Empire Conquest
Chapter 426 - 422 Urgent Time

Chapter 426: Chapter 422 Urgent Time

Lian Xusheng didn’t linger after meeting Bai Zhizhan; he immediately boarded a plane to Songkhla.

The Army’s front-line headquarter was set up in Songkhla, not because it was near the battlefield but because previously, some army officers had caused trouble in the capital of the Damman Kingdom, resulting in a very bad impact. In a burst of anger, Xue Yuanzheng not only punished several of the officers involved but also prohibited combat troops of the Army from resting and reorganizing in the capital of the Damman Kingdom.

There was still half a month left, and even though the main forces had already been deployed, for Lian Xusheng who had just taken up his post, this amount of time was not considered ample.

The main reason was that this was Lian Xusheng’s first visit to Toe Peninsula.

Otherwise, Li Yunxiang wouldn’t have accompanied him.

Geographically, the Toe Peninsula also belonged to the Southwest region, governed by the Tiaoman Empire’s Southwest War Zone, where Li Yunxiang had initially served.

During the last major conflict, he was the top ace pilot in the Southwest War Zone and had made his name from that.

After sending Lian Xusheng off, on the way to his residence, Li Yunxiang disclosed something very important.

The Sixth Bureau had already obtained extremely reliable intelligence that the Bulan Royal Navy would take action in Land Heart Sea and confront both the Raleigh Fleet and the Locke Fleet simultaneously.

Several months earlier, the Sixth Bureau had provided similar intelligence.

Not long after the Locke Republic’s defeat, the Bulan Royal Navy’s Land Heart Sea Fleet divided into two, with nearly half of the main battle ships heading for Alexandria.

Wang Kaiyuan deduced from this unusual move that, to preserve its dominant position in Land Heart Sea, the Bulan Royal Navy would not rule out the possibility of taking decisive action.

The key point was, the Bulan Kingdom could not afford the cost of Land Heart Sea’s trade routes being severed.

The so-called "decisive action" meant launching proactive attacks on the Locke Fleet and the Raleigh Fleet, and if necessary, even opting for an undeclared war.

In Land Heart Sea, the only threats to the Bulan Royal Navy were these two fleets.

Regrettably, Wang Kaiyuan’s warning did not receive the attention it deserved from the higher-ups.

The reason was simple: at that time, the Raleigh Kingdom did not show any intention of joining the Consortium Group and was more inclined to maintain a friendly relationship with the Alliance Group.

Before the defeat of the Locke Republic, the Raleigh Kingdom had been in contact with the Newland Federation and the Bulan Kingdom.

Even after the loss of the Locke Republic, the Raleigh Kingdom inclined towards neutrality.

Had the Tiaoman Empire not temporarily abandoned its plan to attack the Bulan Kingdom and shifted its focus southward, the Raleigh Kingdom might not have chosen a side.

"Before we set out, Wang Kaiyuan specifically called me to tell you that the commander of the Domestic Fleet will definitely be Vice Admiral Saville."

"Not Cunningham?"

Li Yunxiang nodded and said, "There’s currently no definite intelligence, but a few days ago, Cunningham had just flown from Luntai to Alexandria. According to Wang Kaiyuan’s analysis, if everything had already been arranged, he would have no reason to waste time flying back to Alexandria."

Bai Zhizhan remained silent, clearly understanding this logic.

"He also said, as soon as there’s concrete news, he’ll immediately send a telegram to inform us."

"That being the case, I’m afraid it really is so."

Li Yunxiang sighed with a wry smile. Since even Bai Zhizhan spoke this way, he had no need to say more.

Although the Bulan Royal Navy had never been considered as the primary enemy, before the conflict, the Imperial Navy still spent considerable efforts to gather personal information on main officers of the Bulan Royal Navy, analyzing potential adversaries and compiling the data into materials to distribute to commanders at all levels.

Among the many officers of the Bulan Royal Navy, Cunningham was the most noteworthy.

Before Spur made a name for himself, Bai Zhizhan had once thought Cunningham was the only opponent who could match, and even surpass, Takano.

The critical point was that Cunningham was the aviation pioneer of the Bulan Royal Navy.

Not long after the last war ended, Cunningham was the first to propose centering around carriers to establish an Air Fleet primarily operating ship-borne aircraft.

Unfortunately, at the time, this was an absolutely heretical doctrine.

As a result, he was banished to the faraway Land Heart Sea Fleet, where he remained for over a decade.

However, this also turned out to be his making.

Afterward, in the Raleigh Kingdom’s expansion war on the eastern highlands of the Xuan Continent and the civil war in the Sban Kingdom, the Air Force always performed exceptionally well. Especially in the Sban Kingdom’s civil war, the Air Force was the undisputed main force, playing a role no other branch could replace.

It could be said that it was this civil war that gave birth to the modern Air Force.

The Bulan Royal Navy thus recognized the value of aircraft carriers, and the Land Heart Sea was more suitable for carrier operations compared to the turbulent North Sunset Ocean.

Indeed, Cunningham was the commander in the Bulan Royal Navy who understood aerial combat the best.

Bai Zhizhan had always regarded Cunningham as his number one enemy.

For this reason, he specifically told Wang Kaiyuan that as long as they kept an eye on Cunningham, they could grasp every move of the Bulan Royal Navy.

Cunningham’s remaining with the Land Heart Sea Fleet, without returning to the homeland, was enough to prove that the Bulan Royal Navy had decided to take action in the Land Heart Sea.

Moreover, judging from the timing of the two sub-fleets’ deployment, it must be related to the "Prime Minister’s" sortie.

Although Li Yunxiang did not bring precise news, according to Bai Zhizhan’s deduction, the Bulan Royal Navy planned to use the "Prime Minister’s" sortie—that is, when the whole world’s attention was on the North Sea—to launch a surprise attack in the Land Heart Sea, aiming to annihilate the Locke Fleet and Raleigh Fleet in one swoop.

Thus, Cunningham might be able to send his fleet to reinforce the Fan Flame Ocean by January.

Looking at the overall strategic situation, unless the Bulan Kingdom planned to split from the Newland Federation, it had to reinforce the Fan Flame Ocean as soon as possible.

Whether it was losing control of the sea in the Fan Flame Ocean or allowing the Empire’s Navy to continue exerting pressure in the East Ocean, it would severely displease the Newland Federation.

Chur’s ambition was big, but he dared not offend Rofuss.

To put it bluntly, as long as the Newland Federation stopped providing sporadic support to the Bulan Kingdom, the Kingdom would surrender within six months!

By then, even if the fleet were preserved intact, what use would it be?

Twenty years ago, the fleet that the Tiaoman Empire desperately preserved ultimately sank to the bottom of Spaka Bay with the "Rainbow" signal—didn’t it?

The Bulan Royal Navy didn’t have much time left.

This was also why Xue Yuanzheng approved the third set of combat plans, and Liu Changxun generously dispatched the 41st Special Mixed Fleet.

By calculations, they had only one month and a half.

If the Empire’s Navy could not capture Lion Spring City by mid-February, they would likely be intercepted and forced to adjust their combat plans.

This determined that they could only forcefully attack Lion Spring City.

One and a half months—is that enough?

That was precisely what Bai Zhizhan worried about.

Before, Bai Zhizhan had hoped that by implementing a blockade, the difficulty of attacking Lion Spring City could be reduced, and perhaps in the end, they could force the enemy to submit without a fight.

Now, it seemed unlikely.

The reason was simple: once the Bulan Royal Navy took action in the Land Heart Sea and Cunningham led his fleet to aid the Fan Flame Ocean, the Bulan troops defending Lion Spring City would undoubtedly be inspired, and they might even fight to the death. In this scenario, a forceful attack on Lion Spring City would certainly come at a great cost.

Even the worst troops stationed in the colonies could hold out for months.

Besides, no one could guarantee that Lion Spring City could be taken within a month and a half.

If the combat operation only started in mid-January, the time left to attack Lion Spring City would be one month, not one and a half.

Even if Lian Xusheng led the most elite troops there, there was no absolute certainty of success.

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