Empire Conquest
Chapter 137 - 133: Dare Not Relax

Chapter 137: Chapter 133: Dare Not Relax

Li Yunxiang was still busy. During combat, among the main commanders, he was the busiest, to be precise, the commander of the shipborne air force.

In comparison, Bai Zhizhan was much more at ease.

Whether he had served as chief of staff before or now as commander, Bai Zhizhan was mainly responsible for decision-making, determining when to strike. Unless there was a special circumstance, such as Li Yunxiang being too busy to cope, or if he severely misunderstood the tactical intent and operational deployment, Bai Zhizhan would intervene. Just like at the beginning, Li Yunxiang’s early arrangements conflicted with Bai Zhizhan’s adjusted tactics.

Now, the ones who were more relaxed included not only Bai Zhizhan but also Li Mingbo.

"I asked around; that kid was a troublemaker at the military academy. I heard he first offended a few seniors surnamed Liu because he stood up for others, then later he offended some surnamed He by not showing due respect, which is why he ended up being assigned here, to the Shipborne Air Force Wing."

"Anything else?"

It was Bai Zhizhan who had told Li Mingbo to inquire, given that there were many of Zhou Yongtao’s classmates in the fleet.

"It’s alright, I guess. He’s somewhat introverted but not antisocial; he gets along well with a few, but they’re not especially close friends; his grades are very good, and he minored in five subjects, so you could say he’s a versatile talent; his family background is very ordinary, similar to yours; he has several siblings, and he is the fourth child; his father is a car factory worker, and his mother is a homemaker, but his maternal grandfather was a university professor."

Bai Zhizhan was stunned by how detailed the information was.

"The rest, I’ll inquire more once we get back."

"Let’s talk about it after we return," Bai Zhizhan said, rather exasperated. If he had known that Li Mingbo would dig up even people’s ancestors, he wouldn’t have asked him to investigate in the first place.

"Don’t overthink it," Li Mingbo hesitated before saying, "No matter what, Liu Xiangzhen’s side has already won a complete victory, and as for us..."

"Exactly, that’s why we can’t let our guard down."

Hearing Bai Zhizhan say this, Li Mingbo became at a loss for words.

Over the past decade or so, Li Mingbo had followed Bai Zhizhan all the way. If truth be told, Li Mingbo was probably the closest subordinate to Bai Zhizhan.

That being said, he knew better than outsiders about the relationship between Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen.

The Gate God of the Empire Navy, the Twin Stars...

These were just nicknames given to them by the outside world.

To put it bluntly, the two were actually rivals.

Every year during fleet exercises, didn’t the two of them fight until heaven and earth turned upside down?

What was more important was the ongoing Liu and Bai rivalry within the Empire Navy.

Ten years later, would Liu Xiangzhen take the helm, or would Bai Zhizhan raise the flag?

Not to mention the current Navy Commander Liu Changxun, even Zhu Shijian had not given a clear statement on this matter upon his retirement.

Obviously, it would depend on the performance of the two.

It was for this reason that Bai Zhizhan felt tremendous pressure.

Afraid of losing to Liu Xiangzhen?

Not necessarily.

In fact, three years ago, Bai Zhizhan had approached Zhu Shijian, suggesting that he teach at the Naval Academy, but Zhu Shijian immediately vetoed the idea.

At that time, Bai Zhizhan contemplated retiring early, even contemplating following in Zhu Shijian’s footsteps.

What Bai Zhizhan was really worried about was that continuing to compete with Liu Xiangzhen could impact the Navy’s development, and it would be better to step back early.

However, Bai Zhizhan’s idea was somewhat naive; he had risen too prominently and simply couldn’t step back.

Now, Bai Zhizhan had another worry.

In tactics, to be exact, in the application of carriers, Liu Xiangzhen remained conservative, often not very proactive during many occasions.

This concern became reality yesterday.

Before leaving the Imperial Capital, Bai Zhizhan spent an entire evening exchanging views with Liu Xiangzhen. Throughout their conversation, he emphasized repeatedly that the Special Mixed Group should be positioned slightly forward—to reduce the attack distance and more effectively detect and seize the moment of opportunity, ensuring that actions taken at critical times could be swiftly effective.

Although Bai Zhizhan didn’t explicitly say it, his implication was that the Special Mixed Group should stand by to the southeast of Foot Island.

If that were the case, then when the Mobile Fleet launched a surprise attack on Chengjiang Port, the Special Mixed Group could have initiated an assault and caught the Mobile Fleet completely off guard. If luck wasn’t too unfavorable, the Special Mixed Group might even have succeeded in sinking all four of the Mobile Fleet’s carriers before coming under attack themselves.

But as it turned out, the position of the Special Mixed Group was moved back by a hundred kilometers.

It was precisely this additional distance that nearly led to disastrous consequences.

Had it not been for Liu Xiangzhen’s decisive action at a critical moment—or rather, when there were no other options—ordering the ship-borne aircraft not to return to the Special Mixed Group, they might not have been able to strike back after being hit, to say nothing of sinking two Saiyi carriers, and it would have been even less likely for them to achieve the great victory they had today.

Of course, Liu Xiangzhen is now the Empire Navy’s super hero.

As for the heavy losses suffered yesterday, they were long thrown out of people’s minds. Even if someone brought it up, no one would think Liu Xiangzhen was responsible.

That was just being wise after the event.

Who on the battlefield can predict everything perfectly?

However, Li Mingbo didn’t see it that way.

In his view, Liu Xiangzhen was not simply wise after the event, nor was he lacking proactivity; rather, he was too fond of scheming and extremely shrewd.

According to Li Mingbo’s opinion, without yesterday’s painful losses, today’s turnaround would have been significantly diminished, and Liu Xiangzhen certainly would not have become a hero.

Winning yesterday was merely fulfilling one’s duty.

But turning defeat into victory today—that would be a great achievement of saving the Navy in a time of crisis!

But what could be done about it?

Although he wasn’t a direct descendant like Liu Xiangbin, Liu Xiangzhen was now the pillar of the Liu Family and could be considered a hot commodity.

That was why Li Mingbo always felt that Bai Zhizhan lived a weary life.

Sometimes, it was also extremely frustrating!

For an officer of civilian origin aiming for the highest position in the Empire Navy, the road was undoubtedly difficult, filled with all sorts of challenges and obstacles.

Throughout the past century, the Empire Navy had only produced one Chen Bingxun.

After Chen Bingxun, the highest achievement from the civilian class came from Zhu Shijian. His becoming the Commander-in-chief had more to do with luck.

Looking on the bright side, the more triumphs Liu Xiangzhen enjoyed, the more motivated Bai Zhizhan became.

Li Mingbo had absolute confidence in Bai Zhizhan.

Of course, he couldn’t lack confidence.

Don’t forget, Li Mingbo was promoted by Bai Zhizhan. His mark had long been branded on him, and outsiders only saw him as Bai Zhizhan’s subordinate.

Once aboard the ship steered by Bai Zhizhan, disembarking wouldn’t be easy.

But Li Mingbo never thought about leaving the ship.

In his opinion, if there was one person who could lead the Empire Navy to dominate the Four Seas and recreate the glorious era of Marshal Chen Bingxun, it could only be Bai Zhizhan!

It could only be Bai Zhizhan!

"I’ll go for a walk on the deck below, you keep watch here."

"Sure, go ahead."

Watching Bai Zhizhan’s retreating figure, Li Mingbo heaved a sigh and stopped his wild train of thought.

The replenished anti-aircraft fighters had already taken to the skies, and the returning fighters had landed on the flight deck; ground crew were preparing the ship-borne aircraft for their second round of attack missions. No ship-borne aircraft were taking off or landing for the moment. Only at such times were non-essential personnel allowed on deck.

Even as the Fleet Commander, Bai Zhizhan was still classified as "non-essential personnel".