Empire Conquest
Chapter 106 - 102 Meticulous Planning

Chapter 106: Chapter 102 Meticulous Planning

Inside the Cabinet Mansion.

After seeing off Nobube, Wen Wei returned to his study.

Accompanying him and already seated by the fireplace were several core members of the War Cabinet, discussing the current situation while smoking cigars.

Discussing state affairs over smoke had become a custom over the years.

Twenty years ago, everyone would sit on the floor, drink tea, and savor sake brewed at home.

This cultural shift could be seen as an emulation of the Western Powers.

After all, having turned their backs on that great Empire on the Giant Continent, which the Imperial Country had once revered as a master and had striven to emulate and learn from, they needed to find a new teacher.

In this world, how could one do without a teacher?

Actually, Wen Wei detested people smoking in front of him.

But now, he could only tolerate it.

The reason was simple: the current situation had severely diverged from the plan and was entirely incomparable; it had almost completely spiraled out of control.

Otherwise, Wen Wei wouldn’t be at the Prime Minister’s Mansion at this time, picking up this mess.

According to the original plan, Nobube was supposed to continue as the War-time Prime Minister, and Wen Wei would only step in to clean up the mess if the war situation reversed.

Everything had started that morning.

According to the plan, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s Ambassador to the Liangxia Empire should have arrived at the Privy Council before eight in the morning to deliver the declaration of war to the Liangxia Empire formally.

As for the pretext of the war, it had been contrived a long time ago — the attack on the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom’s security forces in the Northern Sado Islands.

It was a bit far-fetched, but it didn’t really matter anymore.

The declaration of war was scheduled merely fifteen minutes before the planned surprise attack by the Mobile Fleet on Chengjiang Port.

The crucial point was that only by declaring war on the Liangxia Empire in advance could the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom demand that the Newland Federation and the Bulan Kingdom join the war according to the treaty obligations.

Indeed, this was the key to the entire plan.

In September, as indications of a looming war began to emerge, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom had several secret meetings with its two allies to discuss the sudden outbreak of war. By early November, the Bulan Kingdom had the first hint of realization and, within the framework of the Alliance Group, signed a profoundly complicated secret treaty with the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom — so complex that even shrewd diplomats had difficulty understanding it, by which the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom eliminated its concerns about the rear.

According to this secret treaty, as long as the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom declared war on the Liangxia Empire justifiably, the Bulan Kingdom would join the war as an ally.

Moreover, the Bulan Kingdom solemnly promised to deploy several more Main Battle Ships to the Fan Flame Ocean within the year.

For its part, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom also made assurances. If the Liangxia Empire initiated war against the Bulan Kingdom first, such as launching a stealth attack on the Bulan Kingdom’s military bases in the Fan Flame Ocean, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom would immediately declare war on the Liangxia Empire and deploy its Fleet to contain and strike the Liangxia Navy.

By December, when the Liangxia Navy held its annual Fleet exercise, the Newland Federation’s stance began to waver.

Though they did not sign a binding secret treaty with the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom like the Bulan Kingdom did, the President of the Newland Federation, the Secretary of State, and the leaders of both houses of Congress expressed that the Newland Federation would faithfully fulfill its obligations as a member of the Alliance Group, providing support to Allies that were invaded or in need of assistance.

To that end, the Newland Federation agreed to adjust its Navy deployment.

According to their promise, the Newland Federation would station all five of its carrier battle groups in East Ocean within the year; by the end of the following year, they would relocate the East Ocean Fleet Headquarter to the Howay Islands and set Treasure Harbor on Honu Island as the homeport of the East Ocean Fleet; they would reorganize the West East Ocean and Southwest East Ocean districts’ fleets, double the strength of the West East Ocean Sub-fleet, and dispatch four main battle ships and two carriers to the West East Ocean and Southwest East Ocean; on land, they would increase the stationed forces in the Nanzhu Country to fifty thousand troops and turn Marra City into the military stronghold of the West East Ocean region.

Now, the three member countries of the Alliance Group were completely synchronized.

By mid-December, right after the outbreak of tensions between the Luosha Federation and the Bay Sea Three Countries, the Alliance Group held its final secret meeting.

At that time, intelligence obtained by all parties unanimously indicated that the Liangxia Empire would seize this opportunity to launch a war, precisely to incite the Luosha Federation to make trouble for both the Tiaoman Empire and the Locke Republic and then join the war as an ally, acting in the Flame Sea and the Fan Flame Ocean under the pretense of confronting the Locke Republic.

Since the Bulan Kingdom would never stand by and watch the two "meat shield" countries on the West Continent be defeated, it would definitely join the war. Hence, the Liangxia Empire would seize this chance to sweep through the Fan Flame Ocean as swiftly as possible. After solidifying its base, it would quickly regroup its forces to deal with the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. As long as they defeated the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and had control over the Fan Flame Ocean, the Liangxia Empire could easily face the long-expeditionary Newland Federation.

Taking on the Liangxia Empire alone, the Newland Federation’s chances of victory were almost zero.

It was based on this intelligence that the basic strategy was decided.

The Bulan Kingdom would dispatch an expeditionary fleet with four main battle ships to the Fan Flame Ocean, posing as if they were ready for a significant battle, but it was merely a decoy, aimed at ensuring that the Liangxia Empire’s first objective was the Fan Flame Ocean, drawing their crucial Southern Fleet there. The Saiyi Navy would then take this opportunity to send their Permanent Fleet to the Nanzhu Sea under the guise of conducting exercises with the Newland Navy. If the Liangxia Southern Fleet entered the Fan Flame Ocean, the Permanent Fleet would cooperate with the Bulan Navy to annihilate the Southern Fleet in the Fan Flame Ocean or the southern waters of the Flame Sea. If the Southern Fleet didn’t go to the Fan Flame Ocean but stayed in the Flame Sea or returned to Chengjiang Port, the Saiyi Navy would launch a surprise attack after formally declaring war. The Bulan Kingdom would follow suit, declaring war on the Liangxia Empire and sending the expeditionary fleet to Lion Spring City, to assist the Saiyi Navy in annihilating the Liangxia Empire’s Southern Fleet. The Newland Federation guaranteed that, within three months, they would complete the adjustments to have the East Ocean Fleet, with five fleet carriers, join the battle.

This strategic plan looked very perfect.

Only, there were two very important prerequisites.

One was that war had already broken out, with the Liangxia Empire joining at the first opportunity. The second was to follow the normal procedure, declaring war officially before launching a surprise attack.

Without the first condition, the Newland Federation might just sit on the fence.

Without the second condition, both the Newland Federation and the Bulan Kingdom might simply watch the fire from the other side of the river.

Obviously, when devising the strategic plan, nobody had thought about how to respond if neither prerequisite was met.

Now, that’s exactly the situation!

The Liangxia Empire had not joined the war, or more precisely, the war had not broken out due to the tensions between the Luosha Federation and the Bay Sea Three Countries. The Saiyi Imperial Kingdom had also not managed to declare war on the Liangxia Empire formally before they launched their attack, making it possible for both the Bulan Kingdom and the Newland Federation to spectate from the sidelines.

Without allies, is there even a need to fight this battle?

Definitely, there is!

Wen Wei had just rushed over after listening to the broadcast speech by the Liangxia Empire’s Imperial Chief Minister, issuing a final ultimatum, virtually pushing the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom into a corner.

Surrender?

The battle has just started, how can we talk about surrendering?

Besides, it seems like it’s the Liangxia Navy that’s taking a beating. If anyone should be talking about surrendering, shouldn’t it be the Liangxia Empire?

Now that war has been officially declared, what else is there to worry about?

Wen Wei had just gone to take a seat when the door was pushed open.

Admiral Yingxi hurried in; he had received an exceptional promotion that afternoon and was now the Army Minister designated by Wen Wei.

However, it wasn’t only him who arrived.

Behind him were several young officers, some of whom were Navy officers.

Noticing the expressions on these young officers’ faces, Wen Wei immediately realized that it must be exceptionally bad news. Could everything Xue Yuanzheng said in the broadcast be true?