Chapter 1247: The industrious 3rd Armored Division with its many capable mbers
But no one can decide on such matters because, given the current situation in Mirage Country, the transportation of supplies carries many risks.
First is the loss of air superiority. The rail lines are disrupted intermittently due to bombings, large-scale transport consus valuable fuel, and there’s also the risk of unnecessary losses caused by airstrikes. These issues are intolerable for Mirage Country, which is gravely short of resources.
Another grave issue is: if the Orc forces in the north truly break through the defensive line and begin moving south, it would essentially be slicing Mirage Country’s Ben Island in half like a kitchen knife.
Mirage Country’s controlled area would be divided into two parts: one being the mountain defense line in the Central Region, and the other being the Shen Capital defense zone.
Who can guarantee that the Orc forces surrounding the Central Region’s defense line would first attack the mountain defenses rather than targeting the Shen Capital?
Without this guarantee, why would the supplies and weapon ammunition from the Shen Capital be transported to the Central Region’s defense line? The Central Region is important, but isn’t the defense of King City equally critical?
If supplies aren’t transported from the Shen Capital, then they’d have to co from the farther northeastern area, which would cause even more headaches for Mirage Country’s leadership: the long distance, needing more transportation capacity and fuel… It’s agonizing just thinking about it, isn’t it?
Bear in mind that right now even frontline transport relies on oxen and horses. Transporting from the eastern region to the frontlines at this point… If the trains can operate, it’s still manageable; but if the rail tracks are bombed en route, the fuel expended might be more precious than the ammunition transported to the front lines.
After all, those small workshops hidden in the northeastern mountain regions of Mirage Country rely on fuel for power, and this is essential for producing ammunition and weaponry.
In reality, Mirage Country has always been transporting various ammunition and weapons from the northeastern mountains outward, but the scale itself is small: firstly, to avoid bombings; secondly, because the production capacity there is low—it can’t churn out much.
Thus, the third problem is: Mirage Country inherently doesn’t have enough resources to transport to both the Central Region and Shen Capital.
If there’s nothing to begin with, then even preparing vehicles or trains ans there’s nothing to transport, right? So Mirage Country’s choices co down to transporting from the relatively nearby Shen Capital region, where reserves were better stocked—like robbing Peter to pay Paul—or abandoning the Central Mountain Region, withdrawing the main forces to the Shen Capital corridor before the Orc forces complete the encirclent.
But this brings us back to the original issue: abandoning such fortifications that cost trendous manpower and resources to construct—Mirage Country’s leadership is unwilling to do so! It’s heartbreaking to let go of sothing built with so much effort and sacrifice.
This is the reality for small and thinly populated countries: they are miserly with choices, unwilling to abandon anything, hesitating with indecision while often ruthless in greed during decision-making.
“From the current perspective, we can only think of ways to defend the Northern Region frontline.” Shen Haiping, who had served many years as Navy Supre Commander, naturally possessed so strategic foresight.
Thus, he imdiately saw that the northern defenses must not be lost! Only by resolutely holding the northern line to prevent the Orcs from bypassing the Central Region and advancing south can all difficulties be resolved.
“The Supre Commander has the sa thought, and we’ve been reallocating forces recently to reinforce the Northern Region, aiming to block the Orc troops.” Shenwu You nodded in agreent.
When he ntioned the Supre Commander, he was referring, of course, to the Army Supre Commander, his imdiate superior, General Shenwu Ke. If Shen Haiping could see the problem, Shenwu Ke naturally saw it as well.
Thus, Shenwu Ke had been deploying troops in an attempt to seal this gap, preemptively eliminating risks before the issue arose.
To achieve this, Shenwu Ke even refrained from replenishing the losses of Mirage Country’s 1st Armored Division, allocating the most recently manufactured thirty or so tanks of various models to the relatively well-performing 3rd Armored Division from previous battles. This unit was covertly withdrawn to the second line, then dispatched north for reinforcents.
This so-called 3rd Armored Division now had a total of 70 tanks, supported by 200 trucks for logistics, with the rest being infantry soldiers without exception.
Called an armored division, but truthfully, it’s more akin to the infantry-enhanced brigade structure of Tang Country. Aside from the additional infantry, Mirage Country’s armored divisions really don’t qualify as divisions.
A Tang Country infantry division consists of an independent assault gun battalion with 45 Type-4 assault guns, an anti-tank gun battalion with 45 Type-4 tank destroyers. This setup already surpasses Mirage Country’s armored divisions, not to ntion that Tang Army infantry divisions also include armored vehicles and armored reconnaissance cars.
“Now, we can only hope the 3rd Armored Division stabilizes the northern situation.” After listening to Shenwu You’s brief explanation, Shen Haiping sighed helplessly.
“Yes, let’s hope…they can thwart the Orc offensive…so we can…buy more ti.” Shenwu You ultimately didn’t have the courage to spout empty words about victory.
anwhile, the Orcs were in a much better position: the greatest improvent was their control over a small port, significantly boosting Tang Country’s ability to unload supplies.
Orc engineer squads were frantically expanding the port. Every bit of expansion enabled Tang Army to deliver more resources to Ben Island.
With these resources, the Orc troops could now flaunt their wealth—they had sufficient ammunition at the frontline, abundant food, and even if living in trenches, their conditions far surpassed those of Mirage Country’s garrison troops.
With possession of a port, the Orcs’ logistics greatly improved. While this was exhilarating news, the true jubilation ca from capturing two airports.
Though these airports suffered heavy damage, with the runways completely destroyed by Tang Army bombers, Orc engineers found it entirely possible to repair them as long as raw materials were available.
These airports, classified as forward bases, didn’t need to accommodate Tang Army’s jet fighters or bombers. Therefore, the requirents for airstrips and facilities were low, enabling quick repairs.
Moreover, with air superiority under their control, many safety concerns could be ignored—for instance, fuel storage could simply be placed in superficial warehouses without necessitating underground oil bunkers.
Additionally, anti-aircraft gun emplacents could be omitted, and even hangars for planes could be built later—basically, they saved wherever they could.
Once these airports beca operational, the Orcs could overco the short flight range issue of their air force. Attack aircraft and fighters that previously could only remain over the battlefield for minutes could now patrol above the Mirage Army’s positions all day.
Moreover, the Type-130 transport planes specially designed by the Great Tang Empire for forward bases could take off and land at field airports. This ant that the supplies Tang Country provided to Orc troops could now also be delivered by air.
With two airports plus a small port, the Orc forces stabilized their rear logistics, paving the way for faster personnel reinforcents and further troop strength enhancents.
With more troops, the Orc encirclent of the Central Mountain Region beca increasingly certain. Shan Lu was already planning to exchange more Orc slaves for his second armored division.
The so-called “weapon and equipnt for a division” provided by the Great Tang Empire naturally didn’t adhere to the Tang Army’s standard organizations but instead referenced the “infantry division” structures of its vassal nations.
In other words, it referenced Chu Country’s infantry division structure: a single division with a force of over 10,000 personnel, equipped with roughly 400 vehicles of various models, dozens of dium-caliber towed artillery pieces, and assorted other functional equipnt.
These include, but are not limited to, so anti-tank guns or anti-aircraft artillery, construction vehicles, armored vehicles, or Type-4 assault guns.
Each division typically had one or two battalions with similar equipnt, combining resources of two or three Chu Country infantry divisions to approximate a single Tang Army infantry division.
An armored division, of course, was priced far higher than this: the Orcs’ armored division—currently the sole division—was the 1st Armored Division operating on Ben Island. Its structure was modeled after the Great Tang Empire’s armored divisions for actual combat.
This armored division totaled nearly 500 tanks, a figure clearly far beyond what could be bought with tens of thousands of slaves. However, Shan Lu still intended to make an application to the Great Tang Empire, hoping to organize a second armored division.
Previously, Shan Lu resisted the idea—partly because he couldn’t afford it, and partly because he couldn’t maintain it. The fluctuating capacity of supply line infrastructures made supporting so many tanks clearly unattainable. Only recently, with the availability of ports and airports, could the Orcs sustain a second armored division.
In fact, the demand for a second armored division had only arisen recently—the Orcs wanted to achieve a breakthrough in the north, requiring a maneuverable armored unit for flanking maneuvers.
The Great Tang Empire agreed to the request but noted that the new tanks would take ti to transport. The Orc infantry would still need to rely on their own flesh and blood for swift breakthroughs against the Goblin forces in the north.
There was no alternative—for if they waited for the tanks, the Mirage Army would surely use that ti to further fortify its defenses. It’s hard to calculate which option—waiting or imdiately attacking—bears the greater cost.
Since no one knows for sure, no one dares to wait. That’s how war operates: even a lion uses its full strength to hunt a rabbit. The Führer waited in Kursk for his Ferdinand and Tiger tanks, only for the Soviet Red Army to counterattack with anti-tank trenches and minefields.
Thus, after rging the 4th and 5th divisions, the Orc’s 1st, 2nd, 4th, and 5th divisions ford an offensive cluster in the north, initiating an attack against the Goblins.
Lacking fortifications, ammunition, dicine, and food, the Mirage Army resisted fiercely but achieved little.
The Orc forces advanced an average of 10 kiloters per day, pushing the Goblins into continuous retreat. It looked as though the Goblins were on the verge of collapse. However, they still held onto one hope: the covert reinforcent from Mirage Country’s 3rd Armored Division.
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