CHAPTER 1700: THE SAME DAY IN 1617

The Elf’s attack was anticlimactic, with the Tang Army fully prepared, giving the opponent no chance whatsoever. On the other side, the 3rd Elf Corps also faced a solid defense and got nowhere.

Nevertheless, they decided to organize a new round of attack as soon as possible because the stronger the Tang Army became, the more insecure they felt.

Previously, mixed together, everyone was still thinking about scheming and playing the so-called game of strategy. Now with a great enemy at the doorstep, any thoughts had to be hidden away until everything was over.

The attack on the second day was clearly more ferocious. The Elves used every bit of their strength to start attacking the Tang Army positions—on this day, they lost over a thousand people, yet they were still unable to break through the Tang Army’s positions.

The three corps of Tang Country were like an iron board standing before the Allied Forces, remaining completely steady no matter how they attacked, leaving the allied generals extremely frustrated.

Whether it was Vankelus, Marquis Lu De, or the dwarf Durman, including Xie Ke... none of them could make the Tang Army retreat even a step.

What frustrated them even more was that the Tang Army’s airplanes seemed to be more and more active: these damned things that often hovered over the battlefield always managed to disrupt their attack plans.

Often, with just two or four planes, the Tang Army could turn the Allied Forces’ meticulously planned attack into nothing. Then, the Tang Army’s helicopters would counterattack, pouring countless rockets onto the Allied Forces’ positions.

Such an attack would cause the loss of three to five hundred people. With so many losses, no one could bear it. So after attacking a few times, everyone was not as interested in continuing their fierce attacks.

During the attack, they often just put on a show, and then spent the remaining time desperately repairing their defenses, digging their trenches, trying to comfort themselves this way.

But everyone knew clearly that fighting this way, they were already at a disadvantage, and with each passing day, the Tang Army would only grow stronger.

But attacking had no gains, no progress except for wasting soldiers’ lives. This dilemma tormented all the Allied Forces’ commanders.

...

At Eternal Winter Port, the third dock had already begun operations. The newly built cranes could unload containers from cargo ships at the fastest speed and transfer them to the waiting container trucks.

These trucks had just arrived at the port and could increase the unloading speed of goods. While the Great Tang Empire was restoring the throughput capacity of Eternal Winter Port, it also modernized the dock.

The ships responsible for clearing the waterways cruised outside the port. The massive cargo ships had completed their tasks and were slowly leaving the port. Another identical ship passed by it, and the sound of the horn echoed in the port, inspiring all the workers here.

Seagulls circled around these giant ships, and it seemed that the war had entirely moved far away from here. The patrolling destroyer looked very small on the horizon, and the whole port was a busy yet peaceful scene.

The dock workers were still busy, and although container trucks often replaced their work, bulk cargo ships occasionally docked, and these workers still needed to help with unloading.

Countless supplies came ashore here, including various types of cement, various equipment and machinery, and the newly arrived... soldiers.

Although the numbers were not high, the Tang Army had resumed some troop transportation: about 1,000 soldiers arrived at Eternal Winter City from Northern Island every day. Most were newly recruited reinforcements, with only a few from the 7th Corps.

Eric’s 7th Corps was about to land, so some officers were sent ahead to conduct a field survey to establish a forward presence. They were to analyze the situation and draft subsequent troop transfer plans here.

Additionally, a large number of pilots arrived at Eternal Winter Port by ship, replacing their counterparts who had been battling at the front lines for two months, allowing them a break to rest.

In short, the entire port was exceedingly busy, so much so that those who truly knew its throughput were very confident: the Ice Cold Empire was bound to lose.

In just a month’s time, Eternal Winter City had almost caught up with its highest throughput during the dwarf control period.

Given more time, this port would undoubtedly become even busier. Once throughput increased, the local economy would also improve.

Countless industrial products, ammunition, and other goods were sent here and then distributed from here... At least during wartime, the importance of Eternal Winter Port was self-evident.

The port’s scale would only continue to grow, and the items it carried would only get heavier. The Great Tang Empire would build it into one of the largest ports on the Eastern Continent, at least one of the most important ports in the Northern Region!

Transport ships were docked at all three docks, with the largest one exceeding 90,000 tons: this type of giant ship was almost unseen in other countries, mostly purchased and operated by the Great Tang Group’s shipping company.

The giant ships could transport large amounts of goods at once. They usually operated on the route between Dragon Island and Linshui. Now they had been transferred to a new route, starting to undertake the transportation work between Linshui and Eternal Winter Port.

One self-propelled artillery piece after another was hoisted off the transport ships. The artillery commanders waiting at the dock were handing over these pieces with the port officials.

These artillery were meant to reinforce the 9th Corps. Their artillery had lost some equipment earlier, and now with new weapons, these units were being replenished to restore their structures.

Everything looked orderly, and you could even see dwarf women with baskets on the streets.

Some destroyed buildings remained in their state, while some slightly damaged ones had been repaired. The glass showcases were stocked with goods from the Great Tang Empire, as if life had returned to what it was before.

Despite seeing splotches left by gunfire on the walls, and despite some dwarf-painted slogans "resist to the end" still needing to be cleared—these things attested to the past here but were being engulfed by the future’s advancement.

Military trucks of the Tang Army were still seen by the roadside, but civilian cars under red and green lights gradually became more prevalent. To meet the needs of Tang Army personnel on leave, city bars and shops had reopened, and cinemas had been prioritized for cleaning and renovation.

That day, the first batch of floating docks set up at the landing site was damaged and scrapped.

Also on that day, the Great Tang Empire’s landing corps’ main command moved to Eternal Winter City. Tagg chose a spacious and bright office, the building he chose was the former Great Tang Group’s office building at Eternal Winter Port.