Munitions Empire

Under General Feng Kezhi's orders, Ding Hong actually did take a legitimate action. He was commanded to withdraw all the Dahua Troops near Tengyun to South Wind Pass, and the Troops carried out the order with considerable speed. The somewhat panicked Dahua Troops were still very swift when executing the retreat order, they followed the commands without hesitation and in doing so, saved themselves. Amidst the drizzling rain, these Troops abandoned Tengyun and, taking with them the heavy weaponry they could carry, they fled to South Wind Pass in one go. Soon, the Tang Army occupied Tengyun, capturing it according to plan, and then the armored units began their advance towards South Wind Pass. The battle broke out near South Wind Pass quickly; a Tang Army Armored Corps battalion attacked along the highway and encountered the Dahua defenders about 10 kilometers away from South Wind Pass. The two sides immediately engaged in intense combat, after losing two Type 4 Tanks, the Tang Army gave up the continued offensive and then both parties began a standoff there. About an hour later, follow-up Tang Troops arrived and launched another attack on the enemy at South Wind Pass. The Dahua Troops deployed tanks, and both sides clashed viciously once again. As a result, the Dahua defenders miraculously held their ground, while the Tang Army lost another 4 tanks but did not take over the village occupied by the Dahua Troops nor did they seize the defensive positions on the flanks. Despite the rain pouring down, the Dahua Troops still managed to dig trenches and reinforced them with sandbags. Relying on a supply station behind them, and with abundant artillery shells, the Dahua artillery continued to fire, creating a considerable hassle for the Tang Army's offensive. "We can't keep fighting like this! Our losses will be massive," remarked a regimental commander, who was responsible for this combat group, somewhat resentfully while watching his own tank units start to retreat in the distance under cover of smoke. This wasn't actually his regiment; he was merely appointed temporarily as the commander of this combat battalion. The entire combat group included not only the tank battalion that first reached the area but also another recently arrived armored grenadier battalion and some self-propelled artillery. It also included some logistical trucks from support units as well as a variety of other miscellaneous units advancing along with the Troops. Truly, it was a mishmash of units: there were a few Type 4 assault guns, but they were understaffed, roughly just a company's worth, now being used as fire support and hastily integrated with the self-propelled artillery units. There were also two lion-type armored reconnaissance vehicles, which didn't have significant offensive capabilities, given their thin armor, so they could only be deployed on the flanks for surveillance and cover. The tank battalion commander standing to the side also wore a look of helplessness, sighing as he asked, "What do we do then? They have South Wind Pass behind them, with plenty of artillery shells." Due to the rain, the smoke released by the tank units didn't work effectively, almost having no impact. However, the tanks still managed to cover the retreat of a small number of grenadiers, bringing back a considerable number of wounded as well. Among the officers present, aside from this regimental commander, the highest rank was that of the tank battalion commander, making him essentially the second-in-command of this combat group. The recent offensive had cost him many tanks, almost one-sixth of his battalion's fighting strength. If he had a choice, he wouldn't even want to continue such a forceful assault on the enemy's positions—the damn job, according to the manual, was meant for assault guns. To have tanks tackle fixed enemy defenses meant for infantry assault guns was simply a waste. His tank's role should be like that of heavy cavalry, surging forward, advancing a thousand li in one day into the enemy's heartland. But the closer they got to the south, the more rainy weather they encountered, and the armored units, having lost air cover and having to battle the mud, were robbed of their former agility and became clumsy and inept. "The enemy has dug trenches and laid mines; we must wait for the following Infantry to come up," the regimental commander concluded simply, then ordered the struggling Troops to retreat, "Have your tanks pull back as well. It's not worth continuing to waste time and lives." The tank battalion commander, somewhat blinded by the heat of battle, was a bit unwilling to see his tanks lost in vain, and so spoke up with a hint of annoyance, "If we do this, today's efforts will be wasted. The infantry is still more than ten kilometers behind us." "Then we must wait," the commander of the combat group suggested. "Alright, then I'll have my men cook some food, find a place to shelter from the rain," the battalion commander finally resigned himself, silently agreeing with the commander's opinion after a few seconds of silence. In fact, after calming down for a few seconds, he too realized that his force was indeed incapable of breaking through the defense line before them. The enemy also had tanks that would counter-attack the moment their line was about to break. Despite the Tang Army's powerful tank force, the rain had shortened the distance between the two sides, and with the Dahua tanks in a defensive role, and not needing to rely on communication for coordination, the gap between the two sides was greatly diminished. In such a situation, to continue using the fuel and tactics to waste Tanks, to squander the precious tank crews, seemed too irrational. The Regimental Commander wore a raincoat, but some places were already soaked through. However, he had his own car, and didn't need to keep getting drenched outside. The Armored Corps grenadiers also had Type 113 armored vehicles to shelter from the rain, needing only a few men to set up sentry posts. The Tank Troops had even less to worry about, as they simply needed to close the hatch to stay dry from the rain. Therefore, the Regimental Commander squinted at the sky and began to reassure, "Don't worry, we are the Armored Corps, the enemy surely suffers more in the rain than we do." "Who knows, I'm suffering quite a bit right now. Those were six tanks! All mine!" The Battalion Commander peered through the curtain of rain at the not-too-distant battlefield. It had returned to silence there, only the Tank wrecks soaked by the rain were faintly visible, with wisp-like smoke still drifting out from the gaps of the hatches. Although the Regimental Commander had ordered a cessation of the attack, he was not content, so he immediately cursed, "This damn weather! If it had stopped raining, we should have arrived here yesterday." "Yeah, this damn weather. If it hadn't been raining, we might have even had a chance to catch up with the retreating Dahua Troops from Tengyun," the Tank Battalion Commander sympathized with the sentiment and agreed in the same vein. In the distance, the retreating grenadiers had already carried the wounded onto the truck beds, while the truck drivers and some following logistics Engineers were putting up tents. Some soldiers, clad in raincoats, gathered under the trees where the rainfall was slightly lighter. The ground was all muddy, with water seeping into boots at every step, soaking the socks through. Under such conditions, after a day of walking, one's entire foot could swell up and turn pale from blisters. The skin would wrinkle together, becoming fragile. Then due to friction, it would rupture into continuously bleeding wounds. If not promptly treated, these wounds could quickly become infected, affecting the entire sole of the foot. Fungal cross-infections would ultimately destroy nerve tissues, forcing doctors to consider amputating the entire lower leg to stop the rot and the spread of disease. The design of military boots is quite contradictory. If designed for regular use, it's best to have high tops that can protect the lower leg and be tight enough for Soldiers to adapt to long-distance treks. But if considering wet and waterlogged conditions, making it easy for Soldiers to remove the boots becomes an urgent need—regrettably, high boots are not easy to take off. That's why Infantry in World War II often used leggings, some made of wrap-arounds, others of leather, or canvas material. The high-top military boots of the Tang Army weren't easy to remove, but in times like these, if you didn't take off the boots and dry your feet quickly, you could easily lose several toes... That's why the Engineers began setting up tents during the attack and why some Soldiers would dive into the truck cabins after returning, starting to take off their own boots. Another two trucks stopped at the roadside in the rain. They were Troops that had come along the highway, identifiable as another Motorized Infantry Regiment. Most of the people didn't disembark, only two men in raincoats came to find the command of the fighting team to check in. This was an understanding. As long as they found an organized unit, these Troops that had gotten lost on the way would immediately join and become a new unit. This way they could ensure the size of the Troops and maintain the combat effectiveness of the attacking forces. The downside was not absent, however. For example, if casualties occurred, their own units wouldn't be able to tally them in short order. So far, the Tang Army itself had not been able to tally up the losses since the war began. That would require follow-up counts and compilations for a conclusion. If this was the case with the Tang Army, the Dahua defenders across them were utterly tragic. In fact, despite their fierce and stubborn fight a moment ago, in reality, this group of Soldiers didn't even wear raincoats. They had already been soaked through in the trenches, and fearing another assault from the Tang Army, they dared not retreat and could only stupidly wait, huddled in the muddy trenches. The Dahua Tank Troops hidden on the other side of the village fared a bit better at least they could hide inside the Tanks to avoid the rain. However, the Tang Army clearly had no plans to let these Dahua Tankers have an easy time soon, several No. 4 assault guns began their bombardment, focusing on what might be the Dahua Tank Troops hiding behind the village. After several shells fell, the Dahua Tank Troops had to shift their positions. Although only one Tank was damaged, the startled tankers had to consider their own safety. No sooner had they left the range just bombarded, the Tang Army artillery abruptly ceased. In fact, the Tang Army did not dare to waste too much of their own shells, bombarding such "suspicious areas" without thorough reconnaissance was simply a few rounds of shelling and that was that. Thus, both sides cursing under their breath, ended a day of fighting with the rain still continuing, and the Troops of the Tang Army also kept arriving in succession.