Munitions Empire

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"The undercurrents are surging!" Tang Mo stretched lazily in his office at Dragon's Den, expressing his feelings to Yulin as he tossed aside the intelligence report in his hand.

Yulin shrugged his attractive shoulders and replied, "Everyone has their own ideas, especially when there are so many countries involved."

Influenced heavily by the Great Tang Group, the eight countries formed what appeared to be a united and potent interest group, known to outsiders as the Trade Alliance.

This alliance, based on trade transactions, had jointly declared war on opposing nations several times, thus it was also a military coalition.

Such a vast and formidable coalition was naturally worrisome, yet during the somewhat absurd first year event of the empire's establishment, everyone could see the cracks within the Trade Alliance.

The Elf Race was dissatisfied with the foundation of the Ice Cold Empire, the Laines Empire resented the establishment of the Dorne Empire, Suthers was covertly contemplating the possibility of becoming a new empire, and the Orc Gales Kingdom had always harbored a deep hatred for the Elf Race.

These issues had been previously suppressed by the Great Tang Group using trade profits and technological support, while the individual countries were preoccupied with developing their industries and strengthening their national power, with little regard for the finer details.

Now, as reforms were gradually completed, every country had attained strengths beyond their previous imagination, which naturally led to the development of more ideas.

As Yulin said, with each individual having their own ideas, the presence of so many countries together made it even more pronounced.

"It doesn't matter! As long as they don't fall out over the tabletop, I can ignore these bothersome trifles," Tang Mo said with a smile, trivializing decisions that could greatly impact bilateral relations as "bothersome trifles."

As he spoke, he walked toward a giant map that was not entirely precise, saying, "In any case, as long as we take care of Zheng Country, all our problems will be solved. There's enough land there to sustain a large population and plenty of resources for us to exploit for a long time."

This was a map of Zheng Country, ten times, even a hundred times more accurate than any previous map of the country. In less than a year, the surveying teams dispatched by the Great Tang Group, working day and night in the field, had finally managed to draw a relatively accurate map of Zheng Country.

Undoubtedly, if this map were to appear in front of the ruler of Zheng Country, it would become a national treasure.

However, the maps in the hands of the ruler of Zheng Country were far from as accurate as the one before Tang Mo; in fact, they were not even comparable.

Tang Mo's map was meticulously marked with the locations of all the cities in Zheng Country, the road conditions near certain cities, the workshops and craftsmen within them, and the population numbers were all clearly recorded.

Even as a secret, after the map was drawn, it was annotated with magnets to indicate contents that dynamically changed.

For example, it showed which city lord had been bribed, where Zheng Country's military was stationed, which areas had begun constructing railroads, and which roads had been reinforced.

The extent of the construction at the harbor of Linshui City, its daily throughput, the number of students receiving higher education in schools of the nearby cities.

Exactly how many people in the coastal areas of Zheng Country were starting to see themselves as Tang People, and how many of the stationed troops there had already turned towards the Great Tang Group.

It could be said that by observing the changes on this map every day, Tang Mo could clearly know the progress of his conquest of Zheng Country, how many percent had already been completed.

The feeling was akin to observing a game loading screen, watching the progress bar gradually move forward towards full completion, incredibly intuitive.

In the most ideal scenario, as the progress bar reached the end, Zheng Country would peacefully transform and come completely under Tang Mo's control.

In that state, the King of Zheng Country, Zheng Tong, would willingly surrender his throne to Tang Mo, bowing three times and nine kowtows in a flawless process, resulting in a joyous and perfect ending for all.

In this ideal state, whether King Zheng Tong of Zheng Country took any medicine, slept with any woman, went to the toilet how many times, drank water at what time, or passed gas when, Tang Mo could know it as clear as day.

It could be said that by then, every person in Zheng Country would already be part of the Great Tang Group, conquering Zheng Country would merely be a matter of following the natural course.

However, Tang Mo also understood that such a complex and grand plan could not possibly proceed flawlessly until the very last second.

It was bound to be discovered, bound to encounter problems, and could not possibly be executed perfectly until the final step.

Therefore, the Staff Department and Nangong Hong marked a clear red line on the progress bar; the closer it got to this red line, the smaller the cost of success; the closer it got to this red line, the higher the chances of being discovered and sabotaged, of King Zheng beginning to resist and struggle.

Now, the progress bar was approximately at that red line because the moves of the Great Tang Group within the territory of Zheng Country could hardly be concealed any longer.

According to the analysis of materials provided by the intelligence department of the Great Tang Group, King Zheng Tong of Zheng Country has been growing increasingly anxious recently, asking more and more frequently about the possibility of 'cutting leeks.'

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He hoped to nationalize the early achievements of the "Westernization Movement," starting to worry that these constructions would turn out to be bridal garments for others.

There were reports that the Shen Country, which had begun industrialization even earlier than Zheng Country, was now eyeing the vast territories of Zheng, becoming restless.

The new-style troops trained by Zheng Country, however, were not as obedient as imagined, with most hoarding in the eastern coastal areas, unwilling to move north to solidify the border defenses.

The increasing number of railways and roads across the regions, along with the growing number of students and workers who embraced the Great Tang Group's mindset, could no longer be concealed.

Zheng Tong was no fool, and neither was Zhang Ming; they needed only to send trusted aides to discreetly ask around, and they could uncover some rather odd happenings.

For instance, as the markets within King City filled with more modern goods, which merchant did not have their own supply channels? Could they be unaware that the ships docking daily at Linshui Port had decks higher than the rooftops of taverns?

Even the most obtuse person would notice the numberless smokestacks outside the city, spewing thick smoke day and night. Even the most numb person could see that on the increasingly smooth roads, there were automobiles zooming by from who knows where.

Had Zheng Tong been unable to investigate these issues, he would have been dead hundreds of times over by now. The reason for his recent anxiety was precisely because he was learning more and more of these details.

"This Zheng Tong seems to be smarter than we thought; he's reacting faster than Nangong Hong and the Staff Department had anticipated," Tang Mo said as he looked at the map, changing the topic and speaking to Yulin.

In Tang Mo's view, the trade alliance was after all just an alliance, and it would inevitably face dissolution one day—the empires wouldn't peacefully continue to develop indefinitely. These nations, driven by greed, would become impatient and surely ignite wars!

An unbreakable alliance was a joke; war was eternal. Therefore, what Tang Mo was more concerned about was when he could become Emperor and join the fray to carve up the world.

"General Luff is perhaps a little too optimistic," Yulin said with a laugh to Tang Mo, "Because we always win, optimism tends to run high."

The newly established 1st Division of the Naval Marine Corps had occupied almost all of Zheng Country's offshore islands more than half a year ago and taken control of all of Zheng Country's trade routes.

Nowadays, all exported goods produced in the interior of Zheng Country were actually sold to Dongwan Island, and all imported goods received by Zheng Country were actually dispatched by the Great Tang Group. It seemed like trade, but in reality, it was internal resource distribution.

Having achieved a series of victories in battle, the military's undefeated record continued. Under such circumstances, it wouldn't be believable if one claimed there was no sense of optimism or pride—Tang Mo himself wouldn't believe it.

In fact, even the attack on Dongwan Island, wasn't it launched under Tang Mo's command, as the whole military optimistically began it, disregarding objective laws and various problems?

"Optimism is good! However, we must guard against arrogance and impetuosity," Tang Mo then responded perfunctorily before turning to Yulin, as though inquiring yet seemingly discussing, "So, should we slightly adjust our battle plan against Zheng Country, and start it ahead of schedule?" Discover hidden stories at empire

"If you were to ask Tagg, he would definitely tell you that everything is ready," Yulin replied with a smile.

She seemed to answer the question, yet not quite.

What Tang Mo wanted to confirm was whether the military was ready to start a war. Yulin's answer was: ready, yet not entirely ready.

Tang Mo was well aware of Tagg's character; Tagg would not disobey Tang Mo's attack orders because of some minor issues.

But the military probably wasn't perfectly prepared; in fact, being completely ready for a war is itself an impossibility.

Even if one thinks everything is foolproof, a variety of issues will still emerge after the outbreak of war. This was something Tang Mo, the arms dealer, knew very well, and also something he was sure he could not change.

He could address all detail issues through research, but when it came down to actual execution, due to real-world constraints, things would still become chaotic.

Imagine having plenty of ammunition prepared, but if there's only limited transport capacity and the ammunition can't be delivered on time to the front lines where it's most needed, won't there still be a problem?

There will still be problems! He could not ensure that every vehicle would run without faults, nor could he guarantee that each unit would meet planned resistance or predict the enemy's counterattack direction or intensity.

In the end, various issues would still arise on the battlefield, so Tagg would not refuse any of Tang Mo's orders and would loyally carry them out.

Because he is Tagg!

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I'm not feeling well today, so there will only be two updates. The rest will be postponed...