Empire Conquest-Chapter 854 - 97: A New Perspective
Newland’s capital, Huacheng, the Grey Palace of the President Mansion.
After exiting the central conference room, Colonel Stark finally let out a long sigh. Once the secretary responsible for reception left, he swiftly lit a cigarette.
Actually, he didn’t have a smoking habit.
It’s just that, in the past three-plus hours, he gave a detailed briefing on the warfare strategies against the Liangxia Empire to more than a dozen senior military and political officials, including the president, and repeatedly answered questions that were often clueless and naive.
From start to finish, he didn’t even take a sip of water!
The key was that few of those listening understood the brutality of war, or even modern warfare for that matter.
There’s nothing strange about that.
The Newland Republic hadn’t been tested by war for almost 30 years.
Even when they supported Boi Country’s independence and during the subsequent Iran-Iraq War, the Newland Republic operated from behind the scenes, not directly participating in combat operations.
That being said, this was precisely why Stark could come here.
Over two years ago, he was the military attaché of the Newland Republic in Boi Country, but his real role was as a military advisor, frequently involved in the planning of combat operations.
After the Iran-Iraq War ended, Stark went to Fanluo Country, staying as an attaché for over a year.
His main task was actually to help modernize the Fanluo Navy and decide how to sell aircraft carriers to Fanluo Country.
At that time, the Fanluo Navy had already sent out a tender to procure a 40,000-ton medium aircraft carrier to replace the "Vikrant," purchased from the Newland Republic over 20 years ago and one of the few small carriers built and survived from the last great war.
Although it was called a tender, it was merely a formality.
Globally, only the Newland Republic had aircraft carriers and was willing to sell them to Fanluo Country.
Of course, it’s clearly not just about selling a carrier.
The critical issue was whether the Fanluo Navy truly needed a 40,000-ton medium carrier?
Or rather, what is the value of this carrier?
Furthermore, could the Fanluo Navy handle a 40,000-ton carrier?
The previous one was merely a small carrier with a full-load displacement of just over 20,000 tons, capable of carrying more than 20 ship-borne aircraft. Since it wasn’t equipped with a catapult, after a mid-term upgrade, all the aircraft were replaced with vertical takeoff and landing fighters purchased from the Bulan Kingdom.
Stark’s mission to Fanluo Country was to examine the state of the Fanluo Navy.
The result was that, in over a year, Stark had become almost entirely disillusioned with this ally that Huacheng Authority valued most.
In his report to the Pentagon, Stark specifically mentioned one issue.
On many of Fanluo Navy’s warships, there were specially designated "servant quarters" because many high-caste officers brought their servants aboard. As a result, a destroyer with a standard crew of 350 had over 500 people, all the extra being officers’ servants.
These servants not only occupied valuable space, but also caused chaos during combat.
Moreover, the high-caste officers’ privileges inevitably affected morale.
How strong could a navy like this be?
Although this report couldn’t stop the president from signing the authorization to sell the carrier, it significantly influenced the decision regarding the sale.
After careful consideration, the carrier sold to the Fanluo Navy was still a small one.
The key was also that this carrier was modeled after the Bulan Kingdom’s "Invincible" class, only with necessary modifications, so it could be seen as a political trade.
Evidently, arms sales are not ordinary trade.
Of course, the year in Fanluo Country allowed Stark to see through many issues, and he reached a very crucial and influential conclusion.
At the start, he presented this conclusion.
Modern warfare, armed with high technology, has far greater destructive power than any past war, so the duration of modern warfare would not be too long!
A scenario like the previous two global wars, which lasted for years, would not occur.
The Third Global War can only be, and must be, a swift and decisive battle!
Put directly, a few decisive battles can determine victory or defeat. Even if the disadvantaged side fights with all its might, it cannot achieve ultimate victory.
Similarly, even the side in a favorable position cannot effortlessly achieve a comprehensive victory.
This creates a situation.
After a few decisive battles following the outbreak of war, as long as they can find a way out, both the winning and losing sides would consider the option of a ceasefire.
After all, war is not the purpose, but an extreme measure taken to achieve the purpose.
If the goals can be achieved through a ceasefire, then there’s no need to continue fighting.
Of course, this viewpoint also means that preparations for war made during peacetime, typically known as readiness for battle, will directly determine the outcome.
With this theoretical foundation, specific strategic plans have been made.
The focus is only one: ascertain an achievable goal.
In Stark’s words, it is to use the investment for a global war to achieve a limited objective. 𝑓𝑟ℯ𝘦𝓌𝘦𝘣𝑛𝑜𝓋𝑒𝓁.𝑐ℴ𝓂
This limited objective is to reclaim the Howay Islands!
At the tactical level, the strategy is to initiate an offensive at the most favorable time, engage the Liangxia Navy in decisive battles, and reclaim the islands that originally belonged to the Newland Republic.
