Munitions Empire

Look, as long as you treat a strategic retreat as a winter adventure spree, the situation becomes completely different.

Guns can be discarded, cannons can be abandoned, as long as you keep the food. Everyone thought this way, so they brought all the food they could find.

Hoping to find those who scattered is unlikely, and at this time, even the remaining infantry in this Qin Country regiment didn't know if they had really encountered Tang Army Soldiers.

They only heard gunshots and someone shouting that the Tang Army was attacking, then everyone ran without hesitation, continuously running until they reached this place.

When the battalion commander realized he couldn't even gather enough soldiers for one battalion, he wasn't discouraged. At least they had plenty of food apart from lacking weapons and ammunition.

Before nightfall, he set up camp once again, and everyone started to heat up food. This time there were no gunshots heard, nor did anyone shout that the Tang Army was coming.

Everyone was extremely exhausted, some even found a comfortable spot to sleep without eating. Snores arose, while the others listlessly began to eat, and everyone was in harmony.

The first battalion commander, who could hardly run anymore, found himself practically just a company commander, as the guard company of the regiment had only seven or eighty men left.

The most miserable was the third battalion, as the gunshots were heard from their direction before, so hardly any of them were left.

The third battalion commander was nowhere to be found, only a few dozen people had escaped with the troops to this place, the rest were nowhere to be seen.

This is a depiction of the Qin Army infantry's battle situation. Most infantry didn't know what happened before they started to rout, continually fleeing without seeing a trace of the enemy, scaring themselves, like startled birds, seeing threats everywhere.

No matter what they encountered, they scared themselves half to death, throwing away helmets and armor, similar to how they were decades ago. In essence, tactical advancements did not make the retreat more reasonable, instead, it became more chaotic.

In fact, from comparing the records of both sides after the battle, the Tang Army did not encounter the Qin Army north of Dongqing Castle, nor did they open fire.

If the Tang Army had not treated this battle as a non-combat event, in reality, this Qin Army infantry regiment panicked and routed due to accidental gunfire for reasons unknown.

They were not isolated; most units along the entire line were like this. They couldn't receive any orders from their respective units and didn't know what to do, so their only path was to flee.

The former command headquarters were now a hundred, even several hundred, kilometers away, their existence uncertain, so it was impossible to effectively command these troops.

Nearby friendly units were preoccupied, having no interest in managing these unfamiliar troops fleeing from the Xiajian direction.

Even if they wanted to, they couldn't: communication had been disrupted, orders were unclear, how could one dispatch a communication soldier to take over the command of a regiment or even a division?

From another perspective, taking over was unnecessary: the Qin Army in Dongqing was also routing, so is command of two fleeing Qin Armies important? Is it not important? Is it important?...

Everyone was running, no one cared about each other, and even the once respectable resource allocation became fantastical due to the continuously deteriorating war situation.

Some units, while running, discovered that they could actually find their lost weapons and equipment again: yes, they were all found! Along the way, they could pick up rifles abandoned by the roadside, even large guns they had thrown away, if they were willing.

Regrettably, no one was willing to drag those paralyzed large guns from the road, nor did anyone care about the cars with shattered glass by shrapnel but actually still drivable.

Because the Qin Army Soldiers who managed to escape to this place knew very well that these operable large equipment were simply calling death upon them! Only by discarding all these would they be safer.

Previously untouchable items, due to military discipline, were now carelessly abandoned due to the retreat. Trucks carrying weapons and ammunition were paralyzed by the roadside and could be taken at will.

The problem is, weapons were not even in demand, and quite a few units had already thrown away their own weapons, as during the escape, heavy and useless items were often the first to be abandoned.

This was unavoidable; as there was no need to stop and counterattack, what was the point in keeping the weapons?

Initially, soldiers discreetly discarded some bullets to ease their march.

Next, machine gun bullets were discarded, then MG42 machine gun tripods, followed by more belts, ammo boxes... Eventually, after discarding all bullets, infantry saw no use for their rifles.

After all, what's the point of keeping a useless rifle after dumping all bullets? You say for self-defense? Isn't there still a bayonet? Useful for cutting meat, opening cans, and stabbing at critical moments, isn't it handy and lightweight?

Continued running resulted in the reduction of steel helmets too. Raincoats, tents, and blankets could not be discarded as the weather grew colder, and these were hopes for saving lives at crucial times.

Mess kits could not be discarded either; losing them would be unthinkable. Even if the engineer shovel were discarded, the mess kit shouldn't be, right?

As for why the engineer shovel wasn't discarded... it just wasn't its turn yet, after all, it was still useful for digging pits, cutting branches, and setting up camps. Discarding it after the steel helmet was still timely.

This troop, seemingly wanting no equipment, encountered various abandoned vehicles along the way, and found all sorts of supplies and equipment.

Weapons and ammunition were indeed everywhere, and occasionally, clothes and quilts were seen scattered on the ground, originally intended for the front lines since winter had arrived, after all.

But the problem was, the transport convoy was destroyed on the road by Tang Army planes, and these supplies could never reach where they were intended.

After all, that area… was now under Tang Army's control. And the troops preparing to use those supplies had mostly become Tang Army prisoners.

Finally having a chance to sleep, and with over 400 soldiers fed, this Qin Army infantry regiment somewhat recovered its state.

Expecting them to fight was impossible, but having them continue running was still doable. In such a peaceful night, unpeaceful events were also occurring.