Empire Conquest

Chapter 645 - 641: Endless Life

In the end, even Wang Kaiyuan felt incredibly burdened.

The result was that Wang Kaiyuan left the "Qinling" before daybreak and took a helicopter arranged by Bai Zhizhan to the East Imperial City.

To speak frankly, it was only in front of Bai Zhizhan and Li Yunxiang that Wang Kaiyuan could truly open up and dare to say almost anything.

Had there been anyone else present, Wang Kaiyuan would have taken a plane back to the country from Liuhuang Island.

His special trip was also an opportunity to build good relations with the future Commanders-in-chief and to gain the military’s support.

At dawn, the "Qinling" sailed into East Capital Bay.

However, it didn’t head towards the ship anchorage area outside of Hengbin Port, nor to the northern civilian port, but anchored in the south of the bay instead.

Mainly, after the 5th Fleet’s battleships arrived at the anchorage area, the "Qinling" was to take Bai Zhizhan back to his country.

This was Bai Zhizhan’s own arrangement.

Otherwise, he could have completely taken a special plane arranged by the Navy Headquarter back to his country, without needing to spend several days on a ship.

Of course, there was no need to rush now.

Li Yunxiang wasn’t in a hurry either. In his own words, after returning, he would head for the Sunset Ocean to join the military operation invading the Bermuda Islands.

The next time he returned to the country, at the earliest, would be at the end of the year, when the Air Force was officially established, so there was no need to rush back.

In Li Yunxiang’s words, the relevant deployments had already been arranged, so whether he returned in time or not, it would have no impact.

With people like Du Kang shouldering responsibilities upfront, Li Yunxiang did not need to be personally involved in everything.

It must be said that producing a group of high-ranking Commanders like Du Kang during the war was the confidence Li Yunxiang needed to challenge the Army Headquarter.

To date, the Land Air Strategic Air Force had over 200 officers, accounting for more than 10 percent among the Army officers.

Interestingly, most of these officers were actually from the Navy Air Force. It was precisely for this reason that the Army insisted that the Navy’s initial release of young and promising officers like Li Yunxiang was actually to undermine the Army and to avoid influence during the establishment of the Air Force.

Let’s not forget, the Navy had kept its own Air Force.

Shortly after Wang Kaiyuan’s departure, news came from a Navy officer.

On the Giant Continent, the Empire Army had already launched a full-scale offensive, and on the other side of the battlefield, the Tiaoman Army had launched an attack almost at the same time.

According to the news sent back by Lian Xusheng, the offensive was going very smoothly.

Although the Luosha Army fought tenaciously on a few major fronts, almost everywhere else, once the front line defenses were breached, their resistance would diminish significantly.

It wasn’t that the Luosha Army had all their forces deployed at the front lines; morale was low.

After the front lines were broken, the Luosha Army would often choose to surrender or at least give up resistance, and in some areas, there were even incidents of troops fleeing.

Nothing surprising there, as the internal upheaval in the Newland Federation and Wallace’s surrender to the Liangxia Empire were not secrets.

In addition, before launching the attack, the Empire Army spent several days engaging in propaganda.

To enhance the effect of the propaganda, the Land Air Force even sent bombers to drop leaflets.

The rapid collapse of the Luosha Army was not unrelated to the propaganda work, that is, psychological warfare.

In short, the likelihood of taking down the Luosha Federation within the year was very high.

However, the most important news was that the Army Headquarter had already issued an order for Lian Xusheng to transfer command to the Chief of Staff within the month and to return to the Imperial Capital.

Moreover, Peng Huaisong had been promoted to Grand Marshal, and his recommended successor was not Lian Xusheng.

Clearly, this also confirmed the news revealed by Li Yunxiang.

It was very likely that Lian Xusheng would become the next Grand Secretary.

This also indicates that the great war was indeed entering its final phase.

Three days later, on May 5th, the "Qinling" returned to Puzhou Harbor.

Choosing to head for Puzhou rather than Mast Harbor was simply a matter of convenience, after all, the families of most of the officers and soldiers on board the "Qinling" and the accompanying warships lived in the eastern regions of the Empire. According to the arrangements made by the Navy Headquarter, they all had at least a month of family leave.

More importantly, the Navy had organized a reception for some of the military family members to welcome home the triumphant warriors.

This was also a grand tradition of the Imperial Navy.

Among these military families, those of Bai Zhizhan were the most eye-catching.

The Eldest Princess of the Empire was not someone you could see at any given time.

Moreover, Bai Zhizhan was the undefeated War God of the Imperial Navy at that time.

Among the renowned war generals of both the Army and the Navy, only Bai Zhizhan had achieved a record of all victories in all battles.

Lian Xusheng was the Army’s top commander, but he had failed to complete his mission as planned when he attacked Astrakhan. Even if he was not principally at fault, he was the commander-in-chief of that battle and thus had to bear the responsibility. No matter how many victories Lian Xusheng achieved before or after, that could not change the fact that he had been defeated in the past.

If anything, this was the greatest regret of Lian Xusheng’s life.

Of course, those who came to Puzhou Harbor to greet the victorious warriors were the families of the Navy.

In their eyes, only Bai Zhizhan deserved the title of "War God".

As for Lian Xusheng, well, who was he?

Bai Zhizhan felt very sentimental as he saw the crowd gathering on the dock.

Regardless of the outcome of the battles, at least he was back with his family, and for a long while to come, there would be no need to think about expeditions.

"It looks like Commander-in-Chief Liu has really put some thought into this, sending the Little Eldest Princess over."

"Brother Li, coming back with us?"

"Next time," Li Yunxiang said with a smile, glancing at the military vehicles parked outside the dock and the Land Air Force officers standing by them, before saying, "There’s no hurry at this moment. After the war is over, we’ll set a table and I’ll have a good drink with my brother."

"Sure, we’ll throw you a welcome home banquet by then."

After embracing Bai Zhizhan, Li Yunxiang finally descended from the bridge.

At the bow, a special passageway had been opened that led directly off the dock, with barriers erected and guarded by Imperial Guards.

Bai Zhizhan did not seek any special treatment but stayed to finish his last watch.

As he said, this was the final time he was returning home in his capacity as a Fleet Commander.

Only after all the other officers had disembarked did Bai Zhizhan walk down the gangway.

Those who came to receive him included not only Zhang Xiaoqing but also his son, who had just turned one year old.

It was only when he saw his wife and son that Bai Zhizhan truly realized that life would continue on, and everything he had done was for his family.

As Wang Kaiyuan had said, even if it was not achievable now, there would be a generation among their descendants, or their descendants’ descendants, that would unify the world.

Perseverance would eventually extinguish the flames of war and bring eternal peace!

However, at this moment, Bai Zhizhan’s thoughts were already with his family.

As long as his family was safe and his children grew up strong, no amount of hardship mattered.

Being with his family, what was there to fear, even if the world outside was in tumult?

Wasn’t it generations of people upholding the concepts of home and country that had allowed the Empire to reach this day, and Huaxia to continue for thousands of years?

Weren’t culture, traditions, and customs all passed down in a continuous lineage?

As for war, Bai Zhizhan had long since put it out of his mind.

Even if the flames of war were to be reignited, that would be a concern for the future.

Right now, all Bai Zhizhan wanted was to be with his family.