Munitions Empire

"I swore to General Bolton! If the 7th Infantry Army of the Tang Army cannot see Fengjiang City by nightfall today, I'll bury myself at the forefront of the battlefield!" On the launching field, the Army Commander of the 7th Infantry Army of the Tang looked ahead at the battlefield while saying to his staff, "I'm not joking!"

"General..." The Chief of Staff scratched the back of his head, feeling somewhat uneasy, "The Qin Army is battle-hardened; there's no need to say such things..."

"Get lost! The Qin Army is battle-hardened? Am I, a person of Tang, a coward? Is my Tang Army afraid of death? Relay my exact words to the entire army! From now on, my 7th Army of the Great Tang will be known as the toughest fighting force in Tang Country!" The bearded Army Commander cursed without looking back.

In his view, the tanks of the Tang Army had already begun their charge, covering their infantry. Amid the dark gunsmoke on the horizon, Tang Army soldiers, wearing M35 steel helmets, followed behind the tanks like ants, bending forward as they advanced on the distant enemy positions.

"I moved sandbags on the riverbank. They came to smash my home, to kill my parents? I just want to ask one thing," the Army Commander with the big beard put down his binoculars and looked back at his officers, "Do we, the people of Tang... look easy to bully?"

"Who doesn't know, us Tang people being polite enough not to bully others can already be considered a favor. Isn't courting death to provoke the people of Tang?" He snorted coldly, "Yet these bastards just had to come and they actually turned Xicong into ruins!"

"I lay my words here, the first ones to storm into the Imperial City of the Dahua Empire will be us, the 7th Army!" After saying so, he once again turned his gaze toward the distant battlefield, where a blood-red Dragon Banner had been erected.

On the bomb crater-filled field, Tang Army soldiers held Type 56 assault rifles, howling as they leaped into the deformed trenches.

They stepped on the corpses of Qin soldiers lying all around, following behind the No. 4 assault guns that were diverting to avoid craters, tirelessly continuing their advance towards the enemy's deeper positions.

"Ratatatata!" On a battlefield, the Maxim machine guns of the Qin Army started to roar, and bullets hitting the ground kicked up clouds of white smoke.

Tang Army soldiers who were keeping low hurried across this area of intense gunfire; those responsible for covering pulled up their assault rifles, spraying bullets towards the place where flames of gunfire flickered in the distance.

The two sides exchanged fierce gunfire at close quarters, and as soon as the Tang Army approached the enemy's fire point, they immediately pulled out hand grenades and lobbed them at the enemy's machine gun positions.

The violent explosions kicked up dust that even landed on the steel helmets of Tang Army soldiers. Before the smoke had completely cleared, the Tang Army soldiers charged forward, shouting loudly.

They trampled over the artillery-churned, loose earth, jumping into trenches still warm from the grenades, mowing down the bloodied Qin soldiers who were still struggling with their assault rifles.

"Ah!" A crazed Qin soldier charged over from another trench with a bayonet, and the Tang Army soldiers shot him down, then continued their attack along the trench.

"Watch your step! Look out for booby traps!" While running forward, a squad leader loudly reminded his troops.

Tang Army soldiers running at the forefront had blood in their eyes; while sprinting, they reloaded their magazines, firing at every enemy in sight, taking down one Qin soldier after another.

"Don't retreat! Don't retreat!" On the other side of the trench, a Qin commander was screaming hoarsely, his voice so raw that everyone nearby could hear him clearly: "Fix bayonets! Fight to the death!"

"Damn it! They really think they're invincible, huh?" A Tang soldier at the front pulled a bayonet from his waist and fixed it to the tip of his assault rifle: "I'm done with these sons of bitches!"

"They take advantage of our flood to bully us, we've been too kind! Fix bayonets! Let's see who the real boss is!" Another young Tang soldier was completely enraged, pulling out his gleaming bayonet and attaching it to his rifle muzzle.

To them, these Qin soldiers who had come from afar to aid the Dahua Empire were utterly abetting tyranny. This war had nothing to do with them in the first place!

It was disgusting enough that the Dahua Empire had provoked this war. The fact that these Qin troops had traveled far and wide to participate in a war full of malice towards Tang Country made it all the more detestable.

"Kill!" After fixing their bayonets, the leading Tang Army soldiers shouted loudly and stepped forward once more along the trench.

To their side, a No. 4 assault gun advanced along the trench, its tracks rolling, and a row of wheels spinning incessantly inside, giving the running Tang soldiers even more courage.

Because a steel monster was by their side, and following that steel beast were even more and more young people, willing to fight to the bitter end to defend their happy lives.

"Ah!" From the flank, a Qin soldier with a bayonet charged, shouting. The Tang soldier gripping an assault rifle parried the incoming blade with his own bayonet and, with a swift turn of his body, swung the butt of his rifle.

The wood stock's end had a metal plate to prevent wear, and the cold metal struck the Qin soldier's face, shattering half his molar teeth.

Before the Qin soldier had time to cry out, another Tang soldier following up stabbed the bayonet into the Qin soldier's chest.

Because he thrust with too much force, the bayonet plunged deeply into the body of the Qin Army soldier, as if nailing him against the wall of the trench.

Blood gushed from the groove designed for bleeding and quickly soaked the Qin Army soldier's uniform. After withdrawing his bayonet, the Tang Army soldier spat contemptuously at his now kneeling opponent and continued to run forward, following the others.

This soldier from the Qin Army collapsed headlong into the bottom of the trench, his blood staining the mud beneath him. Charging Tang Army soldiers kept pouring in, stepping over his body, one after another.

Even though their rifles were a bit longer, the Qin Army had little advantage in bayonet fighting: the Tang Army ate better, their bodies markedly stronger, and they were equipped with an abundance of automatic weapons, which were an enormous advantage in trench warfare.

With the concentration of numerous tanks and the pressing forward of the smoldering 7th Army, which had been holding back behind the embankments for a while, the Tang Army's assault was unimaginably fierce from the start.

The Qin Army, who had always thought they were formidable, finally came to realize that their opponents, the Tang Army, were also formidable, and seemingly even more so.

Many harbored the illusion that the side with superior weaponry would be more cautious with their lives, showing a weaker will to fight.

But the Tang Army was completely different; they had a stronger fighting spirit, unwavering belief, and fearless tactics-oriented combat prowess that surpassed all opponents.

The Tang Army's possession of more advanced tanks and numerous artillery pieces didn't mean they were timid. It was merely that, with their fine weapons, they disdained to show their other side.

They were truly the strongest land force on Earth! Not merely the strongest with a "light" adjective added, but the strongest in the truest sense!

Upon reaching a crossroads, the leading Tang Army soldier halted and knelt on one knee, pulling out a hand grenade from his waist.

Another Tang Army soldier following him did the same at the turn, stopping and also pulling out a grenade.

The two exchanged a glance and nearly simultaneously pulled the pins, releasing the lever of the safety mechanism.

After counting silently to two, both men threw the grenades down the pathway, and shouts of desperation soon followed from the trenches: "Hand grenades!"

"Boom!" "Boom!" Two explosions sent dirt and smoke into the air. The following Tang Army soldiers charged into the crossroads without hesitation, beginning to spray gunfire at those enemies knocked to the ground by the grenades.

Seconds later, the anti-aircraft gun emplacement was utterly quiet, with the corpses of Dahua soldiers lying chaotically all around a 76mm anti-aircraft gun that had already been wrecked by artillery.

"These aren't Qin troops!" The squad leader from Tang Country made a quick check of the newly captured position, holding his assault rifle.

Scattered papers lay on the ground, and there was a crater from an exploded shell on the other side of the anti-aircraft gun. Empty ammunition boxes were strewn about, with a kerosene lamp hanging in a corner.

Above was a tattered camouflage net, most of its adornment of plants had been blown away, likely by artillery hits, indicating that these Dahua soldiers were not artillerymen but ordinary infantry stationed here.

"These are not Qin troops! The positions behind us aren't Qin troops either... once we get past that patch of woods up ahead, we'll be able to see Fengjiang City," stated the assistant squad leader, picking up a map from the ground and deciphering it briefly before pointing in a direction.

Looking in the direction he indicated, there was indeed a forest that had been ravaged beyond recognition, with Tang Army tanks firing on the edge, as if there were Dahua troops' tanks hidden within the woods.

"The General will probably not die today," quipped the irreverent squad leader, revealing a set of relatively gleaming white teeth.

"If the platoon leader hears you, he'll definitely kick your ass," the assistant squad leader shook his head and gestured to the soldiers behind him, "Machine gun crew! Set up a defensive position over there! Don't let the enemy flank us!"

"Yes!" The machine gunner who had been running behind and gasping for breath picked up his pace again, with the assistant gunner clutching ammo drums and carrying belts of ammunition, equally drenched in sweat.

The Tang Army's attack was too rapid, so much so that the machine gunners had run for a long time without finding a chance to fire... For them, the experience of this battle was truly dire...

But there was no helping it, for they were... the strongest infantry.

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There's too much phlegm, coughing all day long, coughing and then spitting... My throat is broken, full of blood in my phlegm, scary to look at, like coughing up blood. But it doesn't hurt, the symptoms aren't severe, yeah... that's just how it is.