Munitions Empire-Chapter 1044: Dahua Troops at the end of their tether
Chapter 1044: Dahua Troops at the end of their tether
“Commander, this is the latest battle report from Fengjiang.” An officer in charge of data statistics for the Fengjiang area knocked on the door and placed a report before Qian Jinhang, who was already preparing to return to his country.
Qian Jinhang’s work here was basically completed, and as a staff officer of the Staff Department, staying here actually didn’t serve much purpose.
If Zhao Kai learned that the Dahua Empire had been facing off against Qian Jinhang, an old acquaintance, he wouldn’t know what to feel.
Qian Jinhang glanced at the data in the report and asked without lifting his head, “Any changes?”
The officer was clearly prepared and immediately began to explain, “The number of mercenaries from various countries is noticeably decreasing, but this doesn’t actually affect our Fengjiang plan. The areas controlled by Zhao Yu have completed the first round of conscription, and we can deploy more troops to Fengjiang.”
The current international situation is very complex, which has led nations to shift their focus away from the battles in Fengjiang and the battle between Qin and Shu.
Their attention is now on their own borders, thus they are unable to dispatch as many mercenaries to Fengjiang to gain experience and train their forces.
In fact, in the last half-year, various countries have sent at least 30,000 military officers to Fengjiang to study Tang Army’s combat tactics and to understand some of the latest changes in weaponry and equipment.
Now, at least 20,000 of these lower-level commanders, who came to Fengjiang to ‘gild’ their experience, have returned to their respective countries. What they have brought back is enough to occupy their military forces for quite some time.
Actually, this presents an interesting phenomenon: military officers who graduated from the Great Tang Military Academy in Brunas have now risen to high ranks in their respective countries and become senior commanders. They form the upper echelons of the various empires’ military forces.
Under their leadership, alumni find it easier to be promoted. Indeed, these commanders, educated with advanced military thought from the Great Tang Military Academy, are indeed more capable than the old-fashioned officers self-raised by the Nobility.
As for these “Tang-connected” commanders, there is an interesting disdain chain within: those who have studied in Tang Country earlier were the most esteemed. However, now those who have been ‘gilded’ in Fengjiang are even hotter commodities.
Aside from these individuals who come to learn and ‘gild’ their resumes, the remaining soldiers have it much tougher. They must fight on the frontlines for two months before they even qualify to return home.
But it’s not without rewards; those who manage to survive the ordeal in Fengjiang can possibly return home as junior officers, which is a sort of class promotion that many are keen to pursue.
Unfortunately, the number of survivors is not that high, and as the battle of Fengjiang becomes increasingly fierce, fewer and fewer men are pulled out of combat, and their time spent in battle shortens.
In such circumstances, it is uncertain how much combat strength these battle-hardened veterans retain and how much they learn.
But there’s one thing certain: countries around the world have learned something from Fengjiang, and indeed they have gained a lot at a small cost, learning key points they had not encountered before.
Qian Jinhang sneered disdainfully, then set aside the report in his hand, “It seems the nations think they have learned most of our technology.”
“The opposition is indeed learning our tactics and technology, having witnessed the practical performance of many weapon systems on the battlefield,” the officer affirmed.
He then added, “For example, the Type 63 light infantry rocket artillery has become a hot item, with 30,000 units selling recently.”
“That sounds quite good, more successful than hosting an expo,” Qian Jinhang nodded and said, “I will take this report back with me, thank you.”
“Long live His Majesty The Emperor!” The officer snapped to attention and saluted.
“Long live the Empire!” Qian Jinhang got up, stood at attention, and returned the salute.
As a general who surrendered to the Great Tang Empire, Qian Jinhang developed many small habits. He always said thank you to each person he worked with, and he made sure his salutes were always crisp and proper.
Many weapons technologies from the Great Tang Empire are a focal point of tracking for other nations, and the weapons seen in Fengjiang are naturally the most effective.
Everyone has seen the devastating effect of the Great Tang Empire’s rocket artillery in Fengjiang, so the term ‘rocket artillery’ has recently become one of the most talked-about topics.
These days, apart from the battles in Fengjiang, bloody and brutal fights are taking place in the Shanchong direction, or rather, towards the Guiguang area.
Different from the city siege warfare in Fengjiang, Luo Xiao’s Fengjiang forces near Guiguang are fiercely fighting against the Dahua troops from Shanchong, while also sending out forces to push northwards, attempting to capture Wanliang, and threaten the Dahua forces advancing from the Hezhe direction towards Fengjiang.”
In terms of strategy, the Dahua Empire remained naive and vague. Emperor Zhao Kai, who usually practiced a balancing act and was characteristically flawed, continued to perform stably as always.
The invasion of Shu Country by Qin Country, in a way, liberated the Dahua troops on the western front. Some of these troops were pulled out and directly thrown into the brutal eastern frontline.
Originally, with so many additional troops, the Dahua military forces attacking Fengjiang should have been unprecedentedly strengthened, but in reality, these Dahua troops were dispersed in three different directions.
A portion of the troops was allocated to the Zhao Jie Group in the Shanchong direction, another portion was plainly arranged in the Wanliang direction to ensure the security of Wanliang.
Only about one-third of the troops were assigned to the Zhao Chen Group, for the assault on Fengjiang: such deployment obviously wasn’t quite correct, but it seemed exceptionally rational.
On the surface, this even-handed approach seems to have no problem at all, yet in reality, this ‘adding oil’ tactic is the most ridiculous method of distribution.
From a true tactical standpoint, it would be better to concentrate all the troops in one direction to create an advantage before considering other directions.
“This isn’t…” In his annoyance, Zhao Chen recalled that the order might have come from Zhao Kai, so he forcibly choked back the words “acting rashly.”
Zhao Kai has already had a great deal of criticism for not taking Fengjiang after such a long time, and seeking trouble now would only make the situation worse.
Today’s Fengjiang has become a huge fortress. The closer you attack toward the core, the more durable the buildings become, the more densely packed the high-rises, and the collapsed structures block traffic and form high grounds, very disadvantageous for the attackers.
Under such terrain, heavy weaponry could no longer play an advantage, and the once-dominant Type 5 tanks were now out of place; everyone now fought in the rubble relying almost entirely on infantry.
Every day brings massive casualties, every day some utterly exhausted troops have to be pulled back for rest, only to be replaced by freshly recovered troops back into the meat grinder.
At first, entering the battle were infantry battalions at full strength of 550 men; very soon the speed of new recruits could no longer keep up. Subsequent troops entering the battlefield were 500 men strong, later reduced to 350 men per battalion.
There was no choice; too many troops needed replenishing, and there simply wasn’t a way to restore understrength units to full capacity.
Most of the time, troops rest in the rear for two days, take in some new recruits, get acquainted, receive some new ammo and arms, and then must re-enter the battle in Fengjiang.
The core veterans have been dwindling, in the beginning, more than half of the soldiers in a battalion had ample combat experience. After fighting all this way to the present, it’s considered quite good if a battalion has seventy to eighty old soldiers.
Zhao Ji is no longer around, and Zhao Chen finds it impossible to use Zhao Ji’s status to ask Zhao Kai for more supplies.
Now, the Crown Prince Zhao Ji has been dispatched to supervise the battle in Wanliang City, as Zhao Kai is concerned that if Wanliang falls, it would affect the Empire’s grain harvest.
Indeed, has the harvest season not arrived? Wanliang Wanliang, just by hearing the name you can tell it is absolutely a crucial production area.
In fact, it is indeed so, the vast regions near the cities of Wanliang, Jutian, and Caili are the traditional production areas of the Dahua Empire. These places cannot easily run into problems, otherwise, it would affect the food security of the Dahua Empire.
This is one of the main reasons why Zhao Kai has directed the withdrawn western troops to the Wanliang direction: It really can’t afford any issues, especially during the harvest season.
At this point, the Zhao Chen Group can be said to be both weary veterans and tired soldiers, with hundreds of thousands of troops besieging Fengjiang, fighting all the way from Hezhe to Fengjiang, their condition is actually not so great.
Under such circumstances, without receiving substantial reinforcements, Zhao Chen’s army’s offensive has become unsustainable. This is one of the reasons why the battle of Fengjiang has dragged on for so long.
Inside Fengjiang City now, Dahua troops’ offensives are often not comprehensive, but can only target a single block or a few buildings. Such an attack, victory or defeat, can no longer dictate the overall situation of urban warfare.
Urban warfare, or rather street fighting, is all about speed. If you are fast enough, the street fight will be quelled quickly, and actual losses will be contained to a minimum.
But if you get into a protracted struggle, then street fighting becomes the nightmare for both sides of the conflict. The endless commitment makes victory for either side incredibly difficult.
Because the losses are already especially colossal, both sides, out of reluctance to abandon what’s already been endured but finding no satisfaction, choose to ceaselessly throw in subsequent forces in the hopes the prior commitments do not go to waste.
The result is that both sides are stuck in a dilemma, both having to commit a large number of troops to entangle in the ruins: The Battle of Stalingrad, frankly, was exactly like this.
To claim that the German Army, after truly capturing Stalingrad, and Paulus would still have the capability to continue the march to the Caucasus region, even he would not dare say so. Hence, even if the German Army eventually took the city, they could only choose to either defend it or retreat.
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