Munitions Empire
Chapter 1153: 1073 Fierce Battle at Leping

Chapter 1153: 1073 Fierce Battle at Leping

However, the Navy Marine Corps of the Great Tang Empire never let anyone down. Despite suffering heavy losses and being weakened by the diverse defensive fortifications the Shen Army deployed along the beach, they still maintained their high fighting spirit and pushed forward at an extremely fast pace.

In fact, the Navy also found their own ways to cope: they would rotate troops to warm up by the fire, doing everything possible to keep the lower half of their bodies comfortable.

At the same time, they launched a fierce attack forward with the support of their 63 amphibious tanks, driving the Shen Army away from the vicinity of the landing site.

The large number of mortars that the Shen Army had deployed in the defense line could no longer threaten the beach controlled by the Tang Army, greatly reducing the bombardment that interfered with the Tang Army’s landing.

In fact, the Shen Army did not just sit back and wait for death; they launched two bombing squadrons in desperation, attempting to crush the Tang Country’s Navy from the air.

However, both air strikes were thwarted by the Tang Army’s fighter jets. The Dragon Bombers stood no chance against the Pirate Fighters: the two aircraft were simply not from the same era, not to mention that the Pirate Fighters of the Tang Army were actually designed as interceptors.

The Tang Army pilots, full of confidence in their own technology, preferred large-caliber autocannons over small-caliber machine guns: this gave the Tang Army aircraft outstanding damage, and a terrifying bonus when attacking large aircraft.

Indeed, when other countries’ aircraft left a dense pattern of bullet holes on the enemy’s large bombers with continuous machine gun fire, the Tang Army’s aircraft only needed a brief burst to disintegrate a medium-sized bomber like the Dragon in midair.

After losing more than thirty Dragon Bombers, Shengwu Zhong finally gave up on supporting the beach. He deployed the limited remaining air power to strike at the Tang Country’s paratroopers, who were already under tremendous pressure.

In the sky, a Zero Fighter circled, taking advantage of the Great Tang Empire Navy’s air force being too busy elsewhere to deal with them, the Shen Army’s airfield on South Island took the opportunity to fly out any available aircraft to seek vengeance on the Tang Army Paratroopers.

“Damn! Even the aircraft are joining in the fun!” Xiang Ziyu couldn’t help but curse after being strafed by a Zero Fighter in a dive.

The Tang Country’s Air Force had always been able to provide enough protection for the paratroopers, but unfortunately, there were no Tang Country airfields nearby in the vicinity of South Island.

After all, the Navy was not very reliable. Cross-branch coordinated combat always had similar problems: the cooperation on the battlefield could not be perfect, and the sudden situations that arose were indeed unpredictable by anyone.

Take this time for example, Bernard had to choose between supporting the paratroopers and attacking the enemy’s northern fleet heading south, and he chose the safer option to ensure the landing site was absolutely secure.

It can’t be said that his choice was wrong, only that his choice was more cautious. Therefore, paratroopers like Xiang Ziyu could only face all the enemies alone like they are now.

“They really have too much respect for us.” The deputy platoon leader was in a somewhat bad mood; their paratrooper platoon had roughly only half of their people left, and they were also running low on ammunition, especially RPGs which were extremely scarce. In such circumstances, with the enemy’s planes coming again, their defense was going to be very difficult.

“They should indeed respect us!” Xiang Ziyu glanced at his wristwatch and said narcissistically: “We have repelled their Armored Corps’ four attacks, why should they look down on us?”

“Platoon leader, the more they respect us at this time, the worse our luck is.” The deputy platoon leader complained with mixed laughter and tears: “We only have two RPGs left! This time… I’m afraid we won’t be able to hold out.”

The small high ground nearby had actually been lost; the troops of the 2nd platoon had suffered too many casualties and had to retreat, handing over the high ground to the Mirage Country’s soldiers.

Now the Mirage Country’s troops could attack Xiang Ziyu’s defensive position from both sides. The other side also suffered heavy losses, but their follow-up troops were indeed more numerous than the paratroopers.

“Don’t panic!” Xiang Ziyu knew that if they kept defending this position, they might face annihilation, so he reassured his deputy platoon leader: “If we can’t hold, we retreat to the village and use the ruins to hold out for another hour.”

“There are only ruins there… not an arsenal. We’ve run out of RPGs, how can we hold out for an hour?” The deputy platoon leader continued with his mixed tears and chuckles, suggesting that they should retreat to the safe zone on the left and concede Leping to the Mirage Country’s army in front of them.

They were probably needed to support the precarious coastline, and could not deploy many troops against them. Once the pressure on them was greatly reduced, they could even turn things around and harass the Mirage Country’s follow-up logistics troops.

“Bridge 1 has already been lost, our defense line has been compressed… If we lose here, where will the aerial resupply be dropped?” Xiang Ziyu, of course, knew what the deputy platoon leader was thinking, but they really had no room to maneuver anymore.

The paratroopers were already being squeezed by the Shen Army’s 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions between the villages of Dongshan and Leping, and in between, there were their own field hospitals, communication command posts, and other facilities. If they lost the support point of Leping, they would likely be encircled and annihilated by the Shen Army.

Allowing the enemy’s Armored Corps to build momentum and charge straight at them, the paratrooper troops with barely any remaining ammunition would probably be wiped out in one fell swoop.

“I’ve said from the beginning we shouldn’t have sent the 2nd Division to defend Bridge No. 1! Those idiots.” The deputy platoon leader complained once more, but he no longer considered giving up Leping village.

Indeed, after a few Dragon Bombers paid their visit to the paratroopers’ position, the Mirage Country’s tanks rolled in again.

Even though they were already at the end of their tether, the numerical superiority still posed a massive pressure, and the Shen Army’s attack continued to overwhelm the Tang Country’s paratrooper troops.

“Let the 1st Squad, which suffered the most losses, leave first! Wait in the ruins behind! And take the RPGs!” Xiang Ziyu made a decisive command.

The deputy platoon leader nodded, about to leave, when Xiang Ziyu added, “You lead the team!”

He was taken aback, then he looked towards Xiang Ziyu, and without saying anything more, he picked up his assault rifle and ran along the already damaged trench, bending over to get further away.

“Move the 2nd Squad’s machine gun backwards… Make sure it’s not discovered! It will cover the retreat later!” Xiang Ziyu watched the deputy platoon leader leave, then instructed his own 2nd Squad leader: “You take a few men to cover the machine gun, make sure nothing goes wrong!”

Now they didn’t have many weapons on hand, easily losing a machine gun could be considered a significant loss.

When the 2nd Squad leader led seven or eight people to retreat, a position in the front had already begun fighting with the enemy. Xiang Ziyu saw Mirage Country’s troops entering the trenches of the Tang Army paratroopers; evidently, that section of the position had been lost.

One after another, the paratroopers retreated back along the communication trenches. Most of these trenches were built on top of the defensive fortifications constructed previously by the Mirage Country troops, and their structure actually wasn’t very complex.

After the last paratrooper from the front line withdrew, he shouted to his comrades who received them: “No one’s behind us! It’s all Goblins!”

The paratrooper at the fork in the road, upon hearing this news, immediately grabbed the detonator next to him, pressed down on the T-shaped ignition rod with his palm, twisted it, and then forcefully pushed down.

Explosions immediately occurred in the distant trenches, sending limbs and dirt flying into the air and falling down, hitting the paratroopers’ helmets with a succession of noises.

Clearly, the Shen Army had not anticipated that they would fall into another trap; the heavily-damaged Shen Army soldiers rallied once again, charging along the now-collapsed trenches towards the remaining and ravaged main position of the Tang Army paratroopers.

“Hand Grenades!” The Tang Army soldiers, who had been prepared for some time, pulled hand grenades from their chests, pulled out the pins, released the safety, and threw them vigorously towards the enemy.

A series of explosions once again sounded, but mingled with the smoke from the blasts, a Mirage Country heavy Tank had already charged close.

“Tank!” Avoiding being crushed by the treads, the Tang Army paratroopers loudly alerted their comrades on both sides that the enemy Tank was now extremely close.

Before his shout could subside, the Mirage Country soldiers following the tank charged towards him. They held rifles with bayonets attached, towering over and plunging towards the paratroopers in the trench.

Taken by surprise, the Tang Army soldier was tackled to the ground by a Mirage Country Goblin. He held off the rifle with one hand and with the other, he pulled out a Beretta Handgun from his waist, firing into the Goblin’s abdomen.

The bullets tore through the Goblin’s stomach, and after being hit by three shots, the enemy fell to the ground motionless. More Goblins approached, and the Great Tang paratrooper, without time to reload, raised his handgun and fired, knocking them down as well.

However, more Goblin soldiers charged in, this time not with rifles but with a submachine gun. The enemy raised the barrel, took aim at the Tang Army soldier, and pulled the trigger, with bullets piercing through the Tang Army soldier’s chest, spraying blood all over the trench.

Soon Tang Army soldiers counterattacked. They swept the surrounding Shen Army soldiers with their assault rifles, then someone stuck a specialized anti-tank hand grenade to the side of the Mirage Country Tank’s body.

“Take cover!” The Tang Army soldier who completed the task immediately looked for a place to hide, and then the anti-tank grenade exploded, creating a jet that directly penetrated the tank’s side armor.

Due to the limited power, the tank continued to advance; the grenade had only left a not-so-large hole in its side.

Soon the Goblins inside the tank opened the hatch to escape, and only two people emerged; the rest… evidently had been hit by the jet and died inside the tank.