Munitions Empire

The sergeant paused for a moment, then quickly began to explain, "General Bolton's order is for all troops to hold their positions and not to launch any further offensives."

What a joke, launching a counterattack in front of the enemy's solid defensive fortifications? Was that not sending the soldiers to their deaths?

Even if one were grasping for achievements, one couldn't do so like this, right? If too many troops were lost, there would be an accounting for it!

Thinking of the daunting punishment, the sergeant who delivered the message immediately invoked General Bolton's name as a shield for himself.

Indeed, the renown of Bolton, one of the kingdom's Twin Jewels, proved useful. Hearing what the sergeant had said, the officer immediately nodded and replied, "Understood. Then we'll proceed according to the plan."

"Yes, Sir!" The sergeant snapped to attention and saluted, fearful that the other might make another strange request, and quickly turned to leave the command post.

Exactly half an hour later, the artillery fire of Dorne Kingdom's counterattack began. It was the same large-caliber artillery, and nearly hundreds of guns roared in unison.

The whistling shells flew over the soldiers' heads, with the screeching sound of tearing air, causing the newly arrived soldiers to tremble with fear.

Those old soldiers who had grown accustomed to such sounds began to take out their cheap roll-your-own cigarettes from their pockets and enjoyed a moment of "peace."

They knew all too well that it was only during the roar of these guns that their enemies would stop their own barrage, affording them a slight sense of security.

Some older soldiers began to put their rations into their mess tins, while others started to build fires in the trenches.

Some squad and platoon leaders began ordering soldiers to repair the damaged trenches with nearby materials, while others shouted to their subordinates to quickly fill in craters near the trenches.

All the defenders in the trench got busy, scrambling to reinsert broken pieces of wood back into the walls of the trench where they belonged, while some leaned against the edge of the trench to watch their own shells explode over the enemy's positions.

The spectacle was truly magnificent: Shells that whistled overhead plunged into the enemy positions in an instant, lifting the enemy's barbed wire at the forefront of their positions and scattering the bodies near the wire.

Pillars of black smoke rose, akin to massive columns, standing between heaven and earth, spreading out over the horizon.

Because they no longer had to engage in desperate fighting on enemy ground, the soldiers of Dorne Kingdom watching everything unfold appeared relaxed, with even the new recruits daring to point at the rising smoke columns.

Dorne Kingdom have declared war on Gobur Kingdom rather suddenly, attempting a surprise attack. However, the airship troops responsible for the sneak attack did not play a decisive role and were almost completely wiped out by the following morning.

All 20 participating airships were shot down, with their only claim to success being the destruction of a frontline city in Gobur Kingdom, the bombing of an ammunition depot near the city, and the destruction of the city's railway station.

Yet these successes were not significant enough to decide the outcome of the border conflict. In the end, the battle at the border fell, not surprisingly, into the mire of trench warfare.

Over 10 days, both Dorne Kingdom's attempts to assault Gobur Kingdom and Gobur Kingdom's attempts to counterattack Dorne Kingdom ended in failure.

Neither side could break through the enemy's border defenses, so the anticipated offensive combat naturally evolved into a stalemate of trench deadlock.

With barbed wire, land mines, trenches, and reinforced concrete bunkers bolstering the defense, the advantage of the defending side was simply too great, preventing the attacking side, even with overwhelming superiority, from breaking through the enemy's permanent defenses in a short time.

Even during World War II, or even in the twenty-first century, the attacking side faced immense pressure when attacking strong defensive positions.

Dorne originally planned to use its superior forces to take down Gobur Kingdom in one fell swoop, but just as the war fell into a stalemate, the Laines Empire stabbed Dorne in the back.

Caught in a two-front war and beset on all sides, Dorne Kingdom had no choice but to seek allies far and wide, which led them to the Empire of Nanla!

Although the Empire of Nanla was reluctant to start a war with the Laines Empire, the temptation to defeat another empire was too great, causing the Emperor of Nanla and his ministers to ultimately choose the risk.

So, just seven days after the Laines Empire declared war on Dorne, the Empire of Nanla suddenly declared war on the Laines Empire, plunging both empires into the predicament of fighting a war on two fronts.

With the support of trenches, no one could gain a short-term advantage over the other, which led to the participating nations reassessing the risks of the war.

Since offense was at a disadvantage and defense had its benefits, the risk of defeat after declaring war was significantly reduced—if everything else failed, they could just steadfastly defend the trench lines at the border and negotiate peace after a few months.

But if one could break through the enemy's defense, that would be an extremely profitable venture! With this naive and simplistic notion, declaring war on each other seemed to have become fashionable among the trade coalitions.

However, the Great Tang Group, or the Great Tang Kingdom, still remained aloof, not even bothering to perform the superficial task of communicating through telegraph, which made the warring nations even more reassured.

It seemed that as long as they could resolve the conflict among themselves, the Great Tang Group would naturally continue to cooperate with the victorious side, and the relationships within the trade coalition would not be affected by the war!

After some probing, the warring nations finally put their minds at ease and began to wholeheartedly pursue their own victories.

While nations within the trade coalition were declaring war and forming alliances with each other, a vast military force was assembling at a train station in the heartland of Gobur Kingdom.

The dense crowd of soldiers stood on the platform, waiting to board the train in front of them, some from Gobur, others from even more distant lands.

Keep in mind that the Gobur Kingdom was one of Shireck's most important industrial bases, and its invasion had clearly enraged Shireck.

After confirming that the Great Tang Group, or the Great Tang Kingdom, was unlikely to get involved in this mess, Shireck's war machine started to operate without any restraint.

50 newly manufactured airship bombers silently moved towards the front lines of Gobur Kingdom, accompanied by 200,000 swiftly assembled troops.

With the help of railroads and highways, the speed of troop mobilization was faster than expected, and the transport of supplies was speedier than before.

What was more frightening was that Shireck intended to use this war, which the Great Tang Group was unwilling to join, to reclaim its former position as the dominant military-industrial power.

Near the train transporting the soldiers, on another track, a flatbed train had just come to a standstill. The train was filled with vigilant soldiers, many wearing a never-before-seen grey military uniform.

Behind them, on the flatbed train, lay gigantic pieces of weapon equipment covered with tarpaulins. Through the gaps between the tarp and the flatbed, rows of tiny wheels could be seen.

Beneath these wheels pressed a device that resembled a chain, which, if the Armored Troops of the Tang Kingdom had seen it, they would have exclaimed its name: "Tracks!"

Yes, in order to win this war and break through the defensive lines of the Dorne Kingdom, thereby entirely removing the future threat to the Gobur industrial base, the Shireck Consortium had brought out their secret weapon.

This super vehicle, shod with iron shoes, had an off-road capability many times better than that of armored vehicles. Its brand new locomotion system made it fearless in the face of gunfire and artillery.
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Named by Sofia with high hopes and personally labeled as "Shireck Type 1 Super Combat Vehicle", the "Tank" was thus pushed onto the battlefield by the Shireck Consortium.

What the Great Tang Group regretted was that they were the original creators of this new weapon called the tank, yet the first time the tank entered the battlefield, it still had nothing to do with the Great Tang Group... You couldn't help but find this situation both lamentable and laughable.

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Dragon Spirit's health had almost completely recovered. Updates will resume in August, and there will be an opportunity to make up for missed updates =.=!