Empire Conquest
Chapter 381 - 377 Small Request

Chapter 381: Chapter 377 Small Request

"You’ve changed quite a bit."

"People have to adapt to their environment to survive."

Xue Yuanzheng carried two cups of coffee over, seeming not to intend to let Bai Zhizhan go back to sleep.

"I’m relieved to hear you think that way."

"It’s just human nature, and besides, General Liu..."

"What I’m referring to are matters of combat."

Bai Zhizhan paused, then realized that Xue Yuanzheng didn’t care about Liu Xiangzhen’s feelings at all—perhaps he didn’t care about any of them.

After all, no matter how capable Liu Xiangzhen was, her tendency to put herself before the public good could never reassure Xue Yuanzheng.

"Before you returned, I had a talk with Old Yang from the Sixth Bureau. His opinion was similar to mine."

"Is it beyond redemption?"

Xue Yuanzheng heaved a long sigh before speaking, "We have always been trying to get the leaders of the Luosha Federation to see the big picture. On the day of your wedding, I even sent a special envoy to the capital of the Luosha Federation, emphasizing the importance we place on the Three Giants Contract Group. I deliberately leaked your whereabouts, that is, that you had left the Imperial Capital and returned to the 41st Special Mixed Fleet in advance."

"This..."

"The Newland President received the news on the evening of that day, knowing that you had not stayed in the Imperial Capital to attend the wedding."

Bai Zhizhan nodded, saying nothing more.

This also happened to confirm why the Newland Navy didn’t fire the first shot on the 11th, waiting until the 12th to engage.

Without locating the 41st Special Mixed Fleet, the Newland President was not confident of victory.

The engagement on the 12th was driven by a situation that had become inevitable.

From this perspective, Xue Yuanzheng’s move was indeed clever, having anticipated that Rofuss would fear Bai Zhizhan, or rather, was wary of causing harm to both sides. He deliberately leaked the information to force Rofuss to issue the final ultimatum, thus locking the Newland Federation’s involvement in war to the morning of the 12th.

Having pinned down the approximate time of the battle was already enough.

In terms of strategy, there truly was no one who could match Xue Yuanzheng.

What’s more important is that this maneuver achieved two aims at once, proving that the leaders of the Luosha Federation were indeed fickle and had been in clandestine talks with the Newland Federation.

With this development, what more was there to say?

The Luosha Federation didn’t betray immediately—they were just waiting for the most opportune moment.

But even with the wait, it would be just a matter of a few days.

Was Xue Yuanzheng prepared?

Could it be that Xue Yuanzheng had foreseen the Raleigh Kingdom proposing to join the Consortium Group at this time?

No, that’s not right!

Even if Xue Yuanzheng could predict events like a prophet and knew that the Tiaoman Empire could persuade the Raleigh Kingdom, he couldn’t have known that the Raleigh Kingdom would propose to join the alliance at this time.

In fact, it was up to the Tiaoman Empire to decide when the Raleigh Kingdom would join.

In other words, this was Xue Yuanzheng’s arrangement!

Thinking this, Bai Zhizhan looked over at Xue Yuanzheng.

"By the look on your face, you’ve guessed it."

"Cabinet Chief..."

"When we received the news, the Tiaoman Empire had already leaked the information that the Raleigh Kingdom was going to join the Consortium Group, as planned," Xue Yuanzheng let out a breath before continuing, "The Luosha Federation is definitely unreliable; what we are doing now is just giving them a little nudge."

"Can the Tiaoman Empire hold its ground?"

"That’s what I’m most worried about."

Bai Zhizhan furrowed his brow and then couldn’t help but let out a wry smile because he had raised a question to which he had no answer.

After all, he didn’t even have the privilege to voice an opinion.

Fortunately, Xue Yuanzheng could make his own decisions regarding ground combat.

"Lian Xusheng has already agreed to go to the Tiaoman Empire, and Situ Jingde will take Li Qing to the Northwest."

Bai Zhizhan was stunned for a moment before nodding slightly.

"There’s no point in worrying about this. Whether we can hold them off or not, in the end, the only one who can defeat the Luosha Federation is us."

"Of course, it would be best if we can hold them."

"So it’s still up to the Navy."

Bai Zhizhan didn’t say much, just nodded to show he understood the implication.

The more aggressive the Navy’s offense in the East Ocean battlefield, the greater the pressure on the Newland Federation, and the higher the likelihood that the Luosha Federation would launch an attack on the Liangxia Empire after their defection.

If the Newland Federation is defeated, the Alliance Group will inevitably fall.

Conversely, even if the Tiaoman Empire is defeated, it’s not certain they could defeat the Liangxia Empire—in the end, they would still have to face off in a fight to the death against the Liangxia Navy in the West East Ocean.

The Alliance Group definitely wouldn’t risk the defeat of the Newland Federation by launching a fierce attack on the Tiaoman Empire.

Clearly, the fear now isn’t that the Luosha Federation will attack, but that they won’t attack!

As long as the Luosha Federation keeps its focus on the Liangxia Empire, just the few thousand kilometers of strategic depth in the Northwest would be enough to exhaust millions of the Luosha Federation’s troops.

Whichever side initiates the attack, facing thousands of kilometers of vast continental hinterland will be incredibly difficult.

It can be said that without several generations, without decades of time, even with ten million troops, one shouldn’t expect to reach the other side of the World Island in one breath.

Modern mechanized warfare is far from comparable to a thousand years ago when a few warhorses could sweep the world!

"What do you need me to do?" Bai Zhizhan was straightforward; with things at this point and being the only one left, there was no need to beat around the bush.

"Win this battle."

Bai Zhizhan was taken aback and then pursed his lips, because the request was too vague.

"How to fight, I don’t care. What I can give you is another carrier. If you really need it, you can also take the ’Heng River’, and I will take full responsibility. The only requirement is that you must launch the attack within this year, and absolutely cannot delay until next year."

"By the New Calendar?"

Bai Zhizhan finally understood why Liu Changxun repeatedly emphasized launching an offensive attack on Guan Island within the year—it was indeed Xue Yuanzheng’s intention.

"Yes, based on the New Calendar."

Bai Zhizhan rubbed his forehead hard before saying, "There are just over two months left, time is extremely tight, I need enough authority."

"That’s no problem at all. If you want, I can even help you ask the Holy Emperor for the Imperial Sword."

"Are you joking?" Bai Zhizhan widened his eyes, disbelievingly looking at Xue Yuanzheng.

"Of course, I’m joking. If you want the Imperial Sword, go ask the Emperor yourself. I won’t help you with that, and now that you’re the Prince Consort, you are the brother-in-law of the Holy Emperor. You’re practically family, so it would definitely be more convenient for you to ask for things than for me, an outsider."

Bai Zhizhan rolled his eyes, speechless at Xue Yuanzheng.

After marrying Zhang Xiaoqing, Bai Zhizhan had not even met the Holy Emperor, let alone ask him for anything.

And what was the Imperial Sword?

That thing was just a fabrication, not existing in reality at all.

After the Constitutional Amendment, the Liangxia Emperor was just a symbol, the real power lay with the Cabinet Chief. The Emperor’s edicts weren’t even as effective as the Chief’s approvals.

However, the fact that Xue Yuanzheng was in the mood to joke implied his mood wasn’t too bad.

"Regardless, whatever you need, as long as I can give it, I will. Just like I said at the beginning, I don’t have any extra demands. Just win this battle."

"Lord Xue, that’s not an easy request to fulfill."

"If the Little Eldest Princess can be satisfied, how could it not satisfy this old man?"

"Fine, I’ll go back and find a way."

Bai Zhizhan didn’t dare to dawdle, sensing that dragging on the conversation would lead Xue Yuanzheng, with his bad intentions, to drag him into a trap, so it was wise to make a timely exit.

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