Munitions Empire

Chapter 599: Wait in place at 558

When the First Prince saw the telegram sent by Qin Xiong, he was completely dumbfounded. He no longer knew what to do.

His father had ordered him to immediately recapture Luo Town, but Qin Xiong had a pessimistic attitude toward the recapture of Luo Town. As Qin Xiong’s partner, the First Prince believed in the judgment of this renowned general from Qi Country, so he was reluctant to “wade into muddy waters” at Luo Town.

However, Jiang Xian’s orders were very clear, which was to assemble the troops and attack towards Luo Town to recapture this vital stronghold.

Developments often go beyond people’s expectations: the First Prince hadn’t yet made up his mind to go to Luo Town when Qin Xiong sent him news that the Armored Corps had been almost completely lost.

Combined with the earlier disappearance of the Third Prince near Luo Town… the First Prince felt that Luo Town was hell, a dangerous zone that should not be easily entered.

Looking at a newspaper from the Great Tang Kingdom in his hands, the First Prince was even more conflicted now. The newspaper was Chang’an Daily from Tang Country, dropped by the thousands by B-17 bombers of the Great Tang Kingdom onto the frontlines of Qi Country.

By now, many of the officials and soldiers of Qi Country had already seen these papers that fell from the sky, and had seen the enormous photo on the paper.

One photo was of a row of neatly arranged corpses, among which strikingly were the Third Prince, Tian Heng, and the commander of the 3rd Army.

All three were in their military uniforms, but the Third Prince had several holes in his chest, Tian Heng was a grisly sight, and the commander of the 3rd Army had been beheaded.

Even though the photo was somewhat blurred due to the printing, it was still clear enough to recognize the military uniforms on these corpses.

Everyone now knew why the Third Prince and his men could not be found, because they were already dead, slain by the Tang Army!

Below that photo, there was another picture, of Nanye. On the picture, the flag of Tang Country’s dragon hung on the walls of Nanye.

Anyone who saw this newspaper would probably waver—their cities in the rear had already been occupied by the Tang Army! Their generals had already died in battle!

Even the First Prince was scared senseless because he dared not imagine the tremendous impact the loss of Nanye would have on the defenses of Qi Country.

King City was practically defenseless now, and the troops on the eastern front had yet to engage in battle, and it was estimated the war would be over before they could.

He even wanted to send a telegram to his father, he really wanted to persuade Jiang Xian to find an excuse to negotiate while there was still a chance.

Making an enemy out of such a formidable country was a complete mistake. Against an opponent of this caliber, even the Dahua Empire might not fare well if it directly intervened.

“Organize these… messages… and send them to His Majesty,” the First Prince released the newspaper from his hand, letting it fall on the table, and commanded the person beside him.

The guard next to him quickly bowed his head, taking a pile of files that had been gathered together and left. Here, were intelligence reports from various sources.

Some were about the loss of Nanye, some were about the disappearance of the Third Prince, and others described the Mark 3 Tanks and the Butcher Fighters.

The most detailed were the descriptions of the Stuka Dive Bombers—especially the special, terrifying sound they made.

…@@novelbin@@

Jiang Xian saw the B-17 bombers on the outskirts once more, as they bombed the industrial zone of Qi Country’s King City again, destroying some factory facilities and dropping many leaflets and newspapers.

At that moment, the telegram from the First Prince also arrived. When Jiang Xian saw the telegram, he couldn’t help but spit out a mouthful of blood.

He swayed slightly, then was steadied by the Prime Minister of Qi Country, barely avoiding fainting.

This not-so-old monarch’s will collapsed, and it took a good while before he opened his mouth to the Prime Minister supporting him and said, “The Third Prince… I’m afraid, I’m afraid he has met with a grim fate.”

“The Third Prince has his own fortunate destiny to rely on…” the Prime Minister tried to offer some comfort, but at that moment, someone delivered a newspaper that had fallen into the city.

The city on the other side was still emitting thick smoke, the diligently constructed industrial zone factories had already collapsed, and fires and explosions were everywhere.

In such circumstances, Jiang Xian snatched the newspaper from the hands of the newcomer and closed his eyes after one glance.

He had lost Nanye, his Third Prince was dead, and his general Tian Heng… had also died for the country! The western front had collapsed, and even the decision to attack Luo Town seemed to have lagged behind.

By now, the support from the Dahua Empire had been cut off; if the Dahua Empire did not declare war on Tang Country, the promised supplies from Dahua could no longer reach Qi Country.

The reinforcements coming from the sea had to go through Beiyuan City, which was too far from King City, and the assistance from the Shen Country was a case of too little too late…

The industrial foundation of Qi Country had been almost completely wiped out by the bombers of the Tang Army, and Nanye, which had been relatively well-preserved, was now under the control of the Tang Army.

Lacking modern industrial support, Qi Country had basically fallen into an overall disadvantage by the 15th day of the war.

To fight this war, Jiang Xian had assembled troops of over 500,000, one-tenth of whom had already become prisoners of the Tang Army, another tenth had been annihilated, and the majority of the rest had no choice but to engage in combat with the Tang Army—a type of warfare they were not familiar with.

It was Qi Country’s plan to have these troops hold their positions in their permanent defensive fortifications, so there wouldn’t be significant casualties or the need for complex maneuvers.

Field battles, which Qi Army wanted to avoid desperately due to a lack of command and communication equipment and training, had unfortunately become a cruel reality. The Tang Army had lured more than half of the Qi Army out of their trenches, and the war had quietly changed its form.

The war experience that had been accumulated on the Eastern Continent was completely inapplicable to the Qi-Tang war on the Western Continent—Qi Army’s trench warfare had not been given any room to unfold, as over 200,000 troops had been compelled to leave their trench defenses.

The elite 3rd Army had already lost much of its fighting power, the 1st Army now had to switch from defense to offense on the outskirts of Luo Town, and the 2nd Army had even left its post to head north towards King City.

Those carefully designed trenches and defenses turned out to be useless, while the fragile railway and supply lines were left exposed to the Tang Army’s strikes, hanging by a thread.

“Your Majesty, please accept my condolences,” the Prime Minister had to swallow his own words about the Third Prince having a charmed life and quickly consoled Jiang Xian after learning of the Third Prince’s death.

“He has destroyed my legacy! Led my 150,000 troops on the western front to disaster! His death is of little consequence!” Jiang Xian clenched his fists, summoning his spirits, and cursed angrily.

Although he was heartbroken over the loss of his son, he also needed to give an explanation to the soldiers on the western front. Thus, he cursed out loud, assigning all the blame for the collapse of the western front to his deceased son.

“Right now, we must order the First Prince to lead his troops north, recapture Luo Town, and then launch a fierce attack on Nanye in order to ensure the security of King City…” one general suggested.

King City was defenseless, and the Tang Army could attack at any moment. Under these circumstances, if pressure wasn’t created behind the Tang Army, they would certainly focus their attention on King City.

Jiang Xian understood this perfectly, but the first thing he needed to do was to recall the Imperial Guard he had sent out to strengthen the defenses of King City.

So, he immediately gave his order to the generals in front of him, “Order the Imperial Guard to retreat immediately! Quickly!”

Now that Nanye had been lost, the Imperial Guard dispatched there were like lost souls in desolate wilds. If they were surrounded by the Tang Army, they would be annihilated in an instant.

As the monarch of Qi Country, Jiang Xian no longer had faith in the field capabilities of Qi Country’s troops. If the Qi troops could actually make a difference in the field, the situation would have taken a different turn.

Only then did Jiang Xian start a series of troop mobilizations and commands: “Send a telegram to the Second Prince! Ask where the 2nd Army has reached! Tell them to speed up! Tell them to join me as soon as possible!”

After urging the 2nd Army, Jiang Xian began sending telegrams to the First Prince: “Telegraph orders to the First Prince’s troops, to launch a fierce attack on Luo Town at all costs! At any cost!”

He spoke with the most severe and firm tone to the officer sending the telegram: “Find a way to tell him! The survival of the kingdom hinges on this battle, he is a prince of Qi Country, he must shoulder the responsibility befitting a prince!”

Following that, Jiang Xian sent a telegram to Qin Xiong, ordering him to take command of the remaining troops on the western front and lead the troops from both the central and western fronts to recapture Luo Town by any means necessary.

The First Prince, who had been ready to lead his troops in a great detour along the eastern railway to retreat as per Qin Xiong’s advice, was packing up when he received another telegram from his father in King City.

In the telegram, his father forbade him to retreat, instead issuing him a do-or-die order to be laid to rest in Luo Town if necessary.

This put the First Prince, who had prepared to flee to the northeast, at a loss, and he ended up spending another day unsuccessfully at the central front command post.

He had yet to understand that waiting in place was not only a waste of time but also left the troops under his command stranded on the spot, unable to move an inch.

While the Qi Army at the front line was wasting time marching in place, Jiang Xian’s Imperial Guard was encircled north of Nanye by the pioneering forces of the 4th Armored Division.

The only sizable Qi troop near King City was thus wiped out by the Tang Army on their retreat.

And on the same day, Qi Army still stationed at the western front stopped resisting, laid down their arms, and chose to surrender with dignity.

The Tang Army accepted their surrender and also took over the defensive positions of the Qi Army. The western bulge of Qi Country, the only threat to the supply line of the Tang Army, had been flattened by the Tang forces.

The next day, the Tang Army did not continue their offensive but waited for further supplies to arrive. Both the 4th Armored Division and the 2nd Armored Division needed a replenishment of fuel and ammunition.

That day, the First Prince was still in his command post, neither advancing to the front line at Luo Town nor retreating towards the northeast.

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