Empire Conquest
Chapter 337 - 333 Key Intelligence

Chapter 337: Chapter 333 Key Intelligence

Prime Minister Mansion of the Imperial Capital.

Xue Yuanzheng did not convene an emergency meeting not because he did not consider it important, but because he was too busy.

That morning, right after Rofuss issued the ultimatum, Xue Yuanzheng only then gathered the members of the War Cabinet at the Prime Minister Mansion for an emergency meeting.

As Newland Federation’s involvement in the war had been anticipated, the meeting did not conclude with any significant results.

The only certainty was that the vessels attacking the Newland merchant ships were not those of the Imperial Navy.

Before the meeting, Liu Changxun called Xue Yuanzheng to inform him that the Navy had already conducted an internal investigation, and the 42nd Special Mixed Fleet had submitted a report. When those Newland merchant ships were attacked, the nearest destroyers were about ten kilometers away. They did not fire at the merchant ships, let alone use torpedoes.

Moreover, if destroyers had launched torpedoes, they would have necessarily turned sharply to align their broadside with the target, surely leaving some evidence, such as photographs.

To this day, the Newland Federation has not presented such evidence.

Logically speaking, to sink those merchant ships, there was no need to use expensive torpedoes; inexpensive 130 mm shells would have been sufficient.

Additionally, there were no submarines from the Imperial Navy in the area where the incident occurred.

Liu Changxun even staked his official hat on these assurances.

Of course, there was no need for such rash guarantees.

At the meeting, in order to persuade the other members of the War Cabinet, Xue Yuanzheng first expressed his full trust in the Imperial Navy and suggested that the incident was a conspiracy by the Newland Authorities.

What exactly was going on, Xue Yuanzheng did not say, nor could he clarify.

In any case, the emergency meeting was merely to unify the external statements of the Imperial Authority, to avoid any slip-ups when making public announcements that might turn them into a laughing stock.

As for leaving themselves an excuse, that was not yet a concern.

Afterward, as the Imperial Chief Minister, Xue Yuanzheng responded to the ultimatum issued by the Newland President.

He denied that the attack on the Newland merchant ships was perpetrated by Imperial Navy vessels, emphasizing that the Empire was at war with the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom and that the area of the incident was within the naval blockade zone established by the Imperial Navy. The involved Newland ships were clearly heading toward the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom, carrying military and other embargoed supplies.

As for the demands made by Rofuss, Xue Yuanzheng outright ignored them. He only proposed that under reasonable conditions, that is, respecting the Empire’s rights in wartime, they could assist the Newland Federation in investigating the cause of the sinking of the merchant ships or facilitate the investigation.

After lunch, Xue Yuanzheng then had a private discussion with Liu Changxun.

The issue was still about going to war with the Newland Federation.

Since no war had begun and to avoid unnecessary misunderstandings, Xue Yuanzheng did not go to the Navy headquarters nor the Imperial Guard control center.

The two discussed matters on a strategic level.

Simply put, it was about how to conduct the war once it began.

On the naval front, since there wasn’t a possibility of advancing into the Fan Flame Ocean for now, there were two options: either move southwest to the East Ocean or march toward the Howay Islands.

However, before that, it was necessary to capture the North Ma Islands and Guan Island.

Since the North Ma Islands lacked significant military facilities and did not have many troops stationed, it was necessary to attack Guan Island after the Newland Federation entered the war.

As for attacking and occupying Nanzhu Country, that would follow naturally.

As soon as Guan Island was captured, or even just when they began the assault, sending a Sub-fleet there would support the Marine Corps in landing in Nanzhu Country.

According to Xue Yuanzheng, it would be best to leave the operation against Nanzhu Country to the Army to encourage their more active involvement in the operations in the East Ocean.

Liu Changxun did not oppose this and agreed immediately.

Nanzhu Country was no small place; it had tens of millions of people and thousands of islands, with a dozen or so larger ones. The battle would certainly be time-consuming and labor-intensive.

Since the Army was willing to contribute, why not agree?

However, once the sea routes were cut off, the Newland Federation would most likely initiate a withdrawal from Nanzhu Country.

On a military level, the Newland Federation would probably redeploy the troops stationed in Nanzhu Country to Ao Country, laying the groundwork for a staunch defense of the southwest East Ocean and Aus.

It was evident that the key was indeed Guan Island.

However, the problem also lay in Guan Island.

If they could achieve a total victory in the first battle against the Newland Navy, everything would be much easier. By then, gathering four fleet carriers and utilizing the shore-based air force from the Volcanic Islands, along with assembling a sufficient number of Marine Corps, they would definitely be able to take Guan Island, albeit at a relatively heavy cost.

But who could guarantee that there would indeed be four fleet carriers available at that time?

What if there were only two?

And what if there weren’t any at all?

Clearly, these were considerations that needed to be anticipated and planned for in advance.

Fundamentally, it was still a matter of time.

Here, the strategy of both sides was involved.

The Imperial Navy temporarily had a manpower advantage, especially within the next two to three years, the manpower advantage of the Imperial Navy was quite apparent.

The Newland Navy possessed a spatial advantage as they nearly controlled the entire East Ocean.

So, could the Imperial Navy eliminate Newland Navy’s spatial advantage and achieve a decisive victory within these two to three years?

The attack on Guan Island was both the first battle and the most crucial one.

If it went well, everything afterward would be manageable.

If it went poorly, it might mean struggling at every step.

According to the original plan, the outcome of the operation attacking Guan Island would determine the next direction of the offensive.

Generally speaking.

If they could successfully capture Guan Island, the push would continue eastward, next targeting Wei Island and Transfer Island, and finally, capturing the Howay Islands.

Conversely, if the attack on Guan Island was not smooth, they would have to consider developing first towards the Southwest of the East Ocean.

The reason for this choice was simple, to the south of Guan Island lay Micro, densely dotted with islands, thus allowing use of these islands as bases to advance step by step. East from Guan Island lay the vast Middle and North East Ocean, with only a few islands in the west of the Howay Islands, necessitating a direct assault on these islands, while the Newland Federation could simply by delaying the Imperial Navy’s advancement by staunchly defending these islands.

The key issue was, without sufficient carriers, it would be impossible to take the isolated islands defended by the Newland Army.

Just relying on battleships, without the cover of shipborne air force, they wouldn’t even be able to approach these islands.

The pros and cons of the two offensive routes, along with their strategic and tactical impacts, had already been discussed countless times.

Unfortunately, despite over a decade of discussions, no clear conclusions had been reached, only exacerbating the conflicts between the land and sea forces.

During afternoon tea, the secretary finally brought the latest news, which was from Liu Changxun, who had been waiting at the Prime Minister Mansion after lunch.

It was a piece of intelligence sent by the Sixth Bureau.

Approximately two hours ago, which was early morning for the East Coast area of the Newland Federation, the Federation Congress had convened an emergency meeting at the President’s request.

It was merely a closed-door meeting.

In addition, Rofuss had gone to the Federation Congress and delivered a speech.

According to the Sixth Bureau’s speculation, it definitely related to war authorization.

If Rofuss was well-prepared and had already secured most of the congressional members’ support, he would surely seek from Congress an early war authorization.

Simply put, should Liangxia Empire fail to compromise by the time the ultimatum expired, it would be him formally declaring war on Liangxia Empire.

At the same time, he would also announce that the Newland Federation was entering a state of war.

Once he had Congress’s authorization, there would be no need to wait for Congress to hold a vote.

Having received the intelligence, Liu Changxun did not delay further.

After making a call to the headquarter from the Prime Minister Mansion, Liu Changxun then set off to return to the Navy Commander headquarter.