Munitions Empire

Medicine was one aspect, or perhaps for the Qin Army, the lack of some supplies wasn't their greatest concern.

Even when the Dahua military had deducted a portion of the Qin Army's food supply, it didn't make the Qin officers explode in rage, "After all, the Northwest is bitterly cold, and the Qin Army is used to poverty. They didn't eat well to begin with, so eating a little less is bearable."

Even after having part of their rations deducted, the soldiers of the Qin Army still felt that the food distributed to them was somewhat better than what they ate in the Northwest.

What the commanders of the Qin Army cared most about was that the Dahua side had severely underestimated the combat power of the Tang Army. This was intolerable to them, and it was what they least wanted to face.

They had never seen the tanks of the Tang Army before, and those pieces of junk produced by Shireck and sold to Qin Country by the Dahua Empire were not even comparable.

When shells hit the armor of these tanks, they were immediately deflected. Those tanks rampaged across the battlefield and were unstoppable.

Only when the tracks were occasionally blown off did these behemoths come to a halt, yet the Qin Army was still helpless against these iron lumps and could only allow these invincible monsters to wreak havoc on their own positions.

Under the protection of these new tanks, equipped with sloped armor and long-barreled cannons, the already formidable grenadiers of the Tang Army became an even tougher opponent.

This was the first time the Qin Army, born in a land of harsh cold and always fighting against savage foreign tribes, encountered such a powerful adversary. For a moment, they even felt a sense of admiration for finding an opponent worthy of their skill.

Whether in terms of combat discipline or weaponry, the Tang Army almost completely surpassed the Qin Army: this at one point led the Qin Army to despair, as they felt like they were facing an enhanced version of themselves.

"We didn't come here to fight to the death against such an opponent!" This thought began to surface in the minds of the officers and soldiers at all levels of the Qin Army.

It was with this thought process, compounded by a lack of medical supplies, scarce logistics, and unstable food and pay affecting morale, that the Qin Army's performance on the battlefield started to change.

The Qin Army, which used to fight the second-tier troops of the Tang Army to a standstill, now behaved no differently than the troops of the Dahua military.

Most of the time, they would put up a symbolic fight and then begin to retreat, giving up defensive positions.

This behavior infuriated the generals of the Dahua Empire, as General Feng Kezhi had regarded the Qin Army as a valuable force, previously always placing the Qin troops in the most critical defensive positions.

But as the Qin Army's combat performance deteriorated, he had no choice but to start replacing Qin troops with Dahua units and, conversely, positioning the Qin units in less critical areas.

This, in turn, affected the attitude of the Dahua logistical units in supplying the Qin Army: since they were no longer the main force, they had even less right to receive supplies.

Amidst this vicious cycle, the battlefield performance of the Qin Army changed so much that even the Tang Army found it somewhat bewildering.

Some Tang commanders even thought for a time that the Qin Army probably only had 10 to 18 thousand elite forces left, who had fought to the last man in previous positions, and the rest were useless...

The reality was not so. The Qin Army was intentionally avoiding casualties and using this method to express their dissatisfaction with the Dahua Empire.

Yet this discontent directly led to the collapse of the situation near Fengjiang: the reserves that the Dahua Empire had painstakingly built up were once again prematurely thrown into the battle to stabilize their teetering defense.

The reserves that General Feng Kezhi had planned to use for a local counterattack to trouble the Tang Army were quickly depleted in this process of endless stopgap measures.

This was the fundamental reason why General Feng Kezhi began to plan the destruction of Fengjiang City: his reserves were almost exhausted, and the plan to repel the troops of the Great Tang Kingdom from Fengjiang with a single counterattack was essentially unfeasible.

Therefore, for General Feng Kezhi, retaking Fengjiang City was almost impossible, leaving only the option to destroy Fengjiang City to prevent the Tang Army from using the city.

"Let's slow down the 7th Corps' attack in the urban area for now; there's no need to fight so desperately, a show of force will suffice," Bolton commanded to the bearded officer, "You've already made a name for yourselves; His Majesty has personally praised your bravery."

"The 7th Corps' foundation was brought up from the Northern Ridge. I cannot disgrace the old Earl," the bearded officer stood up and saluted smartly, "We now offer our loyalty to His Majesty. The 7th Corps is willing to become a sharp blade in His Majesty's hand, piercing any place His Majesty points to!"

"Take a seat!" Bolton, full of smiles, pressed his hand downward, signaling the bearded commander from the Northern Ridge not to be so stiff.

It should be noted that this bearded commander had quite senior credentials. He was an important commander in the Northern Ridge during Fisheo's time, even ranking slightly higher than Tagg.

What a pity that Tagg followed Tang Mo's rise in the Great Tang Kingdom and became one of Tang Mo's most trusted military commanders.

Tagg was now one of the most popular candidates for Marshal, but this commander from the Northern Ridge was still just a commander, a commander of an infantry corps.

It should be known that in the land forces system of the Tang Kingdom, the default order assumes the commanders of Armored Troops to have the highest status and the brightest futures, followed by the commanders of mechanized grenadier units and then motorized infantry commanders.

As for ordinary infantry commanders, they were already at the level of local garrison troops and simply weren't noteworthy.

The bearded man was currently the commander of a motorized infantry military, even subject to the command of the young Bolton, which was considered a somewhat inferior position.

However, this time the 7th Army really made an impression in front of Tang Mo, serving as the spearhead of the attack, they bullheaded their way to the foot of Fengjiang City, being the first to break into Fengjiang, they could truly be described as fiercely brave.

They broke through the previously troublesome Qin Army's defense line, the subsequent Dahua military defenses, and have been fighting relentlessly up to this moment, not retreating a single step!

This was an excellent battlefield performance. The Great General Feng Kezhi of the Dahua Empire, personally commanding troops gathered in Fengjiang, the Dahua military's main forces, repeatedly counterattacked but failed to recapture any position from the hands of the 7th Army; it must be acknowledged that the 7th Army continued the Northern Ridge Legion's tenacious fighting style with their achievements.

The meeting ended quickly; after all, a plan to suspend urban combat and shift the focus to field battles outside of Fengjiang didn't need so much time to arrange and discuss.

After the meeting ended, as everyone was packing up and preparing to head home, Bolton called out to the bearded commander, who was about to rush back to the 7th Army's headquarters.

"General Eric! I'd like to have a word with you alone," Bolton approached the bearded commander of the 7th Army, signaling that he wanted to walk out with him.

After everyone left, Bolton then spoke, "The directive from the Staff Department is to have the 7th Army prepare to pull out."

Eric was stunned, looking at Bolton, he pleaded, "Although the 7th Army has suffered some losses, we can still fight! We can overcome the difficulties, we…"

"The Staff Department is not doubting the combat capability of the 7th Army," Bolton interrupted Eric's words, then continued to explain, "Rather, it is actually… an order from His Majesty."

Before Eric could recover from his shock, Bolton continued, "Lately, calls to elevate the status to an Empire are growing louder, and those civil officials in the court can hardly wait to crown His Majesty tomorrow."

"This is good news." As a staunch supporter of the monarchy, Eric seemingly danced his eyebrows upon hearing that Tang Mo was to become the Emperor.

"Indeed, good news," Bolton nodded, "Therefore, the Staff Department, the Military Department, and some military generals... all think that we should form larger operational groups..."

"Corps?" This rumor had been circulating, and Eric had heard of it, but he found it hard to imagine that gathering hundreds of thousands of people into one unit would necessitate such a massive battle to make use of it.

"Yes, that's right, Corps," Bolton continued nodding, "His Majesty intends for the 7th Army to be a trial case, to establish a 7th Corps... and you are to be the first commander of this Corps."

"What?" The bearded Eric was startled by the news, staring at Bolton in shock, it took him quite some time to regain his composure.

"This decision has already been finalized, just not yet made public, so you can't talk about it when you go back," Bolton went on without waiting, as there was much more he needed to say.

"Yes! I understand," Eric swallowed, quickly nodding in agreement.

"The reason it's not announced is that the rank of Corps commander is that of a Lieutenant General," Bolton reminded Eric.

Eric was no fool; he immediately realized the key issue: If Bolton was a Lieutenant General, and Eric was promoted, then Bolton would no longer be able to command him.

So, it was likely that Bolton would also be promoted, to a Full General, in order to continue to serve as the Commander of the central theater within the hierarchy.

Since Bolton was to be promoted to Full General, then the legendary military trio: Tagg, Redman, and Bernard, were probably about to receive their Marshal's batons.

Such important news required step-by-step implementation—upgrading to an Empire naturally meant rewarding the troops, promoting generals... after all, overcoming the Dahua Empire was already a great victory, and it was only natural for generals to be rewarded for their service.

"I understand." Knowing the gravity of the situation, Eric spoke with a more solemn tone.

Seeing that Eric understood, Bolton did not say much more. They were both smart people; if any mistakes were made, it was up to him to take responsibility.

Thus, the future Full General walked shoulder to shoulder with the soon-to-be Lieutenant General Eric out of the meeting room and saw him off to his car.

This gesture was noticed by many observant people outside the central theater's command building; hence, everyone started to guess that the old Northern Ridge veteran, who had always been humble, was probably about to take a significant step forward this time.

His promotion meant that many others would be promoted as well, explaining the smiles on everyone's faces and the atmosphere becoming somewhat lighter.

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A supplementary chapter will follow later, to be delivered in half an hour.