Munitions Empire

On the first day of December, the Shen Emperor awaited yet another birthday in the Northern Region of Ben Island. Once the dominator of the Mirage Country, he had now lost his grand palace.

In truth, the original Shen Emperor's palace wasn't all that luxurious, but it was certainly better than this hidden manor in the remote mountains.

Frankly, the conditions here are not too bad, because being far from the battlefield, the level of destruction is noticeably smaller. After all, the Great Tang Empire, no matter how lavish, wouldn't waste bombs aimlessly in the remote mountains.

Even though many exposed targets would suffer targeted attacks, most hidden small workshops, as well as some villages and towns, haven't been affected by the war.

The Shen Emperor sat by the table, looking at the messages sent back by Shenwu Ke from the Shen Capital, pondering unknown thoughts.

Standing beside him was Shen Wen Dabo, who had already heard the news that the Great Tang Empire would not spare him and Shenwu Ke. In actuality, he had accepted the fact of his impending death, for there are not many in this world who could attract the attention of the Great Tang Empire, and he found a sense of pride in it.

There was no electricity here, only kerosene lamps of the past, which provided poor lighting during the day and made the nighttime even more unbearable.

Those accustomed to modern life will only truly understand the misery and hardship of losing electricity once they've experienced it.

Even during the day, it wasn't bright here because the trees overhead blocked the sunlight. After all, this was a concealed estate, and using trees to block aerial views was the best way to ensure its safety.

Because of the shade, it's only possible to read by the window during the day. This environment made the Shen Emperor very uncomfortable, and the oppressive feeling soured his mood.

Shen Wen Dabo softly began to report on the situation in the Shen Capital: "General Ke is diligently defending the Shen Capital; the enemy's attack is extremely fierce, and some enemy forces have already entered the urban areas of the Shen Capital."

In fact, the situation in the Shen Capital was already dire. Many ministers who followed the Shen Emperor to the north were advising him to seek refuge on the Northern Island.

In their view, Ben Island could no longer hold out, and retreating to the Northern Island was the safest option.

As for the many Great Tang Empire destroyers at sea between Ben Island and the Northern Island, the danger of crossing the waters was a worry they had to disregard.

Indeed, the current situation was extremely perilous: if the orc troops abandoned their fierce attack on the Shen Capital and chose to advance north to where the Shen Emperor was, the goblins would be utterly incapable of resisting.

The products and materials that the northern workshops could supply were nearly exhausted, the recruited soldiers lacked training, and their numbers were too few to continue battling the orcs.

Once the orcs began to push northward, the goblins would only be able to conduct guerrilla warfare in the northern mountains for a period.

Shen Wenxin, standing beside the Shen Emperor, felt very anxious at this moment. This was because the Great Tang Empire seemed to be quite friendly towards him, as a diplomatic official of Mirage Country, even removing his name from the "doomed to die" list.

This made him feel fortunate, but it also put him in an awkward position in the eyes of many officials within Mirage Country. The Great Tang Empire insisted on the deaths of Shenwu Ke and Shen Wen Dabo, yet they allowed Shen Wenxin to live. This in itself represented many subtle implications.

Therefore, Shen Wenxin generally remained silent, listening as Shen Wen Dabo continued, "However, they don't seem to be in a hurry to completely surround the Shen Capital. There are still some pathways open to infiltrate the Shen Capital, but with high costs, it looks like they are deliberately leaving us to deplete us."

Avoiding the gaze of the Shen Emperor and Shen Wen Dabo, Shen Wenxin continued to pray that he could become invisible. True to his nature, the Shen Emperor did not require Shen Wenxin to speak, but instead asked, "Do we still have anything for them to deplete?"

Shen Wen Dabo shook his head, bitterly answering the Shen Emperor's question: "Only we know, we have nothing left to give to the Shen Capital. In fact, if they attack us here, we don't have enough troops to face them either."

"Shells and bullets can still be produced in small quantities, but as for other things, there's no way to manufacture them. Without sufficient electricity, there's no way to vent smoke..." As Prime Minister, he was well aware of how decayed Mirage Country had become. For a nation, it was nothing short of a disaster.

"In a whole month, we've only produced one Shireck 5 type tank, adding to the two from last month, making a total of three." The Shen Emperor's expression turned grim as he recalled the previous reports he had received!

Two tanks were produced by Mirage Country in the month before last, supplementing the 3rd Armored Division, and this month they had only managed one pathetic tank!

At this, the Shen Emperor stood up, walked to Shen Wen Dabo, nearly pressing his hand to his face, shouting loudly, "And the orc troops gained a whole armored division last month! Over 500 tanks! Even if they're bluffing, there are at least 200, right?"

"Two hundred! That's two hundred tanks! My loyal 3rd Armored Division only has two tanks! Two!" He raised two fingers, gesturing across Shen Wen Dabo's face!

He hadn't even mentioned the vast difference in quality between the two sides' tanks: the tanks produced by Mirage Country were Shireck 5 type, whose overall combat capability couldn't match the orcs' acquired type 4 tanks!

In fact, the Great Tang Empire indeed provided the orcs' 2nd Armored Division with more than 400 tanks, also offering some type 4 assault guns and Wild Bee Automatic Cannons.

These armored units granted the orc 2nd Armored Division formidable combat capabilities, easily crushing Mirage Country's 3rd Armored Division which had only two tanks.

Shen Wen Dabo awkwardly reminded his majesty the King, "Your Majesty, yesterday's battle report stated that the 3rd Armored Division lost all its tanks, and they were forced to retreat, abandoning their defensive line."

"They don't have a single one left now... ha ha... yesterday's report… both tanks were destroyed. The 3rd Armored Division no longer has tanks! What a joke, ha ha ha, ha ha ha." As the Shen Emperor spoke, he began to laugh, his laughter laced with bitterness and resentment, as well as madness and sorrow. He indeed had loyal and brave soldiers, but against a powerful enemy, it was all to no avail.

Not only had the 3rd Armored Division effectively become an infantry division, but the 1st Armored Division fared no better.

High-intensity battles had resulted in frightening losses for this armored division, with only a few dozen tanks remaining, and they lacked ammunition, lubricants, fuel, and various parts.

This logistic shortfall rendered a third of the remaining tanks unable to join the fight, and often soldiers from this armored division had to scavenge usable parts from wrecked tanks to make up the deficit.

To conserve ammunition, tanks generally carried only half their shells, so that if destroyed, at least fewer would be lost…

Because it was a defensive operation, tanks also carried less fuel whenever possible, dramatically increasing the goblins' tanks' anti-sympathetic detonation ability: with tanks frequently lacking shells or much fuel, they couldn't even catch fire.

Can you imagine such dire straits? A tank without the risk of sympathetic detonation, because it might have only a few shells… Surviving rates among Shen Country's tank crews have now increased significantly.

After being hit, they had enough time to bail out, and could even drag wounded crew away under their comrades' cover. This allowed the armored division's personnel to amass rich experience in bailing out and escaping.

Unfortunately, this experience wasn't much use, since Shen Country no longer had enough tanks to supply them, allowing them repeat the dangerous escape maneuver.

Now the 3rd Armored Division had retreated into the Shen Capital, effectively becoming an infantry division—although not even an infantry division really, as their strength was roughly equivalent to an enhanced regiment.

This level of strength was maintained only through preferential reinforcement, and if not for their valiant fighting style and the Shen Emperor's favor, they might now be down to a battalion.

Without the cover of the 3rd Armored Division on the flanks, Shen Army's outer defensive lines were lost at several times speed. The 1st Armored Division had to retreat, and the outer defense positions of the Shen Capital were basically occupied by the orcs.

Although the Shen Capital had been surrounded for quite some time, being utterly encircled, with not a drop of water leaking through, occurred approximately on the first day of December. Perhaps this was the most despairing birthday gift the Shen Emperor received.

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The second chapter will be presented tomorrow, no need for everyone to wait.