Empire Conquest
Chapter 219 - 215: Remove the Ladder After Going Up

Chapter 219: Chapter 215: Remove the Ladder After Going Up

More than ten minutes later, the driver delivered the packaged meal.

Noticing Bai Zhizhan’s face, which looked as if he had just received news of a family member’s death, the driver tactfully made an excuse, claiming he was going to find Zhou Yongtao a clean coat, and quickly slipped out. Having been with Bai Zhizhan for a few days, the driver had never seen such a stern expression on his face.

Indeed, that army green coat needed to be thrown away as it was covered in grease stains and had a disgusting smell of sweat.

Obviously, it must have been the uniform worn by ground crew members while working outdoors, never being washed. Worn throughout a winter, it would just be thrown away at the end.

Stains like lubricating oil, antifreeze, and hydraulic fluid couldn’t be washed off.

After eating, Zhou Yongtao finally explained the reasons behind his return to Bai Zhizhan.

It was Li Mingbo who had asked him to come back.

Yesterday morning, Liu Xiangzhen boarded a "Flying Fish" to the "Imperial Capital" and immediately ordered radio silence upon taking over the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

For secrecy, this matter had not yet been communicated to other fleets.

Yesterday at noon, Li Mingbo found an opportunity to say that he needed to send a staff officer back to investigate and count the injured servicemen, and thus sent Zhou Yongtao on a torpedo bomber. Before taking off, Li Mingbo repeatedly emphasized that he must find Bai Zhizhan and explain the situation to him in person.

The Third Aviation Mixed Fleet had already turned north and was to participate in an attack on an island on the southern side of the Ice Storm Peninsula.

Which island?

Li Mingbo didn’t say, as he had gathered this intelligence from a staff officer who had come to the "Imperial Capital" with Liu Xiangzhen, someone he had some previous rapport with. The operation plan was still highly confidential, and even within the headquarters of the Special Mixed Group, there were few staff officers privy to the information.

Moreover, the Special Mixed Group was currently rushing to the Xu Sea.

Since Li Hengjia had not arrived, Li Mingbo surmised that Liu Xiangzhen had likely temporarily appointed Li Hengjia to lead the Special Mixed Group, while he himself took over the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

It wasn’t surprising, only Liu Xiangzhen himself could suppress Li Mingbo.

These signs indicated that the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet was about to be incorporated into the Special Mixed Group and then proceed to the northern Xu Sea to support the Marines’ landing operation at a certain location.

"Brother Li asked me to inquire, what’s next for the brothers at headquarters?"

"Is there any doubt about this?"

Being glared at by Bai Zhizhan, Zhou Yongtao pursed his lips and adopted an indifferent attitude.

"Li Mingbo is a senior officer, he must know that the duty of a soldier is to obey and execute orders, not to consider who issued them. Since it’s accepted that General Liu Xiangzhen commands as the Fleet Commander and directs the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet, we must follow the Commander’s orders."

"I said the same," Zhou Yongtao quickly stated, trying to assert his innocence.

Bai Zhizhan was speechless, actually feeling upset.

"Oh, I almost forgot. This was given to me by an officer named Zheng Jiangming just before the plane took off, who instructed me to personally hand it to you."

As he spoke, Zhou Yongtao took out an envelope.

Bai Zhizhan didn’t fuss, snatching the envelope right away.

There was just a single page inside with a few paragraphs.

After quickly reading it, Bai Zhizhan’s frown deepened. After a moment of contemplation as if he had just come to his senses, he passed the note to Zhou Yongtao.

Taking it and looking it over, Zhou Yongtao also furrowed his brow.

There were four paragraphs that discussed four crucial matters.

The army and navy had already agreed on the next phase of combat operations. The army would launch its assault by January 10 at the latest, while the navy would clear the sea routes beforehand and assist and coordinate with the army to capture the southern ports of the Ice Storm Peninsula, transporting combat supplies to the front lines.

To cover the Army’s operations on the Ice Storm Peninsula, the Navy will concurrently launch an amphibious landing operation. The target will be selected between Jeju Island of the Lower High Kingdom and Shuangma Island of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. Based on the current combat situation, the likelihood of choosing the former is higher.

The Mobile Fleet had already arrived at Tuk Fortress, and judging from the arrival time, the damage to the four Fast Battleships was not severe. The Fourth Cruiser Corps was expected to arrive soon and would be integrated into the Mobile Fleet. Lan Yun had been promoted to Admiral and was acting as the Permanent Fleet Commander.

The transportation fleet of the Newland Federation had reached Micro and was expected to arrive at Tuk Fortress by January 7.

Gathering these two pieces of intelligence, one could roughly estimate that the Permanent Battleships could be ready to depart as early as January 10 and no later than January 15. If the Empire’s Army initiated the attack as planned on January 10 and the Navy simultaneously attacked Jeju Island, it was very likely that the Permanent Fleet would leave Tuk Fortress before January 15. Unless there was a significant change, the threat of the Permanent Fleet needed to be considered in late January.

Implicitly, Bai Zhizhan’s opportunity to return to the fray was approaching fast.

However, Bai Zhizhan felt no joy at all.

After reading, Zhou Yongtao also couldn’t feel happy.

Returning to the fray was one thing, but what was this landing operation about!?

This wasn’t in the plans at all!

Even if they chose to land on Jeju Island, where the combat difficulty was much lower and the troop deployment significantly less, it would inevitably have a negative impact on the operations against Liuhuang Island.

There was no doubt about it: there were only two Marine Divisions available for deployment in the direction of the Xu Sea and East Ocean, and even attacking Liuhuang Island seemed challenging enough.

If the resources expended on the landing were taken into account, the impact would be even greater.

Was this necessary at all?

The distance from Jeju Island to Long Sorrow in the western part of Saiyi, compared to the distance from Buju to Long Sorrow, was about the same. Therefore, if Buju could be quickly captured, there was no need for Jeju Island as a stepping stone.

What about Shuangma Island?

The two islands were in the middle of the Shuangma Strait, between Buju and Long Sorrow, and slightly closer to Long Sorrow, but the shortened distance did not provide any practical value.

Furthermore, Shuangma Island was Saiyi territory and had more troops stationed there.

The difficulty of attacking Shuangma Island was much greater than that of attacking Jeju Island, and after capturing it, it might not even be useful. Therefore, it wasn’t considered from the start.

According to the original plan, even if landing on Saiyi’s mainland was ultimately necessary, it would only be after capturing Buju, starting directly from Buju.

Capturing offshore islands of Saiyi before this was like drawing legs on a snake—superfluous.

Who thought of this?

To put it bluntly, if this was Xiangzhen’s idea, then it had nothing to do with supporting the Army, but rather with depleting the Marine Corps under the Domestic Fleet.

First, exhaust the two Marine Divisions under the Domestic Fleet on Jeju Island, and then when attacking Liuhuang Island, it would be time for the Marine Divisions sent by the Southern Fleet to shine. Once Liuhuang Island was captured, the Southern Fleet would gain a foothold, and thereafter it could intervene in the battles over East Ocean.

After all this fuss, the Southern Fleet would inevitably outperform the Domestic Fleet.

By then, Liu Xiangzhen would also inevitably become the Empire Navy’s foremost War General.

Sabotaging by removing the ladder, quite a clever move!

Bai Zhizhan was very troubled, but being troubled was of no use.

"Do you have any arrangements?"

"General Li told me to stay, not to go back. He also said that if there is a plan here, I should just stay with you here; going back to the Imperial Capital would be more problematic."

Bai Zhizhan nodded, indicating that he understood.

Since the Navy headquarters had not yet issued an official appointment, Li Yunxiang was still the commander of the Third Shipborne Air Force Wing, and Zhou Yongtao was the staff officer of the Third Shipborne Air Force Wing. Therefore, Li Yunxiang had the authority to transfer Zhou Yongtao and assign him to assist Bai Zhizhan, who was still nominally the commander of the Third Aviation Mixed Fleet.

Having an assistant was never a bad thing.