On the night of October 15, an air base on the outskirts of the imperial capital.

When he stepped down from the special plane, Ding Zhennan saw Shi Zhiliang standing outside.

Obviously, he also left for the imperial capital after receiving the news to attend a high-level military meeting presided over by Zhou Yongtao.

As for the content of the meeting, it was related to the battle that had just ended in the Guia.

"I just received news that the main formation of the 41st Task Force has reached the north of Honu Island, and the 'Zhou Kuande' may not be able to return."

Ding Zhennan only nodded and did not answer.

After getting into the car, Shi Zhiliang continued: "Bai Huawei has returned to Zhenbao Harbor, but according to the news he heard, Shoufu did not let him come back. ”

Ding Zhennan was stunned for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile.

Although Task Force 41 won the battle and sank two large aircraft carriers of Task Force 52, the result was not planned.

According to the battle plan approved by Zhou Yongtao personally, this battle is not allowed to be defeated!

A tactical victory is not the same as a strategic victory. In the same way, a tactical defeat is not the same as a strategic defeat.

At the strategic level, the fundamental purpose of this war was to leave a glimmer of hope for the Nuland Republic to focus its strategic focus on the Guia Ocean, such as mobilizing heavy troops to attack the Khowaii Islands, so that it would not be able to use troops in other directions, especially to participate in the battles on the mainland battlefield.

For this, it is necessary to make concessions at the tactical level.

When drawing up the plan, Zhou Yongtao repeatedly emphasized that the bottom line of the Imperial Navy was to hold Honu Island and the strategic defense line on the west side of the archipelago, namely Wei Island, Guan Dao and North Malaysia Islands, and if necessary, it could abandon some of the islands, and it could accept defeat at the tactical level.

The implication is that even if you lose the decisive battle of the fleet, it doesn't matter.

The key is that by the end of the year at the earliest, the Imperial Navy will be able to send three additional supercarriers to the Eastward Ocean, and by the beginning of next year, it will be able to send three to six additional large aircraft carriers, and in such a short period of time, the Nuland Navy will be able to attack and occupy at most some of the islands in the archipelago. As long as the island can be defended, then waiting for the Imperial Navy to launch a counterattack and recapture the islands captured by the Nuland Navy is just a matter of effort.

In addition, by the beginning of next year, the Nuland Navy will still have only six aircraft carriers available.

It will not be until the end of next year at the earliest, or even the beginning of the next year, that the second batch of three "Nix"-class supercarriers may be delivered to the Nuland Navy.

In other words, the Imperial Navy has at least half a year to turn the tide of the war.

From this point of view, not to mention the loss of only part of the islands, even if the entire Howaii Islands are lost, the impact on the overall situation of the war will be minimal.

It's just that, for political reasons, the Khowaii Islands must be defended, even if it's just Honu.

The reason is also very simple: the number one strategic purpose of the Nuland Republic to enter the war is to recapture the Khowaii Islands, so after achieving this goal, the Nuland Republic is likely to choose to take advantage of the situation, at least shift the strategic focus, and launch attacks in other directions, such as sending troops to the Western Continent and the Southern Subcontinent, to deplete the military power of the Liangxia Empire, and force the imperial authorities to accept the fait accompli of the loss of the Khowaii Islands.

There is a key reason for this.

Starting from the Khowaii Islands, in addition to the slightly closer to the island of Wih, the closest to the west is the North Malaysia Islands, which are more than 4,000 kilometers away.

This distance determined the direction of the Guia War.

To put it bluntly, unless the Nuland leaders have their heads in the water and think that they can defeat the Liangxia Empire with the strength of the whole country, after capturing the Khowaii Islands, they will abandon all unrealistic illusions and mobilize all their forces to defend the Khowaii Islands.

If it develops to this point, the situation of the empire will be very dangerous.

The reason is simple: from the side of the Empire, launching an offensive operation that spans thousands of kilometers, the hope of victory is also very slim.

At least in the year 151 of the new calendar, the second year of the war, there was little chance of victory.

Don't forget that the Imperial Navy can send up to 9 additional aircraft carriers to the Guia Ocean in 151 NC, while the Nuland Navy can mobilize 6 aircraft carriers. Even if the 41st and 61st Task Packs had not suffered losses, the number of aircraft carriers on both sides was 14 to 6, barely exceeding the two-fold force advantage needed to launch an attack. As long as the two task forces suffered losses in the early battles, the Imperial Navy could not gain a double superiority in strength. If the counterattack is delayed, the balance of forces between the two sides will be narrowed.

As a result, it is clear that as long as 151 years of the new calendar are missed, the hope of retaking the Khowaii Islands will continue to wane.

In fact, the loss of the Khowaii Islands was part of the plan itself, but instead of being captured by the Nuland Navy, it was handed over to the Nuland Republic as a bargaining chip in the armistice negotiations, so that the Nuland Republic would withdraw from the global war at a relatively favorable time for the Liangxia Empire.

Obviously, this is also the key to the need to defend Honu Island.

Without this bargaining chip, even if there is an opportunity to negotiate an armistice with the Republic of Nuland, it may not be possible to achieve a negotiation outcome favorable to the Empire.

The problem now is that the Nuland Navy's combat operation to attack the Khowaii Islands ended in failure, even if the 51st Task Force is intact, the three "Nize"-class supercarriers can still fight, and the Imperial Navy's 61st Task Force has lost its aviation combat capability, and the 41st Task Force has also suffered heavy losses, making it difficult to launch a counterattack in a short period of time, and the Nuland Navy will also be unable to launch an attack on the Khowaii Islands for a long time in the future because of the lack of the necessary means of force projection, that is, the landing fleet.

At the strategic level, the Nuland Republic has already suffered a crushing defeat.

To put it bluntly, in the absence of any chance of victory, the only option for the Nuland authorities is to abandon the illusion of capturing the Howaii Islands. Since there were no conditions for negotiation, and the Nuland authorities would not negotiate with the Reich in the event of a defeat, they would certainly use troops in other directions to change the unfavorable situation after abandoning the idea of attacking the Khowaii Islands.

Obviously, this is actually a situation that the imperial authorities are trying to avoid.

The Nuland Republic continues to exert its power in the Guia Ocean, and it is the Imperial Navy that is under pressure, and it is able to use the vast austity of the Guia Ocean in exchange for time. To put it bluntly, it is to rely on relatively limited input to contain the enemy's main force, so that more troops can be invested in other directions.

The cooling down of the Guia side would mean that the Army would have to bear most of the pressure, which would inevitably have a negative impact on combat operations in "other directions."

This "other direction", that is, the Northwest Theater and the Southern Subcontinent.

Obviously, this is also the reason why Zhou Yongtao asked Ding Zhennan and Shi Zhiliang to return to the imperial capital quickly.

"What do you think about that?" Ding Zhennan was silent, and now he was about to arrive at the Shoufu Residence, and Shi Zhiliang finally asked.

"It's hard to say."

Hearing this, Shi Zhiliang immediately frowned.

"Up to now, the war situation can be said to have no secrets at all, and the strategic goals of the two sides have actually been revealed to the world. For us, after stabilizing the situation in the Guia Ocean, we will definitely exert our strength on the land battlefield, after all, the navy does not have the strength to enter the isolated continent in the short term. Ding Zhennan paused for a moment before saying, "The key is in which direction we will exert our strength next." ”

"You mean ......"

Ding Zhennan smiled and did not answer.

In fact, this is related to the strategic plan after the "offensive and defensive battle of the Khowaii Islands".

Although according to Zhou Yongtao's meaning, wait until the end of the "offensive and defensive war" before determining the next stage of the battle plan, after all, how to fight next must be determined by the results of the "offensive and defensive war," but in the general direction, there are nothing more than two choices.

The Northwest Theater and the Southern Subcontinent.

Ding Zhennan has always been inclined to the latter.

It is not that he is the commander of the coalition forces on the side of the Southern Subcontinent, and he tends to focus on the Southern Subcontinent, but it is determined by strategic purposes.

Don't forget that the ultimate goal of the Empire is not to defeat all opponents through this great battle.

Fundamentally, just to get a more favorable post-war environment.

To do this, it is necessary to use this war to resolve some hostile factors that pose a direct threat to the empire, or have a huge impact on the interests of the empire.

Obviously, the Western Continent group, led by the Empire, was not included in this scope.

Comparatively speaking, the Van Luo kingdom in the southern subcontinent posed a threat to the empire far above the Western Continent group.

Not to mention anything else, 6 percent of the empire's foreign exports, 8 percent of imported energy, 4 percent of imported minerals, and more than half of the strategic routes pass through Fanyanyang, and they have to pass through the doorstep of Fanluo, and almost all of them are within the strike range of Fanluo's shore-based aviation.

In addition, the air route to Posha Bay and the Xuan Continent also passes through the Southern Subcontinent or passes nearby.

In other words, even if the country does not have a large-scale navy, it can rely on the air force to block the route.

From the standpoint of the Empire, the only way to ensure that the strategic route through the Fanyan Ocean is unimpeded in wartime is to carry out a comprehensive strategic bombing of the Van Luo Kingdom, especially to destroy the air power of the Fan Luo Kingdom, so that the Fan Luo Kingdom cannot use shore-based air forces against the transport fleet.

As a matter of fact, after Ding Zhen went south to the Southern Subcontinent, the first thing he deployed and carried out was strategic bombing.

So far, the combat operations against the Van Luo country are still mainly strategic bombing, and the ground combat operations are still in the passive defensive stage for the time being.

But the problem is that the temptation to defeat the Sairiku group is too great.

Not to mention the commanders below, even Zhou Yongtao has such an impulse.

As for the reason, Ding Zhennan is also very clear.

For more than 100 years after Emperor Shiwu founded the empire, the number one goal of the empire was to eliminate security risks from beyond its borders. After two global wars and countless local wars, it became clear to the Empire's top brass that the only way to achieve "border security" was to dominate the World Island and defeat all enemies on the ground, including former allies.

Actually, this is a rather obscure statement.

To put it bluntly, it is a monopoly.

Except for the Liangxia Empire, there is no super hegemony on the world island!

To do this, it is necessary to defeat the Western Continent Bloc led by the Hindan Empire, or the Western Continent Bloc controlled by the Yama Empire.

The battle plans drawn up before the war were all aimed at defeating the Hindan Empire and smashing the Western Continent Group, with heavy emphasis on the investment of heavy troops in the northwest direction.

To put it bluntly, a father like Zhou Yongtao worked hard all his life to defeat the Empire.

As a result, after the outbreak of the Great War, the Empire threw heavy troops into the Northwest Theater, and all preparations were aimed at defeating the Western Continent Group.

It can be seen that it is definitely not very easy to make the top echelons of the empire change their minds.

It is precisely because of this that when Shi Zhiliang mentioned this issue, Ding Zhennan wanted to speak and stopped.

Don't forget, Shi Zhiliang is the commander-in-chief of the Northwest Theater of Operations.

In addition, his relationship with Zhou Yongtao is extraordinary, and complaining to Shi Zhiliang is equivalent to complaining to Zhou Yongtao, which may not have a good result.

The importance of this strategic choice does not need to be reminded by Ding Zhennan.

Whether to use troops in the northwest or to shift the focus to the southwest depends not only on the overall strategy of the empire, but also on the enemy's strategic adjustment.

Fundamentally, that's the key.

After the Nuland Republic suffered a crushing defeat in the Guia Ocean, its only option was to send troops to the Western Continent to assist the Western Continent in fighting the Empire.

Going to the Southern Subcontinent?

First of all, you have to have that ability!

Regardless of the direction in which the ground battle is participated, it is necessary to use transport fleets to deliver troops and materials, so the smooth passage of sea routes is of decisive significance.

Obviously, the route to the Western Continent is not at all comparable with the route to the Southern Subcontinent.

The former is largely unimpeded, at least in the short term, and there is no risk of being cut off.

As for the latter, even if the Nuland Navy is not seriously damaged, it will be difficult to open a route to Van Luo in the short term, let alone keep the route unimpeded.

To put it mildly, even if the Imperial Navy loses all the military bases blockaded by Fanyanyang, it can rely on the submarine force with a total of more than 100 ships and growing at a rate of nearly 10 per month to block the shipping routes on Fanyanyang and prevent the Republic of Nuland from providing support to Fanyanyang.

Even if there is no relevant information for the time being, there is enough reason to believe that the Nuland Republic will send troops to the Western Continent.

Comparatively speaking, even if the Empire did its best, there was no guarantee that the Western Continent would be defeated before the Nuland Republic sent troops, let alone the entire Western Continent.

In this way, it is all the more important for the empire to turn its focus to the southern subcontinent.

Even if we still have to fight to the death with the Western Continent Group in the end, from the perspective of military strategy, we should first concentrate our forces to solve our worries. After sweeping the southern subcontinent, that is, defeating the Van Luo Kingdom, and then using troops on the northwest battlefield, there is a greater chance of victory.

If I had to say, after defeating the kingdom of Van Luo, the war might be over.

After all, without the containment of the Van Luo Kingdom, even with the assistance of the Nuland Republic, the Western Continent Group would not be able to stop the troops of the Liang Xia Empire.

Strictly speaking, no force in this world can withstand the steel torrent of the Imperial Army.

It's just that Ding Zhennan is equally clear.

It is this reason that after the defeat of the Van Luo Kingdom, the Nuland Republic and the Empire may retreat from the difficulties, and the Third Global War will end, so the top of the Empire will have reservations, that is, in order to achieve the original purpose, choose to focus on the northwest.

In fact, after thinking about this, Ding Zhennan was reluctant to say more.

It's one thing to fight a war, no matter how stupid Ding Zhennan is, he will not put himself on the opposite side of the leader of the empire.

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