Empire Conquest-Chapter 768 - 56 Shattered Illusions_2

At least we wouldn’t have to deploy too many troops in the North Sunset Ocean to keep the Land Heart Sea stable.

Let’s not forget, if the Bulan Kingdom hadn’t taken action in the North Sunset Ocean and dispersed the Imperial Navy’s forces, the Raleigh Kingdom and Sban Kingdom certainly wouldn’t dare to act rashly in the Land Heart Sea and take on several large carriers and dozens of battleships of the Imperial Land Heart Sea Fleet.

The key point is still political significance.

Bulan Kingdom is a member state of the West Continent Group. If Bulan Kingdom had not declared war on the Eastern Group, then the "always outward" slogan would have become meaningless.

Other member states would inevitably be influenced.

In addition, the Bulan Kingdom is also the link and bridge between the West Continent Group and the Beigu Group.

If Bulan Kingdom remained neutral, even if not formally declaring war against the Eastern Group, it would certainly have an impact on the Beigu Group across the Sunset Ocean.

Thus, stabilizing the Bulan Kingdom was the empire’s top priority after the war began. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

Lin Shiping just briefly introduced the situation.

In his words, the efforts made by the Military Intelligence Bureau in Bulan Kingdom had basically been declared a failure, or at least they hadn’t achieved any substantial result.

"So you mean, the Bulan Authority is about to declare war on us?"

"It’s uncertain now," Lin Shiping sighed, then added, "We’re still in a ground war, and Bulan Kingdom’s contributions on ground are not significant, so there’s no need for them to join the war immediately. In my opinion, Bulan Authority might want to wait and see for a while."

Zhou Yongtao pondered for a moment before saying, "Your judgment seems overly optimistic."

Lin Shiping didn’t respond; he indeed was a bit optimistic, or rather, he appeared optimistic in front of Zhou Yongtao, especially since all the news recently had been bad.

"Just within this single day, apart from Western Luosha and Tiaoman Empire, the other major member states of the West Continent Group have either declared war on us or are about to do so. If the Bulan Kingdom is still undecided, would the Raleigh Kingdom and Sban Kingdom be so active?"

"Newland Republic."

Zhou Yongtao nodded slightly and said, "Under the current circumstances, this is a reasonable cause, but we can’t rule out the possibility of Bulan Kingdom declaring war on us soon."

"Even if they declare war on us, the impact wouldn’t be too significant."

"There’s a very critical issue here, I wonder if you have considered it."

Lin Shiping furrowed his brows, waiting for Zhou Yongtao to continue.

"It’s related to Beigu Group, as you initially mentioned."

"What’s the connection?"

Zhou Yongtao smiled, the implication couldn’t be clearer. Such questions should be posed by him, and the head of the intelligence agency should provide the answers.

"There indeed could be such a possibility," Lin Shiping quickly realized and said, "Since the formation of the three-way balance, Bulan Kingdom has always been the bridge between West Continent Group and Beigu Group. If Newland Republic has already decided to participate in the war but just needs time to prepare, as a guarantee for their participation, they might let Bulan Kingdom make their stance clear first. Conversely, we can also deduce from this whether the Newland Republic will join the war."

"Even if the Newland Republic does not immediately join the war, Bulan Kingdom declaring war on us would still have a huge impact."

Lin Shiping nodded and couldn’t help but sigh.

The deployment of troops in the North Sunset Ocean by the Empire, or rather the influence in that direction, had long been on the decline, and they might not be able to take action in time.

Lin Shiping didn’t continue the conversation, simply because this issue wasn’t his responsibility.

Strictly speaking, the situation in the North Sunset Ocean-related to the Navy, and it was their mess!

Just a few days ago, Zhou Yongtao personally ordered the North Sunset Ocean Sub-fleet stationed at Scapa Naval Base to withdraw, temporarily abandoning the only military base in the North Sunset Ocean. Although a few submarines remained and adjustments in deployment continued to allow the South Sunset Ocean Sub-fleet to send submarines northward and enhance the military presence in the North Sunset Ocean, due to logistical capacity limitations, the Imperial Navy’s military presence in the North Sunset Ocean could only be maintained for a few months. Once these submarines ran out of fuel and ammunition, the Imperial Navy would have nothing left in the North Sunset Ocean.

"Anyway, we need to clarify the stance of Bulan Kingdom as soon as possible."

"I have already made arrangements."

Zhou Yongtao simply nodded without saying much.

After all, the relationship with Bulan Kingdom was largely determined by the Navy, or rather, it was related to the strategic stance advocated by the Navy.

Among them, Zhou Yongtao was one of the main promoters.

Over the past few decades, the Empire had strived to maintain its relationship with the Bulan Kingdom primarily to retain the sole naval base on the North Sunset Ocean, ensuring the status of the "global navy" and using sea control to curb both the West Continent Group and the Beigu Group.

To put it bluntly, it was about maintaining a military presence in the North Sunset Ocean.

But the question is, how significant was the military presence in the North Sunset Ocean?

Before establishing diplomatic relations with the Newland Republic, it had some political and military significance, namely, by controlling the sea control of the North Sunset Ocean to prevent the countries of the West Continent from interacting with the Newland Republic, thus isolating and containing the Newland Republic. However, after establishing relations with the Newland Republic, that is, recognizing the Newland Republic, the sea control of the North Sunset Ocean became a pure burden for the Empire.

Strictly from a benefits perspective, the Empire should have withdrawn from the North Sunset Ocean long ago.

However, the result was that, with the persistence of the Imperial Navy, Scapa Bay was still retained.

To a large extent, the relationship between the Empire and the Bulan Kingdom was dominated by this naval base.

Initially, the Bulan Kingdom rented the base to the Empire to counterbalance the Tiaoman Empire, gaining capital to resist the Tiaoman Empire and thus enjoying a special status within the West Continent Group dominated by Tiaoman, becoming the most special member of the group. But after getting closer to the Newland Republic, Bulan Kingdom no longer needed to rely on the Liangxia Empire and thus hoped to reclaim the naval base ahead of schedule.

Over the past few decades, Scapa Bay had become a thorn between the two.

According to external comments, without this thorn, Bulan Kingdom would prefer to act as a mediator among the three major groups and consequently reap the most benefits.

Unfortunately, under the firm opposition of the Imperial Navy, the Imperial Authority was still unwilling to give up Scapa Naval Base.

Originally, when deciding whether to continue leasing Scapa Naval Base, the decisive factor was Zhou Yongtao, who was still serving in the Navy and had already become a Navy Marshal.

This problem has come full circle, and naturally, no one else can be blamed.

After talking for a while, as it was almost time for the late-night snack, and when Lin Shiping prepared to take his leave, Luo Youbin rushed in and entered the study directly after knocking.

He wouldn’t be so anxious if it wasn’t extremely important.

After nodding at Lin Shiping as a greeting, Luo Youbin walked straight to Zhou Yongtao and whispered in his ear.

Before he finished speaking, Zhou Yongtao’s face had already turned very ugly.

When he finished speaking, Zhou Yongtao slightly waved his hand.

Although he hesitated, apparently wanting to ask Lin Shiping to stay for the late-night snack, Luo Youbin didn’t dare to delay and immediately left the study.

Lin Shiping didn’t immediately ask what had happened, as it must be something very serious for Zhou Yongtao himself to tell him.

After a long silence, Zhou Yongtao finally sighed heavily.

"Our concerns have turned into reality."

Lin Shiping was initially startled, not quite understanding which concern Zhou Yongtao was referring to since there were indeed too many things to worry about at the moment.

"Just now, the Bulan Fleet has entered Scapa Naval Base."

"What?" Lin Shiping almost jumped up.

"If there are no surprises, the Bulan Authority will declare war on us within a few hours."

Lin Shiping exhaled, then closed his eyes.

This was indeed unexpected.

The key issue was that Bulan Kingdom sent the fleet into Scapa Naval Base before formally declaring war, which legally amounted to a war without declaration.

Of course, strictly speaking, it was not a sneak attack.

Bulan Kingdom was a member of the West Continent Group, and most countries in the group had already declared war on the Eastern Group. Therefore, based on the principle of collective defense, Bulan Kingdom was already at war with the Eastern Group and Liangxia Empire, and there was no requirement to declare war before commencing hostilities.

Moreover, Scapa Bay originally belonged to Bulan Kingdom and was only leased to Liangxia Empire, and Bulan Kingdom had been seeking to reclaim this military port.

However, after Bulan Kingdom entered the war, the fantasy of preventing a Global War from erupting completely burst!