Munitions Empire-Chapter 1121: Welcome and cleanse the dust

When Zhao Chen went to the Staff Department to get his work permit, he saw General Feng Kezhi, who had come for a meeting with the 9th Group Army. To be honest, he was a bit stunned; he had thought that Feng Kezhi had died long ago, yet unexpectedly, he was able to see him here.

While chatting with Feng Kezhi, Zhao Chen also saw another old acquaintance, Qian Jinhang... For a moment, he felt as if he had returned to the once mighty Dahua Empire.

However, when he saw the imposing military uniforms on the two men and listened to them discuss a plethora of advanced military terms and theories they had learned at the Great Tang Empire, Zhao Chen, unable to get a word in, was forced back to reality.

He had to admit that this place was not the Dahua Empire, and the people before him were no longer the generals of the Dahua Empire he knew.

"General Luo Xiao has pushed the front line to the east of the Dahua Imperial Capital, and four divisions of troops are moving towards the northeast of the city..." To accommodate Zhao Chen, who was clueless, Feng Kezhi initiated a conversation about the military situation concerning Dahua.

"After your troops surrendered, were they disbanded on the spot?" Feng Kezhi curiously looked towards Zhao Chen, who stood to the side, wearing a brand-new military uniform and holding a paper bag with clothes.

Just like Feng Kezhi before him, Zhao Chen now also held the rank of Major General and was prepared to report to the Great Tang Military Academy in Chang’an tomorrow. To avoid embarrassment, he promptly changed into the newly received uniform, the stars on his shoulders shining brightly.

To be honest, in the General Staff Department of the Great Tang Empire, a major general wasn’t particularly valuable; any casual gathering for a smoke might involve two major generals.

"It seems not. General Luo Xiao took some of them away, and another part was ordered to head south, supposedly to go to Sword Pavilion," Zhao Chen recalled and answered Feng Kezhi’s question.

Upon hearing the movements of the forces, Feng Kezhi immediately sensed something and asked, "What about you? Will you stay at the Staff Department or go to the military academy?"

Qian Jinhang, who was also interested, knew from his and Feng Kezhi’s own experiences that staying at the Staff meant fast promotion, while going to the military school meant the opportunity to lead troops outside.

"I am going to further my studies at the Great Tang Military Academy," Zhao Chen announced a decision that evoked the envy of Qian Jinhang.

Hearing his response, both Feng Kezhi and Qian Jinhang immediately realized that Zhao Chen might soon be promoted to build a new group army for the Empire in the direction of Sword Pavilion.

"You and I will be alumni now," Feng Kezhi said with a smile, patting Qian Jinhang’s arm, "It’s not easy for me to come to the Imperial Capital; how about we have dinner together tonight?"

"I have no objections," Qian Jinhang also said with a smile. In their minds, the term "Imperial Capital" clearly no longer had any connection to the Dahua Imperial Capital.

Now their hearts held only one Imperial Capital, and that was Chang’an of the Great Tang Empire. Feng Kezhi, currently the commander of the 9th Group Army, was not likely to come to Chang’an often.

This trip to Chang’an was due to a Staff meeting, the focus of which was on establishing a new corps group: the Great Tang Empire wanted to establish a larger command system to deal with potentially larger-scale wars that might break out simultaneously.

Zhao Chen felt somewhat uneasy; he did not dare to socialize with acquaintances: monarchs are often wary of officers fraternizing privately, and a gathering of three generals of their rank for dinner would probably have meant death in the Dahua Empire.

But he felt embarrassed to spell it out clearly to Feng Kezhi and Qian Jinhang since he was new here and unclear about the customs.

"How about we also invite Zhao Zheng..." Qian Jinhang followed up with a suggestion, "We’re all acquaintances, after all; getting together would give us a chance to chat more."

"Hmm, okay," Feng Kezhi nodded, "That would be even better. I’ll go invite Marshal Le Fu and General Eric."

"Then I’ll go call General Bolton. And ask if Marshal Tager has time," Qian Jinhang also added with a smile, "It could be a nice get-together to exchange views privately, and a welcome and dusting-off for our General Zhao Chen."

Then Qian Jinhang and Feng Kezhi started discussing where to dine that evening, having been to too many hospitality restaurants within the military. This time they could check out the time-honored brands in Chang’an. It’s no exaggeration to say that Chang’an has the best food in the world.

Only now did Zhao Chen realize that nearly half of the senior officers of the military system would be attending the evening gathering... So he managed to squeeze out a smile.

...

In the Dahua Imperial Capital, Li Mingshun already felt the danger: the Fengjiang forces outside the city were trying their best to move to the north of the city. The enemy seemed like an open-mouthed venomous snake, poised to bite into the Dahua Imperial Capital.

"Are they planning to encircle us?" Zhao Ji, who was preparing for the coronation ceremony at all costs, looked at the map and asked Li Mingshun by his side.

Li Mingshun nodded, acknowledging the current situation was quite dangerous: "The enemy has ample forces and a clear objective... They haven’t attacked Zhao Jie; the forces are moving around our perimeter defenses."

This was the reason for Li Mingshun’s anxiety: the enemy didn’t immediately launch an attack but was adjusting their deployment: managing to resist the allure of the Imperial Capital while diligently arranging their forces meant that the enemy had a very mature and determined commander.

Li Mingshun couldn’t recall anyone from the Dahua Empire like that, nor did he really believe such a person would assist Zhao Yu.

"What should we do then?" Zhao Ji asked with some nervousness: he feared that before he could properly prepare for the coronation ceremony, the enemy would break into the city.

"There’s no other way. I’ve already deployed all the military forces I could find outside the city to extend our perimeter defense line as much as possible," Li Mingshun said.

In the past few days, about 50,000 troops have been reinforced to the Imperial Capital, all of which were pulled from cities like Wangdu on the western front.

Their combat effectiveness was actually not very good, as the troops capable of fighting had already been dispatched to Shanchong and Hezhe.

But at this point, he couldn’t worry about whether the troops were strong or not; as long as there were troops with guns in hand, they had to be used.

Li Mingshun deployed all these troops at the northern position outside the city and conscripted civilians to build defensive fortifications to the north of the city: he built a large number of trench lines by the railroad and the road leading north of the Imperial Capital to the city of Beiku, attempting to lean on these routes to block the extending reach of Fengjiang’s forces.

"The enemy did not attack Zhao Jie. The southern district he occupies is our weakest defense area. Zhao Jie’s delay by even one day is a huge threat to us," Li Mingshun was very clear about the intention of Fengjiang’s forces not actively attacking Zhao Jie, who was closest to them.

However, he couldn’t communicate with Zhao Jie, and Zhao Jie was not very willing to voluntarily give up the southern district, which was a dead knot for the defense of the Imperial Capital.

"Zhao Yu... Zhao Jie... These traitors! Sooner or later, I will make sure they die with nowhere to be buried!" Zhao Ji hated Zhao Yu and Zhao Jie to the bone, but he was powerless against these two adversaries, so he could only rage impotently.

Li Mingshun glanced at Zhao Ji, wanted to say something, but ultimately closed his mouth. In his opinion, the grand ceremony that Zhao Ji was frantically arranging was actually creating more trouble for Li Mingshun’s defensive plans.

Have you ever seen a city that is adorned with lanterns and streamers in the midst of roaring artillery fire? That’s exactly what Zhao Ji was doing: he was looking for cloth to make various decorations, planning to adorn the Imperial Palace and nearby streets, and then ascend to the throne amid the deafening cries of worship from the people.

In order to achieve a better effect, Zhao Ji even opened the treasury to distribute some money, gathering some people, exempting them from the corvee labor of digging trenches outside the city, and sending people to train these civilians to shout hails every day.

Because of this chore, the civilians in the city were reluctant to dig trenches outside, and naturally, they all ran to receive Zhao Ji’s rewards and work for Zhao Ji.

As a result, the number of civilians that Li Mingshun could find to dig trenches outside the city diminished, and at this critical juncture, competing with the front line for the labor of civilians, Li Mingshun even didn’t know how to describe the new Emperor he supported.

Compared to Zhao Ji, although Zhao Kai was brutal and suspicious, at least he maintained the basic intelligence that a person should have. But the new Emperor Zhao Ji, in front of him, seemed to be a fool most of the time.

The sad thing is, he still had to support this fool, using the already scarce resources at hand to fight against an overwhelmingly powerful opponent!

With just a casual estimate, he could figure out that the forces from Fengjiang could easily muster at least 300,000 troops. And his own forces summed up to just under 150,000.

Defending such a massive city with so few troops was simply delusional. The only thing Li Mingshun could hope for now was the 200,000-strong army from the western front previously conscripted in the name of Zhao Ji.

As long as he could defend the outer perimeter of the Imperial Capital and hold out until the arrival of the 200,000 reinforcements, it seemed there was a slight chance for the situation to take a turn for the better.

In fact, the 100,000 troops from Dahua on the western front were indeed on the move. They had been ordered to withdraw from cities such as Shahun and started gathering along the railway heading east.

At the same time, the Dahua troops in the Southwest had also sprung into action, with about 100,000 troops beginning to move north.

However, the situation was still far from optimistic, as Luo Xiao’s forces did not consist of merely 300,000 men. His reinforcements were almost endless, totaling at least 500,000.

Additionally, with the stable logistics provided by the Great Tang Empire, his troops’ capacity for sustained combat was much stronger than that of Dahua Empire’s forces.

Luo Xiao’s ammunition was at least five times that of the Dahua Imperial Capital’s defending army! On a per capita basis, it was also nearly double that of Dahua Empire’s troops!

Moreover, the defense lines of the Imperial Capital were incomplete; the northern front, full of holes, was still relatively the strongest part. In the southern front, the entire line of defense had already been shattered.

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Not in the best condition, the second update was slow, and it will be served up late at night, everyone can read it in the morning.