Empire Conquest
Chapter 374 - 370: A Chicken Rib That Must Be Swallowed

Chapter 374: Chapter 370: A Chicken Rib That Must Be Swallowed

The next morning, Bai Zhizhan visited the Navy headquarter.

To his surprise, Liu Xiangzhen had already made a surprise return overnight.

The two went to see Liu Changxun together, who laid out the problem directly in front of them.

The next task for the Navy was to attack Nanzhu Country and sweep through the surrounding areas of the Flame Sea. The offensive would proceed on three fronts, with the attack and occupation of Toe Peninsula being handled by the Army. In the battle against Nanzhu Country, the Army could provide up to five infantry divisions and one air force squadron.

The main mission for the Navy was on the West East Ocean side.

Yes, it was the attack and occupation of Guan Island.

Although the Newland navy led the operations on the Nanzhu Country side as well, Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen needed not worry about that aspect, as Liu Changxun had already arranged for Liu Xiangdong to take charge.

Both Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen had no objections to this.

The place where they needed to exert effort was Guan Island.

"Let’s hear what you think about how this battle should be fought, and whether we have any confidence, and how much confidence we have," said Liu Changxun, standing up and walking toward the cupboard with his teacup in hand.

Looking at his haggard appearance, he must have been extremely worried these past few days.

It wasn’t surprising at all. With only one fleet carrier still capable of deployment, it would be strange if Navy Commander Liu Changxun weren’t worried.

Having lost a battle was one thing, but affecting the entire strategic battle plan was more than just a matter of taking responsibility.

"Do we have to attack Guan Island simultaneously?" Bai Zhizhan broke the silence.

"I also want to delay for a few months until we have four large carriers next year, then Guan Island would be a piece of cake. However, the current strategic situation doesn’t allow us to wait until next year to fight. We need to fight now, and we must advance into the North Ma Islands while attacking Nanzhu Country and take down Guan Island in one fell swoop."

"Is it necessary?" Liu Xiangzhen clearly hadn’t come around to the idea yet.

After walking over, Liu Changxun said, "We’ve achieved victory, but not a decisive victory. The Newland navy still has one carrier left. According to the Grand Secretary, we must prove with one battle that we are the rulers of the East Ocean, and that the Newland Federation’s involvement in the war won’t change the overall situation."

"Why not just figure out a way to take out that carrier?" Bai Zhizhan spoke for the second time.

"If it were that easy, that would be nice," sighed Liu Changxun before continuing after sitting down, "According to the message received last night, the ’Fenjin’ has already reached Treasure Harbor, but they didn’t allow the crew to disembark. After resupplying, the ship is likely to leave Treasure Harbor and head over a thousand kilometers southwest to Yotun Port, or standby to the east. Clearly, we won’t have an opportunity to sink that carrier in the short term."

"Do you mean that if we go to attack Guan Island, the ’Fenjin’ will come to join the battle?" Liu Xiangzhen also raised a second question.

"Guan Island is the Newland Federation’s most important strategic base on the West East Ocean, and it is also a transit point for reaching Nanzhu Country, even as far as Lion Spring City. Unless..."

"Unless the Newland Federation plans to give up on Nanzhu Country, otherwise, they can only defend Guan Island to the death."

Liu Changxun nodded in agreement, indicating that Bai Zhizhan was not mistaken, although he clearly misunderstood the intention behind Bai Zhizhan’s remark.

"Given the current situation, there’s a very high probability that the Newland Federation will give up on Nanzhu Country," Bai Zhizhan continued without waiting for Liu Changxun to speak, "Even if the Newland Federation isn’t willing to give up on Guan Island and still insists on defending it, it would only be to waste our time and forces, and they wouldn’t send a carrier to fight. Frankly speaking, the Newland navy probably hopes we spend months and large forces to assault Guan Island."

"Don’t forget the Tuk Fortress controlled by the East Saiyi Regime to the south," Liu Xiangzhen added.

Bai Zhizhan nodded at him, saying little else.

The Tuk Fortress was initially built and operated by the Imperial navy. During the last major war, it was captured by the Saiyi navy. It was also during that war that the Newland navy captured Guan Island. Because the nearby North Ma Islands to the north were also taken by the Saiyi navy, in order to ensure unimpeded maritime shipping routes to Nanzhu Country, the Newland navy, after the war ended, expended vast resources to turn Guan Island into a military bastion on West East Ocean.

"So that means you two are in agreement," Liu Changxun said.

He wasn’t wrong; on the matter of whether to attack Guan Island, the two of them indeed shared the same view, which was that they both believed attacking Guan Island was of little significance.

As Liu Xiangzhen mentioned, the Tuk Fortress to the south had a similar strategic value to Guan Island.

That is to say, even if they gave up Guan Island, the Newland Navy could still rely on Tuk Fortress to secure the shipping routes to Nanzhu Country.

Could it be that we have to spend several months attacking Tuk Fortress?

If we really have to fuss like this, I’m afraid that by this time next year, we will still not be able to get out of West East Ocean.

But the problem is, can we not attack Guan Island?

Or to say, can we detour around it?

The answer is clearly no.

A few months ago, the Sixth Bureau provided a very reliable piece of intelligence that the Newland Navy had transported fuel and food to Guan Island, enough for the garrison’s consumption for half a year.

Not long after, the Newland Navy also deployed over a hundred combat planes to Guan Island, and they could send more combat planes to Guan Island at any time through Transfer Island and Wei Island.

Because Newland has a large number of transport planes, they would be able to airlift troops to Guan Island after the war broke out.

In this manner, the garrison at Guan Island, especially those combat planes, are a substantial threat in themselves.

As long as they fly south, avoiding the patrol planes deployed by the Empire’s Navy in the Volcanic Islands, the Newland Navy could also use carriers to resupply fighters for Guan Island. If the planes being resupplied are ship-borne aircraft, the carriers wouldn’t even need to approach Guan Island; they could just sail to an area a thousand kilometers away from Guan Island.

Tactically, it’s very hard to prevent the supplies and reinforcements of the Newland Navy to Guan Island.

Even without considering shore-based air force, just the deployment of the "Catherine" patrol planes at Guan Island poses a severe threat to the Imperial Navy.

The existence of these patrol planes makes the Imperial Fleet much more cautious when advancing into the East Ocean, and their movements could be exposed at any time.

In summary, Guan Island is a thorn in the side of the Imperial Navy, one that must be removed swiftly.

Looking at it from another angle, Guan Island is more like a tasteless rib that must be swallowed.

The key is, how to fight!

Force an assault?

Definitely not viable; not to mention that we currently only have one carrier, even if we had two, we wouldn’t be very confident.

Furthermore, the Newland Navy still has one fleet carrier. If the Imperial Navy sends a carrier mixed fleet to attack Guan Island vigorously, the Newland Navy would have an opportunity to exploit.

Once an attritional battle forms, the Imperial Navy would inevitably be stretched thin trying to cover both fronts.

Drag it out?

Even less realistic.

Liu Changxun had said from the beginning that attacking Guan Island was Xue Yuanzheng’s idea and was related to the overall strategic picture, leaving no room for negotiation.

If it were possible to drag it out, he wouldn’t have called Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen back.

The crux still relates to the overall strategic situation; it’s like moving one hair and affecting the whole body. If Guan Island can’t be taken, the combat operations in the other directions would also be affected.

Ask the Army for help?

Obviously, for combat operations against an isolated island, the Army really couldn’t provide much assistance.

Without control of the sea, the Army would only be spectators, and with control of the sea, the Marine Corps could handle it.

Besides, the Army isn’t very adept at amphibious operations against small islands, and their level of coordination with the Fleet definitely wouldn’t be as seamless as that of the Marine Corps.

By noon, the three of them had not come to a conclusion.

After lunch, Liu Changxun took the two of them to the Prime Minister Mansion, away from the Navy headquarter, to explain the situation directly to Xue Yuanzheng.

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