Empire Conquest
Chapter 437 - 433: Suspicion

Chapter 437: Chapter 433: Suspicion

He said he was familiarizing himself with the situation, but in reality, he was simply having lunch again.

Of course, Bai Zhizhan took this opportunity to sort out his somewhat disordered thoughts.

After arriving at the Command Bridge, he immediately sent Zhou Yongtao to gather all the main staff officers and the senior officers of the Air Force Wing.

Now, both Wings were under the command of Shen Pu, who also served as the air combat commander for the 11th Special Mixed Fleet.

Unless special circumstances arose, he would no longer pilot ship-borne aircraft into battle.

That was, in Bai Zhizhan’s view, the appropriate arrangement.

In Bai Zhizhan’s words, "At the age of forty or so, it’s about time to switch from flying all day to a command position, if you want to have a long career in the Navy."

With Bai Zhizhan’s words to that effect, Shen Pu found it difficult to argue.

Besides, during a training session at the end of last year, after a live-fire exercise, Shen Pu piloted the "Vermilion Bird" and failed to catch the carrier’s arrestor cable, crashing into the arrestor net, and damaging several parked ship-borne aircraft in front of him, while sustaining injuries himself.

This experience forced him to accept that he was getting old.

After recovering from his injury and rejoining the force, Shen Pu followed Bai Zhizhan’s arrangements, transitioning from a combat position to a command one, setting an example for Zhu Huasheng.

Zhu Huasheng was responsible for training pilots on the "Heng River."

When four large carriers were commissioned, he too would switch to a command position, serving as air combat commander in a newly established Special Mixed Fleet.

Zhu Huasheng wasn’t just looking to fly a bit longer; after all, with Shen Pu injured, someone needed to lead the newly established Air Force.

This move was also about gaining a Special Mixed Fleet’s command for Bai Zhizhan.

Once everyone had arrived, Bai Zhizhan introduced the topic of discussion.

There was only one: whether it was necessary to enter the Fan Flame Ocean in advance and, if so, which tactics would be most appropriate, providing sufficient reasons.

In fact, this was Bai Zhizhan’s consistent style.

During the tactical discussion phase, Bai Zhizhan generally only specified the combat objectives, not limiting the means, granting his staff a great deal of latitude.

Nonetheless, after some discussion, not a single staff officer offered a valuable suggestion.

The reason was simple: there was too little intelligence to draw from.

Not just the other staff officers—even Zhou Yongtao felt discussing tactics for advancing into the Fan Flame Ocean was premature and meaningless.

In Zhou Yongtao’s words, even if they were to discuss, they would need to understand the Bulan Fleet’s situation first.

After the discussion ended and the other staff officers returned to their posts, Bai Zhizhan shared his thoughts with Zhou Yongtao.

The key point was that the Bulan Fleet might not come directly for them. The many antics they had pulled off previously could be a smokescreen, aimed at making the Empire’s Navy hesitate.

Putting it bluntly, the Bulan Fleet could be constrained by certain factors, unable to come or at least not able to arrive promptly.

If the Empire’s Navy hesitated and didn’t decisively advance into the Fan Flame Ocean, it would mean missing a vital opportunity.

Dragging things out could even lead to a disastrous defeat.

If the Bulan Kingdom’s aim was to delay, especially before the Tiaoman Empire was defeated, they would want to avoid committing too much manpower into the Fan Flame Ocean, potentially using the reinforcements to Lion Spring City as a pretext, even bluffing, to prolong the decisive battle with the Empire’s Fleet as much as possible.

"The problem is, whether Cunningham brings his Fleet or not, we’re going to forcefully attack Lion Spring City. Without Fleet protection, the Bulan military simply won’t hold. If their morale collapses, they might not even last a month. Besides, if things drag on for several months, we’ll send large carriers over. Just having two Special Mixed Fleets would suffice, even if Cunningham blocks us with three carriers to the east, it would be futile."

"So you’re saying, dragging this out is also a dead end?"

Zhou Yongtao nodded, indicating Bai Zhizhan was not mistaken.

Bai Zhizhan let out a sigh before saying, "Actually, that’s what I can’t figure out myself."

Zhou Yongtao was visibly surprised.

"Just like you said, other than holding Lion Spring City, the Bulan Kingdom has no reason to send reinforcements to the Fan Flame Ocean, nor to delay. The problem is, there are many signs that the Fleet led by Cunningham still hasn’t entered the Fan Flame Ocean, at least they’re not coming full speed."

"What are those signs?"

Bai Zhizhan glanced at Zhou Yongtao and said, "Up to now, we haven’t received any news that the Bulan Fleet has passed through the Xifan Canal."

"This..."

"The Xifan Canal is so long; it would take a fleet more than ten hours to pass through, even at night, it’s impossible to be completely silent."

"It’s wartime now."

"So what? Even with stricter wartime controls, our spies will be more vigilant, and the Sixth Bureau won’t relax its surveillance of the Xifan Canal."

Zhou Yongtao pursed his lips and didn’t continue to argue with Bai Zhizhan.

The logic was there, there was no use arguing.

"If we temporarily assume this speculation is correct, then the new question is, what exactly is the Bulan Royal Navy waiting for?"

"Or rather, what is worth the wait."

After Zhou Yongtao added this, Bai Zhizhan smiled.

Clearly, Zhou Yongtao had caught up with his train of thought; there was no need for further hints.

"If we’re talking about it, three carriers indeed sound insufficient. Considering the combat capability of Bulan’s shipborne air force, even if they switched to Newland Navy’s ship-borne aircraft, they would still be no match for us."

"And then?"

Zhou Yongtao rubbed his forehead before speaking, "Looking around the world, aside from those small carriers and escort aircraft carriers, there’s only one more that could be mobilized."

"’Fenjin’?"

Zhou Yongtao nodded and said no more.

The look on Bai Zhizhan’s face immediately reminded him that Bai Zhizhan had already considered this issue, but was not yet certain, hence the need for discussion.

The key was on this carrier.

Adding the "Fenjin", even though it still wouldn’t shift the strategic balance, it would offer greater odds of victory, especially when fully utilizing other advantageous conditions.

But would the Newland Navy send "Fenjin" to the Fan Flame Ocean?

Previous intelligence indicated that Newland Navy’s only operational fleet carrier had been active around the East Ocean, waiting for another carrier to return after repairs.

Of course, the primary task was to train ship-borne aircraft pilots.

In the Northwest East Ocean Battle, the Newland Navy lost hundreds of ship-borne aircraft pilots. Without intensifying their training, there would surely be significant issues in the future.

The key point was also that "Fenjin" would definitely be spotted by covert spies while passing through the Wangxi Canal.

Taking a detour around Aus?

Even then, it would have to first go to the Southwest East Ocean, where it would still be discovered by the Sixth Bureau’s spies.

"There’s another very crucial issue."

After Zhou Yongtao said this, Bai Zhizhan immediately looked at him.

"To protect the Fanluo region and to defend the Xifan Canal, preventing us from entering the Land Heart Sea, besides holding Lion Spring City, what other options are there? Between Lion Spring City and Jibu Fortress, there’s barely any defensible terrain left. To give up Lion Spring City now is to give up the Fanluo region, isn’t it?"

Bai Zhizhan kept silent; the problems raised by Zhou Yongtao were indeed sharp.

"Receiving full support from the Newland Federation, the Bulan Kingdom may indeed be willing to give up the Fanluo region and, like decades ago, fall back to defend Jibu Fortress staunchly."

"In any case, we need to clarify this issue first."

"I’ll go send a telegram now."

"After you send the telegram, remember to remind Li Mingbo to adjust the fleet’s course."

Zhou Yongtao nodded in agreement and then ran out of the Command Bridge.

In fact, Zhou Yongtao’s last remark reminded Bai Zhizhan. With the backing of the Newland Federation, the strategic value of the Fanluo region had greatly diminished.

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