Empire Conquest
Chapter 299 - 295 The Future Commander-in-chief

Chapter 299: Chapter 295 The Future Commander-in-chief

Because of Rofuss’s difficulty walking, it was Hale who came forward to greet and send off the guests.

Having seen off the last distinguished guest, it was already the next day’s early morning.

Hale didn’t immediately return to the study but hid outside to smoke a cigarette.

Those civilian representatives are actually the mouthpieces of the Traveler Clan consortium, and many are members of the Traveler Clan, which has controlled the financial lifelines of the West for hundreds of years.

If it weren’t for the last Global War, the Traveler Clan wouldn’t have moved from the Bulan Kingdom to the Newland Federation.

Hale had no good feelings toward these guys who only had eyes for profit, even though the support of the Traveler Clan consortium was what enabled him to become Secretary of State.

Hale knew that Rofuss also had few fond feelings for the Traveler Clan.

Rofuss’s ancestors came from the Tulip Kingdom, during the era when it was known as the "Sea Carriage Drivers," the Tulip Kingdom was the most powerful commercial empire globally. Yet a financial crisis orchestrated by the Traveler Clan left the Tulip Kingdom unable to recover, and the legendary era of the Sea Carriage Drivers came to an end.

In fact, Rofuss’s ancestors went bankrupt during that storm and started anew in the Gu Continent from scratch.

Similarly, after that storm, more precisely after the downfall of the Tulip Kingdom, it was the Bulan Kingdom that rose quickly, becoming the "Empire on Which the Sun Never Sets" that dominated the globe.

If the Traveler Clan consortium is likened to sewage, then the Newland Federation still counted as a clean land.

Unfortunately, over twenty years ago, when Wilkins led the Newland Federation to participate in the last war, this clean land became a deposit of filth.

It might also be described as inviting wolves into the house.

As the saying goes, "It is easy to invite the gods in but hard to send them away."

Even with his high aspirations, Rofuss alone couldn’t recapture the minting rights controlled by the Traveler Clan consortium, let alone eradicate this cancer.

Securing a compromise was already pretty good.

However, tonight’s affairs weren’t over yet.

After smoking, Hale went to the side hall, called over two military men who had been waiting there for most of the evening, and brought them to Rofuss’s study.

One of them was Nizi, who was about to take command as the Fleet Commander of the East Ocean Fleet.

A few months ago, he had been promoted from Colonel to Major General, with the Promotion Order personally signed by Rofuss, bypassing the rank of Brigadier General, which was, in fact, an extraordinary promotion.

By the time of his promotion, Nizi was already fifty-five!

A fifty-five-year-old senior Colonel.

Thanks to twenty years of peace, of which fifteen were spent as Navy holidays, it was not uncommon in the Newland Navy to have fifty-year-old field officers like Nizi.

To say it, Nizi was very fortunate.

The reason Nizi was taken under significant consideration was largely due to his early acquaintance with Rofuss.

In the later stages of the last war, Nizi served as the Deputy Captain on the Battleship "Nanka," while at that time Rofuss was the Assistant Secretary of the Navy under the Wilkins Cabinet. Before the negotiations in Seba, Rofuss traveled to the West Continent on the "Nanka" and got to know Nizi during the journey.

As mentioned earlier, having the Republican Party’s Mike take command of the East Ocean Army was to pave the way for Nizi’s position as the Fleet Commander of the East Ocean Fleet.

If the most potent fleet in the Newland Navy had to be entrusted to someone, Rofuss’s only trust went to Nizi.

In Rofuss’s words, "As long as Nizi is in command at Treasure Harbor, he can rest easy in Huacheng."

The other person, the staff officer who came with Nizi, was Major Fox.

Upon reaching the study, Hale didn’t leave but didn’t join in the strategic discussions either. As Secretary of State, he had no right to meddle in the naval operations.

Mainly, Major Fox spoke, mentioning repeatedly a certain Major General of the Liangxia Navy.

Indeed, it was Bai Zhizhan.

Hale was well aware of this old bachelor who married in his forties.

There were two reasons for this: in the past few months, at all military-related meetings, the name "Bai Zhizhan" had been mentioned more times than any other.

Although there was no statistics to back it up, Hale felt that his name appeared dozens of times in every report.

Furthermore, as far as Hale was aware, the Naval Intelligence Bureau had established a special team dedicated to studying this Liangxia Navy Major General called Bai Zhizhan.

He was regarded with high importance not just because he was about to become a prince consort to the Liangxia Royal Family but also because of his talent.

When reporting to Rofuss for the first time, Nizi had mentioned that without Bai Zhizhan, the Liangxia Empire would have lost the war at the beginning of the year.

Nizi’s evaluation of him was extremely high, naming him as the foremost individual in the current navy.

After listening for a while, Hale finally understood.

A month later, it would be Bai Zhizhan’s wedding day, and he would definitely be in the Imperial Capital, not with the fleet.

That is to say, it was the ideal time to strike.

As long as he was in the Imperial Capital, the only need for concern, and the one commanding the fleet on the front lines, would be Liu Xiangzhen.

Although Liu Xiangzhen was also an invaluable subordinate, and Nizi had given him a high evaluation as well, stating that he possessed talent comparable to that of Bai Zhizhan and the two of them together were the backbone of the Liangxia Navy, Major Fox had judged that, in comparison with Bai Zhizhan, he was still somewhat lacking.

The key point was that Liu Xiangzhen could only command two carriers at most.

If the situation became tense, the Liangxia Navy would certainly send out the other two carriers.

Because Bai Zhizhan would be getting married domestically, the person in command of the fleet would definitely not be him but someone else, such as Li Mingbo, who had returned from the Fan Flame Ocean.

Seizing this opportunity, one could annihilate the Liangxia Navy’s fleet!

To put it precisely, there was a chance to destroy the four carrier fleets of the Liangxia Navy as soon as the war broke out, thereby seizing the strategic initiative of the East Ocean at once.

This point was exceedingly crucial.

The Liangxia Empire’s four large carriers had already been launched, and the two major shipyards were working overtime to finish construction, with a significant possibility of completing the fit-out within the year and delivery to the Navy in the first half of next year. Even accounting for training, they would definitely be combat-ready by the second half of next year.

If unable to sink the existing four carriers after the outbreak of the war, the situation could completely reverse by next year.

Even if only two carriers were sunk, by next year the Liangxia Navy would still have six carriers, four of which would be large carriers, while the Newland Navy only had five fleet carriers.

These were the issues Nizi had also been emphasizing at the several previous combat meetings.

A major victory had to be achieved in the first battle, or the Newland Federation would be facing a crushing defeat.

Essentially, the key was to avoid Bai Zhizhan.

According to Major Fox’s analysis, as long as Bai Zhizhan returned to the fleet, even if he only had two carriers, he would still be the number one enemy of the Newland Navy.

Hadn’t he, just a few months ago, almost annihilated the Permanent Fleet of the Saiyi Navy with only two carriers?

Crucially, Bai Zhizhan was an offensive-minded commander with an exceptionally sharp battlefield intuition, always able to identify and seize the opportunity to attack and turn it into a victory. In contrast, Liu Xiangzhen was a defensive-minded commander who tended to be passive in battle.

It all boiled down to one focal point.

While Bai Zhizhan was busy getting married domestically, the main force of the Liangxia Navy would be lured out, and then a sudden strike would be launched to take control of the initiative in the East Ocean.

If the advantage could be maintained until the end of next year, the Newland Federation would stand a great chance of achieving the final victory.

Even if not maintained until the end of next year, as long as it lasted until the middle of the year, it would ensure that the Newland Federation would be in an invincible position for the next three years.

Three years from now?

Who could say for certain, and who would be able to manage that?

Nizi and Major Fox had talked at length, but Hale had basically not understood a word.

But that was just as well.

Hale was the Secretary of State, chiefly responsible for foreign affairs, and knew nothing about military affairs. If he could understand, would Rofuss still trust Nizi?

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