Munitions Empire

In terms of integrity, the Great Tang Empire has always been quite decent. Once Tang Mo decided not to send troops to participate in the war, the Great Tang Empire exhibited the utmost restraint.

When the Chu Country’s donated Butcher Fighters arrived in Fengjiang, the pilots were uniformly Elves from the Poplar Empire.

These Elves had been trained in Chu Country’s flight schools, and upon learning that they could personally pilot the “most advanced” fighter jets in combat, they were thrilled beyond measure.

This was undeniably a unique opportunity: they held the supreme VIP experience card, indulging in the blissful feeling of Great Tang Empire pilots overwhelming their adversaries effortlessly.

To pilot a Butcher Fighter jet dominating the skies was an absolute joy—this type of fighter jet was superior in every aspect, crushing the previous generation of aircraft from other countries.

Even as many countries had come to possess slightly less capable fighters, the Butcher Fighter continued to hold an absolute advantage in numerous performance areas.

Only after these Elf flight apprentices truly got their hands on the Butcher Fighter in Chu Country, did they realize its formidable power.

It could reach speeds exceeding 700 kilometers per hour in extreme conditions, while other nations’ fighter jets generally topped out below 500 kilometers per hour.

These aircraft could climb to altitudes over 12,000 meters, levels at which other countries’ fighters started to wheeze and labor.

Piloting such an aircraft in a steep dive, everyone would fall under the illusion of being invincible, as its handling exhibited supreme brute force, capable of tearing anything in its path to pieces.

“Pilots of this aircraft are fortunate; they wouldn’t even know what failure is.” That was the assessment of the Elf pilots in Chu Country after getting their hands on this jet.

They adored the aircraft so much that after flying it several times, they understood why their nation had spent a fortune to acquire them.

No matter the cost, it was worth it… This was the consensus among the Elf pilots as they soared the skies, arrogantly bulldozing their way through the front lines.

Now they understood how comfortable Great Tang Empire pilots had it: all challengers were merely prey, they were like deities surveying the entire earth.

With the addition of these Butcher Fighters, the Dahua troops in the Hezhe direction had no choice but to halt their offensive and started stacking as many anti-aircraft guns as possible around their vulnerable supply lines.

Obtaining air superiority and being able to exploit it were two different matters: what truly struck fear into the Dahua Empire’s Army were the thousands of ground attack aircraft of the Great Tang Empire, not those fighters pretending to be attackers just by dangling a couple of fist-sized bombs under their wings.

Though Butcher Fighters did have ground attack capabilities, these were quite limited. Or to put it another way, the ground attack abilities of the Butcher Fighters were actually bestowed upon them by Great Tang Empire’s pilots.

Typically, Air Force fighter pilots don’t receive training for ground attacks; using fighters to strafe the ground is essentially a waste of air combat pilots—unless air superiority was guaranteed, then ground attacks by fighter pilots would be considered “overkill.”

This isn’t a slight on ground attack pilots, what we’re saying is that specialization is key: just as making ground attack pilots engage in air combat isn’t ideal, they’re not incapable, but simply not specialized.

Most of Fengjiang’s ground attack aircraft pilots were Fengjiang’s own, with a portion of Elf “mercenary” pilots.

These pilots were clearly amateurs, so the 100 Yir Attack Aircrafts donated by Chu Country didn’t perform well. Two were shot down in their first battle, followed by another two crashing due to malfunctions, turning it into a laughing stock for onlookers.

Frankly speaking, more specialized ground attacks were beyond the Elf Fighters’ pilots, who were overwhelmed with air combat training at school, let alone mastering ground attacks.

The approach to training fighter pilots was similar across all countries: stick to learning air combat properly, and leave ground attacks to be cobbled together by those reassigned from civil aviation.

Because the air combat theory of each country is based on their own circumstances: the air forces are not specialized, and as long as they could hold onto air superiority, they had fulfilled their mission.

Essentially, the air forces of all countries were actually attached to their armies, their primary mission was to ensure the normal operations of their own ground troops. They were nowhere close to Tang Country’s level, capable of launching campaign-level aerial offensives.

This difference was evident from the types of aircraft purchased by each country: almost all bought only two types, one being the sufficiently capable fighter jet and the other a moderately advanced medium bomber.

This clearly delineated the countries’ air force roles: fighter jets for homeland defense, maintaining air superiority over the battlefield; bombers for city bombardment, akin to a strategic deterrent.

Their utilization of air force planes was nowhere near the level of Tang Country, and unsurprisingly, their models lacked the specifics—A dedicated ground attack aircraft? Isn’t that just about the same as a bomber?

Even though the Yir Attack Aircraft lacked professional pilots, these aircraft still caused some trouble for Dahua’s ground operations: more than a dozen Yir Attack Aircraft collided with the Dahua Army’s Armored Corps in battle, destroying seven Dahua Tanks and damaging five others, marking an early end to the ground offensive as a failure.

Zhao Chen’s biggest fear had indeed come to pass: After gaining air supremacy, the Fengjiang ground defenders had steadied their retreat and stopped their disarrayed fallback just less than 20 kilometers away from Fengjiang itself.

This point was already close enough to Fengjiang, and even less than 60 kilometers away from the two field airports in the south and north of Fengjiang.

It seemed that if Dahua Empire’s ground troops pushed just a little harder, they might have been able to break into the urban area of Fengjiang—except that with the addition of Great Tang Empire’s air force equipment to the battlefield, the situation had suddenly changed.

Due to fear of the attacks by the Yir attack aircraft, subsequent resupply had to be carried out piecemeal and only at night, which directly affected the overall supply volume.

With no other option, Dahua Empire’s ground troops had to halt and wait for the follow-up units. Even Zhao Chen had not anticipated that this wait… would turn out to be five days.

The Fengjiang defenders didn’t halt their retreat here without reason. Luo Xiao, worried about potential problems on the western defensive line, had mobilized the civilians of Fengjiang in advance to construct a makeshift defense line in the west.

Subsequent passing Mirage Country mercenaries, Dwarf mercenaries, and Elf mercenaries all reinforced the line a bit.

By the time the Fengjiang defenders retreated to this point, there was already a small, proper defense line of some scale.

Moreover, with this defense line backed against Fengjiang, the Fengjiang defenders essentially had no room left to retreat: so here, the Fengjiang defenders regrouped, took a stand once again, and blocked the advancing Dahua troops whose attack was noticeably weakening.

As to how much of this was due to the Fengjiang defenders holding off the Dahhua troops, and how much was because the Dahua troops stopped on their own due to supply difficulties, that was something only the heavens knew.

…

“What? Pushed back?” Zhao Yu was stunned when he learned that his front lines were crumbling and that he was increasingly distancing from Hezhe.

He had always thought that his main force was on the western front; if the west fell, didn’t that mean his cause was lost?

But Luo Xiao, Qian Jinhang, and Zhao Feng reassured him together, explaining some details, which helped Zhao Yu to calm down.

“Actually, we still have over a hundred thousand strong on the western front. Although forced to retreat, we can still hold the outer defensive lines of Fengjiang,” Luo Xiao explained.

Qian Jinhang also assured, “I’d been to the defensive line earlier, and supporting it for several more days shouldn’t be a problem.”

“Several days?” Hearing about this timeframe made Zhao Yu feel unsettled again—just a few days, how would that be enough?

“Rest assured, Your Highness! After several days, a large number of international reinforcements will arrive. We are not isolated without support!” Zhao Feng spoke up to persuade him at that moment.

“About five divisions of forces are already converging here, all with strong combat capabilities, elite main forces. So, Your Highness, please be at ease,” Xu Guo, the strategist sitting beside Zhao Yu, also spoke up then.

Hearing everyone’s confidence, Zhao Yu felt much reassured, but he was still reluctant to have the front lines too close to his location: “Master… How about I… I move to the eastern side of Fengjiang for a few days?”

“Your Highness, at a time like this, if you leave West Fengjiang on your own, what would the soldiers think?” Xu Guo, of course, couldn’t allow Zhao Yu to leave Fengjiang and immediately rejected the idea.

“The air force assistance has arrived, and we’ve stabilized the defensive line! Everything is still within controllable limits, Your Highness can be at ease,” Luo Xiao spoke again, comforting him with another sentence.

He was indeed speaking the truth. Faster than the Dahua military reinforcements, the defenders from Mirage Country and the Ice Cold Empire had only a few days’ journey to arrive, and Fengjiang clearly could be defended for quite a long while.

“And besides, the offensive on the southern front is going smoothly. We’ve now reached the outskirts of Shanping,” Luo Xiao immediately followed up with a piece of good news.

“Very good, very good…” Although Zhao Yu wanted to shout, “Why push so far in the south, hurry up and get those troops to come back to defend Fengjiang,” he disciplined himself not to blurt out the words.

Partly because he didn’t dare to question the advice of a Great Tang “advisor” like Luo Xiao, and partly because he had really begun to entertain some fantasies: Shanping! South of it lies Guiguang, and south of Guiguang is the Sword Pavilion… the land of Longxing.

Capturing that place would indeed be an auspicious sign… In the blink of an eye, Zhao Yu had shifted from thinking about the defeat on the western front near Fengjiang to envisaging a complete victory in the south.

——-

Two updates today… Not much spirit…