Munitions Empire

The top officials of Qin Country are also analyzing the reasons for their defeat. Aside from the advanced weaponry of the Tang Army, many high-ranking commanders of Qin Country believe that their unstable foothold within the Dahua Empire is a major reason for their collapse.

They shifted the blame to the civilians of Dahua, who did not cooperate or support the actions of Qin Army, treating the Qin Army as invaders.

This attitude greatly contrasted with the expectation of Dahua Empire's civilians for the arrival of the Tang Army. Such non-cooperation indeed posed some challenges to the Qin Army's operations.

Therefore, before retreating, the Qin Army often left behind so-called gifts for the local populace, with some villages even being massacred. By the time the Tang Army arrived, all they could see were corpses strewn everywhere.

However, such acts of revenge could not hold the ground for the Qin Army. The speed of the Tang Army's advance was simply too fast, leaving the Qin Army no time to build strong defensive positions.

Furthermore, because the Tang Army had an overwhelming number of new-style weapons, those so-called strong defensive positions were nothing but a joke.

Fortifications like trenches and bunkers are no longer invincible in modern warfare. When a large amount of precision-guided munitions, along with various heavy weapons, are deployed in battle, a hastily built trench becomes insignificant.

Unlike the battlefield between Russia and Ukraine, where defensive structures are still crucial due to the similar levels of both sides, equipped with numerous landmines to stabilize the front line.

Yet in this world, both the Great Tang Empire and the Great Qin Empire are contracting parties to the anti-landmine treaty, and neither side can arbitrarily use weapons like landmines.

Without landmines and without adequate advanced weapons to support their frontline, the defenses of the Qin Army became very fragile.

Regardless, war has already erupted, and blaming everything on others is useless now; all problems must be resolved by Qin Country itself.

The good news is that reinforcements from the Dorne Empire are already on the way. Dorne has mobilized 30 divisions to disembark at the ports of Shu Country, participate in the war on the Western Continent, and help Qin Country stabilize its position.

Additionally, the main fleet of the Dorne Empire, including 7 aircraft carriers of various models, 6 battleships, 22 cruisers, and 15 large destroyers, has already headed north to meet the Qin Fleet.

According to the plan, after completing resupply in waters near Qin Country, this fleet will head north to blockade Nanshan Port, compelling a decisive battle with the Tang naval fleet.

Meanwhile, a massive fleet from the Laines Empire will attack Dragon Island. Once the naval battle is settled, the situation will become clear.

Having lost its fleet and Dragon Island, the Great Tang Empire will probably be unable to continue the war. They will be forced to sign treaties and cede large areas of territory...

Unwittingly, Qin Country's generals started playing the old joke of "trusting the bottom lane ADC," pinning all their hopes on the Navy they completely underestimated before the battle.

In fact, the allied fleet has already gathered near the waters of Shu Country! This implies they have completed the first step of their plan, and everything seems to be going very smoothly.

The current situation is such that Qin Country's 3 aircraft carriers, 4 battleships, 7 cruisers, and 10 destroyers have been integrated into the main fleet of the Dorne Navy, forming a large-scale allied fleet.

The entire fleet now boasts 10 aircraft carriers, 10 battleships, 29 cruisers, and 25 destroyers, truly fitting the description of a formidable force.

According to plan, once resupply is complete, this fleet will head north to Nanshan Port, which is already surrounded on three sides by Tang Country, and support the Army in annihilating the Tang defenders at Nanshan Port.

However, the Commander of the Dorne Navy's fleet, who is currently also the Commander of the allied fleet, General John Cleves, is unaware that his fleet has long been targeted by the Tang Country Navy.

In the northern sea about 1000 kilometers away, the Great Tang Empire's naval fleet is racing southward at full speed. Under the command of Naval Marshal Bernard, Tang Country's 4 aircraft carriers, 8 cruisers, and 19 destroyers are charging at an exaggerated speed of over 55 kilometers per hour across the sea.

This fleet's mission is to initiate an attack on the assembled opposing fleet and completely destroy this so-called allied fleet, thereby gaining full control of the sea.

The Great Tang Empire's intelligence is more accurate and direct than expected: after Shu Country was occupied by Qin Country, due to the existence of resistance sentiments and prior covert networks of the Great Tang Empire's intelligence department, they have almost perfectly grasped the Qin Fleet's movements.

In addition, the Great Tang Empire Navy's submarines have nearly predicted the allied fleet's movements, set ambushes, and have gained most of the intelligence regarding the enemy fleet's rendezvous location, direction, and speed.

Moreover, the Great Tang Empire's satellites provided the Tang fleet with even more accurate information on the allied fleet's movements, allowing Marshal Bernard to make decisions very easily.

His goals were explicit; his fleet's strike capabilities were sufficiently potent; his means of attack were diverse, and his attack range far exceeded the mind's limits of the enemy.

On that morning, on the turbulent sea surface, the Great Tang Empire's fleet cut through the waves, appearing in a place where it should not have appeared.

As per routine, bathed in sunlight, an Eagle Eye early warning aircraft was catapulted from the flight deck, responsible for reconnaissance and vigilance over the entire fleet, coordinating the patrol fighter jets and Intruder attack aircraft armed with anti-ship missiles.

Shortly after the early warning aircraft took off, a Qin submarine made its way forward on the distant sea, sighting the aircraft. The officers manning the submarine's conning tower were frightened and immediately called their captain, pointing at the tiny black speck in the sky and recounting what they'd just seen.

"There shouldn't be an aircraft here." The captain muttered, clutching his binoculars as he eyed the plane, which evidently wasn't there to come after them.

Clearly, this was not a plane from the Great Qin Empire, for even if he were foolhardy, the submarine captain could ascertain that the Great Qin Empire absolutely didn't possess an aircraft carrying a frying pan.

"That—that plane seems not to have spotted us…" said the submarine's crew member, who first noticed the aircraft, with a hint of apprehension.

"Perhaps! Immediately transmit this message! Our fleet might be in trouble." The captain was still worrying about the newly assembled allied fleet's safety, not realizing that his submarine had already appeared on the radar screen of the Eagle Eye early warning aircraft.

For the early warning aircraft, this target was so conspicuous that the dazzling bright spot flickered on the screen, visible in stark detail even to a blind man.