Chapter 1601: Prelude to War

After the Prime Minister walked out of the Trianon Palace, he headed straight for the home of Duke Harvey.

Louis XV had already given his approval regarding the matter of attacking Australia.

They had to take action immediately.

The moment the Prime Minister arrived at Duke Harvey's castle, he saw him looking leisurely and relaxed, as if he had long since cast the matter of Australia to the back of his mind.

"Oh, Prime Minister, you are not accompanying His Majesty now that he is awake; what are you doing here at my place?" Duke Harvey said enthusiastically upon seeing the Prime Minister.

The Prime Minister smiled and said: "The matter of attacking Australia has been approved by His Majesty."

"We must take action immediately."

Upon hearing this news, Duke Harvey was taken aback, then immediately revealed a look of shock: "Our cowardly Majesty agreed?"

The Prime Minister nodded heavily.

Duke Harvey gave a bold laugh: "This is truly good news."

"Have they been notified? We need to draw up a plan immediately."

The Prime Minister nodded: "Not yet. I cannot stay long; see you at the conference hall."

Harvey said in a deep voice: "Good!"

The two men went separately to notify the other ministers, and soon they gathered in the French Conference Hall.

In the conference hall, a map from Longyan to Australia was hanging.

It was just that on the Longyan map, there was only an outline; they knew absolutely nothing about the situation inside.

The power of France had no Method to detect the situation inside Longyan at all.

But for other places, such as Indonesia and elsewhere, it was extremely detailed.

Australia was even more so.

The Prime Minister sometimes wondered, since Australia and Longyan shared the same roots, why Longyan had achieved such perfection in information control.

The Geography and intelligence of Australia were like a lamb without secrets, all exposed before them.

Duke Harvey also came from a military background; he looked at the map and said in a deep voice: "According to our intelligence in Australia, there are currently as many as 150,000 Longyan troops stationed in Australia."

"The number is not large, but it is not small either. The terrain of Australia is flat, with at most some hills and not many mountain peaks, which is suitable for army operations."

"Here."

Harvey pointed to a mountain range on the map of Australia in the southeast that almost traversed the entire country.

"According to intelligence, this is the most suitable place for living in Australia's climate and environment, and Xie Fang and his Empire were established along this southeastern coastline."

"Because important cities are concentrated on this coastline, plus they rely on the mountain range as a natural barrier, only two choices are left to us."

"One is to land from the southeastern coastline, but it will come at a heavy price."

"The other is to land from other ports, but due to the mountain range and climate, this provides Xie Fang with an almost impregnable natural barrier."

"The mountains and dense jungles will hinder our march."

Harvey said again: "Regarding the terrain of Australia, in my view, we need to proceed step by step and fight steadily. Moreover, for us to dispatch the navy directly from France to reach Australia, we need to bypass Africa, enter from the Cape of Good Hope of Africa, and enter the Pacific Ocean."

"The time and route are too long; we cannot be sure how many troops we need to dispatch to be able to occupy Australia."

"I suggest first occupying the surrounding islands of Australia, adopting a strategy of surrounding the islands, and then nibbling away at Australia bit by bit."

The crowd pondered for a moment and raised a Bitter Remonstrance: "The combat effectiveness of the Longyan Fleet is even more formidable than our French Fleet."

"If we adopt the strategy of surrounding the islands, we do not have any advantage."

"Moreover, the area of Australia is huge; if we adopt the strategy of surrounding the islands, how many troops will we have to send out?"

"Does our France still have so many troops now?"

Harvey shook his head, pointed at the map, and said calmly: "We only need to occupy the key islands of Australia to"

"achieve a blockade."

"Just as I said before, the country established by Xie Fang is currently entrenched along the entire southeastern coastline, and other places..."

"We only need to control the entire southeastern coastline to cut off Australia's external connections."

"As for the warships you mentioned, Xie Fang possesses Longyan's Yinzhou ships; we have long since arranged people in Australia, and they will be responsible for those Yinzhou ships."

The crowd fell into deep thought.

This was indeed a good plan.

The Prime Minister looked at Harvey and said in a deep voice: "But we in France do not have that much time now. The strategy of surrounding the islands is very good, but we need a faster way."

"I propose establishing a foothold and then forcibly landing, utilizing the advantage of our French army to quickly occupy the Australian capital."

Harvey looked at the Prime Minister deeply and did not refute his plan.

He could only say: "Very well."

Seeing Harvey agree, the Prime Minister said firmly: "Since the strategy has been decided, then everyone, start taking action."

"For this war, Duer will serve as the naval commander, and Duke Harvey will be the commander-in-chief..."

After the order was issued.

The French troops acted quickly.

It did not take much time before the French navy had already set sail.

And at this time, Xie Fang was in Australia.

At this moment, according to the seasons of Longyan, it should be winter, but Australia was bright and sunny.

Xie Fang was lying comfortably on the beach, with a standard beauty from Australia by his side, wearing revealing clothing.

He looked at the beauty and smiled.

He pulled her into his arms.

In these days in Australia, Xie Fang, an emperor who had originally wanted to govern diligently, had completely relaxed at this moment.

He completely lacked his former ambition and high aspirations.

Australia's development was decent at the moment, but it was not Longyan.

As the former Crown Prince of Longyan, Xie Fang naturally wanted to return to Longyan in his heart, but he could no longer go back to the Longyan of today.

His abilities were not worth mentioning in front of Liu Zheng.

Rather than thinking about those unhappy things, it was better to continue enjoying his current life as an emperor.

What he could not obtain in Longyan.

He would obtain it all in Australia.

Not long after, Xie Fang left, feeling satisfied.

Watching Xie Fang, who now only knew how to indulge in pleasure, the Prime Minister sighed and shook his head.

When Xie Fang first arrived here, he had still been full of ambition and high aspirations.

But ever since Xie Fang hurried back from Longyan, he had completely degenerated like this.

Although everything in Australia appeared calm and peaceful for now, the underlying immigration issues and the military leasing issues were in urgent need of resolution.

Furthermore, the Prime Minister had received news from Longyan that the Liangzhou Laboratory was currently working on some unknown, special project, and it was said that many areas in Liangzhou had been sealed off.

The Prime Minister looked at Xie Fang and offered a blunt Admonishment: "Your Majesty must not continue to degenerate; we still need to return to Longyan."

Hearing this, Xie Fang could not help but laugh; returning to Longyan—that statement was nothing but a load of nonsense here!