Munitions Empire
Chapter 1149: 1069 fierce battle continues

Chapter 1149: 1069 fierce battle continues

“Long live the Shen Emperor!” A Mirage Country goblin officer raised his command saber high and, bellowing, led the charge forward. Despite many commanders already being picked off by Tang Army Paratrooper snipers for doing this, there were still those who recklessly maintained this crazy style of command.

Behind him, goblin soldiers armed with Shireck Model 1 rifles crowded close, swarming around tanks and rushing towards the Great Tang Empire soldiers’ position, which was already belching thick smoke in the distance.

At this moment, the ground between the two armies was littered with the bodies of goblins, but the goblin soldiers, undeterred, continued to sprint forward ceaselessly.

“For the Shen Emperor! Attack!” Shouts and slogans were everywhere, and at this time, the Tang Army’s firepower was noticeably less ferocious than before.

Xiang Ziyu now had to be more sparing with his RPG Rocket Launcher, and his troops’ mortar shells and gun grenades were also nearly expended.

There was no choice; there was only so much weaponry and ammunition that could be carried with a parachute. After the previous consumption, there really wasn’t much left.

“We’re basically out of artillery shells,” the deputy platoon leader reported somewhat awkwardly from the rear, bringing with him not so good news: the battalion headquarters had nothing left to support them with either.

“We still have plenty of bullets, but we must use them strategically now. If we keep wasting them, I estimate by afternoon we might only be able to rely on bayonets,” he said. He had brought back about 1,000 bullets from the battalion headquarters, and most of them had already been distributed.

“We’re also running out of medical supplies. We’ve already got 9 dead and more than 20 wounded…” Xiang Ziyu said despondently.

The enemy had already launched three charges, and it seemed like the goblin troops were insatiable: they charged forward recklessly, as if trying to deplete the Great Tang Paratroopers’ bullets with their lives.

“But even if we have to fight with bayonets, we’ll make sure they’re beaten!” Xiang Ziyu eyed an enemy tank nearing his defensive position and declared with determination.

If they ran out of rockets, they still had explosives; if explosives were gone, they still had hand grenades! If hand grenades ran out, they still had bullets, and if bullets were gone, they had bayonets, and if bayonets were no more, they still had their fists and teeth!

“Ratatatata!” This time, the Great Tang Empire’s machine-gun position did not flank, but instead suddenly opened fire from the front, mowing down a swath of goblin infantry.

Pity that it seemed one of the Mirage Country tanks had anticipated the Tang Army machine-gun position. Just seconds after the machine guns fired, a shell struck the machine-gun position.

“Damn it!” Xiang Ziyu cursed, having seen quite clearly the explosion that had just occurred, costing at least two more brave paratroopers their lives.

A Mirage Country heavy tank triumphantly rolled over the still-smoking machine-gun position, coming ever closer to the Great Tang Paratrooper’s defensive fortifications.

“Platoon leader! The enemy is approaching our traps!” A soldier, panting, ran along the trench to Xiang Ziyu and asked, “Should we detonate it?”

“Wait a bit longer! Let their infantry get in too, then give them a nasty surprise!” Xiang Ziyu hunkered down on the edge of the trench, peering through the gaps in the soil at the enemy tanks that were not too far away from him.

“Yes, sir!” The soldier bent low and ran towards the distance. A few seconds later, as the enemy entered the trap zone, the Engineer Corps paratroopers pressed the detonator, setting off the explosives secretly laid by the paratroopers inside the trenches.

“Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!” A series of explosions began right beneath the enemy’s feet, causing the Mirage Country soldiers to scatter in terror, abandoning the tanks that had their tracks destroyed by the blasts.

The severe explosions also knocked the Great Tang paratroopers off their feet, tossing them around, but they climbed out of the dirt and began to overwhelm those tanks that had been paralyzed.

Some Mirage Country tanks had been destroyed, others not completely, and the tank crew members inside still tried to resist, but were quickly taken out by the paratroopers with hand grenades and explosives.

The battlefield was thick with gunsmoke and permeated with an acrid smell. Just as the Tang Army side had finished clearing the remnants of Shen Army tanks from the battlefield, the Mirage Country artillery barrage began anew.

This time, the Mirage Country artillery fire was much more precise than the previous volleys. Their shells covered the exact positions held by the Great Tang Paratroopers, causing casualties among them.

“Dammit! They’re getting smarter…” Shaking the dirt from his head, Xiang Ziyu immediately looked towards the enemy’s direction.

Clearly, the enemy did not plan to give the paratroopers any time to rest, with another wave of attack already brewing.

“Medics! Medics!” Off in the distance, a soldier bellowed at the top of his lungs, evidently someone had been wounded.

The paratrooper medic, carrying a nearly empty medical bag, passed by Xiang Ziyu, leaving behind a worrying message: “We’re running out of medicine, Company Commander; we won’t have any anesthetics if someone else gets injured.”

Right after that, the Mirage Country’s artillery attack started again; they seemed certain that the Great Tang Paratroopers had exhausted their rounds, thus their attack became even more reckless.

After 10 a.m., the jet bombers of the Great Tang Empire’s Air Force once again paid a visit to the Shen Army’s airfield on South Island and other various strategic areas.

This round of bombing disrupted Shen Army’s most crucial airfield on the island, and also damaged a section of the railway where a train loaded with Mirage Country’s supplies was parked.

However, despite the remarkable effect of the strategic bombardment, it indeed did not provide support for the friendly paratroopers in combat.

The 1st Division was constrained near Leping, and the 2nd Paratroopers were struggling near Bridge 1. Relatively speaking, the troops of the 1st Paratrooper Division stationed near Leping were under less pressure because there were more Shen Army units near Bridge 1.

Before the artillery fire completely ceased, the tanks of the Mirage Country’s 2nd Armored Division advanced once more, ignoring the fact that the battlefield was already littered with tank wreckage, pushing forward at least 30 more tanks.

The abundance of destroyed tanks made it easier for the Shen Army to approach the Tang Army’s frontline positions. They had many natural shelters, and soon, both sides were entangled in close combat.

Behind the remains of a burnt-out tank, a hidden Tang Army anti-tank team took advantage of the enemy’s blind spot and fired an RPG rocket launcher from an oblique angle.

After firing their last rocket, the team picked up the remaining launcher and ran. The rocket hit a Shen Army tank that was advancing, detonating the ammunition inside.

The severe explosion sent the tank’s turret flying and left just a burning tank hull immobilized in its place. The crew inside didn’t even have a chance to struggle before they peacefully perished. The surrounding Mirage Country soldiers were also knocked down by the blast.

However, in another direction, some Mirage Country soldiers had spotted two retreating Tang Country paratroopers. They raised their weapons and opened fire frantically at the two men until both fell down motionless before they stopped shooting.

Due to the shortage of ammunition, the Tang Army could no longer maintain a favorable casualty ratio with advanced tactics and fierce firepower. They had to resort to the most primitive methods to eliminate the threats that posed the greatest danger to them.

…

Far out at sea, the neatly arranged Stuka Dive Bombers skimmed the water’s surface, each carrying an aerial torpedo underneath. This was their most powerful weapon against the enemy.

“Osprey 1! Osprey 1! This is Osprey 2! We have found the enemy’s position! We have found the enemy’s position!” The dive bomber formation flying high above was the first to spot the enemy, and thus the first naval aviation attack against a naval fleet in this world commenced.

“Maintain formation! We’ve also spotted the target! Prepare for attack!” said the pilot of the torpedo attack plane amidst the slight turbulence in the cockpit: “Squadron 2! Squadron 2! You take the target at the rear!”

“Steady! Close the distance!” Despite flying at several hundred meters altitude, the torpedo attack plane formation could still see the enemy warships appearing on the horizon.

Guided by the coordinates of destroyers, they didn’t need to waste time searching for the enemy’s trace on the vast ocean. They just needed to fly over and then initiate the attack.

“Swoosh!” A shell came flying head-on, whizzing past the cockpit canopy, leaving behind an extremely terrifying sound of tearing through the air.

“They’ve spotted us!” The pilot instinctively jolted the control stick and reminded his comrades how close a call it had been—he was nearly hit, and the shell came probably less than five meters from him at its closest.

“They’re firing! They’re firing!” Excitement, tension, or even a hint of fear filtered through the headset in shout after shout.

“Evasive maneuvers—sideways! Get out of their line of fire! Turn, turn! Forget the formation! To hell with it! Spread out for the attack! Spread out for the attack!” Facing the increasing number of anti-aircraft artillery shells, the commander of the Tang Army’s carrier-borne aircraft had to change tactics.

He hadn’t expected the real carrier-based anti-aircraft fire net to be so dense and so fierce, a departure from previous drills. Their enemy was clearly more combat-capable than they had estimated.

“Buzz!” High above, the dive bomber formation that was closing in commenced their diving rolls one after another, swooping into the battlefield.

In the turbulent airflow, planes carrying huge bombs maneuvered through the fire net assembled of tracer bullets. For a moment, the radio communication channels were filled with shouts from the Great Tang Empire Navy’s aviators: “Dive! Dive! We only have one chance to attack! Don’t waste it!”

Meanwhile, the Shen Army’s warships beneath them had already begun intense maneuvering turns; the slender warships drew one sharp curve after another on the sea surface, while their anti-aircraft guns madly fired shells at any targets they could see during this maneuver.