Munitions Empire
Chapter 1375: 1292 mobilized for support

Chapter 1375: 1292 mobilized for support

Zhang Xuan was nearly in tears. He was commanding an army of nearly a million, with two primary attack directions. The first was the Tang Country enclave, Nanshan Port, along the coast of Chu Country. The second was to penetrate the Chu Territory and attack the Great Tang Empire from the south.

Yet, up until now, neither strategic objective had been achieved. In fact, they were still far from realization.

The troops besieging Nanshan Port encountered resistance from the Chu Country’s mountain forces. Progress had been smooth here, as the distance to Nanshan Port was getting shorter and shorter.

But then the Qin Army, planning to invade the Great Tang Empire, hit a problem at the end of the mountains where they encountered the Tang Country’s mountain forces.

The Tang Army’s mountain forces and those of Chu Country and Qin Country were truly different concepts. Relying on Chinook helicopters, the Tang Army could even position 105mm howitzers on mountaintops. Coupled with fire support from Armed Helicopters, the combat effectiveness of both sides was completely on different levels.

The Tang Army’s mountain forces were unstoppable, driving the Qin Army back to the vicinity of Chu Country’s capital. The Qin Army barely held their ground, relying on the city, but remained in a passive position being constantly attacked.

Initially, there was hope that the Navy could move north to cut off Nanshan Port’s supplies, but the joint fleet had not moved, and this evening Qingluan Port’s garrison commander, Sun Guang, even sent a telegram requesting Zhang Xuan’s support…

“I can’t support him for hell’s sake! Support! I want support myself! I’m on the offensive! The offensive! How can you draw troops from the attacking force?” Zhang Xuan roared in his office.

He couldn’t be blamed for being angry and frustrated; lately, the Qin Army had been pulling troops from the south line due to the massive gaps up north.

The initial 4th Armored Corps, assigned to Zhang Xuan, was pulled away as it was reserved and positioned at the rear, not having participated in the battle…

No choice, since Zhang Xuan’s main combat areas were in the mountains, where armored corps were not useful. Wouldn’t it make sense to reallocate them to support other directions?

The withdrawal of the armored corps left Zhang Xuan downcast for a while, but he said nothing. Everyone knew the pressure on the northern front was immense, which was expected before the war.

But what happened afterward infuriated Zhang Xuan: aside from the armored corps, two infantry divisions also needed to be pulled, reducing Zhang Xuan’s southern group, originally with around 1.2 million troops, to just about 1 million.

He still had to attack Nanshan Port while bearing the pressure from the Tang Army’s mountain forces to the north, making the situation swiftly passive.

And this was merely the beginning of a nightmare: with the rapid deterioration of the northern war situation, invading Shu City became precarious. Even though this wasn’t the Qin Army’s only link with Shu Territory, it was an important passage for the Tang Army to flank into Shu Territory.

Once this pathway was cleared, Zhang Xuan’s forces entering Chu Territory would have their flank endangered, so Emperor Qin Ying Duo urgently commanded Zhang Xuan to gather forces and strengthen the defenses of entering Shu City.

Understanding the importance of entering Shu City, Zhang Xuan had no choice but to pull troops back, sending 250,000 elite soldiers.

He hadn’t even seen Nanshan Port when all Qin Army forces within Chu Country were forced into a defensive stance due to insufficient troops, having to abandon hard-won territories extensively.

Actually, the pulled troops from the Qin Army’s southern line weren’t just these; heavy artillery units, not useful for mountainous terrain and easy to camouflage and deploy, were also mostly withdrawn.

The most annoying was that the air support meant for Zhang Xuan was pulled even faster. Previously, Zhang Xuan occasionally launched air strikes against Nanshan Port, inflicting significant pressure despite heavy losses.

As the situation evolved, the bomber units became reluctant to deploy due to high losses; fighter jet units were reallocated to the northern war zone, leaving fewer than 400 out of the 900 aircraft for Zhang Xuan.

Now, even a garrison commander at the port dared to ask Zhang Xuan for aircraft!

“The joint fleet must have encountered a problem,” Zhang Xuan’s Chief of Staff said gravely. “Otherwise, Sun Guang wouldn’t come to us for support.”

In fact, there was consensus within the Qin Army about Sun Guang being a competent commander. When Sun Guang was transferred to the Navy, it was because of his capabilities.

“But it’s not feasible! In the middle of the night, transitioning the air force, what if there’s a problem? How do I explain?” Zhang Xuan said, sitting back in his chair, gasping for breath.

His anger had subsided considerably, yet his stance remained the same: even if he agreed, most aircraft would only be able to deploy during the day, limited by their capability, unrelated to other factors.

“The Naval Joint Fleet has 10 aircraft carriers, 700 airplanes. If daylight comes, do they still need our support? They probably encountered the Tang Empire’s fleet and can’t engage in night battles, hence their desperation,” the Chief of Staff speculated.

“They can’t fight at night, we can’t either!” Zhang Xuan almost laughed out of anger. All the elite pilots capable of flying at night are few in number throughout the southern war zone.

Even if there are, what would be used for support? Fighter jets? Are you kidding? Fighter jet pilots fly over only to circle twice and return?

Send bombers? The Air Force doesn’t even have torpedoes and hasn’t conducted anti-ship training. Going in daylight might barely achieve anything; going at night would be pointless.

Besides, organizing planes to fly there and refuel, hang weapons, calibrate equipment, and coordinate intelligence—all takes until daylight…

“Can’t blame them, really. The coastal defense line doesn’t have much military strength, nor many planes,” the Chief of Staff knew some of the situation.

The entire coastal area had just over a hundred planes; even grouping them wouldn’t amount to much. Furthermore, those forces had less training, lacking planes and personnel, resulting in poor combat effectiveness.

The only elite force consisted of about twenty jet fighters. But according to friends in the Air Force, these fighters deployed during the day even shot down many friendly planes…

“You’re suggesting to immediately dispatch some aircraft for support?” Zhang Xuan frowned at the Chief of Staff.

The Chief of Staff coughed, advising, “It wouldn’t be right not to offer some support; if the joint fleet truly encountered an issue, our beaches behind us would all be in danger.”

Upon consideration, Zhang Xuan realized there was truth to this and exhaled, impatiently saying, “Then let’s have the Air Force units stationed in Feng City dispatch 10 Type 17 bombers for support.”

“Agreed!” The Chief of Staff was satisfied with this arrangement and nodded, saying, “I’ll issue the order right away.”

———-

Two chapters updated today