In an office that didn’t seem very large, the Dwarf Pri Minister was sitting behind his desk, looking at General Larb, the Imperial Chief of Staff who had co to visit.
Having just learned of a trendous event, Larb was sowhat anxious. He placed so docunts on the Pri Minister’s desk and began to speak: "Pri Minister, the Elf’s frontline Air Force troops are being recalled to their holand... Should this information be reported to His Majesty?"
The fact that the Elves had withdrawn many advanced jet fighters could not be concealed at all, and the Dwarves soon learned about it. Soone reported this to Larb, and Larb imdiately realized the seriousness of the situation.
After a series of failures, the Allied Forces began to show signs of fighting separately, and the situation of resisting the Tang Army together seed to be on the verge of collapse. This was not good news for the Dwarves on the front lines.
The Pri Minister lowered his head to look at the docunts, then removed the reading glasses from his nose. After thinking for a mont, he said, "I don’t think it’s necessary. You could ask Marquis Leyen what exactly is going on."
Recently, many things had started to be kept from Emperor Binghan the First, because the situation around Furnace Fortress was really looking quite grim.
The Dwarves were being pushed from three directions and had lost a series of defensive lines. The train station to the west was almost impossible to defend, the residential area to the east was mostly lost, and hearing from the north, it seed quite passive, as Tang Army’s tanks had already pushed into the city.
In such circumstances, reporting the battle situation to Binghan the First no longer held any aning. Previously, in order to persuade Binghan the First to retreat south, they had reported the battle situation honestly for a period, but Binghan the First was determined to stay in Furnace Fortress, so they had no intention of frightening him further.
The problem now wasn’t frightening him: Tang Army’s artillery could almost cover more than ninety percent of Furnace Fortress, and at any mont, they might give Ice Cold Empire a surprise.
By concentrating a hundred or so artillery pieces and preparing two ammunition loads, almost everyone in Furnace Fortress would realize the fact of Tang Army’s incursion into the fortress.
Seeing the Pri Minister’s official deanor, Larb spoke frankly: "I asked him, and he said that the Elves are planning a counterattack against Hotwind Port and need to concentrate more air power."
"Do you find this explanation reasonable?" The Pri Minister played with his reading glasses, sneering with disdain as he asked in return.
Larb was not a fool. He imdiately shook his head and expressed his thoughts: "Obviously, they are doing this to preserve their strength and not for so nonsense about Hotwind Port."
Hotwind Port had already fallen, and losing one such port was far from damaging the Elves critically. But if the Dwarves lost Furnace Fortress, the strategic situation would be entirely different.
Anyone who isn’t a fool could weigh the importance; at this ti, diverting forces from Furnace Fortress to support Hotwind Port would be extrely foolish.
The Pri Minister put down his reading glasses, unsure if he felt sorry for the Elves’ foolishness or for the Dwarves’ troubled fate: "I hope they won’t regret today’s decision tomorrow. In reality, no matter how much they try to preserve their strength, it will be futile."
"Indeed, in the current situation, do they still think the Tang Army will stop advancing south and allow their empire to recuperate peacefully for decades?" Larb also couldn’t understand the other’s actions.
The Pri Minister, adept at understanding human nature, explained the Elves’ reasoning: "But General Larb, if it were you, I assu you wouldn’t waste all of your strength at your neighbor’s doorstep either."
"..." Initially wanting to refute, in the end, Larb was choked. Those inhuman words ultimately couldn’t escape his mouth.
"On our side, the battle situation is almost hopeless. You likely know better than I the actual state of Furnace Fortress. Tomorrow, if the Tang Army enters the city, I wouldn’t be surprised at all." While speaking, the Pri Minister glanced around the surrounding walls.
This was a basent, so naturally, there were no windows or such. The dim lighting made his eyes even worse, and the stale air tornted the old man.
Compared to the outside, the environnt here was sowhat better. At least there were paintings on the walls to lighten the atmosphere, and there were servers to bring drinks and food. Yet it remained cramped and oppressive, constantly reminding one of the Ice Cold Empire’s precarious fate.
"But, Pri Minister, we still have several hundred thousand troops fighting within Furnace Fortress. We can still hold on. Winter is coming soon, and the Tang Army will be defeated by the severe cold. We are bound to achieve final victory." Despite the passive battle situation, Larb still saw a possibility for victory.
According to military plans, once winter arrived, the main Tang army trapped in the wilderness by many night-fighting units would naturally suffer heavy losses. At that ti, they could stabilize the front line and at least hold until next spring.
Many people, taking things as they co, felt that settling the outco at that ti, even if they lost Furnace Fortress, would be a matter for next year and didn’t warrant imdiate worry...
The Pri Minister poured cold water on their hopes: "Nice idea, but have we prepared ourselves for the coming of winter? Do your troops, or rather Xie Ke’s troops, Marshal Balov’s troops, have enough fuel and winter clothing?"
"..." Once again, Larb was speechless. According to his knowledge, the Dwarves’ troops indeed had not prepared for winter. Even though the city was not completely surrounded, supplies had barely been transported from the South to Furnace Fortress.
On one hand, the changes in the battle situation led to Furnace Fortress gradually losing direct control over other areas, and each region began considering its own interests. On the other hand, the Dwarves’ industrial system had completely collapsed, and there were no longer sufficient resources that could be sent to support the defense of Furnace Fortress.
Previously, when the Dwarves fought the Elves, many industrial facilities were built in the North for safety reasons: which was where the Great Tang Group’s aid projects began extending into the Dwarven-controlled areas from Eternal Winter Port.
Large-scale oil refineries, mines, and steel plants, along with auxiliary machinery repair shops... all of these heavy industries were concentrated in the North, or mostly so. Now, these areas were all occupied by the Tang Army, and it was no wonder that the Dwarves’ industrial system rapidly collapsed.
Over the years, after expelling the Great Tang Group, the Dwarves built factories by themselves, and later purchased production line equipnt from the Great Tang Empire, all of which were placed near Furnace Fortress, as it was relatively safer and easier to manage from there.
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