Empire Conquest
Chapter 406 - 402: Formidable Opponent

Chapter 406: Chapter 402: Formidable Opponent

On the afternoon of December 10, the Special Mixed Fleet 41 finally arrived at Daban Port.

The two carriers didn’t enter the port; instead, they launched shuttles outside the harbor to transport Bai Zhizhan and others to the port, then turned back to the open sea.

According to the plan, Special Mixed Fleet 41 would return to Nagiu Port and then head with the "Heng Jiang" to the Xu Sea.

Over the next few months, Special Mixed Fleet 41’s top priority was to train shipborne aircraft pilots for the Imperial Navy together with "Heng Jiang."

After the Spring Festival, four large carriers would join the combat lineup.

Although the officers and soldiers paired with the carriers had already completed their training ahead of schedule by participating in the construction, and personnel rotation wasn’t a concern during wartime, the newly established Shipborne Air Force Wing aboard the carriers had just been formed and added hundreds of pilots, so the training workload was very heavy.

Furthermore, "Heng Jiang" was often dispatched on trivial missions or had to return to the shipyard for repairs.

The training mission that was supposed to be completed within the year had only progressed by less than two-thirds, which was why Special Mixed Fleet 41 was dispatched to assist.

Head to the Flame Sea for combat?

The time had not come.

On November 29, Liu Xiangdong commanded the First Fleet to transport the Army to Lv Island in Nanzhu Country. Thanks to the cover provided by the shore-based air force stationed on Zu Island and the deployment of hundreds of bombers by the Army Air Force, the landing operation proceeded relatively smoothly.

Of course, the 6 old Battleships of the First Fleet also played a significant role.

These 6 Battleships had been sunk in the Chengjiang Port and had only been repaired recently before being incorporated into the First Fleet.

Due to their slow speed and limited value for modernization, they were primarily used for ground support missions.

Including two "Longxing" class, the other four Battleships would undergo modernization during their repair and wouldn’t return to service until mid-next year.

However, the modernization of these old Battleships did not hold much significance.

Even the "Longxing" class, after modernization, would mainly be used for ground fire support duties later in the war.

Modifying old Battleships into Fast Battleships was less efficient than just building Fast Battleships directly.

In just over ten days, the Army had occupied Marra City.

Such rapid progress was related to the almost non-existent resistance from the Newland Army.

At that time, there were no more than 5000 Newland troops left on Lv Island, most of whom were civilian staff!

Where were the others?

Before the outbreak of the great war, the Newland military force stationed in Nanzhu Country maintained a total strength of about 50,000, and the East Ocean Army Headquarter was in Marra City.

This size of the garrison was far more than necessary for colonial rule.

Indeed, since the end of the last great war, the Newland Federation had treated Nanzhu Country as a bridgehead to contain the Empire, seeing it as a forward base on the West East Ocean.

However, this was more of a bluff.

From Rofuss downwards, the upper echelons of the Newland Federation understood that when the great war reignited, even deploying 500,000 troops would not be enough to hold Nanzhu Country.

In fact, the Newland Army had been withdrawing from Nanzhu Country for months.

Approximately 30,000 Newland troops and tens of thousands of military dependents went to Ao Country, where they established the Newland Federation’s Special Task Force Headquarter in Ao Country, which was later reorganized into the Southwest West East Ocean Joint Headquarter. The first Commander, who had been promoted last month to Admiral and took the post of East Ocean Army Commander-in-chief, was Mike.

Another 10,000 plus Newland officers and men went to Guan Island and were amalgamated into the local defense forces.

Crucially, all those sent to Guan Island were elite Marine Corps units.

In other words, the Newland Navy would definitely defend Guan Island to the death.

Additionally, about 3,000 Newland officers and men were dispatched to Tuk Fortress, including an engineering troop, and a large amount of engineering equipment was provided.

According to the Navy Headquarter’s assessment, the Newland Navy had already considered Tuk Fortress as the second line of defense.

If the Newland Navy hadn’t been able to hold Guan Island or exhaust the Liangxia Navy’s forces and time there, they would have certainly made a last stand at Tuk Fortress.

Frankly speaking, Tuk Fortress held even greater strategic value.

Not to mention anything else, first the Imperial Navy painstakingly developed it for dozens of years, followed by twenty years of development by the Saiyi Navy. They had already fortified the not-so-small atoll completely. Because of the construction of a large number of underground defensive fortifications, it could be armed with hundreds of shore batteries fatal to landing ships, so the difficulty of attacking Tuk Fortress was immense. Even with sufficient forces invested, there could still be huge losses.

There was enough intelligence to indicate that the Newland Federation intended to fortify all the islands under its control, especially those in the Southwest East Ocean.

Indeed, they were setting defenses layer by layer.

The most direct evidence was that, after joining the war, the Newland Federation had transported thousands of engineers and hundreds of heavy engineering equipment to Ao Country, helping build cement factories there and expanding steel production capacity to alleviate the burden of transport from the homeland.

Obviously, this wasn’t just about constructing defense lines in Ao Country.

Ao Country was a continent, so large that passive defense made no sense at all.

The Newland Federation was determined to hold onto the islands that were the necessary path to Ao Country!

Frankly speaking, this was a very clever strategy.

Taking one island after another, if the Imperial Navy didn’t die of attrition, they would be exhausted to death!

The key issue was that attacking the islands fiercely defended by the Newland Army would result not only in substantial casualties but also in the consumption of massive amounts of combat supplies, especially fuel.

The "Yuejiang" would burn hundreds of tons of heavy oil just by traveling back and forth to the east of Sai Island for one night!

The 41st Special Mixed Fleet would use tens of thousands of tons of heavy oil for just one sortie!

And as for combat aircraft, just over a hundred tactical aircraft stationed on Ata Island would burn through 300 tons of aviation gasoline in one day!

Moreover, transporting supplies to the front line would also burn oil.

Not to say anything else, to reduce dependency on oil, the Empire was already planning to equip cargo ships with coal-fired boilers, given that the Empire’s coal reserves were virtually inexhaustible.

Even producing explosives required oil!

Likewise, to save oil, the Imperial Authorities were considering importing coal chemical technology from the Tiaoman Empire, even obtaining fuel through coal liquefaction.

However, compared to the huge daily consumption, these measures were all drops in the bucket.

Could the Empire’s oil reserves last another year and a half at this rate of consumption?

Perhaps they couldn’t even sustain for a year!

The purpose of the Newland Navy was to deplete the Empire’s strategic reserves, forcing the Imperial Navy to slow its advance.

Eventually, they would have to stop.

As long as a strategic stalemate was formed, no matter how many carriers the Imperial Navy had, they would be useless.

Drag it out for 2 to 3 years, and when the Newland Federation’s mobilization was complete, and the battleships that started construction after mobilization began to enter service, the opportunity to turn defeat into victory would come.

From this perspective, the Newland Army’s decision to willingly give up Nanzhu Country could also be understood.

Nanzhu Country was too close to the Empire’s homeland and mainly consisted of a few large islands, focusing on ground warfare, which would hardly serve to wear down the Imperial Navy.

In addition, the Newland Federation had only just entered the war, mobilization was not yet complete, and their troop strength was extremely precious.

Over 40,000 Newland soldiers would be quickly overwhelmed by 100,000 or even 200,000 Imperial Army soldiers in the vast battlefield of Nanzhu Country.

But on a smaller battlefield like Guan Island and Tuk Fortress, it was completely different.

At least at the strategic level, the decision-makers of the Newland Federation didn’t make any basic mistakes; they were well aware of what to hold onto and what to give up.

This was also what Xue Yuanzheng was wary of about Rofuss.

An opponent who knew when to advance or retreat, who knew what choices to make, was truly formidable.

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