Empire Conquest

Chapter 636 - 632: Wang Takes Action

Honu Island, within the meeting center of East Ocean Fleet headquarter of the Newland Federation.

After being reminded by a secretary arranged by Nizi, who was responsible for liaisons, Zheng Jiangming began to tidy up the documents he had spread out on the coffee table.

However, at this moment, Wang Kaiyuan pulled out a cigarette and even lit one for the two negotiation representatives.

His demeanor indicated no immediate intention to return to the negotiation venue.

Just like the initial encounter in Baku, Wang Kaiyuan participated in the negotiations as a representative of the Empire’s government, controlling the conversation from start to finish.

The two representatives from the Cabinet seemed more like assistants and secretaries.

In fact, upon seeing Wang Kaiyuan, Zheng Jiangming wasn’t surprised at all.

If one had to choose an experienced individual who would never compromise for negotiations with Nizi, Wang Kaiyuan was the ideal candidate.

Of course, the negotiation was not only with Nizi but also with Wallace.

The topics discussed were not merely about the surrender of the East Ocean Fleet of the Newland Federation; in fact, the surrender of the East Ocean Fleet was irrelevant.

According to Wang Kaiyuan, what was left of the East Ocean Fleet after the 5th Fleet had disarmed?

This was a negotiation about the surrender of the Newland Federation, not just the surrender of the East Ocean Fleet.

However, in the previous talks, the discussions were all about the fleet’s surrender.

Regarding the conditions proposed by Nizi, Wang Kaiyuan neither objected to them nor agreed to them.

As Wang Kaiyuan put it, ensuring the complete sovereignty of the Newland Federation, relinquishing territorial demands, and guaranteeing the safety of POWs were not matters for Nizi to negotiate.

If there were to be negotiations, they should be with Wallace.

Nizi was only the Fleet Commander, not the Federation President—what right did he have to represent the Newland Federation in matters involving national sovereignty?

This was akin to the Imperial Authority’s decision not to involve Bai Zhizhan in the negotiations.

The previous superficial agreement was actually waiting for news.

Yes, they were waiting for the 5th Fleet’s surrender.

Initially, they received confirmed reports that the 5th Fleet’s commander had arrived on the "Qinling", and that the assault squad arranged by Bai Zhizhan had taken control of all the battleships of the 5th Fleet’s three Special Mixed Fleets; in a few hours, these fleets would be completely taken over.

Having lost the bargaining chip, what standing did Nizi have to propose any conditions?

Nevertheless, this wasn’t Wang Kaiyuan deliberately making things difficult for Nizi.

Delaying the negotiations until after the 5th Fleet’s surrender was actually Wallace’s idea.

After Wang Kaiyuan’s arrival, Zheng Jiangming learned from him that as early as the beginning of the year, shortly after the Imperial Navy entered the Land Heart Sea, operatives from Sixth Bureau had made contact with one of Wallace’s confidants and tentatively sent out a signal to cease hostilities with the Newland Federation.

Calling it a cessation of hostilities was merely to save face for Wallace, to avoid outright rejection.

Given the situation at the time, if they had directly proposed that the Newland Federation surrender, Wallace, knowing the inevitable defeat in continued fighting, would have rejected any form of negotiation due to political and various other reasons. Furthermore, as the Vice President at the time, his career and reputation could have easily been ruined.

For Wallace and other Conservatives, "cease-fire" indeed held a great appeal.

From this perspective, it was evident the strategic foresight and discernment of Yang Zhiyuan, the head of Sixth Bureau who made these series of arrangements, was remarkable.

After that initial connection, it was a different matter.

After several secret meetings, Sixth Bureau operatives proposed to Wallace that unless he could make the Newland Federation immediately surrender unconditionally, they couldn’t guarantee the maintenance of the Federation’s sovereignty or territorial integrity after the war ended.

"Put simply, after the great war, there must be a settlement.

After the last war ended, was the Alliance Group lenient towards the members of the Consortium Group?

Even if the Liangxia Empire wasn’t treated as a defeated nation, it still lost all its overseas territories after the war, even having to demilitarize the North and South Sado Islands that guarded its own doors.

The Tiaoman Empire fared even worse, nearly getting devoured alive by the victors.

As for the Ter Empire, it had already become history before the war ended.

Forgive and forget?

First, ask whether the military and civilians of the Liangxia Empire, Tiaoman Empire, and Ter Republic are willing.

Everyone knows that the Liangxia Empire went to the Newland Federation for settlement.

Yes, it’s the Alas region!

Back then, after finally defeating the Luosha Empire, the Liangxia Empire gained the eastern part of the Luosha Empire, which included the Alas region located on the Gu Continent. According to the agreement signed by both parties, the Luosha Empire indeed ceded the Alas region to the Liangxia Empire.

Unfortunately, before the formal treaty between the two parties, the Newland Federation swiftly dispatched troops to occupy the Alas region, declaring that it had already purchased this land from the Luosha Empire for 7.2 million Newland Dollars according to a previous agreement, and that this money had already been transferred into a secret account of the Luosha Imperial Family in an overseas bank.

Because of this, both sides were once at a serious standoff, almost coming to blows.

Because of insufficient national power and war dividends that still needed to be absorbed, the Imperial Authority had no choice but to accept reality and reach a verbal agreement with the Newland Federation.

Simply put, the agreement acknowledged the control of the Newland Federation over the Alas region, but did not explicitly give up sovereignty.

Of course, for the Newland Federation, which had already tasted the sweetness, there was no reason to be oppressively demanding, especially since, at the time, the Newland Federation also needed to cooperate with the Liangxia Empire to confront the traditional old empires, laying the groundwork for further external expansion, such as dominating the Western Hemisphere.

But now, that’s different.

According to the news brought by Wang Kaiyuan, Wallace has already agreed to hand over the Alas region to the Liangxia Empire after the war, permanently relinquishing any sovereignty claims over the area.

As a condition of the exchange, the Liangxia Empire recognized the Howay Islands as the sovereign territory of the Newland Federation.

Because Wallace had reached a desperate point, as per his request, the Howay Islands would become the fiftieth state of the Newland Federation.

To be precise, it is still the forty-ninth, replacing the Alas region that is returned to the Liangxia Empire.

However, the problem lies here.

Wallace has always wanted to obtain full sovereignty over the Howay Islands, and the Empire’s bottom line consists of two points: first, the situation of the three western islands must remain unchanged, and Transfer Island, Leysan Island, and Gardner Island must be allocated to the Liangxia Empire, at least giving the Liangxia Empire permanent management and jurisdiction rights.

As for the other, it’s actually the presence of troops in Treasure Harbor.

Because the three western islands are actually controlled by the Liangxia military, Wallace did not raise any objections, as demanding the withdrawal of Liangxia troops is indeed an unrealistic request.

The key points are the ownership and troop presence rights in Treasure Harbor.

As of now, Wallace has basically agreed to allow Liangxia Empire troops in Treasure Harbor; the only unresolved issue is the mode of the troop presence.

Whether to lease Treasure Harbor to the Liangxia Empire or transfer it to them.

According to Wang Kaiyuan, if they really can’t come to an agreement, they could also accept Wallace’s proposed leasing option, but the lease would be permanent.

As for the rent, a maximum of 1 Gold Yuan per year.

In other words, the Empire recognizes Treasure Harbor as the territory of the Newland Federation, while the Newland Federation must accept that Treasure Harbor will be permanently used by the Liangxia Empire.

Clearly, this is also the best outcome Wallace could strive for, or rather, the most favorable outcome for Wallace.

However, this still isn’t the most severe disagreement encountered during the negotiations."