Empire Conquest-Chapter 764 - 54 Southern Ring Plan_2

West Luosha lies directly to the west of the Tiaoman Empire!

Abandoning West Luosha would be akin to giving up the only strategic barrier outside our homeland.

It is for this reason that the West Continent Group, in its basic continental battlefield strategy, is actually divided into two parts, essentially two phases.

The strategy I mentioned earlier is actually the second phase.

The first phase involves assisting West Luosha in launching a strategic offensive.

Over the past several decades, headed by the Tiaoman Empire, the West Continent Group has deployed a massive ground force in West Luosha under the guise of occupation.

Among them, just the Tiaoman Army alone surpasses 500,000.

These army units are basically deployed on the second line of defense. They act as a strategic reserve in a strategic offensive. After West Luosha’s forces break through the Eastern Group’s front line, these units are then committed to the battle to widen the breach or to advance deeper, securing a greater victory.

Because over the past decades, West Luosha had consistently prepared for unification. Its million-strong army was always ready for battle without the slightest relaxation. Therefore, the strategic mobilization of the West Continent Group primarily referred to the mobilization actions of other member countries like the Tiaoman Empire, bringing the frontline troops into a state of readiness.

In the past month, the Tiaoman Empire had continuously strengthened its frontline deployments.

According to intelligence provided by Lin Shiping, over the past month, the Tiaoman Empire had been transporting main combat equipment and battle materials to the frontline.

It’s estimated, conservatively, that they could sustain the consumption of 500,000 ground troops for more than half a year.

Additionally, the Tiaoman Empire’s second-line troops had also completed mobilization, with total strength estimated between 800,000 to 1,000,000, capable of completing deployment within three months.

Other member countries of the West Continent Group had also essentially completed mobilization, with a total force of about 1,000,000 ready to be deployed.

Of course, this is only the current situation.

West Luosha was the first to initiate a full-scale war mobilization. Even by the most conservative estimates, after half a year, the total troop count would exceed 4,000,000, and additionally, they could mobilize a roughly similar number of paramilitary forces. Including the existing forces, the total strength would exceed 10,000,000 after half a year.

However, this was the limit for West Luosha.

After half a year, provided the mobilizations went smoothly, if other member countries had also launched full-scale war mobilizations on time, including paramilitary forces, the total troop strength of the West Continent Group could potentially exceed 25,000,000. Sadly, the likelihood of other member countries launching full-scale war mobilizations on time was virtually zero, especially those situated at the westernmost part of the continent such as Locke, Raleigh, and Sban, along with the seemingly distant Bulan Kingdom. It was nearly impossible for them to follow the plan for full-scale war mobilization, so the total troop strength of the West Continent Group would definitely not be this high after half a year.

In fact, there was no need to mobilize so many troops.

Modern warfare isn’t about sheer numbers of troops but rather the capacity dictated by logistics.

Moreover, the role of the Army had long since diminished significantly.

Clearly, the key was the resources that could be deployed.

According to the analysis of intelligence held by the Military Intelligence Bureau, the West Continent Group’s first-phase attack could last at most six months.

From this, it wasn’t difficult to deduce that the main strategic objective of the West Continent Group was actually to capture East Luosha.

As for continuing to advance eastwards, for instance, attacking the mainland of Liangxia Empire, it was obviously a case of willing spirit but insufficient strength.

Based on this deduction, Lin Shiping made a very bold conjecture.

The Beigu Group, led by the Newland Republic, would not partake in the war within the first six months, doing everything possible to delay until after six months.

Zhou Yongtao raised no objections to this.

The reasoning was simple; if the West Continent Group ceased operations after achieving limited results and the Eastern Group accepted the established facts, then the Beigu Group would have no reason to enter the war.

However, Lin Shiping also emphasized another point.

The Beigu Group might likely take this opportunity to expand their foothold on the World Island, strengthening regional influence, especially in the Southern Subcontinent.

Although the Southern Subcontinent was half a world away from the Newland Republic, it held a crucial position in the strategic considerations of the Newland Republic.

The Newland Republic supported Boi Country precisely to enhance its influence in the Southern Subcontinent.

Here, it involved the core strategy of the Beigu Group, commonly referred to as the "Southern Ring Plan."

Since the Newland Republic had never acknowledged it, nor had any other member of the Beigu Group, the existence of this plan was always a mystery.

For the Military Intelligence Bureau, it was clearly not so mysterious.

The plan indeed existed and had always been the core strategy of the Beigu Group.

There was just one key point.

When the Newland Republic shed its "defeated nation" status and was recognized by the Liangxia Empire, that is, when it established diplomatic relations with the Liangxia Empire, the global distribution of power was already complete. The World Island, centered on the Giant Continent and West Continent, was controlled by the Eastern Group and West Continent Group. Even the barren Xuan Continent was divided up, leaving the Beigu Group with extremely limited room for maneuver, almost entirely in peripheral areas.

Specifically, it was mostly the maritime territories in the Southern Hemisphere.

For the Newland Republic to break out and gain the same influence as the Liangxia Empire, the only option was to make moves in the remote areas of the Southern Hemisphere.

Thus, the first step for the Newland Republic was to raise the flag of Monroe Doctrine again and restore its dominance in the Nangu Region.

Afterward, the Newland Republic proceeded by advancing into the western region of the Xuan Continent, supporting the harsh apartheid policies implemented by the colonial descendants ruling South Xuan Country, and launching expansionist wars. It gained a foothold on the other side of the South Sunset Ocean, thus bypassing the Strait of Nara held by the West Continent Group and the Xifan Canal controlled by the Eastern Group. This provided a strategic passage into the Sunset Ocean and established maritime routes to the Southern Subcontinent.

On the East Ocean side, the Newland Republic continuously conducted strategic infiltration into the Southwest East Ocean region and even controlled many island nations, including New Zealand, through proxies.

Clearly, what was missing in this strategic circle around the Southern Hemisphere were the Southern Subcontinent and Aus.

Since Aus was under the direct control of the Liangxia Empire, the Newland Republic, not wanting to engage directly with the Liangxia Empire, could only make moves in the Southern Subcontinent.

Although strictly speaking, the Southern Subcontinent, being part of World Island, is in the Northern Hemisphere. Its strategic position, surrounded on three sides by the Fan Flame Ocean and blocked on the north by the Wuji Plateau, makes it appear more like a Southern Hemisphere country. It holds irreplaceable value in controlling the Southern Hemisphere circle.

Furthermore, the Southern Subcontinent had always been outside the strategic control system of the Liangxia Empire.

In this peripheral region with over eight hundred million people, only about one hundred million people in Bakistan were truly integrated into the Linagxia Empire’s strategic system.

Moreover, Meng Country on the eastern side could also be considered.

Dominantly led by Fanluo Country, which had about six hundred million people, it consistently resisted the Liangxia Empire. It sought to break free from the control of the Liangxia Empire and become the hegemon of the Southern Subcontinent, further dominating the entire region around the Fan Flame Ocean and eventually becoming a global power on par with the Liangxia Empire.

Both rounds of post-war national independence movements were largely associated with Fanluo Country’s quest for independence!

Also, in terms of population, only the unified Fanluo Country of the Southern Subcontinent, with its potential to challenge the seven hundred million-strong Liangxia Empire, was qualified to do so.

This was also why the Liangxia Empire was reluctant to get too involved in the conflicts of the Southern Subcontinent.

Originally, the Liangxia Empire had enough trouble dealing with the sixty million people of Boi Country. If it became embroiled in conflicts with the six hundred million people of Fanluo Country, the consequences would be unthinkable. Moreover, the entire Southern Subcontinent had over eight hundred million people, and ninety percent were impoverished.

This quagmire was enough to ruin the entire Liangxia Empire!

Obviously, this was also the reason why the Newland Republic targeted the Southern Subcontinent and was actively involved in the region.

To put it bluntly, no matter how chaotic the Southern Subcontinent became, it had minimal impact on the Newland Republic, given it was half a world away. Moreover, since the Newland Republic was not on World Island, it naturally did not care about happenings there.

However, should a large-scale war erupt in the Southern Subcontinent, the Liangxia Empire could definitely not remain uninvolved.

From another perspective, as long as the Liangxia Empire was mired in the quagmire of the Southern Subcontinent, it would definitely be unable to expand its influence in other directions.

For the Newland Republic, this was an excellent opportunity to regain control of the Howay Islands and Aus.

From this perspective, it would be surprising if the Newland Republic did not ignite the situation in the Southern Subcontinent after the West Continent Group declared war on the Eastern Group.

In the words of Lin Shiping, this was indeed the direction of greatest concern.