Munitions Empire

As night fell, the fleet of the Great Tang Empire grew busy and noisy, the deck of the aircraft carrier bustling with brilliant lights. One by one, Intruder Attack Aircraft started to take off, forming a massive formation in the sky, filled with bomb-laden "trucks."

At least 150 aircraft joined the operation. Because it was a night-time operation, the escort of Flying Shark Fighters was relatively limited. Early Warning Aircraft commanded a large number of Intruders, launching the first wave of air strikes.

The first axe of the Great Tang Empire's landing operation had begun! The Wanderers responsible for electronic disruption had already entered the enemy's airspace ahead of time. They moved as if the airspace was deserted, filling the enemy's radar screens with despair-inducing noise spots.

The Dwarf's air defense warning radars all lost functionality. However, they simultaneously realized that Tang Country's air raid was imminent.

The air-raid sirens were sounded, the piercing sound resonating across the sky above the Steel Rampart. The steel-helmeted Dwarf air defense soldiers rushed out of their barracks, crowded around the anti-aircraft guns that started to raise their barrels.

They were equipped with a large number of 76mm caliber anti-aircraft guns. Despite knowing these weren't quite effective, they still deployed at least 300 similar anti-aircraft guns here.

If larger caliber 100mm anti-aircraft guns and smaller caliber 40mm and 37mm anti-aircraft guns were included, the Dwarves had over a thousand anti-aircraft artillery pieces here.

But looking at the pitch-black sky, all the anti-aircraft gunners didn't know what to do: whether they should fire or not, where to aim, and what altitude fuse setting to use... they knew none of this.

Just then, a fireball suddenly erupted on the distant ridge. Everyone's attention was drawn to that fireball, and after a while, the muffled sound of the explosion reached the ears of the anti-aircraft gunners.

"That's Radar Station No. 8..." a loader holding an artillery shell said somewhat at a loss to his companion beside him.

"Damn it... It seems that place is finished." Another Dwarf gunner felt that waiting here was simply a waste of time.

In the flames, the steel structure of the radar station's antenna was twisting and collapsing. It was clear that the radar station could no longer provide coordinates and other combat data to the surrounding anti-aircraft gun positions.

"Bang!" On the battlefield, a beam of light shot into the sky, illuminating the clouds above. The searchlights on the battlefield nearly exploded in desperation, trying to find even the tiniest chance.

Among the Dwarves were brave warriors, who shouted Ura's slogan and turned on each searchlight, beams sweeping across the sky overhead.

Unfortunately, they found nothing... The planes of the Great Tang Empire hadn't yet come close. The recent attack was the work of anti-radiation missiles, fired from Wanderer Electronic Warfare Aircraft that was still at least tens of kilometers away.

In the Dwarven air force base, where alarms blared loudly, pilots had tensefully equipped themselves. Unfortunately, they didn't receive orders to take off for combat since the radar had entirely lost functionality.

"Without ground guidance, we don't know where the enemy planes are, taking off is pointless." The air force commander shrugged, indicating his complete powerlessness.

If it were daytime, he could take off the planes based on intelligence provided by ground observation stations to somewhat engage the enemy. Now... thinking about it, he decided to give up...

"Don't the planes have small radar? We can search once we're up there..." The Dwarf pilots were very brave; many of them had fought with the Poplar Empire's air force and made enormous sacrifices, so they didn't consider Great Tang Empire's air force too terrifying.

The Dwarf pilots who kept silent had received training in the Great Tang Empire. Some understood the horror of their opponent but their position made them keep their mouths shut.

"Radar Station No. 1 has been destroyed... The antenna was bombed, unable to be repaired quickly." In the Eternal Winter Port's Dwarven Command Headquarters, the adjutant covered the phone receiver and reported to General Moss, who sat before the map.

Moss wasn't flustered because, according to the original plan, those facilities were meant to be bombed by the Tang Army. Even if lost, as long as the coastal defense positions remained and weren't the main targets, he would achieve his goal.

"No problem, let them bomb! The enemy has made their move, the first one, unsurprisingly, within our expectations... If the second move still doesn't change, then... we're likely to win." Since everything was calculated, it meant things were developing for the better. Moss was waiting, waiting for the Tang Army's paratroopers to arrive before dawn.

With land-based bombers that took off from the Bei Island Base joining the battlefield, the intensity of Tang Army's bombing suddenly got supercharged.

Numerous concrete structures in the Steel Rampart were attacked with a new type of precision bomb, causing casualties among the Dwarf Troops.

Ordinary bombs carpet-bombed the Dwarves' roads and nearby barracks, destroying many ground facilities. Cluster bombs covered several critical Dwarven airports, incapacitating planes poised to take off and land.

At once, reports of attacks were everywhere, but Moss still didn't show any sign of panic. Everything was still within expectations, except the bombing intensity of the Tang Army was much higher than anticipated.

According to Moss's estimation, only about one-tenth of Tang Army's bombs posed a real threat to key targets. Yet, in reality, Tang Army used a large number of precision-guided bombs, with exceedingly high attack accuracy.

The Dwarves' fortifications were long determined by satellite positioning, and photographs were already handed to the pilots. Such fixed targets were indeed the easiest to hit, requiring minimal technical difficulty.

Having lost many second-line or even third-line defense nodes and more than half of the radar stations and installations like power plants being attacked, Moss was starting to grow somewhat anxious.

If Tang Army's strike accuracy maintained at this level, the number of defense installations that Moss prepared seemed insufficient. If Tang Army continued bombing, the Steel Rampart truly risked collapse.

"Please come quickly..." In his heart, Moss began to pray silently. He hoped for the Great Tang Empire's second axe to drop promptly, and everything to continue unfolding according to his script.

When the adjutant returned to report the details of damages upon hearing the destruction of Radar Station No. 5, he noticed one detail. Moss's fingers on the armrest of the chair were rhythmically rubbing back and forth, clearly... Moss was no longer as composed as initially.