Munitions Empire

In the Tang Empire's Security Bureau, Li'ao sat behind his desk, organizing various intelligence reports about the Dwarf Empire.

Frankly speaking, the Dwarf Empire is one of the more challenging countries for Tang spies to infiltrate. The most difficult is the Goblin Mirage Country, followed by the Elves.

Even though Elves and Dwarves can live freely within the Great Tang Empire, with figures like Dwarf Mathews and Elf John holding high positions, and even the Elf Princess Iryn marrying into the Great Tang Empire as an Imperial Concubine residing in the Forbidden City.

Still, the Tang Empire struggles to find enough Elves and Dwarves willing to cooperate with the Tang Empire's intelligence departments to work in the Ice Cold Empire or the Poplar Empire.

They're not entirely nonexistent, just relatively scarce. Moreover, most of these people are concentrated in the industrial sectors or among minority groups like Air Force pilots.

Only those deeply influenced by Great Tang's technology, or who have studied in the Great Tang, truly understand the Empire's advanced concepts and are thus drawn to the Tang Country, becoming undercover agents for the Tang Empire's intelligence department.

Though many might take a few Gold Coins and boast about obtaining intelligence, the Tang Empire's intelligence departments dare not recklessly use such elements, aren't they?

Thus, through meticulous selection, only Dwarves or Elves who have trained in the Great Tang Empire, and those knowledgeable and clear of the situation, can be developed into qualified informants.

Unfortunately, such personnel are the focus of various countries' intelligence departments: those who have studied in the Great Tang Empire often exhibit "rebellion," passionate about new ideas, clashing with traditional views.

This provokes the traditionalists, who despise these new things from the Great Tang Empire because they degrade their superiority, knocking them from clouds into mud.

Hence the conflict between conservatives and so-called progressives is very deep and irreconcilable. Under such premises, traditionalists in high positions naturally neglect and reject those equipped with new technologies and viewpoints.

People who've had training in the Great Tang Empire possess "true skills," threatening the old bureaucratic systems, hence they become targets of strict surveillance from the opposing side.

Nearly all technical personnel trained in the Great Tang Empire become top experts in foundational technical roles worldwide, yet they cannot ascend, at least not to relatively high positions.

Their status limits their access to strategic intelligence, but they gather relatively more technical information.

Sadly, the Tang Empire's intelligence departments disdain pursuing technological intelligence from these countries; most of those technologies are directly sold by the Tang Empire, while other so-called development projects are traps set by the Empire.

The remainder falls within the Great Tang's estimated range, requiring only occasional checks.

Li'ao sighed, disregarding unimportant matters such as the Jian Liu Gai fighter jet, focusing instead on knowing how many people the Ice Cold Empire deployed in the Steel Rampart region and their locations!

In fact, even if Tang Empire's spies cannot permeate the Ice Cold Empire extensively, the Security Bureau is not entirely oblivious to its adversary.

The Tang Empire's reconnaissance satellites have been crossing over the Ice Cold Empire for months, providing its intelligence personnel with a vast array of precise satellite imagery.

These images are very clear, enabling intelligence personnel to easily identify the Dwarf airfields under construction, various large fortifications, bunkers, repair factories, and power plants, among others.

But aside from facilities, satellite images cannot determine one critical issue: the locations of those tunnels, bunkers, and underground shelters!

Satellites obviously cannot know in which direction the Dwarves' tunnels are being dug, nor can they assess how deep these tunnels might eventually be.

In such a complex environment, even remote sensing satellites with penetrating capabilities can't precisely locate those small tunnels buried deep underground.

If they could, even Judah's Heavenly Army wouldn't be impotently enraged at some intricate tunnels and a group of guerillas.

An intelligence analyst, somewhat embarrassed, explained to the silent, file-browsing Li'ao: "We only know they've dug numerous tunnels and some significant underground warehouses, but their locations elude us."

The Dwarves' defensive structures are overwhelmingly numerous and complex. Although Tang Country's intelligence departments have discovered many details, there are still many areas beyond their grasp.

Once the Tang Army lands, those concealed and undestroyed firing points may cause enormous casualties and losses, marking a severe failure of the intelligence departments!

Naturally, Li'ao hopes to avoid blunder from his department, aiming to gather more intelligence on the Dwarves' defensive lines, even down to the whereabouts of every toilet!

Sadly, the intelligence agents infiltrating the Ice Cold Empire fail to access such core information, which explains Li'ao's gloomy mood.

Seeing Li'ao stay silent, another intelligence analyst meekly continued: "Even the exits of those warehouses aren't fully known. Some exits are fake, while some warehouses and shelters have multiple exits, making judgment impossible."

"There are still too few satellite pictures. If reconnaissance aircraft could be deployed... the effect might be better," another analyst lamented.

Li'ao raised his head, his eyes icy cold: "How about I send you to the Ice Cold Empire to ask them in person? We lack understanding of too many things, so come back after you find out! How about that?"

"I'm sorry!" The analyst realized their slip, immediately bowing in apology, sweat already seeping from his forehead.

Li'ao snorted, letting the matter drop: "If we could deploy reconnaissance aircraft, wouldn't we have done so already? Think before you speak, can't you?"

"Focus on the frontline defense positions. If complete intelligence can't be achieved, then try to identify every firing point threatening our landing forces!" Annoyedly closing the intelligence files in hand, the director of the Imperial Security Bureau ordered thusly.