Empire Conquest
Chapter 441 - 437: If Not Success, Then Nobility

Chapter 441: Chapter 437: If Not Success, Then Nobility

He placed the note in front of Bai Zhizhan, and Li Mingbo couldn’t help but sigh.

After making a judgment on the situation, it was the turn of the Fleet Commander to make a decision.

No one could help with this; it had to be Bai Zhizhan himself to decide, that is, to give the order.

As for the judgment of the battle situation, after Bai Zhizhan had made a comprehensive analysis, there were no secrets to speak of, even Li Mingbo could understand it.

To sum it up, it was just eight words.

Use retreat as advancement.

Lure the enemy deeper.

To speak of it, this was a brand-new tactic summarized by the Royal Navy of Bulan Kingdom after learning from experience and in accordance with the specific conditions of the present day.

Moreover, it was a true reflection of the current situation of Bulan Kingdom.

The national power was not as before, one could say it was waning, and they could only use retreat as advancement, giving up remote areas of little significance and through strategic contraction to protect core interests.

Faced with the tactic of using retreat as advancement adopted by the Royal Navy of Bulan, there was only one way to break it.

Strike directly at the heart!

In Bai Zhizhan’s words, as long as he could annihilate Commander Cunningham’s Main Battle Fleet, regardless of what other tricks the Royal Navy of Bulan and the Newland Navy had, they would all be superficial.

Besides, this might also lay the foundation for winning the great war in one fell swoop.

As long as the "Fenjin" was taken out, there would be no need to attack Jibu Fortress; then swiftly return to the country and lead the Fleet to directly attack Howay Islands.

Of course, the difficulty was very high, and the risk was even greater.

After Bai Zhizhan proposed this idea, the specific work fell to the staff, led by Li Mingbo.

The first thing was to figure out whether the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet could carry out a long-range raid and, after the long march, whether it could return and what preparations would be needed.

The calculation result was written on the piece of paper that Li Mingbo gave to Bai Zhizhan.

There was no problem with the long-range raid, but after reaching the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean, the remaining fuel would last at most 5 days, and it was uncertain whether they could receive timely resupply.

The key point was that they only brought two Fleet oilers.

To be precise, only two Fleet oilers could keep up with the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet; the other oilers couldn’t accompany the Fleet in combat due to their slower speed.

According to the previous plan, the other support vessels were incorporated into the Landing Fleet, mainly to provide support for the Landing Forces.

Only if everything went smoothly would there still be 5 days’ worth of fuel when reaching the Southwest Fan Flame Ocean.

If an accident occurred during the voyage, such as encountering a storm in the southern hemisphere, more fuel would be consumed, and it was even possible to run out of fuel.

In short, if the raid failed, even returning home would be difficult for the Eleventh Special Mixed Fleet.

"The only way to increase the range is to leave behind the small vessels with insufficient endurance and reduce the number of escort battleships as much as possible," Li Mingbo took a deep breath and continued, "If we do this, carriers will be very vulnerable to attacks, and we only have two carriers."

"If we can’t defeat the enemy, having any number of carriers is useless," Zhou Yongtao was still as proactive as ever.

"Just bring two Fast Battleships, two Fleet oilers, and four Destroyers responsible for covering the oilers; leave all other escort battleships behind."

Hearing Bai Zhizhan say this, Li Mingbo was visibly startled, and even Zhou Yongtao was somewhat surprised.

Clearly, this was a bit too much.

Not to mention anything else, what could 4 Destroyers do?

Previously, Bulan submarines had been detected; therefore, there was reason to believe that the most concerning thing during the voyage would be encountering the enemy’s submarines.

They really needed to bring several more Destroyers.

However, Bai Zhizhan wasn’t discussing with them, nor was he asking for their opinions.

"After passing through the Xunfeng Strait, first navigate in the northeastern direction along Sumatra Island until leaving the Bulan submarines’ operating area, then head southwest. After breaking off from the other battleships, maintain the fastest cruising speed and perform anti-submarine evasion maneuvers periodically."

Bai Zhizhan meant to rely on speed to evade submarines.

"Other battleships?"

"Stay temporarily in the northeast Fan Flame Ocean. After the battle starts on our side, go blockade Throat Strait. If necessary, they can support ground forces in attacking Lion Spring City."

Li Mingbo gritted his teeth and shot Zhou Yongtao, who was still in a daze, a look.

"This is downright a desperate gamble!" Zhou Yongtao murmured under his breath.

But he knew why Bai Zhizhan was unwilling to bring more destroyers.

Destroyers are small battleships with severely limited endurance and difficulty maintaining high-speed travel. In a surprise assault operation, they would definitely slow down the fleet’s speed.

Those four destroyers were meant to cover the fleet’s oilers, not the carrier.

"With just these few escort battleships, even if the surprise assault doesn’t achieve its objective, we still have hope of returning near Xunfeng Strait before burning the last drop of fuel," Bai Zhizhan glanced at Zhou Yongtao before adding, "It’s indeed a desperate gamble, but we must do this. However, if you, or any one of you, can propose a workable alternative, I’d be happy to adopt it."

At this, Zhou Yongtao also closed his mouth.

If there really was an alternative, he would have already suggested it.

From the start, Bai Zhizhan had analyzed potential scenarios and his conclusions were mostly on point.

Unless they could first take out Bulan’s main battleship fleet, it was impossible to capture Boss Bay within a year.

If they got bogged down in the Fan Flame Ocean for a year, not only the Imperial Navy but also the Empire would be defeated!

"I think, perhaps we could know in advance whether the surprise assault will be successful."

Suddenly, someone blurted out, surprising both Li Mingbo and Zhou Yongtao, for the one speaking so boldly was a young staff officer.

However, weren’t Bai Zhizhan over twenty years ago and Zhou Yongtao at the start of the war also bold in their pronouncements?

Bai Zhizhan didn’t utter a word, just nodded his head, allowing the staff officer of an age with Zhou Yongtao to continue.

"The Tiaoman Fleet that is moving southward." The young staff officer was obviously nervous, so after being stared down by Bai Zhizhan, he only managed to utter that single sentence.

But that was enough.

Bai Zhizhan’s eyebrows quickly twitched a few times, and he turned his gaze toward Zhou Yongtao.

Zhou Yongtao nodded, indicating that the plan was feasible.

Li Mingbo also did not object because it indeed was a good idea.

The Tiaoman Fleet, led by the "Prime Minister," had already reached South Sunset Ocean, waiting for news from the Imperial Navy to decide which way to turn.

Stirring up some trouble with the "Prime Minister" might just give them an answer.

Might even blow a big fish up to the surface!

"Dispatch a plane back, and inform Navy headquarter of our activity. Make it clear to the Commander-in-chief that it would be best for him to personally discuss with the Tiaoman Navy Commander-in-chief. No matter what means, we need to get the ’Prime Minister’ into action to assist us in annihilating Bulan’s naval main fleet."

"Isn’t that too direct?"

"If we don’t put it directly, Liu Changxun might not understand the urgency of the situation."

Li Mingbo pursed his lips, this was a message being sent in the name of the Fleet Commander, so even if it offended someone, that was Bai Zhizhan’s issue.

"One more thing, remember to remind the Commander-in-chief to start preparing for the attack on Transfer Island and Howay Islands as soon as possible."

"What?"

Bai Zhizhan smiled and said to a stunned Li Mingbo, "Speaking with certainty will make the Commander-in-chief believe we are holding the winning cards."

"But..." Li Mingbo stopped short, unable to finish his sentence.

"Go make the arrangements."

After Bai Zhizhan said this, Li Mingbo didn’t ask any more.

When Bai Zhizhan mentioned attacking Transfer Island and Howay Islands, Li Mingbo had already come to terms with the idea that if they did not succeed, they’d have to accept their fate.