Munitions Empire-Chapter 1192: Clean up Great Southern Bay

The battle seemed to have ended at this moment, with the Tang Army’s Engineer Corps busier than the combat troops, bustling with construction sights everywhere, while the combat had decreased.

Apart from the Flying Fortress Bombers dispatched from the Tang Empire, there was hardly any sign of war here, as everyone was busy building houses and repairing aircraft runways.

The most important task was to rebuild the port of the Great Southern Bay. Anticipating future needs, the Tang Army had prepared for the refurbishment of the Great Southern Bay before attacking the South Island.

Frankly, the strategic location of the Great Southern Bay of the Mirage Country was indeed excellent, but they had wasted such a good place, not utilizing its advantages at all.

The Great Southern Bay is called so because it is a south-facing "C"-shaped bay, with calm waters within and a deep-water harbor, making it a naturally gifted location.

The Tang Country needed to construct this port as a springboard for their operations. According to the prior plan, the South Island and the New Island belonged to the Tang People, the Ben Island to the Orcs, and the Northern Island was reserved for the Goblins.

Tang Mo had no reason to exterminate the Goblins entirely, and he also needed to settle a few Goblin ministers. After extracting all the benefits from the Goblin race, they would be exiled to the Northern Island, where they would... continue to live.

"This truly is a nice place, at least... the air is nice." General Feng Kezhi said as he walked on the streets of the Great Southern Bay, stepping on the rubble, with his boots making crunching sounds.

In the distance was the western fort, which once housed four heavy 350mm cannons, but they were too outdated to compete with the Tang Army’s 280mm naval guns.

Since the Tang Army emphasized firing rates, their artillery, regardless of size, possessed a remarkably high rate of fire. With the aid of automatic loaders, many 127-caliber artillery could quickly fire, effectively combating aircraft when paired with radio proximity fuses.

Currently, the western fort did not have as many large cannons. The Tang Army had destroyed the entire fort, and the Mirage Country forces had left behind some explosives when they abandoned it, demolishing most of the facilities.

However, from what remained, it was clear that the Mirage Country also valued the coastal defense of the Great Southern Bay. They simply ran out of resources, unable to build a modern fort while maintaining a massive fleet.

Never mind that the fort itself was made of reinforced concrete cement; those expensive cannons were the treasures that even the Navy coveted.

Each cannon consisted of several dozen tons of premium steel. If used for a fort, it meant one less for naval warships. Such was the impoverished state of the Mirage Country, with no alternatives.

Though only two days had passed, the air in the Great Southern Bay indeed became fresher with the sea breeze. The scent of gunpowder was gone, and the local industry was not very developed — at least not to the extent of Tongcheng.

A few Goblin children were shining shoes for the Tang Empire soldiers on the roadside vacant lots. They worked diligently, as it was the only way to earn two copper coins as a reward.

Some adult Goblins were hauling stones from the ruins, their bodies thin due to long-term malnutrition. Before surrendering, the Mirage Country garrison had burned large amounts of food and supplies, leaving the remaining Goblins to fend for themselves for food.

They either faced starvation or took risks to work for the Tang People in exchange for a meal. The Tang People did not provide relief to these Goblins who had lost their food source, a stark contrast to their previous image of distributing resources widely.

Perhaps they never intended to occupy this place for long... or maybe they never considered coexisting with the Goblins here.

A 130 transport plane, loaded with supplies and with auxiliary fuel tanks on its wings, clumsily descended to a lower altitude. During the time General Feng Kezhi walked this stretch, he had seen three such planes landing at a newly repaired field airport in the distance.

These planes were filled with supplies and, upon departing, would transport soldiers’ letters and some wounded personnel.

Various boxes surrounded the airport, with canned goods and instant noodles visible everywhere. By February, the South Island could already prepare for sowing, so many seeds, along with several agricultural experts, had been sent over from the Tang Country.

"When will the port be operational?" Although most of the personnel of the 9th Group Army had been brought ashore, General Feng Kezhi was still concerned about the restoration of the Great Southern Bay docks.

For any further northward operations across the sea, the transportation and storage of supplies were absolutely crucial. Sustaining an army of over a hundred thousand was no easy task, let alone having them continue advancing.

"It’s hard to say right now. Shengwu Zhong’s damage to the docks was extensive, with a lot of explosives planted, essentially requiring us to rebuild a new port." Lu Qianshan regrettably walked beside General Feng Kezhi, answering his question.

In reality, it would be better to build a new port altogether: not only were there underwater mines laid in the Great Southern Bay by the enemy, but a significant number of civilian and warships had been sunk in the bay.

Tang Army divers were making every effort to clear these obstacles, while the engineers on the shore worked hard to construct several large docks, intended to replace the temporary floating docks on the beach.

Though the floating docks were crucial during the unloading of troops, it had to be admitted that these temporary docks could not consistently maintain high efficiency.

With constant erosion and pounding by the tides, these hastily assembled docks would soon leak and become damaged, eventually losing their function.

Before these floating docks became useless, the Tang Army needed to repair the Great Southern Bay harbor. If they could not, the Tang Army on the South Island would have to abandon thoughts of further combat.

After all, the Tang Army’s fuel, ammunition... almost all consumables were shipped from the mainland. If transportation efficiency decreased, these supplies could not be replenished, and the combat capability of the Tang Army would be significantly affected.

"As soon as possible..." General Feng Kezhi continued onward, passing by a wall pockmarked with bullet holes that had collapsed halfway, where a Tang Army supply truck was parked, with soldiers distributing chocolate and cigarettes, part of the regular rations.

"I used to think we could delay transporting these items, focusing instead on food and ammunition fuel. But I later realized that avoiding it greatly affected morale, so I abandoned that foolish idea." General Feng Kezhi self-deprecatingly laughed, pointing to the truck and speaking to Lu Qianshan.

Lu Qianshan also laughed, wearing a white navy uniform, which looked more stylish than General Feng Kezhi’s army green uniform.

The army is earthy, the navy is fashionable, and the air force consists of wealthy individuals... there’s no way around it; high-tech military branches emphasize elegance and pursue respectability.

"After all, when deploying troops one or two thousand kilometers away from home, you need to provide them some comfort." Lu Qianshan understood this aspect well: "To maintain the soldiers’ morale, our navy also came up with many ideas."

Indeed, compared to the army, the navy’s meals were extraordinarily good, not just with various seafood and meat, but also with efforts to keep the vegetables as fresh as possible.

Even more extravagantly, on large warships, there were often ice-making machines and ice cream machines in the canteens, which the army considered luxurious.

There’s no helping it, as naval warships don’t lack electricity when started, allowing various equipment to be used, and even General Feng Kezhi received very good treatment while at sea.

The air force, needless to say, reportedly had meal standards higher than the navy, with many foods directly shipped from the mainland, showcasing great attention to detail.

Moreover, it’s more convenient for the air force to make ice cream: just find a fighter jet, fill the auxiliary fuel tanks with ice cream ingredients, fly to an altitude of 10,000 meters, do a few rolls, and come back with finished ice cream...

While the two chatted, a massive explosion resounded through the sky in the Great Southern Bay. A towering water column was clearly visible from General Feng Kezhi’s position.

Nearby guards immediately became tense, and soldiers on the cigarette-distributing truck grabbed their weapons, looking around vigilantly.

"It’s alright! It’s alright! Underwater demolition by the divers!" Someone in the distance waved their arms, shouting loudly towards the rest.

Everyone breathed a sigh of relief, and Lu Qianshan awkwardly smiled, saying, "The navy is in a hurry, so they’re using explosive methods to deal with some obstacles and sunken ships."

Divers would directly place a torpedo or depth charge in the sunken ships below, setting the fuse to detonate.

The massive explosion would damage the underwater ship structure, potentially eliminating the wreck faster than salvaging it.

Of course, this approach leaves some risks and might not completely remove the sunken ships... but to save time, they had to try at any cost.

The warships of the Mirage Country, once sunken, were easier to deal with, as a group of makeshift worker sailors were dismantling the cannons and valuable items on them.

"I heard the Orc laborers will arrive soon?" General Feng Kezhi suddenly remembered the situation with the Orcs and curiously asked Lu Qianshan.

"Yes, that’s right, barring any surprises, ships should arrive tonight. They’ll help build railways, roads, airports, and port docks here." Lu Qianshan replied, "If necessary, they’ll also participate in operations on New Island and Ben Island."

"Phew..." a rough echo louder than dragon roars came from the distant sky. It was a Jian-6 Fighter Jet patrolling. Its silver body was highly conspicuous, and combined with its deafening noise, often caused people on the ground to stop and look.

Since these aircraft began their duties, no Mirage Country reconnaissance planes have appeared over the South Island... or if they did, they’d be quickly shot down. Their rapid crashes likely led to the impression that "Mirage Country planes never came."