Empire Conquest
Chapter 159 - 155: The Messenger and the Last Letter

Chapter 159: Chapter 155: The Messenger and the Last Letter

"Commander!"

After calling out and patiently waiting for a while, Tanimoto finally pushed open the cabin door.

Takano stood by the porthole, looking out at the vast ocean, seemingly oblivious to the door opening, or perhaps he was pretending not to hear.

"Commander, lunch has been brought to you, it’s your favorite..."

"Just leave it there."

Tanimoto sighed quietly to himself and set the lunchbox he had brought on the cabinet by the door. Bringing lunch was just an excuse.

"Take this letter."

As Takano spoke, Tanimoto had already seen the envelope placed on the cabinet.

"You’ll leave shortly on that modified seaplane and head straight back to Long Sorrow."

"Commander..."

Takano pressed his hand down to stop Tanimoto from speaking and continued, "After you return, you must personally deliver this letter into the hands of Prime Minister Wenwei."

Tanimoto trembled slightly, but he still picked up the envelope.

It was unsealed, indicating that the contents of the letter were not confidential, or at least not from Tanimoto.

"This letter might not change anything. In Prime Minister Wenwei’s eyes, an admiral and a private are both soldiers who must obey orders; there is no essential difference. However, we must not give up hope because of this, nor use it as a reason to resign. Just as we don’t get to choose our parents, from the moment of our birth, we are destined to be subjects of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, fated to fight for this disaster-stricken country to the end."

Takano’s words left Tanimoto at a loss for words.

"Udon noodles?"

Tanimoto blinked in confusion and then realized, handing the lunchbox to Takano.

It was indeed a portion of udon noodles, and other than salt, no other seasoning had been added; it was made with a broth of simmered bones, possessing a unique, refreshing fragrance.

"Commander, have we been defeated?"

Tanimoto didn’t want to dampen spirits, but he just couldn’t hold back.

At noon, after receiving the telegraph from the second Main Battle Corps, Takano had silently returned to the commander’s quarters without even going for lunch.

The reason was clear: the third Air Corps had been suddenly attacked, two fleet carriers sunk.

Just like the day before, the Liangxia Navy’s ship-borne aircraft focused their attacks on the two carriers, sinking them before spending ammunition on other battleships.

At that time, four battleships of the second Main Battle Corps were nearby!

Moreover, the Liangxia Navy’s reconnaissance aircraft had first spotted the second Main Battle Corps; it was only after a second round of reconnaissance that they attacked the third Air Corps.

In other words, the Liangxia Navy didn’t take the second Main Battle Corps seriously at all.

During the battle, many enemy planes flew over the vicinity of the second Main Battle Corps, with some even circling around it a few times.

But from beginning to end, not a single enemy aircraft attacked the second Main Battle Corps.

That indifferent attitude was nothing less than an insult to the Saiyi Navy, mocking the four battleships with tens of thousands of tons of displacement that could do nothing.

With that, all of the Saiyi Navy’s active carriers were sunk.

Yes, not a single one was left!

Besides the carriers, up to now, six cruisers and one destroyer were sunk; the precious battleships had only three lightly damaged.

Can the Saiyi Navy still fight?

Tanimoto felt uncertain; he brought lunch to try to understand this very question.

Takano remained silent, but quickly finished his bowl of udon noodles.

In the past, he could have taken half an hour to eat these tasteless boiled noodles, savoring them as though they were a delicious delicacy.

Perhaps he was starved. The last meal he had was in the early hours of the morning, after they had shaken off a few heavy cruisers.

Don’t forget, Takano was already in his fifties.

"You’re asking me if we have lost?" Takano pointed at the envelope in Tanimoto’s hand. "The answer is in there, isn’t it? Judge for yourself."

Tanimoto hesitated, but still took out the neatly folded letter.

"To really say, decades ago, following the ’Black Ship Incident’, we were already on an irreversible path, destined to one day suffer a crushing defeat. Just that none of us could have predicted that this day would be now, in our time. Even if we had thought or guessed it, no one dared to say it out loud, because even if they did, no one would believe them."

"Commander..."

Opening the letter, Tanimoto flipped to the last page first. When he saw the signature, he was startled.

It was Takano’s final letter.

Takano pointed at the letter in Tanimoto’s hand, telling him to read it carefully.

Tanimoto felt very uneasy because he had guessed what Takano intended.

The so-called "Black Ship Incident", also known as the "Gold and Silver War" in the Liangxia Empire, was sparked by the Saiyi Imperial Shogunate’s ban on the export of gold, levying heavy tariffs on Liangxia traders, and seizing a large amount of goods. Liangxia then sent troops to demand reparation.

The crux was, gold was virtually worthless in the Saiyi Imperial Country, with a value ratio to silver of only three, compared to ten in the Liangxia Empire. Liangxia traders exploited this discrepancy to make off with large quantities of gold from the Saiyi Imperial Country, causing a disruption in commodity prices and threatening the rule of the shogunate.

In truth, it could hardly be called a war.

At that time, the fleet led by the "War God" Chen Bingxun sailed directly into East Capital Bay, using their huge cannons to coerce the Saiyi Imperial Shogunate into signing a treaty that opened up ports for trade and allowed gold exports, granting tax privileges to Liangxia traders and using tariff revenues to compensate for war indemnities.

Not long afterward, the shogunate was overthrown.

Subsequently, the Saiyi Imperial Country began the "Second Western Migration Movement", also known as the "Dispatch Liangxia Movement", with the aim of studying and emulating Liangxia by sending students to learn everything from the Liangxia Empire in the hope of becoming powerful through industrialization, like the Liangxia Empire.

During this period, the Saiyi Imperial Country also actively participated in the Liangxia Empire’s foreign expansion.

Often, they even played the role of the vanguard.

For instance, on the desolate islands of the North Ma Islands and other islands in the West East Ocean and Southwest East Ocean, it was mainly the Saiyi who were pioneers in cultivation, rarely the Liangxia people.

Conditions were too harsh, and after growing wealthy, very few Liangxia people wished to leave their homeland.

However, the ultimate goal of the Saiyi Imperial Country was not to befriend the Liangxia Empire but to seek revenge!

Assisting and supporting the Liangxia Empire’s overseas expansion served to benefit themselves and to keep a good relationship with the Liangxia Empire before their own growth.

The status of a vassal state lasted until the last great war.

Although many saw the Saiyi Imperial Country’s betrayal of the Liangxia Empire in the last great war as becoming an archenemy of the Liangxia Empire, thereby opting for a confrontational path with the Liangxia Empire, the truth is, as long as the Saiyi Imperial Country’s rulers thought about revenge and sought to dominate the West East Ocean, even attempting to march onto the Giant Continent to replace the Liangxia Empire as the hegemon of the eastern world, it was inevitable that they would become sworn enemies of the Liangxia Empire.

In the eyes of most Saiyi people, the Liangxia Empire was already an irreconcilable foe.

So, could the Saiyi Imperial Country take its revenge, dominate the West East Ocean, and march onto the Giant Continent?

It was all written in the letter, and Takano didn’t explain it specifically.

After reading it, Tanimoto felt even heavier at heart.

But what could he say?

Coming out of the commander’s cabin, Tanimoto felt as if he was drunk, light-headed and unsteady on his feet, not knowing if it was exhaustion or the loss of the spirit that had been sustaining him.

Could the Saiyi Navy fight another battle?

Did the Saiyi Imperial Country still have a chance at victory?