Empire Conquest
Chapter 442 - 438: What’s Done Is Done

Chapter 442: Chapter 438: What’s Done Is Done

Imperial Capital, Navy Headquarters.

A few days ago, as the operation to attack Lion Spring City began, more precisely after the early stage artillery preparation had started, Liu Changxun had a single bed set up in his office. Although he didn’t need to command the battle from the front line, overseeing operations from the rear was not easy either.

The key issue was just how critical this operation was.

To put it bluntly, it was a matter of the Empire’s survival!

At the end of last year, during the annual summary meeting of the War Cabinet, Xue Yuanzheng bluntly stated that if they could not capture Boss Bay within a year and transport the oil back to the Empire, they would have to consider ending the war in a dignified manner at the next annual summary meeting.

Attacking Lion Spring City was just the beginning, but it was also the most important part.

Xue Yuanzheng specifically gathered the three military bigwigs, namely Situ Jingde, Peng Huaisong, and Liu Changxun, behind closed doors for a heart-to-heart talk.

Although it was called a heart-to-heart, it was, in reality, laying all their cards on the table.

After the talk, the three of them also made a military oath, just shy of a blood pact.

To say the least, this was no exaggeration.

Before the outbreak of the war, the Navy had conducted dozens of simulations and concluded that after capturing Lion Spring City, at least one year would be needed to sweep the North Fan Flame Ocean; therefore, to capture Boss Bay within a year would not only require every effort but also a miracle.

That was why Liu Changxun strongly argued for Bai Zhizhan to lead the Fleet on an expedition to the Fan Flame Ocean.

Of course, whatever Bai Zhizhan needed, he was given, along with sufficient authorization; in short, the entire Navy’s resources were entrusted to Bai Zhizhan.

Although it might sound exaggerated, Liu Changxun indeed placed all his hopes on Bai Zhizhan.

Otherwise, he wouldn’t have taken his post at the Navy Headquarters himself to ensure that battle reports from the front line could be dealt with promptly.

However, at least in the early stages, the Navy played a supporting role.

What really worried Liu Changxun was the logistics of the landing: arranging the fleet to transport troops and materials to the front line.

The two Marine Divisions involved in the early stage had already completed their organizational adjustments, each with a force of about 20,000.

But to transport nearly 40,000 officers and men, as well as their accompanying weapons and equipment, would require dozens of transport ships, escorted by battleships.

Still, it was the Army that was staking everything.

According to the plan, after a successful beachhead landing, the Army would commit four divisions to the ground combat operations, with another four divisions acting as Reserve Teams, deploying more than 100,000 troops. After capturing Lion Spring City, if an immediate sweeping operation of the North Fan Flame Ocean was initiated, the Army planned to commit an additional 8 to 12 divisions.

Even by conservative estimates, the Army’s commitment would exceed 400,000 troops.

Having Lian Xusheng oversee as the frontline Commander-in-chief was the idea of Situ Jingde and Peng Huaisong, as Lian Xusheng was recognized as the top commander in the Army.

Fortunately, at least up to now, everything had been going smoothly.

After washing up, Liu Changxun took the blood pressure medication that was placed on the table.

During last year’s physical examination, it was discovered that he had high blood pressure, so the doctor prescribed this health-focused blood pressure medication, instructing him to continue taking it.

In fact, Liu Changxun had always thought of it as just vitamin pills.

As for the high blood pressure, it was due to being overworked, or one could say, having too many worries, and then when busy, living without any regular pattern.

Moreover, it had been a long time since he had exercised.

He hadn’t taken off his coat, which was good, enabling him to deal with any messages that might come in the middle of the night immediately.

However, he had just sat down when the door was pushed open.

Entering was his confidential secretary.

"Just now, we received this from the Landing Fleet, forwarded from the 11th Special Mixed Fleet," the confidential secretary walked over and handed the telegram to Liu Changxun.

Then, he turned on the desk lamp.

Looking over the telegram, Liu Changxun immediately furrowed his brows.

The message began with: The 11th Special Mixed Fleet did not follow the plan and has already headed south into the Java Sea.

"I’ve already sent someone to call for Zheng Jiangming."

"Is there no other news?"

The confidential secretary shook his head; if there had been, he would have already mentioned it.

"Prepare two cups of coffee and some food."

"Alright, I’ll make arrangements right now."

"Zheng Jiangming has arrived, have him come see me immediately."

The confidential secretary nodded in agreement and then left the office.

After the secretary left, Liu Changxun settled into his office chair and carefully read the telegram again.

What on earth is Bai Zhizhan thinking!?

Halfway through, Liu Changxun’s hands started trembling as he held the telegram.

That was the entire wealth of the Empire’s Navy, and Bai Zhizhan, who had always performed excellently and handled everything with stability, had chosen to take a risk at this moment.

It was more apt to say he was gambling with his life.

Fortunately, Zheng Jiangming arrived quickly.

"I only just found out, and I have just received a telegram from the Tiaoman Navy headquarter. If I’m not mistaken, the ’Prime Minister’ should be east of the Falkland Islands."

"What exactly does he want to do?"

"Commander-in-chief..."

"Not to mention entering the Fan Flame Ocean ahead of time, he also plans to rush for more than ten thousand kilometers. Does he not realize that if he fails, the Empire’s Navy will..."

"He won’t fail."

"You..."

Without further explanation, Zheng Jiangming pulled out a document and handed it to Liu Changxun.

"This is an analysis made using the intelligence provided by the Tiaoman Navy headquarter, related to the ’Prime Minister’. The focus is in the summary section at the end."

Hearing Zheng Jiangming say this, Liu Changxun flipped directly to the last page.

After reading, Liu Changxun’s brow furrowed even tighter.

According to Zheng Jiangming’s summary, the "Prime Minister" had arrived near the Falkland Islands on January 15th, while Tiaoman Navy headquarter only sent the message on January 18th.

A delay of three days likely meant the "Prime Minister" had slowed down its voyage.

Not to save fuel, but for fear of encountering the Bulan Fleet.

It was exactly because of this that Zheng Jiangming deduced that the Tiaoman Navy might have already obtained some clues and speculated that there was a Bulan Fleet in the South Sunset Ocean.

Because there was no intelligence to corroborate this, the Tiaoman Navy did not inform the Empire’s Navy of the matter.

Of course, it was also related to the interests of both sides.

Tiaoman’s upper echelon definitely hoped that the Imperial Authority could act quickly in the Fan Flame Ocean to relieve the pressure on themselves, so they naturally withheld some information when reporting the news.

In short, Zheng Jiangming was speaking up for Bai Zhizhan.

At this point, Liu Changxun had already calmed down and became very rational.

What’s done is done, talking was useless now.

Besides, Bai Zhizhan was very opinionated, and even if Liu Changxun issued an order, Bai Zhizhan might not carry it out, plus Liu Changxun had no right to order him to return immediately.

Most importantly, there was the significance of the rush attack itself.

If Bai Zhizhan’s conjecture was accurate and the rush attack was successful, then the Empire had a great hope of achieving a comprehensive victory.

That temptation was too great.

"What should we do?" After calming down, Liu Changxun immediately returned to his demeanor as the Navy Commander and refocused on the practical issues.

"Do nothing."

Liu Changxun was stunned for a moment, clearly not understanding what Zheng Jiangming meant.

"The rush attack’s main aim is secrecy, so before the 11th Special Mixed Fleet engages in battle, we must not let the cat out of the bag and must behave as if nothing has happened. However, the operation to attack Lion Spring City must continue as planned and everything that needs to be done must be accomplished."

"What about the Tiaoman Navy?"

"The Commander-in-chief must handle that."

After glaring at Zheng Jiangming, Liu Changxun couldn’t help but sigh.

At this point, pride was the least of his concerns.