Empire Conquest
Chapter 355 - 351: Plotting and Scheming

Chapter 355: Chapter 351: Plotting and Scheming

The 41.2 Subsquad was about 200 kilometers east, with the Newland Navy’s carrier "Fenjin."

When the Communication Advisor hurried over, Tanimoto glanced at his watch, and it was almost 11:45.

Based on the time, the Attack Aircraft Group that had taken off one after another after 10 o’clock should have already reached the airspace above the Liangxia 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

As expected, the Communication Advisor brought the good news that the attack had been successful.

Yes, it was good news!

Spur quickly skimmed through the message before handing the telegram over to Tanimoto.

Although not proficient in spoken language, Tanimoto was professionally trained, and his foreign language skills were not lacking. Besides, the telegram was machine printed, not as sloppy as handwriting.

The second Attack Aircraft Group, led by Major Dutte, had discovered the Liangxia 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

However, the report only mentioned sighting two long-range cruisers providing air cover for the carriers, and that they had attacked these two cruisers.

Where was the carrier?

During the Communication Advisor’s report, Spur’s face looked very unpleasant.

Tanimoto was also embarrassed, not knowing what to say.

Spur had taken his advice to stake everything on a single throw, and now not even Tanimoto dared to guarantee a definite victory against Bai Zhizhan.

Actually, like Spur, Tanimoto had staked his entire fortune and life on this battle.

A few months earlier, after arriving at Treasure Harbor by submarine, Tanimoto’s most important task was not to introduce to his Newland Navy colleagues the counterparts they would face on the battlefield, Liangxia Navy’s Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen, but to persuade, through Spur and others like Hal, the Newland Navy’s top brass and even the federal authorities’ leaders, to correct an obvious mistake.

They tried to bring down the Liangxia Navy with one battle to achieve a decisive victory.

Before Tanimoto’s arrival, there was a widely accepted viewpoint within the Newland Navy, supported by many Senior Generals including Nizi and Hal.

The reason was: the Newland Navy owned five fleet carriers and two light carriers, while the Liangxia Navy only had four operational fleet carriers and one light carrier.

Key to this was that the initiative to fight or not fight lay in the Newland Navy’s hands.

Not to mention, the Newland Navy could count on the likes of Tanimoto and others for a more comprehensive understanding of the Liangxia Navy through the Saiyi Navy.

On the other hand, the Liangxia Navy did not understand the Newland Navy very well.

Not to mention in this great war, even in the last war, the number of times Liangxia Navy and Newland Navy clashed was few and far between.

With so many advantages, what reason was there to worry about not winning?

As a result, in the months prior to Tanimoto’s arrival, the Newland Navy’s operational plans were centered around the goal of defeating the Liangxia Navy in a single battle.

At the very least, to annihilate the main force of the Liangxia Navy in the first naval battle, that is, the carrier mixed fleet.

Simply put, it meant throwing out a huge bait, compelling the entire Liangxia Navy’s carrier mixed fleet to deploy, and then annihilating them all in one fell swoop.

Actually, they were emulating the Liangxia Navy.

At the end of the last year, the Liangxia Navy had swiftly crippled the seemingly powerful Saiyi Navy in just three days in the first battle, establishing the victory in one go.

But the problem was, could tactical elements really be emulated?

Though the Newland Navy had also been preparing for the impending war, and actively striving for over a decade, fundamentally speaking, they were far from matching the Liangxia Navy.

Key to this was the absence of commanders like Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen in the Newland Navy.

Fortunately, not all Newland Navy officers believed a decisive victory could be achieved in one move.

Among those holding opposing views was Spur.

It was the disagreement on this matter that drew Hal’s attention and led to his introduction of Dutte to the up-and-coming Nizi, which in turn secured Dutte an opportunity to enter the East Ocean Fleet Headquarters and become a Senior Advisor there.

Interestingly, at that time, Spur and Hal almost came to blows over whether they could defeat the Liangxia Navy in one fell swoop.

It was this incident that made Tanimoto feel that Spur was more reliable.

Afterward, Tanimoto also expressed his views through Spur.

Any notion of defeating the Liangxia Navy in one stroke—a quick victory—would only bring disastrous defeat, and could even spell disaster for the Newland Navy.

In the last half-century, the Liangxia Navy had only been defeated once, and that was during the last great war.

Strictly speaking, it wasn’t a defeat, because at the end of the war, the Liangxia Navy remained the largest and strongest navy on the global stage.

After the war, the Alliance Group had to acknowledge that the Liangxia Empire was not a defeated nation.

Moreover, the Liangxia Empire held no illusions about the Newland Federation; they would certainly not hand over a surprise attack opportunity to the Newland Navy.

Before the outbreak of hostilities, concentrating the main force on the Southern Fleet was actually a deliberate flaw shown to bait the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom.

Had the Liangxia Empire fired the first shot, the Bulan Kingdom and the Newland Federation would have entered the war long ago.

By occupying the moral high ground, the Bulan Kingdom and the Newland Federation could find no grounds to join the fight, buying sufficient time to crush the most significant threat, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom. The loss of a dozen old battleships—even the entire Southern Fleet—would be deemed a worthwhile trade.

Perhaps, while devising their plans, the Liangxia Navy accounted for the loss of all four carriers.

If that were the case, the Liangxia Navy might just be waiting for the Newland Navy to engage in a decisive battle.

One more carrier?

At the end of last year, the Saiyi Navy deployed six fleet carriers and two light carriers, while the Liangxia Navy only utilized six fleet carriers.

The extra fleet carrier of the Newland Navy wouldn’t change the strategic balance.

Denying another person’s views is not difficult, but it isn’t so easy to propose your own or a better viewpoint.

Before Tanimoto’s arrival, Spur also believed that it was impossible to defeat the Liangxia Navy in one go, but he never convinced Hal and Nizi, simply because he didn’t have a fresh and more viable viewpoint, particularly on how to fight after the war started.

One must admit, what Spur lacked was combat experience.

Tanimoto’s arrival perfectly filled this gap.

The critical point was that Tanimoto brought with him a viable set of tactics.

To put it simply, it was all about one word: delay.

The actual advantage of the Liangxia Navy was troop strength. By making full preparations for war in advance, they obtained a tremendous troop advantage that would become even more pronounced by the next year, to the point of potentially crushing all the Western Powers, including the Newland Federation.

In contrast, Newland boasted a spatial advantage due to its geographic position.

If they could hold out for 2 to 3 years in the East Ocean, the Newland Federation would be able to use its mobilized war strength to stand on equal footing with the Liangxia Empire.

Tanimoto was also very honest.

In his words, "Only by ensuring the Newland Federation remains undefeated, can we have a chance to free the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom from the clutches of the Liangxia Empire during peace negotiations."

If the Newland Federation were defeated, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom would never rise again.

Implicitly, Tanimoto, representing Saiyi military personnel, was still waiting for the Newland Federation to help restore their country.

Using space in exchange for time was clearly not passive defense, nor was it about retreating step by step; it had to involve the planned use of available troop strength.

Indeed, the East Ocean was not enough to stop the Liangxia Navy for 2 to 3 years.

The key was to deplete the Liangxia Navy’s troop strength as much as possible.

Thus, a war of attrition must be waged against the Liangxia Navy after the start of hostilities!