Empire Conquest-Chapter 736 - 41 Mobilization Mechanism_2

After completing the occupation of the Lusha Federation Republic and expanding the strategic defense line, it was necessary to immediately switch from offensive to defense.

Next, well, it all depended on the performance of the allies.

Only if the Newland Republic joined the war, launched an offensive on the East Ocean, tied down the main force of the Liangxia Navy, seized control of the Sunset Ocean, opened sea routes to the West Continent, and provided strategic support to the West Continent Group through maritime logistics, would consideration be given to continuing the eastward advance on the Giant Continent battlefield.

Of course, if the Newland Republic joined the ground war, that would be all the better!

Since the probability of the Newland Republic’s immediate engagement was almost zero, the strategic plan of the West Continent Group required a fierce battle with the Liangxia Empire on the Giant Continent battlefield.

Achieve a complete victory?

Clearly, that was just wishful thinking!

Based on this entire strategic plan, in the case of a unilateral war against the Eastern Group, the most ideal outcome the West Continent Group could strive for was to force the Liangxia Empire to acknowledge that the Luosha Democratic Republic had annexed the Lusha Federation Republic and thereby had achieved reunification.

However, a more likely scenario was that after the Eastern Group launched a reprisal, the army of the West Continent Group would retreat to the western bank of the Volga River.

At that point, it would be quite an achievement to hold onto their homeland.

Of course, Reinhardt had never thought of achieving a comprehensive military victory or, to put it another way, he had no expectation of defeating the Liangxia Empire through the war.

His purpose was actually just to shift the internal conflicts of the West Continent Group, use the war to strengthen his rule over the West Continent Group, and suppress any splinter factions that were attempting or already challenging the Tiaoman Empire, wanting to break free from Tiaoman control, and maintain the current situation.

The situation was obviously not that simple.

In the words of several senior generals, once the flames of war were ignited, the outcome and scale of the war would not be for Reinhardt to decide.

If they could win, that would be good.

By making appropriate concessions, they could negotiate with the enemy as victors and thus ensure a result acceptable to both sides.

If they were defeated, or rather, did not have the initiative, they might not even have an opportunity to negotiate!

To put it bluntly, Reinhardt couldn’t end it whenever he wanted.

That was the problem.

The dozens of military meetings held earlier all focused on the scale of the war, and Reinhardt had always hoped to control it.

Unfortunately, the military generals all thought it was impossible!

For this reason, Chief of General Staff Admiral Henkel had specifically clarified this to Reinhardt, who was somewhat ignorant about military affairs.

The key was actually military mobilization.

Although it had developed over the decades and reduced the time for basic military mobilization from several months to one month, mobilization itself hadn’t changed; it still required assembling combat troops at the front line and coordinating transport capabilities to deliver equipment and ammunition.

Thus, military mobilization became the signal to start a war.

In peacetime, the three superpowers monitored each other’s armed forces, initially focusing on whether the other side was secretly conducting military mobilization.

Moreover, the military notification mechanisms established by the three powerhouses after the war were also linked to mobilization.

Simply put, any party that had suspicions had the right to demand an explanation within 24 hours through an ultimatum. The challenged party not only had to provide an explanation within 24 hours but also had to immediately stop the related military actions.

This was precisely why a mutual trust mechanism requiring prior notification had been formed.

Before deciding to send troops to Boss Bay, the Liangxia Empire had already notified relevant details, especially the scope and duration of the military mobilization.

Start a war without mobilization?

That would be impossible.

Even though there had never been true peace, during normal times, no one would keep their military forces on combat-ready status, as soldiers also had their limits.

Additionally, it was also impossible to maintain too many combat forces during normal times.

Compared to others, the situation of the West Continent Group was somewhat better.

Because its overall strength was inferior to that of the Eastern Group, in the decades following the great war, the West Continent Group had consistently maintained a high state of readiness, or in other words, they were more afraid of sudden attacks and therefore needed to deploy more troops, keeping more combat units in a state of readiness.

This was actually the same thing as the West Continent Group maintaining an offensive posture for a long time.

Of course, this had to do with the strategic depth of the West Continent Group. From the Volga River westward, a few hundred kilometers away was the capital of Luosha, Mosa.

Relatively speaking, with its strong capabilities and extensive strategic depth, the Eastern Group’s war readiness level on the Giant Continent front was much lower.

After the Boi War ended, the Liangxia Empire had reduced its ground troops stationed in East Luosha to 400,000.

The key point is that at its peak, there were 500,000 Liangxia Army troops stationed just at Leaf Castle!

According to information provided by the Imperial Intelligence Agency, the Eastern Group needed at least three months to complete war mobilization, precisely to deploy adequate troops to East Luosha.

Clearly, this was the key.

The West Continent Group only needed one month to complete mobilization, therefore having an entire two months, which also gave hope of achieving a significant victory before the Eastern Group had completed their mobilization.

Undoubtedly, this was also the core of the West Continent Group’s military strategy!

Should the situation spiral out of control, it was imperative to strike first, utilizing the two months gained from completing mobilization first to secure victories that would decisively influence the war’s progress.

According to the plan made by the Tiaoman General Staff Department, this was the only strategy that gave any hope of victory in the Giant Continent theater.

Of course, the so-called "victory" just meant capturing East Luosha and then forcing the Liangxia Empire to accept reality, or waiting for the Newland Republic to join the war.

The problem actually lies here.

Even if they prepared in advance, it still took one month to complete war mobilization, precisely to prepare the combat troops for an offensive.

During this month, even if a miracle occurred, it could shorten only by a few days. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

The reason is simple: a large number of main troops are usually deployed in the rear, and their main battle equipment is also stored in the rear during peacetime.

Of course, other critical combat supplies are ammunition and fuel.

As for the one-month preparation time, it was a result of meticulous calculations and was also simulated during the annual combined exercises of the West Continent Group.

Would the Eastern Group turn a blind eye to the West Continent Group starting to mobilize?

Obviously not!

The Liangxia Empire had always been striving to build a reliable, continuously operating strategic reconnaissance network, launching dozens of large reconnaissance satellites, and even developing rockets capable of lifting thousands of tons into space at great expense.

Aren’t these measures meant to monitor every move of the enemy?

Moreover, who could guarantee that there were no Liangxia agents or traitors bought by the Liangxia Empire’s Imperial Intelligence Agency within the West Continent Group?

As soon as the West Continent Group started their mobilization, the Eastern Group would definitely raise the war readiness level.

Stop the mobilization after the Liangxia Empire issued an ultimatum?

That was clearly a joke.

At this point, a full-scale war was inevitable!

As Admiral Henkel put it, could the West Continent Group lower its war readiness level when the Eastern Group began their war mobilization?

From a strategic perspective, once they entered the mobilization phase, there was no stopping it.

The reasoning is also simple: no one would believe that the other side was only mobilizing for defense, which most certainly would also prepare for defense and reprisal.

Furthermore, the West Continent Group was also preparing to launch an attack.

Then, after the war started, was there any hope of stopping?

Not to mention Henkel, even Reinhardt knew that once the first shot was fired, they must decide a victor.

This was also the reason why the outcome frightened Reinhardt.

Now, it wasn’t a question of whether the war would erupt, but that no one could prevent the outbreak of war.

Reinhardt was very aware that even if he used the prime ministerial prerogative to veto the Cabinet’s war resolution, those ministers eager for war would drive him out of the Prime Minister’s Mansion and replace him with a minister willing to wage war. If Reinhardt tried using another method to prevent war, such as dissolving the Cabinet and Legislature early and calling for elections, he would likely be met with a sinister bullet.

In truth, Reinhardt had never intended to stop the outbreak of war.

He was just very worried.

Would the Newland Republic actually fulfill their promise after the outbreak, that is, initiate military actions against the Liangxia Empire on other fronts?