Munitions Empire

"Boom!" In accordance with the agreement, the Tang Army's assault began. An artillery shell landed beside a building, raising dust that obscured the sun.

Not far from the billowing smoke, a white flag was swiftly hoisted. Below it, in the Dahua Army's command post, some Dahua soldiers were carrying the bodies of their comrades.

Just moments ago, these soldiers, identifiable by the white cloth tied around their arms, had attempted to storm the headquarters of this division, only to be completely annihilated by the guard units.

Leading them had been a battalion commander whose identification showed that he belonged to the direct forces of Great General Feng Kezhi, and his purpose for being here was clear.

Unfortunately, he was intercepted beforehand and intense gunfire broke out between the two sides. In the end, all of Feng Kezhi's loyalists who had come to take over command perished here, overwhelmingly outnumbered.

The leading Dahua Division Commander looked at the corpses with a grim expression. He hadn't expected Feng Kezhi to send men to kill him; he had nearly been wiped out moments ago.

Elsewhere, Tang Army soldiers, under the cover of tanks and assault cannons, were crossing the Dahua Army's defensive lines. The Dahua soldiers gathered their weapons into a pile, as if creating a bonfire.

Empty-handed, they sat atop the rubble, watching the well-equipped and martially adept Tang Army soldiers pass before them.

Not far away, on the defenses of another division, several machine gun positions were fiercely firing away. The Dahua defenders here had not surrendered but were prepared to hold their positions.

Not all Dahua troops had received the order to surrender. Many were loyal to Feng Kezhi or not part of the Royal Family's direct forces. Naturally, they were unaware, and they were also caught off guard as their flanks had already been overtaken.

These units soon realized the problem: they had lost their flanks, and the Tang Army was encircling them.

On the other hand, since the rear had descended into chaos, the Tang Army had begun to push deeper into the territory, causing supply logistics to break down.

Many positions ran out of ammunition. As they fought, the Tang Army pressed in from all directions. The Dahua defenders, disoriented, became cannon fodder or prisoners of war.

The front-line positions were lost inexplicably, some of the second-line defenses simply surrendered, while others were oblivious to what had happened.

Some logistics supply points were still executing Feng Kezhi's orders, distributing materials to resisting troops, only to find Tang Army tanks entering their courtyards.

At some command and logistics centers, confusion reigned as friend turned on friend in messy skirmishes, as though everywhere there was a struggle for control of command.

For a time, phones couldn't get through, or if they did, there was no one to pick up. Worse still, beside phones that rang unheeded, Tang Army soldiers stood. No one knew if on the other end lay a dead body or a Dahua General who had surrendered.

Without command, the Dahua troops descended into disarray, and reinforcements had no idea whether they ought to leave their barracks or where to offer support.

Consequently, most troops could merely stand by, watching helplessly as fellow forces hoisted white flags in the distance.

"They've surrendered?" a Dahua battalion commander, shocked at the sight of the white flag on a nearby building, asked the officer next to him.

The leading regimental commander's face bore a wry smile, "How did it all fall apart like this…"

"No, should we send someone to… inquire about the situation?" the battalion commander suggested, reluctant to accept the turn of events.

"Would anyone who went there even be able to come back?" The regimental commander scratched his head, "Keep the troops on stand-by…"

He didn't know what to do next. There was no one issuing orders, and he couldn't just arbitrarily deploy troops amidst such chaos.

At that moment, a communicator, covered in dust, burst into their defensive area and was apprehended by soldiers.

The apprehensive-looking communicator, held by the shoulder, clarified his purpose: "Great General Feng Kezhi's orders: you are to hold your positions and not retreat a step. Reinforcements will arrive by nightfall."

"The Great General's orders?" The regimental commander looked at his identification, then nodded, "Understood! You may go back and tell your superiors we will hold our ground."

Relief washed over the communicator's face. He nodded and quickly turned to dash out of the encampment, racing back the way he had come.

"Battalion commander, are we really going to hold our ground here?" the anxious battalion commander at his side asked.

The battalion commander nodded, "Otherwise? With just our eighteen hundred men, if we go out, we might be taken as rebels and disarmed. Do you think those who surrendered wouldn't fight us, or that the Tang Army would let us go?"

As he explained to his subordinates, the telephone on the table behind him rang. The ringing startled a few men as the battalion commander walked over and picked up the receiver, "Hello? This is Barracks number four…"

From the receiver, a stranger's voice came through, "This is the Division Commander of the 226th Division of the Dahua Empire. I order you and your troops to lay down your weapons, raise a white flag, and surrender to the Tang Army! As long as you stop resisting, you can all save your lives and return home safely! I assure you, the Tang Army does not kill prisoners! Do you understand?"

"…" After a few seconds of silence, the battalion commander swallowing his saliva, managed to reply, "I… I've already received orders from Great General Feng Kezhi… He orders me…"

"Your flanks have already surrendered, and the troops behind you might surrender too! You won't receive any reinforcements or ammunition supply. If you keep holding out there, you'll be wiped out in less than an hour! Think about it, for yourself and for your men! Is it worth sacrificing everyone's lives for a futile resistance!" the man claiming to be a Division Commander continued to persuade.

"I… I understand." The battalion commander swallowed his saliva again and, finally, changed his mind, "I will lay down my weapons… I hope the Tang people can guarantee our safety."

"You have made a wise choice! Pile up your weapons at the entrance, hang white sheets inside the camp, stay there, and you will be safe," the person on the phone was obviously very pleased, his voice rising substantially.

After hanging up the phone, the battalion commander turned around, letting out a sigh and shaking his head, "Surrender, we won't have any reinforcements. Lay down your weapons, they promised to ensure our lives are safe."

Yet another white flag was raised, and some soldiers began piling their weapons at the entrance of the barracks, waiting for the Tang Country military to take over their post.

Soon, a number 4 tank rolled down the street in front of the gate, and a dozen Tang Army soldiers entered the camp. A platoon leader representing the Tang Country military accepted the surrender of this Dahua infantry battalion, and thus, over a thousand men were disarmed.

The Tang Army barged through aggressively, and naturally, there were Dahua troops stubbornly holed up in some buildings, trying to halt the advance of the Tang Army.

But it didn't take long before they saw the Tang Army's tanks and assault cannons, and then they were flushed out of the collapsing buildings by artillery shells, only to be cleanly mopped up by the Tang Army's assault rifles.

Such troops were few and grew fewer as the battle continued. Organized resistance gradually disappeared, and the remaining Dahua troops could only shrink back within their control zones, easily encircled and divided by the advancing Tang Army.

…

At a crossroads, soldiers shouldering their weapons looked bewildered as a convoy of military vehicles stopped in front of them. They didn't know what was happening, only aware that gunfire was coming from everywhere, seemingly battles were being fought all around.

"We are Imperial Guards, is your command post up ahead?" Offering a beautifully patterned, anti-counterfeit-laden ID, the Dahua military officer disguised as a Tang Country special forces commander asked with a smile to the Dahua military officer who came up to check on them.

The officer took the ID, glanced at it briefly, and pointed to the street behind him, "Head north along this street, and you'll come across a checkpoint. That's a direct-reporting guard force; they're very strict with checks."

Smiling as he took back the ID and nodded respectfully, the convoy of military vehicles slowly started up again, heading in the direction the officer had pointed to.

"Sir, these people… what are they doing?" A subordinate looking at the departing military vehicles asked with confusion.

"What are they doing? Either they are Tang People in disguise looking for Feng Kezhi. We're going to surrender; what's the point of sending them the wrong way only for them to really find their way back and kill us like stamping on an ant?" sneered the Dahua military officer, "Or maybe they truly are Imperial Guards sent by His Majesty The Emperor to kill Feng Kezhi. Why should we meddle in idle matters? Just wait for the Tang Army to come and disarm us, and we'll be done."

In fact, on the way here, if properly checked, the Tang Country special forces' disguise could easily have been exposed, but that's just how they raced along, as if they were in no man's land. They even asked for directions, and many people actually guided them.

There were plenty of smart people around, and in such chaotic times, they would make wiser choices. Even the Dahua defenders, who wanted to resist to the end, wouldn't stupidly block something they knew full well.

In the eyes of these people, it made sense for His Majesty The Emperor to deploy a mysterious force to gracefully send the Great General "on his way" at a critical moment.

So even if they had doubts about the identity of this "Imperial Guard" seeking Feng Kezhi, they wouldn't investigate and make trouble for themselves.

Because, to them, fighting a bloody battle against the Tang Army to the end was a completely different matter from intercepting and battling the Emperor's hidden task force.

In the underground room where Feng Kezhi was hiding, the Great General of the Empire was clutching the unresponsive telephone receiver, staring blankly at the pistol on the table.

No one knew what he was thinking because chaos had already begun in the command post. Some civilian officials had disappeared, and others were busy destroying documents. Without concerning themselves with the outer battle situation, just looking here was enough to sense an intense apocalyptic crisis.