Empire Conquest
Chapter 413 - 409: The Matter of Top Priority

Chapter 413: Chapter 409: The Matter of Top Priority

"Liu Changxun came back and told me. I’ve been seriously considering these past few days, and your proposal is indeed a viable strategy,"

What did this mean? Bai Zhizhan’s brows furrowed tightly as he stared at the Grand Secretary with a puzzled expression on his face.

Xue Yuanzheng’s two sentences didn’t affirm Bai Zhizhan’s proposal; on the contrary, they implied skepticism.

"The key actually lies in the Army," Xue Yuanzheng added.

"I heard that the Army’s offensive operations on the Toe Peninsula are going smoothly, so launching an early attack on Lion Spring City shouldn’t be too much of a problem, should it?"

"It’s easy to attack Lion Spring City, but whether it can be taken is not something anyone can guarantee."

Hearing Xue Yuanzheng say this, Bai Zhizhan’s expression turned even more somber.

This was clearly passing the buck!

After taking a deep breath, Xue Yuanzheng continued, "These past few days, the Sixth Bureau has been sending over an analysis report every day, and they are all related to the Bulan Royal Navy. According to yesterday’s report, the Sixth Bureau believes that the Bulan Royal Navy will send a fleet to the Fan Flame Ocean by the end of the year, and there will definitely be a carrier."

"How many?"

"Maybe two, or it could be three."

Bai Zhizhan rubbed his forehead and didn’t respond.

"I’ve also discussed with the Army generals. Unless we can cut off the sea lanes to Lion Spring City, even with enough troops, we may not be able to capture this fortress-level island city within the planned time. To really put it bluntly, the problem comes back to the Navy."

Bai Zhizhan still did not respond, but nodded to show he understood Xue Yuanzheng’s point.

Lion Spring City was actually an island, located in the Throat Strait, more precisely at the narrowest part of the strait, a seaboard fortress that choked the Throat Strait.

Although the Mala Peninsula was to the north, separated by a strait no wider than a river, Lion Spring City itself was a formidable fortress. As long as the defenders could receive aid by sea, the attackers, even if they had maritime supremacy, might not be able to take Lion Spring City easily.

To put it plainly, blockade was more effective than assault.

Back in the day, it was through a blockade that Chen Bingxun had captured Lion Spring City.

Before attacking Lion Spring City, the fleet he commanded had taken a wide detour, avoiding the Throat Strait, and moved southward from the east side, then entered the Fan Flame Ocean, cutting off the shipping lanes from Fanluo to Lion Spring City, effectively cutting off any possibility of reinforcements and thereby forcing the Bulan Kingdom to withdraw their forces from Lion Spring City.

To achieve the element of surprise, Chen Bingxun had almost gambled with his life.

During the half year of fierce fighting, after entering the Fan Flame Ocean, his fleet hadn’t entered any ports; even living supplies were obtained by plundering merchant ships.

When the Bulan Army garrisoned in Lion Spring City surrendered, half of the battleships under Chen Bingxun’s command were about to run out of coal.

Had the Bulan Army held out for just another half month, it might have been the Imperial Navy that would have surrendered!

It must be said, Chen Bingxun’s fame was made in this very battle.

Times had changed, and such life-or-death tactics were simply unworkable now.

Moreover, in the era of Chen Bingxun, radio had not yet been popularized, and merchant ships traveled slowly, hence the possibility of replenishing by capturing them.

Now, radio had long been widely used, and plundering merchant ships would definitely give away their location.

Furthermore, the Throat Strait to the east and several other straits were under the control of the Bulan Royal Navy or under their surveillance.

To put it bluntly, there was no way for the Imperial Fleet to sneak into the Fan Flame Ocean unnoticed.

As long as their movements were exposed, or the Bulan Royal Navy guessed their intentions, all that was needed was to block the main straits, recall all civilian ships at sea, and in at most three months, the entire Imperial Fleet’s crew could be killed by thirst or starvation.

In fact, in about a month and a half, most of the battleships would have burnt through their fuel.

Before proposing to Liu Changxun, Bai Zhizhan had already considered commanding the fleet to break into the Fan Flame Ocean before seizing Lion Spring City.

After much consideration, he had to give up this somewhat foolish idea.

Lion Spring City was an obstacle they could not circumvent.

After a long silence, Bai Zhizhan finally said, "If I were to lead two carriers over there first to support the Army in a strong assault on Lion Spring City, how much confidence does the Army have?"

"Not much, after all, it’s only two carriers."

Bai Zhizhan let out a bitter smile, but he knew that Xue Yuanzheng wouldn’t joke about such a serious matter.

"The real issue lies here, if we’re to speak frankly."

Bai Zhizhan nodded, but he didn’t follow up.

"The strategic situation of the war has been made clear by now, and there aren’t any secrets to speak of. On the levels of campaigns and tactics, it mainly comes down to mentality. To put it plainly, as long as we launch a forceful attack on Lion Spring City, those guys from Bulan Kingdom will believe that if they just hold Lion Spring City at all costs, they can defeat us. In plain terms, they could even use this to boost morale and inspire the troops there to fight to the death."

"Morale and fighting spirit aren’t the only factors that decide the outcome of a battle."

"You’re right, there’s also the historical aspect that none of us can ignore. Up until now, the Royal Navy of Bulan Kingdom has been brooding over their initial surrender of Lion Spring City."

Bai Zhizhan was stunned for a moment, but then he sighed.

After the last war ended, Bulan Kingdom conducted a review and concluded that if they had withstood Chen Bingxun’s Imperial Fleet at Lion Spring City in the first place, there would have been no Global War afterwards because without dominating the Fan Flame Ocean, Liangxia Empire could not have become the world’s hegemon.

This was no exaggeration.

Whether it was the "sun never sets" period of Bulan Kingdom or the rapidly rising Liangxia Empire, both relied on the colonies around the Fan Flame Ocean, more precisely on the resources and markets of the colonies. Among them, the Fanluo region, with its hundreds of millions of people and abundant resources, was the main focus.

Without the Fanluo market, the industrialization of the Liangxia Empire would not have been possible in just a few decades.

Without achieving industrialization, how could one aim for global domination?

Without the rise of the Liangxia Empire, which country could possibly challenge Bulan Kingdom?

Based on this reasoning, after the last war, the Royal Navy of Bulan Kingdom placed special emphasis on Lion Spring City.

After 20 years of painstaking efforts, the Royal Navy of Bulan Kingdom once again made Lion Spring City the most formidable fortress in the East.

According to the propaganda of the Royal Navy of Bulan Kingdom, Lion Spring City was the Nara Fortress of the East, the Jibu Fortress on the eastern side of the Fan Flame Ocean.

It was said that the Royal Navy of Bulan Kingdom relied on two fortresses, one in the east and one in the west—Lion Spring City and Jibu—to control the entire Fan Flame Ocean.

Strategically, Lion Spring City was even more important than Jibu Fortress.

By holding Lion Spring City, Bulan Kingdom could continuously obtain the resources from the Fanluo region and Boss Bay colonies necessary to sustain the war.

"However, this matter cannot be rushed; the ground troops are still north of Damman Bay. Attacking Lion Spring City—no matter how you look at it—won’t happen until next month."

"Have they already swept through the South Toe region?"

Xue Yuanzheng nodded and said, "Just a few days ago, the Army started preparing to attack Mala Peninsula, with the plan to begin before the Spring Festival."

"In that case, I’ll go to the front line and take a look; perhaps I can find a way."

"Is that necessary?"

"Staying in the Imperial Capital, there’s nothing else I can do, right?"

"Alright, I will have Liu Changxun arrange for it, but you also need to be careful yourself. If you’re not in a hurry, stay a few days before departing."

"There’s no need for that, I’ll set out early tomorrow morning."

Since Bai Zhizhan had put it that way, Xue Yuanzheng didn’t persist in convincing him otherwise.

Attacking Lion Spring City was an urgent priority, and Xue Yuanzheng didn’t want to delay the real work at hand.

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