Munitions Empire-Chapter 1048 - 970 Unsuccessful Journey Southward
Chapter 1048: 970 Unsuccessful Journey Southward
In the King City of Wuyang, within the royal palace of Qin Country, King Ying Duo was discussing the war against Shu Country with his generals and trusted advisers.
Frankly speaking, although the Qin Country appears to be militarily strong, it actually suffers from a clear lack of sustained power.
It does not share any borders with the Great Tang Empire, so if Qin Country cannot achieve its strategic objectives in a short time, it is very likely to fail due to not obtaining enough support from Tang Country.
It must be said that Shu Country, backed by Chu Country and Tang Country, is inherently more capable of withstanding attrition. Moreover, with a stronger economy, Shu Country is also in a better position to stabilize the situation.
Qin Country is different; it must establish an absolute advantage early in the war, connect quickly with Chu Country so that it can import what it desires from Chu and Tang Countries, and stabilize the situation thereafter.
Compared to Zhao Kai, the Emperor of the Dahua Empire, King Ying Duo of Qin Country is clearly not as arrogant. He is a very practical and hands-on ruler, highly respected within Qin Country, and much more capable than Zhao Kai.
Interestingly, Qin Country’s Princely Heir, His Highness Ying Bo, is also much smarter than Crown Prince Zhao Ji and Zhao Yu of the Dahua Empire.
This Princely Heir, diligent and intelligent, inheriting his father’s excellent genes, has also gained recognition and support from the ministers of Qin Country.
Compared to the internal strife in the Dahua Empire, the internal politics of Qin Country are much simpler. Due to both internal and external problems, the officials in Qin Country are more straightforward and efficient, without the convolutions found within the Dahua Empire.
“Our military is currently here on the map, moving slower than estimated, which is disadvantageous for us,” Wang Luo, a high-ranking general of Qin Country, explained to King Ying Duo while pointing at the map.
Qin Army’s advancement was not smooth; the troops of Shu Country were more resilient than expected, and Qin Army’s performance itself was not very strong.
Unlike before the war, Shu Country’s troops fiercely held their ground, causing heavy casualties to Qin Army without achieving their planned offensive objectives.
Qin Country’s Air Force Commander, Liu Chi, stood aside like an invisible man, not daring to speak because Qin’s Air Force had performed terribly in previous battles.
Before the war, high hopes were placed on the Air Force, as it had always performed well in wars against the Orc Empire.
However, after the war broke out, the performance of Qin’s Air Force could only be described as dreadful: poor in offense, even worse in defense.
Qin Country’s bombing operations aimed at destroying the industrial production capacity in Shu Country’s major cities were almost completely unsuccessful.
The assembled hundreds of Type 17 bomber jets (DO-17) had nearly half destroyed. These downed planes had many valuable pilots, causing significant pain to Qin Country.
Qin Country’s aviation industry had just started, and producing so many planes had already taken a monumental effort. Now, with over half of these pre-war planes lost, replenishing them had become a headache.
Not all nations can replace one fallen plane with two, like the Great Tang Empire. Most countries, like Qin Country, might not even manage to produce one plane for every two lost.
The substantial losses made it difficult for the Air Force to continue its offensive, and many previously planned bombing missions had to be canceled. This also completely disrupted Qin Country’s plans to rapidly destroy Shu Country’s industrial capabilities, as the bombing came almost to a halt.
On the other side, after severely damaging Qin Country’s bomber squadrons, Shu Country’s Air Force also began to deploy bombers to launch a series of attacks on Qin Country.
Qin’s Air Force attempted to intercept these planes from Shu Country, leading to intense back-and-forth aerial battles.
Like Qin Country’s bombers, Shu Country’s bombers also suffered heavy losses during their offensive operations, for similar reasons: both sides’ bombers had similar capabilities and lacked adequate self-defense against enemy fighter jet interceptions.
Unlike the B-17 strategic bombers used by Great Tang itself, both countries employed medium bombers with weak defensive armaments and limited range.
Thus, without control of air superiority, these bombers incurred tremendous losses during their missions.
Despite the significant losses, the impact was tangible. Leaders of Qin Country who initiated the war likely never anticipated that their southern cities would also be engulfed by war—with civilian homes destroyed and factories bombed, resulting in substantial devastation.
This blame would certainly fall on Qin Country’s Air Force Commander, so Liu Chi, the Air Force Commander, has recently been a focal point of criticism.
“The 1st Corps is encountering resistance on the Huai Mountain front, our military is fighting desperately, but I estimate that there will be no results within ten days,” Wang Luo explained the situation somewhat awkwardly, clearly sensing the anxious mood of his king, Ying Duo.
If the Qin Army fails to break through the Shu Army’s defensive line as initially anticipated, the war will become prolonged.
Once prolonged, numerous variables will arise. Then the promises made by Qin Country to the Great Tang Empire prior to the war would be unfulfilled.
This is definitely not good news, because if the Great Tang Empire doesn’t get what it wants, it will start considering pushing the war in another direction: towards the defeat of Qin Country.
“The logistical support issue is extremely severe, we have temporarily requisitioned 10,000 vehicles… but, but it is clearly not enough,” Wang Luo tried to explain, but did not know where to start.
Although the railway network of Qin Country has been rapidly built in the past two years, squeezing both military and civilian usage together, the transportation capacity is just so-so.
Moreover, as Shu Country often destroys railways during their retreat, once Qin Country enters Shu territory, they mostly have to rely on truck transportation.
Even though the road conditions in Shu Country are not bad, relying purely on trucks consumes a huge amount, and due to Qin Country’s negligence in valuing supply transportation, the situation in practice is truly disastrous.
About 30,000 trucks are damaged on the roads, and 50,000 trucks of various models are waiting for various spare parts, you can imagine what Qin Country’s frontline supply situation is like right now.
At the supply stations built near the original border, materials are piled up like mountains, yet the supplies effectively reaching the hands of frontline soldiers are pitifully few.
In order to maintain an offensive stance, the Qin Army also needs to consume a large amount of ammunition, which further leads to difficulties in transporting other materials. Logistic issues severely affect the morale of the Qin Army, but there is no way to improve the situation temporarily.
“The train can only reach Zhen Nan City, after passing Zhen Nan City and going further south into Shu Country, our logistics completely collapsed,” said Ying Bo, the crown prince of Qin Country, standing to the side and pinching his chin as he stared at the map and added, “Zhang Xuan has already done his best.”
The aforementioned Zhang Xuan, also a general of the Qin Army, is like Wang Luo, a pillar of Qin Country and a capable commander.
Previously, he was constantly fighting the Orc Empire on the western front, but this time leading his troops southward, he became the vanguard in the invasion of Shu Country.
“I have already ordered all the vehicles produced by Wuyang Automobile Plant to be detained and directly supplied to the military. However, we have just over 2000 vehicles this month, which seems still insufficient to fill the losses at the front,” Ying Bo said and then noticed his father’s face grew even more worried.
“The vehicles produced in the Dahua Empire are not even enough for their own use, we definitely cannot buy any,” Ying Duo said gravely to his trusted aides, “The import channels from the Great Tang Empire are almost cut off, which is extremely unfavorable for us.”
Shu Country can import various products from Chu Country and Tang Country; as long as they are willing to spend Gold Coins, they can buy airplanes, vehicles… even tanks!
But Qin Country cannot, their international trade routes have already been severed, now they can only rely on themselves.
“You are doing very well; cars and planes must now be prioritized for the southern front troops! At all costs, we must take down the northern stronghold of Huai Mountain in Shu Country! After capturing Huai Mountain, immediately advance westward, we must secure the passage to Chu Country before our war potential is exhausted!” Ying Duo said, pressing his hand on the northern part of Shu Country on the map.
“Do not worry about the losses! Zhang Chi! Deploy all the planes you can find to cover the ground troops’ attack! Abandon bombing the enemy’s major cities and focus on supporting frontline operations!” he looked toward the Air Force Commander beside him and instructed.
“Yes! Your Majesty!” Zhang Chi promptly responded, “Even if there is only one plane, I will fully support the ground troops’ attack!”
As he said this, his heart bled. Qin Country had gathered over 1000 planes in a little more than a year, now more than half had been dispatched to the southern front, and about 400 had already been lost!
Listen, hear this number. Even the loss of 400 pilots alone would make life difficult for Zhang Chi as the Air Force Commander.
But he knew that he was not the only one distressed; the Air Force Commanders of Shu Country were likely also spitting blood now.
This 𝓬ontent is taken from freeweɓnovel.cѳm.
The loss ratio of the air combat between both sides is maintained at around 1:1; with Qin Country losing 400 planes, the other side’s loss was also at least 350.
Such losses are also hard for Shu Country to bear. The recent decrease in the number of Shu Country planes bombing Qin’s Zhen Nan City is proof.
Both parties, after each losing nearly 400 planes, realized a serious issue: even if they could match the production speed of planes with their loss rate, they couldn’t train enough pilots.
This is a critical problem, one that neither Qin nor Shu Country can resolve. Before solving this problem, the air combat between the two countries can only continue on a minor scale.
