Outside of Lu Xinhai, is there a better option?

Do you want to go to the sunset?

There is a real possibility, but it is very small.

Although after the abandonment of Telok Fortress, the Imperial Navy strengthened its military presence in the South Sunset Ocean, especially after the resumption of diplomatic relations with the Nuland Republic, and once shouted the slogan of "returning to the Nanxuan region", and built the Table Bay of Nanxuan into the largest, most complete and most service-capable naval base in the South Sunset Ocean, but in essence, the Empire's expansion in the South Sunset has always lacked two most important things, one is a clear strategic purpose, and the other is the economic foundation that supports the entire military strategy system.

To put it bluntly, the Empire has no vital interests in the Southern Sunset region.

If I have to say, there is no one in the whole sunset.

It was in this way that the empire unconditionally abandoned the Wangxi Canal shortly after the end of the war, in the first wave of national independence movements.

Whether or not to go to the sunset will not have much impact on the core interests of the empire.

The Empire's expansion in the South Sunset was more about preventing the adversary from controlling the region, especially the resources of the region.

Relatively speaking, the west coast of the Xuan Continent, as well as the South Lonely Continent, are the main resource producing areas that non-world island countries must compete for and control.

From this point of view, whether in order to contain the old rival Xilu Group or suppress the rapidly rising Northern Gu Group, the empire needs to strengthen its presence on both sides of the South and Sunset Oceans, and through its presence in the military field, offset the opponent's influence outside the military.

It's just that, for a long time ago, it was just a good idea.

In the years following the end of the Polish-Iranian War, it was good for an empire in the midst of strategic contraction to be able to retain its traditional core sphere of influence, which stretched to the east to the Khowaii Islands, to the south to the continent of Ozhou, to the west to the Shifan Canal, and to the north of the Great Landmass. As for places outside the core sphere of influence, even if there are valuable resources, the imperial authorities are not able to do it.

In fact, the empire has never put resources first.

As far as post-war expansion was concerned, the imperial authorities placed more emphasis on the market, especially the single market, which had a large population and huge purchasing potential.

To put it more bluntly, it is actually a rich country with a large population.

In a sense, the impetus generated by the huge demand in overseas markets became the decisive factor for the empire to deepen its industrial reform, and to continuously increase industrial productivity, develop advanced technology and maintain social vitality, and resources were nothing more than raw materials for industrial production.

Crucially, the empire itself has some of the most abundant resources in the world.

Regardless of the fact that the empire has always been an importer of resources, especially energy, it is very dependent on imports, but almost all important strategic resources, even oil, the reserves of the empire itself are firmly in the first place in the world, and it is completely self-sufficient in times of war.

It is imported in large quantities, also because it is cheaper to import than to produce it yourself.

What's more, within the Eastern Bloc there are also many resource-producing countries.

If the Empire no longer imports resources, the allies who depend on exporting resources for their livelihoods will be doomed.

This characteristic at the economic level also determines that only when the national strength is strong, that is, in the period of expansion, can the empire enter the South and the Sunset.

It is precisely in this way that after Zhou Yongtao moved into the residence of the first assistant, the empire increased its investment in the Nanxuan region.

In the years leading up to the war, the Empire had been expanding its naval base at Table Bay, where it had built the largest submarine dock in the South Sunset Ocean, capable of supporting more than a dozen large attack submarines at the same time, and at its most capable of docking 72 large attack submarines.

This capacity to accommodate and support is not ordinarily strong.

Not to mention anything else, before the outbreak of the Great War, there were only 12 large attack submarines deployed in the Sunset Ocean.

Obviously, the construction of the Imperial Navy in Table Bay is also thinking about the war.

In wartime, the only submarines that can enter and operate in the Sunset Ocean are those that come and go without a trace, especially the large attack submarines with a self-sustaining force of more than 100 days.

Of course, this is also true.

Before the 51st Task Force suffered heavy losses, the Imperial Navy had abandoned the North Sunset and withdrawn all surface ships originally deployed in Scapa Bay. When the naval battle of the Eastern Continent Heart Sea ended, there were only a few large attack submarines that were still active on the setting ocean.

In the last months of the 150th year of the new calendar, the four large attack submarines that had been deployed in Scapa Bay and headed south after the withdrawal of the fleet, and the eight large attack submarines that had sailed north from Table Bay after the outbreak of the Great War, were the entire combat force of the Imperial Navy in the entire Sunset Ocean beyond the Luxin Sea.

It was these 12 large attack submarines that almost capsized the Royal Navy of Bran and the Navies of Ranman.

The first was in September, after the official entry of the Western Continent Group, two large attack submarines ambushed the Bran fleet outside the harbor of Portsmouth.

In this battle, the Royal Navy of Bran was almost wiped out!

Although the Royal Bran Navy claimed that only three Type 22 frigates and one Type 42 destroyer had been torpedoed and that the other ships had avoided torpedoes fired from submarines, the Bran fleet returned to Portsmouth Harbour immediately after being ambushed and has not yet left the port.

Crucially, two of its three carriers, the Invincible and the Athletic, were sent to dry dock shortly after returning to port. The reason was that the power system had failed and had to be docked for repairs, and the "Athletic God" had to replace 2 propellers. However, there is reason to believe that these two aircraft carriers were attacked outside the port and were torpedoed, so they needed to be docked for maintenance after returning to port.

As for the "Ark Royal", which was not injured, it has also remained in the harbor.

In addition, the Royal Navy admitted in early October that it had not found the submarine that had attacked the fleet, and that it had previously claimed that it had "sunk" a suspected target.

The two submarines were indeed not sunk and slipped away before the sneak attack was successful.

According to the battle reports of the two submarines, a total of 8 heavy torpedoes were fired during the surprise attack on Bran's fleet, and all of them were locked on aircraft carriers. However, both submarines deployed 16 self-propelled mines outside the port of Portsmouth before the Bran fleet left the port.

Of these, half of the self-propelled mines are in the vicinity of the main channel.

According to later investigations, at least two of the four Bran destroyers that were sunk were sunk by self-propelled mines, but they can also be said to have been sunk.

The main thing is that the warhead of a self-propelled mine is a small torpedo with a short range and a large charge, so it is easy to be mistaken as a mine when attacking.

In addition, it is also possible that the damage to 2 aircraft carriers is a self-propelled mine.

If it was hit by a heavy torpedo, then 2 aircraft carriers would never be as simple as docking for repairs.

Judging by the situation at the time, it was actually these self-propelled mines that misled the Royal Navy of Bran.

The anti-submarine patrol planes that were the first to kill did not fly to the open sea, but circled outside the harbor, not only dropping hundreds of sonar buoys, but also delaying extremely valuable time. As a result, by the time the second batch of anti-submarine patrol planes arrived, the two large attack submarines that were lying in ambush in the open sea had already fled.

In addition, anti-submarine patrol aircraft almost sank 2 Bran submarines that arrived on the road.

Anyway, the two large attack submarines originally deployed in Scapa Bay used 8 torpedoes and 32 self-propelled mines to block the Royal Bran Navy in their homes, not only sank 4 destroyers in one fell swoop, but also deprived dozens of warships, including 3 large aircraft carriers, of their existence value.

If anything, this is definitely the most militaryly significant and influential submarine ambush during the Third Global War.

This is just the beginning, though.

Just a few days later, two other large attack submarines, also deployed in Scapa Sound, ambushed a convoy of transport ships heading from the Maple Leaf Country to the Empire in the waters between the Faroe Islands and Shetland Islands, and sank 23 large cargo ships in just a few hours.

It was also the first time since the start of the war that an Imperial submarine attacked a civilian transport vessel.

In terms of impact, this ambush battle is no worse than the one just outside Portsmouth.

The 23 cargo ships that were sunk were all operated by shipping companies of the Riman Empire, carrying all strategic materials imported from the Beigu Group. Three of the bulk carriers carried 300,000 tons of selected tungsten ore, and one cargo ship carried almost 50,000 tons of tungsten rods.

These tungsten rods and tungsten ore are all military materials, mainly used to make armor-piercing bullet cores.

The key is that not only the Empire, but also the entire Western Continent does not have large tungsten mines.

The loss of tungsten rods and tungsten ore is enough to produce millions of armor-piercing cores for tanks, or hundreds of millions of armor-piercing shells for machine guns.

As a result of this, the front-line armored units of the Manman Army have not received enough armor-piercing shells until now.

In addition, the ammunition factories that produce armor-piercing shells have already switched to other ammunition at the end of the year and will not be able to continue producing armor-piercing shells until the next batch of raw materials arrives.

In addition to this, there was a transport ship loaded with about 150 tons of quinine.

These drugs are actually donated free of charge by the Republic of Nuland, and all of them come from tropical plantations in the central region of the isolated continent and run by Nuland enterprises.

Theoretically, 150 tons of quinine is enough for a million-strong army to use in the tropics for a year.

According to the relevant information disclosed after the war, the Xilu Group originally planned to launch an attack in the Beixuan region after the start of the war, striving to take the crucial Xifan Canal in one fell swoop. It is precisely because of this that the Manman Army did not focus on the east, and its main forces were all on the north shore of Luxinhai. At that time, just on the western island in the south of the Raleigh Kingdom, there were 3 ace armored divisions, and the ammunition and supplies hoarded were enough to use for several months.

As a result, because 150 tons of quinine did not arrive, the army postponed the offensive until the end of October in order to avoid the scorching summer heat.

Who would have thought that when the temperature dropped, the opportunity to attack the Xifan Canal no longer existed.

Not only did the Liangxia Empire strengthen its defensive deployment in the Xifan Canal, but it also had a lot to do with the situation on the battlefield, especially the changes on the mainland battlefield.

As a result, by November, all three ace armored divisions of the Hindman Army had been sent to the mainland battlefield.

As for the attack on the Xifan Canal, it can only be put on hold indefinitely.

The impact of the attack was more severe than the loss of materiel.

Because of the fear of being ambushed by submarines, it was not until the end of October that enough escort warships were prepared and the forward deployment of anti-submarine patrol aircraft was completed, and the Empire organized a transport fleet to go to the Beigu Continent to resume trade with the Beigu Group.

Do not forget that the Nuland Republic entered the war before that.

In other words, due to the threat of submarines, the sea shipping of the two groups was delayed for nearly a month!

In modern warfare, this is definitely not a trivial matter.

By taking full advantage of this month, the Nuland Republic will be able to provide the Empire with enough weapons and equipment to arm 10 divisions, or supplies for a million-strong army to fight for half a year.

In addition, after the resumption of shipping, escort became the number one task of the Navy.

Although the number one mission of the Ranman Navy is to protect the shipping routes, no one thought at all that it would be up to the Navy's navy to seize sea supremacy, but the main force used to carry out escort missions, coupled with the fact that the Royal Navy of Bran was cowering in the harbor and could not come out, would inevitably reduce the investment in other directions.

For example, to abandon combat operations in Lu Xinhai for this purpose.

If anything, this is the real reason why the Empire postponed its march on the Syphane Canal for a month.

Without the support of the fleet, even if the shore-based air force is sufficient, it may not be able to gain sea supremacy, let alone provide cover for the transport fleet.

Since then, the 12 large attack submarines have been operating mainly in the sunset ocean.

This is also understandable, after all, the North Set is too far away from the ocean, and there is no base to support it, and even if the submarine can pass, the continuous combat time is very limited.

The key is logistics.

If nothing else, even a large attack submarine can only carry a few dozen mines, and after it is used up, it must return to port or join up with a submarine support ship. If you are cruising for a long time, even if you run out of thunder, you must find a way to replenish fresh food.

To put it simply, submarines are similar to combat aircraft, and their range of activity is limited by the "combat radius".

Of course, the combat radius of the submarine is definitely much farther.

Take the largest number of "Nanjiang" class, for example, under the standard loading condition, it can patrol the sea area 5,000 kilometers from the base for 45 days, and for every 1,000 kilometers shortened in distance, the patrol time is extended by 5 days, and vice versa. In order to obtain the highest combat efficiency, the combat range is generally limited to 5,000 kilometers. Even if there are special circumstances, submarine support ships should be arranged.

Obviously, it is too risky to send a submarine support ship to the North Sunset Ocean.

Affected by this, the Imperial Navy's operations in the Sunset Ocean were mainly limited to the South Sunset Ocean.

Fortunately, in the early days of the war, the blockade of the South and the Sunset was also of great value.

Not to mention anything else, because the route to enter the Guia Ocean around the Nangu Continent was blocked, so when designing a new generation of aircraft carriers, the Nuland Navy was still limited by the width of the Wangxi Canal locks, and there was no way to completely let go of its hands and feet, so it had to make trade-offs in specific performance.

In addition, the Xilu Group and the Beigu Group should not want to obtain the resources of the West Coast region of the Xuan Continent at least for the time being.

The key is that under the blockade of submarines, the countries on the west coast of the Xuan Continent, and even some countries in the South Lonely Continent have been affected.

In time, I am sure that we will fall into the arms of the Empire.

But the problem is that there are no vital interests at all on the side of Nanxi Luoyang, and even if he gets the right to control the sea, it can only be regarded as the icing on the cake.

With the current situation, do you need the icing on the cake?