Munitions Empire-Chapter 589 - : The tank riddled with bullet holes 548

Chapter 589: The tank riddled with bullet holes 548

“Why has the artillery fire stopped?” In the tent, the commander of the 3rd Army raised his head and looked toward his aide.

The aide was also puzzled and turned to another officer, ordering, “Go see what’s happened! Why are there issues at such a critical moment? Tell them to continue the shelling! At all costs…”

The officer nodded slightly before rushing out of the tent. There, Tian Heng, the confidant of the third prince and the actual commander of the Qi Army’s western front, looked tense and kept his eyes on the map.

He promised to recapture Luo Town before the third prince arrived, and now, at the most crucial juncture of the battle, the artillerymen of the 3rd Army had failed.

“The enemy’s air force is always destroying our artillery… It might be because of the recent bombing…” the commander of the 3rd Army explained helplessly.

Planes of the Tang Army had been active the whole time, wreaking havoc everywhere, with Qi Army’s vehicles and artillery being their primary targets, which indeed troubled the Qi artillerymen.

Qi Country’s artillery fire was intermittent, faltering at the most critical times when their beleaguered infantry needed support.

This was also why, after several fierce attacks, the Qi Army always fell short, often being driven back when they were close to the Tang Army’s positions.

“I don’t care about the reasons! Luo Town is the essential route for us to go north! We must break through here at all costs…” Tian Heng, the confidant of the third prince and Qi Country general, insisted.

He could not let down the third prince’s trust in him; he had to lead the troops to break through Luo Town and allow the third prince to journey north back to Nanye.

“The third prince has arrived!” At that moment, outside the great tent, the guards announced loudly. As their voices faded, the tent flaps were pushed aside, and the third prince burst in, dusty from the road, and threw his gloves to his attendant as he entered.

“Why haven’t we taken it yet?” The impatient third prince, with a grim expression, went over to the map and immediately asked his confidant Tian Heng.

“Your Highness! The enemy’s aircraft have been harassing us constantly, making troop assembly difficult, thus wasting some time,” Tian Heng immediately replied: “Please, Your Majesty, be patient. By tonight, I shall recapture Luo Town… ”

“Hmm…” Hearing his trusted subordinate’s assurance, the third prince’s expression slightly improved.

The journey here hadn’t been easy for him either, with Qi troops crowding the roads; his speed by car barely exceeded walking.

What was even more frustrating was the occasional need to avoid attacks from Tang Army aircraft—while other troops might not have been used to taking cover from air assaults, his guards were experienced and quickly learned how to play hide and seek.

Therefore, along the way, they often had to disembark and hide, dragging their feet until now, finally reaching the front-line command post.

“The follow-up troops are arriving, and we have a numerical advantage by several times! As long as we attack with full force… we will definitely recapture Luo Town!” Tian Heng was full of confidence, and indeed, the situation seemed favorable for him.

Besides the 3rd Army, several battalions had gradually caught up. Though these troops were not elite, they could still add fuel to the fire at the critical moment without a problem.

When the time came, they could rotate in and out of combat; the Qi Army could rest while the Tang Army had no time to rest, and in the end, the Qi Army would undoubtedly hold the advantage.

Not to mention, at night, Tang Army planes would not be able to harass them, allowing the Qi artillery to fire continuously, pestering the Tang Army all night long.

Just hold on until the next day, and the weary, demoralized Tang Army would surely collapse under the Qi Army’s fierce charge.

No matter how you calculated it, he held the winning cards, didn’t he?

But just then, the officer who had left earlier hurried back into the tent, clearly startled upon seeing the third prince.

“Why haven’t the artillerymen started firing?” Tian Heng looked at the returning officer, demanding an explanation.

The officer stammered, struggling before finally saying, “Report! The artillery position has been ambushed by the enemy, there’s fighting everywhere, it’s chaos…”

“What?” Tian Heng leaped up in fury, grabbing the officer by the collar: “What do you mean ambushed by the enemy! Where are they? Where did… the enemy come from?”

It was imperative to understand that the artillery position was about 1 kilometer away from their location—if there were enemy forces there, then even the command post here was not safe.

If it were just the generals and officers, that might be manageable, but the third prince had just arrived; if something were to happen, these soldiers would be inexcusably at fault!

“Impossible! How could the enemy bypass Luo Town to attack our flank? We’re attacking Luo Town! They left it to come out and fight us? Are they insane?” the commander of the 3rd Army asked angrily.

“Yes, it seems unlikely… but… but when I went to ask, everything was already in disarray. Some said the Tang Army broke through, some said they saw Tang tanks…” The officer, still caught by Tian Heng’s collar, explained with difficulty.

“It must be a small group of Tang soldiers raiding us! That must be it!” Tian Heng, realizing the situation, immediately guessed its general nature.

“The Tang Army has tanks! They definitely used their tank troops to circle around to our flank. The enemy has no supplies, so they can’t possibly hold out for long!” The more he thought about it, the more he convinced himself he had pinpointed the key point, and he spoke excitedly.

“Yes! It must be just a small group of Tang troops!” The commander of the 3rd Army agreed with Tian Heng’s view, “Organize the troops for a counterattack immediately! At all costs, we must annihilate this Tang counterattacking force!”

“Right! It would be best if we could capture a few of the Tang Army’s tanks!” The otherwise inconspicuous advisor Shireck also added excitedly at this moment.

Ever since the outbreak of the war until now, Shireck’s advisory team had been led around by the nose by the Tang Army, and it was indeed extremely frustrating.

The main reason was that the Tang Army had introduced two new types of weapons, tanks and planes, into the war which completely changed the face of warfare and made the war experience Shireck’s side had slowly accumulated obsolete all at once.

Now, the top priority was to quickly master the Tang Army’s new weapons and strive to replicate them on their own side. Otherwise, they would continue to be at a disadvantage in this war.

“Have the rearguard troops… Forget it! You take the guards here to hold the line! Have the infantry battalion that just arrived here counterattack! At any cost…” Tian Heng looked towards the commander of the 3rd Army, preparing to use the military headquarters’ guard troops to reorganize the defense.

This was also a measure of last resort. The rearguard troops had already collapsed, and the only immediate combat force they had at hand now was the nearby guard forces.

Anyway, these guard troops wouldn’t need to hold out for long. As long as they could slow down the enemy’s advance, these few Tang Army tanks would sooner or later be overwhelmed by the Qi Army’s sheer numbers.

But just at that moment, just as they fantasized about how to counterattack and how to annihilate those Tang tanks that had penetrated deep into their territory, the unique, chilling shriek of Stuka dive bombers suddenly came from overhead.

Several men furrowed their brows, for they had all heard such a sound before, and when it got closer, it often heralded disaster.

“Damn it!” Tian Heng cursed under his breath and then quickly passed by several officers, rushing toward the Third Prince, who was still unaware of what was about to happen.

He tackled the Third Prince to the ground, and then the massive explosion erupted behind him, tearing open the tent they were in and flinging everyone inside through the air.

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The officers who were still standing were instantly torn apart by the shockwave, their bodies shattered and sent flying into the sky. The few officers who had been lying down were instantly silenced, leaving only devastation behind.

The explosion blew away the tent and did not spare the tables inside; maps were swept into the sky, then burst into flames and turned to ash.

All the surrounding tents were affected by the blast and instantly blown away. The generator and radio in a nearby tent were destroyed, and the bodies of the signalmen lay scattered and broken beside the ruined equipment.

Tian Heng felt a burning pain in his back, and instinctively reached to touch it, only to see his hand smeared with blood when he looked at it groggily.

He knew something had pierced his back, or at least left a long, deep wound behind.

He couldn’t concern himself with his wound now, for he saw that the Third Prince beneath him had his eyes tightly shut, apparently unconscious.

So, he quickly slapped the prince’s cheeks, calling out non-stop, only to realize in shock that he couldn’t hear any sound at all.

His ears rang, and he couldn’t even hear his own shouts. But he had no other choice, and kept shouting relentlessly, calling out against all odds.

He didn’t know how much time had passed before he finally faintly heard his own voice. He could dimly hear his own cries, which sounded somewhat broken, “Third Prince! Your Highness! Your Highness!”

Eventually, guards parted the rolling smoke and approached, and an officer kneeled on one knee, supporting the blood-covered Tian Heng, “General! Are you alright, General?”

“Quick! Call a doctor! Save His Highness! Save the Third Prince! Hurry!” An almost frantic Tian Heng shouted hoarsely.

With his cries, the Third Prince finally opened his eyes, still dizzy and unsure of what had happened.

But soon, he realized that he had nearly been killed by the bomb. Frantically, he clutched Tian Heng’s arm, “General! Save me, General! I… I might be injured! I’ve been injured!”

When he saw the fresh blood on his hands, he was terrified to death. He thought he was done for, though in truth that blood was mostly Tian Heng’s…

While he was shouting, a huge dark shape burst through the smoke, its rolling tracks crushing overturned furniture.

It was a No. 4 tank, covered in bullet marks!

———

Thank you, Your Majesty the Emperor, for the reward! The first leader of this book is born! Dragon Spirit updates too slowly, my apologies for any anxiety caused… anxiously.

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