Empire Conquest-Chapter 704 - 26: Dividing the Realm into Three Parts_2

Chapter 704: Chapter 26: Dividing the Realm into Three Parts_2

Even counting Maple Country and Mexico, based on the Beigu Free Trade Zone, the population is only 500 million, and the total population of Nangu and Beigu Continent is still less than 1 billion. The Liangxia Empire itself has 800 million, the southeast region of the Giant Continent has about 400 million, the Saiyi Imperial Kingdom has 100 million, and the Gaoju Kingdom has about 50 million. If the Southern Subcontinent is also included, the total population within the sphere of influence of the Liangxia Empire exceeds 2 billion.

Here, the countries in the New Moon Region and the eastern part of the Xuan Continent are not yet included.

The huge disparity in population size first determined the economic strength of both sides.

To date, the Liangxia Empire remained the leading global superpower.

Although different international organizations provided varying assessments of the Liangxia Empire’s total economic volume, the overall disparity was not very large. No institution denied the fact that the Liangxia Empire was the leading global economy. The estimated results, or the proportion of the Liangxia Empire in the global economy, ranged between 30% and 40%, far surpassing the second tier consisting of the Newland Republic and the Tiaoman Empire.

How big is the gap?

According to relatively objective estimates, the economic total of the Newland Republic was about 70% to 80% of the Liangxia Empire’s, at most.

If imports and exports are not considered, only calculating domestic production and consumption, the Newland Republic did not even reach half of the Liangxia Empire.

Simply put, the Newland Republic was more dependent on trade, and its comparatively large economic volume could be attributed to the Beigu Free Trade Zone.

Trade constituted up to 30% of the Newland Republic’s economy, while in the Liangxia Empire it was less than 10%.

Based on statistics for domestic production and consumption, the Newland Republic’s economic total was about 60% of the Liangxia Empire’s.

The Tiaoman Empire was almost the same.

It was equivalent to 50% of the Liangxia Empire, but once the benefits from the West Continent group were deducted, its economic strength probably did not reach 40% of that of the Liangxia Empire.

Moreover, the Liangxia Empire possessed nearly all industrial categories. Apart from needing to import a large amount of resources, its dependency on foreign entities was not high.

There was simply no comparison in this regard.

Even based on the Beigu Free Trade Zone, some of the Newland Republic’s industrial products still needed to be imported.

Economic power directly determined the war potential of both sides.

That being said, this was also key to maintaining a semblance of stability in the current international situation.

Although nominally, the current international situation was a tripartite balance, in reality, it was actually the Newland Republic and Tiaoman Empire joining forces against the Liangxia Empire.

In terms of overall scale, notably after adding the Beigu Free Trade Zone and the West Continent group, the combined strength of the Newland Republic and Tiaoman Empire definitely surpassed the Liangxia Empire.

Unfortunately, this informal alliance was inevitably inefficient and couldn’t fully utilize the potential of both sides.

The result was that they could only just withstand the pressure from the Liangxia Empire.

This was also the key reason Ronald launched the southward movement, exhausting his power to expand influence in the Western Hemisphere, specifically the Gu Continent area.

The friendly relations with the Tiaoman Empire could not be maintained for long.

Regardless, two superpowers with different interest demands would inevitably part ways at some point in the future.

Furthermore, the Liangxia Empire certainly would not let this two-against-one situation continue.

Most importantly, it was questionable if the Tiaoman Empire could last that long!

A defining event was the Iran-Iraq War that erupted ten years ago.

Although at the time, Ronald had not yet moved into the Grey Palace, and Herbert had just been elected Vice President, not directly witnessing the event, the acting president at the time immediately invited Ronald and Herbert for their opinions once the incident occurred.

Whether to provide support for Boi Country.

Herbert remembered clearly, upon learning of it, Ronald was instantly furious.

The reason was unequivocal; the Tiaoman Empire had made all preparations and, specifically, after reassuring the military dictator of Iraq, informed the Newland Authority.

There was absolutely no intention to consult with the Newland Authority.

Given the circumstances then, the Tiaoman Authority clearly felt that the Newland Republic, being in the midst of a federal government transition, had no room for bargaining.

Certainly, this was indeed the case.

The outgoing Democratic president had never considered participating in a regional war; otherwise, he would not have passed the buck to the soon-to-be inaugurated Republican president-elect.

But the issue was, at that point, the Newland Authority really had no other choice.

It was under this larger backdrop that the Iran-Iraq War broke out.

In the first year, Iraq held an absolute advantage, pressing Boi Country in combat and occupying most of the Lowland Province within a few months. As a result, by the time Ronald moved into the Grey Palace and had reorganized the internal agencies, he immediately increased support for Boi Country. It was after receiving full support from the Newland Republic that the Boi military fought a spectacular comeback in the second year of the war.

This eight-year war indeed changed the strategic landscape of the Boss Bay area, striking a severe blow to the dominance of the Liangxia Empire in the region.

To put it bluntly, the era of the Liangxia Empire’s monopoly over the world’s oil reserves was gone forever!

However, it also changed the relationship between the Newland Republic and the Tiaoman Empire.

Before this, the Tiaoman Empire had always positioned itself as a victorious nation, taking a leading role in its dealings with the Newland Republic.

Afterwards, their positions were directly reversed.

The Iran-Iraq War was declared over two years earlier, one key reason being that the Tiaoman Empire could no longer continue to support Iraq.

If the war had continued, Boi Country, supported by the Newland Republic, would likely have achieved a complete victory.

Of course, that’s assuming the Liangxia Empire wouldn’t intervene.

Given the circumstances at the time, if the Tiaoman Empire couldn’t hold on, and once it had withdrawn, the Liangxia Empire would likely step from behind the scenes to the forefront.

If that happened, the previous eight years of warfare would have been for naught!

This conflict made it painfully clear to the Newland authorities that the Tiaoman Empire was not a reliable ally.

In fact, it was in this context that Ronald proposed the "Southward Strategy" aimed at "Returning to Gu Continent" and "Dominating the Western Hemisphere."

According to the situation at the time, it would only take ten years to accomplish the feat of dominance, obtaining the means to challenge the Liangxia Empire alone through control of the Western Hemisphere.

Unfortunately, human plans cannot match the decree of fate.

The year Ronald won his second election, the Liangxia Empire welcomed Zhou Yongtao, a well-known hardliner, as the Grand Secretary, succeeding Lian Xusheng and the four civilian chief ministers who were relatively moderate in foreign affairs.

Zhou Yongtao’s appointment as the Imperial Chief Minister was actually a symbolic event indicating a shift from strategic contraction to expansion for the Liangxia Empire.

Naturally, this could also be seen as a response to the strategic expansion of the Newland Republic and the Tiaoman Empire.

It was under Zhou Yongtao’s leadership that the Liangxia Empire’s military construction returned to the right track.

As a result, within just a few years, the Liangxia Empire declared through actions that its position as the global hegemon was unshakeable.

During these years, the Tiaoman Empire basically consumed all the wartime benefits gained from the Iran-Iraq War and was once again driven to a desperate situation.

Zhou Yongtao’s foreign policy was almost entirely aimed at the Tiaoman Empire.

This is quite understandable.

By defeating the Tiaoman Empire, the Liangxia Empire would dominate the World Island and, relying on the world’s number one Navy, complete a comprehensive blockade against the Newland Republic.

Because it lacked a Navy capable of competing, the Newland Republic was simply not in a position to dominate the Western Hemisphere.

This also forced the Newland Republic to drain its resources in supporting the Tiaoman Empire.

Simply put, unless the Newland Republic was willing to fight a war with little chance of success, it would have to expend massive resources to assist the Tiaoman Empire.

After diverting substantial resources to the Tiaoman Empire, what could the Newland Republic use to challenge the Liangxia Empire?

In less than ten years, the Newland Republic would be utterly exhausted.

By then, without having to move a single soldier, the Liangxia Empire could eliminate any contenders and become the only global superpower!

In fact, it was against this backdrop that the Tiaoman Empire started encouraging Iraq’s military dictator to try to turn the tide by launching a proxy war.

Different this time, the challenge was to the Liangxia Empire and had been pre-negotiated with the Newland Republic.

To gain the support of the Newland Republic, they certainly had to be informed ahead of time.

Of course, it was said to give face to the Newland authorities, hoping to fight alongside the Newland Republic.

But looking at the current situation, can supporting the Tiaoman Empire’s military ventures certainly be successful?

Since Herbert and downwards, no one had enough confidence.