Munitions Empire

Old capital, the original Imperial Palace appears somewhat dilapidated, it hasn't been maintained or repaired for a long time, everywhere bears the marks of destruction.

Previously, this place was attacked by missiles from the Great Tang Empire, collapsing a section of buildings, and Zhao Kai subsequently fell severely ill, leaving no time for repairs. Later, when Zhao Yu took power, he truly had no money to care about any palace.

Until the Qin Country arrived, most of the place still remained in the state it was in when Zhao Kai passed away, with some areas merely maintained by a few old attendants and maids.

Now, this place has become an important command base for the Qin Army, deploying a large number of radios, and has even built numerous anti-aircraft gun positions using the garden spaces of the palace.

Because this place is really too large, it can deploy a massive number of soldiers, providing some degree of security assurance. Additionally, there are many underground facilities built during Zhao Kai's time, providing some level of safe shelter for the senior officers of the Qin Army.

Liu Zhian set his main command center here, his underground office is not Zhao Kai's sickroom because he somewhat needs to avoid suspicion; casually using the Emperor's bedroom, for the generals of a feudal dynasty, still carries some taboos after all.

As time progresses, this war has already begun to enter the second phase, the scale of the war has expanded completely, the troops participating have increased, and the intensity of combat has escalated hundreds and thousands of times.

The previous rapid advances, picnic-like mobile warfare has ended, replaced by a true contest between the two armies.

In the sky, two Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft from the Great Tang Empire roared past the old capital, hovering over the heads of the Qin Army as though it were uninhabited.

This was an unavoidable situation, after all, a large number of Qin Army's anti-aircraft weapons had already been lost on the retreating route, now Liu Zhian's troops had very few anti-aircraft guns in hand.

Dahua previously didn't equip many anti-aircraft guns at all because Zhao Yu's troops had air superiority. Their fighter jets were more advanced, pilots more skilled, and experienced. So they were able to control air superiority and could occasionally bomb Zhao Jie and Zhao Ji.

Now as it turns to a war between Qin Country and Tang Country, Dahua's ground forces' lack of air defense weapons is severely amplified.

Liu Zhian could find tanks in Dahua's military arsenal, find cannons, find all kinds of automobiles and armored vehicles, but there were no anti-aircraft guns to be found.

Not that there weren't any, there actually were, just very few. And these few high-altitude weapons couldn't threaten the Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft of the Tang Army at all.

"General! The 510th Division lost its position... the Tang Army's attack is too fierce, our troops simply can't withstand it." The adjutant walked up behind Liu Zhian, reporting the recent loss of position to him. Visit My Virtual Library Empire (M_VLEMPYR) for more.

"As expected, the Tang Army's mine-clearing speed is faster than I estimated, so losing the position was inevitable. But no matter, as long as the Tang Army takes their position, a salient will emerge... as long as we manipulate around this salient, the Tang Army will be held back." Liu Zhian said calmly.

He folded his hands behind his back, looked through the bunker slit at the clear sky, and observed those two Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft circling over the city.

"It would be great if we had such powerful planes." Just yesterday, Liu Zhian witnessed the Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft strafing the ground with its cannon, a sight that was indeed unforgettable.

Compared to past attack aircraft, the Thunderbolt's attack power was simply too strong, the impact it brought to the ground forces exceeded even that of the Stuka.

That 30mm caliber rotating cannon firing while diving was so astonishing that Li Zhian couldn't help but envy. If he had such planes providing support overhead, he would even dare to launch a counterattack against the Tang Army.

One must know, the reason the Tang Army ground forces are so powerful is nothing more than the massive armored columns that form an unstoppable steel torrent. If the Qin Army had Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft, naturally they could easily sweep the ground and halt the Tang Army's steel torrent advance.

After such a sigh, this Qin Army general continued to inquire: "How's the air force doing? No matter how great the losses, they must hang on a bit and assist us, okay?"

As a Qin Army general, Liu Zhian is very dissatisfied with the performance of the Qin Country Air Force. The other side almost seems to have a terror of the Tang, seeing Tang Country planes retreat faster than rabbits.

It's not that Liu Zhian looks down on the air force, if fighting like this can be accepted, then the word deserter wouldn't exist in the world!

In the past few dozen days, the Qin Country Air Force, apart from retreating aircraft from the field near Dongqing, hasn't accomplished much.

They abandoned field airports in Fengping, Shanchong, and other areas, evacuating the ground crew and pilots. But these were all evasive maneuvers, not something to boast about.

Besides this, Qin Country Air Force lost more than 500 planes, including dozens of Type 47 transports, dozens of Stukas, and dozens of Type 183 jet fighters.

The remaining nearly three hundred planes are all P-36 and P-40 fighter models, and most of these propeller fighters were destroyed by Tang Army air raids while on the ground.

Faced with the air force of the Great Tang Empire, the Qin Army pilots hardly dared to take off and engage. Most planes were destroyed on the ground, with very few engaging in air combat.

Under such circumstances, losing air superiority on the battlefield was only to be expected for the Qin Army. The air was full of Tang Army planes, putting the Qin Country ground troops in extreme distress was only natural.

"General... the air force reports that their jet fighters have suffered heavy losses and need time to readjust their tactics, they are unable to continue fighting in the short term." The adjutant explained helplessly to Liu Zhian.

Liu Zhian gave a cold laugh, although as a traditional general, he was used to solving problems on his own, being unable to count on allies at critical times still left him somewhat dissatisfied.

He had been risking his life fighting for the future of the Empire, yet those fools in the air force still cared about their own lives... truly a bunch of shortsighted idiots.

"Then let them continue hiding in the back! I'm curious to see where they'll hide when we reach outside Wuyang City!" Liu Zhian said this, then said no more.

Because those two Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft had already returned, the noise from their engines was quite loud, drowning out many minor sounds.

On this day, the Tang Army's vanguard troops easily pierced through the first line of defense of the Qin Army, and the combat between the two armies was still ongoing.