Munitions Empire

Hezhe, Zhao Chen was in his own command center when he saw the loss report regarding his troops’ assault on the Fengjiang defense line.

In these past few days, it wasn’t that he wasn’t attacking earnestly; on the contrary, he was launching furious assaults on the Fengjiang defense line at any cost.

But if he could conquer any defense line at any cost, he would be the world’s number one War God! In reality, his military command talents might not even surpass those of General Feng Kezhi.

In the last two days, in order to break through Fengjiang’s defense line, he had already lost over 5000 soldiers, and these 5000 soldiers were the elite of the Dahua Empire!

It’s no joke—they were truly elite: the Armored Division equipped with Type 3 Tanks, the Main Force Division fully decked out in shining armor!

These troops were expensive to build and were also pillars within the military of the Dahua Empire, bearing the great hopes as the primary elite forces. Otherwise, these troops would not have braved the enemy’s artillery fire, fighting desperately for so many days.

These troops were originally prepared for the Great Tang Empire, but now they had been wasted on the battlefield of Fengjiang’s civil war. This made Zhao Chen’s heart ache tremendously and caused Shen Chuan to be extremely upset.

In fact, ever since Zhao Ji rushed back to the front lines, Dahua’s military offensive had never stopped. If Zhao Chen might still have reservations due to concern for his troops, then Zhao Ji certainly had no pity.

Under Zhao Ji’s supervision, the Dahua military exerted all their strength to attack the Fengjiang defense line, but even after more than ten days, they had not managed to advance even a step.

On one hand, it was because Fengjiang’s defensive line was too strong, and on the other hand, it was because the losses suffered by Dahua’s military were indeed huge.

If everything remained unchanged, the situation would still be advantageous to the Dahua Empire: despite the huge losses, it was clear that Fengjiang could not handle the losses as well.

But, could everything really go as the Dahua Empire wished?

“Your Highness…” An officer holding a report submitted by the lower ranks handed it to Zhao Chen: “There is some bad news.”

“Just read it! I haven’t heard any good news these days.” Zhao Chen waved his hand nonchalantly and instructed.

“Our military on the Fengjiang front has detected some Goblin troops from Mirage Country,” the officer succinctly reported the key content of the document.

“Ah… you are saying that Mirage Country has gotten involved?” Zhao Chen sighed deeply and looked towards the other person as he spoke.

The thing he feared the most had indeed happened. Although the Great Tang Empire did not wish to take part in the war personally, this did not mean that other countries would not get involved.

Even if it seemed that getting involved in the Dahua Empire’s internal conflict would not benefit these countries, with the Great Tang Empire pulling the strings, it was possible that some countries would be willing to join the fray for a quick profit.

“The broadcasts from Fengjiang don’t say that. They claim that these are Mercenaries fighting for free trade and that they do not represent Mirage Country,” the officer explained.

“It’s the same… It is just a verbal statement, giving us an explanation. I bet those Goblins are numbering units directly pulled from the regular military of Mirage Country,” Zhao Chen scoffed disbelievingly: “How many are there approximately?”

“The broadcast from Fengjiang says there are 100,000. They also say that 100,000 Dwarfs and 100,000 Elves are preparing to join the battle as well,” the officer continued to report the content of the broadcast.

Their channels for obtaining information about Fengjiang were limited, and Dahua Empire’s intelligence department was not particularly strong; against the intelligence department of the Great Tang Empire, it was practically paralyzed.

Thus, listening to Fengjiang’s broadcasts became an important means of intelligence collection: After all, various news from Fengjiang would be broadcasted to settle people’s hearts, and it was feasible for Dahua to directly use what they heard.

“It’s just a propaganda offensive. It would be good if there were even half that number.” Zhao Chen saw through it clearly: “But even 70 or 80 thousand people are enough for Fengjiang to hold on for a while longer.”

He had no doubt about the Great Tang Empire’s capabilities. Given the Great Tang’s transportation, Mirage Country’s troops only needed to land in the ports of Linshui or Beiyuan, and they could reach Fengjiang within a few days, much more efficient than the Dahua Empire’s operations.

Moreover, the military forces of Mirage Country, the Dwarfs, and the Elves were not weaker than those of the Dahua Empire—in fact, they might even be a bit stronger.

Under these circumstances, if they could extend Fengjiang’s lifeline, subsequent support would be endless! By then, for the Dahua Empire to hope for a quick resolution would truly be a joke.

In actuality, they were nearly becoming a joke: having launched futile attacks at the Fengjiang defense line for over 30 days, they had not succeeded in advancing even one kilometer.

Both sides were pulling back and forth on the battleground, with losses increasing by the day. Zhao Chen had already received several telegrams from Zhao Kai criticizing his indecisiveness. If it were not for Zhao Ji supervising on the side, Zhao Kai might have started to doubt whether Zhao Chen was making a wholehearted effort.

“Where is the Type 5 tank? Where is it?” Zhao Chen gritted his teeth and turned his head to ask Zhao Ji: “If it doesn’t arrive soon, it’ll be too late.”

Mentioning this matter, Zhao Ji found it quite embarrassing – during the development stage of the Type 5 tank, the main focus was on strengthening its armor, a common approach among various nations.

However, the resulting machines encountered some serious issues in actual use, the main one being transportation difficulties.

Tank units do not simply drive themselves to the battlefields, for if they did, the tracks would break down long before reaching their destination. Thus, tanks are mostly transported to the front lines by rail.

When designing the Type 5 tank, rail transportation was not taken into consideration, so transporting these heavy tanks by rail and over bridges was extremely problematic.

Their excessive weight made the transport of these steel behemoths extremely challenging, which is why they still have not arrived at the battlefield.

“It’s soon, the command headquarters of the heavy tank regiment has reached the front lines, and the last batch of tanks has just passed Hezhe,” Zhao Ji said with some embarrassment.

A tank regiment, all in all, has only about 90 tanks. Up to now, two companies haven’t reached the front lines yet; it’s quite a miracle to even speak of.

“No more waiting! Send a tank battalion up first! At all costs, break through Fengjiang’s line of defense! Push the battlefront to the outskirts of Fengjiang! If we keep stalling like this, we are finished!” Zhao Chen commanded furiously.

Seeing Zhao Chen really panicking, Zhao Ji was secretly pleased – he truly hoped to reach Fengjiang and eliminate that bastard Zhao Yu. The outcome of the war didn’t matter, Zhao Yu’s death was what was most important!

Just at this moment, another officer hurried in, handing Zhao Ji and Zhao Chen a telegram: “Your Highness… this is the latest news, sent from the Imperial Capital.”

Upon reading the telegram, Zhao Chen’s defenses were utterly blown, and he cursed out loud: “Xiong Biao, that damned fool! He’s not even worthy of licking my boots! Now he’s a lapdog for others, and he dares to bite me!”

Zhao Ji also turned pale, unaware of precisely what Butcher Fighters were, but the words ‘equipped by the Great Tang Empire’ he saw very clearly.

At this moment, Chu Country actually took the lead in donating 100 Butcher Fighters to Fengjiang, and in addition, 100 Yir Attack Aircraft… this was tantamount to roasting the Dahua Empire over an open flame!

The Dahua Empire’s Air Force was not particularly strong to begin with, and now that Fengjiang’s military got hold of Great Tang Empire’s equipment, wouldn’t they just dominate the Dahua Empire’s Air Force on the ground?

The most infuriating part is, once the Great Tang Empire’s weapons appear on the battlefield, how could one distinguish whether these weapons were indeed aid from the Great Tang Empire?

By then it wouldn’t just be 100 Butcher Fighters, maybe 200, maybe 300! If that time comes, what should the Dahua Empire do?

“That damned fool, Xiong Biao!” Zhao Ji roared uncontrollably: “Isn’t he afraid that one day when the Dahua Empire rises, we will come to settle this old score with him?”

“Order the front-line troops to immediately prepare their anti-air camouflage! Have the second-line troops conceal all material storage sites! Inform the anti-aircraft artillery units to watch out for enemy air force…” Knowing that his side may soon face a strong enemy air force, Zhao Chen immediately issued a series of commands.

He understood that once this batch of aircraft arrived in Fengjiang, Fengjiang would definitely deploy a large-scale air force operation. By that time, Fengjiang’s air force could potentially dominate the entire sky.

By then, launching any significant ground offensive would be contingent on Fengjiang’s air force’s whims.

So, he immediately turned back to his subordinates: “Pass down my orders! This afternoon! Double the scale of the attack! Send a regiment up! If that’s not enough, send an entire division! We must break through Fengjiang’s defenses before we lose air superiority!”

He knew that if he didn’t give Zhao Kai an explanation now, as the situation became more complicated, he would no longer have a chance to account for it to Zhao Kai.

With this in mind, he suddenly realized that the issue wasn’t just related to his own front and immediately spoke up: “Remind Zhao Zheng! He must hold onto Shanping, not retreat a single step!”

He felt vulnerable despite his strong forces here, and one can imagine how much pressure Zhao Zheng was under, facing a fierce attack of 200,000 men from Fengjiang.

If there’s any issue with Shanping, Guiguang would be in danger – the worst fear is that if Guiguang falls, Sword Pavilion and Nanku would be indefensible.

With such a chain reaction of impacts, it would mean that the Dahua Empire would lose around one quarter of its territory, including the strategic Longxing Land; the Dahua Empire would be finished.

With this in mind, Zhao Chen hated Zhao Yu even more. If it weren’t for this fool obsessed with the struggle for imperial succession, the Dahua Empire wouldn’t be facing such difficulties!

——-

Two updates for today, time to rest.