Munitions Empire-Chapter 644 - : 603 kick

Chapter 644: 603 kick

This world is not peaceful in every corner. After Tagg’s troops approached the southern defense line of Beiyuan City, he ordered his artillery to start a probing attack.

The Tang Army didn’t have the luxury to replace all their artillery with self-propelled guns, so the artillery Tagg had at his disposal was relatively outdated.

In order to support the armored clusters on the western side, the Tang Army concentrated almost all of their self-propelled artillery in Redman’s troops. This resulted in Tagg’s artillery being, in fact, towed guns.

The heavy and clumsy towed howitzers were not quick to advance, but they were reliable and cheap, indeed filling the void left by self-propelled howitzers.

When Tagg’s troops pushed 100 155mm caliber howitzers to the frontline, the Tang Army’s artillery fire made the opposing Shen Army quite uncomfortable.

The shells from these heavy guns fell like raindrops on the Shen Army’s positions, reminding them of the horrific scenes from half a month ago.

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But the Tang Army had more than just 155mm caliber howitzers; they also had 105mm caliber howitzers and even smaller 75mm caliber field guns.

So many guns were enough to form a battery, providing dense artillery suppression on the Qi Country’s positions. Soon the Shen Army gave up some less important frontline defensive positions and, taking everything they could, retreated to their core defense area.

…

Struggling out of the loose soil in a trench nearly leveled by artillery fire, a Shen Army soldier bit down hard as he pulled his arm out of the dirt, which was indeed good news for him.

Because many Shen Army soldiers had already become dismembered, being able to find his own arm was definitely something to be thankful for.

He struggled out of the mud that the shells had lifted and then dumped onto him. Then he peeked over the edge of the trench, eyeing the distant Tang tanks.

Seeing that they were about to charge over, he hurriedly picked up a Shireck-manufactured rifle from the corpse beside him, worked the bolt, and chambered a round.

Although this bolt-action rifle was slow to fire, it also had its advantages: at least it was very reliable and not easily damaged.

The Shen soldier squinted and aimed at a distant Tang tank, desperately pulling the trigger—he really had no other weapons left but to deal with the enemy’s tank with a rifle.

Sometimes things are just that extreme: The weapon in your hands might not always be able to destroy the enemy in front of you, and when your weapon is insufficient for the battle, you still have to fight on to the end! That’s war!

Do you think there will definitely be an anti-tank gun beside you when the enemy’s tanks roll up? No! You might only have a dagger! Do you think you must have a shoulder-fired anti-air missile when the enemy’s planes start to dive? Please, you might be holding an anti-tank mine digging a hole…

“Bang!” A gunshot broke the brief calm on the battlefield, the bullet struck the tank’s thick armor, and a crisp sound was far heard, “Dang!”

The Shen soldier ducked his head back, breathing a little nervously. He could smell the offensive odor of corpses, the choking scent of soil, and the smell of gunpowder.

More Shen soldiers started firing, pouring ammunition from the various weapons in their hands at the Tang tanks.

The most were the sounds of the Shireck Model 1 rifles and the Maxim machine guns, with several occasional cracks of Mauser pistols.

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These pistols, which had been acquired from Qi Country troops, were few in number but proved very useful. The Shen soldiers, lacking automatic weapons, found these Mauser pistols a fortunate substitute.

They even found the pistol so useful that they sent samples back to Shen Country, hoping to reproduce them to solve the issue of their soldiers’ lack of automatic weapons.

“Flank! The flank!” Suddenly, gunfire flared up from the trench to the side, causing the Shen soldier to shrink his neck. Soldiers nearby shouted loudly, warning everyone that their flank seemed no longer safe.

Accompanied by the shouting, some Shen soldiers started running along the trench to where the gunfire was heaviest. While running, they drew bayonets from their belts and fixed them onto their rifles.

It must be said that compared to Zheng Country and Qi Country, Shen troops were more determined in spirit. They had more endurance and resolve, could withstand more casualties, and also had excellent combat discipline.

The battle had now reached this point, yet the Shen soldiers who fled were still few and far between. They charged one after the other, along the trench towards the most intense section of the fight.

“Dada dada dada!” The distinct sound of the Chicago Typewriter fire from Tang soldiers every time they pulled the trigger was clear and distinctive.

As these gunshots rang out, Shen soldiers would fall one after another. The Shen soldiers weren’t without struggle, but no matter what they did, under the relentless gunfire of the Tang Army, the grim casualties of the Shen army seemed inescapable.

“Ah!” That Shen soldier also drew his bayonet from his belt, fixed it onto his rifle, and charged along the trench towards the flank while shouting.

He could hear the dense gunfire in front of him, and he could hear the screams and wails of the fallen Goblin soldiers.

To be honest, he had heard similar cries before, when they, the Goblin soldiers, were slaughtering the civilians of Qi Country in the trenches. Those were the cries and pleas for mercy from the civilians.

Back then, he didn’t care about such cries, and now he felt neither fear nor concern. He had become numb, having already desensitized himself when killing those civilians.

After turning a corner, he saw Goblin soldiers crowded together, struggling to advance in the narrow trenches.

With his bayonet in hand, he shouted loudly and then followed the soldiers beside him forward. Stepping over the bodies of his comrades, under the encouragement and threats from the officers, he advanced step by step without regard for anything else.

Soon, he could see people falling in the front ranks, bullets flying towards them like raindrops, creating a mist of blood among the crowd.

The sight of fresh blood flying around kindled the ferocity in this Goblin soldier’s heart. Clutching his rifle with a savage expression, he began to run forward the moment his comrade fell.

He wanted to close the distance as much as possible and then thrust out the most lethal stab! He was determined to kill all these damned Tang People, not sparing a single one!

Just as he was thinking this, the Tang Army soldier in front of him also spotted the enemy charging over. He was in the midst of reloading, startled by the bayonet pointing towards him, but in the next instant, he remembered the posture he had repeatedly trained.

He used his rifle to deflect the long bayonet and then, taking advantage of the momentum, kicked out his leg, driving it straight into his opponent’s stomach.

It was only then that the approximately 1.45-meter-tall Goblin soldier remembered his own height. In front of the Tang Army soldier, nearly 1.85 meters tall, he was no different than a first-grader.

In those days, Goblins generally stood between 1.4 and 1.5 meters tall, virtually indistinguishable from children. The forceful kick made the Goblin soldier realize the disparity in their stature. He was sent flying backward, a sight so astonishingly pleasing to the eye.

It was as if a high school bully was picking on a child who had just started first grade; the scene was immensely shocking.

The moment the kick landed, even the Tang soldier had a strange and guilt-laden word pop into his mind: Child abuse! If this moment could have been frozen and an X-ray taken, one could clearly see that the Goblin, sent flying by the kick, had several ribs broken.

He really wanted to complain: Can you even call this a fight? Even Brunas’ women are taller than these Goblin dwarfs!

The fallen Goblin soldier finally realized he had been kicked to the ground, so he tried to struggle up, but due to the pile of bodies underneath him, he couldn’t sit up no matter how hard he tried.

Finally, he managed to sit up, only to be greeted by a barrage of bullets coming straight at him! The Tang soldier had long since reloaded his magazine, naturally not sparing his bullets.

The Goblin soldier, who had managed to sit up, looked down at the bullet hole in his chest and saw the unstoppable flow of blood spurting from the hole; he reached down and touched it.

Then, he carefully looked at the fresh blood on his fingertips, and the next second, he fell straight back.

The counterattack by the Goblin military had begun like a tide and receded just the same. Accompanied by the sharp sounds of the “Chicago typewriters,” all the Goblin soldiers lay on the ground. These Goblins, who could only scream, were ultimately no match for bullets.

The Tang tanks, previously not far from the Goblin army’s position, had also rolled over the Goblin troops’ trenches and ascended onto the little high ground.

Following this tank was another one. Further behind were the Tang soldiers who had already started leaping into the trenches.

The battle had only just begun less than two hours ago, yet Tagg’s infantry-focused group had already captured a significant portion of the positions held by the Goblin army.

Now, Beiyuan City, bordered by the sea to the southwest, was getting pummeled from two directions, and Shenwu Sanlang, who was in charge of commanding the operations, was overwhelmed with anxiety.

He had already committed a considerable number of reserve troops. If he still couldn’t stop the Tang Army’s offensive, then he would have no choice but to consider a plan to contract their defense line.

But this plan was not well-received: The main base of Zheng Country felt there was absolutely no need for this, assuring that they would soon supply new provisions and send reinforcement troops. Moreover, Shenwu Sanlang’s plan to contract the defense lines—wouldn’t that be losing face for Zheng Country?

Thus, after struggling for two days, the Goblin troops were still entrenched in their battered positions, anxiously awaiting the Tang Army’s subsequent assault each day.

———-

Today I’m not in the zone; only wrote two chapters. The update will be deferred by a day. Sorry.