Munitions Empire-Chapter 1069: The Absurdity on the 991 Frontline
Chapter 1069: The Absurdity on the 991 Frontline
Zhao Chen has had a truly rough month, on tenterhooks and even somewhat panic-stricken, because the situation before him is unprecedented.
On one hand, the front on the Fengjiang side where he’s in charge of attacking has unexpectedly called a ceasefire. The frontline troops began to rest and reorganize, which was good for him; however, that railroad was like a fishbone stuck in his throat, lying across his path of future advances.
It was like a gigantic vase placed on the battlefield that both sides had to ensure would not break, or else neither could bear the responsibility.
Such bizarre conditions for the offensive were like a fishbone stuck in Zhao Chen’s throat. He had been trying to work around this railroad, hoping to make the most of this “unbeatable” link.
Regrettably, due to the greedy nature of his subordinates, the current state of the frontline troops is quite dire, resting in name but decaying in reality, with a steep decline in combat effectiveness.
As commander, Zhao Chen intended to manage this issue, but it was futile since he couldn’t touch anyone under him, all of who had connections or backgrounds.
Coincidentally, it was also a particularly sensitive time, and as the supreme commander, he really couldn’t take direct action against those corrupted weevils.
Why couldn’t he take direct action? That brings us to the second headache for Zhao Chen: His Majesty The Emperor was injured!
The injury of Zhao Kai wasn’t necessarily a sky-falling catastrophe, but the Crown Prince, Zhao Jili, lost his wits, and who knows what he was thinking, but he headed straight back to the Imperial Capital.
This was like stirring up a hornet’s nest. Zhao Kai was furious and placed Zhao Ji under house arrest, even beginning to discuss the deposition of the crown prince in court.
Suddenly, the court was unstable, and the princes who originally had no chance whatsoever became active. In a short while, these unworthy characters were scrambling around, turning the whole Dahua Empire’s court into a den of turmoil.
If this had happened a year earlier, the ministers would have rejoiced: Zhao Kai deposes Zhao Ji, then everyone happily supports Zhao Yu’s ascension, and the Great Tang Empire would have lost its pretense, allowing the Dahua Empire to survive another three to five years at least.
But now, with Zhao Yu having become a rebel of Fengjiang, if Zhao Ji were to fall, all that would be left are a bunch of useless lumps of mud. Relying on these princes, adept at nothing but causing defeat, to succeed the throne would be worse than everyone just disbanding.
What time is it now? With the powerful Qin Empire coveting from the west, and the Great Tang Empire drooling from the east, if there were someone with a brain perhaps they could hold on a bit longer, but put someone slightly foolish in charge, and the Dahua Empire might perish within half a year.
The court is in chaos, the Prime Minister has resigned with the Emperor’s approval, and Crown Prince Zhao Ji is under house arrest, with His Majesty The Emperor still confined to bed recuperating…
In such a situation, you, the frontline commander, replacing all those whom Zhao Kai and Zhao Ji as father and son had placed trust in within the military, what exactly are you trying to do?
Zhao Chen didn’t even know what he wanted to do; he just knew that if he were to really execute those favored by the Emperor, the hat of a prince starting a rebellion would undoubtedly be slapped onto his head.
The third issue is also quite interesting; because of chaos in the rear, the quantity of supplied materials has truly entered a random mode: If Chief of Staff Shen Chuan inquires, then there would be more goods; if Shen doesn’t ask, then the supply is pitifully scarce.
Under these circumstances, it was already quite difficult to keep the troops from defecting, and Zhao Chen completely gave up managing the decay and degradation of the military.
Once the ceasefire period ended, Zhao Chen hurriedly began organizing an attack on the southern cities far from the railroad area, but this attack immediately went awry.
Two divisions deployed in the frontline cities surrendered outright. The Dahua troops following those two divisions hadn’t even grasped the situation when they were cut off and encircled, and they, too, surrendered their arms soon after.
Yes, an entire army, more than seventy thousand soldiers with their weapons and ammunition, nearly surrendered to the enemy without much of a fight. This might be the biggest defection in history without being surrounded by the enemy.
Following the lead of this army, some surrounding Dahua troops also began to surrender; these troops even had white flags prepared, demonstrating practiced efficiency.
Subsequently, the Dahua military forces making contact with the Fengjiang troops started surrendering one after another, competing in their haste: They were afraid if they delayed, they would be moved away and miss their chance to surrender.
“Hello? What do you mean surrendered? Make it clear! Make what clear? Hello? Hello?!” The officer clutching the phone asked furiously in embarrassment, but there was no longer any response from the receiver.
On another table, another Dahua Empire’s military officer was also searching for his own troops. The two divisions he commanded were main forces; before the ceasefire, they were the spearhead of attacks, the kind of ace troops known for their combat prowess.
But now, someone said they saw white flags raised over the positions overseen by these two divisions, and no matter what, they couldn’t get through on the phone. He was trying to establish contact with his own troops, refusing to believe that his military would defect so easily…
“Clarify this for me! A battalion’s position, gone just like that? What the hell are you all doing? Hello! Will you freaking speak up, you bastards!” In the distance, an officer was furiously slamming the phone receiver down on the cradle.
The non-coms and civilians around them watched their superiors going mad with terror in their eyes, instinctively feeling that the situation was probably not good. They were right, because inside Fengjiang City, there were problems with many positions.
Watching his subordinates in chaos, even starting to lose their composure, Zhao Chen couldn’t help but give a bitter smile and walked back to his office.
He had not failed to tell these commanders that there was frequent private communication between the lower ranks and Fengjiang, but who listened to him?
They always brushed off Zhao Chen’s questions with excuses like the soldiers had nothing to eat and even shifted the blame onto logistics and supply departments.
Zhao Chen was at a loss because he had personally inspected the soldiers’ supplies; they lacked food and the equipment was of abysmally poor quality… If he pursued the smuggling issue any further, the starving soldiers might just mutiny on the spot.
So the problems continued to mount, becoming deeply ingrained. Now the issues had erupted, leaving everyone helpless as the situation continued to deteriorate.
Finally, when the chain reactions began to settle down a bit, Zhao Chen realized that the Fengjiang City district they had fought so hard to capture over three long months, had almost entirely been taken back by the Fengjiang forces.
Yes, Zhao Chen had almost lost the entire Fengjiang City district… They now had to fight to reclaim it, at least before the bad news reached the Imperial Capital!
All of Zhao Chen’s generals were like bereaved dogs, finally realizing the gravity of the situation.
The court was already in chaos. With the news of the front lines’ defeat reaching back, His Majesty The Emperor, in his fury, might very well decide to ‘kill the chicken to scare the monkey.’
“General… No! Prince! Save me please! Have mercy on your humble servant!” An officer, with a face et ashen as death, barged into Zhao Chen’s office and knelt on the floor. He knew he had lost tens of thousands of men and had lost key defensive areas inside the city; this responsibility was enough for execution. So at this moment, he could only beg Zhao Chen for a way out.
If Zhao Chen didn’t give him any face, his entire family was likely doomed. Therefore, the general knelt with practiced ease and decisiveness.
“Get up! What kind of image do you present, panicking like this!” Zhao Chen walked over to help the pitiful, sniveling mess of a man, but before he could help him up, another person rushed in and knelt down.
One after another, they burst in and knelt down, leaving Zhao Chen no longer wanting to help any of them up.
So Zhao Chen could only walk back to his seat and, facing these high-ranking generals on their knees, asked, “Well… gentlemen, what would you have me do?”
“Prince… We take the liberty to ask for your permission to let us atone for our crimes through meritorious deeds. Ten days! No! In five days, we will surely recapture the lost positions!” The leading general bowed his head quickly and conveyed the thoughts of these men.
Indeed, their idea was simple: hide the matter before it was reported, then recapture the lost positions, and deal with it later!
But Zhao Chen knew that most of the generals kneeling before him hardly had any troops left. So he asked out of curiosity, hoping to get a reasonable explanation.
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The more he heard, the angrier he became: these people were planning to borrow troops from the reinforcements: the reserve troops provided the soldiers for battle, the vacancies just right for pocketing unearned pay. And if they borrowed the troops and managed to fight back, they’d lose some money at worst, but at least keep their heads.
Zhao Chen, utterly exasperated, still left them some dignity: many were Zhao Kai’s men, after all. If things really blew up, Zhao Chen couldn’t escape blame and would surely be dealt with by Zhao Kai. So, in the end, Zhao Chen decided to join in the muddle, a situation of ‘I’m fine, you’re fine, everybody’s happy’.
The funny part came later: these generals ready to atone for their offenses went to borrow troops from the rear, only to find there was already a lot of corruption with phantom soldiers. The worst-hit units couldn’t even muster a company’s worth of soldiers from an entire battalion.
The plan had to be reluctantly abandoned, and these Dahua Empire generals shamelessly went behind Zhao Chen’s back to negotiate with the Fengjiang defensive forces.
They paid money, even giving up a large portion of their supplies and ammunition as debt collateral, and bought back a part of the lost Fengjiang City district…
You read that right; they paid to reclaim part of the ruined city district to close the issue. Then Zhao Chen had no choice but to sign off on their written reports, admitting that over the past two days, the Fengjiang insurrection had fiercely counterattacked, both sides suffered massive losses, and many Dahua military units had been devastated…
