Eric certainly knew which rooms Tagg was referring to. Back then, he was just an officer in the Northern Ridge Legion, and had nearly witnessed the love between Alice, the Miss of Northern Ridge, and the future Emperor of the Great Tang.
Joking aside, tidying up the rooms of the Imperial Concubine and His Majesty The Emperor is certainly an honor. He felt he had to go over personally. Otherwise, why had Eric commanded the 8th Corps to travel day and night to Northern Ridge? Wasn’t it just to protect those cherished mories?
"Also, send a telegraph to Strauss, tell him... since he chose Jade City, don’t waste ti," after arranging matters at the Wolf City Lord Mansion, Tagg instructed his adjutant again.
Heading all the way south had indeed tired him out, and he needed rest. But the Empire’s military needed no rest; they should erode the obstacles and reclaim the lands that once belonged to the Great Tang Empire.
Strauss had no feelings for Wolf City; he was Brunas by birth, studying in the Great Tang Group’s school, and later entered the Great Tang Military Academy. His outstanding performance led to his assignnt to Dorne.
Back then, he was the shining military star alongside Bolton, known as the dual excellence of Dorne, leading military campaigns that built Dorne Kingdom’s supremacy, and even won his wife during Dorne’s triumph.
Yet such glory was brief. Soon, due to Dorne’s forceful seizure of Winterless City, they left Dorne. From then onward, Dorne’s twins turned into the sharpest spear of the Great Tang Empire.
Perhaps Dorne the First would wake up at midnight regretting his foolish decision: If only he hadn’t greedily taken back Winterless Port, maybe his imperial twins could have secured more victories for him.
Maybe he could have annexed Laines Empire, defeated the Empire of Nanla, becoming the great Monarch who unified the southern Eastern Continent.
Yet, alas, there are no what-ifs in this world. He ultimately lost both Strauss and Bolton, along with his only chance to look far ahead.
The younger Strauss and Bolton didn’t hold much nostalgia for Northern Ridge. So, he left the opportunity to go to Northern Ridge to the veteran Eric, while leading the main forces of the 3rd Corps to attack the still fiercely battling Jade City.
When he received the telegraph from Wolf City, Strauss had just woken up in his armored command vehicle. Along the way, he had truly faced the elents: pushing his troops to advance daily and sending them sprinting several hundred kiloters south.
His military force had indeed pierced through the entire Suthers Empire from north to south, only stopping near Ice Crystal City to rest for two days.
Now, his main forces had clashed with the Dorne troops defending in Northern Jade City, giving Strauss a sowhat absurd feeling of eting old acquaintances.
Due to previous mishaps, he hadn’t fought against Dorne troops formally. Finally, he had this chance now.
Many in the once Dorne military reminisced about the days following Strauss and Bolton across battles north and south. Now they faced none other than the Strauss they once missed.
"Ha..." yawning, Strauss handed the telegraph back to his adjutant, then ordered: "Reply to the Marshal, tell him I’m already advancing."
After finishing, he looked to his liaison officer: "Where is the position of the 3rd Armored Division? Tell their Division Commander, today I want them to advance to Jade City North Suburb..."
"Yes!" the liaison officer imdiately agreed upon hearing the order.
Soon, the Dorne troops stationed in Northern Jade City felt an unprecedented pressure. For all those days, they hadn’t really fought seriously against the Tang Army.
Watching their Laines allies in the south being severely beaten daily, they had laughed heartily for several days, thinking that Paul, Laines Empire’s commander, was a complete fool.
In the eyes of Dorne generals, Paul was the epito of foolishness: He estimated that putting Dorne further north from the Tang Army would make Dorne absorb more losses, but unexpectedly, the Tang Army launched a fierce attack from the west, causing the Laines troops lurking southwest of Jade City to suffer intolerable setbacks.
The deploynt aid at avoiding losses back then beca a joke. But now, those Dorne troops in Northern Jade City finally realized - their position wasn’t very favorable either.
Countless shells fell on their positions, and the Tang Army troops ready after advancing south began showing their sharp claws right from the start.
Dozens of Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft were circling above, with the ground filled with black smoke from shells. The Dorne defenders, unclear of the situation, already lost the outer positions they had ticulously established for a month.
Bodies falling on the battlefield served as testimony to all that laughing at Laines Empire was itself a folly.
Originally, Tang Army in the north was several kiloters from Jade City, with their headquarters still in Ice Crystal City. But with good railway support, the northern Tang Army advanced the line to under 3 kiloters from Jade City District in a single day.
On that sa day, Paul ordered all troops inside Jade City to prepare for street fights. He planned to turn Jade City into ruins, making its ruins an unassailable fortress.
Sensing the deteriorating situation, he sent a telegram to Emperor Laines II, expressing determination to coexist with Jade City and not betray Laines II’s favor of promotion.
Receiving this telegram, Laines II truly didn’t know whether to cry or laugh. He indeed found a relatively good general, loyal and reasonably capable, so he should be happy.
Yet here was the problem: The telegram from this general seed to reek of decisiveness. It looked like executing the grand plan of staunchly defending Jade City might face so issues.
Certainly, these issues could be enormous...
If Jade City falls, Tang Army will have crossed the most treacherous mountainous regions, leaving them with a virtually unobstructed path.
Not only within Laines Empire almost devoid of defensible terrains, extending to Northern Dorne, there are hardly any substantial barriers.
Rivers and small mountains might offer advantageous defenses to other nations’ troops, but against the Tang Army, these rivers and hills are akin to flatlands.
Next, he, Emperor Laines II... must consider how indeed to confront the approaching Tang Army.
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