Empire Conquest

Chapter 624 - 620 Secret Mission

Around 4 p.m., after confirming that there were no threats, Zheng Jiangming finally sent a telegram to the Navy headquarters, with the consent of Bai Zhizhan.

However, the Navy headquarters did not send an immediate response.

Waiting for a reply from the Navy headquarters, Bai Zhizhan even postponed dinner time.

In fact, nobody had much of an appetite.

The Grand Secretary had suddenly issued orders to halt the operation against the Howay Islands and urgently withdraw the Fleet, yet he gave no suitable reason.

Moreover, the Navy headquarters maintained its silence.

Even if Bai Zhizhan could keep his composure, the officers and soldiers below him began to harbor doubts.

During lunch, Bai Zhizhan heard a few staff officers whispering, suspecting that something had happened domestically, possibly even involving the Grand Secretary himself.

In truth, Bai Zhizhan shared similar concerns.

The order came from the Prime Minister Mansion, and even if it bore the Grand Secretary’s signature, the person issuing the order might not be the Grand Secretary himself.

If something had happened to Xue Yuanzheng, the official who took over would issue orders in the name of the Grand Secretary, because only the Grand Secretary’s orders could mobilize a Frontline Commander.

More importantly, this was the only way to recall the Fleet to the Empire’s mainland.

If Xue Yuanzheng were to suffer any mishap, whoever took power would see to it that commanders deployed abroad immediately return to the Empire.

Put plainly, it was about seizing military authority from the main commanders.

And to be fair, this was standard operating procedure.

Over the past decades, whenever there was a sudden drastic shift at the top echelons of power within the Empire, the previous Emperors, and later the Grand Secretaries, would always reclaim military authority at the first opportunity.

At present, the focus was actually on the Navy.

Let’s not forget, the most likely successor to Xue Yuanzheng was Situ Jingde.

And the only force Situ Jingde couldn’t command was the Navy.

In Bai Zhizhan’s view, this might well be the key reason for the Navy headquarters’ ongoing silence.

On the other hand, if Xue Yuanzheng met with an accident, and the Holy Emperor appointed Situ Jingde as the acting Grand Secretary, then the first thing he would need to do was to take control of the Navy headquarters.

But the problem was, Liu Changxun might not comply so easily.

Consequently, Situ Jingde would need to find a way to "persuade" Liu Changxun, and before that, he absolutely couldn’t allow Liu Changxun to contact the commanders at the front.

If Liu Changxun had already been controlled, then naturally there would be no news from the Navy headquarters.

As for Liu Changxun’s safety, there was no need to worry about that.

Situ Jingde was no fool; knowing apart from Liu Changxun, no one else could command the Imperial Navy, he wouldn’t trouble Liu Changxun before the war ended.

Once the situation had stabilized, Liu Changxun would naturally accept the fait accompli.

According to this speculation, it wouldn’t be long before an order arrived, directing the Fleet commanders to return to the Empire’s mainland!

By 9 o’clock in the evening, unable to endure any longer, Bai Zhizhan led the way to the dining hall.

At the dinner table, Zhou Yongtao tried several times to initiate a conversation, but in the end, it was all in vain.

Not to mention Bai Zhizhan, even the typically upbeat Zheng Jiangming was very somber, although his positivity was merely a facade to mask his true inner thoughts.

Clearly, Bai Zhizhan was not the only one with similar worries.

Given Zheng Jiangming’s understanding of the internal political dynamics of the Empire, he was undoubtedly even more concerned.

As a result, the dinner took less than half an hour to finish.

Zhou Yongtao was tactful, not only did he not linger, but when he left, he also took several senior staff officers with him.

In the end, even the chefs consciously left.

Fortunately, there were 3 officer’s messes on the "Qinling," so there was no worry about having nowhere to eat dinner.

"After joining the fleet, I mentioned another purpose of this trip to you, didn’t I?"

Hearing Zheng Jiangming say this, Bai Zhizhan immediately furrowed his brows. Indeed, he had mentioned that there was another task, but he hadn’t specified.

Because Zheng Jiangming was an intelligence officer from the Sixth Bureau, Bai Zhizhan would never pry further if Zheng didn’t wish to disclose information.

It wasn’t that he lacked sufficient clearance, but he didn’t want to put Zheng Jiangming in a difficult position.

But now, it was clear that Zheng Jiangming was just making conversation.

When Bai Zhizhan turned his gaze over, Zheng pulled out a pack of cigarettes and a box of matches as if by magic.

"Care for one?"

Bai Zhizhan shook his head. If it had been before, he certainly would have stopped Zheng Jiangming.

But now, he didn’t care so much.

"To be honest, this is actually my main mission." After lighting up and taking a couple of drags, Zheng Jiangming went on to say, "According to the higher-ups, if the attack goes smoothly, we need to strive for the surrender of the Newland East Ocean Fleet after we capture Honu Island."

"Have the fleet surrender?"

"More precisely, to have the soldiers of the East Ocean Fleet, from Nizi down, surrender. The best method, actually, is to have Nizi issue the orders to surrender."

"This..."

"According to the plans from above, once we land on Honu Island, we will try to establish contact with Nizi and use the Newland soldiers on the Howay Islands as leverage to have Nizi announce the surrender. At that time, I will represent the Imperial Authority to negotiate with the representative arranged by Nizi."

"Nizi is just the Fleet Commander of the East Ocean Fleet, a five-star Admiral of Newland Navy. What authority does he have to negotiate with us?"

"Millions of Newland soldiers and officers, and the inevitable sacrifice of tens, even hundreds of thousands, of Empire Navy and Marine Corps soldiers in a fierce attack on the Wayi Islands!"

Realizing what Zheng Jiangming said, Bai Zhizhan suddenly understood.

It wasn’t just the point that Zheng Jiangming had raised; there was something even more critical.

With millions of military personnel thousands of kilometers from their homeland, what couldn’t be achieved with the Empire’s support?

If defeat was inevitable, surrendering to the Imperial Navy in time would be the only choice for the Newland Navy to preserve its spark and for the Newland Federation to maintain hope.

"Do you think it’s a pipe dream? I thought so too when I received the mission, which is why I didn’t rush to tell you."

Bai Zhizhan sighed with a bitter smile, unsure of what to say.

Clearly, if Zheng Jiangming had told Bai Zhizhan upon boarding the "Qinling" that he was going to Treasure Harbor to persuade Nizi to surrender, Bai Zhizhan would surely have thought Zheng had water in his head or was joking. But now, it seemed quite plausible.

"You’re saying that the higher-ups believe Nizi will surrender?"

"Director Yang never makes decisions based on intuition. If he’s arranged this, he must have his reasons."

"The issue is..."

Zheng Jiangming stubbed out the cigarette that was still more than half-burnt, smiled, and said, "If the cessation of the attack, the fleet’s urgent retreat, and the fact that we haven’t been attacked the whole day are not coincidences but are inherently related, then there’s reason to believe that my trip won’t be in vain."

Bai Zhizhan nodded thoughtfully.

"However, whatever it may be, we needn’t speculate here. At the latest, by tomorrow morning, or perhaps even tonight, we will receive definitive news."

"Are you sure?"

"After so many developments, do you think there’s anything we can be sure of?"

Bai Zhizhan paused for a moment, then couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

"If you don’t believe it, just take it as a comforting word. Honestly, worrying now would just be exposing us to anxiety."

"Alright, I will listen to you; worrying is pointless."

After giving Bai Zhizhan a glance, Zheng Jiangming shook his head, as if he saw right through him, but he did not continue to ramble on.

Anxiety was definite, and Zheng Jiangming knew that his words were at most meant to provide some comfort for Bai Zhizhan.