Empire Conquest-Chapter 747 - 46 Strategic Stronghold_2
East Luosha swiftly revivied after the war, surpassing the better-founded West Luosha in just 35 years to earn its first pot of industrial gold from this railway.
The steel and cement needed for the railway construction, along with the trade it brought after completion, were the key factors enabling East Luosha’s leap forward.
Without this railway, East Luosha would likely still be a wasteland.
However, nobody could deny the military value of the first mainline railway.
Theoretically, this railway alone could support 5 million troops in frontline combat, so taking Leaf Castle would no longer be difficult.
But the significance of occupying Leaf Castle has always been debated.
Leaf Castle is only the administrative capital of the Locke Federation Republic; the nominal capital is still Mosa, and the nominal President Mansion was established in East Mosa.
Also crucially, Leaf Castle is merely the administrative capital within the Locke Federation Republic.
After decades of development, Leaf Castle long ceased to be the sole central city of the Lusha Federation Republic.
Although by virtue of its status as the administrative capital, Leaf Castle remains the most populous city in East Luosha, over a decade earlier, the southern city of Astrakhan and the West Luosha-facing Samara had already surpassed Leaf Castle in economic scale, while industrial output had always centered around Chelyabinsk.
Setting politics aside, even if Leaf Castle was occupied, it wouldn’t necessarily lead to the Sha Federation Republic’s surrender.
Furthermore, its military significance is also not significant.
The first mainline railway that connects the East and West, in fact, lies hundreds of kilometers south of Leaf Castle, with major cities like Chelyabinsk in between.
In other words, even if Leaf Castle were captured, it couldn’t serve as a base for an eastward advance.
There’s no need to attack Leaf Castle to continue the eastern push!
Over 40 years ago, the Imperial Army chose not to march north to attack Leaf Castle but to continue the western charge, focusing their forces on advancing toward Baku.
If we examine the root, the military value of Leaf Castle really lies in acting as a bridgehead on the eastern side of the Ural Mountains.
Because, in modern warfare, the Urals have lost much of their prior military value, so Leaf Castle long ago lost its strategic status.
Leaf Castle is now fundamentally an administrative city centered on resources.
Without centuries of accumulation, Leaf Castle would have been surpassed by other emerging cities in the wave of industrialization long ago.
Clearly, unless the West Continent Group intends to switch from offense to defense after crossing the Urals, there’s no reason to expend time and forces attacking Leaf Castle.
On the contrary, the cities on the plains of northern Broad Sea, such as Astrakhan, hold a pivotal strategic position.
This city, more than a decade ago, was the economic center and chemical industry hub of the Lusha Federation Republic, and is now the Republic’s largest city.
The reason is simple: the Baku oil fields lie to its south.
The West Southwest shore of Broad Sea, where the Baku fields are located, is too narrow and close to the southern Boi Country, lacking the space and security necessary for development, so for the past several decades, East Luosha has not invested heavily in Baku, simply considering it an oil-producing region.
As a result, Astrakhan to the north of Baku received considerable attention.
Of course, geographical location is crucial.
As a coastal city along Broad Sea, shipping alone can solve transportation issues, drastically reducing logistics costs.
More importantly, goods can be conveniently transported eastward or westward along the second mainline railway that runs through the North Broad Sea area.
For this reason, Astrakhan quickly developed into the most populous and economically significant city of the Lusha Federation Republic within a few short decades.
Astrakhan’s military value actually lies right here.
Control of Astrakhan allows for the easy capture of Baku to the south, seizing the largest oil field on the entire West Continent.
Moreover, Astrakhan’s chemical enterprises can be utilized.
As for transport, there’s even less to say.
Starting from Rostov, passing through Astrakhan, all the way to the seaport of East Ocean, the second mainline railway has a capacity nearly 80% of that of the first mainline and passes through even more cities, thus possessing strategic value on par with the first mainline railway.
Importantly, the second mainline railway primarily runs through the plains at the heart of the Giant Continent.
In other words, it’s better suited for Armored Forces operations.
Actually, this is the reason why the construction of this railway, capable of supporting an army of 4 million for combat, was delayed by 20 years.
And because of the 20-year delay, the last phase of the project still isn’t completed!
From a military perspective, or speaking from the standpoint of the Imperial Army, there was actually no desire to construct this railway.
According to strategic plans made by the Imperial Military, one mainline railway was sufficient, even if sea power would still be needed to assist during the counter-offensive phase.
Indeed, a strategic counter-offensive wouldn’t be launched before the maritime routes are secured.
Put another way, by the time the Eastern Group is capable of launching a strategic counter-offensive, it would surely have already gained control of sea power, eliminating worries about maritime transport.
From the perspective of economic construction, this railway actually holds even greater value.
There would be no Lusha Federation Republic today without the second mainline railway!
In fact, it was persistence by the Lusha Federation Republic that led to the second mainline railway’s existence, with the related funds also raised by the Lusha Federation Republic itself.
