Munitions Empire-Chapter 582 - : 541 The Town Under Surveillance
Chapter 582: 541 The Town Under Surveillance
The Tang Army’s northern frontline command headquarters, housed within a manor built by old nobility on the outskirts of Anpu, was dotted with erected wireless communication antennas.
Officers hustled to and fro, and many female secretaries crowded around a long table, heads bent organizing various documents and intelligence from the front line.
In the vast command hall, a map of Qi Country hung on the wall, and a woman officer wearing a tilted boat-cap was climbing a ladder to update the positions of the opposing troops displayed on the map.
“Your Majesty! Our military has essentially paralyzed the enemy’s airship bases, destroying over 50 of Qi Army’s airships. The enemy’s Air Force should have completely lost its combat capabilities,” reported the liaison officer from the Air Force, hands behind his back, briefing Tang Mo on the front line’s situation.
The achievements of the Air Force were nothing short of astounding; over 300 planes which flew for the first time already logged 2000 sorties, nearly destroying all the significant material nodes of Qi Army’s front line, and also paralyzing Qi Country’s Air Force.
Just yesterday, they bombarded King City in Qi Country, causing massive destruction to Qi Country’s strategic material production, supply, transport, and mobilization.
One could say that they exceeded their own mission, providing ground forces with an unimaginably strong support.
The Armored Corps were not to be outdone; Luff immediately reported the latest battle situation: “On the ground, our Tank troops have occupied Luo Town an hour ago, cutting off Qi Army’s western group’s retreat path to the north.”
The Armored Corps led by Liu Guozhu had crushed the Qi Army forces that arrived earlier in Luo Town and positioned themselves there, ensuring the safety of the 2nd Armored Division and the 4th Armored Division advancing on Nanye.
Of course, now that Luo Town had changed hands, Qi Army’s logistical support was completely severed, particularly for the Third Prince, who was in a very passive situation.
Gesturing roughly on the map, Luff said to Tang Mo, “If the enemy wishes to retreat north to Nanye, they must recapture Luo Town…”
Tang Mo, pinching his chin while looking at the massive map, could see, even as a military layman, that the battlefield situation was highly advantageous to the Tang Army.
The attacking Tang Army was like a scythe, on the one hand shielding against potential reinforcements from the Dahua Empire advancing from the east, while on the other extending its tentacles around the rear of the Qi Army.
The sharpest blade of the scythe was already at the Qi Army’s neck; the 1st Armored Division that reached Luo Town had two railways extending from their position, one heading southwest into the Third Prince’s territory and the other southeast towards the First Prince’s territory.
This area was roughly the middle between the two princes’ territories and also the only railway lifeline connecting to their rear homeland.
After all, the railway mileage in Qi Country was not extensive; it did not have many railway lines offering more options.
Therefore, cutting off Luo Town meant that the railway supply lines of the First and Third Princes had been completely severed.
Watching the female officer place a tank symbol representing the 1st battalion of the 1st tank regiment of the 1st Armored Division at Luo Town’s position, Luff confidently assured Tang Mo, “Luo Town is now defended by a tank battalion and a grenadier battalion from the 1st Armored Division, there shouldn’t be any problems.”
“If Luo Town is lost and if Redman also takes Nanye, then the First Prince’s Troops must take action,” remarked a logistics department general, following with his analysis.
He analyzed this issue entirely from a logistics supply perspective: “If the First Prince holds his position, his materials might last for a while, but if he intends to recapture Luo Town, he won’t be able to afford the expenditure.”
“So, logically speaking, the First Prince’s main force must now take action. If he doesn’t retake Luo Town, in a few days, he’ll start worrying about what his troops will eat!” Luff continued.
“How can he move?” Tang Mo was an arms dealer; although he could see his first phase of military operation had the advantage, he was not a professional soldier, so he preferred to consult with the professionals around him.
Luff immediately answered, “There are essentially two choices: first, join forces with the Third Prince, attack Luo Town, and then break through Nanye. The second, retreat to the east, take a long detour around the territory of the Second Prince.”
Tang Mo continued to stare at the map, then asked, “What do you all think? Which option will he choose?”
A staff officer expressed his thoughts: “Going through Nanye is risky. Does the Qi Army have what it takes to break through our two defensive lines? So the First Prince might well take a detour.”
In his view, the matter was simple: Does the opposition have the confidence to break through Tang Army’s defense? Probably not. Since they can’t break through the defense, why not detour rather than waiting for death?
But sometimes things are not so simple, as another staff officer voiced his differing opinion: “But if we capture Nanye and he dares not reinforce but instead retreats eastward, he’ll miss the chance to support King City!”
Luff looked at his subordinate and agreed, “Exactly, we go straight from Nanye to the north, attack King City of Qi Country, and if the First Prince retreats east, he loses his only chance to rescue King City.”
Sometimes, the decisions of front-line commanders are not made solely based on the battlefield situation; they must also consider higher-level strategic intentions and orders.
For example, sometimes, a single aircraft dropping down a set of orders can disrupt all the tactical deployments made by the generals on the battlefield, and even directly decide the fate of hundreds of thousands of troops.
“So whether the First Prince moves to Nanye or not depends on how King Jiang Xian commands his eldest son,” Tang Mo also thought of this and nodded with a somewhat mocking tone.
Upon hearing Tang Mo say this, Luff agreed and said, “Your Majesty speaks true. For the foundation of Qi Country, Jiang Xian will probably order all three princes to support Nanye at any cost.”
“We are still not sure whether the princes dare to pull out all the troops they have for a fight here,” Tang Mo said, staring at the map and observing the Qi Army’s main forces under the First Prince that had hardly moved.
Luff immediately said, “That depends on whether we can hurt them, scare them, and beat them so badly in Luo Town that they dare not take one step beyond the boundary!”
Tang Mo nodded and then looked towards Luff, “Order the commander of the 1st Armored Division to hold Luo Town at all costs! Provide them with maximum support, do not give the Qi Army any opportunity!”
“Yes!” Everyone present stood at attention and saluted.
…
In a secluded manor in the suburbs of the Qi Country’s King City, King Jiang Xian was also looking at the map in front of him, while an advisor from Shireck described the current state of the war with a grim face.
He had just received news that the Qi Army’s Air Force had been completely destroyed. Seventy airships provided by Shireck, along with Qi Country’s own assets, had almost all been lost at the front lines.
The Tang Army fighters were like the wind, clearly more powerful, and the airships were as vulnerable as lambs to the slaughter in the eyes of the enemy’s planes.
The handful of surviving airship forces dare not be dispatched to the frontlines anymore, as it would be akin to forcing their precious airship commanders to march to their deaths.
The enemy’s new anti-aircraft weapons combined with airplanes forming a defensive net left no room for the airship forces to operate, indefinitely delaying the plan to bomb Anpu.
In reality, even if there were brave souls willing to continue the airship bombing missions, the Qi Army no longer had any airship bases at the front to use…
“The Tang Army has approached Luo Town, and we have already telegraphed the Third Prince, telling him to hold Luo Town at all costs and ensure the safety of our supply routes,” a general said, focusing on Luo Town while briefing Jiang Xian.
Seeing Jiang Xian’s gaze fixed on Luo Town on the map and not moving away, the general hastily added, “The Third Prince previously telegraphed back saying he had dispatched an additional battalion of soldiers to Luo Town and sent all the tanks he had there…”
“Originally one battalion… now it’s two battalions and fewer than twenty tanks?” Jiang Xian said with a frown, unconsciously confirming it out loud.
The Third Prince had 150,000 troops. A third of them had lost contact in the head-on clashes with the Tang Army, and some of the remaining troops were still stationed at the original border defense positions.
Thus, the forces that the western front troops could now spare numbered around thirty thousand. Deploying 3,000 soldiers to Luo Town, a location that was not at the forefront of defense, and reinforcing it with tanks and artillery, seemed quite a generous expenditure.
But as a monarch, Jiang Xian instinctively felt a hint of danger. So he lifted his head and looked at the ministers and the Shireck military advisor around him, saying, “That location is critical for the supply operations of hundreds of thousands of troops; we must strengthen the garrison forces!”
“Your Majesty, should I have the Third Prince continue to send reinforcements to Luo Town?” the officer proposed cautiously.
“Send the First Prince with the 1st Army over there! In addition, move the Third Prince’s most elite 3rd Army to hold position in Luo Town!” Despite his concerns, Jiang Xian personally issued orders to deploy the troops.
Although the most logical counteroffensive would be to strike back along the border defense line, cut off all supplies for the Tang Army forces invading Qi Country, encircle these troops and annihilate them.
Jiang Xian was aware, counting on the not-so-elite troops under the Third Prince, such a strategy was virtually impossible to realize. Even if he decided to deploy the elite forces under the First Prince, it would likely take three or even four days to reach the battlefield.
He looked at the direction of the Tang Army’s advance reported from yesterday, which was clearly aiming towards Luo Town and Nanye.
He had already ordered the Imperial Guards stationed in King City to reinforce Nanye and strengthen Luo Town’s defenses, which was clearly essential.
Due to communication delays and lagging reactions, although Jiang Xian realized that Luo Town and Nanye might face dangers, he was completely oblivious that the Tang Army had stirred up chaos in his rear on the very next day of the battle outbreak.
The King had not anticipated that Luo Town, which he intended to secure, had already been lost, nor did he realize that his forces deployed along the border, now numbering in the hundreds of thousands, had their supplies mostly cut off, with the significant risk of being encircled.
“Yes! I will go send the telegram immediately…” After hearing his king’s command, the officer turned and rushed to the telegram room.
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