Munitions Empire

Beiyuan City, outer frontline.

The troops of Shenwu had been holding out for many days, and as a result, their losses were devastating. The forces stationed in the positions had been replaced several times, with new soldiers transported from Shenwu arriving daily, continuously being unloaded at the port of Beiyuan City.

Originally, Shenwu had planned to commit around 200,000 troops to Beiyuan City, but now they had already sent at least 300,000 troops there.

The war still saw no sign of ending. The Tang Army simply ignored Shenwu's cries for negotiation, not even receiving envoys bearing white flags.

Moreover, the new weapons deployed by the Tang Army on the battlefield were increasingly dreaded by Shenwu's defenders. Planes and tanks were considered polite compared to those confusing and bizarre things that suddenly appeared and had never been seen before, always causing headaches for Shenwu soldiers.

In the southern part of the front, the Tang Army had introduced rocket artillery and assault guns, and also deployed a type of Stuka Dive Bomber without the siren device.

The dive of the new bomber was slightly louder than the Butcher Fighter but conversely increased its stealthiness, often causing the terror of this aircraft to be overlooked.

Furthermore, Stuka Dive Bombers without the siren device were faster, more fuel-efficient during flight, and clearly more suited for actual combat.

In fact, the Tang Army started removing devices from their planes that affected speed, making the early-produced Stukas more fuel-efficient.

Indeed, the Tang Army's tanks had also seen different models appear. The 3rd Armored Division, stationed at the old border between Qi Country and the Dahua Empire, was reequipping with new tanks and sending their decommissioned tanks to the front lines to reinforce the 1st Armored Division.

The new tanks that the 3rd Armored Division was equipping had increased armor thickness at the front of the hull and turret, a redesigned turret shape to enlarge the interior space, and an added extractor fan to remove the cannon's exhaust fumes from inside the tanks.

At the same time, the brand-new tanks were fitted with smoke-launching devices on both sides of the turrets, endowing the tanks with additional self-protection measures.

To simplify models, the Tang Army still improvised on the chassis of the No. 4 tank because, after all, other countries still couldn't produce a decent tank that could force the Tang Army's Armored Corps to upgrade.

What was originally two battalions of airborne troops had been expanded into a regiment and another battalion, doubling in size and equipping with completely new weapons.

Uniformly armed with the Type 56 assault rifles, the firepower of this unit had greatly increased compared to the past: the assault rifle, using rifle cartridges, was obviously superior to the Thompson Submachine Gun which used pistol cartridges.

As for the pistol with reduced power— who cared? With the desirable assault rifles, the presence of pistols was greatly diminished.

From this time forth, there was a gap in power between sidearms and primary weapons, leading soldiers to prefer using their primary weapons rather than pulling out sidearms to show off.

Newly formed units also began reequipping with assault rifles and training with these weapons. The easy-to-produce characteristics of the AK series were highlighted, and Tang Mo didn't need to exert much effort to mass-produce these rifles, while their rugged reliability also reduced the operational costs of the units equipped with them.

Unnoticed, as the Tang-Qi war continued, the total force of the Tang Army had approached 600,000, which was obviously more than at the start of the war.

Although a full national mobilization had not been conducted, Tang Mo still thoroughly mobilized the factories. At the same time, he continued to expand his own forces, equipping them with more weapons.

Every car that left the factory already had a destination in mind, and the newly formed units were not just rudimentary infantry but began to gradually be equipped with heavier weaponry.

First came some automobiles, though most were essentially civilian vehicles that had been modified, beyond Tang Country, soldiers of other countries didn't even have these not-quite-military cars at their disposal.

With cars, they could be equipped with more towed artillery, and with artillery came the need for more vehicles to transport ammunition.

When these troops began to possess assault guns, they realized they were more powerful than the frontline main forces of many countries.

At least the Tang Army had a tradition from the very beginning of issuing steel helmets to soldiers, while other countries were only starting to research and discuss equipping their troops with such gear…

The increasingly savage war also made Shenwu's weapon equipment become more interesting; aside from anti-aircraft guns that could swivel more quickly, Shenwu's military also began deploying mines and hand grenades in combat.

The natives of this world were not fools; they just lacked Tang Mo's experience and vision. Once they began to think along Tang Mo's lines of thought, some simple but lethal weapons were quickly developed.

To compensate for the goblins' disadvantage in stature, Shenwu developed a four-man clamp for handling shells, which was also issued to heavy artillery units using 200mm caliber cannons.

Additionally, camouflage nets were introduced, resembling fishing nets in structure and used by inserting vegetation for added camouflage effect when deployed.

As a nation already engaged in the war, Shenwu Country began actively equipping their troops with steel helmets. The type of steel helmet that once appeared before Tang Mo had gradually been issued to many front-line units.

Even the Tang Army could now identify the main forces of the Shenwu Country by the density of soldiers wearing steel helmets.

Generally, Shenwu troops equipped with steel helmets had a higher probability of carrying grenades, so one needed to be careful to avoid unnecessary casualties.

More concealable military uniforms also began to appear on Shenwu soldiers, and to make it more difficult for them to be detected, a type of brown uniform that blended in with the soil started to be widely distributed among the troops.

With no need for steel or to occupy weapon production capacity, Shenwu's rate of improvement was indeed very fast.

Although they were still using the Shireck Type 1 rifle, their attire had actually undergone significant changes since the start of the war.

Interestingly, to counter the terror brought by the Stuka Dive Bomber, the military supplies of Shenwu Country now included earplugs!

That's right, earplugs! A device made from pulp that was designed to plug the ears! Whenever the Stuka Dive Bomber began its descent, the Shenwu soldiers would plug their ears to reduce the fear in their hearts.

This type of earplug, found in large numbers on the front-line Shenwu soldiers, consequently led the Tang Army to reduce the number of dive bombers fitted with sirens... This could perhaps be considered a form of competitive progress.

What's more interesting is that the forces of the Dahua Empire, who were observing the battle from the sidelines, seemed to also begin distributing steel helmets.

The speed of this spread of experience was so fast that it even caught Tang Mo by surprise: His adversaries were improving themselves faster than he had imagined.

What he didn't know was that, with the help of equipment left behind by the Great Tang Group, both the Ice Cold Empire and the Laines Empire had started mass-producing more automobiles and ships to equip their troops.

While the Grand Tang Air Force triumphed outside Dragon Island, annihilating Shireck's surprise attack fleet, Brunas's first ship not made by the Great Tang Group was launched.

Other countries were desperately trying to catch up with the pace of Great Tang, fearing that any delay on their part could lead to a cruel retaliation from Great Tang.

Seeing the strength and terror exhibited by the Great Tang Group on the outskirts of Beiyuan City only spurred them to continuously strengthen themselves more actively.

Shenwu Sanlang, conducting a secret inspection of his core defensive line—a line that was more than ten kilometers from the actual front and the longest-operated Shenwu line—if this defensive line were lost, Shenwu Sanlang would withdraw all peripheral troops and enter Beiyuan City to engage in a fight to the death with the Tang Army in street battles!

Looking at row upon row of "elite" soldiers with steel helmets, he was actually very satisfied. Such troops looked much more spirited than those who wore soft caps in the past. Enjoy new adventures from My Virtual Library Empire

What delighted him even more was that soldiers who were issued steel helmets had at least a 30% lower chance of dying from stray bullets, noticeably slowing the rate of troop casualties.

For Shenwu Military, which had recently been on the receiving end of constant beatings, this was exceedingly good news.

In fact, after receiving this feedback, the Shireck advisors in Shenwu immediately relayed the information back to their headquarters.

Then, various countries began distributing steel helmets; this time everyone finally understood why the Tang Army had started having their soldiers wear "iron pots" on their heads so early.

What puzzled many, though, was that the Tang Army had made extensive use of steel helmets even when there weren't as many cannon shells and explosive grenades on the battlefield. No one knew where the Tang Army had gained the experience to develop such miraculous items.

"General! A message from headquarters!" A Shenwu military officer with short legs hurried over to Shenwu Sanlang and passed him a telegram.

Shenwu Sanlang bowed his head to take the telegram and immediately saw a message that made him laugh and cry: the Tang Army had destroyed Shireck's dispatched dirigible fleet, annihilating a Shireck fleet!

This message was almost the same as telling Shenwu Sanlang that his troops' rear might be in danger. Whether or not Shenwu's Navy could withstand the Tang Army's fleet once it arrived was something only heaven knew.

"What exactly are Chu Country and the Dahua Empire doing? Are they really going to let us, Shenwu, take the brunt alone?" Shenwu Sanlang complained, dissatisfied, "We need support, more support!"

"Urge headquarters to quickly resupply me with a hundred thousand artillery shells! And food and other military supplies—I want them all!" Turning to the officer who brought the message, Shenwu Sanlang made a broad demand.

He had a feeling that counting on those Navy scoundrels was futile; in the end, he could only rely on himself!