Munitions Empire - Chapter 1335 - : the situation of the war changed suddenly in 1252

Chapter 1335: The situation of the war changed suddenly in 1252

There is some good news; after days of experiments and repeated confirmations, the commanders of Qin Country found a temporary method to counteract the Tang Army’s electronic interference.

This method is to establish a wired communication network: indeed, using the most traditional telephone lines to replace wireless communication, thus maintaining a certain level of communication under the strong electronic interference of the Tang Empire.

However, this method is quite cumbersome, requiring a large amount of wiring and time. Nevertheless, the Qin Army now has a way to restore its command and dispatch.

“The 3rd Armored Army is finished.” The chief of staff returning from the front lines brought Wang Luo some very bad news.

He took a sip of water, moistening his dry lips, then continued, “The troop losses are too great, and too many commanders have been killed; the entire unit has lost its combat capability.”

“The situation of the 1st Armored Army is also not optimistic. They suffered heavy losses from air raids, with many tanks abandoned mid-way due to a lack of parts and fuel.” As the chief of staff, who personally visited the front lines, spoke these words, Wang Luo’s face became extremely grim.

The 1st and 3rd Armored Armies are the elite of Qin Country; both commanders and tank crews are battle-hardened veterans, and they are the precious resources of the Empire.

But now, without even figuring out how they were surrounded by the enemy, these elite units, which should serve as the spearhead of the attack, were inexplicably lost in this way.

In fact, Wang Luo did not know that many tank crew members on the front lines were terrified by those ghost-like attacks.

They refused to continue driving tanks, so a large number of tanks were abandoned midway. Later, commanders discovered the problem and began to force these tank crews not to easily leave their tanks.

Results vary: policy from above meets countermeasures from below; these tank crew members would abandon their vehicles whenever encountering the slightest malfunction, eventually escalating to them damaging their tanks to abandon them.

There was no way around it; the terrifying aircraft of the Tang Empire focused solely on tanks and armored vehicles. As long as they escaped on foot, there was a high probability of avoiding attacks…

After all, there were too many targets on the ground. Even with full effort, the Tang Empire couldn’t attack all discovered targets. So, low-value infantry were often spared, or most had to be spared.

The armored corps that abandoned tanks almost had no combat capability, with hundreds of various models of tanks and armored vehicles left abandoned on the battlefield; the scene was undeniably spectacular.

Following the retreating Qin Army’s troops, the Tang Empire infantry sometimes even had their path blocked by this equipment, frequently requiring towing vehicles to clear a path, setting these damned wreckages aside from the roadbed.

Before the Qin Army’s troops could recover from the chaos, Bolton, the renowned general of the Tang Empire, invaded Xiajiang City. After fighting against the Qin Army, the once thriving Xiajiang City had already been reduced to ruins, and was bombed several times by the Tang Army, losing its former prosperity.

When the Tang Army’s tanks arrived on Xiajiang’s streets, the local Dahua people erupted in cheering. Some even voluntarily presented wreaths to the Tang Army; indeed, the civilians here considered the Tang Army as their liberators.

And the Tang Army was indeed much more genial than the Qin Army. They almost faced no resistance as they entered the city; this occupation was evidently much more acceptable than the Qin Army’s fierce attack.

General Bolton’s invasion of Xiajiang from the southern front was just the beginning. Northern troops of the Tang Army, commanded by General Strauss, cut off the Qin Army’s railway line and launched a surprise eastern flanking attack.

This nearly swept clean the trailing logistics of the Qin Army; Strauss rampaged along the way, destroying the Qin Army’s valuable fuel, food, weapons, and ammunition.

Thus, the Qin Army’s northern corps of 750,000 prepared to attack the Tang Army’s border city Hezhe through Xiajiang; except for the few tens of thousands who retreated in advance, all were encircled between Xiajiang and Hezhe in the desolate countryside.

These 750,000 troops lacked food, had nearly exhausted ammunition supplies, and fuel was also running out. Surrounding them, the total strength of the Tang Army exceeded 1,000,000!

In theory, the encircled Qin Army had completely lost the chance of breaking through. Their only hope was the Qin Army’s Central Army reserves assembled near Dongqing City.

Upon hearing of the encirclement of Wang Luo’s army, Ying Duo was so furious he nearly spat blood. He wobbled a bit, and Prime Minister Ying Ke quickly supported him, preventing this Qin Emperor from falling.

Eager to rescue his main force, Ying Duo, after a slight recovery, immediately mobilized his troops, ordering Ying An’s army near the front lines to quickly devise a plan to retake Xiajiang and rescue the 700,000-plus Qin troops trapped in the encirclement.

Ying An dared not delay; he began assembling his troops the day after the unexpected loss of Xiajiang. In fact, he no longer dared to hope for retaking Xiajiang and repelling the Tang Army; his plan was very realistic.

According to his plan, the Qin Army’s Central Army main force would rapidly maneuver to the wilderness south of Xiajiang, taking advantage of the Tang Army’s instability, and coordinate with the encircled Qin Army from within, creating a gap for the Qin Army to break out and retreat to Dongqing.

This plan already seemed very conservative, considering the Qin Army thus far had not found a good means to counter the Tang Army’s entire set of cunning tactics.

While gathering armored corps and units with high mobility and strong field capacity, Ying An also ordered traditional infantry unable to keep up with the assault force to fortify solid defenses in Dongqing.

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He knew that if he were as complacent as in Xiajiang, Dongqing City would also be caught unprepared. Only by constructing defenses in the most traditional manner and stabilizing the formation could they drag the Tang Army, equipped with powerful weapons, into a slow attack and defense rhythm, thereby finding its flaws and winning the battle.

Unfortunately, while Ying An was preparing to rescue Wang Luo, another piece of news was like a cold splash that quickly awakened all the generals of Qin Country.

Marshal Tager of the Tang Empire, leading the army, suddenly appeared on the outskirts of Qin Army’s strategic stronghold Shanchong, firing all artillery to directly crush the defending Qin Army’s troops and capturing this crucial traffic hub amidst the mountains.

With this, both Dongqing City to the north and Jutian to the south were directly exposed to the Tang Army’s might, forcing the Qin Army to urgently deploy more troops in the direction of Jutian to stabilize the already formed gap in the defense line.

But what no one expected was that the usually steady Marshal Tager launched a rapid assault on Jutian! The Great Tang paratroopers were deployed again, and, in coordination with the advancing Tang Army’s armored brigade, captured Jutian within two days and one night!