Munitions Empire-Chapter 1183: The unwilling Li Mingshun 1103

Li Mingshun was feeling deeply stifled lately. Ever since he led his troops to withdraw from the Imperial Capital, everything seemed to go awry.

Wangdu, Daxi Pass, Shahun, and Bingshuo—four cities—all capitulated to Zhao Yu without much resistance. Now, Zhao Yu controlled nearly two-thirds of the Dahua Empire, his forces powerful and unstoppable.

Although Zhao Jie had taken away the majority of the nobility and bureaucrats from the court, Zhao Yu did not fear them. He promoted a large number of his loyal followers, coupled with the support from Tang Country, giving him a distinct advantage.

The Prince Zhao Yu was now focusing his offensive on Xiqing, causing Li Mingshun to feel tremendous pressure.

While Zhao Ji was indulging in decadence in Caili City, Li Mingshun was fighting hard in Xiqing. The wide disparity between them was becoming increasingly evident. freēwēbnovel.com

The limited resources in the rear made it increasingly unsustainable for Li Mingshun: the more he fought, the fewer troops he had, yet Zhao Yu’s forces only seemed to grow with each battle.

Even disregarding the territories ceded to Tang Country, the regions "still under Zhao Yu’s control" were far greater in size than those controlled by Zhao Jie and Zhao Ji combined.

With a significant population advantage, control of the Imperial Capital, and the backing of Tang Country, the resources Zhao Yu could squander were mind-bogglingly abundant.

Another factor contributing to Zhao Yu’s growing advantage was the terrain: after taking control of the Imperial Capital, there were only single routes leading to Xiqing or Pingfeng.

There was no room for strategic maneuvering; with only a single route, battles inevitably concentrated in one location, and tactics became less decisive.

The outcome depended purely on brute strength—who had more soldiers, who had better and more weapons. Clearly, in these areas, Zhao Yu held an overwhelming advantage.

"General, continuing like this won’t work. Our 200,000-strong army has dwindled to just 170,000 after reinforcements. Meanwhile, the enemy keeps growing—they’re endless. What should we do?" An officer vented his frustration to Li Mingshun.

The officer’s resentment was palpable, as he had been the one sent back to request reinforcements previously. But Zhao Ji hoarded his troops—over 100,000 soldiers—in Caili and refused to send aid to Li Mingshun, providing only inexperienced recruits as a token effort.

As a result, Li Mingshun lost several defensive lines in Xiqing, eventually retreating all the way to the outskirts of Xiqing City. Should urban warfare break out in Xiqing, Zhao Ji and Li Mingshun would be left with even fewer areas to muster and recruit troops.

If Zhao Ji had been diligently governing Caili, that might have been understandable. However, frontline commanders returning to Caili saw Zhao Ji reveling in luxury, which sent their fury skyrocketing.

This wasn’t mere rumor; they had witnessed it firsthand. Zhao Ji’s temporary palace in Caili reeked of extravagance: he coerced local beauties—even married women—into performing dances for his amusement during the day and slept with them at night.

Such actions enraged local gentry and elites, but they dared not express their anger openly. Instead, they banded together to covertly undermine Zhao Ji in various ways.

For instance, they stopped donating funds to support Zhao Ji, leaving his exile government financially strapped. These local elite families also obstructed conscription efforts and refused to cooperate with labor demands, directly impacting Zhao Ji’s faction.

Due to their resistance, Li Mingshun struggled to find enough people to construct defensive structures, and recruitment efforts faced similar difficulties.

Regarding conscription, it wasn’t entirely Zhao Ji’s fault for alienating the local elite and gentry. In truth, over a year of warfare had already depleted the pool of able-bodied men in these regions.

"I know this can’t go on, but Zhao Ji is the Emperor. What else can we do?" Li Mingshun sighed, feeling utterly aggrieved.

Originally, he had only supported Zhao Ji, this helpless A’Dou, out of loyalty to Zhao Kai. Now, with the Dahua Empire’s civil war dragging on, he had steeled himself for the worst. In his mind, it was nothing more than dying to pay his debt to the country. So be it—Li Mingshun didn’t fear death!

But his bravery wasn’t enough. His subordinates and soldiers feared death. If these men were left without hope, Li Mingshun knew disaster would soon strike.

"General! If nothing else, why don’t we surrender to Zhao Jie? At least… Zhao Jie is far better than Zhao Ji…" a commander finally couldn’t hold back and suggested an idea that fueled Li Mingshun’s burning rage.

To Li Mingshun, surrendering to Zhao Jie was even less acceptable than surrendering to Zhao Yu: if surrendering to Zhao Jie was the plan, why hadn’t they done so during the chaos in the Imperial Capital? Surrendering back then would have avoided the subsequent series of setbacks.

If Zhao Jie had seized control of the Imperial Capital during that window, at least he could’ve defended it, with half of the Dahua Empire as his base. The situation would’ve been countless times better than the present mess.

Surrendering to Zhao Jie would mean acknowledging that all his past decisions were mistakes, an option Li Mingshun could never accept.

The idea of surrendering to Zhao Jie was tantamount to admitting that the current collapse was entirely his fault. Li Mingshun would rather die than do so!

Instead, Li Mingshun saw Zhao Yu as the more viable option for surrender: by yielding to Zhao Yu, he could legitimize Zhao Yu’s authority. With Zhao Yu controlling nearly the entirety of the Dahua Empire, he could swiftly suppress Zhao Jie’s rebellion.

At that point, the Dahua Empire would remain intact, its foundations secure. Li Mingshun could also feel at peace, knowing he had honored Zhao Kai and the deceased Shen Chuan.

That was the logic, yet Li Mingshun hesitated to surrender to Zhao Yu. If he had been willing, he wouldn’t have struggled to this point. Now, he was deeply conflicted, unsure of what to do.

He was unwilling to give in, still clinging to some hope. What was he holding onto? Even Li Mingshun couldn’t articulate it.

...

The situation in Qin Country was both promising and worrisome. Emperor Qin Ying Duo, after the Qin Army breached the Shu Mountain defensive line, gained the support of Tang Country and officially became the Emperor of the Great Qin Empire.

This made him feel that marrying off Ying Yue to the Great Tang Empire had been the most profitable decision he’d ever made, leaving him a bit giddy with pride.

To be frank, the Qin Army’s smooth breach of the Shu Mountain defensive line was thanks to internal "cooperation" within Shu Country! Speaker Liu Jing, after allying with Sofia, no longer prioritized the defense of Shu Mountain.

With the Speaker so apathetic, others’ attitudes followed suit: some secretly colluded with Qin Country, others had no heart for battle. Thus, the once-impenetrable Shu Mountain line fell to the Qin Army.

Having seized Shu Country’s northern territories, breached Shu Mountain, and occupied parts of Chu Country, Qin Country’s lands had become vast. Not only did they monopolize the slave trade with the Orc Empire, but they also looted significant machinery from Shu Country, bolstering their industry.

As a result, Qin Country became a first-rate power: Ying Duo didn’t have to build a navy, saving a massive portion of military expenses.

After acquiring Shu Country’s northern industrial base, Qin Country scaled up its tank and aircraft production lines by twofold, further empowering its war machine.

The DO-17 bombers imported from the Great Tang Empire weren’t cutting-edge but aligned with global standards. Coupled with large-scale production of P-36 fighter jets, Qin Country believed it could challenge the Great Tang Empire’s dominance.

However, Ying Duo’s ambitions were quickly doused: during Tang Empire’s campaign against the Mirage Country, they deployed an incredibly fast bomber. This bomber was entirely unprecedented—clearly one of Tang Country’s secret weapons.

The news came from a secret organization believed to have close ties to Mirage Country. Many reports of the Tang Empire’s attacks on Mirage originated from this group.

The organization remained highly covert, yet their intelligence was consistently accurate. As such, Qin Country prepared to dispatch envoys to Tang Country to negotiate acquiring this "new technology."

After all, the current honeymoon period between Qin Country and Tang Country meant Emperor Tang would likely grant Emperor Qin some favorable terms.

Unbeknownst to Ying Duo, Tang Country itself was debating whether to sell jet engine technology to other nations.

Opponents argued that such advanced technology was irreplicable by others, making secrecy the best strategy for maintaining supremacy.

Proponents countered that Tang Country already had anti-jet fighter measures. Selling jets could rake in immense profits while showcasing countermeasures—achieving a dual victory.

Supporters outnumbered detractors, as jet technology had significant non-military applications. In particular, the civil aviation industry could boom upon such advancements, generating staggering earnings and potentially providing livelihoods for millions of Tang workers—a far more pragmatic approach than technological isolation.

This debate had persisted for a while, but this time it grew particularly fierce. Tang Mo withheld judgment, waiting for naval advancements and operational successes before making a decision.

To Tang Mo, it made sense to ensure the Navy’s adoption of jet aircraft before allowing outdated technologies to proliferate, securing their battlefield advantage over enemies wielding comparable advancements.

"Remember! Buy whatever you can! We’ve made enough money in Shu Country and monopolized the Orc slave trade. Spending more doesn’t hurt!" Ying Duo instructed his envoy traveling to Tang Country.

At present, nothing blocked cooperation between the two nations: Zhao Yu, having regained dominion over most of the Dahua Empire, was a puppet of Tang Country and thus posed no obstacle to trade between Qin and Tang.

"Understood! I will do my utmost to ensure Qin Country gains as much as possible," the envoy replied earnestly, bowing in deference.