Munitions Empire

A Dwarf mounted on a pony gazed at the distant battlefield, a huge castle stood at the end of the frozen wilderness.

That was Furnace Fortress, the center of the Dwarf world. After the strongest Dwarf Empire that had established the global monetary system crumbled, this place became the holy land in the hearts of all Dwarfs.

Now, the holy land was right before him, and his troops were less than a day's march from here.

However, what lay on this road was not flowers to welcome him, but the densely packed formations of the enemy.

The rotten Northern Dwarf Empire was a once-mighty nation, now on its last legs, merely a shabby house ready to collapse with a single push.

Four months ago, the Ice Cold Kingdom, as a newly risen kingdom, joined the ranks of those challenging the Northern Dwarf Empire.

They were stronger than the other Dwarf Kingdoms around, possessing more advanced tactics and a more formidable military, equipped with more advanced weapons, and had a tactics team from who knows where advising them.

Contrary to common sense, the Ice Cold Kingdom's army started a war in the unsuitable winter season, catching the Northern Dwarf Empire off guard.

Then, the Ice Cold Kingdom's forces split into five routes, bursting into the heartland of the Northern Dwarf Empire. These troops swept through resistance and directly shattered the Northern Dwarf Empire's defensive system.

To the north, 10,000 Dwarf cavalry from Eternal Winter City advanced 400 kilometers in five days, moving into the rear of Furnace Fortress.

Supporting this force were 200 transport trucks and 40,000 war and pack horses that the Ice Cold Kingdom had gathered.

The two armies on the main front made rapid progress as well, one capturing Tos Fortress, the most relied upon stronghold on the Northern Dwarf Empire's border, while the other advanced eastward and took Rubin, the economic hub of the Northern Dwarf Empire.

The Dwarfs that took Tos Fortress used 30 cannons with a caliber of 105 millimeters. These second-hand heavy cannons were even directly appropriated from Brunas's security troops, all to support the Ice Cold Kingdom's troops in successfully capturing Tos.

The Ice Cold Kingdom's main force that attacked Rubin created a miracle by routing a 100,000-strong army of the Northern Dwarf Kingdom with only 40,000 troops. The superiority of needle guns was fully exhibited in this battle.

The 100,000-strong army of the Northern Dwarf Kingdom, armed with flintlock guns, was practically pounded into the ground by the Ice Cold Kingdom's troops in the battle.

Amidst the rising waves of crazed "Ura" cheers, the Ice Cold Kingdom's troops were the first to break through the enemy lines, leading to a comical scene of capturing prisoners.

The two forces in the far south were not trifling either, with one crossing the southern ice river, cutting off Furnace Fortress's southern supply line.

The other force swept through the richer southern regions like an autumn breeze through fallen leaves, completely thwarting the Northern Dwarf Empire's plan to leverage its vast territory to conscript more soldiers for war.

Looking at the fighting style of this "surprise force" from the southernmost route, it was almost a replay of Tang Mo's advance into the southern part of Suthers.

If anyone were to say there wasn't a student of Tang Mo involved in the command, no one would believe it—this student had almost replicated Tang Mo's classic case of attacking the south of Suthers, pursuing a campaign of living off the enemy territories, causing turmoil in the southern parts of the Northern Dwarf Empire as a liberator.

In the old world's semi-slave and semi-feudal system, the classic propaganda routine of "follow me with a gun in hand" was unsurprisingly effective.

Ultimately, after four months, the Ice Cold Kingdom miraculously arrived at the foot of Furnace Fortress and was about to encircle this mighty city with over 4,000 years of history.

To defend its capital, the Emperor of the Northern Dwarf Empire at Furnace Fortress gathered a 150,000-strong army by hook or by crook, personally commanding them in preparation for a decisive battle with the Ice Cold Kingdom's troops here.

The Ice Cold Kingdom's commander-in-chief—or rather, the nominal commander-in-chief Dwarf General Moss—would lead the combined force of 75,000 to spark this fate-deciding decisive battle.

In this battle, the Northern Dwarf Empire's battle plans were very clear: they were to defend Furnace Fortress, the great city symbolizing the true heritage of the Dwarfs.

For Dwarfs, this place was akin to Jerusalem, it was like Constantinople, it was virtually Kiev Rus (erroneously)...

Therefore, the Emperor of the Northern Dwarf Empire spread his 150,000 troops across the four fronts of Furnace Fortress.

The most troops were stationed on the western side to engage the enemy head-on, about 100,000 troops. On the northern and southern sides, there were about 20,000 troops each, with the eastern side being the safest, hence only 10,000 troops were placed there as reserves.

The majority of this force was still armed with Shireck's flintlock guns, and their equipment was generally outdated, with many troops not even having a full complement of artillery.

Since almost all of the field troops had been lost, the Northern Dwarf Empire had no cavalry or expensive automobiles, those kinds of advanced contraptions anymore.

```

Although they were outnumbered, the military of the Ice Cold Kingdom was clearly more advanced and powerful. They were equipped with at least 100 75mm caliber field howitzers, all of which were the latest products of the Great Tang Group, essentially the renowned French 75mm gun.

The performance of these cannons was very advanced, and they could advance with the troops. They were far superior to the 250mm caliber Doomsday version muzzle-loading cannons deployed on the walls of Furnace Fortress.

Whether in terms of range, power, precision, or rate of fire, these cannons were more than capable of crushing any opponent of the era.

Nearly all the dwarves who took part in the combat had almost all switched to bolt-action rifles, which varied in quality; the vast majority were second-hand.

Yes, due to the urgency of time, about a third of the frontline weapons of the Ice Cold Kingdom were second-hand weapons directly brought in from the control areas of the Great Tang Group. A large part of them came from the rearmament of the Northern Ridge troops, as well as the rearmament of the security forces of Great Tang.

Of course, some were produced by the Great Tang Group in an overtime rush due to time constraints, with their quality even declining significantly.

How bad were they? They were about the lower limit of the quality of Great Tang Group's weapon production... But this lower limit seemed to be a bit —— just a bit —— higher than Shireck's.

If one didn't consider the number of soldiers, it seemed as if the Ice Cold Kingdom had an absolute advantage, but they also had their own concerns and hidden dangers.

Enjoy exclusive chapters from empire

Their forced entry into the Northern Dwarf Empire in winter had three objectives: on one hand, to leverage the higher logistical support provided by the backing of the Great Tang Group; on the other hand, to catch the Northern Dwarf Empire by surprise; the third was to use the winter season to block other dwarf kingdoms from having a share of the spoils.

The first point is easy to understand. Because they had automobile supplies and a weapon advantage, waging war in winter was not an impossible task for the Ice Cold Kingdom.

In contrast, the Northern Dwarf Empire, disadvantaged in logistical supplies, was extremely reluctant to go to war in winter—they'd rather fight in summer when the roads were easier to traverse.

The second point meant starting the war in winter when food reserves were at their lowest, which could put the Northern Dwarf Empire on the back foot. The Ice Cold Kingdom had grain supplies from the southern regions that were plentiful and cheap, but as a standard landlocked country, the Northern Dwarf Empire did not have that luxury.Nôv(el)B\\jnn

In a situation where everyone used to understand each other's capabilities, the Northern Dwarf Empire wouldn't seriously prepare for war in winter, both tactically and strategically, they were very lax.

The third point was even easier to understand. The other dwarf kingdoms surrounding the Northern Dwarf Empire, who coveted Furnace Fortress, were well known to all. So if they wanted to swallow Furnace Fortress whole, they had to be smart.

In the past, there had been instances when one kingdom was close to defeating the Northern Dwarf Empire, but the others would either support the Northern Dwarf Empire or outright encircle Wei to save Zhao.

Therefore, to achieve its war goals, the Ice Cold Kingdom needed to be fast. They had to capture Furnace Fortress before the other kingdoms could react and before the end of winter, to secure their new border.

By that time, they would become the new overlords of the dwarf world, the new hope for once again unifying the dwarves!

But everything had to be quick! Very quick! They had to end the war before the other countries could mobilize slowly during winter.

Then, with the subsequent support from the Great Tang Group and the continuous supply of arms, they, with the might of having swallowed the Northern Dwarf Empire, made the neighboring countries too wary to wage war, and could slowly digest the fruits of victory.

As for any foolhardy clowns who might dare to declare war on the Ice Cold Kingdom... everyone was actually prepared.

With tens of thousands of battle-hardened troops and the miraculous staff team of Great Tang, it would be more than enough to defeat a few small kingdoms that didn't know any better. After annihilating several armies of other kingdoms that came to attack, the rest would no longer dare to act rashly.

In short, as long as the Great Tang Group was strong, clinging to the Great Tang Group's thick thigh and calling it "daddy" was the way to go. As long as they offered enough, "daddy" wouldn't abandon the Ice Cold Kingdom, the dutiful son!

Although it was somewhat shameless to say this, and the Ice Cold Kingdom would never admit to having such a thought, the fact was that this was exactly what they did.

After using gold, copper, iron mines and oil as debt repayment, they were even planning to use tariffs to bargain.

Indeed, voluntarily becoming a vassal state to the Qing dynasty in reality, they definitely ranked as an oddity among powerful nations.

However, unlike the Qing dynasty which suffered humiliation after losing battles, for the Ice Cold Kingdom, this was a high-stakes gamble.

If they won, they could become the overlords of the dwarf world, sacrificing only a small part for what countless generations had dreamt of.

"No matter what, Furnace Fortress is now within our sights!" Moss sat on horseback, eyes filled with longing for the city.

He hoped to become the first hero to break into Furnace Fortress, a hero of the Ice Cold Kingdom, or rather, of the entire dwarf world...a hero!

```