Munitions Empire-Chapter 640 - : 599 may have already started

Chapter 640: 599 may have already started

Shenwu Sanlang was among the most capable of the veteran soldiers in Shen Country. He was highly valued, and his tactics were quite steady.

When this little old man, standing only one meter forty-five, arrived at Beiyuan City, a scent of death already permeated the city.

Beiyuan City, which had long since lost its ability to function normally, was now full of corpses due to starvation, almost indistinguishable from hell itself.

Shen Country soldiers could be seen looting everywhere, and many houses had been forcibly occupied by the injured from Shen Country, as well as military ruffians.

The commanders of Shen Country who were aware of the situation did not intervene, as they had also realized that the Tang Army seemed to have no intention of bombing Beiyuan City.

Despite the fact that the positions outside were bombed beyond recognition, the city of Beiyuan was still relatively safe. Tang Army airplanes hardly ever visited, and when they did, it was only to drop leaflets.

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The content of those leaflets was infuriating, claiming things like the people of Shen Country were demons, and that the Tang Army would soon liberate Beiyuan City; just reading them was maddening.

“Damn it! Are you blind?” An aide-de-camp on the passenger side rolled down the car window and cursed at the despondent Shen Country soldiers who were looting and blocked Shenwu Sanlang’s car.

Seeing that it was an officer, the roadblockers reluctantly made way, which made Shenwu Sanlang feel somewhat embarrassed.

As a General, he could clearly see that these domineering soldiers from Shen Country, who were wreaking havoc in the city, clearly lacked the courage to go back into combat.

They could be commanded to bully civilians from Qi Country, but to expect them to face soldiers was naive. They would crumble upon contact, unable to hold their ground even for a moment.

“These soldiers are finished, they have lost their honor, and they have lost their shame,” Shenwu Sanlang said with a heavy heart from inside the gently swaying car.

He did not know what these soldiers had gone through to end up in this state. All he knew was that he was here for the future of Shen Country, to bring victory to his homeland.

Therefore, he must revive the troop’s spirits, maintain the high morale of the subsequent troops, and then lead these soldiers to defeat the Tang Country Military attempting to attack Beiyuan City.

“I heard the Tang Army’s artillery is fierce, and their airplanes are very formidable,” the aide-de-camp in the front seat turned and said, “Many soldiers have been frightened.”

“Fear is the most useless emotion in this world!” Shenwu Sanlang said icily, expressing his view.

“General Shenwu Liang died in battle, so the headquarters emphasized the safety of commanders… they’ve urgently issued steel helmets to all officers at the rank of battalion commander and above…” the aide-de-camp still reminded him.

The death of Shenwu Liang was quite a shock to the upper echelons of Shen Country; after all, he was a military commander of quite a high rank.

In the past, such commanders would almost never fall in battle: they either had time to retreat or time to surrender, and would hardly ever be killed in action.

Yet Shenwu Liang was bombed to death by enemy aircraft before the battle even truly began—this was absolutely shocking for the Shen Country Military, which lacked specialized anti-aircraft units and basic knowledge of air defense.

Thus, in a very urgent manner, Shen Country’s highest command structure, the headquarters, rolled out a commander safety plan: temporary issuance of steel helmets to senior commanders to ensure their safety.

When it comes to this headquarters, one can’t help but admire the imagination of Shen Country’s upper levels: during a visit to Brunas, they accidentally learned that Great Tang Group had a Staff Department. All of Great Tang’s decisions came from this Staff Department.

After learning this information, Shen Country designed a similar institutional structure for itself, and to distinguish it from Great Tang Group’s Staff Department, they renamed it the headquarters.

In terms of actual work content, this headquarters was an entirely different concept from that of the headquarters of the Neon Country during World War II, but this name had to be said to excite Tang Mo inexplicably.

For a moment, Tang Mo even felt that he should wait, restrain his emotions a little more, and let Shen Country exist for another five, seven, or eight years.

Because by that time, Tang Mo believed he should have a new toy, a toy worthy of the name of headquarters!

To Shenwu Sanlang, airplanes were not unfamiliar. He had seen these things before he left Shen Country!

Or to be more precise, he had already seen the wreckage of airplanes in Shen Country: as the war progressed, more than one Tang Army plane had crashed, so some of the wreckage had passed through Shen Country en route to the Ice Cold Kingdom and Poplar Kingdom.

Shireck hoped to study this wreckage, but dared not transport it directly south by ship, so they had to take a long detour, passing through Shen Country, Ice Cold Empire, Poplar Kingdom, Laines Empire, Dorne Empire, and finally reaching Gobur Kingdom.

Before coming to Beiyuan City, Shenwu Sanlang was invited to examine the wreckage of a Stuka Dive Bomber.

This plane was one that had crashed due to a malfunction, and the wreckage barely resembled anything anymore. However, part of the fuselage and some sections of the wings were restored.

Even though it was still hardly recognizable, Shenwu Sanlang had at least seen such a thing as an airplane, which meant he was marginally more knowledgeable than Shenwu Liang.

“We must all be careful! According to the new manual, if I go to the front, I can only go as far as the third line of defense… and the command post must have a canopy and meet corresponding construction standards,” Shenwu Sanlang spoke up.

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Upon mentioning these, he recalled the Second Prince of Qi Country who had greeted him at the dock. That man’s hearing was not so good now, and communicating with him required shouting loudly.

That person had become quite deranged, talking all topsy-turvy without any logic. It was said that when Shenwu Liang was bombed to death, he was not far away, barely escaping with his life, but he was terrified out of his wits.

Through the car window, he could see some soldiers of Shen Country setting up anti-aircraft positions on the rooftops of high buildings in Beiyuan City.

They carried Maxim guns onto the rooftops, piled up sandbags to build bunkers, which allowed for a better field of fire and a more extensive view.

Although the Tang Army had not yet bombed Beiyuan City, everyone had seen the dismal state of the outer defenses. Thus, it was only reasonable to set up some defensive measures.

However, relying solely on these Maxim guns for air defense was clearly insufficient: their range was too short, only enabling them to ambush planes during dive attacks.

“We need more professional anti-aircraft guns, the kind that can shoot very high,” Shenwu Sanlang, being a professional, quickly voiced his needs.

The aide-de-camp immediately nodded and said to his superior, “In fact, Qi Country has already made this request, and we have submitted our needs to Shireck about half a month ago.”

“What did they say?” Shenwu Sanlang promptly asked.

The aide-de-camp replied somewhat sheepishly, “They are designing it, it takes time.”

“Always so slow… no wonder they are being suppressed by the Great Tang Group,” Shenwu Sanlang couldn’t help but complain.

Actually, what Shen Country lacked was not just anti-aircraft guns; they also needed a sufficient number of anti-tank guns.

Their army also needed a large number of tanks to launch counterattacks and recapture lost ground. But the tanks produced by Shireck were truly rubbish.

It was said that the second generation of Shireck tanks was starting production in the Ice Cold Empire, but mass production still needed time, and the Ice Cold Empire needed tanks too. It was unlikely they would supply enough tanks to Shen Country any time soon.

Although Shireck was very supportive, Shen Country had nonetheless acquired Shireck Type 1 tanks, sending dozens of such junk to Beiyuan City.

But anyone with a brain knew it was impossible to count on these things to work miracles: Qi Country deployed over 100 tanks to the battlefield, but everyone saw the outcome.

It was regrettable that, because Shen Country was an island nation, military spending and equipment priorities meant that the army always ranked behind the navy.

So, Shenwu Sanlang knew that his anxiety was of no use, as the high command of Shen Country still valued the navy above all else.

Just as Qi Country’s military collapsed, Shen Country placed a huge order with Shireck for various warships.

Up to this moment, Shen Country remained the country that purchased the most warships; they bought all the battleships manufactured by Shireck, truly a naval superpower.

If you look just at the total tonnage, Shen Country had even surpassed the Great Tang Kingdom and had the most total tonnage of warships on the Endless Sea.

But the battleships made by Shireck were technically inferior, and their combat strength was not high, so overall, the Navy of Tang Country was still the strongest.

This was also a point of frustration for Tang Mo: he had to build a powerful army and air force to maintain the attributes of a continental nation. However, Shen Country was an entirely maritime nation; they could focus their efforts on developing the navy.

The car continued through desolate streets and finally stopped in front of a rather inconspicuous building.

To avoid being bombed, Shenwu Sanlang cunningly shifted his command post. Instead of moving into the refurbished Governor’s Mansion left by Shenwu Liang, he found a random building to hide in.

“General!” Just as he was about to enter the door, an anxious officer standing by the entrance handed him a piece of telegram, “A message just came in! The Tang Army has resumed shelling our western defenses!”

“What?” Shenwu Sanlang directly snatched the telegram, scrutinized its content, and asked, “Have reinforcements been sent out?”

“Not yet… You hadn’t arrived, and we…” the officer tried to explain.

But he was cut off by Shenwu Sanlang, “Send the reserves up immediately! Tell them to make their own decisions based on the frontline situation!”

“It’s just shelling, General!” the officer reminded.

“Humph!” Shenwu Sanlang scoffed, “For all we know, the attack by the Tang Army has already started!”

———

Here is an extra chapter for today; more to follow tomorrow and the day after.

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