Capítulo 1708: Chapter 1625: Dramatic Shift in the Situation
Of course, whether Lu De did it on purpose or accidentally, he himself was unsure. In any case, when the Elf 3rd Corps began retreating, at least one-fifth of the Elf Troops stayed in position, awaiting orders.
These Elf rear guard troops were destined to have no hope of breaking through; they would beco lambs to the slaughter within the vast encirclent of the Tang Army, alongside the left-wing troops of the Dwarf 8th Corps.
The Tang Army sank its teeth into the retreating Elf Troops, leaving sufficient forces to deal with those Dwarves and Elves who did not withdraw. This chase began abruptly, catching everyone off guard.
Binghan the First couldn’t even believe his troops had been defeated. Upon receiving the news, he wanted to verify the situation with Vankelus and Durman.
But when he discovered he couldn’t contact either of them, he roughly guessed everything might be true: his troops had been defeated; even though the 7th Corps and 10th Corps had reached the front lines, they were unable to reverse the blunder.
Now he didn’t even know what to do to stop the losses: a massive gap had opened along the entire front line, from the left-wing of the 8th Corps to the West Coast, a defensive line stretching hundreds of kiloters had vanished.
To plug this gap, at least two to three more Corps are needed, and that is just the basic requirent! In fact, two Corps are far from enough; even five Corps might not suffice!
Bear in mind, this line was previously guarded by two and a half Corps: comprised of the Elf 2nd and 3rd Corps, and part of the Dwarf 8th Corps.
And it took the Tang Army less than three days to destroy these two and a half Corps! If this defensive line is to be solidified, at least three or four, perhaps even five Corps are needed!
Even five Corps might be unreliable, as with the Tang Army advancing south, this line is lengthening! Consequently, the number of troops needed to fill the line is also continuously increasing!
Thinking about this, Binghan the First even started to resent the Elves: the defeat of these Elf Troops directly caused the military situation within the Ice Cold Empire to deteriorate.
Of course, he would absolutely not bla the failure on the 8th Corps’ position being breached, nor reflect on why previous battles also went poorly.
He would tirelessly attribute the responsibility to the Elf Race’s cowardice and begin fantasizing about his troops swiftly plugging this sudden large gap.
Now he could only deploy the newly ford 11th and 12th Corps. These two units actually lack guaranteed combat effectiveness, and their weapons and equipnt are quite diocre.
Yet now, he had no choice but to rely on such gap filling troops, so he imdiately ordered the two units to move laterally and quickly threaten the southward-moving Tang Army from the flanks to stabilize the battle situation.
At this mont, he didn’t have the mind to care about illusory issues like the Tang Army repairing Eternal Winter City; he was preoccupied with establishing a solid defensive line quickly to stabilize the situation.
As the war progressed, the Dwarf Empire had already lost one-fifth of its territory; Tang Army aircraft could cover the remaining parts… If this trend of losing cities continues, the Ice Cold Empire will be thoroughly finished.
In Binghan the First’s view, the most realistic plan now is to swiftly assemble the troops, stabilize the line, and establish a solid line to slow the pace of the war.
As long as both sides consu continuously, the Great Tang Empire will have to calculate the costs of continuing the war. When the costs of war outweigh the benefits, the Tang Country might consider ending it.
In essence, this is at least a relatively attainable goal. Previously, the Allied Forces focused exclusively on the plan to reclaim Eternal Winter City, which now seems increasingly unreliable.
At this ti, Vankelus had already escaped at his own pace: he traveled lightly, even bringing few of his guard troops, fleeing southward towards Saint Luo.
To ensure his safety, he hadn’t even activated his radio equipnt or concerned himself with the survival of his own troops.
Because he understood that once his location was exposed, a strike from the Tang Army would quickly follow: whether it be Tang Country’s special forces arriving by helicopter or guided weapons descending from the sky, all could potentially take his life.
Thus, he turned off all communication, frantically fleeing 150 kiloters before finally steadying his position. Only then did he rember he was indeed the commander of the 2nd Corps.
Therefore, he sent out his confidants to begin the inefficient task of gathering nearby retreating soldiers: these subordinates were ordered north to assemble whatever retreating soldiers they could find, hoping to barely piece together so troops.
As a result of this crude thod, Vankelus managed to gather just over 3,000 people after two days, thanks largely to the Elves being relatively easy to identify on Dwarven turf.
The utterly fragnted Elf 2nd Corps certainly wouldn’t regain combat effectiveness anyti soon; the 3rd Corps wasn’t faring much better either.
Lu De’s whereabouts were still unknown; tens of thousands of Elf Troops died, with several thousand captured.
Like on a vacation, the Tang Army marched south, soothing local Dwarf citizens, capturing Elf prisoners everywhere, advancing over 200 kiloters in five days.
Hoge nearly burst into laughter: his 1st Corps effortlessly captured at least 100,000 Elf Troops, seizing prisoners along the way, sweeping aside all enemies before him without a scratch.
The heroes of this campaign were undoubtedly the newly arrived 11th Corps, and Ying An was even praised by Tang Mo via telephone. The strategic maneuver forcing the Elf Troops to abandon positions and begin retreat was a classic, centing the Tang Army’s foothold on the Eastern Continent.
To coordinate with the army’s attack, Bernard personally led the navy’s main fleet southward, pressing Hotwind Port, seeking a decisive mariti battle.
The navy’s operational plan was straightforward this ti: annihilate the Elf and Dwarf naval fleets, destroy Saint Luo, Hotwind Port, and Osa Military Harbor, and push enemy residual naval forces further south to guarantee absolute safety of the Tang Army’s sea routes.
For the navy, this plan was extrely simple; if not for previous shortages of land-based airfields diverting much of naval aviation’s focus to protecting landing troops, they could have done this long ago.
Now that the Tang Army had stabilized the land battle, the navy could finally divert so of its strength to give their opponents a tough ti.
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Two chapters today
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