Empire Conquest
Chapter 435 - 431: Resolving the Knot

Chapter 435: Chapter 431: Resolving the Knot

Bai Zhizhan stayed on the flight deck and didn’t go anywhere else.

Since it was not yet noon, the anti-aircraft fighters that took off in the morning would not return until the afternoon, so there was no immediate need to launch the ship-borne aircraft.

There were not many soldiers on the flight deck, most of them were doing their own things.

It was a rare moment of leisure.

Once the battle started, even just entering a combat state, everyone, including the Fleet Commander, would be barred from the flight deck.

Bai Zhizhan stood at the forefront of the flight deck, looking out at the vast ocean ahead.

"I’ve been on a carrier for over a decade, yet this is my first time here."

Upon hearing these words, Bai Zhizhan did not turn around. In fact, on this carrier, only Li Mingbo would dare to speak to him in such a manner.

Of course, Li Mingbo’s visit wasn’t simply to say hello.

"It really is quite nice."

After approaching, Li Mingbo sighed, and only then did Bai Zhizhan turn his head to look at him.

"I was talking about the scenery."

Li Mingbo forced a smile, as long as he could catch Bai Zhizhan’s attention, that was enough.

"Do you know what I’m worried about?"

"Is there a need to ask? It’s all written on your face!"

Bai Zhizhan paused and couldn’t help but take a closer look at Li Mingbo.

Regarding Li Mingbo, Bai Zhizhan could say he knew him thoroughly. After all, they had known each other for over 20 years and had trained and fought together for more than a decade.

In Bai Zhizhan’s eyes, Li Mingbo was a rough man, or rather, a very open-hearted person.

Clearly, that was in the past!

Li Mingbo’s greatest strength was actually his ability to know when to advance or retreat and to be clear about his own position.

Additionally, he had no ambitions beyond his capabilities.

Now, it seemed that Li Mingbo had changed quite a bit, or rather, after becoming the Fleet Chief of Staff and rising in status, he had redefined his position.

To put it bluntly, an excellent Chief of Staff needs more than just the ability to smooth things over.

In critical moments, he must be able to solve problems for the Fleet Commander.

To speak frankly, although Zhou Yongtao often seemed distracted and had impulsive youthful vigor, when it came to devising strategies, he truly far surpassed Li Mingbo.

Of course, Li Mingbo was aware of his own limitations.

Command ability is more like an innate talent, especially the ability to judge battlefield situations, commonly referred to as a "battlefield sense," which cannot be obtained merely through study and training.

A man in his forties—what kind of talent he has—is it still a secret?

Even if one could learn through imitation, for a middle-aged man, it was already too late.

Of course, Li Mingbo had his own advantages.

If anything, it was his experience.

Perhaps, this was the greatest change in Li Mingbo.

"You’re worried that there’s danger at every turn ahead, and a single misstep could lead to an irreversible abyss. And I am quite sure, you’re not worried for your own future, for after all you’re the Imperial Prince Consort, and even if you lose, no one would dare touch you. What you’re concerned about is us, especially those like me, who have always followed you and tied their fortunes to yours."

"Brother Li..."

"It’s perfectly normal to worry; if we switched places, I probably would have collapsed by now."

Upon hearing Li Mingbo’s words, Bai Zhizhan couldn’t help but give a bitter smile.

It must be said, Li Mingbo truly understood him.

"As for your worries," he responded, "from my personal perspective, they are completely groundless. In fact, you might consider a different angle."

"How so?"

"What you’re worried about is simply not understanding Cunningham; you can’t predict his every move as you did with Takano, feeling that you can’t defeat Cunningham, or at least not with confidence. But if you really think about it, do you believe Cunningham is confident? Given the Bulan people’s stubbornness, even with Tanimoto’s assistance, Cunningham might not heed advice and might even scoff at it."

Bai Zhizhan furrowed his brows.

Though he hadn’t met Cunningham, Bai Zhizhan knew him to be a firm-willed and progressively-minded leader, often difficult to accept the opinions of others.

The same could be said about Bai Zhizhan himself.

"In terms of reputation, you’ve long surpassed Cunningham. Besides, the initiative is ours; whether to fight, how to fight, that’s for us to decide. If you ask me, even if Cunningham came with three carrier fleets, he probably wouldn’t have the courage to seek a decisive battle with us."

"Drag it out?"

"Strategically speaking, isn’t the Alliance Group just playing a stalling game?"

"This..."

"The strong attack on Lion Spring City is only the beginning; next, they must sweep through the North Fan Flame Ocean region, then advance to Boss Bay, and ultimately occupy Boss Bay. Even at that point, there are still many issues to resolve, such as restoring the oil fields damaged by the enemy, getting the ports in Boss Bay operational, assembling oil tankers and forming transport fleets, and even arranging for warships to escort the fleets. Handling all these matters, even if everything went smoothly, would still take half a year. It’s fair to say that just a half-year delay, perhaps even a quarter, could cause us to be defeated from using up all our strategic reserves before obtaining the oil output from Boss Bay."

While Li Mingbo spoke, Bai Zhizhan remained deep in thought.

After a while, Bai Zhizhan finally asked, "Are you suggesting Cunningham is engaging in deception?"

Li Mingbo was visibly taken aback, revealing that he hadn’t intended that meaning; his earlier words were merely spilling everything he’d accumulated over the months.

Of course, this could also be considered an extraordinary effort.

Although Li Mingbo had a good grasp of the bigger picture, when it came down to assessing military situations, he was of average strategic staff standard.

Sufficient for boasting in normal times, but when it came to articulating a well-founded reason, he definitely struggled.

"No mistake, it must be so!"

Suddenly excited, with no prior indication, Bai Zhizhan startled Li Mingbo.

"Brother Li, you’re impressive indeed; it’s true what they say: ’One should always reevaluate a scholar every three days.’ Cunningham, no, the Bulan Royal Navy is conducting all this fanfare just to deceive us, making us paranoid and wasting precious time, thus missing the best opportunity to attack Lion Spring City."

"Figured it out?" Li Mingbo was secretly delighted since he hadn’t thought that far.

"To tell you the truth, an outsider’s perspective!" Bai Zhizhan sighed deeply and said, "The problems that had always puzzled me appear clear after your insights."

The implications of Bai Zhizhan’s exclamation were not unreasonable.

As the saying goes: "Insiders are blind; bystanders see clear."

Even Bai Zhizhan, as an insider, had too many concerns to see the essence clearly and naturally missed the crux.

Previously, Bai Zhizhan had made a key mistake in steadfastly believing that the Bulan military would defend Lion Spring City at all costs.

"Hungry?"

Bai Zhizhan paused, then patted his stomach.

With heavy concerns earlier, even if hungry, he hadn’t felt it.

Now, with the weight off his chest, the hunger surged forth.

"I’ll ask the chef to whip up a couple more dishes, we can eat and talk."

"Alright. I forgot to ask earlier, it seems there are some new ship-borne aircraft?"

Only as he spoke did Bai Zhizhan turn around.

"Just noticed?"

Bai Zhizhan smiled sheepishly; he had only seen the new model ship-borne aircraft parked at the rear after arriving on the flight deck.

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