Munitions Empire-Chapter 1109 - 1031 at a loss what to do
An Empire on the brink of extinction will always witness the emergence of some tragic heroes. It would indeed be a bizarre occurrence if a dynasty that has endured for a century failed to foster even a few loyal ministers and capable generals.
Zhao Chen is one of those wholeheartedly dedicated loyal ministers of the Dahua Empire, with competent abilities. Even at this moment, his sole thought is to bring back as many troops as possible to Xiajian.
Regrettably, he is one of the few commanders in the Dahua Empire who genuinely considers the welfare of the nation, whereas in the ascending Great Tang Empire, there are far too many commanders like Zhao Chen.
After occupying Hezhe, Luo Xiao, a commander of the Great Tang Empire, immediately realized that his strategic depth was too shallow and that adamantly defending Hezhe might allow the big fish, Zhao Chen, to escape.
Therefore, he left a garrison of 10,000 troops in Hezhe, and personally led the remaining 90,000 soldiers eastward to launch an offensive.
Luo Xiao’s rationale was as follows: the Dahua Empire troops in the direction of Xiajian would not possibly turn around and come back to recapture Hezhe—if they had the courage or intention to retake Hezhe, they wouldn’t have abandoned it and retreated in the first place.
Since the Dahua troops towards Xiajian will not be turning back eastward, he himself will not likely be caught in a disadvantageous position of being attacked from both sides at Hezhe.
If the real threat is now confirmed to be from the east, then why shouldn’t he take preemptive action, striking the hastily-retreating western enemy before they are firmly established? frёewebηovel.cѳm
According to Luo Xiao’s theory, only by continuously attacking east can his strategic depth be sufficient, preventing the enemy from breaking through the railway line and penetrating his control zone.
To put it more plainly, Luo Xiao believes that as long as he can reach Fengjiang City, the Dahua troops surrounded under Fengjiang City, even if they disperse, will not possibly cross Hezhe to flee westward to Xiajian.
That was his plan, and this is what he did: apart from a regiment traveling northwards along the railway line through the Wilderness, Luo Xiao assembled his force, around 90,000 troops including the only Armored Corps in his hand, and began advancing eastward.
The Zhao Chen’s vanguard troops that had already arrived near Hezhe hadn’t expected enemy forces to appear in front of them. They still thought that Hezhe was in the hands of Crown Prince Zhao Ji, so they were entirely unprepared for battle.
In their view, they were on a "retreat," rather than a dangerous "breakthrough"! Hence, the troops near Hezhe did not arrange for guard patrols, nor did they have ample weapons and ammunition.
Indeed, when they began their retreat towards Hezhe, the order that Zhao Chen issued was to retreat to Hezhe, no need to fight, no need to carry sufficient ammunition.
The ammunition that was originally theirs had been left to the rearguard troops, and they hadn’t brought much food either, on the understanding that they could eat anything once they got to Hezhe...
In such a relaxed state of alertness, an unknown force from the west attacked. Everyone was bewildered, with a muddled look, not knowing what had happened.
Thus, caught by the unexpected assault, the Dahua Empire troops near Hezhe began a pattern they were all too familiar with: collapse!
Naturally, they could not flee westwards, as the enemy was coming from the west! So, they opted to retreat eastwards, after all, they still had hundreds of thousands of their own men behind them.
That afternoon, Luo Xiao charged forwards fifty kilometers; had the Fengjiang rebels not lacked capability, Luo Xiao could have potentially advanced another fifty kilometers...
The unfortunate Dahua troops retreated seventy kilometers nonstop before they could barely regain their footing. After stabilizing their lines, they assessed the damages and discovered they hadn’t actually lost much.
Apart from a few thousand troops who were scattered, either completely wiped out or unaccounted for due to some other reason, the rest of the troops merely lost some materials and equipment.
However, what they lost that was of utmost importance, was the fact that during their retreat they diminished an entire seventy kilometers of strategic depth.
When Zhao Chen rushed from Fengjiang to personally take command of the western line, he nearly burst a blood vessel in fury: the retreating troops had discarded their baggage, including valuable ammunition and some food, tents, and other camping materials.
Without any resupply, the importance of ammunition was self-evident. And those lost tents, under current circumstances where almost all the troops had to camp outdoors, were invaluable—how to set up camp without tents?
Behind Zhao Chen, the rearguard troops that knew they had to run had all but completely abandoned the Fengjiang urban ruins; now even if Zhao Chen wanted to regroup and rest overnight in the city, it was impossible.
Some of the troops were still dallying in the original barracks, their situation was somewhat favorable. Those who had already moved out now had to stop after not even ten miles—Zhao Chen didn’t even dare to imagine that sight.
His troops took five days to arrive under Hezhe City, and now, in just one day, they had retreated back to the position they were at three days prior.
The Armored Corps and main force, which were originally intended to break out towards Hezhe, were now stuck on the road, unable to regroup; the entire retreating army was in chaos, like crabs in a pot, each dragging the other’s hind legs.
Large-scale troop movements and combat inherently involve intricacies, heavily reliant upon the commander’s ability to conduct troops and the level of troop training. Many are unconvinced, believing they could be skilled military leaders if they were in ancient times, yet they are unaware of the large area a camp of two thousand people would occupy.
