Empire Conquest
Chapter 440 - 436: Trap Ahead

Chapter 440: Chapter 436: Trap Ahead

"What do you think?"

After Bai Zhizhan had asked, Li Mingbo stroked his chin, not rushing to give his opinion.

The intelligence sent by Zheng Jiangming was sufficient to illustrate that the current situation was extremely grave.

"If it’s just two fast battleships, is there a need for such secrecy?" Zhou Yongtao hesitated slightly before continuing, "Although the carriers from the Land Heart Sea Fleet have not yet appeared, those guys from the Bulan Royal Navy definitely won’t be foolish enough to think we’ll lower our guard. To be honest, other than heading to Fan Flame Ocean, I can’t think of anywhere else they could go. It’s natural for the carriers to bring along the fast battleships. Besides, it’s been over half a month, what else is there to hide?"

After Zhou Mingbo finished, Bai Zhizhan didn’t pick up the conversation.

"Could those carriers have secretly gone to East Ocean?" Seeing the atmosphere was a bit awkward, Li Mingbo once again played the role of the jester.

"Why go there?" Zhou Yongtao looked at Li Mingbo with a puzzled face.

Li Mingbo just pursed his lips; he was merely making a casual remark.

"They definitely didn’t go to East Ocean, there’s temporarily no need for carriers there," Bai Zhizhan said at this time. "What worries me is that the Bulan Royal Navy might not have grouped the three carrier fleets together; they perhaps formed two special mixed fleets with two fast battleships included in one of them."

"How could that be possible?" Zhou Yongtao appeared even more surprised, as he thought Bai Zhizhan was joking.

"Don’t forget, during the battle south of the Denmark Strait earlier, the Bulan Fleet used ship-borne aircraft to search for the Tiaoman Fleet that was breaking through, and they even mistook the fast oil tanker returning home as being with the ’Prime Minister’ and launched an attack with ship-borne aircraft. If the participants weren’t small carriers, but one of the fleet carriers, then it wasn’t just two fast battleships that quietly passed through the Xifan Canal over ten days ago."

"That would be too bold, wouldn’t it?" Li Mingbo also found it hard to believe.

"Cunningham is not bold enough?" Bai Zhizhan gave a faint smile, then said, "Let’s not talk about anything else, even I wouldn’t dare to order ship-borne aircraft to launch a night raid on a military port. Compared to sending carriers through the Xifan Canal, via the Narrow Sea into the Fan Flame Ocean, the two stealth raids at the beginning of the month required real courage."

"Our troops are already insufficient, splitting them further has what advantage?" Zhou Yongtao asked following up.

"Don’t forget, there’s also the ’Fenjin.’"

Zhou Yongtao frowned again.

"If I were Cunningham, I would first admit that relying on just the three carriers of the Royal Navy would be inadequate to defeat the powerful Imperial Navy. Moreover, the Royal Navy’s ship-borne aircraft are very outdated, and they wouldn’t have the upper hand in a decisive battle with the Imperial Fleet. From the results of the several major naval air battles in East Ocean, the ’Fenjin’ is more necessary. I’d say whether Newland Navy agrees to send the ’Fenjin’ into battle is key."

"And then?" Li Mingbo, having no novel insights, could only continue to play the comic role.

"Obviously, it must be a covert operation. As soon as any information leaks, it would definitely be impossible to achieve the operational objectives, such as stopping our progress at Lion Spring City."

"Are you saying, if we knew that the ’Fenjin’ was going to switch to the Fan Flame Ocean, we wouldn’t attack Lion Spring City?"

Bai Zhizhan smiled and said, "We’d still need to attack Lion Spring City, but would not push deep into the Fan Flame Ocean, and would deploy more troops near Guan Island."

"Playing for real in a feigned play?"

Bai Zhizhan nodded, indicating Li Mingbo was not mistaken.

"If that’s really the case, we should take the opportunity to capture Wei Island and Transfer Island. Securing the stepping stones to advance into the Howay Islands gives us hope to defeat the Newland Federation within two years."

Zhou Yongtao suddenly interjected, startling Li Mingbo.

However, Li Mingbo did not object.

Bai Zhizhan did not object either, for that was also what he had meant to say.

As long as the Newland Navy dared to send the ’Fenjin’ to the Fan Flame Ocean, the Imperial Navy dared to attack Transfer Island ahead of time, even launching a strong attack on the Howay Islands.

It must be said, the ’Fenjin’ is the Ocean Stabilizer of the Alliance Group in East Ocean.

This was exactly why Bai Zhizhan suspected that the Newland Navy might not send the "Fenjin" to fight in the Fan Flame Ocean.

After a moment of contemplation, Bai Zhizhan said, "If the ’Fenjin’ is on its way, we have reason to believe that Cunningham probably took the fleet to the South Sunset Ocean."

"Going around the Xuan Continent?"

Bai Zhizhan nodded and explained, "To remain concealed, the ’Fenjin’ could only take the Joint Angle and meet with Cunningham in the South Sunset Ocean."

"If that’s the case, perhaps Cunningham has only one carrier there," Zhou Yongtao added.

"It won’t be just one, more likely two," Bai Zhizhan paused briefly before continuing, "The key is actually to create a relatively advantageous decisive battle environment. From Cunningham and Spur’s perspective, the number one difficulty for us advancing into the Fan Flame Ocean is fighting alone. Even if we successfully take Lion Spring City, there are still severe logistics support issues due to a lack of footholds in the Fan Flame Ocean."

"Maybe that’s exactly why the Bulan Royal Navy formed two fleets," Li Mingbo had understood Bai Zhizhan’s point.

Bai Zhizhan just nodded; if Li Mingbo could understand, Zhou Yongtao certainly could as well.

The northern fleet, based on Jibu Fortress, would block the Kissa Strait and control the routes to Boss Bay. In times of need, it could retreat to the relatively safe Narrow Sea or even use naval mines to blockade the Kissa Strait, so a single carrier would suffice.

The key also lies with the shore-based air force stationed at Jibu Fortress.

As long as the Bulan Fleet operates in the Musha Sea even by merely leaving the Military Port, it could force the Imperial Navy to recall all oil tankers heading to Boss Bay.

As for attacking Jibu Fortress, it would not only require a considerable deployment of forces but also a substantial amount of time.

Thus, to hold Jibu Fortress, one carrier is more than enough, and there’s absolutely no need to deploy more.

The main force would certainly be Commander Cunningham’s Expeditionary Fleet.

However, for the Imperial Navy, the trouble was huge.

Taking Lion Spring City doesn’t mean an unobstructed path in the Fan Flame Ocean.

So, should they go to Boss Bay first or head south?

If Bai Zhizhan hadn’t guessed that Cunningham was in the south, he would have led the fleet north, to engage in fierce battle with the Bulan Fleet in the Musha Sea or the Western Fan Flame Ocean.

By then, they would inevitably need to assault Jibu Fortress.

Unable to take down Jibu Fortress in one go, Bai Zhizhan would end up vulnerable.

If Cunningham arrived with the main force at that time, it’s quite possible he could annihilate the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet.

Even if the Imperial Navy secured four large carriers, they would have to retreat and defend Lion Spring City, then spend months preparing for the next attack.

With past lessons in mind, when the Imperial Navy relaunched its offensive, it would proceed cautiously, step by step pushing towards Boss Bay.

The key was to capture military points along the way, establishing forward bases to secure sea-lanes.

Additionally, it involved deploying shore-based air force units to support the fleet.

Even if everything went smoothly, it would take a year or even two years to completely capture and control Boss Bay.

Unfortunately, the Empire simply didn’t have that much time.

Undoubtedly, this was exactly the outcome the Bulan Kingdom and Newland Federation wanted to achieve!

Clearly, this was also the strongest evidence that Cunningham had taken his fleet to the South Sunset Ocean and why the Newland Navy had sent the "Fenjin" here!