Feints according to the routines and specifications of the main attack, in order to attract the attention of the Nuland Navy and create the most favorable conditions for entering the Fanyan Ocean, is the key to this series of strategic offensive operations, and even the most important place, which is of great significance and determines the future of the empire!

It was not Bai Zhizhan who put forward this plan, nor Liu Changxun or Xue Yuanzheng, not any one person, but the result of collective efforts.

The point is: after the Luosha Federation backs the water, the empire must put oil first!

Although there were several oil fields in the empire itself, and there were also oil fields in Poluo Chau in the southern part of the Yan Sea, the oil produced was simply not enough.

It's not that the production is not enough, but that the daily consumption of the empire is too large.

For the Liangxia Empire, which had more than 500 million people and had already achieved industrialization, oil was the most important and indispensable strategic resource.

Long before the outbreak of the Great War, the imperial authorities organized military, economic and social experts to carry out strategic exercises around oil.

If the most stringent control measures are implemented to minimize civilian consumption, how much impact will it have on industrial production and social order?

The deduction was carried out several times, but the results were all terrible!

Although the maintenance of the strategic reserve could be increased by six months through tighter control, the industrial output of the empire would be reduced by at least 30% in the next two years. After guaranteeing heavy industry and military industry, light industry, which has a direct bearing on people's livelihood, will be completely shut down.

Rationing was implemented according to wartime standards, and the population could endure it for up to two years.

Two years later, even if the oil supply returns to normal, it will take a year to redevelop the light industry related to people's livelihood.

Tightening controls would be a waste of a year.

In addition, it is necessary to enter a state of all-out war in advance and implement rationing according to wartime standards in order to reduce oil consumption.

This meant that the empire had to achieve total victory within 5 years of the start of the war.

For the first 3 years, I was almost playing soy sauce.

Defeat all the enemies with the last 2 years?

This is obviously not possible!

In the planning stage before the war, no one under Xue Yuanzheng thought of implementing comprehensive control after cutting off the import channels.

Everyone is thinking about seizing and controlling the oil producing areas through military action as soon as possible!

In terms of difficulty, it is definitely much easier to march into Fanyanyang and capture Bosa Bay than to defeat the Luosha Federation and capture the caves.

There have been many wargames, and even in the worst of circumstances, the march into Posha Bay is the easiest victory.

In the strategic plan drawn up before the war, there was a common strategic turning point, that is, whether or not the Luosha Federation joined the hostile camp.

Prior to this, the Imperial Navy focused on the Guia Ocean and did everything it could to expand its strategic superiority.

After that, you have to turn to Fan Yanyang.

The next turning point, after the capture and control of Posha Bay.

In other words, only when a steady supply of oil was available could the Imperial Navy return to the Guia and fight to the death against the Nuland Navy.

There is nothing secret about this strategy itself, except that the imperial authorities never make a big deal of it.

Before the war, the imperial authorities only advertised the threat from the Guia side, especially the Imperial Empire, and rarely mentioned Fanyanyang.

This is also to confuse and paralyze the enemy, and the effect is not bad.

After the outbreak of the Great War, especially after the entry of the Riman Empire, the Bran Kingdom did not immediately go to war with the Empire, because it felt that the Empire would not immediately enter the Fanyan Ocean.

On the other hand, if the Bran Kingdom goes to war with the Empire in the first half of the year and cuts off the route from Posha Bay to the Empire mainland, the Empire will lose almost 24 million tons of oil, that is, it will import so much less oil, which is equivalent to 3 months of consumption under control.

Without this oil, the Empire's situation will become even more embarrassing after the Luosha Federation's backlash.

In the words of Bai Zhizhan, this is a trap set by the enemy, don't get into it yourself.

Fortunately, Zhou Yongtao is not stupid.

After Bai Zhizhan pointed it out, he immediately understood.

At 7:30 p.m. that night, Task Force 41 turned to the Volcanic Islands, and before that sent a telegram that had turned.

In the second half of the night, Task Force 41 turned again and pounced on the island of the North Horse Islands.

By the early morning of the 26th, more than 100 heavy bombers deployed in the volcanic islands took the lead, and the combat operation to attack the island officially began.

Task Force 41 went into battle in the morning, dispatching carrier-based aircraft to bomb the established fortifications.

Because the degree of militarization was not high, there were really not many targets worth bombing, so the bombing operation ended in the afternoon of the same day.

After nightfall, the fire support fleet that accompanied the landing fleet was actually killed by 2 heavy cruisers and 4 light cruisers.

The shelling continued almost all night.

To be precise, to suppress the Nuland army on the island.

Throughout the night, seaplanes carried by cruisers hovered over the island, dropping flares at regular intervals, calling the battleship to fire when they found their targets.

After dawn, in the early morning of the 27th, the bomber group of the Army Air Force returned and dropped hundreds of tons of bombs on the landing site in the southeast of the island.

Subsequently, carrier-based aircraft from Task Force 41 carried out focused clearance of suspicious targets in the vicinity of the landing site.

Finally, a round of covered shelling was also carried out by the fire support fleet.

The landing operation began at 9 o'clock in the morning with a standard amphibious beach-grabbing landing.

Although in the previous battles, including the capture of Jedo, the attack on the Volcanic Islands, and even the capture of Changwai, the amphibious landing was carried out by the marines, but if you really want to say, the combat experience of the Imperial Marines is not rich, and those battles are not very challenging.

Even in the most tragic battle, attacking Liuhuang Island is not much difficult.

At that time, after the permanent fleet commanded by Lan Yun was completely annihilated, the soldiers guarding Liuhuang Island were completely desperate, and then they surrendered one after another.

To say that it was tragic, it was only a few days before that, and the defenders repeatedly fought for the beachhead.

Before that, no one found it challenging to attack the island.

The information provided by the Sixth Bureau was detailed, there were only a few thousand natives on the island, and the defenders were an infantry battalion of the Narrow Army, whose main task was to maintain order. After the Nuland Federation entered the war, the Nuland Navy sent a group of officers and soldiers to prevent the local narrow-minded soldiers from surrendering.

According to this intelligence, the enemy on the island was between 500 and 600 people.

The key is that the defenders do not have heavy weapons, and even machine guns are not very numerous, after all, heavy artillery is not needed to deal with the natives and maintain law and order.

According to most people's understanding, the biggest trouble after landing on the island is actually the proper settlement of the thousands of natives on the island.

These natives, who are still uncivilized and still drink blood, have always been treated as a nuisance by the imperial authorities.

The reason is simple: in order to justify expansion, the scholars of the empire declared that the natives of the islands of the Guia were descendants of the empire.

In this case, we must treat them as compatriots.

In any case, in the past few decades, successive governments of the empire have been reluctant to get involved in colonization against indigenous peoples.

On the first day, the landing operation went very smoothly.

Before noon, the Marine regiment that served as the vanguard was all ashore, and there was only symbolic resistance, and the more than 100 soldiers guarding the beachhead raised the white flag after being shelled, and then surrendered to the emperor, and walked out of the defensive position one after another.

Only, the smooth part ends here.