Chapter 1428: 1345 small coastal canals in the Shu Territory

Before Sun Guang was a vast sea as he inspected his defense positions: nearly flat stretches of coastline stretching hundreds of kilometers on either side of Qingluan Port, all suitable landing spots.

The soldiers and the requisitioned local laborers were busy, everyone digging a trench, but no matter how you looked at it, the trench exuded a threadbare aura.

Relying on such fortifications to resist the Tang Army’s landing seemed like a joke to Sun Guang. Compared to this, the defenses of Mirage Country were much stronger, yet they still crumbled in a day under the Tang Army’s attack.

Now, the idea of the Qin Army relying on earth trenches to stop the Tang Army from landing was nothing short of a fantastical dream. He had to reinforce this line of defense into an absolutely permanent fortification! Only this way could a possible Tang Army landing be blocked.

But… where would the reinforced concrete come from? The steel production in Shu Territory had already been commandeered, and now Qin Country was in dire need of steel to make weapons, so forget about reinforcing this part.

All that remained was the concrete—but there was a shortage of concrete as well. Even though the warfare in Shu Territory wasn’t as intense, many houses and roads still needed repair and reconstruction.

Halting repairs on these damaged structures could stir public resentment, and Shu Territory was already unstable. Now, it had conscripted 200,000 soldiers and mobilized 300,000 laborers to build the defense line… it was almost at its limit.

This was also the main reason why the coastal defense line in Shu Territory was still like this: no raw materials, no weaponry, just light infantry digging trenches…

Of course, there was another reason: based on Mirage Country’s experience against landings, coastal defenses quickly get destroyed by the Tang Army’s aircraft carrier fleet.

The opponent’s carrier-based aircraft could provide very accurate targeted destruction support, and the landing troops were adept at battle, so coastal defenses generally could only hold for one to two days.

Thus, deploying more troops on the second line to utilize the terrain for better deployment might hold out for a longer time, according to the defense experience of Mirage Country’s troops.

Though this kind of defensive experience was gained during operations resisting Orc troop landings, experience was still experience. Actual combat showed that deploying troops on a second line was indeed more cost-effective than deploying them on the beachhead.

But cost-effectiveness wasn’t the only standard for evaluating tactical deployment; no matter how cost-effective the design, it wouldn’t change the weakness of coastal defenses.

The flaw of deploying defensive troops on the second line was obvious: abandoning the beachhead meant allowing the Tang Army to land, and once the Tang Army landed, their combat power was truly strong. Sun Guang felt his own ragtag troops were no match for the Tang Army.

In fact, he anticipated very correctly: the main force of the Qin Army in his hands was less than 10,000 soldiers spread across five divisions, with the rest being second-line “filler troops.”

It appeared to be a mighty army of hundreds of thousands, but when it came to actual battle, what could troops equipped with Maxim heavy machine guns, 98K rifles, and some mountain artillery and towed howitzers do against the powerful Tang Army?

The scene before him was still ablaze with activity, and Sun Guang really didn’t want to dampen anyone’s spirits. The accompanying regiment commander was introducing his deployment with full confidence.

He planned to build 35 concealed pillboxes and 90 machine gun positions on his defense line! The regiment’s machine guns would move around on these positions, forming a tight crossfire network.

Every soldier had their own cover, the trenches were well-connected, and if the enemy didn’t bomb or shell, it was indeed perfect.

But Sun Guang knew that once the enemy planes circled here twice, everything would have to be reconsidered. The positions would be destroyed, and personnel would suffer casualties.

However, he didn’t speak up, because this filling regiment laid here was merely cannon fodder. If these people could withstand the Tang Army’s assault or hold out for a day, his goal would be achieved.

The true line of defense lay in the second line far from the coast, relying on some village and road construction, more solid… it was also more suitable for stockpiling supplies, at least providing some living conditions, allowing the Qin Army’s commanders to arrange their command posts.

The Qin Army, learning from its lessons, was setting up a complex and extensive telephone command system, which was key. With this system, at least the Qin generals wouldn’t lose sight of their own troops when they came under attack.

The supplies prepared for Shu Country’s fleet were also being utilized, for example, the gun barrels intended for Shu Country warships were being hurriedly fashioned into cannons and placed at key defense areas.

Furthermore, Qin Country had recalled its submarine force, which was initially prepared to be deployed forward to cut off the Nanshan Port shipping route, to form a submarine alert defense circle.

This circle did nothing to prevent the Great Tang Empire Navy from attacking coastal areas of Shu Territory; several nearby submarines were all lost, not even a single message returned.

Thus, the Qin Navy once again changed its tactics, organizing submarines into fleets and waiting in anchorage areas, preparing for an attack after coastal assault to launch a collective counterattack.

In short, amidst uncertainty about how strong the Great Tang Empire’s fleet’s anti-submarine capabilities were, the Qin submarine force commanders were choosing diverse ways to die.

They were using World War II-level submarines to challenge Cold War-era anti-submarine nets—just the anti-submarine helicopters and sonar buoys were enough to trouble these poor Qin submarines.

If they could see the sci-fi shaped Tang Country cruisers and destroyers, they would realize that the scrap in their hands was completely unable to break through the Tang Army’s warship defense line.

As for the remaining warships… Qin Country didn’t take them seriously. The joint fleet was annihilated by the Tang People, so how useful could the remaining scrap metal be?

Therefore, all warships, including the Destroyer named Courage, were used as artillery platforms in coastal areas. Yes, they each selected a position, and upon discovering Tang Country fleet’s intent to land, they would rush to their positions and sit there grounded.

This tragic tactic was devised by Sun Guang; since the warships would be sunk, better to fire from a place that couldn’t sink.

As for how much trouble this tactic would cause the Tang Army, Sun Guang did not know. Regardless, if Shu Territory were lost, these warships would be useless, so better to waste them.

Under such disadvantageous premises, the deployment of Qin Country in Shu Territory became absurd, tragic, and somewhat senseless. This effort seemed more like a dying struggle, more like a chaotic venting. The Qin Emperor desired an alternate-world version of the Atlantic Wall, but what he could build was just a small canal.