Empire Conquest
Chapter 294 - 290: The Grand Strategy of a Superpower

Chapter 294: Chapter 290: The Grand Strategy of a Superpower

Although they didn’t delay on the road, they were still late.

When Bai Zhizhan and Liu Changxun got out of the car, a group of Cabinet Ministers were just coming out of the meeting room, all in a hurry, looking as if a decision had been made.

Liu Changxun had said from the start, Xue Yuanzheng wouldn’t let anyone go until a result was reached!

However, judging from the expressions of the Cabinet Ministers, it didn’t seem like a good result.

While Liu Changxun was pulling aside a Cabinet Minister with whom he had a decent relationship to inquire, Xue Yuanzheng’s secretary stopped Bai Zhizhan.

Instead of taking him to the meeting room, they went upstairs to a study.

Only outside the study did Bai Zhizhan encounter two Army Generals.

Obviously, before the meeting ended, Xue Yuanzheng, Peng Huaisong, and Situ Jingde had left the meeting room to discuss the final matters in the study.

Together with Liu Changxun, these four composed the "War Cabinet Military Decision-making Committee."

Matters related to the military were usually discussed first by these four, and once a conclusion was reached, it would be handed over to the War Cabinet for voting and implementation.

Seeing Bai Zhizhan, Situ Jingde and Peng Huaisong were surprised; they clearly hadn’t expected Bai Zhizhan to return from the front lines so quickly.

According to the previous arrangement, Bai Zhizhan was supposed to spend a few more days in Tan City before returning to the Imperial Capital.

The door to the study was open, and Xue Yuanzheng was inside, so the two Generals did not stop Bai Zhizhan to inquire.

After sending Bai Zhizhan inside, the secretary turned and left, closing the door behind him.

"Take a seat anywhere. Would you like something to drink? This time, we have your favorite civet coffee."

Bai Zhizhan was surprised; he hadn’t expected the Grand Secretary to be so thoughtful.

He had only mentioned civet coffee to the Grand Secretary once before. That was back before the last great war when the civet coffee from Mala was exclusively supplied to the Imperial Navy and outsiders couldn’t buy it even with money. After the war, Mala was partitioned, with parts ceded to both the Bulan Kingdom and the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. The Imperial Navy’s exclusive enjoyment of civet coffee became history, and it now required a lot of money to purchase from black-hearted traders in the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

Civet coffee, which had once been common for the Imperial Navy Generals, suddenly became incredibly precious.

Bai Zhizhan had only tasted it once at He Yongxing’s place, and that was a batch aged more than ten years.

The coffee was already brewed, warm and hot.

When mixed, it released an aroma that penetrated the soul, an authentic civet coffee, and moreover, from the original place of origin, a top-grade product that money couldn’t buy.

Clearly, after learning of Bai Zhizhan’s return, Xue Yuanzheng had specifically brewed this pot of coffee.

Xue Yuanzheng truly had a heart; otherwise, back in the Ice Storm Peninsula battlefield, not so many Army soldiers would have been willing to die for him.

"Take a look at the document on the table first, it was just delivered."

Following Xue Yuanzheng’s prompt, Bai Zhizhan picked up the unfolded document on the desk, which was actually an open file folder.

Indeed, it was news from the Tiaoman Empire.

According to the latest report, the Tiaoman Empire had given up on its efforts in the Locke Republic and would launch a lightning strike according to the contingency plan once the war began.

Attached was the plan for a lightning strike against the Locke Republic, though it was just a draft.

Since it was intended as a reference for the Liangxia Empire, the content was quite brief.

The Tiaoman Empire planned to capture Seba City within three months, thereby ending the war with the Locke Republic, in order to free up forces to move into the Svia Peninsula.

Because the Kingdom of Viking was fragile and its Defense Army was not up to stand a hit, national security relied on security guarantees provided by the Bulan Kingdom and the Locke Republic, that is, the alliance treaties signed with victorious countries after the last war. Thus, the military campaign against the Kingdom of Viking was also planned to be completed within three months.

While attacking the Kingdom of Viking, the Tiaoman Empire would launch military operations against the Bulan Kingdom.

In the early stages, the Air Force took the lead, focusing on bombing the industrial centers, ports, and cities in the southern region of Bulan Kingdom to undermine Bulan Kingdom’s war potential.

After bringing down the Kingdom of Viking, they would consider whether to attack the mainland of Bulan.

The key was sea control.

Because the Tiaoman Navy was too weak, it definitely could not seize control of the sea, so attacking the mainland of Bulan Kingdom was mostly just a slogan.

Putting on a landing posture was merely a threat to Bulan Kingdom.

As for declaring war, it would happen after the surprise attack on the Locke Republic had commenced.

"Do these two matters relate?"

"Up to now, the alliance treaty signed by Bulan Kingdom and Locke Republic before the last great war remains effective, or rather, it has not been voided," Xue Yuanzheng already sat on the chair opposite Bai Zhizhan. "As soon as they launch a surprise attack on Locke Republic, Tiaoman Empire’s strategic intentions will be clear. Because Bulan Kingdom is already in its twilight years and can’t handle Locke Empire as it did in the past, by gathering many nations to form an Anti-Tiaoman Alliance, let alone spend decades to overcome this behemoth on land, they will definitely make use of the still-valid treaty to declare war on Tiaoman Empire together with Locke Republic. Moreover, after the war breaks out, Locke Republic will surely ask Bulan Kingdom for help."

"This..."

Xue Yuanzheng smiled slightly and said, "This is the most critical and subtle point."

Bai Zhizhan nodded; he had already thought of this.

The crux lay in who declared war on whom.

If Bulan Kingdom were the first to declare war on Tiaoman Empire, Liangxia Empire could remain aloof for the time being, without making clear its alliance with Tiaoman Empire.

Of course, this was definitely not a secret.

The key was that, as long as it wasn’t made explicit, unless the Luosha Federation rebelled, there was no reason for Bulan Kingdom and Newland Federation to point the finger at Liangxia Empire.

Without considering conspiracies, Bulan Kingdom and Newland Federation could only declare war on Tiaoman Empire and concentrate their forces against Tiaoman Empire. This meant that, for a long time to come, Bulan Kingdom and Newland Federation could not deal with matters in West East Ocean.

The subtlety lay in the fact that Bulan Kingdom would absolutely not take the initiative to declare war on Liangxia Empire and would try every means to prevent Newland Federation from declaring war on Liangxia Empire.

Unless Newland Federation planned to challenge Liangxia Empire alone in East Ocean, it had to follow Bulan’s lead and resolve Tiaoman Empire first.

Even if Tiaoman Empire was weak, it could still hold out for a few months!

To put it bluntly, it depends on whether Tiaoman Empire or Saiyi Imperial Kingdom could last longer!

In fact, this was also the key to the surprise attack on Locke Republic.

As long as the surprise attack succeeded and quickly defeated Locke Republic, then swept through the Kingdom of Viking to the north, Tiaoman Empire would have established a base for waging a protracted war.

Even if Bulan Kingdom and Newland Federation had sea control and possessed strong naval forces, they could not possibly send troops to land on the coastline guarded by Tiaoman forces without adequate preparation. To make adequate preparations, a complete war mobilization by Newland Federation was required.

Without one or even two years, it simply can’t be done!

Can Saiyi Imperial Kingdom last a year?

As long as Liangxia Empire exerted force, it could reduce Saiyi Imperial Kingdom to ruins within a year.

After a year, Liangxia Navy would acquire four large carriers and four post-treaty type battleships. What difficulty would there be in dealing with Newland Federation then?

That is the value of the Baku Secret Treaty.

To say it’s a cunning strategy in plain sight, not some conspiracy, all these crucial strategic relationships are under the sun.

It was only after knowing this overt strategy that Bai Zhizhan admired Xue Yuanzheng profoundly.

In the words of Xue Yuanzheng: Great powers play overt strategies, while small countries resort to conspiracies.

If you can win with a noble and overt strategy, why bother with dark tricks and schemes.

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