Munitions Empire

"What should we do? There are over a thousand people on board... Captain, should we sink it?" The first officer looked at the damaged transport ship by the side and turned his head to look at his own captain.

The captain lowered his head, also not very willing to give such an order, but according to the previous action plan, he indeed had no obligation to take prisoners.

The Tang Army's shipping routes were very safe; the route from Dongwan to Linshui was entirely within the range of airplanes. The Shenwu Navy feared the airplanes and had never attempted to disrupt the sea transportation.

Due to a shortage of personnel, the Tang Army also had no desire to engage in sea combat, so they had dragged things out until now.

Now the situation had fundamentally changed; the Tang Army's main force fleet had moved north, and this cruiser had set out from Linshui to provoke them in advance.

After allowing the Shenwu transport fleet such a long leash, the Tang Navy began to prepare to collect its dues.

Since it was time to collect dues, there naturally wouldn't be any messy rules. War is that cruel, especially for the navy.

"Fire and sink it... We can't continue our hunt with such a damaged ship in tow. Anyway, they surely had time to send out their coordinates," the captain said after a long silence, still issuing the order to fire.

On one hand, it was because the combat plan clearly stipulated that surrendering enemy ships were not to be taken in, and on the other hand, it was because the various atrocities committed by Shenwu in Qi Country had indeed angered many Tang people.

Even though Tang People were engaged in war with Qi People, at least that was a dispute among humans. Even in the eyes of Dwarfs and Elves, Goblins were not considered human, deemed even lower than Orcs.

"Yes, Captain!" The aide had hesitated at first, but upon hearing the order, he immediately breathed a sigh of relief and turned around to loudly command, "Fire!"

The big guns, which had already been trained on the transport ship, fired in succession, leaving a row of holes in the waterline of the ship, which then began to tilt sharply.

The Shenwu soldiers on the deck shouted and cursed loudly, and then they could only watch helplessly as the slender cruiser of the Tang Country sailed away.

That day, the Shenwu Navy received two telegrams: two troop transports had been sunk, and there was no news of another sailing ship.

...

The busy sea transport line between Shenwu Country and Beiyuan City suddenly saw Tang warships appear, which made the senior ranks of Shenwu's navy anxious.

However, the direct victim of this incident was the commander of the Shenwu troops trapped in Beiyuan City, Shenwu Sanlang.

He had always been worried about his supply line at the rear, and sure enough, this fragile supply line turned out to be just as problematic as he had feared!

Without the ammunition and bullets produced in Shenwu Country, the Shenwu troops holed up in Beiyuan City would soon run out of the ammo in their hands.

What made Shenwu Sanlang even more desperate was that these new weapons in his hands were also shipped from Shenwu Country. He had just confirmed their effectiveness and planned to produce more similar weapons to stop the Tang Army's assault, but now there were problems with the supply line behind him.

"I knew it! I knew it! Damn it! That bunch of bastards in the navy can't be trusted!" In his office, Shenwu Sanlang's complexion was already looking very bad.

He was having a temper tantrum alone, throwing a glass cup that had once belonged to the Second Prince of Qi Country onto the ground. Looking at the shards all over the floor, Shenwu Sanlang paused for a moment, and it was only then that he realized the cup he had just smashed was worth five Gold Coins, a genuine luxury item.

Shenwu Country had always been saving its excess money to buy large warships and various munitions; in fact, their lives were quite frugal.

The high-ranking officers of Shenwu Country clearly did not know how to enjoy life like Qi Country's Nobility. Shenwu Sanlang even thought that if Qi People spent the money they wasted on luxury goods on weapons, their situation wouldn't be so pitiable.

"General! What happened?" Hearing the noise inside the room, the aide pushed the door open and saw the shards of the glass cup on the floor. He immediately called someone in to clean up.

The one who came to clean up the room was a young Qi girl, timidly starting to sweep the floor, afraid to make the slightest noise.

But Shenwu Sanlang still noticed the maid who entered the room; his eyes revealed lecherous light, and a wicked smile appeared on his face.

"Guards!" He weighed his options and realized that if he used force, he might not succeed if the woman struggled, so he glanced at the aide and shouted loudly for the guards at the door.

Two guards burst in, waiting for their general's command: "Hold her down! Hehehehe."

Though Shenwu people were naturally short and exceedingly ugly, four of them were more than enough to handle one woman.

Soon the room was filled with the woman's screams of terror, followed by wails, and eventually the sounds of struggle grew weaker until they disappeared entirely.

Having vented his fury, Shenwu Sanlang sat in his seat, watching another maid who had been forced to come in to clean up the bloodstains and broken glass on the floor.

It was said that the previous maid had shattered the General's beloved glass, only to be beaten to death right there. The floor was covered in bloodstains, and there were clumps of hair that had been torn out—it looked like the woman had suffered a terrible beating.

Outside the house, next to an Ice-cold brand truck, four Shenwu soldiers tossed the disheveled corpse of a woman into the cargo bed of the truck, and then covered it with a tarpaulin.

A snow-white arm dangled lifelessly, poking out from under the tarpaulin corner, making an eerie angle with her exposed feet.

"General!" The adjutant entered once again without paying any attention to the maid cleaning up and approached Shenwu Sanlang. "A consultant from Shireck is here, and he says he wishes to see you."

"There's probably no good news," Shenwu Sanlang grumbled, but in the end, he had no choice but to meet with these "noble" guests. "Let him in."

In truth, in order to win this war, Shireck had provided Shenwu Country with a vast amount of military aid without any compensation: they supplied an abundance of weapons and ammunition, so everyone in Shenwu Country had to be courteous to these consultants from Shireck.

As soon as he entered, Shireck's consultant made his purpose clear, "General Shenwu Sanlang! We wish to leave Beiyuan City and return to Shenwu Country."

"Leaving? Why?" Shenwu Sanlang stared at him and asked, "Aren't you afraid of shaking the morale of the defending soldiers by leaving at this time?"

"We've finished our work here, so we've decided to leave," the Shireck consultant explained. "The rest, we leave in your hands, General."

"I don't have a ship for you," Shenwu Sanlang bluntly stated. "If you want to leave, you'll have to find your own vessel."

"The Navy has already provided us with ships, thank you for your kind intentions, General," the Shireck consultant continued with a smile, as if boasting about his wide connections.

"Then I won't see you off," said Shenwu Sanlang, waving his hand and effectively showing them out. There were over 300 consultants from Shireck in Beiyuan City, which was why Shenwu Sanlang used the term "gentlemen."

"Goodbye!" The Shireck consultant turned and left without any sign of attachment.

"I hope we'll have the opportunity to meet again," Shenwu Sanlang muttered darkly under his breath at the back of the departing Shireck consultant.

"Did you say something?" The Shireck consultant turned around with a beaming smile.

"Nothing, I wish you a safe journey," Shenwu Sanlang replied, his smile looking more natural.

Once the Shireck consultant had turned and left, Shenwu Sanlang's face darkened once again.

What he didn't know was that, in the corridor, the face of the Shireck consultant had also turned dark and grim, frighteningly so.

Inside the room, Shenwu Sanlang turned to his adjutant, "Our supply lines just got disrupted, and they've already got the news? Do those bastards at home who have dollar signs in their eyes have no sense of confidentiality whatsoever?"

They had just received the news that their supply line had been attacked by the Tang Country Navy, yet the consultancy group from Shenwu Country had packed their bags in an alarmingly short time. Clearly, Shireck's infiltration of the higher echelons of Shenwu Country was very effective. This had to be reported to the sovereign!

At the same time, he was also considering whether to transport the various treasures they had looted from Qi Country back to Shenwu Country. These were the fruits of his labor, and he had to protect them as much as possible.

Remember, all of these were money! All his money! With this wealth, even if he were no longer a general, he would have a worry-free life for the rest of his days, wouldn't he?

The adjutant remained silent, having just learned of the supply line attack from his General, and was completely disoriented.

What he was thinking now was to find a pretext to return to his country, to stay as far away from this dangerous place as possible.

After all, it was said that Tang People were not so friendly to Shenwu people. To this day, Shenwu prisoners on Dongwan Island were still forced to dig pits in the coal mines—the meaning of suffering hardly did it justice.

It was said that the great traitor of Shenwu, Shenwu Xiong, had defected to the Tang People and was even harsher towards Shenwu prisoners than the Tang People themselves. He was despicable, even worse than the Tang People.

While internally cursing Shenwu Xiong, Shenwu Sanlang commanded, "Starting today, of the ammunition being brought in, thirty percent should be sent out of the city to support the outer troops, and keep seventy percent within the city in preparation for street warfare!"

"Yes, General!" The adjutant was startled and then saluted, speaking in a lowered voice. He knew that once this order was carried out, almost all of the troops outside the city, except for a few Main Force Divisions, were virtually abandoned.

"Don't worry! It's been so many days and the Tang Army still hasn't bombed the urban area. What does that tell you? It means they are hesitant to destroy their prey; they want to capture a relatively intact Beiyuan City!" Shenwu Sanlang smugly explained to his adjutant. "The less willing they are to destroy it, the safer we are!"

"Then, we'll fight a decisive battle with these Tang People in the city! We'll turn Beiyuan City into the Tang Army's graveyard!" He clenched his teeth and said with a dark and ominous face.