On 9 September, the day before the fleet returned to Naqiu Harbor, Bai Zhizhan took a patrol plane that had come to meet him and returned to Naqiu Harbor first.

After passing through Naqiu Port and Jido, he returned to the imperial capital the next morning.

Although Liu Changxun had already made arrangements to hype up the great victory in the Battle of Galapagos, and Xue Yuanzheng also meant this, Bai Zhizhan did not appreciate it, and sent a telegram to Liu Changxun before returning to the imperial capital, saying that he did not want to participate in any propaganda activities.

After getting off the plane, he went straight home. In any case, for Bai Zhizhan, who became a father for the first time, going home to see his wife and children is the biggest reward.

That night, Bai Zhizhan also entered the palace to visit the Queen Mother.

As for the publicity, there was no delay, only an additional element was added.

At the celebration banquet held by the Navy Friendship Office, Liu Changxun told the distinguished guests from all walks of life in a joking tone that General Bai, who had returned triumphantly, was eager to see his son born during the expedition, so he did not come to participate in the celebration, and hoped that everyone would understand.

As a result, Bai Zhizhan was not only an invincible general who won all battles, but also became a good man of the Gu family.

At the celebration banquet, we were able to raise donations to build one large aircraft carrier. The portable telescope of the same model used by Bai Zhizhan was sold at ten times the price. According to the rules, the income from the sale of souvenirs will be included in the Disabled Veterans Relief Fund.

On the same day, Liu Xiangzhen also returned to the imperial capital.

As Bai Zhizhan guessed, Liu Changxun has already adjusted the deployment of the fleet. Because the "Longjiang" and the "Companion Jing" had already reached the time for overhaul, and there was no need to put in a task force on the transit island for the time being, the two task forces of the 11th task force and the second fleet were exchanged.

In addition, Liu Xiangzhen was transferred to the 22nd Task Force as the commander.

By September 13, Lian Xusheng also returned to the imperial capital.

According to Xue Yuanzheng's arrangement, a high-level meeting of the military will be held in the near future.

There is only one topic that needs to be discussed, whether to storm the Kibu fortress at the same time as Posha Bay, or whether to bypass the Kib fortress and go directly to attack the Xifan Canal.

Obviously, this is a new option that emerged after the entry of the Republic of There into the war.

Until then, the only option to advance into Luxinhai was to storm the Kibu Fortress and then attack the Xifan Canal from the direction of the narrow sea.

After the entry of the Republic of There, the Imperial ** team had the option of marching overland to the Shifan Canal.

In fact, this is also the main reason for calling Lian Xusheng back.

Although it was only September, it was still early autumn in the Empire, but in the hinterland of the huge continent, it was already late autumn, and winter was not far away.

After the blockage of Atyrau, the Imperial Army could not organize another offensive before the onset of winter, that is, before the beginning of November.

This is followed by a five-month-long winter.

Obviously, unless the Imperial Army intends to launch an offensive in the harsh winter of minus 30 degrees Celsius, there is no need for Lian Xusheng to remain in the northwest battlefield.

Go to the valley of the two rivers to open a new front?

Because the stakes were so high that they directly decided the life and death of several major allies, two days later, on September 15, Xue Yuanzheng convened a joint military meeting at the residence of the first assistant.

The key point is that it involves the Navy and the Army working together.

Bai Zhizhan rushed over half an hour early, originally planning to thank Lian Xusheng in person. Unexpectedly, Lian Xusheng came to the Shoufu Mansion before dawn.

Until the meeting began, Bai Zhizhan did not get the opportunity to meet with Lian Xusheng.

Although he sighed a lot, Bai Zhizhan was also a scoundrel.

After a delay of nearly a month after the Battle of the Galapagos, the Navy and Army still did nothing.

No matter how you fight next, you have to set a big policy, and there is no time to delay.

At the beginning of the meeting, there was a discussion on the need to open up a ground battlefield in the two river basins, and whether to focus on the ground battlefield.

For the former, there is actually no controversy.

Even the admirals Liu Changxun, He Yongxing, Gui Boyong, Liu Xiangdong, Bai Zhizhan and Liu Xiangzhen all admitted the need to open up a ground battlefield.

It's just that, on the latter issue, the difference between the army and the navy is obvious.

At the meeting, several admirals, including the White Stop, believed that the sea route should still be the mainstay, and even if the army could bypass the Kibu fortress, it would not necessarily be able to take the Yufan Canal without naval support, because the logistical supply of ground advance would not be guaranteed at all.

The vast Mua Desert is traversed from Posha Bay to the Sivan Canal, and there are few roads, let alone railways, along the way.

Without roads, what supplies to talk about?

Since ancient times, the main force fighting on the Mua Peninsula has always been the camel cavalry.

Camels do not need to drink gasoline, it is enough to have water sources for an oasis.

Don't look at Posha Bay is the world's largest oil producer, almost all of the oil fields under the ground, and the difficulty of exploitation is extremely low, but there is no petrochemical industry in the local area!

The nearest petrochemical plant is in the Republic of There, where production is also very limited, and there is no way to send it to the frontline battlefields on the Mua Peninsula.

Obviously, this is a difficult problem that army generals cannot deny.

At the meeting, Peng Huaisheng and others only emphasized one point, that they can rely on the Republic of There to effectively solve the difficult problems in logistics support.

As for what kind of effective method, no one has mentioned it.

What made Bai Zhizhan a little puzzled was that Xue Yuanzheng was obviously inclined to the army's plan, that is, bypassing, or even abandoning the Kibu fortress, and marching directly to the Xifan Canal from the ground.

Halfway through the discussion, Bai Zhizhan thought that he might be preparing to use a feint as the main attack.

The reason is simple.

As long as the army exerts its strength on the Mua Peninsula and poses a threat to the Shifan Canal, it may be able to force the Kingdom of Bran to abandon the Kibu fortress on its own initiative.

If you want to say, as long as you lose the Shifan Canal, you will definitely not be able to hold the Kibu Fortress.

It's just that what makes Bai Zhizhan a little puzzled is that in the morning discussion, Lian Xusheng did not speak and did not express his opinion on the combat operation of marching into the Xifan Canal.

Feelings, he is just a listener.

If it is really a feint attack on the ground, then even if Lian Xusheng is not allowed to play, he should be allowed to express his opinion, that is, listen to his suggestions.

If you want to say, what Lian Xusheng is best at is rushing to fight.

In the Northwest Theater, several battles before the Battle of Atyrau were all long-distance raids, and all achieved unbelievable results.

To march into the Shifan Canal, no matter how you fight, you must cross the Mu'a Desert, a typical rush battle.

Lian Xusheng didn't speak, do you want to fake it?

Or are there other plans?

If anything, what could be more important than attacking the Xifan Canal and marching into Luxinhai?

The discussion did not end until noon, when the meeting was temporarily closed.

After Xue Yuanzheng announced the adjournment of the meeting, he left the conference room.

Because the meeting had to continue in the afternoon, and dozens of high-ranking generals from the army and navy came, among the famous generals, only Li Yunxiang did not come back, and the others were all present, so the staff of the Shoufu Mansion prepared a sumptuous lunch to entertain these hard-working generals.

Obviously, the White Stop War did not have much appetite.

After eating something casually, he went to find Lian Xusheng, who was still tasting dessert after the meal.

If there are other plans, they will have to be figured out before the afternoon meeting begins.