Empire Conquest
Chapter 193 - 189 Feeling Anxious

Chapter 193: Chapter 189 Feeling Anxious

The information provided by the Ministry of Navy included not only the devastating defeat of the Saiyi Army, but also predictions and analysis on the development of the combat situation.

On land, there was not much to discuss. The next step for the Liangxia Army was to advance into Buju and, with the assistance of the Navy, capture the entire Ice Storm Peninsula.

Regarding the situation development, the predictions made by the Ministry of Navy were not pessimistic.

The Saiyi Army suffered a disastrous defeat at the beginning of the war, mainly due to inaccurate predictions about the enemy, such as not anticipating that the Liangxia Army would attack before the Navy secured a victory, and even more unexpectedly, launching attacks from both the east and west sides of the Peninsula, leading to a severe lack of initial defensive preparations.

One might say there were no preparations at all.

When the Liangxia troops launched their attack, the Saiyi soldiers on the ceasefire line were still daydreaming, believing that the Navy would definitely achieve a great victory.

Once the war had started, the situation of being unprepared no longer existed.

With proper preparations, the Saiyi Army would certainly defend fiercely; even if they had to retreat, they would use the complex terrain of the Peninsula and the harsh winter climate to stage phased resistance against the Liangxia Army, aiming to drain their combat strength and slow their advance.

The battle for Gaozhou was quite representative of this.

After losing the initiative, the Saiyi troops still held out for several days, causing considerable trouble for the Liangxia Army and forcing them to pause their advance after capturing Gaozhou.

As they retreated, the density of the defending forces increased, and the supply lines of the attackers extended, leading to an inevitable balance at some point.

Even if they were pushed back to Buju, the Saiyi Army would still fight a desperate battle.

Regardless, there were still hundreds of thousands of Saiyi soldiers on the Ice Storm Peninsula.

Not to mention hundreds of thousands of well-armed soldiers, even hundreds of thousands of fat pigs wouldn’t be easy to completely eradicate.

As for the fighting spirit and morale of the Saiyi soldiers, there were certainly no issues.

During the last great war, the Ice Storm Peninsula was the final battlefield on the ground, as well as the bloodiest, with the highest casualty rate and speed.

In less than two years, millions of troops were deployed by both sides; the Saiyi Army alone suffered nearly four million casualties and missing soldiers. During the spring offensive in the last year, over one hundred and twenty thousand Saiyi soldiers were killed in less than a hundred days.

A Newland war correspondent described it vividly, saying that thousands of Saiyi soldiers, hungry and barely clothed, were driven to the front lines like swine, and then, under the mad incitement of their commanders, they charged headlessly at the enemy’s machine-gun and barbed-wire defenses. After the battles, heart-wrenching screams still echoed in the skies above the battlefield. Within a single day, tens of thousands of soldiers without winter clothing were sent to the front lines. They died as if they had never existed, with no one to mourn or even remember them. When the sun rose again, another batch of Saiyi soldiers was sent to the front lines, stepping onto a blood-red battlefield paved with frozen blood.

According to the Ministry of Navy’s estimation, the fighting on the Ice Storm Peninsula would continue until next spring.

But was this prediction reliable?

Rofuss didn’t think so.

This was ground warfare, what did the Navy know about it?

Though not very familiar with Army affairs, Rofuss, having served as the Assistant Minister of Navy, was well aware of the capabilities of the Newland Navy.

To put it bluntly, if the Navy understood ground warfare, the Marine Corps would not have become independent.

Of course, the key still lied in the naval battlefield.

At this point, the Ministry of Navy adjusted its previous predictions.

To put it simply, after the complete victory of the Liangxia Navy, the possibility of attacking the Volcanic Islands from the North and South Sado Islands had increased significantly.

The reason is straightforward: there was no longer a possibility of a fierce battle with the Saiyi Navy, and there was no need to head south to attack Tuk Fortress.

That was the core of the entire report.

Before that, even Rofuss believed that after a victorious start, the Liangxia Navy was more likely to move south and attack Tuk Fortress. The key was that operating in the Southwest West East Ocean, far from Saiyi’s mainland, would allow for a more thorough and comprehensive use of the shipborne air force.

Additionally, there were strategic considerations.

Tuk Fortress is located in the Southwest West East Ocean, belonging to Micro, and thousands of kilometers away from the Newland Federation-administered Nanzhu Country, as well as Ao Country, which had gained independence from the Bulan Kingdom. Therefore, geographically speaking, the fortress had little strategic value to the Newland Federation and Bulan Kingdom. Conversely, the fortress was situated directly on the strategic sea route from the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom to Ao Country, while the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom had only two such strategic routes.

Historically, Micro had once been an overseas territory of the Liangxia Empire, and Tuk Fortress was initially developed and operated by the Liangxia Empire.

The Liangxia Navy’s deployment to Tuk Fortress was intended to strike at the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and avoid excessively provoking the Newland Federation and Bulan Kingdom.

Militarily, this echoed the Army’s operations on the Ice Storm Peninsula.

At that time, the Minister of Navy used an Eastern proverb: "A gradually heated frog."

Attacking the Volcanic Islands would not have this effect.

Geographically, the Volcanic Islands are located south of Saiyi’s mainland, less than a thousand kilometers away, within the operational range of the shore-based air force.

Importantly, the Volcanic Islands are located north of the North Ma Islands.

Although the North Ma Islands belonged to the Liangxia Empire before the last great war, they were seized by the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and Newland Federation after the war. All the islands on the north side of the group were in possession of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, effectively administered by the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. Guan Island on the south side was administered by the Newland Federation, which later even developed it as a midpoint station from the mainland to Nanzhu Country.

What does this mean?

Guan Island is on the route from the western coast of the Newland Federation to Nanzhu Country!

Do not forget, Nanzhu Country was the core interest seized by the Newland Federation in the last great war, and also serves as the Newland Federation’s bridgehead on the west coast of the East Ocean.

Would the Newland Federation sit idly by if the Liangxia Navy deployed troops to the Volcanic Islands?

From a military perspective, as long as the Liangxia Navy established a foothold in the Volcanic Islands, such as on Liuhuang Island, it could quickly sweep the North Ma Islands and Guan Island to the south. By seizing Guan Island, attacking Nanzhu Country would face no challenge, possibly even allowing a sweep across half the East Ocean.

Clearly, no matter how much the Newland Federation retreated, they absolutely could not afford to lose Guan Island.

For this reason, the Ministry of Navy explicitly mentioned in the report that if the Liangxia Navy chose to advance east, they must consider the possibility of deploying troops for war, at least by reinforcing Guan Island and the West East Ocean, such as dispatching several large battleships to Nanzhu Country and bolstering the shore-based air force on Guan Island.

Of course, this was only the view of the Ministry of Navy.

Rofuss was well aware that, unless the Liangxia Navy directly attacked Guan Island or Nanzhu Country, let alone the Volcanic Islands, even if they occupied the Saiyi-administered North Ma Islands, those Congress members who believed in isolating themselves for development would absolutely not agree to send troops to battle.

Do not forget, the North Ma Islands originally belonged to the Liangxia Empire, even Guan Island was part of the Liangxia Empire.

Besides, this war was instigated by the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom through a sneak attack.

Additionally, the economic and trade relationship between the Liangxia Empire and the Newland Federation, especially after the economic crisis broke out, needed to be considered.

Taking all these into account, unless the commander of the Liangxia Empire acted foolishly and directly targeted the Newland Federation’s interests, Rofuss could only fret!