Empire Conquest

Chapter 660 - 7 Dreadnought of Ignorance

Luo Youbin entered while carrying a fruit platter, deliberately pointing at his wristwatch in front of Zhou Yongtao to remind him that it was almost 12 o’clock.

Lin Shiping, understanding the situation, excused himself to the neighboring tea room on the pretext of smoking.

After eating a few pieces of watermelon, which actually bought him some time to organize his thoughts, Zhou Yongtao finally picked up the telephone receiver.

After consulting with Lin Shiping, they reached a conclusion that was not quite a conclusion.

This battle could only be won, not lost!

To put it more directly, the outcome of this war, or more accurately, the manner in which it was conducted, would decide whether the Third Global War would start.

A crucial factor was the impact of the new round of military reforms mentioned earlier.

From the perspective of the Tiaoman Empire and the Newland Republic, the current top issue was actually the inability to accurately judge the gap with the Liangxia Empire.

If the gap couldn’t be identified, how could one talk about chances of victory?

According to Lin Shiping, if the performance of the Imperial Army was barely satisfactory, then the Third Global War would ignite in a few months.

Conversely, it might be possible to delay it for a few more years.

As for orchestrating the outbreak of a grand war to maintain peace indefinitely, that was a fool’s dream.

Not to speak of the Tiaoman Empire, even the Liangxia Empire and the Newland Republic were on the brink of losing control.

The Global War had ended 45 years ago, or even if counting from former Prime Minister Schmidt of the Tiaoman Empire, who coined the "Iron Curtain" speech, the post-war arms race had been going on for nearly 40 years.

The first Global War to the second was only 20 years.

Moreover, between the two Global Wars, the Great Powers were still constrained by arms limitation treaties like the "Luntai Treaty" and the "Huacheng Treaty."

The relatively peaceful situation after World War II managed to last for slightly over 40 years, partly because the Liangxia Empire dominated globally.

Additionally, the dominance of the Liangxia Empire had always been relative.

The direct result of the several large-scale regional wars after the war, especially the Boi War, was the erosion of the hegemonic advantage of the Liangxia Empire.

During the latter stages of the Boi War, when the Liangxia Empire recognized the Newland Republic and established diplomatic relations, it was an explicit demonstration of losing its sole hegemony.

Subsequently, the formation of a power balance among the three great powers had become the cornerstone of world peace.

Regrettably, this situation became precarious with the confirmation of the hegemonic status of the Newland Republic and the erratic expansion of the West Continent group.

Yet, no one could deny that the Liangxia Empire still held the top global hegemony.

When comparing military strength,

The Liangxia Army boasted a total force of 2.2 million soldiers, over 15,000 tanks, nearly 20,000 armored combat vehicles, over 20,000 various caliber and self-propelled artillery, more than 7,000 helicopters, and nearly 200,000 various transport vehicles, totaling up to 120 divisions.

The Newland Army, ranked second, reached only 60% to 55% of the personnel and technical equipment of the Liangxia Army.

As for the Tiaoman Empire, even by West Continent group’s account, its army strength was only on par with that of the Liangxia Army, and its technical equipment was slightly inferior.

In terms of naval forces, the disparity was even more apparent.

The Liangxia Navy possessed over 500 large vessels with a total tonnage nearing 3.5 million tons, including up to 15 large carriers and super carriers.

Additionally, there were nearly 4,000 ship-borne aircraft, shore-based patrol aircraft, and helicopters.

Among them, just the carrier-based combat aircraft alone numbered up to 2,000, organized into 17 Shipborne Air Force Wings and 5 reserve wings, making it the world’s third largest air force.

The combined forces of the Newland Navy and West Continent group’s navy were no match for the Liangxia Navy!

Even in the Air Force, the superiority of the Liangxia Empire was very obvious.

The Liangxia Air Force had over 9,000 combat aircraft, including more_than 5,000 tactical aircraft, nearly 2,000 bombers, and over 2,000 various support aircraft.

Among them, just the transport aircraft numbered over 1,500, plus more than 600 tanker aircraft.

This scale provided a crushing advantage over any adversary.

Even the Newland Air Force, ranked second globally, had less than 5,000 combat aircraft, with 3,000 being tactical aircraft.

However, the problem was that the military superiority of the Liangxia Empire was no longer "absolute."

Simply put, it couldn’t form an absolute advantage over the other two superpowers simultaneously.

For a long period after the war, the key to maintaining peace had actually been that even combined, the Tiaoman Empire and the Newland Republic were no match for the Liangxia Empire.

No force could alter the situation of the Liangxia Empire’s global domination.

During this approximately 30-year period, the Liangxia Empire had been digesting the war dividends and had initiated and participated in several regional wars.

These 30 years were a strategic expansion period for the Liangxia Empire.

Until the end of the Boi War.

Now, with the Tiaoman Empire and the Newland Republic having the ability to challenge the Liangxia Empire together, can the generally peaceful situation be maintained?

Additionally, with the shift from strategic expansion to strategic contraction over more than a decade, internal conflicts in the Liangxia Empire were also fermenting.

On the other side of the coin, the Tiaoman Empire and the Newland Republic, which pursued expansionist policies, had not gained much substantial benefit from their strategic expansion. That is, after paying a hefty price, the citizens of both countries had not tasted the benefits of strategic expansion.

Evidently, all three superpowers needed to divert internal conflicts in some way.

Undoubtedly, a large-scale external war was the ideal, even the only means to divert internal conflicts.

More than six years ago, when he was nominated as Grand Secretary, Zhou Yongtao had realized that his ability to garner support was linked to the increasingly tense international situation.