Munitions Empire

In fact, the reaction speed of the military of Zheng Country was much faster than the Great Tang Group had calculated. Because... they had telegraph machines!

Yes, that's right! Zheng Country actually had telegraph machines!

As for why they had telegraph machines, it was quite a dramatic story.

Zheng Country was a nation established on the power of the sea, resembling the Taren Kingdom in this regard; both placed great emphasis on the development of their navies.

Previously, Shireck had gone astray with the quixotic design of the Ming Wheel Ship—a type of warship meant to be marketed to recover the initial investment costs for its development.

The buyer they found for the Ming Wheel Ship was none other than Zheng Country!

Among the four great powers of the Endless Sea, Poplar Kingdom had been weakened by the Great Tang Group and Taren Kingdom had also been beaten down at that time. Zheng Country was so corrupt that it was a power in name only, leaving the navy of Zheng Country as the only one interested in the Ming Wheel Ship.

The navy of Zheng Country, with its maritime foundations, was indeed innovative and smart. Upon their first sight of the Ming Wheel Warship, which propelled itself without the need for sails, they immediately realized its advanced nature.

Steel warships were naturally stronger than sail-powered ones, and when combined with advanced breech-loading cannons, these warships could easily crush wooden sailing ships.

With the addition of power generators and telegraph machines, the new style of warship also held a commanding advantage in communication and command over sail-powered ships—they didn't care whether the power equipment and telegraph machines were pirated versions copied from the Shireck Consortium!

Therefore, after the high-ranking naval officers of Zheng Country inspected the Ming Wheel Ship, they immediately placed an order for 30 ships.

It was thanks to the higher speed, more robust hull, and more powerful artillery of the Ming Wheel Ships that Zheng Country inflicted a heavy blow on Zheng Country's navy in the Dongwan Island battle and captured this strategic location.

Using the pirated telegraph machines to transmit messages became Zheng Country's "exclusive secret technique," giving them the upper hand to keep Zheng Country under their thumb.

This time, when the troops of the Great Tang Group landed, the commander of Zheng Country stationed in Dongwan Port received the news almost simultaneously with the garrison inside Fengshun City.

Because the Zheng Country navy's Ming Wheel Ships stationed in Fengshun Port immediately used their onboard telegraph machines to send the news in the direction of Dongwan.

At the same time, the frontline commanders of the Great Tang Group did not realize that the military presence on Dongwan Island of Zheng Country was already quite modernized.

They had 3,000 men equipped with the Shireck Type 1 new rifles, a secret weapon so exclusive that not even their own military knew about it—Shengwu Yuan had never seen such weapons, which is why his troops failed to recognize the terrifying sound of the bolt-action rifles.

In addition to radio and wireless equipment, the island also had breech-loading cannons copied and pirated by Shireck from the first generation of Great Tang Group's cannons, known as slide-recoil breech cannons.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

However, they were in short supply, with only two... Yes, only two! Because they were still in trial and had not yet been purchased on a large scale!

At this very moment, Zheng Country's temporary governor of Dongwan Island, Shen Wenmao, hurriedly pushed open the heavy door and walked into the grand hall of the City Lord's Mansion, originally constructed by Zheng Country in Dongwan City.

"What on earth has happened?" He looked towards Shenwu Xiong, whose expression didn't look too good, eyes locked on the commander in charge of the garrison on Dongwan Island.

Shenwu Xiong sighed deeply, placed a telegram on the table, and pushed it in front of Shen Wenmao, saying, "About an hour ago, that damned rogue of Shen Hai one launched a surprise attack on a fleet, robbing the cargo and killing the sailors..."

Temporary Governor Shen Wenmao was taken aback before quickly asking, "Don't tell me those ships belonged to the Great Tang Group?"

"Yes, that's right, they did... and that's the problem," cursed Shenwu Xiong, pressing his hand against the hilt of his sword: "Shen Hai one, that idiot! Fool! He's nothing but a bastard!"

"I'll immediately cable home..." Shen Wenmao began to say, concerned that the Great Tang Group might seek revenge, which could lead to war.

"It's too late for that. In fact, an extremely formidable force has already landed on Dongwan Island..." Shenwu Xiong's face darkened: "I suspect it must be the forces of the Great Tang Group."

"This can't be happening! How could they respond so quickly?" Shen Wenmao angrily demanded before realizing something, his eyes widening, unable to utter another word for a long moment.

"This is clearly not about revenge! It's a premeditated attack! By the time frame, when they landed, our fleet hadn't even started attacking their merchant ships!" sneered Shenwu Xiong: "The problem is, now they have an excuse."

"But we all know it's just an excuse! They had already launched their offensive! They attacked us even earlier..." Shen Wenmao clenched his fists, unable to contain his frustration.

Such deceitful tactics used to be Zheng Country's way of framing others... Now the tables had turned, making everyone in Zheng Country feel uncomfortable.

"But the waters are already muddied, there's no use in saying more," Shenwu Xiong huffed, unable to accept the situation.

"So, what should we do?" Shen Wenmao seemed utterly disoriented, clapping his hands, as if questioning himself or perhaps seeking advice from the nearby Shengwu Xiong.

Shengwu Xiong irritably responded, "What's there to panic about? When has my Zheng Country not solved its crises through strength? I've already mobilized the troops; we'll march south and completely eradicate this enemy force!"

"Shen Hai has already led the fleet down along the coastline to the south! With 20 warships, it's more than enough to ensure these opponents have no chance of return," he boasted with confidence, looking as if he held all the cards.

In reality, even up to now, Zheng Country's power near Dongwan Island still had the upper hand: on the island, they had about 30,000 garrisoned troops, which was twice what the Great Tang Group's intelligence department had estimated.

As for the navy, they had 10 Ming Wheel Ships, along with 50 sail-powered warships, also placing them at a numerical advantage.

Though they were at a complete disadvantage in warship quality, as long as the army could concentrate its forces and drive the 1st Battalion into the sea, they could still secure a temporary victory.

At this moment, the situation was such that 9,000 soldiers from 6 of Zheng Country's regiments were advancing magnificently southward, crashing into the defense line of the 1st Battalion, 3rd Company, which had only 300 men.

Inside Fengshun City, Zheng Country's commander, and guardian responsible for Fengshun's city defense, Shengwu Baisui, had gathered 4,500 men from 3 regiments. They had already set out, prepared to rush to Great Tang Group's landing zone. In front of these 4,500 Zheng Country troops, stood the 1st Battalion, 1st Company with over 600 soldiers.

At the same time, unbeknownst to Taren Kingdom's Navy Fleet Commander Bernard, Zheng Country's navy stationed at Dongwan Port divided their fleet, allocating 20 sail-powered warships and 3 Ming Wheel Ships to form a temporary detachment. Led by Navy Commander Shen Hai, they sailed south to seek out and decisively engage the Great Tang Group's fleet. Read exclusive chapters at empire

Almost at the same moment, the Zheng Country navy fleet docked at Fengshun City's port nearly emptied its nest. Under the lead of 2 Ming Wheel Ships, a total of 15 sail-powered warships fiercely set sail towards the north.

In terms of the strategic stance, Zheng Country's superior forces were poised to pincer from both sides, and in terms of mobilization speed, they completely exceeded the imaginations of the Great Tang Group commanders.

However, due to the distance they had to travel, the landing troops did not encounter any problems on the first night; they were still unaware that enemy forces were slowly closing in from both sides. At dawn on the second day, they began a new round of unloading and landing operations.

Without a port, forcefully unloading on this kind of beach was incredibly difficult. It was already no small task to get vehicles onto landing craft in itself.

This was also due to the fact that cars from the ancient times were lighter and simpler in structure; otherwise, they would never have been able to board the landing crafts.

With the unloading distance reduced and procedures becoming more practiced, the landing on the second day went very smoothly.

After all, with no enemy harassment and no combat on the beach, more heavy weaponry and equipment quickly landed on Dongwan Island.

To enhance the troops' mobility, barrels of gasoline were brought to the beach, along with mess trucks and various auxiliary equipment.

The re-armed 2nd Company finally found its purpose, as more and more engineers and logistics troops landed and began work, leaving less need for the 2nd Company's assistance.

Hence, the 2nd Company was ordered to advance eastward, to protect the flank and serve as the battle reserve.

The 1st Battalion Commander's plan was actually quite straightforward: he intended to fight a defensive battle along the road until all the troops had landed.

After annihilating most of the enemy's active forces, they would immediately switch from defense to offense, gathering the 1st and 2nd Companies for an all-out push south, to capture Fengshun City.

He abandoned the earlier plan of rushing to Fengshun City because the landing was too slow, and the previous plan had clearly underestimated the difficulty of landing operations.

Therefore, he revised the battle plan on the spot, changing from a rush to capture Fengshun City to a local defense. They would wait for the enemy's counterattack, then launch a counteroffensive to seize Fengshun City.

Once they took that place, the following troops could directly unload at the port, making the efficiency at least ten, if not a hundred times higher.

This approach not only captured the port to address the subsequent difficulties in resupplying but also avoided the troops being attacked from both front and rear.

At night, Zheng Country's troops couldn't continue to march, and the Great Tang Group's landing speed also dropped to an empathetic level.

Both sides spent the night peacefully. On the second day, Zheng Country's troops continued to advance both south and north, slowly approaching the Great Tang Group's defense line, with the Great Tang Group steadily sending more troops ashore, reinforcing their own defense line.

After the efforts of the 1st Battalion and the Navy, the 3rd Company managed to restore its troop strength to 500 men by the second night.

The 1st Company was in the best condition, with nearly 700 men, while the 2nd Company still had only 400, as they had been continuously resupplied with weapons, inevitably slowing down personnel transport.

Waging war requires flexibility; there's no such thing as a perfect pre-established plan! Everything is subject to change, and the outcome remains uncertain.