Munitions Empire

Chapter 594: 553 Battle Situation Changes

Chapter 594: 553 Battle Situation Changes

No one is a fool, and King Jiang Xian of Qi Country, who had been diligently managing state affairs for over twenty years, was certainly not one either.

He had previously detected that the likely directions of the Tang Army’s attack were Luo Town and Nanye, so he began to consider how to deal with the current situation immediately.

Right now, Qi Country could be said to be very passive, their hinterland was extremely empty, essentially devoid of defensive forces.

To reinforce Nanye, Jiang Xian had even dispatched the last troops guarding King City, leaving the capital of Qi Country empty and defenseless like an unfortified city.

Jiang Xian was far from naive enough to believe that his mere force of over 20,000 imperial guards could achieve any miracle in Nanye, because if there were any miracles to be had, they would have happened already.

From start to finish, the one Jiang Xian placed his hopes on was the defense by the frontline troops, breaking through Tang Army’s defense from behind, and forcing them to abandon their plan to capture Nanye.

In other words, Jiang Xian was relying on the Third Prince and the First Prince to fall back; he believed his two sons could seize back the initiative on the battlefield with one brilliant counterattack.

However, as a king, he couldn’t naively pin all his hopes on a military operation with an uncertain outcome.

Therefore, while giving the Third Prince and the First Prince strict orders to break through the railway between Luo Town and Nanye at any cost, Jiang Xian also issued an order to his second son.

This order was for the Second Prince on the eastern front to immediately pull out his elite forces and move along another railway to reinforce King City.

Knowing the emptiness of Qi Country’s King City, Jiang Xian couldn’t allow this dangerous situation to continue. He would certainly choose the most secure and quickest method to redeploy troops back to King City.

Currently, it seemed that going through Luo Town might not be the fastest option. If the First Prince and the Third Prince failed to retake Luo Town, then everything would become an illusory reflection, like a castle in the air.

So the shrewd Jiang Xian almost immediately ordered the elite 2nd Army from the eastern defense zone to return to King City.

The Tang Army was on the move, and so was the Qi Army. Both sides were mobilizing troops and dispatching generals, hoping to strangle the enemy with their own arrangements.

“Report!” A shouted response jolted the King of Qi awake from his seat.

Inside a manor on the outskirts of Qi Country’s King City, Jiang Xian’s eyes were so tired that he could barely keep them open. He was nearing fifty this year, and his body no longer allowed him to overexert himself.

But the war prevented him from relaxing. He had been staying up all night for several days, and his whole body had grown thinner.

With dark circles under his eyes and a face marked by creases, the wrinkles seemed to come alive with the movement of his lips, curling and wriggling as he asked, “What’s the matter?”

If Jiang Xian had gone to sleep, his attendants would never have let him be woken up like this. But in order to keep control of the latest intelligence, Jiang Xian adamantly refused to rest, which is why he fell asleep in his seat.

“Our forces deployed on the outskirts of Nanye for surveillance... have been completely wiped out.” The officer looked somewhat grim as he stood straight and answered.

In fact, these forces were not numerous; the Qi troops deployed near Nanye consisted of only a division, a mere three regiments at most.

These forces could not all be placed outside, so in reality, the Tang Army had severely damaged only about one to two regiments of Qi forces.

But sometimes, things were so mysterious: Qi Army really had only that many troops, so they truly couldn’t bear the fact of having one or even two regiments completely annihilated.

That was a second-class medal! With such a medal, one need not kneel to officials and would also receive a subsidy. So far, not a single one had been awarded throughout the entire army!

The staff officer sitting next to him felt as if his mouth was full of sourness: “General Redman suggested awarding the first-class Cavalry Medal...”

“Liu Guozhu, that lucky guy!” Luff couldn’t help but sigh upon hearing the conversation. As Chief of Staff, he was not able to charge into battle at the front lines.

In fact, when Luff, one of the veterans of the Great Tang Group, used to lead troops, Tang Mo only had around a hundred guards under his command. Thus, Luff could never have a Blade Medal or Cavalry Medal, which was a regret for him.

The other staff officers all echoed in agreement: “Absolutely!”

“But I still have to criticize him! If only we had caught one alive, that would have been great,” a staff officer interjected, somewhat reluctantly.

Luff gave the officer a glance, feeling that he was ungratefully longing for more: “What are you thinking? What are you thinking? In that situation, it’s a bit much to expect the armored troops to capture someone alive, isn’t it?”

The officer was also a straightforward guy and, spreading his hands, still felt some regret: “Ah, I know, but I still feel a sense of pity... After all, if we had really caught someone alive, that would have been great.”

“Isn’t that the truth... So about that medal? Are we still awarding it as a first-class one?” The opinion of their Staff Department was very important for the awarding of medals.

Luff waved his hand and gave his view: “Wait, wait for the newspapers... or rather, wait for His Majesty’s decision.”

“Alright!” Seeing the boss speak, everyone immediately agreed.

On the flank of Luo Town, within the 1st Battalion 1st Company of the 1st Armored Division, Liu Guozhu’s crew was still scrubbing their tank.

Even though they had already washed the intake grilles on the rear upper hull of their tank turret, they could still smell a stench of decay.

They didn’t know if it was misperception or something else, but despite having laid something beneath the bodies during transport, it didn’t seem to help. Everyone felt the smell lingered, so they could only wipe it down once more...

“Boss, do you think... we could get another medal for this?” an ammo loader curiously asked while vigorously scrubbing the grille seams with a cloth.

“How would I know...” Liu Guozhu too was continuously wiping down his beloved vehicle: “That’s not for me to decide...”

As he talked, the oil from the wiping smeared on his hands, and at that moment, he instinctively wiped his cheek.

Then he ended up with a big oily streak across his face, completely unaware of it.

The returning electrician immediately burst into hilarious laughter, unreserved and carefree.

Amidst their laughter, another squadron of ten Stuka Dive Bombers roared overhead, flying toward the distant Qi Army positions.

——

Not feeling well today, just two updates. I’ll make up for it tomorrow.

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