Empire Conquest-Chapter 855 - 97: A New Perspective (Part 2)
After this, naturally, it was turning from offense to defense.
As for the battles on the continental battlefield, including Boss Bay, and the Southern Subcontinent, they don’t necessarily have a direct connection to the Newland Republic.
Of course, one could say these directions all serve to achieve the main objective.
As long as the Howay Islands are retaken, a ceasefire can be accepted.
The key is, for the Liangxia Empire, losing the Howay Islands is not sufficient enough of a reason to continue the war.
In other words, after losing the Howay Islands, the Liangxia Empire can also ceasefire and make peace with the Newland Republic.
At this point, the war can be declared over.
In fact, Stark’s theory had already gained recognition from the Chief of Naval Staff and nearly all senior generals last year, elevating it to the core strategy of the Newland Navy and thus influencing the overall strategy of the Newland Republic, otherwise he wouldn’t be giving the report.
What irks Stark is that those politicians don’t take it seriously, or think such a limited victory isn’t worth a full mobilization.
In Stark’s view, this is actually the ambition and gambler’s mentality of politicians at play.
To not fully mobilize and defeat the globally dominating Liangxia Empire!?
Even with full mobilization, victory isn’t guaranteed.
Not to mention betting the fate of the nation, even a sliver of wishful thinking is bound to end in a crushing defeat.
After finishing a cigarette, Stark calmed down as well.
Though those federation officials still held a tiny bit of fantasy, looking at the overall situation, the operational space left for these politicians won’t be much.
The Navy has already deployed all carriers according to the plan.
At the latest, 20 days later, battle deployment can be completed, and then the operation to recover the Howay Islands can be launched.
At that time, strategic bombing will only take a few days at most.
At this step, there isn’t much room for maneuver left.
Of course, the Air Force’s deployment is much simpler, especially when relocating bombers domestically, which can be completed in a few days with preparation.
As for the complete victory the politicians aim for.
Stark also knows well.
All politicians are genuine realists, so when confronted with immutable reality, politicians will immediately make adjustments.
Although this judgment comes from his experiences as a military advisor in the Boi Country and later in the Fanluo Country, in Stark’s understanding, the politicians of the Newland Republic are the same. Not to mention federal officials, even the president isn’t much better than those abroad.
By then, no matter how strong a politician is, they have to bow to reality, acknowledge and accept reality.
For the Newland Republic, the most likely reality to face is actually accepting an incomplete victory and continuing to acknowledge the hegemonic status of the Liangxia Empire.
Actually, what really needs consideration is still the opponents on the battlefield.
The incredibly powerful Liangxia Navy!
To be frank, in the morning when receiving the news, namely that the 51st Special Mixed Fleet of Liangxia was hit by Tiaoman Air Forces in the East Continent Heart Sea, with 2 super carriers sunk and an accompanying missile cruiser, Stark completely did not believe it was true.
That was the powerful Liangxia Fleet.
Later, after receiving more detailed intelligence, especially learning that Tiaoman Air Forces dispatched 80 bombers, and only over 20 returned, Stark began to believe this was not false information.
Of course, this also indicates from one side that the Liangxia Navy is indeed very powerful.
By relying solely on 2 super carriers and 2 wing of ship-borne aircraft, they withstood an attack from 80 bombers in just a few dozen minutes.
If it were the Newland Fleet, even with three carrier battle groups, they absolutely couldn’t accomplish this.
On the way to the Grey Palace, Stark received an even more precise piece of intelligence.
The two super carriers of the 51st Special Mixed Fleet were not sunk, one maintaining a speed of no less than 10 knots, and the other also afloat on the surface.
Furthermore, the anti-air cruiser also did not sink!
The intelligence came from the CIA, along with satellite reconnaissance photos.
Evidently, this intelligence is more reliable than the battle reports from the West Continent group.
However, intelligence from the CIA also indicated that only over 20 bombers managed to launch anti-ship missiles, as the rest were shot down before releasing missiles.
Of course, this isn’t to say the 51st Special Mixed Fleet is not formidable, rather it proves that the 51st Special Mixed Fleet is extremely formidable.
Before the attack occurred, the anti-air fighters of the 51st Special Mixed Fleet successfully intercepted three bomber groups attacking from three directions!
This ability is something the Newland Navy absolutely cannot keep up with.
If also a dual carrier battle group, the Newland Fleet could at most handle threats from two directions simultaneously, and then would be wiped out by a third directional bomber group.
Moreover, the survivability of the "Xue Yuanzheng" class carriers was proven under real combat conditions.
In the Liangxia Navy, there are still 4 active "Xue Yuanzheng" class, with 2 deployed in Southwest East Ocean, and another 2 in dockyard maintenance.
The key is, in the shipyards of the Liangxia Empire, there are 2 currently being built.
After the war began, surely additional orders were placed by the Liangxia Navy, and perhaps by next month, we’ll see a couple of new carriers starting keel-laying.
According to CIA intelligence, the Liangxia Empire can at most construct 8 super carriers simultaneously.
What about the Newland Republic?
Even if using all the slips, only 6 super carriers can be built simultaneously, and construction speed certainly cannot match the Liangxia Empire.
As for the combat strength of the carriers, the gap is even bigger.
Although the "Nizi" class is also a super carrier with a full displacement close to 100,000 tons, only a total of 3 have been built and delivered.
Additionally, the Newland Navy severely lacks systematic combat capability.
Put bluntly, even though the Newland Navy is the only existence globally capable of challenging the Liangxia Navy, the two are fundamentally not in the same league as adversaries. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦
So, is there any chance of victory fighting a prolonged war of attrition with the Liangxia Navy?
This is why Stark and other Young Turk officers advocate for "swift victory theory"; the Newland Navy has no chance in a prolonged attrition war.
Reflecting on this, Stark feels he is quite similar to Takano, the former Permanent Fleet Commander of the Pre-Saiyi Navy who ignited the second Global War.
When faced with the gargantuan Liangxia Navy, one has no choice but to take risky actions and bet everything.
Fortunately, the Newland Republic only took a few minutes, while Stark hesitated whether to light a second cigarette, Chief of Naval Staff Admiral Olson came over.
Stark wisely kept quiet, breaking the silence only after getting into the car.
"General?"
Stark was momentarily stunned, then nodded.
Although working at the Ministry of Defense, as an ordinary staff officer, he wasn’t eligible to live in the accommodation provided by the Huacheng Authority.
Fortunately, the military provided high housing allowances, which were enough to cover the rent.
"I have to go somewhere?"
"San Diego."
"You...?"
"The president has appointed you as the combat staff advisor of the 51st Special Mixed Fleet, also acting as chief of staff, the related appointment letter will be faxed directly. "
When Stark kept silent, Olson continued: "But, there is also good news."
"According to reliable intelligence, the Liangxia Empire will seek to defeat Iraq within a month, and then shift focus to East Ocean. This means, it will send the 41st Special Mixed Fleet to the Wayi Islands to ensure that Fanluo Country won’t join the war within a month."
"Is this information reliable?"
Olson didn’t reply.
If we want a quick victory, we must destroy the Liangxia Navy’s 41st Special Mixed Fleet immediately after the war begins, otherwise, we will lose.
Stark didn’t say a word.
"However, there’s also good news."
***
