Munitions Empire

"Great General! Great General!" A Dahua military officer rushed into General Feng Kezhi's underground headquarters, standing in front of Feng Kezhi with a face full of terror.

"What's the matter? In such a panic!" Feng Kezhi rebuked, looking at the other disapprovingly before continuing to pour over the map.

His biggest concern in the past few days had been the Tang Army's flanking attack on Fengjiang City. Now, seeing Fengjiang City about to be fully surrounded, Feng Kezhi was naturally very anxious.

Everyone knew that if Fengjiang City was lost, Zhao Kai would definitely take issue with Feng Kezhi. Everyone was guessing whether the title of Great General might just vanish.

"Great General, just received news that a supply storage camp has been destroyed by Tang aircraft," the officer hurriedly reported, swallowing hard.

"Significant losses?" Feng Kezhi continued to look down at the map, asking somewhat indifferently. For Feng Kezhi, the only thing the Dahua Empire had left to show was perhaps the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops.

Since the performance of the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops was good enough, Feng Kezhi didn't trouble them often. He only gave orders, letting the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops figure out the solutions on their own.

"300,000 rounds of ammunition, 10,000 rifles, and... food supplies for two divisions have been destroyed," the officer said nervously, announcing the results of the Great Tang Kingdom's air raid.

Unlike the Dahua Empire's stealth attack on the southern oil fields, Tang aircraft often achieved astounding results.

This time was no exception; the food supplies needed for just two divisions were a great loss for Feng Kezhi.

"Weren't the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops deployed there?" Feng Kezhi froze for a moment, then quickly asked after hearing about the losses, beginning to feel uncomfortable.

"They were deployed. Because it's an important area, the number of Anti-Aircraft Guns was even increased! I heard, I heard there were three 30mm Anti-Aircraft Guns..." the officer quickly answered.

Hearing about three Anti-Aircraft Guns, Feng Kezhi was even more astonished: today, the enemy had not dispatched a large fleet to bomb Dahua positions... If there were only a few Stuka Dive Bombers, they shouldn't have been a threat to the safety of the camp.

The Dahua officer delivering the message immediately added, "Tang Country has introduced a new type of aircraft, they're not quite like the Stukas."

On hearing that Tang Army had introduced new weapons, Feng Kezhi felt his blood pressure surging towards his head.

What he feared most now was hearing reports with a lot of content, one point being: Tang Army's new weaponry.

Last time, Tang Country had employed White Phosphorus Bombs to bombard Fengjiang City, almost collapsing the front lines of the Dahua Empire, nearly causing Fengjiang City to change hands due to that very attack.

Feng Kezhi was aware of the significance of Tang Country's new weapons; every time these weapons appeared on the battlefield, the Great Tang Kingdom moved toward victory.

But after carefully listening to the explanation from the officer who delivered the message, he somewhat grasped the situation.

The new type of weapon was an aircraft, not one of those damn terrifying special bombs. So he was slightly relieved, as a new type of aircraft brought less pressure to him than a new type of bomb.

According to the descriptions of survivors, the new Tang aircraft didn't have the bent wings like the Stukas, the wheels could retract into the body, and they looked similar to the Butcher Fighter Jets.

However, they differed from the Butcher Fighters, having pointed noses. These new Tang aircraft could launch a terrifying kind of bomb that could fly independently.

They didn't dive vertically like the Stukas but were adept at launching side attacks, destroying targets with concentrated firepower.

After hearing words like "new type" and "bombs that can fly on their own", Feng Kezhi became nervous again. He particularly despised the word "bomb", the pressure from the White Phosphorus Bombs had been far too great.

Since he felt guilty, he became even more sensitive to these terms. Every time they were mentioned, it made him feel frightened.

There was nothing he could do; after all, he had begged Zhao Chen in Sword Pavilion to continue launching night raids on the southern oil fields, and he had succeeded.

Now Zhao Chen was trying his best to assemble new attack forces, preparing to send the oil fields, which were occupied by the Great Tang, sky-high.

But once this plan was put into action, the Tang Army would certainly retaliate. His fear of the Tang Army's new weapons came from the fear that retaliation would come unexpectedly.

Soon, he shook off this negative emotion, "Only four? It seems they are new weapons for Tang forces as well, thus far not mass-produced."

The officer who came with the news agreed with this view, but he was more concerned that their familiar anti-air defensive actions were going to change because of the appearance of the Tang Army's new aircraft.

There was no choice, previously the focus was on firing shells high into the sky, forcing those dive bombers to either abandon their attack mission or hastily conclude it and leave the anti-air zone.

But now, the Tang Army had a new type of aircraft that could enter from the flanks: as long as the Tang Army wished, both types of aircraft could coordinate with each other, employing richer tactical layers to destroy the Dahua Empire's air defense systems.

"But, Great General, our anti-air troops will definitely suffer a huge blow to morale," the officer pondered then advised General Feng Kezhi, "Great General, please prepare early!"

"What more can I prepare for! I can only hide in this pitch-dark place myself!" General Feng Kezhi gave a bitter smile, looking up at the gas lamp above him, some self-deprecating humor in his voice.

Fengjiang was now almost encircled on all sides, with the song of Chu closing in on three fronts. As the Empire's Great General, he was hanging by a thread, with a bleak future—before he came, he had promised Chief of Staff Shen and His Majesty the Emperor Zhao Kai that he would hold Fengjiang City at all costs.

But he might have to go back on his word: he most likely wouldn't be able to hold Fengjiang, so he could only wait for the Empire's punishment, to endure His Majesty The Emperor's wrath.

Lately, he'd been hesitating because it seemed there were two paths before him: the first was to relocate his command post, abandon Fengjiang and then fall on his sword before His Majesty The Emperor as an apology.

The second path seemed a bit more stalwart. He could stay in Fengjiang City, fight to the last moment, and then die as an apology for the bounty of imperial grace, a decent explanation to Zhao Kai and Chu Muzhou of Shen Chuan.

However, it seemed that whichever path he chose, the outcome would ultimately be death, a fate he was quite reluctant to accept.

He was a General! Revealing his potential in the military in his teens, he became a General in his twenties, and it wasn't long before he became the Empire's Great General, deeply trusted by the late Emperor.

Even after Zhao Kai succeeded the throne, his position as the Empire's Great General was stable as an old dog. He was at the pinnacle of imperial service; how could he possibly wish to die here in his prime?

Thinking this, he looked again at that map, watching the Tang Army encircling from both flanks, and General Feng Kezhi seemed to come to some resolution.

"You go down first!" He waved his hand, signaling the officer could leave, as General Feng Kezhi closed his own eyes.

Many gas lamps hung above his head, in General Feng Kezhi's underground command post, there wasn't even a single decent electric light.

The electricity had long been cut off, so there was no use for it. However, the dim environment did give General Feng Kezhi a bit more sense of safety. Unfortunately, with the ongoing war, even this tiny sense of safety was about to disappear.

...

Behind a patch of bushes, standing atop the uniquely sloped armor of the turret, Liu Guozhu held his binoculars, observing the distant enemy positions.

That's right, he was once again at the very front of the entire Armored Corps, even the Lion-type armored reconnaissance vehicle couldn't keep up with his pace.

Because they encountered a sneak attack shot at flat trajectory from a dual 25mm anti-aircraft gun, the Lion-type armored reconnaissance vehicle that was coordinating with Liu Guozhu was destroyed.

Several members inside the reconnaissance vehicle died, with only one driver surviving. So now, it was just Liu Guozhu's Panther Tank continuing the offensive.

That well-hidden dual 25mm anti-aircraft gun, which had destroyed the Lion-type armored reconnaissance vehicle, was eliminated by the tank commanded by Liu Guozhu.

Along with it, about thirty Qin Army soldiers at the anti-aircraft gun's position were also taken out. They did not retreat, or perhaps they had no chance to retreat, so they fought valiantly until the very end.

Until the Tang Army grenadiers charged in and, under the cover of Liu Guozhu, got close to the Qin Army positions, and then cleared out those Qin soldiers who refused to surrender with hand grenades.

The battle was very fierce, so fierce that towards the end, two Dahua Type 2 Tanks entered the battle. These were provided to the Qin Army by Dahua, similar to the previously destroyed dual 25mm gun.

Liu Guozhu destroyed those two Dahua Tanks belonging to the Qin Army, refreshing his own record to 55 various enemy armored vehicles.

This was a fairly exaggerated number because it was foretold that many tank commanders were unlucky, possibly enduring half a year on the frontline without ever seeing what a Dahua Tank looked like.

"It's going to be tough to hit, up ahead it's Dahua's own flag... It looks like the Qin forces have already been breached by us," putting down the binoculars, Liu Guozhu turned back and said to his crew members.

"The position has been carefully arranged, probably hiding anti-tank guns," Liu Guozhu then reminded his comrades a couple of times.

"Shall we let the Rocket Artillery Troops and the self-propelled artillery following us go ahead and give it a try?" The gunner spread his hands, "Our tank's ammunition is almost exhausted, and there's no decent replenishment..."

"Listening to you! Let's wait!" Liu Guozhu revealed a smile, advancing with just one tank would indeed be somewhat irrational.

"When you entered the village with a single tank and captured more than 100 Dahua soldiers, you should have waited then..." The gunner looked up and complained.