The Nancy Empire's second city.
Outside the city, great stretches were all Southern Alliance troops.
This was already within the Southern Alliance's control.
Only within the city were there still some Nancy Empire units resisting to the death, fighting in the streets.
But its complete fall was only a matter of time.
As the Southern Alliance saw it, once it took this city, the Nancy Empire's morale would be crushed.
The earlier setbacks would count for nothing!
But at just this juncture,
thousands of shells fell on the Southern Alliance army's positions.
Boom, boom, boom, boom!
The earth itself seemed to be in an earthquake at this moment.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Damn it, where did the Nancy Empire get so much heavy artillery!" An officer had ducked into an air-raid shelter just in time and listened to the deafening explosions overhead.
Every so often dust fell from above.
"This doesn't seem to be the Nancy Empire's own heavy artillery. The Nancy Empire's own heavy artillery doesn't sound like this," an officer well versed in weapons muttered, listening to the sound of the explosions.
The officer seemed to sense something, and said with some worry, "Don't tell me the Nancy Empire has some new type of weapon?"
This was what worried him most now.
The appearance of some new weapons before had already stalled their attack.
Even though they had kept up their offensive afterward, it had cost them heavy losses as they attacked.
So they truly did not want to see the Nancy Empire bring out some new weapon again.
That was a situation they never wanted to see.
And the fact was just that.
At this moment the Nancy Empress was behind an artillery position, watching the rocket artillery firing without a break; every rocket launcher vehicle was loaded with a great many rockets.
And beside them were stored rockets as well; once a salvo was fired, they could be reloaded within a few hours for the next salvo.
These were all weapons Salaman, the Flame Elf Queen, had brought from the Fierce Dragon Kingdom.
"This is our Fierce Dragon Kingdom's newly developed Guardian-1 rocket artillery,[1] with a maximum range of up to six hundred kilometers, four rounds a second. We've fitted it with two kinds, high-explosive fragmentation warheads and cluster warheads, suitable for every kind of battlefield situation needed. But we haven't brought very many warheads; they can't meet your combat needs. But we've brought the engineering personnel concerned. They can convert your existing production lines; within three days they can convert a line able to produce these rounds. By then you'll be able to produce the rounds these rocket launchers need yourselves. After all, you're the foremost empire of the Southern Continent; the industrial foundation is still there," the Flame Elf Queen Salaman said, standing beside the Nancy Empress.
At being handed technology outright, the Nancy Empress was no longer very surprised.
She had grown used to the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's different way of doing things.
"Besides this, we've also brought more helicopter gunships, air-defense weapons and army weapons, at least enough for you to equip three hundred thousand troops," the Flame Elf Queen Salaman added.
"Thank you." The Nancy Empress said earnestly, "I know that for the help you're giving us now, a simple thank-you isn't nearly enough. Rest assured. The Nancy Empire will always remember this help from the Fierce Dragon Kingdom."
The Nancy Empress's gaze was fixed on the roaring rocket artillery.
It seemed to stand for the Nancy Empire's own roar.
Indeed,
over the time that followed,
the Nancy Empire launched a furious counteroffensive on the second-city battlefield.
Great numbers of troops equipped with the new gear were thrown into this battlefield.
With the fire support of the long-range rocket artillery besides,
within a mere few days they had actually retaken the areas around the second city.
And they broke into the second city as well and, together with the units still holding out in the street fighting there, struck from inside and out,
and wholly retook control of this city.
The military factories all over the Nancy Empire were also undergoing a full upgrade and conversion, to be able as soon as possible to produce ammunition for these Fierce Dragon–style weapons,
so that on the battlefield they could throw their weight around still more freely.
——————
Because the merchant ships brought this time were many more than before,
loading the raw materials took longer than before too.
"The next batch of equipment will probably be a little late. We may have to wait at least a month." The Flame Elf Queen Salaman looked at the Nancy Empress beside her.
"It's fine. With the second batch of weapons and equipment, holding out a month and more is more than enough." The Nancy Empress's gaze was somewhat worried as she said, "You must take extra care on your way back this time and when you next come. With a move this big this time, next time they're bound to put more strength on the sea to blockade your merchant fleets. What a pity our Nancy Empire's navy lost so much in the sea battles at the start of the war. Now it numbers fewer than fifty in all; holding the inshore waters is all right, but going out to the far seas would be very dangerous."
"Don't worry. None of this is much of a problem for us," the Flame Elf Queen Salaman said confidently.
"How is the war going on your side?" the Nancy Empress asked.
Before this, she had learned something of the battlefield situation on the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's side from the Flame Elf Queen Salaman.
The Flame Elf Queen Salaman had hidden nothing either; she had said all that ought to be said.
"The Middle-Sea Archipelago is still at a stalemate. The enemy isn't willing to risk taking on too heavy a toll, so they won't attack in force. But they don't want to let our four carrier battle groups off lightly either, and want to keep tying down our aerial supply line there. As for the troops they've infiltrated into the Northwest, they've probably been reincarnated by now." The Flame Elf Queen Salaman gave a mysterious smile.
—————
The Northern Continent.
The Doyle Empire's army was at this moment cut apart and surrounded at several positions.
On one hilltop, tens of thousands of soldiers were still fighting their death throes.
It must be understood that this part had originally numbered over two hundred thousand troops.
"These fellows really thought that having landed on our Northern Continent they could do as they pleased. If the Fierce Dragon King hadn't said to let more of them in and then scoop them all up in one pot at the end, how could we have allowed them to run unchecked on our Northern Continent so long? We'd have counterattacked the moment they landed," Fire Lydia said disdainfully, looking at the battlefield in the distance.
"The counteroffensive has opened on both battlefields of the Northwest at once. At one stroke we can wipe out nearly a million of their troops at least," King Fire Phoenix said gravely. "But it has to be said, the weapons and equipment these Doyle Empire troops carry are all very advanced. If we didn't have the weapons and equipment the Fierce Dragon Kingdom supplied, we could never have fought so easily."
Fire Lydia nodded.
"Speaking of which. Not long ago our navy detected an extremely powerful explosion in a deep-sea area three hundred kilometers from our Northern Continent. Afterward the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's side said it was a weapons test. To detect so great a disturbance even from so far away: just what weapon is it?" Fire Lydia muttered with some curiosity.
Fire Phoenix rapped his younger sister on the head with his hand, then said, "Don't go guessing, and don't go thinking of asking around. Since the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's side is keeping it secret, it isn't something we ought to know now. When the Fierce Dragon King is ready to let us know, he'll let us know of his own accord."
Fire Lydia held her head and stuck out her tongue.
Curious as she was, she did not press further.
The Fierce Dragon Kingdom's continent.
"Reporting, Your Majesty. The data from the fifth test of our Project 001 has been fully checked; there are no problems at all." A researcher stood before Zhao Chen, reporting the data from the test that had ended not long before.
"How's the accuracy?" Zhao Chen asked.
"The error is no more than a kilometer."
An error of no more than a kilometer.
To others, this would already seem a very large error.
But to Zhao Chen it was already very good.
For this weapon's error was in fact not very important.
"Then begin preparing this plan," Zhao Chen said in a deep voice.
"Yes!"
The researcher withdrew.
Zhao Chen looked at a map behind him.
This map was pinned over the global map; it was a detailed map of the Doyle Empire.
Just recently, the satellite network the Fierce Dragon Kingdom had built had let their satellites photograph the view over the Doyle Empire.
Though it could not reach meter-level resolution,
the rough extent of its city clusters could still be photographed.
After they had photographed it, Zhao Chen had found that several of the Doyle Empire's military bases were extremely unusual.
They were military bases of the kind used for research.
Zhao Chen had specially sent intelligence agents into the Doyle Empire to spy.
The word they finally obtained was that these military bases were all places where the Doyle Empire secretly developed military technology.
The secrecy was extremely high,
and only Doyles could get in; it was hard for outsiders even to come near.
So the intelligence agents could not learn just what was being made inside.
But through other channels they had obtained some information on the goods shipped in,
from which Zhao Chen could infer that they were probably some black-tech weapons,
weapons that in the planetary age could destroy a country, or even a continent.
This made Zhao Chen take it seriously.
For it was now certain that the Doyle Empire was one of the nations in this Trial,
so it was bound to hold no little black tech in its hands.
In the planetary age, no one had much depth of defense, so they had to beware the use of destructive weapons of this kind.
For this reason,
Zhao Chen had decided after all to put a certain plan of their Fierce Dragon Kingdom's into effect.
Secretary Officer Barbara stood beside Zhao Chen and said earnestly, "If we launch that plan, it's expected to take another month. And before that, we can carry out only seven strikes."
"Seven? That's enough. Strike these military bases first and destroy whatever black-tech weapons they may have. Besides that, our new carrier battle groups are about ready too. Before, they landed on our continent. Courtesy calls for a return; next, it's our turn to pay a visit." Zhao Chen narrowed his eyes at the territory of the Doyle Empire.
"It's time to take our Fierce Dragon Kingdom's first kill."
Over the month and more that followed,
the Fierce Dragon Kingdom's continent carried out dozens of satellite launches one after another.
And these satellites launched were all very special; as for just what was special about them, probably only the people concerned knew,
and the secret would only be revealed before long.
At the same time,
the third batch of weapons and equipment also set out across the ocean, shipped once again to the Southern Continent.
But this time the voyage was not so peaceful.
When the merchant fleet was still a day's sail from the Southern Continent, it found the tracks of a great many enemy ships.
Enemy reconnaissance planes appeared in the sky too.
"Report! We've found the merchant fleet from the Fierce Dragon Kingdom!" The reconnaissance plane, seeing the large fleet below, at once reported to its mother ship.
After tailing it for a while, it prepared to head back because of its fuel.
The pilot of this reconnaissance plane little knew that above his head another pair of eyes was watching him.
This reconnaissance plane headed back and soon returned to where its mother ship was.
Here there were several aircraft carriers, and several other escorting warships.
As for the other warships,
they had long since set out at this moment, ready to attack that merchant fleet.
At the same time, on the aircraft carriers' decks, fighter after fighter and bomber after bomber was preparing to take off.
"JT761 reconnaissance plane requesting permission to land."
"Received, arranging it, please wait…"
Just as the reconnaissance plane was circling and waiting in the air, the pilot noticed something odd.
He seemed to see black dots in the clouds, one after another.
By the time he saw clearly just what they were,
those black dots had long since rushed up before him.
They were fighters, fighter after fighter, and behind these fighters there were bombers too!
"Enemy attack! It's an enemy attack!" the reconnaissance plane cried in terror.
But the enemy aircraft around paid no attention at all to his reconnaissance plane.
Those aircraft's targets were the fighters and bombers that had already taken off, and the aircraft carriers on the sea below.
On the fuselages of these aircraft was the crest of the Fierce Dragon Kingdom.
These were all fighters from the Fierce Dragon Kingdom.
At this very moment,
at a position some distance behind the merchant fleet, two carrier battle groups were trailing it here.
The fighters and bombers on their decks had long since all been launched, and preparations had also been made to resupply these fighters and bombers when they returned.
"According to what our high-altitude stealth reconnaissance plane found by tailing the enemy reconnaissance plane, the enemy is known at present to have four fleets, over four hundred warships, in the waters around," the staff secretary reported, looking at the fleet commander beside her.
"The enemy has smelled our bait and come. Then it's time for us to reel in the line. Tell the merchant fleet to withdraw behind us. Next, it's time for us to open the door and welcome our guests. Notify the Ninth Carrier Battle Group. The right wing is theirs; the left wing is for our First Fleet!"
"Yes!"
The woman before them was the former deputy commander of the Fierce Dragon First Carrier Battle Group, but because Marshal Medusa was not here now,[2]
she served as commander as well,
and was the supreme commander of this battle too.
Using the merchant fleet as bait, to hunt down the enemy who had come to attack!