Empire Conquest
Chapter 419 - 415: Storm-tossed

Chapter 419: Chapter 415: Storm-tossed

After pondering for a while, Bai Zhizhan could not help but heave a sigh.

When it came to reliable allies, only the Tiaoman Empire could be counted on.

Although fundamentally, the sending of the "Prime Minister" by the Tiaoman Navy was to deal with the transport convoys heading to the Luosha Federation—put simply, to hold out one more day was counted as one extra day, and it had no direct relation to the Liangxia Empire—yet invisibly, it had tremendously helped the Imperial Navy.

For some time to come, the Bulan Royal Navy would not be able to dispatch a fleet to the Fan Flame Ocean no matter what.

Of course, that was just a matter of one or two months.

The Imperial Army landing on the Mala Peninsula and marching on Lion Spring City would only need that much time.

Putting aside the heavy cost the Bulan Royal Navy would have to pay to surround the "Prime Minister," by late January, they could only send out the Expeditionary Fleet, which would reach the Fan Flame Ocean in February. The Imperial Navy was confident it could take Lion Spring City before the Bulan Royal Navy’s Expeditionary Fleet arrived.

All in all, the Tiaoman Navy dispatching the "Prime Minister" at this time was indeed good news.

Moreover, the Tiaoman Empire’s desperate struggle aimed to wait for the Liangxia Empire to exert its strength, launch a strategic offensive from the east, and in one fell swoop defeat the Luosha Federation.

From this perspective, sending out the "Prime Minister" was killing two birds with one stone.

"I’ll immediately telegram the news to you. However, don’t carry any mental burdens, we will definitely get through the current difficulty," Bai Zhizhan forced a smile and said no more.

Zheng Jiangming did not waste words either; he understood the current situation’s direness even more clearly than Bai Zhizhan.

Operations on all three fronts could not afford the slightest error; otherwise, there was no need to wait for the enemy to knock on the door, the Empire would collapse amidst internal strife.

Xue Yuanzheng agreeing to let Bai Zhizhan go to the front lines at Toe Peninsula was in the hope that his appearance would stabilize the situation.

So could Bai Zhizhan do it?

As the transport plane carrying Bai Zhizhan took off, on the other side of the Earth, in Luntai City of the Bulan Kingdom, Rofuss’s envoy entered Chur’s office.

Not a diplomat, but a military officer.

Admiral Isenway of the Newland Army, who was currently the Commander-in-chief of the Newland Federation’s West Continent Expeditionary Army and Rofuss’s full authority representative in the Bulan Kingdom.

However, he was temporarily just a commander in name.

The Newland Federation had not yet dispatched ground troops to the Bulan Kingdom, and previously deployed aviation personnel were temporarily integrated into the combat sequence of the Bulan Royal Air Force, not under Isenway’s command, nor following his orders. Even if everything went smoothly, it would be a year later before they could talk about counter-attacking the West Continent.

The key was that the Tiaoman Empire was not yet at the end of its tether.

Although on the Eastern Front of the West Continent, the Sha Army launched a blitzkrieg that nearly crushed the Tiaoman Army, with their vanguard once advancing to within less than 30 kilometers from the Tiaoman Capital, Bai City, it was far from being a crippling blow; the Tiaoman military was still very strong.

Mainly, it was the second-line troops deployed in the east that had been previously routed.

Before this, the Tiaoman Empire focused its main forces on the Western Front, even preparing to attack the Raleigh Kingdom, leaving only infantry-centric Reserve Teams in the east.

Moreover, the fighting capability of the Sha Army was not that great.

The most tangible evidence was that three Armored Divisions of the Tiaoman Army were still active on the front lines and maintained a significant fighting capability.

It was only three divisions, yet the Luosha Federation committed as many as 120 divisions into the attack!

divisions had not managed to crush three!

Of course, this was a bit exaggerated.

However, this indirectly reflects that the Tiaoman Army was indeed very formidable, and the Sha Army wasn’t as formidable as they boasted.

Had it not been for the sudden attack, the Sha Army might not have advanced so smoothly to the outskirts of Bai City.

The key factor was that this year’s Ice Ocean cold current had moved south half a month early.

By the end of November, the temperature on the central plains of the West Continent had dropped to minus 20 degrees Celsius, with some areas even reaching minus 30 degrees Celsius.

As the severe winter arrived, the offensive operations ground to a halt.

As expected, it wouldn’t be until the end of March next year, when spring came, that they could launch a new offensive.

The next four months would be a long period of rest and reorganization!

Although all traffic lines from the Liangxia Empire to the Tiaoman Empire had been cut off, at most, they could detour through the Ter Republic to allow diplomats to travel back and forth. But the Tiaoman Empire itself was the West Continent’s number one industrial powerhouse, with rich native iron and coal resources, and a particularly strong military industry.

In addition, the Tiaoman Empire boasted the world’s largest coal chemical industry system!

After being invaded, the Tiaoman Empire immediately initiated full-scale war mobilization.

Truth be told, even after completely cutting off external aid, as long as they made rational use of the resources available, the Tiaoman Empire could hold out for at least a year. Given the current situation, if the performance of the Luosha Army did not improve significantly, by next winter, they might not be able to defeat the Tiaoman Empire.

At that point, they would have to consider opening a second front on the western side of the West Continent.

This was Isenway’s number one mission in coming to the Bulan Kingdom, to prepare for launching a landing operation at the end of next year, or at the latest, the beginning of the following year.

Facing the continent, landing on the beaches guarded by Tiaoman troops, a year of preparation time was still not quite enough.

In short, by April of next year, even if the Luosha Federation mobilized more troops, they still might not be able to capture Bai City as planned.

In fact, the situation had already exceeded the plan.

According to the original strategic plan, they were supposed to have captured Bai City by the end of this year.

Fortunately, the Tiaoman Empire definitely would not be able to launch a strategic reprisal next year.

The joining of the Luosha Federation as a member of the Alliance Group had three significant impacts.

The first two were self-evident: the military and civilians of the Bulan Kingdom were greatly inspired, with even the old, weak, women, and children believing that victory was certain.

The other was that the Raleigh Kingdom had once again become a fickle ally, not joining the Consortium Group.

The third impact was seen over in the Locke Republic.

Shortly after the Luosha Federation joined the battle, a large-scale armed uprising broke out throughout the Locke Republic, with some rebels even capturing cities!

Of course, the contributions of the Bulan Kingdom and the Newland Federation, particularly their intelligence agencies, were undeniable.

Although most of the uprisings were ephemeral and swiftly suppressed, with the rebel forces in various places suffering heavy losses—thousands of rebel fighters were slaughtered, along with sympathetic civilians—the impact generated was not to be underestimated.

The colonial government in the northern part of the Xuan Continent in the Locke Republic had already been shaken, and there were calls to form a new government and join the Alliance Group.

Last month, a Locke Army Colonel named Dale came to Luntai City for a secret meeting with Chur.

This colonel suggested that, with the support of the Bulan Kingdom, he was confident he could persuade the colonial government to establish a government-in-exile in the Xuan Continent colony.

His demands were rather excessive, and Chur had not yet agreed.

To be exact, it wasn’t so much excessive as it was that he had failed to offer Chur what he wanted, such as how to deal with the battleships that had fled to the Xuan Continent colony.

Chur hoped to "confiscate" these battleships, or more accurately, to incorporate them into the Royal Navy’s Land Heart Sea Fleet.

Dale politely refused Chur on the grounds that he did not have the authority to make such decisions.

In short, the besieged Tiaoman Empire was already teetering on the brink.

Perhaps, all that was needed was the final blow!

Of course, Isenway’s visit to Chur was to deliver that very last strike.