Empire Conquest
Chapter 311 - 307: Joining Hands in Cooperation

Chapter 311: Chapter 307: Joining Hands in Cooperation

After the secretary brought in the tea, he left and closed the door behind him.

The atmosphere was slightly awkward, as Xue Yuanzheng had summoned Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen to come, yet he himself had not appeared; after the secretary left, only the two Navy Major Generals remained in the room.

The intent of Xue Yuanzheng was all too clear.

He hoped the two of them would set aside their previous grievances and cooperate fully in the upcoming battle.

The primary question was, were there any old grievances?

In the view of Bai Zhizhan, such a question simply did not exist.

Both he and Liu Xiangzhen were officers of the Empire’s Navy, serving the Empire, and that was all that mattered.

Moreover, thus far, the two had only been competing, sparring, without calculating against each other for personal gains.

At least, not too overtly.

If anything, it was that Bai Zhizhan had changed a lot; he was hardly the same person.

In the past, Bai Zhizhan was merely a disciple of Zhu Shijian, an officer from the civilian class, nowhere near Liu Xiangzhen in status, having to yield to Liu Xiangzhen in every aspect. The most representative example was before the war began, when Bai Zhizhan had given up his opportunity to go to the Special Mixed Group in favor of Liu Xiangzhen.

Now, Bai Zhizhan was not only a disciple of Zhu Shijian but also a leading Young Turk figure heavily favored by Xue Yuanzheng, even a Prince Consort of the Imperial Family. He had Li Yunxiang, a faithful brother, shared interests with Lian Xusheng, and could even get along with Wang Kaiyuan. Within the Navy, he had several iron buddies who had supported each other for decades and a close friend like Li Mingbo, cultivating subordinates like Zhou Yongtao.

This influence was not only far beyond Liu Xiangzhen’s but could even hold its own against the entire Liu Family.

The status of Imperial Prince Consort alone surpassed that of the Liu Family!

So, what was there left to quibble over?

After all, the Imperial Prince Consort wouldn’t stoop to certain petty disputes with a nobleman’s son.

If there were to be any disputes, it would be from Liu Xiangzhen.

"General Bai, there are many things you might not want to hear, but I still need to say them. No matter what, we are officers of the Empire’s Navy."

"That’s also what I wanted to say."

Liu Xiangzhen was momentarily stunned, then he nodded.

Bai Zhizhan said nothing more, for everything he wanted to say was encapsulated in that phrase—being a competent and qualified Navy officer.

About five minutes after the secretary left, the door was pushed open, and Xue Yuanzheng entered.

To say that Xue Yuanzheng hadn’t been eavesdropping outside or hadn’t arranged for someone to eavesdrop was impossible.

His coming in now was precisely to reconcile Bai Zhizhan with Liu Xiangzhen, to help them set aside their inner barriers and jointly face new challenges.

This time, no mistakes could be afforded.

After the arrival of Xue Yuanzheng, there was no need to delay any longer, especially since dozens of high-ranking officials and generals were waiting for them at the conference center.

On the main tactical issues, Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen coincidentally agreed.

The 21st Special Mixed Fleet would take the lead as a shield and was responsible for luring the enemy deeper, while the 41st Special Mixed Fleet would stay behind and act as circumstances dictated.

Simply put, the 21st Special Mixed Fleet was to attract the firepower, and the 41st Special Mixed Fleet would seize the opportunity to strike.

On secondary issues, however, Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen had considerable differences.

Should we pull the Fast Battleships covering the carrier out to form a separate Special Mixed Fleet, or merge them with the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet—previously the Domestic Fleet—to intercept and block Newland Navy’s battleship formation, acting as a shield at the forefront?

Li Yunxiang saw it necessary, while Liu Xiangzhen thought it unnecessary.

The key issue is air defense cover.

It wasn’t that Liu Xiangzhen feared death, but rather that their circumstances were different.

Let’s not forget that at the forefront was the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

Even if the Newland Navy received news of the 41st Special Mixed Fleet’s departure and knew it was under the command of Bai Zhizhan, they would prioritize targeting the 21st Special Mixed Fleet upon discovering the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, immediately concentrating their forces to annihilate it.

From another perspective, if the 41st Special Mixed Fleet had not joined the battle, the Newland Navy wouldn’t have targeted the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

In order to decisively crush the Imperial Navy and eliminate the more threatening 41st Special Mixed Fleet, the Newland Navy would certainly obliterate the 21st Special Mixed Fleet with a thunderous force.

Evidently, almost all the pressure fell on Liu Xiangzhen!

Even if he could face death indifferently, he wouldn’t risk tens of thousands of fleet officers and sailors along with two carriers—it was essential to include the Fast Battleships.

Liu Xiangzhen’s intention was to incorporate all four upgraded Fast Battleships into the 21st Special Mixed Fleet.

When positing the process of the engagement, Liu Xiangzhen repeatedly emphasized that a single Fast Battleship could not provide comprehensive air defense for a carrier. In the midst of intense naval combat, at least two anti-air warships—or preferably four—were necessary to form a tight air defense artillery network.

The situation for Bai Zhizhan was the exact opposite.

As long as they covertly entered the battlefield, the 41st Special Mixed Fleet’s chance of exposing their tracks before joining the battle was not high, thus able to maintain concealment.

Before launching an assault, Bai Zhizhan didn’t need to consider getting struck.

The same would apply if the attack succeeded.

If the assault failed, for the 41st Special Mixed Fleet operating deep within enemy territory and essentially isolated, having Fast Battleship cover would likely make no difference.

Precisely for this reason, Bai Zhizhan felt that bringing along a few "Wuzhou" class Heavy Cruisers would suffice.

Furthermore, according to intelligence provided by the Sixth Bureau, the combat capability of Newland Navy ship-borne air force was at most equivalent to the Saiyi Navy at the outbreak of war, and the performance of their carrier aircraft was not advanced, with their main torpedo attack aircraft even inferior to the 97 ship attack, similar to the earliest batches of "Flying Fish."

If true, then the attacking power of Newland carriers wouldn’t be too strong.

Considering that "Xiaotian" significantly surpasses "Typhoon," arguably the mightiest carrier-based fighter of today, and with the assistance of air defense radar, the pressure on the Fleet air defense operations wouldn’t be too great; it isn’t severely compromised to the extent that lacking Fast Battleships could be fatal.

Then, there was also a disagreement between Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen concerning intercepting the transport convoys.

This was a divergence in tactical choice, not strategic direction.

According to Bai Zhizhan’s idea, it was best to allow the transport fleet in first, to engage in battle in seas closer to Saiyi mainland as much as possible, staying away from Newland-controlled islands like Guan Island. Liu Xiangzhen thought this too risky; the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom was not defeated yet, and in the northern part of the Main Island and North Island, they still had long-range attack aircraft like the Type 96, so it would be better to keep the battle farther out at sea, not too close to Saiyi mainland.

In Liu Xiangzhen’s words, during a decisive battle with the Newland Fleet, one couldn’t afford to be distracted by threats from behind.

As for air forces stationed in places like Howay Islands and Aleu Islands, due to the vastness of the Northwest East Ocean, the threat was not very significant.

It is normal to have disagreements; the key was that they did not hinder each other because of this.

As for the tactical divergences, those were Navy matters to be resolved after returning.

Once the main strategy—involving the 21st Special Mixed Fleet and the 41st Special Mixed Fleet fighting separately—was decided, Xue Yuanzheng took them back to the conference center, wrapping up this full meeting before declaring it adjourned, and told attendees to hurry back and make preparations.

However, Xue Yuanzheng didn’t let Bai Zhizhan leave.

Before the meeting, Xue Yuanzheng reminded Bai Zhizhan to stay behind after the meeting ended, saying there were important matters to discuss with him.

Search the lightnovelworld.cc website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.