Munitions Empire-Chapter 1114 - 1035 people left the building empty

For many years, the Dahua Imperial Capital had not experienced such calamities: first hit by two ballistic missiles that nearly killed the Emperor, and now artillery fire could be heard again.

For those civilians living in the Imperial Capital, this past year was filled with disasters, and the stories they experienced were more than the total of the past two hundred years combined.

"Why is there artillery fire now?" Civilians gathered in the north of the city looked in terror at the column of smoke rising in the distance, nervously asking each other.

"Who knows? Before it was just gunshots, and now, cannons are being fired." Another civilian was also full of tension.

You’ve got to be kidding me, this is the Imperial Capital! If this place isn’t safe, where in the world could possibly be safe?

"Who knows what exactly happened in the south of the city?" some were still curiously asking, genuinely wanting to know what had become of the city’s southern part.

While they were discussing, a car full of soldiers sped past them on the street, closely followed by a second and a third.

These soldiers were transferred from outside to inside the city. Meanwhile, Li Mingshun’s 150mm-caliber heavy artillery troops deployed outside the city were firing towards the south. They had already fired approximately 200 artillery shells.

At first, everyone was panicking, but gradually, everyone noticed that the shell impacts were concentrated in the south of the city, which calmed them down.

As Zhao Jie had initiated a light-armored charge, he carried no heavy artillery and therefore couldn’t retaliate. He could only allow Li Mingshun’s troops to fire, turning the district they were defending into ruins.

Li Mingshun was strategizing troop movements; he had to eliminate the nuisance that was Zhao Jie before more reinforcements arrived.

On the outskirts, Zhao Ji was hardly reliable. Compared to the combat-capable Zhao Jie, Crown Prince Zhao Ji was like a decorative pillow, at best a straw man.

His command skills were inferior to Zhao Jie, and the troops at his disposal were probably not as capable as Zhao Jie’s. Those so-called elite Crown Prince Guards might be good for intimidating people, but there was still a significant gap compared to field troops in actual combat.

Therefore, Zhao Ji’s surprise attack on the airport had failed. However, both Zhao Ji and Li Mingshun did not anticipate that their fierce battle at the airport in the south actually had some effect.

Zhao Jie had prepared dozens of DC-3 transport planes to airlift some soldiers over to join the battle, but unfortunately, these planes could not land because the airport had been destroyed in the battle.

Dozens of DC-3s, running out of fuel, were forced to land, and barely one-tenth of the soldiers inside survived the crash landings, amounting to a total loss.

Zhao Jie unexpectedly lost at least 500 men, making the soldiers he had even more precious. He couldn’t launch an attack and had to honestly defend the southern district of the city, engaging in a positional battle with Li Mingshun within the city.

Lacking troops, Zhao Jie had no other options. His strength did not support his ambition, so he could only hold on for the time being, ensuring that Zhao Ji and Li Mingshun would not join forces and pose a greater threat to him.

Actually, at this time, Zhao Ji had a better option: he could have taken a long detour via the northeast direction and bypassed the outskirts of the Imperial Capital to meet up with Li Mingshun.

It was indeed the simplest and safest method. However, Zhao Ji was unwilling to accept it, believing such an option would waste the advantageous situation of pinning Zhao Jie between two fronts.

As the battle continued, Zhao Ji, after consecutive defeats, increasingly favored meeting up with Li Mingshun first. He felt the troops around him were too few, which made him feel insecure.

Moreover, the 10,000 troops he summoned from Dongqing were moving slowly. In fact, the supposed pincer attack had already failed due to Zhao Ji’s own lagging performance.

Thus, on this very night, Zhao Ji led the remaining troops towards the northeast, planning to bypass Zhao Jie in the south and find Li Mingshun to regroup.

He had received a telegram from Li Mingshun, urging him to return to the Imperial City promptly to rally public support and defeat the rebellion.

In fact, the telegram was indeed sent by Li Mingshun. His main purpose for sending the telegram was out of fear that Zhao Ji would continue to recklessly squander his life away.

Li Mingshun’s concerns turned out to be justified: that same night, Zhao Jie indeed launched a surprise attack on Zhao Ji’s camp. Zhao Jie personally led an elite unit to ambush Zhao Ji but came up empty.

Zhao Jie immediately determined that Zhao Ji was heading into the city and promptly pursued. He managed to catch up with the fleeing Zhao Ji during the late night, and both sides engaged in a fierce battle near the east gate of the city.

Zhao Ji’s forces suffered a massive defeat, and Zhao Ji narrowly escaped death amid the chaos of battle. Thankfully, some brave and loyal soldiers saved his life. The fight continued until dawn, with Zhao Jie retreating due to being vastly outnumbered.

But this battle relieved Zhao Jie of the threat behind him, allowing him to move more troops into the city to engage in a fierce battle with Li Mingshun’s forces.

The quality of the troops on both sides was comparable, with Li Mingshun relying on the elite Imperial Army, and Zhao Jie on his own battle-hardened soldiers. Both sides had their strengths, and the battle thus maintained a state of evenly matched forces.

The next day, troops supporting Li Mingshun and Zhao Ji began trickling into the city one after another, while a new reinforcement for Zhao Jie’s side also arrived; suddenly both parties had more troops in hand, and the battlefield became even bloodier.

Li Mingshun, with his greater number of canons, continued to launch fierce attacks, while Zhao Jie, now backed by reserves, handled the situation with ease.

In fact, from a purely military strength perspective, although Li Mingshun still held an advantage, it was no longer very significant.

Zhao Jie’s forces were increasing as the fight continued, and he seemed to have taken the initiative. If things kept progressing in this direction, it was very likely that Zhao Jie would emerge victorious from this battle for succession.

However, the unpredictable nature of the battlefield can surprise anyone. Just as Zhao Jie thought that perseverance would guarantee his victory, a new force appeared behind him.

This force was sent as reinforcements by Zhao Ji from Dongqing and, although they were slow to arrive, they eventually did. With a high degree of autonomy and fighting ability, they were prepared for battle and soon launched an attack, swiftly capturing the airfield at the city’s southern quarter that had been occupied by Zhao Jie.

Zhao Jie, who had believed his rear was secure, was taken aback by this development. He had even taken some civilians to repair the airfield, attempting to get the runway back in operation for further use.

Little did he expect that his forces would lose the airfield, plunging him once more into a situation where he was under attack from both front and back.

A furious Zhao Jie reallocated his troops for a counterattack. Due to communication failures, Zhao Ji’s forces that had taken the airfield were unable to secure their conquest. Fighting isolated, they were ultimately defeated, and the airfield fell into Zhao Jie’s hands again.

By the time Li Ming, aware of the situation, tried to execute a pincer attack on Zhao Jie’s forces, Zhao Jie had already dealt with the trouble behind him and returned to the southern quarter, causing Li Ming to miss an excellent opportunity.

Meanwhile, as the battle for the Imperial Capital raged, Luo Xiao in Hezhe received a massive reinforcement from Fengjiang, amounting to a full 200,000 troops.

These were not mere ordinary troops; composed mostly of seasoned veterans, their equipment was terrifyingly sophisticated: they were even equipped with a significant number of the Empire’s Mark V Tanks, with two divisions of Mark III Tanks.

Now reinforced with these Armored Corps, plus Hezhe’s supply reserves, Luo Xiao, newly promoted to Major General and frontline commander, was invigorated and immediately launched a new round of attacks.

The defending army of Xiajian was already small, unaccustomed to facing such a massive offensive. After receiving a telegram from the Fengjiang army urging surrender, they quickly made the wise decision to capitulate.

Over one hundred thousand Xiajian defenders abandoned the city and surrendered, allowing the Fengjiang army to take the city without spilling blood. Their vanguard immediately surged forward, targeting Dongqing, the gateway to the Imperial Capital.

For the Great Tang Empire, the good news kept coming: Luo Xiao dispatched two thousand troops towards the Wilderness. The Wilderness’s commander was a resourceful man; he promptly surrendered without a fight, passing control of Wilderness City into Fengjiang’s hands.

A third of the Great Dahua Empire’s territory had already fallen into Jiang Run’s grasp, and with his strong and well-equipped forces, Jiang Run now appeared poised to sweep across the entire Dahua Empire.

Firstly, the number of troops on the side of Fengjiang was indeed frightening: the surrendering forces under Zhao Chen amounted to 800,000, with several hundred thousand more from the direction of Guiguang and Sword Pavilion. Including the reinforcements from Fengjiang, Luo Xiao controlled 300,000 troops, bringing the total force to over 1.5 million.

These numbers were beyond what Zhao Jie and Zhao Ji could contend with. Moreover, with Jiang Run’s rear supported by the Great Tang Empire, he enjoyed timely and ample resources, ensuring both security and a significant strategic depth.

Luo Xiao advanced rapidly, flying Jiang Run’s banner, encountering almost no resistance. After a year of war turmoil within the Dahua Empire, the people longed for stability and were unwilling to continue the struggle.

They had heard that the wealthy and trade-savvy Jiang Run had returned, and were happy rather than resistant—who would choose to fight back?

According to the assessment of the Great Tang Empire’s military advisory group, they could take Anqing within seven days and then launch an assault on the Imperial Capital.

The fall of Xiajian immediately caused the atmosphere in the Imperial Capital to become tense. Aware of the significant problem he had caused in the direction of Ancy, Zhao Ji immediately sought to discuss countermeasures with Li Ming.

Yet, Li Ming was only a military general with no solution at hand. Only then did they realize that the court ministers seemed to have taken refuge in the northern part of the city.

So, together with Zhao Ji in tow, Li Ming rushed to the northern city, only to find that the place was already deserted—none of the family members from the Chu Muzhou, Jiang Run, Wang Yucái, Chen Jing, and Zhou Qiang clans could be found.

"What about Shen Chuan? The Minister of Justice... where is he?" Zhao Ji wondered, suddenly recalling the Minister of War and his confidants.

Li Ming spoke bluntly: "That despicable Minister of Justice defected to the Fifth Prince, and now he’s probably gone to curry favor with Zhao Jie! As for Shen... his whereabouts are unknown, and he hasn’t been found up to now."