Munitions Empire

Finding food in Xicong had become a difficult task as well. The area was nearly stripped bare, and most civilians had already left before the war began.

Therefore, seeking food in Xicong implicitly suggested that you may as well die in battle there, so that the saved resources could feed others.

As a result, a large number of Dahua's second-line troops were sent into Xicong, where they struggled in the ruins and streets.

Qian Jinhang learned he had been promoted to Great General by the Emperor while having his meal. His subordinates even celebrated for him, and the kitchen prepared him a special meal on short notice.

However, by the next evening, he received some troubling news: The Tang Army had seized the southern oil fields and had started repairing the severed pipeline from the oil fields to South Wind Pass.

This pipeline, in fact, was built with the assistance of the Great Tang Group back when the relationship between the Dahua Empire and the Great Tang Kingdom seemed quite amicable on the surface, and many cooperative projects were launched.

For instance, the Great Tang Kingdom helped Dahua build an aircraft production line specifically for manufacturing Camel Biplane Fighters, which were considered decent performers at the time.

These aircraft were even exported by the Dahua Empire to Chu Country and Qin Country, generating foreign exchange earnings that brought a tidy profit to Dahua.

The oil pipeline project took one and a half years to complete, prompting a surge in domestic demand within the Dahua Empire and boosting oil production by more than tenfold, which instantly resolved Dahua's oil usage issues.

At that time, some of this oil was even exported to Tang Country in exchange for a vast array of mechanical equipment purchased from Tang.

With this machinery, the Dahua Empire started its industrialization and gradually laid the industrial foundation for this ancient empire.

But now, these pipelines were under the control of the Tang Army, becoming part of Tang Country's oil infrastructure: with the southern oil fields, the domestic shortage of oil in Tang Country was swiftly alleviated.

In fact, at South Wind Pass and the southern oil fields, the military supplies captured by the Tang Army included not only ground equipment but also aerial weaponry.

Due to the weather, the air force troops gathered by the Dahua Empire in the southern region could not be relocated, leaving the planes parked in field airfields to become part of the Tang Troops' spoils of war.

Across at least 10 different field airfields, the Tang Army captured over 800 aircraft of various types from the Dahua Empire in one fell swoop.

However, for the Tang Army, these captured aircraft were essentially of no practical use and almost indistinguishable from junk.

The bulk of these planes were Camel Fighters, not much different from those once in practical use by the Tang Army, outdated and made with wooden fuselages and biplane wings.

In other words, these planes were not even fit to be sold as scrap: their fuselages were made of wood, their wings covered with canvas, and the only thing of slight value was perhaps the engines.

And these engines were technically obsolete, to the extent that even the Dahua Empire itself had lost interest in such aircraft.

Previously, the Dahua Empire had independently designed and developed a large multi-engine bomber using the engines from four Camel Fighters. Although its performance was mediocre, it solved some of the issues with the surplus Camel Fighter engines.

This bomber was slow and had a low payload, almost useless, but it still addressed the issue of possessing bombers for a few countries: Qin Country purchased 300 units and Chu Country equipped about 200 units.

The Dahua Empire itself equipped 500 units, and the Tang Army even captured a good number of these makeshift bombers—although they really weren't of much use, and the Tang Air Force scorned the safety of these large toys.

Including the captures in the Central Region, the Tang Army had by now taken more than 1000 Dahua aircraft.

If we include Dahua's aircraft shot down, the Dahua Empire had suffered a loss of nearly 2000 aircraft of various models since the start of the war.

Interestingly, according to Dahua's own records, due to crude production techniques and other issues, over 100 of their planes crashed, accounting for one-twentieth of the total losses!

Despite the large numbers, Dahua's air force was far from crippled. Their advanced aircraft were not deployed on the front lines, so they escaped destruction.

A large number of planes were destroyed or captured on the ground, so the loss of Dahua's air force pilots was not severe, with only a few hundred killed or injured.

Nevertheless, such losses still significantly weakened Dahua's control of the airspace over the battlefield. As the weather gradually improved, more and more Tang Air Force planes took off, and air dominance naturally fell into the hands of Tang.

For the first time in two months, the skies over Xicong showed signs of clear weather, the sunshine illuminating the damp city shrouded in smoke.

A Flying Fortress Bomber circled above the outskirts of Xicong, seemingly conducting reconnaissance to reassess the number and positions of the besieged Dahua troops.

Nobody paid any attention to the aircraft above their heads because within the Dahua troops, whose defensive depth was being gradually compressed, various voices began to emerge.

Even those loyal to Qian Jinhang began to discuss the feasibility of breaking out: the promised rescue from the Empire seemed to be non-existent, and holding out in Xicong was no different from waiting for death.

"Great General! We must try to break out! Staying here is a dead end!" an anxious officer reminded Qian Jinhang.

The environment here looked quite good because it was a residential area near Xicong, with several houses that had not collapsed, dry and fully functional.

Even though it lacked the direct sewage system of some parts of the urban district, it was much better than being stationed out in the field.

In the not-too-large room, another general, seeing Qian Jinhang silent, also spoke up, "Great General! The promised rescue, the counterattack... we haven't seen anything. Shouldn't there be an explanation?"

Many of the generals in the room were actually Qian Jinhang's confidants, and their troops were among the most capable of the encircled Dahua forces.

The forces Qian Jinhang had previously committed were second-line, non-core troops, so the actual losses to his loyalists were not significant.

The generals present were anxious because they still had the means: their troops were relatively intact, they had a higher priority for supplies, and so their combat effectiveness was still guaranteed.

But as the situation became increasingly dire, those with the most hope were also the ones most eager to struggle.

A general began to complain, "Right, we haven't received a single telegram! Where are the troops that are supposed to rescue us? They should be nearing South Wind Pass in a few days, should they not at least inform us?"

The general standing next to him spread his hands, "They tell us to hold on, to keep fighting in Xicong, but they should at least tell us when reinforcements will arrive, when we'll be resupplied!"

These generals were not blaming Qian Jinhang, but pointing the finger at the rescue promised by the Empire—they had been fighting in Xicong for several days now, yet there had been no word from the reinforcements that were supposed to reclaim South Wind Pass.

As commanders of forces numbering thousands or even tens of thousands, who would be truly foolish? They had believed in the reinforcements, but only because they trusted that the Dahua higher-ups wouldn't utterly abandon hundreds of thousands to their fate.

But as time trickled by, this trust dwindled inexorably to the point of unsustainability.

At this very moment, almost everyone had guessed that the so-called reinforcements did not actually exist. In fact, they were absolutely right—the counterattack on South Wind Pass promised earlier was nothing more than a deception.

Since they had guessed as much, what was the use of discussing these matters here? There was no point. Their presence was not to complain about the higher-ups' abandonment.

Everything said so far was just a prelude; the implicit message was, "We all know the truth now; there's no point in pretending, sir."

With the conversation having reached this point and seeing that Qian Jinhang remained silent, the topic gradually shifted to a more realistic direction, "The weather is getting better, and once the Tang Army's planes start bombing, our situation will become even more passive."

Since rescue was hopeless, wasn't breaking out on their own still an option? That was actually what everyone wanted to discuss at this meeting.

One of the generals thus reminded Qian Jinhang, "The soldiers are already complaining about the worsening food; we have already consumed most of our carried supplies, which are now filled with sawdust, watered down... The troops are becoming restive, and it's becoming hard to suppress them."

"Our ammunition is dwindling by the day; if we continue fighting, we might not even have enough to attempt a breakout! You must say something, Great General!" Someone from a corner also chimed in.

Qian Jinhang, visibly annoyed, glanced at the corner where the voice came from, sighed, and then, after signaling for everyone to be quiet, finally spoke, passing all the blame to Prince Zhao Chen at Sword Pavilion, "I was also deceived by that bastard Zhao Chen!"

"But, sir..." Several generals had more to say but were cut off by Qian Jinhang.

He waved his hand and said, "We cannot defeat the Tang Army's Armored Corps in the field; abandoning Xicong would lead us to a certain death..."

Without waiting for the generals to say more, Qian Jinhang continued, "Continuing the fight now is pointless, yet surrendering at this point would dishonor the Empire and the trust it has placed in us."

"Therefore, the only option is to endure! Until we run out of food, until we use up our ammunition... Holding on for ten days, half a month, until our defenses along Hidden Sword Gorge are secure, we... will make further plans." While speaking, Qian Jinhang surveyed everyone present, "What do you all think?"

While he appeared to be asking, he had already made his decision; inviting these generals here was merely to notify them.