Munitions Empire

Such a massive fleet could hardly remain completely under the radar. The Tang Army's pace was swift enough, but the speed of information was even faster.

In the Shu Territory, at the same time as the fleet loaded with materials departed from Qingluan Port, the news was already known by the side of Dorne.

The departure of such a vast fleet thoroughly frightened the Dorne military. They were desperate to know where the Tang Army's fleet was headed.

To find this out, they spared no efforts, deploying what little fleet they had, and sent out a large number of Jushan Bombers, frequently patrolling with Shenguang Missiles mounted.

But after a day's time, they discovered nothing. The Tang Army fleet was not spotted on the route to Dorne, this time the Dorne side was quite sure of that.

If the planes sent out had not returned, if the submarines had not reported back, if the daring destroyers going out to court death were lost with no news... then the Dorne military knew they were likely doomed.

However, to their relief, their planes came back, the submarines reported back, and even the destroyers sent out at sea encountered no "accidents".

Clearly, the Tang Navy was not amassed at Dorne's doorstep, and the target of the Tang fleet was neither the Dorne coast nor Winterless Port.

Unfortunately, to confirm this fact would take time, and the Dorne side dared not be complacent, as their opponent was the Great Tang Empire after all.

So, aside from sending the message "the massive Tang fleet from Qingluan Port has departed" to all the empires, Dorne had been repeatedly confirming the whereabouts of the Great Tang Empire's naval fleet these past days.

It wasn't until three days later, when they still hadn't seen the Tang fleet at their doorstep, that they finally breathed a sigh of relief and confirmed: the Great Tang Empire's fleet had most likely headed north.

As for where they had gone north... they couldn't be sure.

Subsequently, intelligence arrived showing that the large Tang fleet gathered at Nanshan Port had also taken action. They left port, disappearing over the sea with an unknown amount of supplies.

A Laines Empire merchant ship secretly following beside this fleet was driven away by the escorting Tang destroyers. After this, the Laines Empire knew nothing further of the fleet's destination.

Secrecy was no longer a concern; countless messages were sent to various countries, and even with the risk of being caught by the Tang intelligence department, the spies lurking in these countries could no longer remain silent.

If the full-force strike of the Great Tang Empire fell upon one's country and the country was unprepared, it might just be knocked out instantly—so at the very least, preparations had to be made domestically.

Even if one had no ability to resist, at least you should buy yourself a coffin first, then settle into it comfortably, right? If you're going to die, wouldn't it be better to choose a Feng Shui treasure land, lie in a comfortable position, is that too much to ask?

Thus, everyone stopped pretending and started messaging in mass, as if to warn the Great Tang Empire: we all know what you're up to, you'd better not come over!

Following this, Mirage Country also reported that a Tang fleet amassed in the Great Southern Bay had departed. This fleet was equally large, with at least two hundred support ships of various types.

This time the information was more certain because someone saw the flagship of the Tang Northern Fleet from the anchorage in the Great Southern Bay also set sail. Though the destination was unclear, it was certain—the bulk of the Tang Northern Fleet's warships were no longer in port.

This news made everyone even more anxious, from the northernmost Great Southern Bay to the southernmost Qingluan Port—the ships of the Tang Army seemed all in motion. But the question was: what's the target?

Dorne did not dare to confirm whether they were the target, the Dwarves had yet to find the exact location of the Tang fleet, so the entire Eastern Continent was on high alert, all military and intelligence departments felt as if they were in a horror movie.

They were truly afraid that once the music played and the door opened, a huge bloodied mouth would snap shut right in front of them.

"Find them for me! You must find them! No matter what! Find the Tang Army fleet! Quickly!" At the Laines Empire Naval Supreme Command in Brunas, the new Supreme Commander of the Laines Empire Navy had gone gray from worry over these past few days.

This commander, inheriting the "legacy" of the Empire's Navy, seemed to have misfortune in spades: when he took over as the Navy's Commander, Emperor Leines I of the Empire "died".

The old emperor died, the new emperor ascended, but before he could even shed a couple of tears, he had to face the almost total annihilation of the Laines Empire Navy, with the leftover remnants being virtually worthless.

Then he discovered that he would be endlessly tormented by the argument of the Navy's uselessness. Under the immense pressure of the Tang Army fleet, the notion that building warships was less crucial than repairing coastal fortresses never ceased.

His predecessor did not face the embarrassment of having to vie for budget allocations between warship construction and trench-building civil engineering.

He finally managed to get some funds from the Prime Minister to start constructing a few new ships, but soon after construction began, the Prime Minister was assassinated, causing upheaval in the empire's leadership...

Although he didn't lose his command of the Empire's naval fleet because of this, everyone saw clearly the possible sycophancy involved with the old Prime Minister to secure funds.

Naturally, he was awkwardly positioned with the new Emperor—were it not for the fact that no one else wanted the Navy's mess, he might have been ousted long ago.

Now, with the Tang Navy's whereabouts unknown, and the main Tang Empire fleet deployed from Dragon Island most likely having set sail as well—there's even less competition for his title as Navy Supreme Commander.

In over a year, with old plans barely cobbled together and modified, the Laines Empire's Navy finally amassed a few new destroyers, but now they're all deployed, using themselves as sacrificial lambs to buy alert time for the coastal defense troops.

If the Tang Army truly attacked Brunas, his tenure as Navy Commander would almost certainly be over. It's not that he might be dismissed or die in the command, rather it's that the so-called Navy under his command could be obliterated in a day.

Of course, if the Tang Army really attacked Brunas, there'd be another unfortunate casualty: the main Dorne naval fleet "loaned" to the Laines Empire probably wouldn't escape either.

These Dorne battleships and cruisers were old models, constantly undergoing retrofitting and maintenance in the Laines Empire's ports and dockyards.

In short, these warships do not follow the orders of the one who is nominally renting the fleet, yet they occupy precious berths and shipbuilding capacity in the Laines Empire.