Chapter 483: Deception
This convoy, which suddenly arrived in Alexandria, immediately caused an uproar within the Entente.
There was enough intelligence to prove that this fleet had sent much-needed ammunition to the Bran army in the North Xuan region, which was already in a desperate situation, including more than 100 large-caliber anti-tank guns, as well as parts that could piece together hundreds of fighters, as well as medicines essential for tropical warfare.
As for tanks, although there are hundreds of them, there is nothing to fear.
According to the information provided by the Sixth Bureau, all the tanks sent to Alexandria were light tanks, many of which were second-hand, and they were not on the same level as the tanks of the Manchurian Army.
Half of these tanks were "Renault" light tanks collected from various places by the government of the Locke colony and commissioned by the Kingdom of Bran for transport.
Not only are the performance of such tanks backward, many of them are not functional, and they lack matching ammunition.
With these supplies, the Bran army in the Hokugen region was reinvigorated.
This was definitely not a good thing for the Hindan army, which was preparing to march on the Shivan Canal.
Although the Raleigh army also participated in combat operations in the Northern Xuan region, and was in the majority, after the annihilation of the Bran army in Tripoli and the forced submission of the Locke colonial government, the Ranley army became the absolute main force of offensive operations in the Northern Xuan area.
This was also decided by the Manan Empire and the Raleigh Kingdom for a long time.
According to the battle plan, after the landing operation, the Raleigh army was mainly responsible for the enemy in the west, and the advance into the Shivan Canal was carried out by the Yamaman army.
It was precisely for this reason that the Rimman army invested 4 armored divisions in the Beixuan region.
It is not for merit, nor is it to share the worries of the Raleigh army, but the march into the Xifan Canal is the key to the key, which has great strategic value, and is even related to the final victory or defeat, so the Manman authorities will definitely not arrange this task to the Raleigh army, which has always been unreliable.
It was for this reason that the Manman authorities were concerned about the convoy that had suddenly arrived in Alexandria, and above all blamed the Kingdom of Raleigh.
The reason is that the Raleigh Kingdom did not look at the route through Lu Xinhai, let the Bran transport fleet pass, and successfully reached Alexandria.
The Raleigh Kingdom did not admit it, insisting that the fleet did not pass outside its own doorstep.
The implication is that the fleet passed from the narrow sea.
Of course, the Raleigh Kingdom gave a reason that the Manman authorities could not refute.
The maritime patrols around Malta have always been carried out by the Troman Air Force, with dozens of patrol aircraft deployed, and Malta has been occupied by the Troman Army, so if the Bran fleet passes through this side and is not detected, the first responsibility will be the Troman Air Force.
To put it bluntly, the Raleigh Kingdom is unwilling to take the blame for this.
However, there is some truth to this.
The Raleigh Navy has long since shrunk back in, and it has always been the Pelman Air Force on patrol and search missions, monitoring ships passing near Malta.
It was precisely in this way that the Empire turned the spearhead to the Liangxia Navy.
The reason is that Bran's fleet bypassed the Xuan continent and traveled north from the Fanyan Ocean, then entered the narrow sea through the Kib Strait, and finally reached Alexandria via the canal.
Because the fleet passed through Muahai, and the Imperial Navy's 11th Task Force had been active in Mua'a, and had intermittently bombed the Kib fortress several times during this period, the Manchurian authorities decided that the Imperial Navy was responsible for the release of the fleet and needed to provide corresponding compensation.
Now, the Imperial Navy is gone.
The point is that such a large fleet, even if it can pass through the Kib Strait unnoticed, it will not be able to sneak through the Xifan Canal.
The Empire's intelligence agencies have been closely monitoring the canal.
In addition, the intelligence agencies of the Empire and Raleigh were the same.
Also, even the Republic of There sent intelligence officers over.
No matter how miraculous it is, it is impossible for a fleet of dozens of freighters to enter Luxinhai from the narrow sea through the canal without being discovered.
This matter was very unpleasant among the three main countries of the Entente bloc.
Affected by this, the Empire postponed the march to the Xifan Canal for half a month.
The reason is also very simple, there was only 1 armored division that arrived in the Beixuan region at that time, and this amount of troops would definitely not be able to defeat the Bran army that had already received reinforcements.
As a result, by mid-May, the "Fury" returned to Lu Xinhai.
The key is that the Royal Navy of Bran sent the two fast battleships that had just been acquired, as well as the two fast battleships that had been commissioned before, to Lu Xinhai.
At once, the Lu Xinhai Fleet has 4 fast battleships.
At that time, the Raleigh Navy had only two fast battleships, and the other two had not yet been built.
With this enhancement, the Royal Navy has regained its superiority and is hopeful of opening the land-center sea route in the near future.
The key is to retake Malta.
If I had to say, the kingdom of Bran had been cornered.
Although the Terman army only captured Malta and was limited by its capacity, especially the Raleigh navy was unwilling to contribute, and it was not possible to deploy troops to Malta for the time being, let alone block the route through Luxinhai through Malta, but it would not be long before the Terman Empire began to deploy aviation to Malta, and it would be able to use this island to block the Luxin sea route and cut off the connection between the Bran Kingdom and the direction of the Fanyan Ocean.
Of course, the Bran Kingdom has long been unable to obtain the resources produced in the Van Luo region.
The problem is that the Syvan Canal is still in the hands of Bran's army.
To put it simply, if Malta is not recaptured, Bran's army will never be able to hold the Syvan Canal!
As long as this canal is lost, the kingdom of Bran will not be far from defeat.
It can be seen that no matter how challenging it is, the Kingdom of Bran will use all the forces it can to counterattack Malta.
On May 21, the Luxinhai Fleet, with the "Fury" as the core, including four "George V" class fast battleships, arrived at the port of Arisha.
Nearly 100 freighters arrived.
It was only at this time that the Riman Empire discovered that it had been deceived by the Bran Kingdom.
At the beginning of May, the convoy that arrived in Alexandria was not from the Kingdom of Bran, and dozens of freighters were all ships stranded in the heart of the Eastern Continent.
Previously, the ships had all been hiding in a bay near Cyprus.
In order to achieve the purpose of deception, the Bran royal also sent personnel to repair the ships, and even painted other ship numbers and names.
As for the goods, almost all of them are fake.
In addition, most of the crew members were impersonated by officers and men of the Royal Navy of Bran, while the real crew members were all controlled.
The kingdom of Bran is playing this hand to buy time for itself.
Of course, the results are also very good.
If the Yama army had launched an attack half a month earlier, even if it had only one armored division, it would have been expected to advance to the vicinity of the Shivan Canal before the Royal Navy of Bran strengthened the Luxin Sea Fleet.
It's just that the half month of delay was not wasted.
Taking advantage of this time, the Empire not only sent another three armored divisions to the front line, but also transported hundreds of thousands of tons of war materials to the Beixuan region.
Now the situation before the parties is very delicate.
The Eumans were to march on the Syvan Canal, while the Bran army was to retake Malta.
Obviously, whoever makes the first move will take advantage. The side that lags behind will definitely be passive everywhere and is more likely to be defeated in the end!