Munitions Empire

Chapter 524 492 Steel Behemoth

The northern front of the Gobur battleground was littered with countless craters, and it was rare to see any trees that were still intact. Most of the large trees were left with only bare trunks, tilting precariously between the two armies' lines.

If one looked closely, almost every large tree had several bodies sprawled haphazardly underneath. This was because there was always the belief that these large trees could serve as cover, allowing one to survive a few seconds more amid the storm of bullets and shells.

In reality, these locations were often the focus of the enemy's machine guns and Ranger sharpshooters. Those hiding here were quickly killed, often even faster than those soldiers who simply lay flat on the ground.

The entire battlefield rose and fell intermittently, and the visibility was not particularly good, but if one was careful to stay prone and then leap forward, one could avoid most of the bullets.@@@@

However, that's how people are; in the face of great terror, in the face of death, how many are brave enough to stand and step forward?

The stalemate at the frontline had persisted for nearly a month, and everyone felt that the war was close to its end.

No one was able to breach the enemy's defenses; everyone could only huddle in the trenches, listening to the sounds of artillery and counting the days. This kind of war was a test of endurance, obviously very dull and hopeless.

Maritime transport was in complete chaos; the prosperity of the Endless Sea had long since vanished, and today, the majority of trade ships seen belonged to the Tang Kingdom.

The maritime department of the Great Tang Group possessed a vast number of cargo ships, and thanks to these vessels, trade in the Endless Sea still continued uninterrupted.

However, prosperous trade routes had been reduced to just a few, and it became an unspoken rule that the merchant ships traversing these routes could not be attacked, as these routes were not considered war zones.

The premise of deflecting a crisis is to achieve victory, but if there are no benefits to be gained from the war, then the shock brought by the war itself would only exacerbate domestic tensions.

Corruption issues within the Empire of Nanla began to slowly emerge, and the people's displeasure with the decadent Empire grew, leading to unrest in some areas.

The war had only erupted six months ago, and although most of this discontent could still be suppressed and controlled, the Empire of Nanla was just barely maintaining stability.

The same issues also appeared in the rapidly expanding but unstable Laines Empire; people in the Germelin "region" broadly believed the new Emperor intentionally sent them to the front lines to die.

Citizens of the newly occupied regions were unwilling to join the army and fight, feeling they were being targeted; people from the original regions like Leite had their own grievances, believing inhabitants of new territories like Germelin should not enjoy any privileges—if the people of Germelin didn't go, then they from Leite wouldn't either.

Added to that, the Northern Ridge, Jade City, Brunas, and other traditional regions were not under their control, with the powerful troops of Northern Ridge technically part of the Laines Empire, though they had long become semi-independent. These vexing issues had caused Leines I much annoyance of late.

The Dorne Kingdom was similarly caught between a rock and a hard place, with pressure from the Laines Empire to the north and engagement in warfare with the Gobur Kingdom to the south, resulting in a quite passive conflict.

What started as surprise attacks had now turned into trench warfare. Even with the Twin Giants of the Empire, Bolton and Strauss, matters were not looking up.

Strauss was forced to head north to deal with the Laines Empire's hundred thousand troops, leaving Bolton to face the protracted battle with the Gobur Kingdom in the south.

Both sides employed airships and had anti-aircraft guns for interception, sustaining heavy losses. Even the airship troops, akin to suicide squads, were a one-time expendable resource, facing missions from which they never returned.