Munitions Empire

In the Fengjiang combat zone, the Tang Army was launching an attack in an attempt to capture an unnamed small village. Under the cover of a No. 4 assault gun, a platoon of Tang soldiers approached their target cautiously, as usual.

As they approached the outskirts of the village, the platoon leader in charge of commanding the battle realized something was amiss.

He knelt on one knee behind the last piece of cover and carefully observed the quiet little village in front of him.

"Something's not right, the flanking assault gun should have been discovered by now, why hasn't the enemy opened fire?" He narrowed his eyes, seemingly trying to locate the enemy's position.

This small village was strategically located, and it was unlikely the enemy would give it up easily. The Tang Army's attempt to capture the village was due to its unique position, hoping to take it and set the stage for the next phase of the fight.

"Has the machine gun team on the flank reached their position?" Sticking one's head out for a long time was obviously not wise, so after observing for as long as possible, the platoon leader retracted and looked to the other side.

"Can't see clearly! But I guess it's about time." The person beside him gave a rather vague answer, because they had been unable to keep an eye on the machine gun team on the other side all the way.

"Then let's stick to the plan! Keep as low as possible, cut through along the outer walls of the buildings, and avoid the open ground on the other side!" The platoon leader instructed the soldiers following him and then raised his fist.

He then made a chopping gesture forward, and all the soldiers began to cross the bushes, moving at high speed towards the outskirts of the village.

Everyone pressed their bodies as low as possible, because they all knew that under such circumstances, it was very likely that enemies had already aimed at them.

Just as everyone was about to cross the last open space, the sound of machine guns suddenly came from the flank.

"Tat-tat-tat-tat!" The unmistakable sound of Maxim guns caused all the running Tang soldiers to immediately hit the ground. Of course, some were hit directly and fell to the ground.

"Machine guns!" The soldier lying on the ground immediately shouted out loud. Their machine guns sounded like chainsaws, completely different from what the enemy used, and were very easy to distinguish.

"Position! Position!" The downed officers adjusted their own hiding spots and loudly responded to their subordinates.

"Can't see clearly!" In fact, it's impossible to see the clear trajectory of tracer bullets when they are coming straight at you in combat, due to the nature of light.

Tracer bullets work by adding burning material to the rear of the bullet, causing it to burn while in flight, leaving a bright trail along its path to help allied shooters adjust their aim.

But a bullet flying straight at you blocks some of the brightness, so on the chaotic battlefield, identifying the enemy's tracer bullet trajectory is not an easy task—at least, not as obvious as the laser-like trails seen in movies.

And... the Dahua military is not equipped with tracer bullets on a large scale...

"Position!" The enemy's machine guns continued to fire, and the suppressed Tang soldiers grew more and more restless—they had to reach a safer position quickly, or they would only become less secure.

Finally, some soldiers found the position of the enemy's flanking machine guns and also discovered why the covering position on the flank had not opened fire to suppress the enemy: "Behind that wall! To the left, that wall!"

The enemy's machine gun position was tricky; they had given up much of their field of fire and were hiding behind a wall, which blocked the view of the Tang flanking machine gun team, which is why they had not fired until now.

"Damn it! Which wall?" Hearing the reported position, some of the veteran soldiers couldn't help but curse out loud.

Bullets landed around these soldiers, kicking up clumps of dirt. In such an environment, no one spoke calmly.

A Tang soldier couldn't stand it anymore. He felt that if he continued to lie on the ground, he would eventually get shot, so he leaped up from the ground, holding his Type 56 assault rifle and charged towards the village.

He hadn't run two steps before he was hit by a bullet coming straight at him, and then he tumbled to the ground.

Someone spotted an enemy soldier wearing a green uniform hiding behind a fence; the flash from the shot he had just fired gave away his position.

"Directly ahead! In the corner of the fence on the far right! Gunman! Gunman!" The soldier who saw the enemy's position reported the shooter's location accurately.

In the blink of an eye, he even forgot that the Dahua troops wore uniforms that were a brownish yellow, close to the color of the soil.

"Chen Ting! Chen Ting!" The platoon leader in charge of the assault called out the name of his soldier loudly amidst the gunfire and whizzing bullets.

The soldier named Chen Ting shouldered his G43 semi-automatic rifle and extended the barrel from his position as indicated by the report. Through the scope, he indeed spotted the enemy, who was not hiding but was reloading his rifle behind a fence.

He could see very clearly that the enemy's helmet style was completely different from Dahua's troops, the rifle in his hand was also different, and the color of the clothes was distinctly different as well.

This enemy was not a Dahua soldier! As this thought flashed through his mind, Chen Ting still pulled the trigger, hitting the enemy's head with a single shot.

Struck by the bullet in the face, the soldier he had never seen before fell backwards, and another Tang Army soldier leaped out from his temporary cover and charged straight ahead.

However, he had not run two steps before he was hit by bullets coming from another direction and fell on the path forward.

At that moment, it seemed that everyone realized that the opponent they were facing was different from the Dahua troops they had been exchanging fire with!

It was evident from the well-prepared defensive positions of the enemy that these people were veterans forged by years of combat, with rich battle experience.

"Tatatata!" The Tang Army soldiers, with somewhat better cover ahead, finally located the enemy machine gun that was ceaselessly roaring. A soldier raised his assault rifle and unleashed a volley of bullets toward the enemy machine gun, its muzzle flashing with fire.

At last, the annoying sound of the machine gun paused temporarily, giving the Tang Army an opportunity to continue their advance.

Seven or eight soldiers leaped up and started sprinting forward. The enemy clearly did not expect their opponent to demonstrate such audacity.

Thus, only one of them was felled by a crisp shot from a rifle, while the rest of the soldiers made it to a relatively safer and better position, before the enemy machine gun on the flank roared to life once more.

In fact, the enemy hidden within the village was also taken aback by the Tang Army's combat discipline. Based on their previous experience, when a probing attack had reached this point, the enemy should have been repelled.

But to their surprise, the Tang Army, numbering only thirty or forty, still maintained a high fighting spirit, showing no sign of retreating.

What was more troubling for them was that on the other side of the village, there was a more troublesome big guy causing havoc on their flank, which they had not yet found a good way to deal with.

Yes, indeed, it was the No.4 assault gun of the Tang Army that had initiated the attack on the flank. At this moment, it had closed in on the village.

"Something's not right! The assault gun has moved up! Normally, Dahua's troops should have started retreating by now!" Lowering his binoculars, the Tang Army company commander who had been watching the situation near the village turned to his adjutant, "Something's not right!"

Logically, with the enemy being pinched from both sides and without a good way to respond, the forces stationed in the village should have retreated.

But the enemy had not given up so easily; they desperately organized defense lines relying on the collapsed houses in the village, and they continued to fight even after being overrun by the Tang Army.

Hearing the continuous explosions coming from the village, the commanding officer even had the illusion that the enemy was deliberately allowing their No.4 assault gun to get close to the village.

"This is bad..." said an officer, clutching the radio communication headset, listening to the anxious shouts of the crew members inside the No.4 assault gun.

The enemy was trying to sever the connection between the No.4 assault gun and the Tang Army infantry following it, and those soldiers hiding among the ruins kept launching assaults, throwing multiple grenades to try to destroy their assault gun.

The channel crackled with the order from the tank commander to reverse, which meant the commander had decided that retreating was the safest option.

"Send first platoon, second squad up! Provide some support! There should be a company of the enemy, fighting fiercely, not like Dahua's troops," the company commander finally couldn't bear it any longer, feeling that allowing the first platoon to continue to be tied down at the same place would lead to losing control of the situation.

"Yes!" The runner beside him immediately ran to the second squad, which was on standby at the start line. The gunfire in the distance grew denser, and the sound of grenades began to rise and fall.

Of course, the Tang Army was not to be trifled with; once they got closer to the enemy's defensive line, they began to utilize their fire superiority, throwing grenades desperately to suppress the enemy's firepower.

In terms of combat experience and will, the Tang Army was also second to none. So after figuring out a solution to the sudden situation, the Tang Army gradually began to stabilize their position.

Just as the second squad was preparing to approach the village, whistling shells enveloped the entire battlefield, with about twenty 150mm caliber shells falling, covering both the persisting friendly forces and the attacking Tang Army in a barrage of artillery.

However, with the falling of this round of shells, the battle finally had a victor, and the remaining enemy soldiers began to retreat, with only a dozen or so managing to escape in the end.

The brief battle left a deep impression on the Tang Army, and reports were quickly delivered to Bolton's hands, all signs indicating that a new opponent had appeared in front of the Tang Army.