Chapter 703: The wolf in front pretends to sleep to lure the enemy

Late October.

The Federal Second Fleet, which has been sailing for nearly a month, is sailing on the sea along the established route in an orderly manner. This is almost the best season of the year. There are no storms at sea and it is not too cold. The wind is cool and pleasant. The unique marine climate makes the cold come later, and winter will not come until December.

That was the time when they were about to land on the land of Yan State. For this reason, the more than 700 warships that set sail had already prepared warm winter clothing, which was enough to cope with the cold and fight in winter.

At this moment, on the main ship [Steel Bone], Xia Liyang, the commander-in-chief of the Second Fleet, was looking at the sea from afar. The days of sea voyages had made him look forward to the day of landing. Coming from the army, this was his first time to carry out an ocean voyage. Compared with fighting at sea, he had much more confidence in fighting on land. The Second Fleet was loaded with a large number of guns and its ammunition reserves were countless.

However, compared to these weapons, the privates on the ship are Xia Liyang's greatest source of confidence. This is the first time that the Federation has deployed overseas colonies, and its importance overrides all domestic affairs. Therefore, all those who go on this expedition are elite soldiers. The musketeers are the best marksmen in the country, and the gunners are all veterans.

All of them possess excellent combat qualities. No matter what kind of geographical environment or how many troops they face after landing in Yan State, Xia Liyang has reason to believe that his troops can defeat them swiftly and capture all coastal areas in the southern border of Yan State within a few months.

Of course, the prerequisite for achieving all this is that the First Fleet can clear the waters of Yan State and provide conditions for its landing.

It has been four months since the first fleet set out. If nothing unexpected happens, they must have arrived in Yan State by now and completed the campaign against the Yan State navy.

This should be correct, there is absolutely no possibility of failure, Xia Liyang was thinking so, but when he glanced casually at the sea, he saw a blurry black spot.

At this time, Chief of Staff Humphrey was trotting over from the upper deck:

"Sir, a fleet is returning along this route."

Xia Liyang nodded slightly, his expression calm: "It's been more than four months, it's not surprising that the fleet is returning."

"Let's get closer to see which country's fleet it is and what kind of sailing formation it is in."

"Yes, sir," Humphrey agreed.

After a while, as the distance shortened and the field of vision became clearer, Humphrey put down the telescope in his hand and said:

"Sir, it's the flag of Shenglu. It's their fleet."

Xia Liyang was still looking through the telescope, and he said, "Well, there are quite a few warships, and there doesn't seem to be anything unusual at the moment. It should be a normal return."

Humphrey continued, "If we return normally, it means the naval battle with Yan Country is over. Why don't the Shenglu people stay in the waters of Yan Country?"

Xia Liyang said calmly, "Who knows what Figus has arranged? Maybe he will go back and replace another fleet to carry out the subsequent operations on Yan Country's homeland. This fleet should be mainly composed of navy and may not be suitable for land warfare."

At this point, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, and then he said: "This is the brilliance of the emperor."

"When other countries need to change their military forces to carry out subsequent operations, our Federation can perfectly connect with the Navy. When we arrive at the mainland of Yan Country, we will be able to take over the war."

“War should be fought swiftly, giving the enemy no time to react before their bodies are run over.”

Humphrey nodded and said, "Sir, I think we need to contact this fleet to find out the situation on the front line."

Xia Liyang agreed with this: "Well, at present, we have only seen the fleet of Shenglu coming back. If the fleets of Sarri and Xiongli did not appear later, then the people of these two countries should have landed with our First Fleet."

At this point, he chuckled.

"The Emperor said that the Leon continent is headed by the Kingdom of Isari, whose national strength is so strong that even the neighboring countries of Shenglu and Hungary combined cannot match it. Among these two countries, Shenglu is slightly inferior to Hungary. Their emperor Figus is a weak and incompetent man with no opinion of his own. Isabella can order him around at will. Now that these Shenglu people are the first to return, it just proves that their ability is limited to this."

"Once the Yan Kingdom's colonization plan is successfully completed, I think the territory of the Feni Continent will have to be redivided, and the Shenglu people should give us the territory they occupy."

Hearing this, Humphrey also chuckled and said, "That will be in a few years."

"Yan Country has a vast territory and a large population. It will take a lot of energy to completely occupy it."

Xia Liyang's eyes were stern, and he said in a cold voice: "With our lightning attack, I believe that it will take less than a year and a half for us to capture all of that place."

"They will eventually become slaves to our control, just like those weak resistance fighters on our continent."

"Yes, sir!"

The Second Fleet continued to sail forward at a steady speed. More than half an hour later, the Rose Fleet, which was coming from the opposite direction, took the initiative to give way and slowly approached in a staggered formation. The Second Fleet also slowed down its speed under Xia Liyang's order.

Seeing that there was nothing unusual with the Rose Fleet, Xia Liyang didn't think much about it and raised the flag for contact. The Rose Fleet agreed soon after. Then, after the distance was shortened to a certain extent, the escort warship took the initiative to approach the Rose Fleet and began to contact it.

In less than half an hour, the warships that had contacted returned to the Second Fleet, while the Rose Fleet continued to sail forward, staggered with the Second Fleet and continued on its return voyage.

"How is it? What do the people of Shenglu say?"

On the [Steel Bone], Xia Liyang looked at the major of the escort warship who came to contact them and said.

The major looked pleased and replied, "Sir, everything is going as planned."

"The encirclement and suppression campaign against Yan Country has achieved a complete victory. Yan Country's sea defense line has been completely destroyed. Seven to eight hundred Yan Country warships have been sunk, and our First Fleet has captured more than three hundred Yan Country warships."

At this point, he pursed his lips and said, "The Shenglu people seem a little unhappy, because in this battle our First Fleet made the greatest contribution and achieved the greatest results."

Hearing this, Xia Liyang's face also showed joy, and he turned his head to look at Humphrey beside him.

The major continued, "The Shenglu people said that after the Yan Kingdom's coastal defense was completely defeated, the coalition forces immediately launched a landing operation and captured the Yan Kingdom's South Port after paying a certain price. After the South Port was lost, the Yan people began to withdraw their front line inland."

"It was at this time that the Shenglu people returned."

"That's all the Shenglu people said. Everything was as we expected. As expected, there were no accidents."

After he finished speaking, Xia Liyang laughed and said, "Of course there won't be any accidents."

"With four countries forming fleets to launch a joint attack, how could a mere Yan Country possibly stop them?"

"If this force is heading for the Sari Kingdom, I think the Sari Kingdom will have a headache."

This joke made several officers present chuckle. After hearing the news, they now felt refreshed and their expressions were particularly relaxed.

Xia Liyang continued, "In the battle of the South China Sea, the Yan people relied on the geographical advantages and used some tricks to win the battle."

"But can such a victory be replicated again?"

"You see, after we really started, they were completely defeated, their coastal defenses were completely destroyed, and they even lost their ports. They were completely powerless to stop us."

Humphrey smiled and said, "Now that they have retreated inland, they will be more difficult to stop when we arrive."

Xia Liyang nodded and said, "Of course."

"I can make a bold prediction." He narrowed his eyes slightly and then said in a loud voice:

"Before March next year, we will be able to capture their capital and their emperor!"

"Hahahaha." Waves of laughter rang out, and the air was filled with a happy atmosphere.