Munitions Empire

After so many days of silence, the Tang Army began its first true assault on Beiyuan City. This assault was devastating.

A single strategic bombing turned Beiyuan City, this human hell, into another kind of hell altogether.

The few stone buildings collapsed in the explosions, and while most of the numerous wooden structures remained relatively intact, they all suffered some damage.

The Tang Army didn't use incendiary bombs, mainly because they had no intention of resorting to such cruel tactics in Beiyuan City, which was bound to come under their own jurisdiction.

Countless 250-kilogram bombs left dense pits across the city, marking the once unassailed city with scars.

Beiyuan City didn't even have bomb shelters, lacking any sort of modern defenses, so the damage it sustained was immeasurable.

Because of the potential for taking over, the industrial area piled on the outskirts of the city was relatively well-preserved, after all, it wasn't the main area targeted by the bombings.

On the contrary, the residential areas and the port docks—where the Shengwu forces were most concentrated and reliant upon—received special attention.

After the Flying Fortress Bombers carpet-bombed the entirety of Beiyuan City, Stuka Dive Bombers took special care of the port area, turning it completely into ruins.

The transport ships that couldn't leave the docks in time were sunk right beside them, and several busy docks were utterly destroyed.

Beiyuan City's coastal defenses were targeted by aerial bombs, those outdated muzzle-loaded coastal guns, less valuable than the bombs themselves, were destroyed on their emplacements.

To say that the coastal batteries of Beiyuan City were outdated wasn't entirely true; when they were built, Qi Country did take it seriously, going as far as to spend a lot of money to have Shireck's engineers experiment with new technology.

For instance, they installed a mechanism on the heavy muzzle-loaders for quickly adjusting firing directions, employing a very complex structure made of high-quality steel.

In the end, these black, cumbersome, and massive coastal guns became excellent targets for the Stuka Dive Bombers.

Just dive at these things, and with a high probability, the bombs would hit the batteries directly, making it extremely convenient and quick.

The Shengwu military was simply not prepared for an aerial defense operation, although they did have some camouflage nets and other equipment, focus was on the outer defense positions and none were used on these large military targets.

Frankly, they never anticipated that the Tang Army would be willing to massively destroy these defense facilities and port docks built by Qi Country.

But for the Tang Army, bombing docks and coastal batteries was actually the most cost-effective form of attack.

Remember the Dongwan Port renovation project? According to Tang Country's development model, the least valuable parts of an old city are the city walls, batteries, and the narrow docks that are difficult to overhaul.

To rebuild Dongwan Port to Tang standards, they demolished their own walls and batteries and reconstructed the docks.

Now, attacking these port docks to destroy these targets prematurely, while also directly causing casualties among Shengwu troops, was certainly a profitable deal for the Great Tang Kingdom.

So the terrifying wail of the Stuka Dive Bombers rose in the skies over Beiyuan City once again; bombing this city without considering flight speed or range enhanced the importance of intimidation and spreading fear.

Therefore, the Stuka Dive Bombers attacking the port docks were early models, all equipped with that wailing device, and that dreadful sound once again became the relentless nightmare of the Shengwu forces.

Within Beiyuan City, whispers and rumors began to spread stealthily; Qi Country's people were passing the word that the Tang Army would soon come to rescue them and save them from disaster.

However, these rumors were also met with skepticism; some Qi civilians who had lost family members felt that if these people from Tang Country were here to save them, they wouldn't have bombed their loved ones to death.

Still, many more believed that it was only directed at the Shengwu troops, and they were just affected because they had been betrayed by the Second Prince.

"Get me out of here! Take me to Shengwu Country! I want to go to Shengwu Country! It's too dangerous here! Everyone here is out to kill me!" In the room, the already somewhat deranged Second Prince was lashing out furiously at Shen Wenxi, who had come to visit him.

Shen Wenxi, who was sent by Shengwu Country to oversee civilian affairs, sat silently, eyeing the several naked Qi beauties behind the Second Prince.

He greatly admired these human beauties with skin smooth as jade—they were far more attractive than any from Shengwu Country.

Noticing Shen Wenxi's devilish gaze, the women timidly grabbed blankets from nearby to cover themselves.

The Second Prince had seen that look too, felt cuckolded, and it drove him into a frenzy.

But he dared not lash out at the person before him, because he knew this might be his only chance to escape to Shenwu and continue living a carefree life.

The one who replaced Shengwu Yuan here, Shenwu Sanlang, was even less approachable, Jiang Zhi didn't even want to meet that Shenwu military officer who couldn't feel comfortable without causing trouble for several Qi Country people a day.

At least, this Shenwu civilian official in front of him wasn't violent to the point of drawing his sword to kill him just because they disagreed.

Suppressing the anger in his heart, Jiang Zhi's expression changed again and again, finally settling on a smile.

He pointed to the women behind him, displaying a demeanor of complete indifference, and said magnanimously, "You just arrange a boat for me to leave, and they are all yours! How about it? There's more! I have many women here, all for you!"

Shen Wenxi was disdainful of such a promise, knowing well that he could have these women simply by signaling his desire, without any need to trade something with Jiang Zhi.

The few women, upon hearing Jiang Zhi was going to hand them over to the goblins, were terrified and turned pale but didn't even dare to cry out.

Compared to goblins, Jiang Zhi who had seized them was nothing but a man in appearance; in terms of brutality, there was, in fact, no difference between him and the goblins.

"Your Majesty the King of Qi, you're misunderstanding. We are not refusing to arrange your departure, but… this is your territory, as a monarch, shouldn't you stay with your last piece of land?" Shen Wenxi revealed a cunning smile and spoke to Jiang Zhi.

"What bullshit King of Qi, when have you ever treated me like a real King of Qi!" Jiang Zhi cursed loudly, "Let me go! Can't you even grant me my life?"

"Your Majesty the King of Qi, calm down. The foreign minister will definitely ensure your safety, please rest assured of that," Shen Wenxi said with a full smile, as if he truly regarded Jiang Zhi as a sovereign king.

But even though Jiang Zhi was scared out of his mind by the bombardment from the Tang Army, he wasn't really stupid. He knew very well that Shenwu had never regarded him as the King of Qi, not even as a partner.

During the conversation, the rumble of cannons echoed from outside; this was the heavy artillery of the Tang Army bombarding the city walls at the edge of the city.

With the collapse of the city walls, the ground trembled slightly, and the Shenwu army outside had already begun retreating into the city, and Shenwu's resolve was starting to waver.

Having lost the dock, they no longer received any substantial supplies. Conversely, they also couldn't organize a major retreat.

The Stuka Dive Bombers, hanging with bombs, circled from sunrise to sunset, and the Shenwu's large vessels already dared not approach Beiyuan City anymore.

It was only at night that they used small boats and similar tools to transport some important materials into the city and then took out some so-called seriously wounded.

In fact, no seriously wounded left; what was transported away was nothing more than the wealth of Qi Country. Moreover, these riches had now become the private property of senior Shenwu military officers.

Without these gold and silver jewels, these antiques and collectibles, these Gold Coins and treasures, who would want to remain in Beiyuan City to fight for their lives?

"Let me go, please! I beg you!" Jiang Zhi collapsed once again at the distant sound of cannons. He knelt in front of Shen Wenxi all of a sudden, hugging Shen Wenxi's waist and wailing.

Shen Wenxi was taken aback; he hadn't expected this former Second Prince of Qi Country to have fallen so far, shamelessly begging like this.

Just as he was about to offer a few words of comfort, a Shenwu Guard pushed open the door and said, "My lord, there's a fight at the dock."

Accordingly, Shen Wenxi, neglecting the Second Prince with a face full of snot and tears, hurriedly took his men to the dock. What he saw was a fierce fight between a group of rogue soldiers and the dock's guard.

It wasn't just the Second Prince who wanted to leave; those Shenwu officials and soldiers who had come earlier looking for an easy score, but now realized this place was a veritable hell, had long since lost any desire to stay.

They wanted to leave but discovered the dock was destroyed, few ships could dock, and a riot erupted spontaneously.

These people had looted quite a few treasures and money in Beiyuan City since they arrived earlier as robbers. They originally intended to offer some bribes as tribute, then escape back to their country to launder their loot.

But now being told that no one could leave, this instantly ignited their rage. Thus, the two sides started brawling, escalating into intense street gunfights.

As both the garrison and the rogue soldiers only had rifles, the bloodiness of the gunfight wasn't as high as one might imagine.

It was more like a large-scale American quick draw duel, mostly consisting of shouting matches, a shot fired here, a shot fired there, then more people joining, a shot from them, a shot from us.

By the time Shen Wenxi and the infuriated Shenwu Sanlang arrived, the gunfight had actually subsided, leaving nothing but a sprawl of corpses on the ground.