Empire of Shadows

The President of the Dantra Republic looked at the newspaper in his hands, his face betraying no emotional change.

He slowly put the newspaper down. The front-page headline was a group photo of the Federation’s Secretary of State and the Slad delegation.

He stood in the very center, his smile as brilliant as a blooming flower.

This newspaper was today’s News Daily, the one with the largest circulation in Dantra. The headline read, ”Federation and Slad Negotiations Conclude, Returning to the Battlefield Soon.” This, combined with the picture, made everything clear at a glance.

In truth, they had already reached an agreement in June, but the federal people had been dragging it out. They were waiting, waiting for an opportunity.

At the end of June, Dantra’s sappers, with the help of some traitors, had bypassed the front and attacked their key defensive node from the side, directly tearing through the entire defense line.

The war situation had become dangerous, becoming the last straw that broke the Slad people’s back. They had accepted all of the Federation’s demands.

Now, the Federation had begun to return to the battlefield.

By the time the President of Dantra saw this newspaper, the federal people had already resumed combat.

”Two newly launched fleets,” he pursed his lips. ”More in number than before, larger in scale, and more advanced in technical parameters.””In naval terms, at least in theory, we are now completely behind them.”

”It makes me very suspicious of how we won the last naval battle.”

He looked up at the other gentlemen in the office. ”Some say they deliberately let us attack their fleet, in exchange for this negotiation opportunity, and for the fanatical domestic support for the war.”

”Because Golden Port City was attacked, their national defense war bonds were sold out as soon as they were released. It’s simply a miracle!”

”When we want to sell these bonds, we not only have to find ways to persuade our people and allies, but sometimes we also have to tell them, in a threatening tone, the price they might pay for not buying them.”

”Now, this group of cunning, sinister, and bottomless people are back on the battlefield. This is not good news for us.”

Early this morning, Dantra’s stock market had begun to plummet, just because the Federation was returning to the battlefield. This meant that the situation of the war would become blurred again.

Capital doesn’t like this situation. It means their investments might not bring them any profit, but instead might add to their debt.

The room remained silent. The President shook his head, ”Alright!”

”Although I could have guessed this would be the result before I called you here, you all just keep your mouths shut when faced with this problem.”

No one spoke, because this question was indeed not easy to answer.

In terms of the quality of the soldiers and the grasp of the war, strategy, and tactics, there was no doubt that the Dantra Republic was definitely ahead of the Federation.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the federal people had, bit by bit, pushed the front line back to the border, and had even advanced into the territory of the Dantra Republic.

In terms of real military strategy and tactics, they were still inferior to Dantra’s army.

But the Dantra people just couldn’t beat them. Their conventional way of war was not at all the same as the Federation’s way of throwing money at it.

In terms of being rich and imposing, the Federation was indeed more experienced than them.

Those shells, costing two or three hundred or even more, fell like rain on their positions and fortifications, as if they were free.

Sometimes, the price of the shells they used to destroy a bunker was ten, or even dozens of times the price of the bunker itself.

They didn’t care about spending money, only about whether the money, once spent, would have an effect.

This thing called war is a battle of attrition.

The federal people could afford to be consumed, but the Dantra people were struggling in the war.

A general said, ”The ’Eagle Plan’ is almost complete. The balance of the war has already tilted, Mr. President.”

The President was a little hesitant. The ”Eagle Plan” this general was talking about was a new plan specially formulated to deal with the excessive war potential of the federal army.

They had previously considered using mechanized troops to advance quickly to avoid a positional war with the Federation, but the effect was not good, because the Federation’s side also had sappers, and in greater numbers, and with better parameters.

The difference between charging up and not charging up was that one could at least fight back a few times, while the other couldn’t fight back at all. The losses were just as great.

Although the Dantra Republic still had some vassal states behind it, and was still invading to the east to replenish its blood, the speed of this replenishment was still a bit unable to keep up with the high-intensity consumption of the current war.

The simplest example.

A bullet, from the time it is pressed into the chamber, to the time the trigger is pulled and it is fired, may just be a second.

But for the raw material of the bullet, from the time it is mined, to the time it arrives in Dantra after a long transport, and is finally made into a bullet, it may take several weeks or even longer.

They needed a brand new solution to solve their current predicament.

Fortunately, they had found it!

Mr. President had already inspected the eagles in the Eagle Plan. Although he was still a little unsure whether they could change the situation of the war, at this time, this was already the best way.

He nodded slightly. ”I hope they can, like the eagles of Dantra, become our winning force!”

”But we can’t rely entirely on the eagles. I plan to arrange for a delegation to go to the Empire, and to have a talk with the Emperor of the Empire.”

”The Imperial royal family and those nobles have an astonishing amount of wealth. Their social system has concentrated their resources in the hands of these nobles, and they also have a strong war potential.”

”Perhaps we can persuade them to also join this war, just as the Slad people had let the federal people join. Maybe on our battlefield, we can see the figures of the Empire’s people.”

This idea was not just a day or two old. He had long had such a plan and consideration. To drag the massive country of the Empire into this, was perhaps the best choice to relieve the pressure, bar none.

Just as the federal people had considered, the stakes that both sides had put on the gambling table were too large. No one could bear such a loss.

If someone had to leave the gambling table, it must not be that he had left of his own free will, but that he had been forced, because he had lost the final showdown, not that he had left halfway!

No one in the room had denied his decision. Then Mr. President had begun to call out names. The people whose names he had called were all the members of the delegation to the Empire.

If they could also pull the Empire in, they would have a greater grasp of victory.

This matter was still in a confidential stage. In order to prevent it from being destroyed by the Slad people or the federal people, only the people in this room knew.

The change brought about by the federal people’s return to the battlefield was very direct. The Slad people’s morale had immediately risen.

The soldiers on the front lines did not know what price Slad had paid for the federal people to return to the battlefield. They only knew that the hard days were coming to an end.

The federal people could help them to share a large part of the pressure, allowing them to concentrate more troops on certain nodes. To use more to fight less is always the secret to winning a war!

In just a few short days, the Dantra people’s front line had begun to actively contract. The front line had even experienced a brief period of peace.

But everyone knew that this peace would be very short-lived.

The Federation had, through some means that were not so glorious in people’s eyes, become the ”big brother.” Then this old big brother had to, on the battlefield, to show his strength as a big brother.

The federal military and the Department of Defense had formulated a series of plans. They were also promoting this as a ”Revenge War” in the country.

The Dantra people’s shameless surprise attack on Golden Port City, the disaster and pain it had brought to the federal people, now the federal soldiers had to, on the main battlefield, to give it back to the other party!

The people had once again been fooled by the politicians’ word games. They had, waving their fists, spontaneously organized parades, but this time it was not a protest, not a demonstration, but to show their support for the federal government’s decision, and to cheer for the soldiers on the front lines!

A few days later, continuous artillery fire had begun to sound on the front line. The Dantra people, who were hiding in the trenches or shelters near the impact points of the shells, had a look of terror on their faces.

Even those who were hiding in the shelters, they did not look much relaxed, because no one knew if in the next second, a shell would, from just the right angle, pierce through the not-so-thick walls of their fortifications!

At this moment, the storm formed by the shells had a more terrible destructive power than a natural disaster. The earth was constantly trembling.

The air was filled with the earthy smell of the soil.

The clods of earth that had been blown up by the shells, the dust that had been raised, had filled the entire battlefield.

The dense artillery fire had lasted for about two hours. They seemed to be, in this way, to say hello to the Dantra people.

After the artillery fire had ended, besides some of the fortifications, no single piece of intact land could be seen on the entire position.

The trenches had also disappeared, and in their place were one after another of the craters, and also the huge clods of earth that had been blown up and had fallen heavily on the ground.

As for the people in the trenches, they had long since disappeared. They, together with those clods of earth, had filled the entire battlefield!

Just as they were still in a daze, the federal army had begun to launch a charge. Sappers had coordinated with the infantry. The tactics of the federal people had gradually taken shape, and were very useful.

This battle was clear. The Dantra people had no choice but to retreat. The federal people’s artillery fire was too fierce, and too dense.

In the past, in the war between Dantra and the Slad people, ”artillery fire” might have been thirty to fifty cannons, a few rounds of shooting, and then it was over.

But the federal people’s artillery fire, it was unknown how many cannons had been dispatched. Every second, there were more than ten shells that were falling. The saturated artillery fire had simply not given any of the soldiers near the impact points any way to live!

In just thirty or forty minutes, in the areas that had been completely covered by the saturation, there were no more people.

When the news had been sent back to the Dantra capital, Mr. President, after hearing it, could only shake his head. This was the style of the Federation. There was no way at all.

He had considered for a moment, and in the end, he had still decided to launch the ”Eagle Plan.” Perhaps this could make the federal people a little more careful on the battlefield.

This is not their back garden!

The first, exhilarating and decisive victory had given the soldiers of the entire military alliance a great boost, including the Slad people.

Although they had paid a lot, and had lost a lot, all of this was worth it.

The balance of the war had tilted again. If the balance was a person, it would definitely be very distressed. To change a position from time to time, no one could stand it.

Sweeping the battlefield, cleaning up the mess, blowing up some of the fortifications left by the Dantra people, and then leveling the road, and dragging the cannons forward.

The orderly rhythm of the battle had also made some of the military observers nod one after another. The federal people, after paying the price of hundreds of thousands of casualties, had finally grasped the knack of war, and had also had their own style.

The next battle was in a week. The front-line commander had planned to continue to advance quickly and to get the control of the next town. In his view, this was another not-so-difficult battle.

Now the main force of the Dantra people had not yet arrived here, and they could still advance some more distance.

When the artillery positions were set up, the commander, with a cigarette dangling from his mouth, had stood in the distance and had nodded. The moment the artillery had begun to madly spit out thick smoke, he had taken a deep drag on his cigarette, which was tinged with the smell of gunpowder, and a look of contentment had appeared on his face.

Every shell that was fired had the potential to take the life of one or several Dantra soldiers. On the battlefield, no one would feel that this was cruel.

And this was also one of the reasons why the soldiers, the officers, would have psychological problems.

They had gradually begun to be indifferent to human life. When they had encountered trouble in their normal, ordinary lives, they would often use the simplest means to solve the problem.

This was actually a kind of a ”cognitive impairment.” They couldn’t distinguish what was life, and what was the battlefield, or rather, their psychology was both perverted and fragile.

This time, it was again a saturation bombardment that had lasted for several hours. This was just the beginning.

Just as he was squinting his eyes and thinking in his heart, ”On what basis can the navy fight with us, the army,” some small black dots had suddenly appeared in the sky in the distance.

He had just been looking in that direction, and was slightly stunned.

The Federation also had migratory birds every year, but that was in the autumn and winter, and in the spring and summer. Now it was summer. The weather was not changing much, and it was suitable for birds to live. Why would they migrate?

And, they were all so big?

Should I shoot two of them down and have a taste?

He was thinking about these things, when his eyes had suddenly become strange, because those ”birds” were getting bigger and bigger, and had already become so big that it was a little abnormal.

The people on the ground had also discovered this strange phenomenon, and some had even shouted loudly, ”What big birds!”

As they had gotten closer, the commander had also heard a ”buzzing” sound, which was coming from the sky. Although the sound was not loud, it could indeed be heard, and it was very clear.

Those are not birds!

His expression had gradually become serious. He had looked at the things that were flying in the air. It was clear that they were being piloted by people.

He had seen flying machines before. The Federation also had them, but they had not been used in the war, because its carrying capacity was limited, and it could only be used as a reconnaissance unit.

But these, in front of him, they were clearly, in some technologies, developing faster than the Federation.

Now, his question was, what were these flying machines here for?

To provide the coordinates for their artillery?

Or for some other matter?

He was still racking his brains on this question, when these airplanes had told him what they were going to do.

From each airplane, two oval-shaped, large-football-like guys had been dropped, and one end of them even had a propeller.

Looking at these things, which had first wobbled in the air a few times, but had soon turned their heads and were falling towards the artillery position, the cigarette that was dangling from his mouth had, without him knowing, slipped from his mouth.

With a loud explosion, he had been suddenly pressed to the ground by his adjutant. A continuous sound of explosions had rung out. What was even more terrifying was that in order to let the Dantra people feel the terror of the Federation’s sufficient shells, the ammunition on the artillery position had been piled up a lot, and was very dense.

Some of the shells had, by the explosion caused by the bombs, had a chain reaction. The entire artillery position was as if a large string of firecrackers had been stuffed in, and it had completely become lively!

The sound of the explosions had not lasted for too long, but the destructive power it had caused was astonishing!

All kinds of shrapnel that were flying everywhere, and even the wheels of the artillery, had all become astonishing, killing weapons. Someone had, while dodging an explosion, been directly hit by a flying wheel and had been shattered into two halves!

The moment the smoke had cleared, which was only four or five minutes later, the commander had shaken his head, and had raised his head.

The dust on his hat had fallen off. Looking up, no one standing could be seen on the entire position.

Everywhere were severed limbs, and there were also some survivors who were wailing. Everything was like the end of the world!

The commander had, with difficulty, tried to get up. Only then had he noticed that something was pressing on him. It was his adjutant. He had turned his head and had glanced at the adjutant who was lying on him, and had pushed him, but there was already no more movement.

He had seemed a little silent. After he had struggled out from under his adjutant, he had looked at the artillery position, which had been completely destroyed, and had sucked in a breath of cold air.

The smell of gunpowder that was remaining in the air was not at all romantic. It was so choking that he couldn’t help but cough. He had turned and had run towards the back. He had to, as soon as possible, to feed this back to the military, the Department of Defense, and also the president and Congress!

Half an hour later, the matter of the Dantra people possibly possessing flying machines that could be used in war was learned by the people.

For a time, the entire federal high command was as if someone had pressed a pause button. For a good few minutes, these people had all maintained the appearance of holding a phone, but the expression on their faces had frozen.

In fact, the loss was not large. In terms of the Federation’s foundation, it was just one or two hundred cannons, some soldiers, and some ammunition.

It wasn’t as if they hadn’t lost before. In the past, the losses had been much more severe than this. Until now, most of the people on the ”battle loss list” they had reported were those who had died in the past, and were being reported now.

They had not dared to report it all at once, for fear of causing social turmoil. They could only squeeze it out, bit by bit.

What had really made them silent were those flying machines, the things that had changed the war!

Now it was no longer just a question of whether they could defend against these flying machines, which were flying around in the sky, but also the question of when their flying machines could appear on the battlefield!