Munitions Empire

"You... be careful out there!" Alice was a bit shy and somewhat troubled. She couldn't figure out her place, yet felt she needed to stand there and urge him with that line.

Logically, with her status, she shouldn't be saying things like a little wife, but she just couldn't help coming over and saying it anyway.

"Okay!" Tang Mo felt a long-missed warmth, so he mounted his horse and, as he pulled the reins, he responded to Alice with that word.

"What task has Lord Earl given us?" Wes, riding his horse, followed beside and slightly behind Tang Mo, asking loudly.

"To hold the Triple Fork! Do you know that place?" Tang Mo answered without turning his head.

"I know... but are you sure he asked us to do something that can't be done?" Wes sounded a bit hesitant, but he decided it was still necessary to remind Tang Mo.

"No choice. If we can't do it, Northern Ridge will have no chance of winning at all." Tang Mo, while riding back to his troops, said helplessly.

Seeing Tang Mo and Wes return, Tagg, Luff, and the others who had been waiting with the troops approached on horseback, coming together with Tang Mo.

The group found a hill slope that allowed them to oversee their troops passing on the road below; they dismounted and made this temporary headquarters.

"Where's the artillery?" Curious upon seeing the return of Tang Mo and his group, Tagg asked.

According to the original plan, Tang Mo should have brought back 20 field cannons and about 200 artillerymen.

These artillerymen could provide effective support for their operations on the plains and also take some pressure off Tang Mo's group, which only had six cannons.

Tang Mo shook his head and replied helplessly, "I'm afraid, Tagg, there are no cannons left!"

"What do you mean?" Tagg was taken aback and then looked at Wes, then back at Tang Mo.

"The materials supported by the Kingdom for Lord Earl Fisheo were lost in the rout, so now we can only rely on ourselves." Tang Mo could only explain in detail.

He spoke briefly about confirmed and unconfirmed news, which made everyone's expression grow more serious.

Tagg had also just learned the latest news: the artillery meant to support Northern Ridge had fallen into Suthers' forces' hands, and it was almost certain that Northern Ridge's reinforcements would not arrive.

Without artillery support, and without aid from the direction of Brunas, all they could rely on now was what little they themselves had on hand.

"But, but we only have six cannons!" Luff, on the other side, emphasized with some gloom.

Redman, not wanting to diminish his own pride, added, "Yes, but we also have 400 Quick Guns, don't we?"

"Sir! Although we have a clear advantage in firearms, at long range, artillery is the key to determining the outcome of a war." Tagg, the only commander here with combat experience, could only remind Tang Mo with as much concern as possible.

He had battle experience, so he had to stand out and inform Tang Mo of the risks of war, so that Tang Mo could avoid these risks as much as possible.

Earl Fisheo had him stay with Tang Mo for this very reason: in critical moments, having such an experienced officer meant Tang Mo had another counselor at hand.

Hearing Tagg say this, Tang Mo gave a bitter smile yet again, "I know, but that's not the worst of the news."

He had bitterly smiled several times that day because it seemed he had only heard news that couldn't be any worse.

It was like one day at school when you learn that there'll be a quiz in the afternoon, only to then find out you've left your notes at home, and when you want to cheat, you discover that even your desk-mate didn't revise, and after submitting your paper, you remember you didn't write your name on it...

"What do you mean? Is there worse news?" Luff and Redman were both shocked by what Tang Mo had just said.

If facing the enemy with an under-strength battalion of new recruits wasn't the worst news already, then what could the worst news be?

Tang Mo had no time for suspense, so he answered directly, "Yes, there is worse news! The Earl expects our troops to push forward to the Triple Fork and hold off the Suthers forces coming from both north and east."

"He's having us cover his retreat back to Wolf City?" Tagg, familiar with the terrain, immediately grew pale.

Tang Mo shook his head, letting Tagg's face regain some color. But his subsequent words put pressure on everyone, like mountains: "No, the Earl intends to lead his troops westward tomorrow morning and engage in a decisive battle with the enemy forces head-on. He hopes we can restrain the enemy's flanks and cover him to win this engagement."

"Are you kidding me? He's going to attack 5000 men with 1500?" Luff and Redman exclaimed in shock.

In their view, it was already a very difficult task to barely hold the line with 1500 men—despite having quick-firing guns, it was still not easy.

However, Lord Earl intended to attack 5000, possibly even 6000 men with 1500 troops. The courage and boldness required were so immense that it commanded admiration.

"Yes, that is the plan," Tang Mo nodded in confirmation.

Finally, Wes joined in the conversation: "If he weren't Fisheo, I would almost be certain he is deceiving us, but since he is Fisheo... I don't know what to do now."

"Lord Earl would never abandon us and run away alone," Tagg said with difficulty. "He will definitely launch an attack; there is no doubt about that."

"That is why I choose to believe in him!" Tang Mo glanced at Tagg, then surveyed his own commanders before he continued, "Luckily, we still have some things hidden away, don't we?"

It was the first time Tagg had truly realized the extent of Tang Mo's resources, and he couldn't help but exclaim, "Yes, even Lord Earl doesn't know that you've trained an additional 100 soldiers, have 6 cannons of your own, and hid away 40 cavalrymen."

What he really didn't know was that Tang Mo, using the trained regulars as the backbone for his officers, had organized hunters from Northern Ridge and the unemployed gathered by Brunas into an army, training three companies of troops.

He didn't know what the term "company" exactly meant, but he did know that what Tang Mo referred to as a company was roughly a unit of 120 men.

Each company was divided into three platoons, and each platoon had its own platoon leader. These infantry platoons had apparently all trained in the Vicious Forest and had each carried out bandit suppression missions on their own.

What surprised him even more was that when the three companies were combined, it formed what Tang Mo called a new recruits camp, and it actually had artillery.

Moreover, the artillery corps that Tang Mo belonged to was even larger in scale than the typical battalion-level artillery corps: although his battalion had only 6 cannons, it was composed of over 100 artillerymen.

These artillerymen were in classrooms half a month ago, being personally taught artillery techniques by Tang Mo, but Tagg was unaware of their actual combat capability.

He only knew that these artillerymen were surprisingly equipped with over 100 warhorses, and additionally, there were 40 wagons accompanying them, creating quite an impressive sight.

Furthermore, every soldier in the entire troop was issued an engineer shovel, a special mess kit, and an exquisite harness. Each soldier was issued a new model bayonet, and all the soldiers had their own set of color-dulled, strange, long military uniforms, plus extra blankets, three pairs of socks, two sets of thick trousers, and undershirts.

All of the soldiers had uniform knapsacks, and the boots were all of the same style. The officers' overcoats had bars as a sign of their rank; higher-ranking officers even had fur collars on their coats, which looked quite classy.

Tagg particularly liked this kind of overcoat and had put one on over his bright yellow Leite Kingdom standard-issue military uniform. If only the coat's color weren't so dull, he might have liked it even more.

Indeed, according to Tang Mo's eccentric organization and luxurious equipment, the cost of equipping a battalion was more than what two battalions in Northern Ridge would spend.

But then again, Tagg felt that this new recruits camp, in comparison to the main forces of Northern Ridge, looked more majestic and more stylish.

As Tang Mo used to say in an odd saying, "Appearance is fighting power!"

Watching his troops advance along the road, Tang Mo felt increasingly confident: "Now, this private fund has found its place in the fight."

Luff looked at Redman and saw that he too was looking back at him, prompting Luff to ask, albeit reluctantly: "What should we do?"

Tagg, savvy with experience, was the first to speak: "The enemy's cannons will cause us great casualties; we must find a way..."

"So, we must figure out a way to negate the enemy's artillery firepower advantage," Redman, the actual commander of this force, also said at this point.

Tang Mo sketched a rough map of the terrain on the ground with a stick: "The T-junction is a good spot, where three roads meet, there's a small village. This is a terrain advantage we can rely on."

"I've been there before, there is a low wall..." Tagg added briefly.

Speaking of the low wall sparked inspiration in Tang Mo; he recalled another very famous wall, one that had altered the course of history.

Thus, sliding the branch along the road, he began: "The road is a slightly elevated high point. We can build a low wall along one side of the road, connecting this wall to the village."

"But sir, how tall of a wall can we build in such a rush? If the workload is too great, our soldiers will be exhausted, which will affect their combat effectiveness," Tagg expressed his concern that relying on a hastily built low wall would not be enough to offset the enemy's numerical advantage.

"About, a wall up to the chest would be sufficient," Tang Mo recalled the low wall in his mind and replied with a smile.