On the way back to the Imperial mainland, to be precise, on the third day after leaving Shiquan City, the fleet had reached the west side of the Shuangche Strait, and was about to leave the Yanhai Sea, when Bai Zhizhan received the latest news from the naval headquarters that the battle on the side of the Zhiluo Fortress had ended.

As he expected, the task force commanded by Liu Xiangzhen first raided Telok Fortress and Tangier, seizing sea and air supremacy on the battlefield.

However, contrary to Bai Zhizhan's expectations, it was not the task force that took the lead in killing Lu Xinhai, nor was it an assault formation composed of escort warships, but the Raleigh fleet.

On the night of the attack, the Raleigh fleet passed through Telok Fortress under the cover of the task force.

Strictly speaking, it was actually the minesweepers sent out by the Imperial Navy to clear the way and forcibly clear a shipping lane.

The luck of the Raleigh fleet was very good, when passing through the Zhira Strait, there were no accidents, but when the minesweepers on the mission returned, 3 of them were struck, 2 of which were directly sunk, and the other 1 also sank to the bottom of the sea after the arrival of the destroyer who rushed to meet it.

Under the threat of Raleigh's fleet, Bran's fleet was unable to sail directly to the fortress of Naola.

As long as the Raleigh fleet was still operating on the western side of the Naola Strait, the Bran convoy would not be able to reach the Naola Fortress under any circumstances.

As for sending a fleet to regain sea supremacy, it is obvious that I have thought too much.

Prior to the arrival of Task Force 31, the Terman Air Force had already dispatched an air group to the Balearic Islands and had begun operations.

If anything, it was the active actions of the Manman Air Force that allowed the Imperial Fleet to launch an attack smoothly.

In the absence of sea supremacy, and without air supremacy, what did Bran's army do against the Raleigh fleet?

Crucially, the Imperial Navy's task force is located to the east of the strait, and the carrier-based aircraft have a combat radius of up to 800 kilometers, which can provide cover for the Raleigh fleet, attack any ships and ships that approach or attempt to approach the strait, and destroy the ships that attack the Raleigh fleet.

If I want to say, the Raleigh fleet went out to carry out reconnaissance missions when it entered the sunset ocean.

In Zhou Yongtao's words, even if the commander of the Raleigh fleet was given a dare, he would not dare to lead the fleet out of the covered sea area of the imperial task force.

In fact, it is reflected in the battle plan.

In the event of an encounter with the Bran fleet, the Raleigh fleet retreats directly into the Strait of Naura, waiting to join the task force.

To this end, Liu Xiangzhen made a special deployment, allowing two "South Zhuhai" class ships to form an assault formation and go out to the east of the strait in the evening, so as to ensure that at night, especially in the event of an encounter, they could quickly kill and fight side by side with the Raleigh fleet.

Strictly speaking, it was to avoid the collapse of the Raleigh fleet.

Probably fearing that the Royal Navy would send a fleet to fight a decisive battle, or increase its forces in the Beixuan area, especially Casablanca, which was outside the strike range of carrier-based aviation, it did not immediately launch a combat operation to attack the fortress of Zhira and Tangier after the Raleigh fleet entered the sunset ocean.

But that's not all.

According to information from the command of the Navy, the parties have serious differences in the direction of the offensive.

The Manman army felt that they should attack the fortress of Zhira first, not only to take care of the kingdom of Siban, but also to have a lot to do with the difficulty of the battle.

To put it simply, with the support of the fleet, attacking the fortress of Zhira can achieve twice the result with half the effort.

In addition, it is also related to the next stage of combat operations.

After taking the Zhiluo Fortress, it will be able to control the Zhiluo Strait and launch a combat operation against Tangier, and the dependence on the fleet will be greatly reduced.

It's just that the Imperial Navy doesn't think so.

Although the area of the fortress is much smaller, and the Bran army guarding the fortress may not have enough morale, the fort is certainly very strong, not to mention the fact that the Bran kingdom has worked hard here for hundreds of years. On the other hand, Tangier is a small port city that is inferior to a fortress in all respects.

Obviously, after taking Tangier, it is easier to attack the fortress of Zhiluo.

In addition, taking Tangier can also block the retreat of the alliance forces in the Beixuan region, and it will avoid the problem of having to storm the Beixuan region after attacking the fortress of Zhiluo.

The biggest problem was the delay in the recovery of the Zhira Fortress.

At the time, Liu Xiangzhen felt that this was not a big problem.

The reason is that, according to the previous agreement, Tangier and Telok Fortress both belong to the Kingdom of Span, and whichever location to attack first is actually the same.

Obviously, Liu Xiangzhen thought a little simply.

According to the previous agreement, after the end of the war, the Kingdom of Span would unconditionally lease Tangier to the Liangxia Navy, and the Zhiluo Fortress would be leased to the Manman Navy, and the lease period would be 49 years, so as to ensure that the two empires of the Entente could freely enter and leave Luxinhai.

Then, attacking Tangier first will inevitably make the Manman authorities suspicious.

To put it bluntly, when the Imperial army has gained a foothold in Tangier, will it still storm the fortress of Zhira?

Even if it goes according to plan, it won't just storm the fortress.

With the capabilities of the Imperial Navy, it is completely capable of destroying the fortress of Zhira and making it worthless for decades to come.

If this was the case, by the end of the war, it was the Imperial Navy that controlled the Zhira Strait.

Critically, the Imperial Navy had mastered the Shivan Canal.

In other words, relying on Alexandria and Tangier, the Imperial Navy can not only freely enter and exit the Sunset Ocean, but also prevent other forces from entering the Luxinhai.

The Imperial Navy is fully capable of controlling the entire Luxinhai through this.

At that time, not only the Raleigh Kingdom and the Thell Republic on Lu Xinhai's side will fall to the Liangxia Empire, but even the Siban Kingdom and the Rock Kingdom will be affected.

The key is that after losing the Rim Heart Sea region, what did the Riman Empire rely on to dominate the Western Continent?

No matter how much the Riman authorities look down on the Raleigh Kingdom and the Spann Kingdom, and how arrogant the Riman soldiers are, the northern shore of Lu Xinhai is equal to half of the western continent.

For any country that tries to dominate the Western Continent, it must control the Ring of Land and Heart Sea region.

For thousands of years, without exception!

Not to mention the Roman Empire, even the Bran Kingdom, it has mastered the sea control of Lu Xinhai through the Zhiluo Fortress and the Xifan Canal.

Can the Empire be an exception?

After suffering in the war for several years, suffering millions of casualties, in the end, he was serving the Liangxia Empire, and he didn't get any benefits!

Obviously, whoever is in charge of the Empire cannot accept this result.

After gaining sea and air supremacy, the landing operation was not immediately launched.

It's not all bad, though.

The reason is also very simple, neither the Imperial Navy nor the Manman Army are ready to storm the Zhiluo Fortress.

Not to mention anything else, the state of the two task forces of the Imperial Navy is not very good, especially the thirty-first task force, and the overhaul of many warships has not been completed.

If the Bran army guarding Telok Fortress is unwilling to surrender and must storm it, it will take some time to prepare.

Of course, the Imperial Navy was also needed to mobilize the landing fleet and hoard war materiel in the Balearic Islands.

As for combat operations, they were entirely undertaken by the Gunman army.

A few more days will also make it easier for the generals of the two sides to communicate with each other and avoid unnecessary misunderstandings due to insufficient communication.