Munitions Empire

Then, Tagg began to give a brief introduction to the strategic deployment of the Qi Army: "The Qi Army’s strategic deployment is roughly as follows. The enemy has gathered three main forces in the south, each led by one of Qi Country’s princes."

"The First Prince of Qi Country is in charge of the central defensive line, which is under the most pressure; the Second Prince is in charge of the eastern defensive line by the sea, and the Third Prince is in charge of the relatively safe westernmost defensive line." He roughly marked three areas on the map, labeling them 1, 2, and 3 respectively.

After the labeling, he continued, "The strength of the forces is also such that the troops under the First Prince of Qi are the strongest, those under the Second Prince slightly weaker, and those under the Third Prince the weakest."

"The three main forces have similar numbers of troops, the main difference lies in the weaponry and the level of personnel training. Each force has about 150,000 troops, which is pretty much all Qi Country can muster." Having said that, he looked towards Tang Mo.

"Isn’t this what we were hoping for?" Tang Mo asked curiously.

According to the thinking in the Great Tang Kingdom, the more the enemy concentrates their troops for a head-on battle, the better it fits Great Tang Kingdom’s tactical style, and the easier the battle will be.

Tagg nodded, agreeing with Tang Mo’s view: "Indeed, if these forces can be encircled and annihilated, then the pressure on us in the subsequent battles will decrease a lot."

"Then let’s not let these three forces escape, and aim to annihilate them on the spot." Tang Mo decided the fate of the Qi border main forces with a smile.

All the generals present stood at attention and puffed out their chests: "Yes!"

"Continue," Tang Mo waved his hand, indicating that everyone should not be constrained. In fact, no one was constrained because this was the first time the King of the Great Tang Kingdom had come to the home country of a foreign land.

"Up front, the enemy has basically adopted the previous defensive line arrangement of the Gobur Kingdom, three lines of trenches for defense, supplemented by bunkers, and artillery groups deployed in the rear for support." Next to speak was Redman.

What he talked about was the construction of the Qi Army’s border defenses: "Having learned from the war experience between Gobur and Dorne, Shireck’s military advisors have come up with quite a few new ideas for Qi Country. For example, they placed landmines in many areas they deemed dangerous, and in some areas, they also used barbed wire to block offensives."

"In terms of trench arrangements, the enemy also made some improvements, placing barracks behind the second line of defense to improve the resting conditions for the troops." He spoke as if he had personally visited the enemy’s positions.

In fact, it was all thanks to Li’ao. The intelligence agency of the Great Tang Kingdom had almost completely scouted the enemy’s defensive lines and, under permissible conditions, even brought back many photographs.

It must be said that although the Qi Country’s upper echelons were like facing a formidable enemy, the decay at the grassroots level of their troops was indeed deep-rooted and could not be changed in the short term.

"To delay our offensive, the enemy has deployed more bunkers in the third line of defense and some segments have been turned into permanent defensive works," he pointed out, indicating the detailed map of the enemy’s defensive lines and photographic materials that were already on the table.

Tang Mo looked at the photos of the trenches, which had a wartime feel to them, and then asked the generals: "This setup doesn’t seem to be of much use against us, does it?"

Tagg said somewhat uncertainly: "We are still unsure about the actual performance of the Air Force, but breaking through the enemy’s defense lines shouldn’t be much of a problem."

"Intelligence indicates that the enemy has deployed a number of anti-aircraft guns in their strategic hinterland, but they are relatively outdated, all being Shireck’s obsolete products," Redman also spoke up to explain.

Li’ao also added: "Qi Country doesn’t place much emphasis on air defense, and in fact, there are few countries in the world that truly prioritize it."

Luff also spoke up about the shortcomings of airships: "Airships are too slow, making them easy targets for anti-aircraft guns. Hence, everyone doesn’t have much faith in our use of airships on a raid against Qi Country achieving any major results."

Tagg continued: "Because they can only carry out night raids, airships also have a very limited attack range. In fact, it’s confined to about 200 kilometers deep into the frontline, which is also easy to defend against."

It was at this point that Redman turned to Tang Mo: "Your Majesty! We are very curious to know, is the Air Force’s promise to incapacitate all strategic targets within 400 kilometers of the enemy’s territory for the first day serious?"

Tang Mo, stroking his chin, had confidence in his Air Force: "More or less, I confirmed the situation with the Air Force before coming here, they can dispatch over 300 planes to support ground operations on the first day."

With over a hundred Stuka Dive Bombers together with more than a hundred FW-190s doubling as dive bombers, collapsing the enemy’s defense lines shouldn’t be too difficult, should it?

In fact, Tang Mo was capable of deploying even more planes to join the attack, but once the planes appeared in people’s view, the entire sky would start to look different.

He also had several hundred transport planes to put into use, as well as deploying fighters, reconnaissance planes, and other aircraft on his own controlled islands and within the country, all of which occupied pilots.

Given the need for pilots to rotate rest, he was truly unwilling to place all his bets on Qi Country in one go.

However, according to common sense, employing air power to surprise the enemy could indeed yield significant results. Continue your adventure at

Thus, Tang Mo assembled 100 B-17 strategic bombers, 120 Stuka Dive Bombers, and 110 FW-190 fighters to support this ground operation.

After launching the world’s first large-scale air-to-ground operation, according to the plan, the 500-plus C47 transport planes and airliners, which had been accumulating over the past year and not put into use, would be fully deployed.

A few days later, in the Great Tang mainland, taking a plane to the destination would become the most convenient mode of travel. The journey from Tongcheng to Linshui would only take a few short hours, greatly saving valuable time.

Unbeknownst to many, the efficiency of the entire world was rapidly improving. A war that used to engage only tens of thousands of soldiers now saw forces numbering in the hundreds of thousands assembled by each side!

Since it was the first time being put to the test in combat, Tang Mo didn’t dare to speak too confidently, but he knew that the power of a modern air force would definitely exceed everyone’s imagination.

Of course, with the advancement of the war, Tang Mo might deploy more than 500 aircraft—almost all of his assets or, one could say, all of his combat aircraft assets.

There was no choice; there were still too few pilots, and because confidentiality had to be maintained previously, they couldn’t train on a large scale, so they had to temporarily endure the lack of talent.

But very soon, with the expansion of the war and the removal of the secrecy surrounding airplanes, training pilots would become more convenient, and the scale would no longer be constrained by secrecy, with the training pace bound to increase several-fold.

"Since the arrow is on the string and must be sent, it is time we consider recalling the ambassadors stationed in the Dahua Empire, as well as the envoys in countries like Chu Country," Roger said to Tang Mo, "and moreover, a war... always needs a reason."

"A reason is easy to come by, as long as we make sure that Qi Country fires the first shot," Tang Mo didn’t find this to be a difficult task.

Thus, he turned to look at Li’ao, who was naturally brimming with confidence: "Please rest assured, Your Majesty! I have already arranged for people to create the conflict."

"You see, Minister Li still has ways to handle things," Tang Mo smiled, looking toward Yulin: "Then let’s recall the envoys from other countries in my name! Have them come back to report!"

Tang Mo didn’t believe that Dahua would continue to tolerate provocation after provocation. Especially when Dahua found out that the Great Tang Kingdom’s backyard was unsteady and that Laines Empire was already harboring ulterior motives, they would certainly take action to get rid of the nuisance that was Tang Mo.

Tang Mo had known from the start that this war would evolve into a true world war. The ongoing civil war within the trade union, far from over, was nothing compared to what was ahead!

The previous conflict had only affected the Eastern Continent of the Endless Sea, but this war could encompass both the eastern and western continents, and even spread to the entire Endless Sea.

However, after accumulating strength for such a long time, Tang Mo was not afraid of the war; he even wanted to use it to firmly establish the dominance of the Great Tang Kingdom.

"That’s a good reason. Since Your Majesty has come, it’s natural for them to return and see you," Yulin said with a smile. It had been a long while since she had seen her lover, and her joy was evident throughout the journey.

"We must ensure the safety of our people! We cannot rely too much on the enemy’s mercy," Tang Mo reminded everyone: "Next, I’ll have to make an appearance in Tongcheng as you’ve arranged, right?"

"Your Majesty’s efforts are appreciated! Showing up in the Tongcheng industrial area, displaying concern for industrial development, will numb the enemy, making them believe we’re not fully prepared for war," Roger said to Tang Mo with a smile.

Tang Mo nodded; he certainly knew he needed to do this. In fact, the newspapers reporting on his inspection of the industrial area were already printed. The whole of Tang Country would follow this public appearance closely and propagate the news that the King cared for the welfare of the people.

According to the next plan, Qi Army would "invade" Tang Country, provoking the war, and then Tang Country would strike back.

As for where this counterattack would stop and when it would end, that would be for the Great Tang Kingdom to decide!

"Then I shall make a trip to Tongcheng. I too want to see what Tongcheng has become," Tang Mo stated, looking at his somewhat nervous ministers, signaling again for them to relax: "Gentlemen... victory belongs to us! There’s no need to be so tense! The Great Tang Kingdom... shall prevail!"

"Long live Great Tang! Long live Your Majesty! The Great Tang Kingdom... shall prevail!" Everyone in the room echoed loudly, heads held high.

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