Munitions Empire - Chapter 627 - Chapter 627: Ultimatum 586
Chapter 627: Ultimatum 586
Another entirely new weapon was a peculiar type of artillery support firepower. Unlike traditional cannons, it lacked a gun barrel, and the launching rack was mounted directly on a truck, making it look like a row of railroad tracks.
Indeed, this contraption was the Katyusha Rocket Launcher, a new, area-covering fire support weapon provided by Tang Mo to the troops.
This device was a modern version of “shooting a swarm,” with its strength not being precision but volume.
Compared to traditional artillery, the point of using an entire company to pour a battalion’s worth of artillery fire onto the enemy’s position in an instant was the very reason this gadget existed.
Due to its powerful impact and low entry barrier, the Tang Army had not yet equipped it on a large scale, and the security classification was very high. In fact, the Tang Army did not even consider deploying this weapon to the Qi Country frontline.
At the same time, Great Tang Group also received feedback from the frontline infantry. They complained that the Thompson Submachine Gun was too large and cumbersome, with insufficient range, and hoped for a brand new weapon to replace it.
The Armored Corps also thought that equipping members solely with pistols for self-defense was inadequate and similarly required better automatic weapons to enhance their ability to fight off the vehicle.
In short, after the test of actual combat, everyone had some complaints about the weapons in their hands – it was not that their weapons performed very well, but that their opponents’ weapons performed too poorly.
Thus, the development of new weapons was put on the agenda. As for which weapons Tang Mo would choose to equip the future Tang Army, that was his business.
Because Tang Mo was currently engaged in matters that seemed more urgent than selecting new weapons for troops in the future.
He was evacuating his diplomats from Shenwu Country and preparing to use the Air Force to pay a proper visit to the Shenwu troops who had come from afar to occupy Beiyuan City.
“Our ships are already at sea, all relevant personnel have been evacuated from Shenwu Country. Before leaving, our diplomatic envoys also presented a state letter to their king, expressing our position,” Roger reported the diplomatic situation to Tang Mo succinctly.
Tang Mo nodded slightly. The order to break off relations and declare war with Shenwu Country was issued by him personally, so he was equally aware that the war between the two countries was about to erupt.
“Furthermore, we have announced to the public that we do not recognize any land transactions between Qi Country and Shenwu Country! We do not acknowledge Shenwu Country’s ownership of Beiyuan City!” Roger added, “At the same time, we have declared that the strike against the Qi Army in Beiyuan City will continue as usual, with no changes due to Shenwu’s intervention.”
“What about Shenwu Country’s response?” Tang Mo asked.
“They condemned us, and the Dahua Empire and Laines Empire both advised us to restrain ourselves,” Roger replied.
Tang Mo continued to nod slightly, then turned to Luff, “On the Army side, what’s the situation with the First Prince?”
“They retreated hastily and did not construct any solid defensive fortifications. Our troops are advancing steadily, and the territory under his control is being progressively reduced by us,” Luff immediately answered Tang Mo’s question.
“Time,” Tang Mo asked again.
“Within 7 days, we are confident that we can completely annihilate the forces under the First Prince…” Luff answered without hesitation, providing a very precise timeline.
“Try to take prisoners as much as possible, as it will help us in controlling Qi Country,” Tang Mo instructed, not waiting for Luff’s response before continuing to inquire, “Then what about the plan to bomb Beiyuan City – is it ready?”
“The field airports we built near King City and Nanye are already operational, and the flying fortresses can take off to bomb any target around Beiyan City at any time!” Luff answered immediately.
“In three days, the field airports closer to the front line will be available. These airports will ensure that our tactical aircraft can have longer loiter times over Beiyuan City,” seeing that Tang Mo remained silent, he added, “The Air Force command suggested that it would be better to use all aircraft to conduct bombings three days later.”
“I understand. Then let Ibrahim know that I agree with his suggestion, and to initiate the attack on the Shenwu military in three days without mercy!” Tang Mo said, then turned to Li’ao, “The Chu Country to the south has been restless lately?”
“They are actively deploying forces, and the border commanders we are familiar with have all been replaced. They have also unilaterally cut off the population trade we had before,” Li’ao answered.
Tang Mo fell silent, staring at the map. Looking at his kingdom surrounded by enemies on three sides and bordered by the sea on the fourth, he felt it should no longer continue this way.
To annihilate Qi Country would permanently resolve the northern border threat. This would free up a large amount of troops, supporting Tang Mo’s use of forces in other directions.
Merely from the perspective of benefits, removing the thorn that was Beiyuan City was also a necessity. Tang Mo was no Fuhrer; he certainly didn’t intend to leave a Great British Empire outside his Atlantic Wall to trouble him.
“Don’t worry about Chu Country for now, send a telegram to Bolton to let him handle it,” Tang Mo said casually.
Bolton was a renowned general, one of the famed Dorne Duumvirate. Although his troops were insufficient for offense, his defense was more than enough. For those unworthy Chu Country soldiers to think of defeating him was utterly a fool’s dream.
As the saying goes, there are thousands and thousands of renowned generals in the world, and half of them come from the Great Tang Group. Under Tang Mo’s command were fierce generals like clouds and famous commanders like rain; he didn’t even know who to choose to warm up for the battle.
Not to mention the commander of the 1st Armored Division, sweeping the battlefield, and the commander of the 4th Armored Division, who had occupied the Qi Country King City. In other kingdoms, wouldn’t they have been valorous generals ensured high fame? But serving under his command until now, they were still mostly unknown.
Three days had flown by in the blink of an eye, and Beiyuan City had already become a living hell. The rampaging Shenwu Country goblins were bullying men and dominating women, committing all manner of evil deeds.
The Second Prince, now under the thumb of others, could only turn a blind eye to this, becoming a real-life version of Wang Er Ge, tucking his head in like a turtle resigned to his fate.
The local citizens were suffering indescribably; the majority had been pulled to the front lines where everyone, regardless of sex, had to dig trenches and construct fortifications, transforming the entire outskirts of Beiyuan City into a giant construction site.
To avoid the spread of plague from rotting, stinking corpses, the Shenwu Country people were tossing the local Qi people who died on the construction site toward their controlled border areas; some places even reached a degree where corpses littered the field.
From time to time, Qi people would sneak into the Tang Army-controlled area to report the brutal acts of the Shenwu Country people and begged the Tang Army to send troops to Beiyuan City.
As time passed, the deadline set by the Tang Army for the Shenwu Country troops to withdraw from Beiyuan City also arrived. On this day, Shenwu Liang hurried to the front line in the early morning, inspected the defensive line, boosted the morale, and stayed vigilant against a possible attack from the Tang Army.
Because he had employed so many common people, while also harming the locals, the construction was completed in even less time than Shenwu Liang had imagined, and his defense line had already taken shape.
Having learned the lesson from the defensive lines in the southern part of Qi Country, there were clearly more professional anti-tank traps added to the Shenwu Country’s defenses. These huge trenches, over three meters deep and at least three meters wide, were clearly visible from the sky.
Tanks would have quite a challenge crossing such a trench, especially since some areas had river water diverted into them, making the entire trench extremely muddy.
Behind this trench line was Shenwu Country’s main defensive line, where countless hidden bunkers and reinforced concrete pillboxes had been built, equipped with a large number of machine guns to provide a fire support.
To prevent Tang Army’s tank corps from advancing, Shenwu Country had also acquired a number of 76mm caliber anti-balloon guns to fire at tanks directly.
Their idea was simple: as long as they could force the Tang Army’s tanks to slow down, they could use dense firepower to paralyze these steel monsters.
Shenwu Liang was very satisfied with the defense plan he had discussed with advisor Shireck; he didn’t believe that the Tang Army could break through such a carefully arranged defensive line.
Although Shenwu Country couldn’t quickly transport Shireck’s tanks over for the battle, they still tried to increase their troop strength as much as possible.
On this circular defense line, they had stationed 6 divisions with over 60,000 men. These troops were well-trained and very combat-effective.
Hiding in the trenches with bunker firepower for support, they could well utilize the range advantage of the Shireck rifle; one could say they were quite well prepared.
In addition, since the Shenwu Country had a tough time against the Tang Army during the battle of Dongwan Island, they took this battle very seriously. They knew that Tang Army might attack them, so they were also prepared for an assault.
Shenwu Country gave great importance to the battle of Beiyuan City, viewing it as a crucial battle for avenging their humiliation, which is why they had committed their elite as much as possible.
According to the plan, with the further escalation of the war, they were likely to maintain a force of over 200,000 in Beiyuan City.
What gave Shenwu Liang full confidence was that Shireck, in secret collusion with the high-level leaders of Shenwu Country, had devised a plan for a counter-attack on Tang Country’s mainland.
If this plan was successfully implemented, then Tang Country’s industrial production capability would be greatly damaged. This was the confidence underlying Shenwu Country’s insistence on this battle.
No matter what, Shenwu Liang felt he held the winning cards; from every aspect, he had ample trump cards.
As he stood on the defensive position filled with soaring aspirations, some specks gradually appeared in the sky, hardly visible at first.
Then, these specks became more and more numerous, increasingly dense. After that, the Shenwu Country’s military on the ground began to hear a continuous, somewhat oppressive sound of engines.
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As those specks drew nearer, the oppressive sound grew louder until everybody realized where it was coming from. They looked up and saw the sky darkened by the planes of the Tang Army.
—–
How I wish that back in those days, we had planes that could fill the sky… I am just that superficial.
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