Empire Conquest
Chapter 307 - 303 Humanitarian Aid

Chapter 307: Chapter 303 Humanitarian Aid

After a while, a dozen or so officials from the War Cabinet headed by Xue Yuanzheng, a few Navy generals headed by Liu Changxun, and a group of Army generals headed by Peng Huaisong arrived one after another; meanwhile, Situ Jingde and the intelligence officers from the Sixth Bureau had been waiting at the conference center for some time.

This was a full meeting of the Imperial Supreme Command, and those who came were all the bigwigs of the decision-making layer.

Additionally, Liu Xiangzhen had also returned.

Looking at his travel-worn appearance, he must have rushed back from the front lines immediately upon receiving the news, not delaying even half a minute on the way.

He Yongxing and Gui Boyong were also in attendance.

Bai Zhizhan had intended to go over and greet them but got called over by Xue Yuanzheng instead.

It was nothing important—just to let him know that he shouldn’t leave right after the meeting ended; there were some matters to discuss privately.

By the time Bai Zhizhan and Xue Yuanzheng entered, the others had already taken their seats.

The spot left for Bai Zhizhan was behind Liu Changxun, next to Liu Xiangzhen, while He Yongxing sat on another row, with Gui Boyong and a few other generals seated behind him.

This arrangement was quite meaningful.

Because Bai Zhizhan hadn’t gone and the Domestic Fleet had inevitably been sidelined, a few months ago, after He Yongxing took charge of the Navy’s equipment construction, Gui Boyong was promoted to acting Chief of Staff of the Navy and, in the personnel rotations in early July, had the acting title removed.

However, being the Chief of Staff of the Navy was nothing more than a ceremonial position.

If anyone had some real power, it would be He Yongxing, as the management of battleship construction and the procurement of combat aircraft were all under his agency’s review.

From this perspective, the He Family was actually reduced to their original form.

The situation of the Liu Family was similar and could even be said to be worse.

In Liu Changxun’s generation, only he had real power, but Liu Changxun’s traitor status was already semi-public, and the Liu Family no longer regarded him as one of their own. Among the next generation, only two stood out: Liu Xiangzhen, who had fought against Bai Zhizhan for twenty years, and Liu Xiangdong, who up to now had addressed Bai Zhizhan as a brother. The latter could be seen as another Liu Changxun, while the former was constrained at every turn.

As for the one who was highly favored by Liu Changhe, the scion Liu Xiangbin, he had been kicked out of the core circle of the Navy.

Soon after the battle at the Ice Storm Peninsula concluded, Liu Changxun assigned Liu Xiangbin to Buju to oversee harbor repair work.

Not long afterward, he was sent to the recently occupied Shuangma Island to prepare for a landing on the Saiyi Main Island.

Both tasks were thankless jobs that no one wanted, and Liu Changxun dressed it up as training opportunities specifically sought for the younger generation.

Liu Xiangbin didn’t want to go, but military orders were like mountains, and there was no room to shirk!

Since the Imperial Army hadn’t participated in combat operations on the Saiyi Main Island, for now, the operations launched from Shuangma Island to attack the Saiyi mainland had not yet begun, and Liu Xiangbin, who was responsible for organizing the landing operations on Shuangma Island, could only stay on that desolate isle.

In Liu Changxun’s words: Roll as far away as possible, out of sight, out of mind.

In the current situation, the only exceptional member of the Liu Family was Liu Xiangzhen.

However, what choice Liu Xiangzhen would make and whether he would, like his cousin Liu Xiangdong, stand by his uncle Liu Changxun was uncertain at this point.

It was evident that the two great Navy dynasties were on the decline.

This was also an inevitable outcome.

Since the era of Zhu Shijian, the dynasties’ status in the Imperial Navy had greatly diminished, and after entering the war period, they had even fewer opportunities.

With the meteoric rise of Bai Zhizhan, especially after he became the Imperial Prince Consort and had the support of the Imperial Family, the Liu and He families had to be more cautious.

During wartime, just by relying on their influence, the Imperial Family could easily crush all aristocratic families!

To put it bluntly: being an enemy of the Imperial Family was to be an enemy of the Empire, an enemy of five hundred million Imperial citizens and soldiers.

No matter the constitutional amendments, secularization, or how the times change, the representation of the Imperial Family as the symbol and core interest of the Empire has always remained the same!

After the meeting commenced, Xue Yuanzheng identified the primary topic first.

What should the Empire do if the Newland Federation enters the war within a month?

Subsequently, Yang Zhiyuan, the head of the Sixth Bureau, clarified the current situation based on the intercepted intelligence.

This was Bai Zhizhan’s first encounter with the top figure in the Empire’s intelligence community.

He had only heard of his reputation before, never meeting him in person.

In reality, Yang Zhiyuan was an ordinary-looking old man, hardly related to the mysterious individual of the rumors, at least not as extraordinary in appearance.

Which was quite normal.

Wang Kaiyuan was just a very ordinary middle-aged man; if one didn’t know him, they would never believe he was a senior intelligence officer for the Sixth Bureau.

It’s often like this with those in intelligence work.

At that moment, Bai Zhizhan realized that Wang Kaiyuan hadn’t deceived him or that the information he had started revealing wasn’t meant to trap him.

The Newland Federation had indeed organized over a hundred cargo ships, preparing to transport a batch of life-saving supplies to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom in the near future.

Crucially, there was a very compelling reason.

To provide humanitarian aid for Saiyi civilians who were suffering from the scourges of war!

This involved the Empire’s war policy.

Earlier in the year, shortly after the Bulan Kingdom announced the implementation of a strategic embargo, the Imperial Authority declared that the target was solely war criminals, aiming to strike against war crimes, not against civilians of the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. For this reason, they demanded that the Bulan Kingdom adjust the embargo.

Although it was merely a matter of saving face, it was highly necessary.

It was for this reason that the Bulan Kingdom agreed in private negotiations to ease the embargo restrictions, making it essentially ineffective. The same reason prevented the Bulan Kingdom from conflating the Liangxia Empire with the Tiaoman Empire over the previous months.

Because of this, the Empire’s blockade against the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was explicitly targeted up until August.

Simply put, third parties were allowed to provide humanitarian materials to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, such as food and medicine, but they had to report to the Imperial Authority one month in advance. The Navy would arrange for battleships to escort them through the blockade area and ensure that the materials were used for humanitarian aid.

In September, the situation changed.

A Newland Shipping Company, which specialized in transporting humanitarian relief supplies to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, failed to submit the materials usage report as required, that is, to prove that approximately one hundred thousand tons of food delivered to the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom in the past half-year were all distributed to war refugees.

There was also intelligence indicating that all of this food fell into the hands of the East Saiyi military, some of which reached the Western Front on the Main Island and was seized by the Saiyi National Self-Defense Force.

To be precise, it was the East Saiyi military units in possession of these materials that surrendered on the battlefield.

Using this as the basis, the Empire issued a ban.

Third parties providing humanitarian aid to Saiyi civilians was to be conducted through the West Saiyi Regime, and no longer allowed to transport food and other materials to the East Saiyi region.

The Newland Federation was using this reasoning to propose continuing humanitarian assistance to East Saiyi and demanded that the Liangxia Empire ensure the safety of the fleet.

For this, the Newland State Department explicitly mentioned.

The Newland Federation recognized the East Saiyi Regime, did not acknowledge the West Saiyi Regime, and therefore would not offer humanitarian aid through the West Saiyi Regime.

Reporting?

Related documents had already been sent to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Empire, totaling one hundred and thirty-eight cargo ships, all carrying food, clothing, medicine, and other items listed in the humanitarian relief materials catalog, and mainly winter clothing, fully compliant with the definition of humanitarian aid under international law.

So, should they be allowed passage, or not?