Munitions Empire-Chapter 1127 - 1048 heading south to Xiqing

The most typical line is the one that runs through Wangdu, Imperial Capital, Dongqing, and Xiajian, where all the valuable industries of the Dahua Empire are located.

"Zhao Ji and Zhao Jie cover each other, each acting as the other’s protection; this indeed has stabilized the defense line to a certain extent... To take down the two of them will still require quite an effort from us," Luo Xiao shared his concerns.

He was afraid that in their haste, they might actually end up unifying Zhao Ji and Zhao Jie: If the two really set their previous grievances aside and joined forces, they would indeed present a tough bone to chew.

Luo Xiao’s strategist offered his own suggestion: "It doesn’t matter, let the troops advance south for now, and we’ll see when we reach the front of Pingfeng and Xiqing. We can’t possibly allow them time to build fortifications, right?"

As the saying goes, the value of soldiers lies in their swift response. As long as Zhao Jie and Zhao Ji are not given the chance to build defensive works, they might not necessarily be able to hold the defense line.

"Of course not, I’ve already ordered the troops to advance south. Should we also put the troops from Guiguang in motion?" another officer nodded and turned to ask Luo Xiao.

After asking the question, he didn’t forget to mock the poor quality of Fengjiang’s military, his tone filled with lament: "It’s a pity that these troops from Dahua are really not easy to use, their mobility is too poor, and they’re slow in field maneuvers." fɾeeweɓnѳveɭ.com

The fact is indeed so: according to the speed of the Great Tang Empire’s offense, they probably would have caught up with the fleeing Zhao Ji and Zhao Jie and annihilated them halfway through their escape.

If not for the slow arrival of the subsequent troops, Zhao Ji and Li Mingshun would have had no chance to run! They would have been surrounded in the Imperial Capital, or even captured by now.

"No need, the troops in Guiguang will all belong to the Great Tang Empire later on; they shouldn’t be wasted on the battlefield without strict training," Luo Xiao’s strategist shook his head, rejecting the suggestion.

"You’re right," Luo Xiao, standing by, also supported this judgment: "Those people are now the civilians of the Great Tang Empire, we can’t act recklessly. It’s sufficient to just have the Fengjiang army from the Imperial Capital head south, there is no need to overcomplicate matters."

Remembering another matter, he turned to the intelligence department liaison officer: "How’s the investigation in Shen Chuan going?"

The liaison officer immediately answered: "Shen Chuan’s death has been confirmed. His family said that on the day of Zhao Kai’s death, Shen Chuan disappeared, and they don’t know where he went. The body found in the well, all features belong to Shen Chuan himself."

Luo Xiao nodded slightly again as this matter seemed to be coming to an end: "Then give him a decent burial... He is the first one in the entire Empire to have died... Thinking about it, it’s really sad. Such a vast Empire, yet there are not even a few who are willing to die for it with dignity."

"General, you can’t really say that, after all, the Dahua Empire hasn’t fallen yet," the strategist said, jokingly, prompting laughter from many.

After the laughter, someone continued the conversation: "Indeed, it hasn’t perished. Zhao Yu plans to arrive here a day later, by train as before, then switching to car."

Upon hearing about Zhao Yu’s itinerary, the strategist scornfully ridiculed: "Ha! It seems he is really in a rush."

What the Imperial Capital means to Zhao Yu goes without saying. He’s too eager to return here, because returning signifies control over everything.

The Imperial Capital is the capital of the Dahua Empire, representing the legal authority of rule: Whoever has the Imperial Capital in their hands has the right to issue commands. Zhao Yu, who was forced to flee from here a year ago, has been haunted by the memories of this place.

The weather has already turned very cold, though the Imperial Capital hasn’t seen snow yet. With more than half of the electricity gone, and many buildings damaged, how the people inside the Imperial Capital will survive this winter is of no interest to anyone, nor is how many died in the previous battles.

"Almost, anyone who has paid such a price, would likewise strive to reclaim what rightfully belongs to them." An officer speaks from Zhao Yu’s perspective, finding everything quite reasonable.

Indeed, his words earned the approval of many: "A price? Indeed, it hasn’t been small."

All present were senior military officers of the Great Tang Empire, and they, of course, heard about the payment Zhao Yu made to the Great Tang Empire.

Those were the rich lands of the once Dahua Empire, including a vital food production area, two transportation hubs, and a population in the tens of millions...

Under normal circumstances, unless one is a fool, no Emperor would surrender so much territory and population. But Zhao Yu agreed, without much of a psychological burden.

"Haha! I hope he can pacify those citizens who know the truth," an officer imagined Zhao Yu facing harsh public scrutiny afterward and grinned as he laughed again.

Those who know of Zhao Yu’s national humiliation will curse him to death. They will record what Zhao Yu has done after ascending to power and pass these stories down, ensuring history will remember Zhao Yu.

Of course, being remembered in this way isn’t exactly a good thing: Zhao Yu will be pinned to the pillar of shame, never to turn over a new leaf in his lifetime.

"I think he will handle it very well," the strategist said gleefully.

Luo Xiao was pretty casual about it: "It’s still the same saying, whether his actions were good or bad, that’s no longer something we need to worry about."

...

Having retreated here with the rebelling Nobility from the Imperial Capital, Zhao Jie finally received 50,000 new recruits coming from Jutian’s direction.

He now had roughly 200,000 Troops at his disposal: although more than half were new recruits with questionable combat capabilities, it was still better than having none!

He nearly mobilized all the laborers in Pingfeng to build defensive positions, hoping to establish a complete line of defense before the enemy from the north arrived.

By contrast, the situation in Xiqing was a bit different: Zhao Ji arrived first, and instead of hastening to build defenses, he appointed Ministers and declared Caili City the "Accompanying Capital."

In plain terms, he was still indulging in his imperial dreams, not at all adapted to the current situation. It was not until Li Mingshun arrived with the remnants of his forces that he discovered Xiqing had hardly made any preparations!

The food originally destined for the Imperial Capital was stopped in Xiqing, but munitions and ammunition were pitifully scarce: with the industrial zones lost, Xiqing had no factories capable of producing munitions.

Thus, the forces of Li Mingshun and Zhao Ji could only rely on stockpiled weapons and ammunition, practically meaning that with each bullet fired, one less remained.

Compared to them, Zhao Jie was in a much better position: Shanchong was a mining area with factories capable of producing weapons and ammunition. And as Shanchong was a key front-line town, the ammunition stockpiled there was obviously more extensive than in Xiqing.

Apart from the ammunition issue, Li Mingshun found that Zhao Ji had utterly failed to organize any defensive works in Xiqing: he busied himself with lavish banquets and appointing Ministers, preoccupied with anything but defense.

It was not until Li Mingshun arrived with the forces retreating from the Imperial Capital’s direction that the defense preparations in Xiqing finally began.

The good news was they received reinforcements: 50,000 routed soldiers from Wangdu’s direction received supplies in Xiqing, thus stabilizing their foothold.

Together with the original troops called up to reinforce the Imperial Capital, Xiqing’s defenders numbered about 250,000, which was a reasonably decent force.

Even though the combat effectiveness of these troops was mediocre, Li Mingshun still believed that holding Xiqing wouldn’t be a problem: he saw the fall of the Imperial Capital as merely due to Zhao Jie’s rebellion, which had little to do with his own deployment.

Without realizing it, four days had passed, and the Great Tang Empire’s Capital, Chang’an, had a wedding that was not grand in scale. To spare the feelings of the three Imperial Concubines who didn’t have proper weddings, Tang Mo scaled down his wedding with Ying Yue to a relatively small size as well.

Although they invited some Ministers, the whole event wasn’t broadcast on television. Even the Elf Princess Iryn’s wedding was hastily carried out alongside it, to spare the feelings of the other Imperial Concubines.

The difference was that Emperor Tang Mo spent the night in Ying Yue’s room, while the young Elf Princess Iryn merely partook in a wedding, with nothing undue occurring between her and Tang Mo.

During these four days, Zhao Yu, the former Prince of the Dahua Empire, returned to the Dahua Imperial Capital, where he proclaimed himself heir to the throne, ascending as the new Emperor of the Dahua Empire.

Following his ascension, he issued several edicts, declaring the restoration of trade between the Dahua Empire and the Great Tang Empire, as well as the resumption of trade with Qin Country.

These actions clearly gave hope to the populace, who felt this new Emperor was much better than the previous one, who only stirred up trouble. So, they accepted this new Emperor, previously branded a ’rebel.’

Luo Xiao moved his command post to a location less than 100 kilometers from Xiqing, directing the southward-advancing troops to focus their attack on Zhao Ji and Li Mingshun’s forces.

The Fengjiang Troops, with an advantage in both numbers and firepower, soon broke through Xiqing’s outer defenses.

At the same time, Fengjiang’s Air Force, which took off from the Imperial Capital’s northern airfield, bombed Xiqing. Li Mingshun finally witnessed the terrifying power of air force bombardment firsthand.

Keep in mind that the Fengjiang Air Force pilots were composed of two parts, one of which emerged experienced from over a year defending Fengjiang in fierce battles, while the other was their former adversaries, the pilots of the Dahua Empire.

Now, these pilots didn’t need to fight each other anymore: they all fought for Zhao Yu! Their opponents, in reality, no longer had any significant air power.

Li Mingshun and Zhao Ji had not many aircraft between them and also lacked the ability to produce more planes, which meant they couldn’t replenish their pilots.

Under such conditions, air superiority was firmly in the grasp of Luo Xiao. The siege of Xiqing City began against this backdrop.