Munitions Empire

On the frontline, a Qin Country soldier was patiently waiting for death in the trench. He had fled all the way from Xiajian to here, and finally witnessed the true form of the Tang Army.

Just a few minutes ago, he saw a Tang Army fire reconnaissance vehicle. The armored vehicle looked very peculiar, giving off a sense of advanced technology—he wasn't very familiar with the term sci-fi, but anyway, that armored vehicle looked very advanced, with an aura of not being easily messed with.

After scouting around the edges of the Qin Army's outer perimeter, the armored vehicle left. At that time, a Qin Army soldier fired a shot at the armored vehicle, causing the Tang Army's armored vehicle to retreat.

It seemed that the other side wasn't as formidable as rumored, even being scared off by a gunshot—anyway, many Qin Army soldiers believed this. They thought it was that brave soldier's shot that scared the enemy into retreating in panic.

In reality, over time, the Tang Army's offensive became very cautious. They no longer broke through the Qin Army's defenses quickly but instead began to proceed steadily, depleting the Qin Army's active forces.

To the frontline Qin Army, the most direct feeling was that the Tang Army's heavy firepower began to increase, and their casualties became increasingly severe.

"That armored vehicle just came back!" A sentry soldier shrunk back from a small hole deliberately left at the edge of the trench, telling his comrades around him.

Everyone immediately became nervous, crawling up the trench and scouring the undulating dirt piles for that camouflage-painted armored vehicle of the Great Tang Empire.

Soon, they saw the Tang Army armored vehicle hiding behind the bushes. The 30 mm caliber autocannon and the 100 mm caliber low-velocity cannon on this armored vehicle looked quite intimidating.

"Is it calling for reinforcements?" a soldier asked his companion nervously, "Is the enemy about to attack?"

"Shut up!" a Qin Army squad leader scolded sharply. He was also very nervous, very afraid that the armored vehicle might accelerate and charge over.

To be honest, they didn't have much anti-tank weaponry on hand, only a camouflaged 50 mm caliber anti-tank gun at a distance. This artillery was originally part of Dahua's anti-tank equipment, an old model with hardly any power.

Dahua didn't actually produce many advanced artillery pieces; most good things were directly imported from the Great Tang Empire. Anyway, back then Zhao Yu had the support of the Great Tang Empire, easily acquiring weapons and equipment from them.

Even though now these Great Tang Empire weapons were actually too outdated, compared to the other weapons in the hands of Qin Country and Dahua, their quality was still significantly improved.

Even though this 50 mm caliber anti-tank gun wasn't a high-velocity long-barreled "needle," it really didn't have many shells.

After Qin Country's attack, Dahua's own military factories halted production, resuming production only in the last ten days. The produced shells were far from enough for Qin Country's use.

So due to the lack of shells, these not-so-useful artillery pieces had to be used carefully because of logistical difficulties and untimely replenishment.

Another thing that annoyed Qin Army commanders was that they were not familiar with these weapons; at most, they could be used in emergency situations, but hoping they would achieve great success was out of the question.

"Load the anti-tank gun! If it charges over, look for an opportunity to stop it in the firing zone and give it a hard hit!" The Qin Army platoon leader issued combat orders, and the entire Qin Army on the position began to take action.

"Load the anti-tank gun!" The Qin Army non-commissioned officer responsible for this artillery loudly repeated the order. Several soldiers temporarily acting as gunners pushed a shell into the chamber.

...

On the other side, inside the Tang Army armored vehicle, the vehicle commander was observing the opposing position through the periscope. His periscope could magnify five times, allowing him to clearly observe enemy movements.

Soon, he found the firepower support point on this section of the Qin Army's position, a well-camouflaged anti-tank gun.

Besides this anti-tank gun, there were also two suspected heavy machine gun positions here. Other threats were minimal.

Once these places were destroyed, the infantry behind him could easily break through this position, tear open a gap, and continue advancing.

No need to call for artillery support because on this armored vehicle's turret, there was a powerful 100 mm caliber low-velocity cannon. So the vehicle commander only needed to give an order for them to unleash firepower on this Qin Army position.

"Is the anti-tank gun aimed at?" The vehicle commander glanced at the gunner next to him. The gunner nodded and replied, "Don't worry! It will definitely hit!"

At such a close range, if they still missed, he might as well go back and relearn how to use the artillery on the armored vehicle.

After slightly adjusting the angle, the gunner aimed at the anti-tank gun position through the sighting device. Upon the firing command, the armored vehicle unleashed a deadly shot.

The smoke from the muzzle billowed as a shell accurately hit the camouflaged position of the anti-tank gun. The explosion blew off the camouflage net covering the artillery, and dust rose into the air.

Some parts of the 50 mm caliber anti-tank gun flew into the sky, and it was evident that this piece of Qin Army firepower support had turned into scrap metal.

"Nicely done!" The vehicle commander saw the gunner's precise strike through his observation equipment and praised him before giving an order: "Reverse! Our mission is complete; leave the rest to the helicopters."

They only needed to ensure the anti-tank weapons were precisely destroyed, and the remaining tasks could be left to the armed helicopters.

Indeed, as the Tang Army armored vehicle started reversing, the roar of engines was heard in the distance. Two Hind Armed Helicopters roared one after another over the heads of the Tang Army's tanks and armored vehicles, kicking up a cloud of dust.

The next second, the Qin Army's position was in complete turmoil. Tracer bullets created rows of holes in the ground, igniting continuous explosions amidst the rising dust.

One after another, rocket projectiles fell on the Qin Army's position, instantly expanding or filling the trenches painstakingly dug out.

The sounds of explosions rose and fell, as lively as the fireworks during the Tang Country's traditional festivals.

Almost without any retaliation, the sporadic gunfire from the ground couldn't affect the helicopters circling above.

After firing all the rockets from their launch pods, the Hind helicopters finally flew away, leaving behind a mess of the Qin Army position.