Chapter 162: The Blockade of the Western Kingdom

Actually, the electric tracked vehicles of the Western Country were modeled after the war chariots of Great Xia.

Having never captured a finished unit, they had reverse-engineered the internal transmission system on their own. Yet, the Western design was by no means superior to that of Great Xia.

Nonetheless, the King of the Western Country was quite satisfied. "Splendid! Just how many war chariots do we have now?"

Shen Gongbao replied, "Your Majesty, we have built a full four hundred units, which is sufficient for our current forces."

Resources in this region were truly scarce, so this was all they could manage.

The King thought for a moment. With roughly four thousand musketeers at present, the number was just right.

In truth, training musketeers was an easy task; the bottleneck was not a shortage of Latin manpower, but the fact that the Western Country currently lacked the capacity to manufacture that many muskets.

"Hmm, four hundred units is not bad at all. In a few days, transport them to the Ross city-states, then attack from the west, capture the Danube Fortress, take the port, and then..."

While the King was indulging in daydreaming, someone shouted not far away, "Your Majesty! Your Majesty!"

The voice was exceptionally wretched and panicked.

Startled, the King snapped, "What are you howling about? Can't you see I'm busy?"

The soldier stammered in terror, "It's a disaster! The front lines have been defeated, and General William has returned with two thousand remnants."

The King nearly fainted on the spot.

"Two thousand? What about my three hundred thousand—no, my thirty thousand grand army?"

The soldier reported, "The Vikings have betrayed us, and the Germanic troops have fled back home."

Furious, the King barked, "Audacious Vikings! Pass my order: occupy the British Isles and capture the families of the Viking soldiers!"

The soldier replied, "Your Majesty, our fleet is completely gone. It was... it was entirely sunk by Great Xia."

Stamping his feet in rage, the King roared, "William! You good-for-nothing!"

"Where is he? Bring him before me at once!"

The soldier hastily scrambled away to relay the command.

Before long, William arrived.

The King instantly bellowed, "William! How on earth did you fight this campaign? You turned such a marvelous situation into this wretched mess!"

With that, the King reached for the pistol at his waist, intent on executing William on the spot.

William hurriedly dropped to his knees. "Your Majesty! I can redeem this! The chariots! We have chariots now, and we can—"

The King had initially intended to blow William's brains out, but as he listened, he slowly lowered his weapon.

"Hahahaha... Excellent!"

"You rascal actually have some good ideas. This time, we will surely win!"

Wiping the sweat from his brow, William stood up. "It is all thanks to Your Majesty's brilliant leadership."

The King smiled and nodded. "Very well, let us begin our preparations."

...

While the Western Country was preparing, Great Xia was making preparations as well.

After half a month of adjustments, the Great Xia allied forces had reached their peak condition. On this day, Chen Mu led the main army to the oil fields of the Western Country.

The force included eight thousand musketeers from Great Xia, one hundred light artillery pieces from Rome, three thousand Roman cavalry, and fifteen thousand Viking swordsmen, shield-bearers, and spearmen.

Looking at the oil fields in the distance, Chen Mu remarked, "It seems the Western Country has concentrated all its strength here and abandoned the towns ahead."

The Roman将军 stated, "Good, that saves us some trouble."

Gustav declared, "I can hardly wait any longer. I am going to twist William's head off with my own hands!"

Chen Mu laughed, "Hahahaha... If he is in there, I'll let you strike the first blow."

With a wave of Chen Mu's hand, the entire army advanced.

The offensive proved unexpectedly easy. The Western soldiers put up only symbolic resistance before falling back.

Chen Mu sensed a trap, but at this stage, they had no choice but to push forward and see. In any case, they would not easily be cornered by the Western coalition forces.

Directing the main army, Chen Mu bypassed the oil field and headed straight for the Western military factories to prevent the enemy from planting explosives.

Upon reaching the armory, Chen Mu finally perceived the strategy of the Western forces.

The terrain here was rather peculiar; right beside the military factory stood a small hill. It was not high, yet it was extremely close to the armory and had a relatively flat slope.

Atop the hill sat numerous tracked vehicles, accompanied by a heavy concentration of artillery.

Had it not been for the tracked vehicles, William could never have managed to haul artillery up the mountain, a feat impossible through sheer human labor alone.

Chen Mu muttered, "No wonder we didn't see the Western chariots earlier. They were waiting right here."

Gustav anxiously asked, "How do we attack now?"

Chen Mu shook his head slightly. "We have lost the artillery range advantage, and the enemy occupies the high ground. A frontal assault would result in heavy casualties. It would be better to take other cities first and put this place under siege."

The Roman general objected, "No matter, our cavalry can charge up there in no time."

Gustav chimed in, "Indeed, we've finally cornered them; we must seize this chance to wipe them out!"

Chen Mu felt a tinge of surprise, not expecting these two to be even more impatient than he was.

"Very well, let us give it a try."

"Artillery units, probe the range."

At Chen Mu's command, the electric tracked vehicles carrying light artillery slowly advanced, firing shots to test the distance.

The Vikings also broke into a run, charging up the slope on foot in a desperate suicide assault, while the Roman cavalry flanked them closely, ready to accelerate at any moment.

Then, the unexpected occurred.

The Western forces opened fire, and dozens of shells screamed into the ranks of the Great Xia alliance.

Being on higher ground, their extended range was understandable; but to Chen Mu's utter astonishment, the Western Country had also developed explosive shells.

Once the shrapnel detonated, the lethal radius expanded exponentially.

Roman cavalrymen and Viking warriors shrieked as they fell in droves.

Chen Mu shouted urgently, "Fall back!"

"Order the retreat!"

The electric tracked vehicles of the Great Xia army began to turn around, and both the Roman and Viking forces withdrew.

At that moment, the Western tracked vehicles sprang into motion, with four thousand musketeers pursuing the retreating alliance forces.

The artillery and muskets of the Great Xia army returned fire, but due to unfavorable angles, their combat efficiency fell short of the Western troops.

Chen Mu kept his eyes fixed on the battle line. When the alliance forces had pulled back to a certain distance, Chen Mu suddenly ordered a counterattack.

To his dismay, however, he discovered that the Western tracked vehicles had sped back up the hillside at an even faster pace.

Only then did he realize that the Westerners had mounted armor plating on the *rear* of the tracked vehicles, and moments ago, they had been facing them with their backs.

No wonder the Western tracked vehicles had moved with such sluggish speed earlier—they had been reversing!

After this chaotic exchange, both sides suffered further casualties.

Realizing this approach was unviable, Chen Mu had no choice but to order a full withdrawal. Fearing a trick, the Western forces did not pursue.

The main army retreated all the way to a town in the south before coming to a halt.

While dispatching scouts to investigate the oil field, Chen Mu summoned the commanders for a council of war.

Before everyone had even arrived, Gustav shouted, "We cannot let this stand! We must besiege them! We cannot let them escape!"

Chen Mu nodded. "True, we must surround them, but the encirclement must be wider so as not to give them a chance to counterattack."

The Roman general asked, "Your Highness, how shall we proceed then?"

Pointing at the map, Chen Mu said, "Who among you is familiar with the terrain around here?"