Munitions Empire

Outside Fengjiang City, in a forested area, the ground was littered with bomb craters of all sizes; trees lay toppled in disarray, mixed with some fragmented corpses.

Walking out of this forest, one could see the smoke-laden district of Fengjiang City in the distance. It appeared as if it was ablaze on the horizon.

The Tang Army had dropped at least 3,000 aerial bombs here, destroying a large number of buildings within the city district.

Thousands upon thousands of Dahua people were leaving the city that was no longer liveable; it had essentially become one massive barracks.

General Feng Kezhi was in a covert underground bunker in the suburbs, looking at the map and witnessing the fine line inching closer to the district of Fengjiang City.

This line represented the Tang Army's troops, which were rapidly nearing Fengjiang City. The hundreds of thousands of troops he had deployed here, in the end, had failed to halt the advance of the Tang Army.

What was it to be the strongest infantry on the ground? The fierce Qin Army, combined with the tens of thousands of Dahua troops, could not stop the Tang Army that was at a clear numerical disadvantage.

"South Forest Camp must hold! If we lose that, I want the commander to bring me his head!" Feng Kezhi waved his hand irritably, dismissing the officer who had come to request reinforcements.

He had already sent 10,000 men to that location, but in just the span of an afternoon, these 10,000 had been decimated and forced to retreat for reorganization.

The Tang Army's artillery seemed to be squandered without concern for cost, which was completely different from their previous tactical approach!

The Tang Army's past shelling was very precise; upon acquiring the enemy's coordinates, they would launch a brief yet highly accurate barrage. After causing considerable casualties with a few well-placed shots, they would immediately cease fire and search for the next opportunity.

This tactic was extremely effective, with immense suppressive and deterrent power, and it caused significant casualties, making it difficult for the Dahua troops to adapt.

But this time, the Tang Army's tactics seemed to have reversed, closely resembling the artillery tactics used by the Dahua Empire: they amassed a large amount of artillery, without verifying coordinates, and upon suspecting Dahua troops in a particular area, they would immediately fire sustained barrages for suppression.

Countless shells pounded the Dahua troops' positions without restraint, leaving the adeptly camouflaged Qin Army dazed and disoriented.

The skillfully arranged crossfire positions set up by the Qin Army were not designed to withstand such intense artillery fire. So, once the Tang Army began its relentless bombardment, the Qin Army's intricate positions became obsolete.

This was the epitome of unreasonable coverage fire, the legendary "If you're rich, bomb them out!" Under the Tang Army's relentless artillery pressure, their advance was unstoppable, and by the afternoon they had already approached the district of Fengjiang City.

"It's been confirmed, the attacking force isn't the 1st Armored Division of the Tang Army; it's, it's the previously undistinguished... the, the 7th Infantry Army." An intelligence officer burst into the command center, reporting to a waiting Feng Kezhi.

"The 7th Infantry Army?" Feng Kezhi felt his mouth go dry; he truly had not expected an inconspicuous unit to possess such formidable combat power.

What he didn't know was that this infantry army was expanded from the Tang Army's 7th Infantry Division, which had been formed just before the outbreak of the war, and had not really seen any major battles.

Their most notable combat history was when the predecessor, the 7th Infantry Division, had participated in operations against Qi Country. Compared to such distinguished units like the 1st Armored Division of the Tang Army, they did indeed seem rather green.

"Yes, the 7th Infantry Army. This unit's main force had previously been working on dyke construction near Tongcheng and had only recently assembled and reached the front line," explained the intelligence officer. "The commander is someone named..."

The intelligence officer from the intelligence department did not finish his sentence, as looking up the names of many Tang Army commanders was in fact a waste of time.

Those names that weren't John or Tom were common, and with records as blank as a sheet of paper before, left the upper echelons of Dahua almost to the point of breaking down.

Everyone initially wanted to ascertain the character and commanding style of the opposing commander, to understand what level they were at, what kind of battles they had fought before... in short, to gain some understanding of the adversary, right?

It was like when armies clashed, Xiahou Dun waving his sword at the front, declaring his name, and then the opponent in silver helmet and armor loudly announcing, "I am Zhao Zilong from Changshan!" And then, after a fierce skirmish, it would seem like a well-matched fight.

But it seemed that the Great Tang Kingdom simply didn't have what you'd call famous generals of the era; inquiries always led to Zhang San, Li Si, and Wang Er Mazi—utterly nameless.

If these obscure generals had performed poorly or had mediocre military achievements, that would have been the end of it, merely suggesting that the Tang Country had no famous generals.

But the problem was that these Zhang San and Li Si were one more formidable than the other, one more difficult to deal with than another—effectively making the various levels of Dahua Empire generals look like complete fools.

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It should be noted, the three most renowned generals previously acknowledged by the Tang Army were Redman, Strauss, and Bolton. Among these three, two had achieved their impressive reputations in Dorne.

However, it wasn't until Dahua Empire actually engaged in battle with the Tang Army that General Feng Kezhi realized there was another general in Tang Country with a less prominent reputation—Tagg. This elder brother had always been guarding Tang Mo's home, which seemed to place him in an even higher position than the other officers.

"I understand now," General Feng Kezhi sighed once more, then muttered to himself as if mocking his own predicament, "It's just another graduate from the Great Tang Military Academy, after all."

He had gotten used to it recently, accustomed to those damned young officers who effortlessly penetrated the defenses he had painstakingly established. Then, upon investigation, he discovered the opponent was merely ranked 79th in the second batch of graduates from the Great Tang Military Academy...

Now, General Feng Kezhi even considered enrolling himself, to attend that cursed Great Tang Military Academy for some refresher courses, to personally understand why all the graduates from this school were so fierce!

If he knew that these academy graduates were trained daily to simulate battles among themselves—pitting each other against "aliens" enhanced tenfold—he would probably be spitting blood in frustration.

After all, these were individuals who were nurtured by instructors with "supersonic airplanes," "tanks capable of night combat," "submarines faster than ships," and "artillery shells with eyes." Hence, to these academy graduates, the enemies on today's battlefield were nothing more than child's play.

"This time it's really not the case. It's said that this officer is one of the old men under Count Fisheo, previously the second-in-command in Fisheo's Northern Ridge Legion. He's already over fifty years old this year, sporting a full beard."

"Ah..." General Feng Kezhi sighed yet again, offering no further comment.

As he sighed, an Air Force Commander hurried in, stood at attention, saluted, then lowered his voice to deliver some bad news, "Report! Great General! The message from Sword Pavilion has come in, the planes that took off to bomb the southern oil fields have almost been completely destroyed."

"What?" General Feng Kezhi was shocked, as he was well aware of the scale of this operation. The Dahua Air Force had amassed more than 400 planes at Sword Pavilion—how could they have been completely destroyed?

"Only 60 planes returned to base, and nearly all of them were damaged. Of the 100 new model fighter jets that provided escort, only 7 returned. The bomber units suffered heavy losses." The Air Force officer explained with a grim expression, "His Royal Highness the Prince says, in the short term, an air raid on the southern oil fields is nearly impossible now."

The "His Royal Highness the Prince" he mentioned was Prince Zhao Chen, who was in charge of defensive operations at Sword Pavilion. Given his assessment, it seemed the situation with the air force there was indeed dire.

"Send a telegram to His Royal Highness the Prince, earnestly requesting him to put the bigger picture first, and to think of whatever methods possible! If we don't destroy the southern oil fields, or at least suppress their output, the military operations of the Tang Army will likely be unfavorable for the Empire," General Feng Kezhi demanded through gritted teeth.

Before the Air Force officer could even leave with the message, another military officer from the Army burst in. He ran up to General Feng Kezhi in a panic, whispered in his ear, "Great General, Southern Forest Station... it's lost."

General Feng Kezhi's eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and he glared menacingly at the officer, reprimanding sharply, "Idiots! Are the men of the 81st Division all morons?"

The Army officer hung his head in shame, "Great General, I did not know. The Tang Army concentrated all its artillery fire on our position..."

He felt that General Feng Kezhi should see the battlefield for himself—to witness the fierce intensity of the Tang Army's artillery! Protected by tanks, the artillery barrage of the Tang Army was like a wall, cutting off all reinforcements from the Dahua Troops.

The positions were bombed into a devastating state. Reinforcements were unable to advance, the wounded from the front lines couldn't retreat, and the losses were horrifying, leaving no way to hold the defenses...

When he personally saw the Tang Army hoist the blood-red Dragon Banner on the position, his first reaction was to capture the Division Commander of the 81st Division to set an example.

But he soon learned that the Division Commander had already died on the battlefield, proving himself a brave and fearless soldier. Yet, despite this, the position was lost, and the Tang Army was drawing closer to Fengjiang City.

"What's that sound?" Before General Feng Kezhi could even start reprimanding the defending forces for their poor performance, he heard a distant rumble and demanded sternly.

The Army officer's face was pale as he awkwardly explained, "After the Tang Army took over Southern Forest Station, they began shelling Fengjiang City... It must be, it must be the sound of artillery, I suppose?"

"Damn it! Incompetents!" Enraged to hear that Fengjiang was under artillery fire from the Tang Army, General Feng Kezhi cursed furiously, "Prepare to counterattack! Retake Southern Forest Station at any cost!"

He knew that if he didn't find a way to stop the Tang Army's shelling of Fengjiang, then the city was as good as lost. If Fengjiang fell, his career as an Empire Great General... would probably come to an end.

But that was not the key issue. The crucial point was if the Tang Army captured Fengjiang before winter, the tide of attack and defense would completely turn. The Tang Army would have city fortifications to rely on and railway transport for support during the winter. Conversely, the Dahua Troops would be forced to spend winter in the open fields.

For the Dahua Military, which already had subpar logistics, this was absolutely not good news!

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My wife is sick, thus there's only one update today =. =! This disease really does start with stubbornness, indeed.

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