Empire Conquest-Chapter 763 - 54 Southern Ring Plan

He waited until midnight before Zhou Yongtao finally saw Lin Shiping and Qin Fenglie.

The situation was worse than imagined.

In the northwest, the key issue was not the Western Luosha Army already engaged in combat, but the strategic reserve force following behind, led by the Tiaoman military of the West Land Group.

The outcome of the attack, or rather how far it could advance, hinged on the strategic reserve force.

In the face of a modern defense system with great depth, even a powerful army could not break through the enemy’s lines. Constantly aggressive maneuvers were needed, along with the timely engagement of strategic reserves to reinforce the attack, ensuring the enemy had no time to bolster their defenses or adjust their deployment.

The problem was, no one could say for sure how many troops the West Land Group’s strategic reserve force had.

Fundamentally, this was also largely related to the West Land Group’s basic strategy on the continent, or the internal contradictions within the West Land Group itself.

From the day it was founded, Western Luosha insisted on maintaining the momentum of strategic offense, aiming to reclaim Eastern Luosha through aggression.

In a certain sense, the quest to achieve international national unity was precisely the legal basis for the existence of Western Luosha’s regime.

The same was true for the Eastern Luosha regime.

A few decades ago, right after the end of the last war, the political stance of the Western Luosha regime was not at all strange.

At that time, the population of Western Luosha was three times that of Eastern Luosha, its industrial output ten times greater, and its overall national strength more than a dozen times that of Eastern Luosha.

Crucially, the capital Mosa was located in Western Luosha; even though half of Mosa city was under the control of the Liangxia army, Mosa was also the nominal capital of Eastern Luosha.

Back then, Eastern Luosha was practically barren wasteland.

Although it possessed the largest oil field on the West Continent, eighty percent of its territory was desert and tundra.

The core region of Eastern Luosha was actually in the west, bordering the western bank of the Volga River close to Western Luosha, where eighty percent of its population and nearly all of its heavy industry were located, including the Baku oil field and the major grain-producing Caucasus region.

It’s fair to say that if it were not for the hundreds of thousands of occupying forces from the Liangxia Empire, the Western Luosha Army would have crossed the Volga River and united the entire territory shortly after the war.

Once the West Land Group was established, Western Luosha affirmed its strategic goal of national unification.

However, the problem was that, in terms of crucial core strength, the West Land Group was no match for the Eastern Group and could not support Western Luosha’s grand unification.

Moreover, geographic limitations were also a critical factor.

Western Luosha was the strategic forefront of the West Land Group on the continent, serving as the strategic barrier for the entire West Continent; thus, absolutely no mistakes could be tolerated.

For their own strategic security, and that of the Group, the Tiaoman Empire would absolutely not allow Western Luosha to wage a war of unification at will.

In summary, on this major issue, Western Luosha and the other member nations of the West Land Group, including the Tiaoman Empire, had very significant differences.

Precisely because of this, within a few decades after the war, Western Luosha established the largest and most comprehensive defense industry system within the West Land Group.

In terms of production capacity alone, Western Luosha’s military industry had long surpassed that of the Tiaoman Empire.

In terms of the Army, Western Luosha’s T-series tanks led the way, not only with the largest production in the West Land Group but also the most produced main battle tank globally. They also developed three generations of BMP series infantry fighting vehicles, long-range self-propelled artillery, and a diverse array of rocket artillery, equipping Western Luosha with a ground system capable of contending with the entire Eastern Group on its own.

Compared to this, the other nations of the West Land Group, even the Tiaoman Empire, were like chaff!

For the Air Force, Western Luosha’s fighters were all designed and produced according to wartime standards. Although their performance was slightly inferior, the cost-effectiveness was extremely high, allowing for mass production during war. Due to their low price, they were very popular on the international market. The MG series fighters alone sold well across dozens of countries and were involved in virtually all post-war regional conflicts, with especially outstanding performance.

Within the West Land Group, the only fighters that could contend with the MG series were perhaps Locke’s "Mirage" series.

Even though Western Luosha was almost an inland country with no need for a global Navy, they built a substantial fleet with submarines as the main force. Because of their low cost and ease of routine maintenance, Western Luosha’s submarines were successfully sold to dozens of countries. Additionally, they had a large arsenal of anti-ship missiles and missile boats suited for coastal activities, making them the top choice for many small and weak countries.

If it were coastal warfare, the Western Luosha Navy would definitely be a formidable force.

In a way, Western Luosha’s modernization was built around the military industry, achieving industrialization.

From another perspective, Western Luosha’s construction of the largest military industrial system within the West Land Group was significantly related to the lack of overall strength of the West Land Group.

Western Luosha’s strategy, in turn, held the West Land Group hostage.

Simply put, if Western Luosha adopted an offensive strategy after war broke out, the West Land Group could not start with a defensive posture from the beginning.

Crucially, the West Land Group could not afford to lose Western Luosha.

As already mentioned, Western Luosha was the West Land Group’s frontline defense.