Alien Arms Empire.

Chapter 1809-1810: Driving Miles

The coalition forces suffered heavy losses but still held on to the already less solid line of defense, but this line of defense ultimately had its limits.

Originally, the strongest parts were the second and third lines of defense, which were also the lines of defense built by the elves on the border before.

Because these defense lines were facing the dwarf area when they were built, they are relatively solid and much better than the parts that were modified using the dwarf defense lines.

But the problem is that these defense lines cannot be regenerated. As long as the Tang army knocks down a part, then a part is lost. Even if it is damaged inch by inch, there will definitely be a day when it will be completely lost.

The Tang army's attack was definitely not advancing inch by inch, so after 15 days, the coalition's defense line collapsed in some areas.

A Type 96 main battle tank crashed through a small tree, rushed out of the woods, and pointed the long gun barrel on its turret at the defeated Coalition soldiers in the distance.

The Tang army infantry fighting vehicle, which looked like the 04 infantry fighting vehicle, also rushed out of the woods, then accelerated to bypass the friendly main battle tanks and began to fire at the crowd in the distance.

"Bang, bang, bang!" A series of tracer bullets swept into the crowd, followed by hundreds of elven soldiers who dropped their weapons and raised their hands high.

These soldiers with pointed ears and wearing M35 helmets no longer had the courage to resist. They were driven out of their own positions and stood in an open space without any cover, like a group of lambs to be slaughtered.

"We surrender!" An elven officer waved a white flag and chose a decent surrender with his men: he knew that once they left the defense line, his infantry would probably be slaughtered by the Tang army within an hour.

Placing the Mauser 98K rifle at his feet, the first elf soldier took off his helmet and looked at the Tang soldiers in the distance with fear.

Soon a second elven soldier followed, also put down his weapon, pulled out the bayonet from his waist and threw it aside, then raised his hands high.

Not only did they lose their positions, they also exhausted their ammunition, and heavy weapons such as artillery were also left on the positions. Now they were simply unable to continue fighting.

Those desperate soldiers had already died on the battlefield, and most of those standing here were reinforcements and frightened fleeing soldiers. They had no intention of fighting, so they chose to surrender in an organized manner.

As if the last string of a zither had been broken, the front of the Tang army's vanguard suddenly became vast and open. All that stood in their way were various captives.

At the beginning, there were some elven infantry, then some artillery and logistics troops, and later on, air force pilots in the airport and officers and generals of various levels.

The Tang army soon discovered that they seemed to have begun advancing into the enemy's hinterland, and all that stood in their way was some wreckage.

That's right, wreckage. The road was littered with wreckage of tanks, armored vehicles, and cars destroyed by Tang army planes... Most of them were burned beyond recognition, and the few that did not seem to be on fire had their parts removed.

Some anti-aircraft guns were scattered on both sides of the road, and the soldiers who operated them had long disappeared. Many of the anti-aircraft guns were broken, and they were riddled with holes by the Tang army's planes.

The good anti-aircraft guns still had ammunition beside them, but the sophisticated sights had been removed and taken away. It seemed that these artillerymen had retreated in a hurry and only took what they could take.

Soon a small city appeared in front of the Tang army. After entering the city, the Tang army found that there were no coalition forces stationed here at all.

The approximately 2 elven soldiers who fled here finally could not run anymore. They surrendered here, handed over their weapons, and also surrendered the city.

The elven officer who commanded these defeated soldiers even explained the deployment of the coalition forces nearby. Within a day, the city was hung with a dragon flag and became controlled by the Tang army.

That night, the Tang army launched a pursuit in all directions along the city, and at noon the next day, they cut off the most important supply route that the elven troops relied on.

It was not until this time that Felix, who was busy re-establishing his command center, received news that his defense line had been broken through, and a Tang armored force appeared behind him and cut off the railway line.

What he didn't know was that the Tang army that cut off his supply lines had only about two battalions, while at least two divisions of Tang army troops, under the cover of the air force, were rushing towards the heart of the Yangmu Empire at a very fast speed.

These troops occupied one elven village after another, controlled one town after another, and like tentacles, reached into the interior of the elven empire.

By the evening of that day, these troops had advanced about 150 kilometers, almost paralyzing the logistical supply of all the troops commanded by Marshal Felix.

Felix deployed his troops in the hope of cutting off the madly advancing Tang army, but the troops he sent out soon sent back a message that made him despair: a large number of elven troops had collapsed, Tang troops were everywhere, the entire rear was in chaos, and a counterattack was out of the question.

The Elf troops, who were already running low on fuel and ammunition, had to withdraw troops to deal with the enemy behind them. As a result, before they were ready, the Tang army in front of them had already broken through their defense line.

The elven army, attacked from all sides, fell into even more desperate chaos. Felix received news early the next morning that about 100,000 of his troops had been taken prisoner.

This thing is like a domino, one fall means a series of chain reactions. The surrendered troops led more troops to surrender, and the collapse of the elf troops who lost their defensive positions was inevitable.

Flix quickly reported the disaster happening here to Yangmu I, but he didn't expect that Yangmu I was no longer bothered to blame him for his incompetence.

Because the entire defense line had basically collapsed: not only the Hot Wind Port line that Felix was in charge of, but also the entire northern border defense line had problems. Feng Kezhi's troops, Ying An's troops, Strauss's troops... all broke through the coalition's defense line within these two days and launched a large-scale pursuit of the defeated coalition forces.

Relying on its exaggerated mobility advantage, the Tang army divided and surrounded the collapsing coalition forces, forming encirclements of varying sizes. The coalition forces in the encirclement were cut off from supplies and soon had no choice but to surrender.

Compared to the completely collapsed northern defense line, Hot Wind Harbor looked much more normal: at least the defense line that Ryans and Susas were in charge of had not encountered any problems, right?

The elves suffered the consequences of their own arrangements: because they did not trust other countries, they placed the troops of their allies in less important positions. Now, the important positions where they themselves were stationed became the targets of the Tang army's key attack. Naturally, the elven soldiers suffered the most losses and casualties.

What's even more embarrassing is that the defenses that were penetrated were those of the elves, and most of those surrounded now are troops from allies such as Susas and the Lions Empire... The Yangmu Empire should at least give these countries a reasonable explanation.

  In fact, there is no need to explain anything, because these countries may no longer be in the mood to listen to the explanation of the Yangmu Empire: nearly one million troops have been divided and surrounded, and the situation in the entire elf territory has been corrupted and collapsed... Who needs any explanation?

Seeing that the elves are about to collapse, after losing the Yangmu Empire of the elves, what can the remaining three empires use to fight against the army of the Tang Empire heading south?

At this moment, Yang Mu I was in his own palace, as anxious as an ant on a hot pot. He paced back and forth in front of the throne, his face extremely ugly.

Now he no longer knew what to do with the generals on the front lines: he had invested countless wealth, consumed a huge amount of materials, mobilized nearly one million laborers... and the so-called indestructible line of defense he had built was broken in just fifteen days.

Before this, the generals had assured him solemnly that this line of defense could hold out for at least a few months. If the Tang army wanted to break through, it would cost the lives of hundreds of thousands of soldiers.

But the reality slapped them in the face: the Tang army easily broke through the defense line in just 15 days, and the loss of troops could not have exceeded 1.

"Your Majesty. The troops of the Susas Empire are retreating to Osa. There are reports that Toriel has been lost..." An officer walked into the hall and brought some not-so-good news.

The retreat of Susas's troops to Osa also meant that the coalition's defense line near Hot Wind Port had completely collapsed. The Tang army could advance freely from Hot Wind Port to the south and east, and no one could stop them.

Toriel is a big city in the western part of the elves. Controlling it is equivalent to controlling the territory of the Poplar Empire within hundreds of kilometers.

This is a railway hub with well-developed highways. Countless transportation lines converge here. The Tang army's occupation of this place means that they have the absolute initiative in the subsequent offensive.

"Doesn't Toriel have 4 troops stationed there? We couldn't even hold out for a day and it was lost?" Yang Mu I asked angrily.

  In fact, he also knew that under such circumstances, there were almost no city defense troops who were determined to resist to the end. The front-line troops had already collapsed, so could he still count on the newly recruited city guards to stop the Tang army?

Most of these troops were new recruits who had not yet completed their training. Their role was to maintain public order and guard against Tang paratroopers... or perhaps they could not even guard against Tang paratroopers. It was indeed a bit too much to ask them to face Tang tanks head-on.

"Your Majesty, they surrendered without resistance." The officer explained awkwardly with his head down. In fact, before surrendering, the garrison of Toriel sent a telegram back, explaining why they chose to surrender.

They felt that it was a sin to turn Toril into ruins and destroy the city that had been built for hundreds of years, so in order to save the city, they chose to surrender with dignity.

The drawbacks of stationing a large number of troops on the border now became apparent: Yangmu I really had no troops left to defend his imperial capital.

The troops deployed on the border could not retreat at all. They had been divided and surrounded, trapped where they were, waiting to die.

"How many troops are left in the imperial capital?" The desperate emperor looked at the general standing beside him. The general gave a number that sounded reassuring, "Including the troops being formed outside the city, there are about 30 troops left."

But when he answered, he also calculated that among the 30 troops, which sounded not a small number, only about 5 could fight.

The remaining 25 are new troops temporarily recruited and formed. Only some commanders are transferred from other troops, and the grassroots soldiers are basically at the level of being able to march in step.

It's not even known whether these soldiers have ever touched a gun. They have no heavy artillery or tanks, and most of them are just light infantry. Expecting them to guard the imperial capital is nothing more than a joke.

In fact, these troops were recruits to reinforce the front line. The original plan was to train them in the suburbs of the imperial capital for more than ten days, and then advance to the front line while receiving additional practical training, so that they would be barely usable when they arrived at the destination.

But the plan did not change quickly. Before these recruits completed basic training and learned some useful practical experience on the way, the Tang army had already arrived.

Therefore, the general decided to provide the best option to his emperor: "However, Your Majesty... you'd better leave the imperial capital..."

"Three hundred thousand troops can't stop the attack of the Tang army?" Yang Mu I stared and asked dissatisfiedly.

The general lowered his head, considered his tone, and explained: "Your Majesty, so many troops on the front line only held out for fifteen days. These 300,000 new soldiers... I'm afraid..."

In fact, he really wanted to explain to his emperor that even if these 30 men were the elite of the elite, they could not maintain the suburban defense line of the imperial capital. Once the Tang army began to surround the imperial capital, these men, no matter how good they were at fighting, would not be able to hold out for a few days.

"Enough! I understand." Yang Mu I interrupted the other party. He sighed and ordered: "Find a way to stop the Tang army in Mats! Buy some time! Whether it is negotiating for peace or defending the imperial capital... it takes time!"

At this moment, his luxurious palace seemed so empty that one could even hear his voice. The ministers all lowered their heads and said nothing, not even whispering.

No one knew what these ministers were thinking. Yang Mu Yi waved his hands irritably and asked them to leave. He knew that the situation was hopeless, but he was still unwilling to admit this fact from the bottom of his heart.

  After all, he is an emperor. Which emperor would be willing to give up his position?

Looking at the empty hall, Yang Mu Yishi sighed, slumped down on his throne, and stared at the chandelier above his head without moving for a long while.