Empire Conquest

Chapter 596 - 592: The Last Straw

The Alliance Group will send troops to counterattack Malta?

That’s out of the question.

The day after the Bai Zhizhan Fleet returned, and the day before the planned deployment to Malta, the remaining Bulan forces announced their surrender.

Actually, on the evening of the previous day, the last batch of transport ships dispatched by the Bulan Royal Navy left Malta.

Because there was no hope for evacuation, that morning, the remaining Bulan forces hoisted the white flag and surrendered to the Tiaoman forces that were still in defensive positions.

It’s quite a spectacle, really, for the attacking side to surrender to the defending side.

It also reflects, from one aspect, the complete collapse of Bulan’s military morale.

No matter how Bulan Kingdom propagandized, the fact that front-line combat troops surrendered without a fight was proof enough that Bulan Kingdom had reached its wits’ end.

The only reason there hadn’t been a complete collapse was because their homeland had not been attacked.

Based on the Bulan forces’ performance in the Land Heart Sea, especially in the Xifan Canal and Malta, they might immediately announce defeat and surrender after an attack on their homeland.

However, all these had nothing to do with Bai Zhizhan.

On the morning of January 20th, after completing their last resupply, the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet entered the Xifan Canal and returned to the Narrow Sea a few hours later.

Next came the long journey home.

Three days later, while the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet was still on the Mua Sea, heading towards Colombo to make a brief stop for the officers and soldiers to rest and recuperate, they received the latest message from the Navy headquarter.

The Tiaoman Empire had already persuaded Sban Kingdom, and perhaps soon would bring Sban Kingdom into the Consortium Group.

In addition, Sban Kingdom had put its troops on combat readiness and had also strengthened defenses in the southern region and near the capital.

As expected, with Sban Kingdom entering the war, taking Nara Fortress was no longer an issue.

Of course, that was the bargaining chip for getting Sban Kingdom to join the war.

In simple terms, the Tiaoman Empire, on behalf of the Consortium Group, had promised Sban Kingdom that after the great war, Nara Fortress would be returned to Sban Kingdom; additionally, Tangier, located south of the Strait of Nara, would belong to Sban Kingdom, and the rule of Iberian would be recognized.

The key point was to grant all of Locke’s colonial territories in the western part of the North Xuan region to Sban Kingdom.

Of course, Sban Kingdom assured that after the war, it would lease Tangier to the Tiaoman Empire and Nara Fortress to the Liangxia Empire for 49 years each, ensuring the Strait of Nara remained open and available for Tiaoman and Liangxia uses after the war.

Giving up both fortresses at the north and south ends of the Strait of Nara primarily signaled the lack of ambitions for dominance, showing that Sban Kingdom’s interest claims posed no threat to the two empires.

We must admit, the leaders of Sban Kingdom were very sensible and self-aware.

Joining the war so late, it was sufficient to gain some advantages; any attempts to reach beyond their power would backfire.

So far, the only unsettled matter concerned several colonial territories in the Caribbean region.

Sban Kingdom explicitly demanded the return of all colonies, including Cuba, which Newland Federation had taken half a century earlier.

Unfortunately, this was clearly unlikely.

The reason was straightforward: it included Nanzhu Country, and certainly, the Liangxia Empire would not agree to let Nanzhu Country become a Sban Kingdom colony again.

Thus, a compensation plan was proposed.

Territories from other Alliance Group members such as Locke Republic and Bulan Kingdom, in the northern part of Nangu Continent as well as in the Caribbean Sea region, would be transferred to Sban Kingdom to compensate for not getting all the colonies back, and Sban Kingdom would relinquish all territorial claims in the West East Ocean region.

Of course, what remained undecided was how much compensation would be given.

The crux of the matter was that the entry of the Sban Kingdom into the war would inevitably be the last straw to crush the Bulan Kingdom.

Before this, the Bulan Kingdom might still have held onto a glimmer of hope, believing they could, by staunchly defending the Nara Fortress and controlling Tangier across the strait, block the Liangxia Navy’s Special Mixed Fleet in the Land Heart Sea, to at least secure their naval supremacy over the Sunset Ocean in the short term.

Of course, the key was to ensure that the shipping lanes with the Newland Federation remained unobstructed.

As long as they could do that, the Bulan Kingdom could hold on, without having to immediately consider the necessity of surrendering.

Clearly, after the Sban Kingdom entered the war, this glimmer of hope would vanish into thin air.

Although the Nara Fortress was easy to defend but hard to attack, it was designed to repel enemies coming from the sea, not from land, let alone withstand a pincer attack.

What’s more, the Bulan Royal Navy no longer had a fleet to defend the fortress.

Historically, the Nara Fortress belonged to the Sban Kingdom and was seized by the Bulan Kingdom after defeating Sban, who sent troops to capture it.

At least for now, the Sban Kingdom had not recognized the Nara Fortress as belonging to Bulan.

In fact, after the establishment of its kingdom, the Sban Kingdom had been in contact with Bulan, hoping to peacefully reclaim this territory.

Unfortunately, the efforts of the Sban Kingdom had not been rewarded.

It’s worth mentioning that the Sban Kingdom had remained neutral, without affiliating with the Alliance Group, precisely because of this issue.

For the past several hundred years, the Bulan Kingdom had managed to defend this peninsula, which was bordered by the sea on three sides, and defeated enemies from the land direction, all thanks to their naval supremacy.

With the support and cover of the fleet, Bulan troops defending the fortress could fend off an onslaught.

Then, without a fleet, could they still hold it?

The answer was clearly negative.

Even if the Liangxia Fleet didn’t attack, with no fleet for support, the mere forces at the fortress couldn’t withstand the assault from the Sban military.

Just a few days of artillery bombardment could turn the Nara Fortress into ruins.

So, after the fall of the fortress, what else could the Bulan Kingdom hope for?

In the short term, the Newland Navy was struggling to protect itself and could not possibly rush to aid the Bulan Kingdom.

If left with no choice, the Newland Federation would abandon Bulan Kingdom if necessary, in order to do everything possible to defend the Howay Islands on their side of the East Ocean.

The key point was that the Bulan Royal Navy no longer had any carrier fleets!

What could be achieved with the few remaining Main Battle Ships?

In fact, even if comparing Main Battle Ships, the Bulan Royal Navy didn’t stand a chance because the Liangxia Navy could deploy several Fast Battleships to the Sunset Ocean. Among them were the mighty "Nanzhu Sea" class and the equally formidable and battle-proven "Xu Sea" class.

To speak bluntly, even if they were to engage in a traditional fleet battle, the Bulan Royal Navy was bound to be defeated.

Once the Liangxia Navy’s Special Mixed Fleet broke into the Sunset Ocean, they could easily cut off the shipping routes and strategicaly blockade the Bulan Kingdom.

With the shipping lanes cut, could Bulan Kingdom still have any hope?

Frankly, after losing naval control of the Fan Flame Ocean, especially after the fall of Sri Lanka, Bulan Kingdom could no longer obtain resources from the Fanluo region. The kingdom was able to persist and continue fighting on various fronts only due to aid from the Newland Federation.

At least the aid provided by the Newland Federation played an extremely important and irreplaceable role.

Without that aid, there was also loss of hope.

So, would the Bulan Kingdom choose to exit the war gracefully because of this?

Or, like the former Locke Republic, would they put down the airs of a hundred-year-old empire and surrender to the Consortium Group before their homeland was swept by the fires of war?