Empire Conquest
Chapter 417 - 413: Three Men Make a Tiger

Chapter 417: Chapter 413: Three Men Make a Tiger

After much discussion, Bai Zhizhan, Lian Xusheng, and Li Yunxiang were merely venting their frustrations.

At its core, the crux was still whether they could achieve military victory.

As Zhao Yu said, Xue Yuanzheng’s prestige was established, bolstered by Army and Navy support, making his position unshakeable in the short term. Realistically, the earliest potential crisis might not occur until the latter half of the next year., so all their problems could be solved by winning just a few decisive battles!

In essence, the goal was to reverse the unfavorable situation within six months, at minimum by resolving the most critical issue.

That was to seize an oil production site.

Whether by taking Baku or occupying Boss Bay, securing a stable oil supply would make all current problems vanish.

So, which was easier, taking Baku or occupying Boss Bay?

Since no outsiders were present., Bai Zhizhan and Lian Xusheng had a frank and in-depth discussion.

The final conclusion was that taking Baku was several times more difficult than occupying Boss Bay.

Of course, occupying Boss Bay wouldn’t be easy either.

Not to mention the need to keep two Special Mixed Fleets in the East Ocean., even if Bai Zhizhan took four large carriers to the Fan Flame Ocean, success wouldn’t be guaranteed.

Fundamentally, the key issue lay with the Army.

Marching into the Fan Flame Ocean was not just a task for the Navy but also for the Army, as they needed to seize and control fortresses along the way and establish forward bases.

On the northern coast of the Fan Flame Ocean, strategically valuable locations were densely populated by native residents!

This meant that the task of occupation after an attack was exceedingly burdensome., definitely beyond the capabilities of the Navy and the Marine Corps, thus requiring full support from the Army.

In fact, history had taught the Empire’s Navy a harsh lesson.

Chen Bingxun’s campaign in the Fan Flame Ocean, primarily to capture ports to avoid advancing inland, was designed to prevent creating opportunities for the Army to engage.

These ports or island fortresses, scattered like pearls across the Fan Flame Ocean, were known as the "Pearl Chain."

Furthermore, Chen Bingxun’s death during the assault on Jibu Fortress was related to this.

Previously, the Army had proposed landing south of Jibu Fortress to advance jointly by land and sea, reducing the pressure of the frontal attack and lowering the difficulty of combat.

Chen Bingxun had refused because he didn’t want to rely on or owe favors to the Army.

However,, after Chen Bingxun’s death, the Army landed south of Jibu Fortress and then surrounded it from the landward side., cutting off the ground supply routes and forcing the fortress’s surrender, ending over a decade of fierce fighting. Consequently, the Empire became the dominant power in the Fan Flame Ocean.

Naturally, the main task of the Army was occupation.

Just considering the 300 million native residents of the Fanluo area was beyond the Navy’s control capacity.

Not just Bai Zhizhan., probably no Navy general could fathom the difficulty of governing 300 million people, nor would any Navy general wish to undertake such an onerous and thankless task.

For a Navy adopting a "peripheral strategy," occupying densely populated areas was definitely undesirable because occupation meant added burdens.

Yet, Bai Zhizhan was not as proud as Chen Bingxun.

In discussions with Lian Xusheng, Bai Zhizhan acknowledged that if unavoidable, the Army would still need to seize and occupy strategic points along the way.

That is to say., the Navy needed the support of the Army.

This was the conclusion reached from their discussions.

Lian Xusheng readily agreed and decided to submit a report first thing the next morning., applying to take charge of the military operations for advancing into the Fan Flame Ocean from the Toe Peninsula.

As for the Northwest, it had been handed over to Li Qing.

If that didn’t work out, there was still Situ Jingde.

Bai Zhizhan had also made a promise that once the "Imperial Capital" was repaired, he would immediately take the fleet over to provide support for the assault on Lion Spring City.

As expected, that would be next month.

If necessary and conditions permitted, they would consider entering the Fan Flame Ocean ahead of schedule.

According to previous analyses, if the fleet could enter the Fan Flame Ocean in advance and cut off the shipping routes to Lion Spring City, the operation to attack the city would be much more effective.

If they could capture Lion Spring City in one fell swoop, there was hope of advancing into the Fan Flame Ocean before the Spring Festival.

As to exactly how to attack, neither Bai Zhizhan nor Lian Xusheng had said anything, as neither had been to the front lines and were not well acquainted with the situation on the battlefield.

Ultimately, Li Yunxiang also expressed his stance.

If needed, he would personally go to Toe Peninsula and enhance the deployment there, providing support for the Army through extensive bombing.

The key was actually monitoring the Bulan Fleet in the Fan Flame Ocean.

Since they couldn’t guarantee entry into the Fan Flame Ocean before attacking Lion Spring City, it was difficult to effectively use the ports on the west coast of the Mala Peninsula, preventing the deployment of patrol aircraft; they could only use large aircraft stationed at airports, especially bombers capable of thousands of kilometers of flight, to carry out reconnaissance and search missions.

Nanzhu Country had already done the same.

After capturing Lv Island, since the collapse of the Newland Army was faster than expected, many bombers originally tasked with bombings were switched to reconnaissance and search missions, officially conducting searches with bombs and immediately bombing upon sighting targets.

This tactic had achieved quite impressive results.

Later, many twin-engine long-range fighters and medium bombers were modified into attack aircraft carrying bombs, specifically for "search and kill" missions.

Before Bai Zhizhan returned to the Imperial Capital, the bombers dispatched by Li Yunxiang discovered and sank hundreds of small civilian vessels in the southern waters of Lv Island.

According to Li Yunxiang, these ships were all transporting materials to Lv Island or evacuating people stranded there.

In any case, long-range bombers, especially four-engine heavy bombers, were quite effective in the skies above the ocean and not without value.

If there was indeed a strong assault on Lion Spring City, the bombers would definitely play a pivotal role.

From the battles around Sai Island, it was apparent that in attacks on island fortresses, extensive area bombing could have a significant suppressing effect. A high-intensity bombing could substantially weaken the defenders’ morale, and at times even cause the military personnel to lose their courage to resist.

On the battlefield of Sai Island, the strafing runs carried out by several fighters that repelled the defenders’ reprisals were too numerous to count.

For instance, in the battle to capture Congress Hill, an infantry platoon of the Marine Corps broke through a defense line guarded by thousands of enemies with aerial support and stormed up to the top of the hill. After repelling several enemy counterattacks, the Marines with air support even successfully forced the remaining enemies to surrender.

Lion Spring City was not only a fortress but also a city on an island with nearly a million residents, and bombing cities was precisely Li Yunxiang’s forte.

Interestingly, more than half of Lion Spring City’s residents were descendants of Saiyi!

After occupying Lion Spring City, the Imperial Navy recruited a large number of hard-working Saiyi laborers to repair the damaged infrastructure. Many of these Saiyi laborers stayed in Lion Spring City and became permanent residents after receiving special permission from the Empire.

When the three had finished their discussion, it was already early morning.

Both Lian Xusheng and Li Yunxiang were spirited, and after leaving, they went together to the Army Headquarters.

Zhao Yu did not immediately return to Puzhou; he still had to deal with several matters related to shipbuilding at the Navy Headquarters, but those were not urgent at the moment.

Bai Zhizhan didn’t delay, and before breakfast, he had already called Liu Changxun, proposing to go to the frontline of Toe Peninsula.

After finishing breakfast, Zheng Jiangming drove to the hotel and offered to take him to the airport.

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