Empire Conquest
Chapter 265 - 261: Two Negotiations

Chapter 265: Chapter 261: Two Negotiations

"General Bai."

"Li... General!"

After approaching, Bai Zhizhan only then noticed the Brigadier General rank on Li Qing’s shoulders and hurriedly corrected himself, almost calling him wrong.

How long had it been?

Directly promoted from Major to Brigadier General, who else could it be but the Eldest Prince?

Bai Zhizhan wasn’t surprised; he immediately thought of it.

Li Qing wasn’t representing the Imperial Army but the Imperial Family, attending the meeting with the Crown Prince of the Tiaoman Empire as the heir to the imperial throne.

Such negotiations conducted by key members of the Imperial Family were full of sincerity and had more assurance.

However, he was still using a pseudonym.

After all, it was a secret negotiation; there was no need for excessive formality, and the Crown Prince of the Tiaoman Empire also served in the military, wearing a military uniform as well.

As for the other acquaintance, it was Zhang Xiaoqing.

"General Bai."

"What is this..."

"Going to the negotiation, aren’t you?"

Bai Zhizhan was puzzled, thinking Zhang Xiaoqing was joking.

"Miss Zhang is a member of the finance department’s negotiation team, mainly involving strategic aid, so the specific terms need to be reviewed and assessed on-site." Wang Kaiyuan came over, smiled, and said, "It looks like you two have known each other for a while. You chat; I’ll go greet the others."

After dropping that comment, Wang Kaiyuan didn’t care whether Bai Zhizhan was willing or not, he turned and went to greet other personnel.

"At first, I heard from Li Qing that the Navy was sending a very famous general for this tripartite secret negotiation, and it was primarily a Navy affair, not much related to the Army. I thought it might be General Liu Xiangzhen since he led the fleet that captured Liuhuang Island."

Was it a form of provocation?

Such trivial tactics were hardly effective, given that the capabilities of the two had been widely discussed by the outside world over the past twenty years.

Bai Zhizhan just smiled politely.

"My cousin-in-law mentioned that you weren’t in Puzhou recently; you also went to West East Ocean?"

"Yes, took a stroll there, and incidentally took down a few Saiyi battleships."

"The conflict that wiped out the Permanent Fleet, was that your doing?"

Bai Zhizhan did not respond; there was no need for explanations.

The details of how the First Special Mixed Fleet had annihilated the Permanent Fleet in the East Ocean were still top-secret, unannounced by the Imperial Navy, let alone publicized.

According to the information released, the "Heng River" carrier was out for a navigation test after repairs had been completed, and thus it happened to appear at Nagiu Port.

Because issues were discovered during the test, the carrier had to return to Puzhou Port for repairs.

In the public narrative, the task of annihilating the Permanent Fleet was credited to the Special Mixed Group commanded by Liu Xiangzhen.

Bai Zhizhan didn’t mind the credit being attributed to the First Special Mixed Fleet; as for the Navy’s confidentiality rules, Bai Zhizhan would certainly not ignore them.

Fortunately, the transport plane was ready.

After the service staff came to call everyone to board the plane, Bai Zhizhan quickly walked to the front. He wasn’t avoiding Zhang Xiaoqing, but rather wanted to secure a good seat to sleep during the flight. If he had known earlier that he would be sent to the negotiation, he would have gone back to the hotel to sleep after finishing his morning duties.

Once on the plane, Bai Zhizhan took a corner seat and fell asleep after sitting down.

He was indeed exhausted.

Since coming back before the Spring Festival, he had been busy non-stop, constantly engaging in social activities, and surviving through it all was already quite an achievement.

At this time, at the Navy Air Force base outside the Southern Fleet’s home port in the southern part of the Empire, another transport plane carrying additional negotiators had taken off.

These transport planes were headed for Marra City in Nanzhu Country.

Before the New Year, after the Newland President issued a call, the Imperial Authority immediately responded. The Grand Secretary issued a public statement in the newspapers on behalf of the Empire, expressing willingness to end the war with the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom through peaceful means including negotiations, and welcomed all peace-loving nations including the Newland Federation to mediate. However, the Empire would not relinquish the rights granted by international law and conventions to punish war crimes.

After several rounds of consultations, all three parties agreed to hold the first informal meeting in Marra City, Nanzhu Country.

If the meeting went well, there was a possibility for negotiations.

If the meeting ended on a sour note, what was there left to talk about?

To show the importance of this meeting, the Empire appointed Navy Admiral Liu Xiangdong, the commander of the Southern Fleet, as the head of the negotiation team.

A few days earlier, Xue Yuanzheng had personally signed Liu Xiangdong’s promotion order, advancing his military rank by one level.

As a Navy Admiral, his presence was imposing enough not to be overshadowed during negotiations.

As for the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, their negotiation team was led by Admiral Shoki.

Like Liu Xiangdong, Shoki had also been promoted to Admiral just a few days before. However, he was previously the commander of the Saiyi Navy’s submarine force.

The representative sent by the Newland Federation was a Navy Major General named Hal.

This man was known for his explosive temper and had even earned the nickname "Barbarian Bull."

From the personnel arranged, this meeting seemed doomed.

Though Liu Xiangdong had only assumed the position of commander of the Southern Fleet right before the outbreak of the large-scale war, Chengjiang Port was attacked while he served as the Acting Commander, and even if he wasn’t to be directly blamed, the loss of face was enough to rule out hopes of him advancing cease-fire negotiations.

Admiral Shoki was originally an unknown figure with little influence within the Saiyi Navy.

As for Hal, the Newland Navy’s coordinator, he was a Major General in his fifties who had served in Nanzhu Country’s Sub-fleet for more than a decade before being assigned to Guan Island to oversee fleet affairs, only recently returning to the East Ocean Fleet Headquarters. He was a few years older than Liu Xiangdong but still only a Major General.

It was clear he was just there to muddy the waters.

None of the parties were genuinely committed to the negotiation; they were all just biding their time.

In terms of public relations, however, the story was different.

Not only between the Newland Federation and the Liangxia Empire, even the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, in terms of media propaganda, expressed full confidence in the meeting, acting as if the flames of war would be extinguished as soon as the meeting started, and then immediately ceasing hostilities as if nothing had happened before the outbreak of the war.

It must be said, with regards to handling the meeting, each party had its own agenda.

There’s no need to elaborate on the Liangxia Empire—they took this opportunity to let the whole world know they were a victim and to expose the shameful act of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom initiating the war with a surprise attack.

The Newland Federation wanted to use this opportunity to enhance its international voice, proving that they alone could make the Liangxia Empire sit down for negotiations.

As for the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, they clearly intended to talk extensively about a ceasefire and peace in order to create a rationale and conditions for the Bulan Kingdom to implement a strategic embargo on March 1.

Anyway, journalists from various countries had already gathered in Marra City.

On the other side, in the southern city of the Luosha Federation, Baku, which is the most famous oil city in the eastern part of the West Continent and one of the largest oil production locations in the world, not only was it extremely cold but also very desolate. Not to mention foreign journalists, even local residents hadn’t heard anything about the secret talks.

Baku was famous for more than just oil.

Before the discovery of oil, Baku was known for its hot springs and mud baths. Back during the Empire era, the bathhouses here were extremely famous, and the Luosha Imperial Family even built a secondary palace here. Every spring and autumn, many women from the imperial family would stay here for a while.

It is said that Baku’s mud baths have miraculous effects in treating skin diseases and are considered a holy grail of beauty products.

But now, the royal secondary palace had already become an official hospitality venue, specially used to host high-ranking foreign guests.