Munitions Empire-Chapter 1124: Zhao Ji causing trouble in 1045
Heading south from Dongqing City, one can reach Pingfeng in the southwest or Shanchong in the southeast, both of which are extremely important places.
Shanchong is a strategic foothold guarding the southern part of the Dahua Empire, and controlling Shanchong is tantamount to cutting off the Dahua Empire’s territory from the south.
As for Pingfeng, it is the southeastern barrier of the Imperial Capital and also allows for a detour through Jutian to approach Shanchong from another direction.
The route from Guiguang to Shanchong has been cut off, as Guiguang is now occupied by Fengjiang Troops. The route from Dongqing to Shanchong is also cut off for the same reason as Guiguang.
This means that out of the three supply lines to Shanchong, two have been severed, leaving only the one from Jutian to Shanchong still supporting.
The Fengjiang Troops heading south from Dongqing are also converging on Pingfeng and Shanchong, with Zhao Jie feeling immense pressure on the Pingfeng side.
Although the Fengjiang Troops heading south are not many in number, Zhao Jie really has very few options for retreat: the only area he now controls that can be considered a rearguard is just Jutian.
Luckily, Jutian is also an important grain-producing region, so having it as a strategic support is somewhat reassuring. If it were possible to enter Shu and take Caili and Xiqing, then Zhao Jie’s controlled area would still be considered "vast".
But Zhao Jie knows this is impossible. Although spreading out might seem to show a broad territory with numerous troops, the areas he needs to defend are simply too many.
Just by heading south from the Imperial Capital, both Xiqing and Pingfeng are on the frontline of an attack. At the same time, there’s also Shanchong, a strategic location that must be defended.
This means Zhao Jie must defend pressures from at least three directions, and no matter how numerous his troops, he would be unable to attend to all fronts. Therefore, after retreating to Pingfeng, Zhao Jie started reinforcing defenses at all costs, preparing to hunker down in his "turtle shell" and not come out.
On the other hand, Li Mingshun, who was contemplating retreat options, was actually favoring the southwest: he felt that heading to Xiqing would be a better choice than going to Wangdu.
Even though controlling more cities in the northwest might seem advantageous, the northwest is desolate, not to mention without any retreat options: being in Xiqing, backed by another agricultural stronghold Caili, and connecting to Shu City with only a single line of control, would be nearly perfect.
As long as pressure from the direction of the Imperial Capital is withstood, the situation can be stabilized. In any event, with Pingfeng holding off the pressure on the other side, everyone backing each other to resist the northern adversary can be considered strategic partners.
If things do not pan out, there is still the option to step back, surrender to Qin Country, or directly ally with Zhao Jie. Either way, this offers more choices than heading to the desolation of Wangdu in the northwest.
Luo Xiao shifted his focus of attack from the north of the Imperial Capital to the south, feeling that it would be easier to break through from here since the north is far from the railways and resupply is inconvenient.
Consequently, all the incoming Dahua Type 3 Tanks were deployed in the direction of the city’s south, and the Dahua Imperial Army, which had previously been pressing Zhao Jie, was now under heavy fire from the Fengjiang Army.
Despite desperately destroying five or six Type 3 Tanks, the onslaught of the Fengjiang Troops remained extremely fierce. As the fighting continued, Zhao Ji’s route of retreat was at risk of being cut off at any moment.
Although the city’s east was not the focus of the Fengjiang Army’s attack, with the increasing ferocity of the attacks in the north and south of the city, the Dahua Troops in the east were also continuously crumbling.
The retreat of these troops brought the Imperial Palace, where Zhao Ji was located, gradually closer to the front line: in fact, by the afternoon of that day, Zhao Ji could already hear the intense sound of machine gun fire.
In a fit of rage, he summoned Li Mingshun, the commander of the City Defense Army, to inquire about the situation. He then found out that his own Imperial Palace had become the "front line," which infuriated him. He immediately scolded Li Mingshun, commanding him to organize a counterattack immediately and repel the enemy forces from the east of the city: "Counterattack! Recover the lost district positions! This is my Imperial Palace! You must ensure the safety of the Imperial City!"
"Your Majesty! I have no reserves left, and the remaining troops are no longer capable of mounting a significant counterattack," Li Mingshun responded candidly, pouring cold water on Zhao Ji.
The forces at Li Mingshun’s disposal were already few, with varying combat strengths, and the fact that they had not collapsed after fighting the formidable Fengjiang Army for a day and night was already a remarkable achievement.
Now with limited ammunition and reserves having been nearly exhausted, launching a counterattack was out of the question: he would count himself lucky just to hold off the rebel Fengjiang Tanks, let alone entertain the thought of a counteroffensive. That would either be sending his troops to their deaths or forcing them to surrender, wouldn’t it?
"They... how far are they from here?" Zhao Ji furiously demanded of Li Mingshun: "Tell me clearly!"
"Approximately, still 1 kilometer away," Li Mingshun answered directly: "If Your Majesty insists on staying, then you should be prepared."
As the commander of the City Defense, Li Mingshun had already lost hope for the whole battle situation. He was also fed up with Zhao Ji’s reckless commands, so his attitude was not very cordial.
From his tone, Zhao Ji discerned the general message: if he continued to insist on remaining in the Imperial Palace, then he had better prepare for the worst.
After ascending to the throne, Zhao Ji, who had for a moment lost his direction, finally remembered his second life goal at the threshold of life and death: to survive.
Fear of death finally made him compromise: he was accustomed to compromise: "First, send away my money… and my women!"
"Your Majesty! In such a critical moment, why do you need these things? If we don’t leave now, it will really be too late!" Li Mingshun pleaded earnestly.
"You can’t even defend the city, and you can’t protect the lineage of my Royal Family?" Zhao Ji harshly questioned, his voice sharp but utterly lacking in force.
Li Mingshun, already numb from the torment inflicted by this new Emperor, no longer wanted to argue. Since Zhao Ji had changed his mind about leaving, Li Mingshun had achieved his purpose.
As long as Zhao Ji was willing to leave, that was all that mattered to Li Mingshun. How many things Zhao Ji wanted to take with him didn’t concern Li Mingshun: after all, he believed he could hold out for a day or two.
Who knew that the entire incident would suddenly spiral out of control: as Zhao Ji returned to the harem to pack his luggage in preparation to flee, the women whom Zhao Ji had taken into the harem went into chaos.
Their wails, as loud as those of widows, disregarded everything as they scrambled for the valuable items in the Imperial Palace, turning everything into a mess.
Servants and palace maids, each obeying their respective mistresses, were looting everything they could see, some even coming to blows: in their scramble for valuables, they had even caused a fire.
The palace guards, who were supposed to help with the transportation of goods and cover the retreat, also descended into chaos in such an atmosphere: they began to violate the palace maids and even the consorts conferred by Zhao Ji, killing and looting for treasure, and some even blasted a section of the palace wall to enter and exit at will.
Once the palace wall collapsed, the scene was completely out of control: the looting guards, taking with them many overpowered palace maids and consorts, scattered and fled, taking innumerable treasures with them.
Their chaos even affected the Imperial Army led by Li Mingshun, who were fighting just a few hundred meters from the Imperial Palace: they heard explosions and gunfire from behind and saw flames, thinking the area behind them had already been occupied by the Fengjiang army, and so they hurriedly fled.
When Li Mingshun finally arrived at the Imperial Palace with his bodyguards, only a dozen people remained around Zhao Ji.
The Emperor of Dahua was in a sorry state at this moment, with even his clothes showing signs of being scorched by smoke and fire. Upon seeing Li Mingshun, his first reaction was not to rage, but to cry pitifully.
"General... Great General! Now that you’re here, I feel at ease!" Zhao Ji cried, almost hugging Li Mingshun’s thigh, discarding his image, and even instantly promoting Li Mingshun in rank verbally.
There was no choice, for now, he could only rely on Li Mingshun, who had once been loyal to his father, and who was now very likely loyal to him.
"Let’s go quickly! It’s not safe here!" Li Mingshun knew, estimating by this time the Fengjiang troops had already started climbing the palace walls to enter the Imperial Palace, so he immediately advised: "Quickly, let’s go!"
"Go! Go! We’ll follow the Great General’s lead!" Zhao Ji nodded, no longer insisting on holding out here. Escorted by Li Mingshun’s troops, they left the Imperial Palace, and only during the escape did Zhao Ji begin to feel somewhat safer.
It seemed that Zhao Yu wanted a relatively intact Imperial Capital, so the Fengjiang rebels stopped the bombardment. Without the bombardment, Zhao Ji’s group indeed did not face much danger to their lives.
Within half an hour after Zhao Ji left the Imperial Palace, the Fengjiang troops finally planted their flag on the highest building of the Imperial City of the Dahua Empire.
Cheers erupted continuously, as if they had taken over the entire Imperial Capital. If they knew that the remnants of Li Mingshun’s troops could hold out in the Imperial Capital for more than ten days, they probably wouldn’t be so excitedly cheering.
Indeed, Li Mingshun did not flee immediately. He personally stayed behind to buy time for Zhao Ji’s retreat. Following the escape route arranged by Li Mingshun, Zhao Ji made his way southwest after leaving the city, heading toward Xiqing.
Li Mingshun, unencumbered by Zhao Ji’s interference, actually fought bravely, stubbornly held the western side of the Imperial Capital, and even received reinforcements from the direction of Wangdu.
While the battle for the Dahua Imperial Capital continued, a cruise ship operated by the Great Tang Empire, having crossed the Endless Sea, arrived at Linshui.
This luxurious cruise ship was chartered by the Poplar Empire. The one who came to the Great Tang Empire on this huge ship was the Elf Princess arranged for marriage.
On the one hand, they feared that delays would bring trouble, and on the other hand, because the Great Tang Empire had agreed to the marriage alliance, the Poplar Empire sent the Elf Princess over.
Yangmu Yi was very proactive in this matter, not only providing a generous dowry, but even arranging an adoption ceremony before the princess set off: this Elf girl was originally a county princess not born of a prince, and now she was adopted by Yangmu Yi and given the status of a princess.
