liangxia Empire that it had ventured into the Sunset Ocean!

Back then, Chen Bingxun had stopped at Jibu Fortress without advancing into the Land Heart Sea.

Just a notch below, Bai Zhizhan would be on equal footing with Chen Bingxun.

Actually, the moment the fleet burst through the Xifan Canal and entered the Land Heart Sea, including Bai Zhizhan, not a single officer or soldier realized they were the first Imperial Navy personnel to enter the Sunset Ocean during wartime by way of an expedition. Moreover, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet was the first Imperial Fleet to invade the Sunset Ocean by way of an expedition. At that time, what occupied everyone’s minds was actually the concern over the potential strikes they might encounter.