Munitions Empire-Chapter 1027 - 949 calling for artillery strike

Chapter 1027: 949 calling for artillery strike

“He didn’t shoot! It seems he figured out the decoy,” Cao Fei said to the observer next to him, “Call for artillery support, the coordinates of this building…”

“Why the change of mind?” As the observer picked up the radio handset and began dialing, he asked Cao Fei.

Cao Fei stared at the distant building, searching for the position he suspected, “Better to take him out if possible, if not, at least force him to move and expose himself. The enemy is a master, we can’t take risks.”

“He’s a master because he didn’t fall for our trap?” the observer asked while manipulating the radio handset.

“From his behavior, he’s at least a master, and might even be the one who previously injured you,” Cao Fei speculated, though he didn’t realize his casual guess would turn out to be prophetic.

“Heh heh,” the observer chuckled, then got through on the radio: “Hello? Hello! This is operation team codenamed 75, password 331122! Calling, calling!”

Through the handset came a pleasant female voice: “This is Fengjiang 02 Command Center, repeat, this is Fengjiang 02 Command Center… Password confirmed, password confirmed! Please repeat your request, Team 75, please repeat your request.”

“Requesting artillery strike! Coordinates 13-07-16! Repeat, coordinates 13-07-16!” The observer stated the purpose of the artillery support call.

“Check artillery coordinates 13-07-16! Repeat, check artillery coordinates 13-07-16! Target condition… building,” the female operator’s voice came through the handset.

“Confirmed, correct! Confirm! Confirmed!” The observer stared at the distant building, and after speaking, he disconnected.

The batteries for the radio handset were precious, they were so small entirely due to Great Tang Empire’s superior battery technology. But making batteries small comes at a cost; such powerful signal radio handsets could only support a few calls per battery.

The electromagnetic environment now is not like a few years ago, when telegraphs weren’t even common, allowing signals to travel far.

At this moment, inside Fengjiang City alone, there are hundreds, even thousands of telephone and radio stations. In such a situation, to ensure one’s own signal transmission, it is necessary to increase the signal’s strength.

Everyone is trying to increase the signal strength of their devices, which basically means internal competition has worsened the electromagnetic environment for everyone.

The communications signals of the Great Tang Empire have always been superior to those of other countries; they also have more base stations, thus communication support has always been the best.

“Did you see that guy?” the observer picked up the binoculars, continuing to search for the enemy who had just left the crevice.

“Still no sight of him!” Cao Fei continued to search for his target. Since the man had left the previous crevice, he had not shown himself again.

Perhaps the enemy switched to another position, or perhaps he had already left—these were things they couldn’t confirm.

In another building, an old hunter from the Dahua Empire was still searching for a suitable position. He wanted to keep observing the distant factory, scoping out where the enemy might appear next.

Logically speaking, this distance was already at the extreme limit of his shooting range; he estimated the distance to the factory to be about 350 meters, which was beyond his usual firing range.

Because he didn’t know if the enemy had detected him and wasn’t sure if the enemy was still there, the old hunter was being extremely cautious.

He didn’t dare pass by any dangerous windows, only crawling cautiously on the ground until he reached the staircase, where he barely managed to pull himself up.

Yes, he wanted to go down to a lower floor for a better view, and switching floors would also greatly reduce the risk of being spotted by his opponent.

New novel chapt𝒆rs are published on ƒгeewebnovёl.com.

Soon enough, he descended the stairs and walked against the wall to the room right below where his comrade had his neck shot through.

He was now in the room directly beneath where his comrade’s body lay. He slowly crawled to the doorway of the room, peeked out, and saw the collapsed exterior wall and the damaged window ledge.

Originally, the ledge should have been here, but now only a V-shaped notch remained.

Comparatively, the view from this gap was definitely better than the one above. The old hunter didn’t approach any closer, instead using this notch to carefully inspect the distant factory.

Just like before, he didn’t find anything because the factory was still very quiet. The old hunter felt anxious; he suddenly thought how great it would be if he could call for an artillery strike to obliterate the most dangerous spots.

Unfortunately, he had no way to communicate with the artillery, and most of the time he didn’t even have a partner to act with.

Just as he felt a bit regretful, a piercing sound of an artillery shell whistling from a distance suddenly came. The sound grew louder as it approached, mixed with rain, and carried a tremendous oppressive force.

“Artillery attack?” The thought suddenly crossed the old hunter’s mind: was his opponent calling for an artillery bombardment on him?

Although it seemed impossible, the old hunter still thought so, and he knew that he could no longer stay in this building.

At that instant, an artillery shell struck right beside the building. The huge shockwave instantly blew away all the surrounding rainwater, violently shaking the entire building, and then a corner of the building began to collapse.

The remaining glass shards on the window sills clattered noisily, and many unstable glasses began to fall, with the external wall’s cement facade also starting to peel off.

For the old hunter still inside the building, the whole world seemed to be on the verge of destruction at that moment; everything was shaking, and everything was making the sound of breaking and twisting.

He hugged his rifle, feeling all the terrifying movements around him, praying that the ceiling wouldn’t collapse and bury him alive.

While he was praying, the second shell fell, and the massive explosion engulfed most of the building.

At the old hunter’s crawling spot, the shockwave carrying various debris like bricks, tiles, sand, and dust whistled past, filling his nostrils and leaving him unable to breathe.

The sky seemed to be shaking, everything appeared to be enveloped in smoke and dust, and at that moment, even the rain seemed to have paused. Not far from the old hunter, about ten meters away, the floor had already collapsed, leaving behind only a third of the building’s original width in ruins.

Everyone knew that it was practically no longer safe to stay here, and no one knew when the third shell would strike; staying put was essentially no different from waiting for death.

Thus, the old hunter instinctively got up from the floor, his current floor ensured he could jump out of the window without sustaining severe injuries.

His face was still covered in dust, and the swirling dust around him acted like a natural smokescreen. In the dusty environment, he found his way to the window, ready to jump down from the V-shaped gap.

From a distance, Cao Fei, watching the building collapse, immediately spotted the somewhat blurry figure.

The figure was dressed in a strange beggar’s clothing, all made of strips of cloth, resembling the camouflage suits they usually wore. This outfit was peculiar, but Cao Fei could see it clearly.

When the figure got up, it was a bit clumsy, but Cao Fei would not waste such a perfect opportunity to open fire.

He pulled the trigger, firing a shot at the figure he saw. He felt the recoil of his rifle and also felt the feedback-like vibration from his rifle.

The bullet passed through the smoke, and it was unknown if it hit the target. As more smoke and dust came over, Cao Fei could no longer confirm his success.

At his side, the spotter was also unsure if the sniper’s bullet had hit the target. He could only regretfully say to Cao Fei, “Sorry, old Cao… I can’t confirm your achievement…”

“It’s okay, I can’t confirm either. The time was too short.” Cao Fei released his finger from the trigger and spoke to his partner.

As the two of them spoke, the third shell struck the building, completely destroying the remaining fragments and leveling the site.

The dust from the collapsed building was still rolling, visibility was very low. Even though the rainfall washed it away, the swirling smoke lasted for more than ten seconds.

Afterwards, visibility was restored, and the continuous rain kept falling. The surroundings were deadly silent, as if nothing had happened.

Only the building that once stood there had now completely collapsed, leaving behind a mound of rubble formed from the debris and broken bricks.

“Props to you, 105!” The spotter proudly complimented, seeing the firepower of the artillery.

Cao Fei was somewhat unconvinced; when they had called for artillery support before, they had confirmed that the target was a building, why not use the 105 howitzer? What else? Should they use a 75mm gun to shoot all day?

If it had been a 155 howitzer, a little more precise, probably one shell would have been enough. There likely wouldn’t have been a chance for the enemy to escape and they would have been blown up on the spot.

Now, however, the opponent had jumped out, and no one knew if he was dead or alive, leaving an unknown outcome.

“Let’s go! We don’t have a shooting angle anymore.” Cao Fei, somewhat regretfully, packed up his things; their position had many advantages, but also disadvantages. The biggest disadvantage was that their position was too low, lacking the advantage of shooting from a high angle down at low-angle targets.

Now that the opponent had jumped to the first floor, they no longer had a shooting angle, and waiting further would be futile, so they could retreat.