Munitions Empire

Zhao Chen was a prince of the Dahua Empire, dignified in status and capable in abilities. He organized defense troops in Sword Pavilion, withstanding the frontal pressure from the Tang army.

Speaking of which, due to the existence of the Hidden Sword Gorge—a natural barrier—the possibility of a frontal attack by the Tang army on Sword Pavilion was actually not great.

Coupled with reinforcements from the Shu Country, the Hidden Sword Gorge defense line of the Dahua military could be described as solid as a rock. The Tang army was also aware of this information.

Therefore, while the battle raged fiercely in Fengjiang City, the troops on both sides of the Hidden Sword Gorge remained quiet, with no one attempting to break this delicate balance.

While everyone on the ground maintained restraint, it did not mean that the same courtesy was observed in the skies. The air battle around Hidden Sword Gorge had in fact been ongoing for seven or eight days.

Throughout those seven or eight days, the Dahua Air Force had been launching its new Dahua-model fighter jets to face the Tang Nation Air Force, with both sides fiercely battling near the line of actual control.

Every day saw more than a dozen Dahua fighter jets shot down. Although the Tang army had not yet completely secured air superiority, the losses of the Dahua Air Force were already unbearable.

While a daily loss of a dozen jets might not seem much, relatively speaking, it was definitely not insignificant. Added to the losses from previous battles, the remaining troops were distraught, everyone was tense, fearing they might become the next tragic hero to be shot down.

To put it into perspective, the Dahua military had already lost over 300 bombers and more than 200 new-model fighter jets.

Moreover, the pilots of all the bombers and more than 150 fighter jets did not return to their units; these were tangible losses.

Even considering just the number of pilots, the loss of over 450 pilots was certainly a significant blow for the Dahua Empire: training those pilots had cost real silver, and each pilot's worth was no less than that of the planes themselves.

If the consumption of the precious, low-production, new-model fighter jets was also considered, the Dahua Air Force was actually overwhelmed by the battles fought in those days.

Calls to preserve strength grew louder, and Zhao Chen himself wondered whether it was worth continuing the night bombing missions that led to no return.

Indeed, Zhao Chen need not deliberate any further, as he truly no longer had the capital or strength to continue large-scale aerial battles.

On one hand, the Dahua Air Force was running out of pilots, and the advanced fighter jets could not keep up with the consumption. Frontline air force capabilities were severely damaged, rendering it incapable of launching further offensive campaigns.

On the other hand... the Tang Nation Air Force was not idle either. One of the main reasons they continually launched aerial battles was to protect their own bombers, performing repeated strikes on the Dahua airfields near Sword Pavilion.

Since the Dahua aircraft taking off from Sword Pavilion could carry out bombing missions on southern oil fields, the Tang army's frontline airfields naturally included the Dahua airfields near Sword Pavilion in their range of attack.

In order to reduce the anti-air pressure on the southern oil fields, the Tang Nation Air Force took the initiative to strike out, deliberately destroying any Dahua airfields they could find.

After suffering the most devastating daytime bombings, the Sword Pavilion airfield was destroyed by the subsequent arrival of the Tang Nation Air Force and their Flying Fortress Bombers.

It was truly destroyed! The Tang army dropped hundreds of bombs in one go, nearly turning the entire airfield runway into a plowed field.

The largest airfield near Sword Pavilion was rendered completely inoperable for taking off or landing planes from that day on, and even the wreckage of planes near the runway, affected by the bombings, hadn't been cleared up to this day.

The remaining smaller airfields had also been found by the Tang army's reconnaissance aircraft, then targeted for elimination by the Stuka Dive Bombers.

Under such an offensive, virtually all of the Dahua Air Force's frontline field airfields were destroyed, making it impossible to organize another large-scale air raid on the southern oil fields.

Just as Zhao Chen picked up the telephone receiver, air raid alarms were still resounding in Sword Pavilion. As the Tang army found no targets to attack, they began massively bombing Sword Pavilion, causing Zhao Chen immense distress and earning him a scolding from Zhao Kai.

It's worth noting that Sword Pavilion is a pivotal location for the Dahua Empire, carrying additional significance. That Sword Pavilion was bombed meant that Zhao Kai couldn't disregard the matter.

But war is war; it doesn't spare even the Imperial Capital of the Empire, one can only endure when under attack.

Yet reason is still reason, and the Emperor wasn't expected to always act reasonably. Zhao Kai's inability to manage effectively infuriated him once again, resulting in Zhao Chen being thoroughly scolded over the phone.

"Hello! This is Zhao Chen!" Picking up the receiver, Zhao Chen knew the call was from General Feng Kezhi and did not mince words, skipping many formalities.

General Feng Kezhi also skipped idle chatter, directly mentioning his efforts to contact the Tang Country and the exchanges made with them.

After hearing General Feng Kezhi's words, Zhao Chen sneered coldly, "Great General! You are retreating step by step on the battlefield, but you have astounding results in negotiating with the enemy."

Ignoring Zhao Chen's mockery, General Feng Kezhi continued to speak, sharing his views on the matter, "Tang Country agreed even to such naïve requests of mine, it appears, Prince, that your harassment around the southern oil fields has been effective, causing great distress to Tang Country!"

Hearing someone praise his achievements, Zhao Chen was still quite pleased. Since General Feng Kezhi had started with positive remarks, he too set aside his scornful and mocking thoughts.

"Now, I think, Prince, if we continue to pressure Tang Country around the southern oil fields, might we seize the opportunity to end this war ... gracefully?" General Feng Kezhi finally voiced the thoughts he most desired to express.

He no longer harbored any hope for victory, nor did he dare to guarantee that he could continue to hold off. The idea of recapturing the southern oil fields and pushing the front lines back into Tang Country's territory was even more like a pipe dream.

The reality was, Fengjiang City was barely defendable now, and continuing the fight could result in losing a few more cities in the hinterlands, possibly bringing the Imperial City within the reach of Tang Army bombers.

If Tang Army's bombers appeared above the Imperial Capital, it would completely erase the dignity of the Dahua Empire. Such a turn of events would be much more terrifying than losing the Sword Pavilion.

Thus, in General Feng Kezhi's view, gracefully requesting a truce and giving up some interests to end the war... was a beneficial choice for the Dahua Empire.

In fact, this was not just his opinion, but also that of many, including Zhao Chen, who supported this view.

During the process of deploying troops and confronting the Tang Army, Zhao Chen had profoundly experienced the might of the Tang Army, which helped him understand the previous collapses of the Dahua Imperial forces.

Although Zhao Kai was still furiously angry, Zhao Chen sensibly stood with the pragmatists, "This unjust war launched against Tang Country indeed needs to be brought to an end."

What frustrated Zhao Chen and General Feng Kezhi was that they could choose when to start the war, but could not decide when it would end.

Tang Country's continuous victories made it so that the Dahua Empire no longer had the conditions to request a peace. Reality was so cruel—why would anyone stop fighting when victory was at hand?

"You make a lot of sense," Zhao Chen's expression grew solemn, believing Feng Kezhi's idea was feasible.

Bombing the southern oil fields might not bring a decisive victory for the Dahua Empire but might make the Tang side seriously consider the option of a ceasefire.

As long as the opponent was no longer aggressively pressing forward, and as long as they were open to negotiations, then the Dahua Empire could end this war in the graceful manner as Feng Kezhi suggested.

Isn't this the outcome everyone desires?

For the Dahua Empire, the war indeed needed to end. Borrowing troops from Shu Country and Qin Country had already made it difficult for the Dahua Empire to hold its head up among its vassals.

If this war continued, it's possible the influence of the Dahua Empire over these vassal states could diminish, eventually leading to these countries breaking away from their dependence on the Dahua Empire and worsening the environment around it.

If the war against Tang Country transformed into a complete collapse of the hegemony of the Dahua Empire, it's likely that Zhao Kai, the prideful Emperor, would truly resort to violence.

As subjects of this decaying empire, neither Zhao Chen nor General Feng Kezhi wanted to see the situation deteriorate to that breaking point.

So when Zhao Chen listened to General Feng Kezhi's reasoning, he immediately agreed with his judgment, "If it is truly as you say, I think applying more pressure on Tang Country could indeed make them seriously consider negotiations."

"However, I also have difficulties; the Tang Army has been continuously bombing our airfields, making it difficult for me to organize any substantial bombings in the foreseeable future." After agreeing with General Feng Kezhi, Zhao Chen spoke about his own predicaments.

Even though he agreed with General Feng Kezhi's judgment, wanting to continue night raids on the southern oil fields while withstanding bombings from the Tang Army would require time to prepare.

It wasn't a simple matter of issuing orders and having the troops execute them—for the pilots in the Dahua Empire's Air Force, carrying out nighttime bombings on the southern oil fields was hardly different from being ordered to commit suicide.

Getting one person to willingly carry out a suicide attack was hard enough, let alone a group.

"Please, Prince, organize a new bombing campaign as soon as possible. If it's delayed for too long, I fear Fengjiang will not hold."

"Has the situation deteriorated to such an extent? You've managed Fengjiang for months and yet, in just a few days, it has come to this dire situation?" Zhao Chen, with a serious expression, asked incredulously.

Although he disliked looking at General Feng Kezhi, he was aware of his capabilities. He didn't think General Feng Kezhi was incompetent, but even such a capable general was unable to defend Fengjiang City.

"It was previously stable because Tang Army's main forces weren't there... Yesterday, the front-line Qin Army spotted a new Tang Army unit we've never seen before." Feng Kezhi's voice was heavy over the phone, "The 1st Armored Division of Tang Country has arrived in Fengjiang."