The official residence of the first auxiliary of the imperial capital.

Because it was 4 time zones earlier, when the battle started, it was already 8 o'clock in the morning, and Zhou Yongtao had just finished breakfast.

After all, as long as they are ready to fight, they will definitely choose to launch an attack at a time that the other party cannot guess in order to achieve a campaign, at least the suddenness of the tactics, but after receiving the news from the Northwest Theater Command, Zhou Yongtao is still very surprised, or a little difficult to accept.

Almost at the same time, the army of Western Luosha launched an offensive on the entire front of the Volga.

There are three key assault sites, from north to south: Ulyanovsk, Saratov and Volgograd.

In addition, a large number of troops were committed to a feint attack in Perm in the north and Rostov in the south.

This offensive style of play itself does not have much uniqueness.

For the past few decades, the Eastern Bloc has been deploying defenses in accordance with this approach, and there is nothing wrong about the general direction.

The key is actually the intensity of the assault.

According to the report sent by the Northwest Theater Command, in just over an hour, the Western Continent Group dropped thousands of missiles, half of which were ballistic missiles.

Actually, this amount is less than expected.

In the past, it was predicted that the Western Continent Group would deliver more than 10,000 missiles in the first round of assaults, and more than 5,000 ballistic missiles.

But the point is that a large part of these missiles are short- and medium-range ballistic missiles with terminal guidance capabilities!

While the number is decreasing, the effectiveness of missile assault has increased several times!

In this hour or so, all military bases within 500 kilometers of the Volga River to the east have been hit with major attacks, and almost all of them have lost their operational capability.

Although some of the field bases have been preserved, they certainly cannot support defensive operations.

Even if it is expanded to 1,000 kilometers, nearly two-thirds of the military bases have been severely damaged, many of which have been completely destroyed, and the rest cannot be put into operation in a short time.

Of course, in fact, the aviation units of the Western Continent Group participated in the first round of assaults, and they were mainly strategic aviation units.

Relatively speaking, it is the missile units that act as the main force, and the aviation units are actually mainly engaged in front-line support tasks.

It was to cover the forced crossing of the Volga by armored troops.

Since almost all the forward bases within the theater of operations had been hit, from a defensive point of view, the first line of defense built by the Eastern Bloc along the Volga River had collapsed, and it was questionable whether the second line of defense, which stretched from the Ural Mountains to the northern shore of the open sea, could be held.

As long as the Western Continent Group invests enough troops, and is willing to bear huge combat losses and consume more combat materials, it will not be very difficult to break through the second line of defense within this month, or the Eastern Group will definitely not be able to hold the second line of defense.

It is precisely for this reason that the Northwest Theater Command mentioned that it wants to adopt an alternate operational plan and focus the defense on the third line of defense.

Interestingly, the Northwest Theater Command blamed the huge losses suffered on the Military Intelligence Agency!

According to the rhetoric in the battle report, the key is that the Western Continent Group uses a large number of ballistic missiles with terminal homing capabilities.

But the problem is that a few years ago, the Military Intelligence Agency issued a relevant warning, but the General Staff and the Army did not pay more attention to it.

Now that something goes wrong, the blame is put on the military intelligence, but this practice is very irresponsible!

However, now is not the time to hold accountable.

The first line of defense has been broken through by the enemy, and the second line of defense is also in danger, so do you really want to retreat and guard the third line of defense, which only exists on the map?

Obviously, this is also the key to Zhou Yongtao's constant consideration and his failure to make a decision.

The so-called third line of defense actually refers to the line from the Shiem River to the Aral Sea.

It can be seen that if the third line of defense is retreated, it means that the region west of the Urals must be abandoned.

Let's not talk about whether we can gain a firm foothold in the third line of defense, but after retreating, I'm afraid it won't be so easy to fight back.

More importantly, the third line of defense is not actually a complete line of defense, but is divided into four sections.

In the far north was the northern defensive line centered on Yebao, the administrative capital of the main East Luosha, and the mountain passes through which the advance to the west had to be passed.

The main thing is to defend Fort Ye, after all, the city is of great political importance.

In addition, the difficulty of guarding Fort Leaf is low.

Even if the surprise operation of the Western Continent Group was successful and broke through the second line of defense, because it was blocked by the Ural Mountains, it would be necessary to storm Yebao from the south, and it would be necessary to storm several large cities in the region east of the Ural Mountains, including Chelyabinsk.

Obviously, this requires a sufficient number of troops and a lot of time.

From a military point of view, it would be a good thing if the Western Continent Group mobilized forces to storm Yebao, because it would mean that it would not be possible to invest enough troops in other directions to launch an offensive in the short term, and there would be no way to expand the depth of the defensive line, let alone put pressure on the Eastern Bloc.

Let the Eastern Bloc breathe down, and the Western Continent Group will have to look at it.

It can be seen that even after a breakthrough, the Xilu Group may not be able to storm Yebao.

Judging from the battle reports sent by the Northwest Theater Command, the current battle situation is in line with this judgment, that is, the Western Continent Group is focusing on Volgograd in the south, not Saratov in the middle, so there is reason to believe that the key assault direction of the Western Continent Group is Astrakhan.

On this side, it faces the north-central section of the third line of defense, in the direction of the Ishim River.

To say, this is the key direction.

The two land arteries connecting the east and the west, the first and second trunk railways, all have to pass through the Ishim River!

In addition, the Ishim River is the second line of defense to the east, the first natural defensive barrier.

If anything, holding the Ishim, especially a few railway bridges, would be able to keep the enemy at bay to the west of this line of defense.

If the Western Continent Group continued to advance eastward, it would have to break through the Ishim River defense line with heavy troops.

It's just that the defense in this direction doesn't need to be too much of a concern.

There is only one reason, it's too far!

From the second line of defense, from Atyrau to the Ishim River in the north of the wide sea, the distance in a straight line is more than 1,000 kilometers!

Even though the road is almost entirely desert and plain, and there is no natural barrier that is easy to defend and difficult to attack, such a long distance is itself an impassable natural barrier.

The key point is that the Xilu Group has no intention of continuing to advance eastward.

To put it simply, after breaking through the defense line of the Ishim River, it still needs to advance thousands of kilometers to reach the northwest region of the Liangxia Empire, and then it is necessary to continue to advance thousands of kilometers to reach the hinterland of the Liangxia Empire, and the Western Continent Group simply does not have the necessary forces to complete the attack!

On the other hand, the desert of more than 1,000 kilometers from the Ishim River to Atyrau is not a natural barrier for the ground forces of the Eastern Bloc.

From a military point of view, there was also no need for an immediate march to the Ishim.

The main thing is that at the beginning of the offensive, troops and resources are very tight, so even if you want to continue to advance eastward, you have to wait until the other directions have stabilized.

The main thing is to sweep the eastern shore of the broad sea.

This is also the south-central section of the third line of defense, that is, from the Aral Sea to the eastern shore of the Broad Sea.

From the Aral Sea to the Ishim River, almost all of them are deserts and deserts, and there are no railways or roads, so there is basically no need for defense.

If anything, this is also the most difficult direction to defend, but it must be defended.

The key is logistical supply!

Isolated from Siberia to the north, on the eastern shore of the wide sea, it was supplied by a railway to the south.

Worse still, the end point of this railway is Karachi on the Pakistani Railway, not in the empire itself!

In other words, you have to go to Karachi by sea and then by rail.

In addition, the middle section of the railway is next to the country of Boi!

Because the supply lines were too long and there was still a great deal of uncertainty, the Eastern Bloc also deployed the least number of troops in this direction.

There are less than 200,000, and the main force has only one lightweight infantry division.

If anything, the Western Continent Group will face many challenges when attacking, the same harsh natural environment, and the logistics that cannot be fully guaranteed.

Of course, for the Sairiku group, this is the direction that must be attacked.

The reason is very simple.

Only by taking the western part of the Aral Sea, that is, the eastern shore of the Broad Sea, can we blockade the Broad Sea, and only then can we take the Bakrotto, which is located on the western shore of the Broad Sea.

As long as the port cities on the eastern shore of the Broad Sea remained in the hands of the Eastern Bloc, they would be able to provide support to the defenders of the caves by shipping.

In fact, the tactical aviation deployed on the eastern shore of the broad sea will be able to cover the caves.

It can be seen that the Western Continent Group will inevitably invest heavy troops in this direction.

However, the real direction of the attack is actually the southern section, that is, the shackled road and bridge defense line.

If anything, this is also the most difficult place to defend the third line of defense, or the place where it is almost impossible to defend but must be defended.

For the past few decades, East Luosha has been heavily placed on the side of the shackled land bridge, in the northern Caucasus.

In addition to the port facing the Mohai Sea and the only coastline in Dongluosha, there are also the best and largest grain-producing areas, as well as the Badong oilfield, which is 100 times more important than the grain-producing areas.

That's right, in that direction, the East Luosha Army alone has an army of 700,000!

In order to cooperate with the defensive deployment in this direction, the Imperial Army also committed an elite infantry division and deployed hundreds of combat aircraft.

In addition, it took several decades to build Novorossiysk into the number one naval base in Mohai.

At any given time, there were more than a dozen ships of the Imperial Navy in this military port. It's just that except for the flagship, all the others are small boats of several hundred tons.

Unfortunately, the probability of holding the shackled land bridge is almost zero.

Because it was a completely isolated line of defense, and the shipping route could not have any guarantee in wartime, as long as the open sea shipping was cut off, the million-strong army stationed there would be exhausted, and in the end there could only surrender, and there was no chance to break through.

Crucially, even if the eastern shore of the broad sea is in the hands of the Eastern Bloc, the wide sea route may not be able to guarantee unimpeded operation.

In addition, the first thing that the Xilu Group won was the Badong Oilfield.

This is also the key to the Westland group's focus on the south and send the main force to storm Astrakhan.

According to the information sent by the North-Western Theater Command, on the side of Rostov alone, the Western Continent Group dispatched at least 20 divisions.

On the Volgograd side, up to 35 divisions were invested!

If the purpose is to storm Astrakhan, and in other directions it is only a feint, then it is likely that as many as 50 divisions will be invested in this direction.

In total, about 800,000 officers and soldiers.

Just looking at the number of people, it is not much, but these 50 divisions are the absolute main force of the Xiluosha Army, and at least 10 are Guards armored divisions with strong combat effectiveness.

The strategic intent is clear.

At the same time as the main force stormed Astrakhan, it sent troops to sweep the area on the east coast of the Mohai Sea, capture several port cities such as Novorossiysk and Sochi, cut off the logistical supply lines of the Eastern Bloc combat forces in this direction, and then advance to the southeast, cooperating with the main force in the north to attack the caves.

If anything, this is to be expected.

The current situation can no longer be described as "dangerous".

What really gave Zhou Yongtao a headache was that by this time, the commander of the Northwest Theater of Operations did not seem to have entered the state.

As mentioned earlier, shifting the blame to the Military Intelligence Agency is one of the evidences.

Although Zhou Yongtao was not the commander of the army and had never worked in the army, he had a lot of contact with the Marine Corps during his years in the navy.

In terms of overall strategy, the Navy is not much different from the Army.

The war had already broken out, and the Western Continent Group was going all out to attack as soon as it struck, and the commander of the Northwest Theater still felt that there was still room for a turn in this war.

Thought it would come to an abrupt end at some point!

It is precisely because of this that it is proposed to retreat directly to the third line of defense, nominally exchanging space for time, but in fact not wanting to fight hard!

Can the current situation be withdrawn?

Not to mention how much of a blow it will take to morale, it is simply unacceptable at the strategic level.

The reason is also very simple, the purpose of the Western Continent Group is not actually to eliminate the Eastern Bloc, but to divert internal contradictions through a large-scale war.

To put it directly, what he wants is the cave oil field that shackles the land bridge.

If you have a bigger appetite, you will be the whole Dongluosha.

If the Eastern Bloc withdraws from there, it is very likely that it will lose East Luosha, or at least the western region, where the population of East Luosha is most concentrated.

With such a withdrawal, can you fight back?

Or how much does it cost to fight back?

Besides, the war on the other side of Posha Bay is not over yet!

Retreat now, and you will most likely lose half of the world's island.

In addition, a weak strategically oriented performance would make the Nuland authorities misjudge, which would allow the Nuland Republic to enter the war in the near future.

In the past few hours, the battle report sent by the Northwest Theater Command made Zhou Yongtao have to suspect that he had changed the wrong person.

If it had been Shi Zhiliang who remained in Astana, there would certainly not have been so many problems.

So, do you need to let Shi Zhiliang go back?

Zhou Yongtao did not take immediate action, but was actually waiting for more definite news.

In other words, it is whether it is necessary to let Shi Zhiliang go back to put out the fire.

According to the previous arrangement, Shi Zhiliang's task was to complete the combat operations in Posha Bay as soon as possible after the outbreak of the war, and then, in his capacity as commander of the joint forces, to take charge of the northwest and western theaters.

Of course, the premise is that the northwest side can withstand the attack of the Western Continent Group and not be quickly defeated.

It's just that now it seems that I need to make another arrangement.