Munitions Empire

Fengjiang City, on the western side of the city where a highway runs, the landscape is filled with craters as far as the eye can see, resembling the surface of the moon.

At first glance, this place appears mundane, just an ordinary battlefield, but those who know the details understand that this is the last remaining road connecting Fengjiang to the Dahua Empire.

As time went on, the Tang Army's intention to encircle Fengjiang became increasingly apparent. Now, Fengjiang was almost entirely cut off from Dahua.

Armaments and shells transported into the city encountered bombing planes and artillery fire from the Tang Army, and out of ten shells shipped across the blockade line, usually only two or even one remained.

Although there were still many weapons and ammunition stored in Fengjiang, this was clearly not a solution. If the Tang Army succeeded in fully encircling Fengjiang, the situation for the Dahua military would definitely become even more embarrassing.

"Great General! You should also leave this place," urged General Feng Kezhi's adjutant anxiously in the basement once again.

He had been accompanying General Feng Kezhi in commanding battles in the Fengjiang region. Recently, the situation took a drastic turn for the worse, with almost the entire city being surrounded by the Tang Army.

As a Great General of the Empire, General Feng Kezhi should have left Fengjiang for a safer place to command the battles.

But General Feng Kezhi had not left; he remained in a concealed bunker on the outskirts of Fengjiang City. Since the battle of Fengjiang began, he had not moved his headquarters.

Although the upper echelons of the Dahua Empire hoped that General Feng Kezhi would find a safer place for his headquarters, because the safety of the Great General was, after all, a matter of national pride for the entire Dahua Empire.

However, General Feng Kezhi believed that only by staying on the front lines did he have the right to command those soldiers fighting on the front lines and to deploy those commanders holding their positions there.

In fact, it was precisely because of General Feng Kezhi's perseverance that his conduct inspired the troops' morale, allowing the Dahua Empire's defenders to hold on until now without showing any sign of collapse.

Theoretically, after witnessing the terror of white phosphorus bombs and being surrounded on three sides, the Dahua troops stationed in Fengjiang City should have already shown signs of collapse.

But, inspired by General Feng Kezhi, these Dahua troops did not fall apart; instead, they managed to hold their ground in the streets and alleys of Fengjiang City, engaging in stubborn street fighting with the Tang Army.

Of course, in some sense, their ability to hold out so far was also due to the Tang Army ceasing street combat and instead focusing their attention on field battles outside of Fengjiang City. However, it cannot be denied that General Feng Kezhi's personal supervision on the front line also had a significant effect.

"I have no intention of leaving," General Feng Kezhi said with a smile, waving off his loyal subordinate, "Actually, it's safe here."

"Great General, you can't joke with your life," the adjutant still worried about General Feng Kezhi's safety, continuing to urge him.

General Feng Kezhi, having nothing better to do, explained to his subordinate, "Don't worry, I have already figured it out. It's fine."

As he spoke, his hand caressed the city map of Fengjiang: "Even if Fengjiang is surrounded, the negotiations won't last until Fengjiang completely falls. Even the Tang Army can't swallow the 250,000 troops I command in just a few days!"

Inside the encirclement, there were indeed 250,000 Dahua troops, among them some of Dahua's elite, so their combat effectiveness was assured.

Besides, he was personally commanding these forces. It would be no problem for these troops to hold out for more than ten days, something he was well aware of.

On that front, without waiting for ten days, within five days, the negotiations would probably conclude. The Dahua Empire's defeat was already certain, with no desire to continue the fight, signing a peace agreement would not be delayed.

As the Great General, he knew the content of the negotiations. Fengjiang City would become a trading port, to be jointly administered by the Dahua Empire and Tang Country... The Dahua troops surrounded in Fengjiang City would surely be sent back to the Dahua Empire.

These things were certain, so he was not in a hurry at all; rather, he was quite calm. After briefly explaining these reasons, he turned again to his confidant: "Therefore, staying here and not leaving is the best choice."

Jokingly, listen to those people, retreat to a safe area? I guess I would just be controlled as soon as I arrived, right?

Having become the Great General of the Empire, General Feng Kezhi did know a bit about Zhao Kai's methods. He knew that Zhao Kai had been dissatisfied with him even before the war and, after the war, it was expected that he would be the one to take the blame.

If it were just taking the blame in a trivial manner, at worst, it would result in demotion and reprimand, to serve as a warning to others. But this time, General Feng Kezhi knew that he was likely to be dealt with severely.

Zhao Kai's approach was different from the former Emperor of the Dahua Empire, Zhao Xian. Zhao Xian's principle was to suppress royal authority, appoint competent ministers, and maintain a balance in the court to the greatest extent possible.

However, when Zhao Xian died and Zhao Kai ascended the throne, the new Emperor's ideas were the complete opposite of Zhao Xian's. He favored nepotism, trusting more in those brothers who had willingly surrendered authority to him and protected his rise to the throne, and also placing great trust in the seemingly cautious and obedient uncles.

After all, compared with those like General Feng Kezhi, Shen Chuan, Chen Jing, and Chu Muzhou in the court, who would open their mouths to say "this won't work, that won't work," the attitude of the royal family relatives in supporting Zhao Kai seemed much more pleasant to hear.

So Zhao Kai had always been actively appointing royal family relatives, including the two princes Zhao Chen and Zhao Jie. Moreover, for several years now, Zhao Kai had been seeking opportunities to replace the less obedient General Feng Kezhi with the more compliant Zhao Chen.

It was almost impossible to keep such matters secret from those with vigilant eyes, and naturally, General Feng Kezhi was also aware of it. However, he had previously thought that it was not so serious and that at most he would retire and cede his position to a wiser individual.

But later, on the issues of opposing war with the Great Tang Kingdom and the appointment of Qian Jinhang, General Feng Kezhi completely enraged Zhao Kai, and the nature of the problem changed drastically.

For that reason, General Feng Kezhi had never left the front line at Fengjiang, always trying to prove his worth through his efforts.

He hoped that Zhao Kai would consider his dedication in defending Fengjiang and his efforts in reversing the dire situation of the war, giving him a chance to retire honorably.

But fate was unkind, the Tang Army's assault was too sharp. Even with the troops from the Qin Country, General Feng Kezhi couldn't hold onto Fengjiang.

This made General Feng Kezhi somewhat desperate, somewhat defeated. He was very clear that there must be a mess waiting for him on Zhao Kai's side.

"Sigh..." Hearing General Feng Kezhi's explanation, his aide-de-camp also sighed in difficulty. He understood General Feng Kezhi's predicament and knew that this Great General had been expending great efforts on the military modernization of the Dahua Empire for many years.

Without General Feng Kezhi, a large part of the Dahua Empire's troops would probably still be using Shireck's flintlock guns. Without him, the Dahua Empire wouldn't possibly have an air force, nor so many advanced military factories.

But these contributions couldn't make up for General Feng Kezhi's repeated defeats in the war against Tang, nor could they allow Emperor Zhao Kai to tolerate a military giant who always opposed imperial authority.

With General Feng Kezhi around, there was always someone in the military who would stand up against Zhao Kai's decisions, providing a backbone for the other generals.

If General Feng Kezhi were to die, then Zhao Chen could take over everything, and Zhao Kai could control the military through the royal family relatives.

Just as the two were discussing whether to take the chance to escape while there was still a path to retreat, intensive gunfire erupted near the road full of craters.

In no time, a Panther Tank, covering the Tang Country's grenadiers, charged onto the road embankment. Soon after, a second and a third tank joined the assault.

That day, the Tang Army completely overtook the last road connecting Fengjiang with the Dahua Empire, surrounding Fengjiang City.

At the same time, the high command of the Dahua Empire confirmed astonishing news: their Empire's Great General, Feng Kezhi, was still inside the encirclement.

The telegraph sent by General Feng Kezhi was concise, declaring that he would share the fate of Fengjiang City to repay His Majesty The Emperor's grace. In the telegram, he vowed that as long as the city stood, he would live; if the city fell, he would die!

For some reason, upon receiving General Feng Kezhi's telegram, Emperor Zhao Kai felt an inexplicable sense of anticipation.

For an instant, he even hoped that Fengjiang City would just be overrun by the Tang Army, completely occupied!

After all, in his view, the terms of negotiation had already been laid out, with Tang Country and the Dahua Empire each occupying half of Fengjiang City. The Dahua Empire would recover its half of Fengjiang City after the war, no matter what.

If that was the case, allowing the Empire's Great General to follow the fate of half of Fengjiang City, dying heroically in the final stages of this failed war, wouldn't that be poignantly beautiful?

If by chance the last bullet ended General Feng Kezhi's life, that would add an even more aesthetic sense of appreciation.

So, when the ministers below the dais were fervently discussing whether to redeploy forces to launch a counterattack and reopen the corridor, Emperor Zhao Kai, wordlessly overlooking these people, remained as calm as the surface of a still lake.

When someone proposed letting General Feng Kezhi lead a breakout, Emperor Zhao Kai smiled. He spoke up to comfort everyone, feigning a deeply pained and heartfelt demeanor.

However, shortly after that, he kept the Minister of Rites, Jiang Run, behind and hinted to Minister Jiang that he, the Emperor, was somewhat dissatisfied with the previous negotiation terms.

Jiang Run discerned the Emperor's intention: it was nothing more than to slow down the pace of negotiations, increasing the chance of 'accidents' befalling General Feng Kezhi within Fengjiang City.

Therefore, he immediately agreed with Emperor Zhao Kai's opinion, indicating that negotiations were extremely arduous and time-consuming.

Jiang Run's attitude brought great satisfaction to Emperor Zhao Kai. However, the subsequent news was less pleasing to him.

Several countries from the Eastern Continent had already signed peace treaties with the Tang Country, some of which had even settled their reparations. This news suddenly pushed the Chu Country and the Dahua Empire into the spotlight; the whole world was watching them, waiting for them to hurry up and put their signatures on the treaty.