Munitions Empire-Chapter 984 - : 906 Mercenaries
Chapter 984: 906 Mercenaries
Tang Mo sat in his own seat, listening to a series of reports from Nangong Hong. Supporting the internal war in the Dahua Empire was a national policy of the Tang Empire, but this policy actually had an ultimate goal.
The internal war in the Dahua Empire affected the trade of the Tang Empire, especially the import of oil from Qin Country and a series of slave smuggling to the Orc Empire.
Although these businesses were not the ultimate lifelines of the economy, they indeed affected the speed at which the Tang Empire made money.
Because of this, the Tang Empire, to some extent, did not particularly wish for the internal war in the Dahua Empire to go on endlessly.
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The best outcome would be for Zhao Yu’s military and Zhao Kai’s military to inflict heavy losses on each other, then reach some level of reconciliation, allowing the Tang Empire to profit from the situation and secure the benefits it wanted.
As for what those benefits were? To put it bluntly, they were Fengjiang and Shanping, the places that Tang Mo wanted to hold in his hands, the places that Zhao Yu had to cede after victory.
After securing Fengjiang and Shanping, the Dahua Empire’s first line of defense facing the Tang Empire would completely collapse, Guiguang would become a frontline city, and the food-producing areas near Wanliang would no longer be secure.
As long as the Tang Empire wished, the Tang Army could attack Guiguang from the direction of Shanping. After seizing Guiguang, they could control the entire southern storage area of Sword Pavilion and cut off these places from the Dahua Empire.
Put simply, once Fengjiang and Shanping were ceded to the Tang Empire, one-third of the Dahua Empire would be like fish on the chopping block, ready for the Tang Empire to slice as it wished.
To achieve this goal, the Tang Empire must support the Fengjiang garrison and support Zhao Yu, the incapable figure, to stand against the Dahua Empire with his name.
“I didn’t expect that the combat capacity of the Dahua Empire’s border troops was so weak, unable to even take Shanping and getting blocked halfway,” Nangong Hong, who was mostly responsible for this matter, said to Tang Mo somewhat embarrassed, explaining the reasons for the defeat on the battlefield.
It wasn’t exactly a defeat, just that the advancing frontline troops were not making smooth progress, resulting in a somewhat passive situation.
Tang Mo hadn’t anticipated that, even without aerial threats and after receiving substantial material support from the Tang Empire, the Fengjiang garrison would still fight so passively.
The troops advancing south to Shanping had only broken through two defense lines of the Dahua garrison before halting their offensive in confusion, and soon after, the advancing troops were blocked by the follow-up troops of the Dahua Empire.
In fact, there were only two Armored Divisions of the Dahua Empire near Fengjiang. Their equipment was quite outdated and they did not make up the main force of the Dahua Empire’s Armored Corps.
Compared to that, the Dahua Empire’s Armored Corps had a composition ranging from 170 to 200 tanks, which was less in number than the Tang Empire’s.
Moreover, these two Armored Divisions had mostly Dahua Type 1 and Type 2 tanks, with only a few Dahua Type 3 tanks, so their combat capability was indeed not that great.
Fearing the Tang Empire, Shen Chuan did not dare to place the main troops on the front line; most of the main forces of the Dahua military were stationed on the second line, which in turn made things very tough for the Fengjiang garrison.
They had encountered the most elite troops of the Dahua Empire’s second line, so comparatively speaking, there was indeed a significant gap between them and the enemy, and it was normal for them to be unable to win.
However, in reality, it was impossible for the Tang Empire to forgive the failure of the Fengjiang military’s offensive just based on these reasons—the question now was: what to do.
“Minister Nangong.” After listening to Nangong Hong’s report, Tang Mo spoke to comfort his minister: “You don’t have to blame yourself this much, nobody can account for all the details. As the saying goes, ‘Man proposes, God disposes.’ We just need to think of a solution.”
As the draftsman of the Tang Empire’s strategy for westward expansion, Nangong Hong’s position within the Empire had always been unstable.
He lacked a stable position for a long time, until finally, Tang Mo placed him at the head of the Tang Empire’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, thus he eventually earned the title of Minister.
From this, it was also evident that within the upper echelons of the Tang Empire, it was the Brunas faction that was dominant, with the external part of the officials always lingering in secondary roles.
Conversely, Nangong Hong’s appointment as the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Tang Empire also indicated that high-ranking ethnic Chinese officials had begun to appear among the empire’s high echelons, which was quite telling of the issues involved.
“Directly deploying troops could indeed be a solution. But it would drag us into the war. We are not afraid of war, but going into battle without a just cause is indeed very embarrassing,” Luff, representing the Military, was the first to speak out.
Even deploying several divisions already assembled on the border into Dahua Empire’s territory and seizing Shanping under air cover wouldn’t be a difficult feat.
However, if the military were indeed employed, it would certainly cause an international uproar. After all, a civil war within the Dahua Empire and the participation of the Great Tang Empire in the war… represent two completely different concepts for other countries.
For a civil war within the Dahua Empire that results in a change of Emperor, this may be considered trivial by other countries. But should the Great Tang Empire commence external expansion, it would be a top-level, significant event that all countries must pay close attention to.
Imperial Concubine Yue’er, who is responsible for cultural affairs, spoke up at this moment, “Internationally, we have always presented ourselves as lovers and defenders of peace. If we rashly abandon our previous moral standards, it would greatly damage our reputation abroad.”
This jurisdiction is hers, so she had no choice but to participate in this meeting. To tell the truth, she genuinely dislikes such meetings, because often, they are addressed by Yulin.
“It could easily raise the alarm in other countries, trade might be hugely affected, causing tensions everywhere; and, if not careful, it might trigger a larger scale military conflict,” Alice, who was sitting on the other side of Tang Mo and oversees commerce, also said.
Yulin didn’t speak, because at such times, the Department of Internal Affairs she oversees essentially functions as an intelligence channel—what needs to be done, simply needs to be done, with no need to report verbally.
Three imperial concubines attending the meeting is indeed an enviable sight. Tang Mo’s three wives are all virtuous partners who can help His Majesty The Emperor share his worries at crucial moments, a treatment not available to other nations’ emperors.
“Getting involved in war is completely unnecessary,” Tang Mo set a tone for the issue, “What we want are benefits. If we don’t need to send our soldiers to the frontlines to die, then such choices should be avoided.”
Having said that, he looked towards Yue’er, “How about discussing the contingency plan of assembling an Orc army as volunteers to participate in the battle at Fengjiang now?”
“This plan was proposed a year ago. When making this contingency, we foresaw the situation we face today,” Yue’er pulled out a document from the stack she brought, opened it, and introduced, “At that time, the military also sent advisers to guide the labor management department on preparing a qualified military mobilization report.”
“The plan includes the following: Recruit volunteers from the existing Orc and Goblin laborers, train them into a military, dispatch them within Dahua Empire’s territory to assist Zhao Yu’s forces in continuing the fight.” As she spoke, her attractive cat ears twitched twice, looking quite amusing, “The purpose of this plan is to help Zhao Yu’s forces withstand the backlash from Dahua Empire and maintain the size of Zhao Yu’s forces during the deadlock.”
“The plan recruits three divisions of Orc soldiers, totaling over 50,000 men, provides all weaponry and equipment except for tanks, and sends them directly to the frontline after training,” Yue’er briefly introduced the plan’s content, then added, “It also includes sub-items for recruiting mercenaries from Mirage Country, Orc Empire, and even Ice Cold Empire and Poplar Kingdom.”
Tang Mo nodded and spoke, “If we manage to summon 10 or even 20 divisions of mercenaries from other races to Fengjiang, would it improve Fengjiang’s military strength?”
“In theory, it won’t be a big enhancement, but it can solve the replenishment issue, increasing the number of troops so the commanders need not worry too much about frontline attrition,” Luff, as the Chief of Staff of the Empire, provided his professional opinion.
Tagg and Redman, who were also in attendance, agreed with this perspective. They believed that aside from direct participation of Great Tang Empire’s forces, other countries’ forces joining the war wouldn’t fundamentally change the power balance between the sides.
However, they acknowledged that no matter how unremarkable, sending another 100,000 troops into Fengjiang would definitely be effective.
Moreover, with time passing, more and more weapons provided by the Great Tang Empire were arriving at Fengjiang’s frontlines, which would surely increase the combat capabilities of Fengjiang’s forces to some degree.
“Let’s start by sending two Orc divisions and a Goblin division to test the waters! If they fight well, I don’t mind rewarding them!” It was the first time that Tang Mo introduced the concept of modern mercenaries in this world.
Soon after this meeting concluded, nations around the world received calls from Great Tang diplomats to their foreign affairs departments.
The Great Tang Empire guarantees protection, Fengjiang pays the money, hoping that people around the world who cherish freedom will go to Fengjiang to fight for free trade and defend Fengjiang!
When the whole world heard that there was money to be made by helping in the fight, they were quick to actively respond to Tang Country’s call.
After all, no matter from which perspective, sending troops to participate in Fengjiang’s battle is beneficial for them.
On the one hand, they have not yet repaid the debts owed to the Great Tang Empire; the trade deficit persists, so an extra way to make money at this time truly is great news.
On the other hand, everyone is worried about the Great Tang Empire’s ambitions for external expansion. They would rather send their own troops to help Zhao Yu of Fengjiang win the war than to one day hear news of Dahua Empire’s troops mobilizing.
Therefore, shortly after, various countries across the Eastern Continent began mobilizing some of their “less capable” miscellaneous troops as mercenaries, gathering massively in Brunas, ready to head to another continent for an “international joint military exercise.”
