Although Niz has a feeling of powerlessness in the current situation, the main purpose of this trip to Hwaseong has been fully achieved, and it can be said that it is very fruitful.

However, by the time Nyze set off to return to Treasure Harbor, the 21st Task Force had turned westward in the Looking East Sea.

What made Bai Zhizhan change his attention was not the news of being a father.

Before setting out on the expedition, he already knew that he was about to become a father, and several imperial doctors sent by the Queen Mother all believed that the little eldest princess was pregnant with a male fetus.

What made Bai Zhizhan give up going north and decide to return was actually a battle report forwarded by the Navy Command.

In the hinterland of the huge land, the assault force led by Lian Xusheng was desperately blocked by Luo Sha's army north of Atyrau, and the losses were very heavy.

In the Battle of Atyrau, which ended just a few days ago, the four main armored divisions were defeated and thousands of tanks were lost.

These 4 main armored divisions only have a total of more than 1,500 tanks!

Because the logistics had not been able to keep up, and the reserves did not have much armor, so after this battle, the hope of attacking the cave within the year had been dashed.

The responsibility for the defeat in the Battle of Atyrau is not with Lian Xusheng, nor is it a problem for the officers and soldiers at the grassroots level.

If anything, Luo Sha's army is too tenacious.

In this decisive battle, which lasted less than ten days, the Imperial Army invested a total of 4 armored divisions, 3 mechanized infantry divisions, and 8 infantry divisions, with a total strength of less than 250,000 troops. The Luo Sha army invested 2 armored divisions, 8 motorized infantry divisions and more than 30 infantry divisions, and also mobilized almost 300,000 local militia, with more than 700,000 troops, which is three times the strength of the Imperial Army!

In addition, the Luo Sha army fought tenaciously.

Only in the industrial area north of Atyrau, the Luosha Army has invested about 300,000 troops, and has repeatedly fought with the Imperial Army for half a month.

In the end, at a terrible cost of nearly 500,000 casualties, the army halted the advance of the Imperial Army in the city of Atyrau.

The point, of course, was the consumption of not much war materiel of the Imperial Army.

In the last three days of the battle, more than half of the more than 700 tanks lost by the Imperial Army had to be abandoned in the front line positions in order to avoid falling into the hands of the enemy, and the tankers took the initiative to blow up the tanks, and the other half, many of them could not be repaired due to lack of spare parts.

According to the Army's war report, of the approximately 1,200 tanks lost, only about 700 were damaged in battle, and the remaining more than 500 were damaged.

The point is that in this battle, the casualties of the Imperial Army were less than 50,000.

The number of casualties of only one-tenth of Luo Sha's army not only proves the strong combat effectiveness of the Imperial Army, but also proves that in this meat grinder-like decisive battle, Luo Sha's soldiers fought very bravely.

In any case, in the next few months, the front-line troops had to stop and wait for supplies.

In terms of the final end of the battle report, all the officers and men of the Northwest Front led by Lian Xusheng have done their best.

There is no hope of marching into the caves, so it is necessary to take Posha Bay.

Regardless of the situation on the transit island, one task force must be sent to Fanyan Ocean in September, preferably both task forces.

In terms of time, the three aircraft carriers operating in Fanyanyang, especially the "Longjiang" and "Beijing", should almost return to the shipyard for overhaul.

If this is the case, it is very likely that the Navy Command will switch the 11th Task Force with the 21st Task Force.

Of course, because there are 4 small aircraft carriers, there is no need to arrange a task force on the transit island for the time being, and the 11th task force can rest in the rear.

In addition, it is very likely that the 22nd Task Force will be transferred to Liu Xiangzhen.

According to this arrangement, the Imperial Navy would not only need to march into Posha Bay, but perhaps also launch a combat operation against the Kib fortress at the same time.

From a tactical point of view, it is necessary to attack Socotra first.

As for the combat operation of attacking the transit island, after annihilating the last task force of the Nuland Navy, even if it takes some time, it can be said that it is ten out of ten.

If anything, it is only necessary to keep an eye on the broken fleet in the southwestern and eastern seas.

A few days later, in the early morning of 27 August, Task Force 21 returned to the waters southwest of the Transit Island and successfully joined Task Force 22.

At this time, Bai Zhizhan learned that at the request of the marines, the landing fleet had built a temporary port in the northwest of the transit island, near the landing ground.

The method was very rude, that is, to fill several old and dilapidated transport ships with cement, and then sink in the shallow water, and the engineers built a trestle pier on the wreck, and built a pontoon bridge to the beach, which was connected to the trestle of the landing site to facilitate the passage of vehicles.

With this temporary port, the speed of loading and unloading of goods and equipment has doubled.

More importantly, more ships can be anchored.

This includes several fire support ships.

With the forward deployment of the fire support ships, the Marines received more direct artillery support, which made it easier to storm the Nulands' bunkers.

Of course, for the vast majority of the time, it mainly created tremendous mental pressure on the officers and soldiers of Nuland.

These fire support ships have not stopped for a moment, and have been bombarding the positions of the Nuland army with heavy artillery, constantly reminding the defenders on the island that the battle is not over.

At night, the shelling became irregular.

In addition, 350 mm or 400 mm cannons, which are rarely used, were used in some cases, and armor-piercing shells with reinforced charges were used to plow the defensive positions of the Nuland army.

This irregular, and threatening shelling made it impossible for the Nuland officers and men to rest at night.

As for moving on the ground, it is even more impossible.

If anything, it's a little safer during the day, at least you can go to the ground to breathe, and you don't have to worry about shells falling suddenly.

Crucially, after the Battle of the Galapagos, the Jumbo Harbor Express, which had been very active until now, was never seen again, except for the occasional patrol aircraft that arrived at night to pick up the seriously wounded.

Sent by seaplane, at most, some medicines.

And, of course, letters from the rear.

If anything, the family letter is the spiritual pillar of the officers and men of the defenders, and the driving force for continuing to fight.

It can be seen that the Nuland Navy has basically abandoned the transit island.

Of course, the defenders on the transit island were still very tenacious and had no intention of surrendering.

Four days later, on the last day of August, the Navy Command sent an order for Task Force 21 and Task Force 22 to return to port and stand by.

On the same day, the Marines captured the command center of the defenders, located near the airfield.

This was the last group of ground forts on the Transit Island to be controlled by the Nuland army.

Although a quarter of the area to the southeast of the Transit Island was still under the control of the Nuland army, there were no strong surface fortifications, and the remaining Nuland army was almost all hidden in the underground fortifications, and it had lost the courage and fighting spirit to fight the Imperial Marines.

At this point, it doesn't matter whether there is a task force to provide air support or not.