Munitions Empire

On the sea, landing crafts crisscrossed incessantly as the Great Tang Group’s landing troops were transporting their soldiers and equipment to the beach in the clumsiest of ways.

Some soldiers heard the sound of gunfire from the beach while they were still at sea; some who were transferring to the landing craft also saw the smoke rising from the firing cruisers.

Soon after, everyone heard the dense sound of cannon fire. The roar of the cruiser’s guns reverberated across the sea, with a momentum that was majestic and intimidating.

The soldiers on their way to shore in small boats were startled by the shells screeching overhead.

Equally startled was the Shenwu military commander Shengwu Yuan, who was frightened by the shells whistling overhead, and then terrified by the horrific explosions behind him.

The names in Zheng Country are very interesting; outsiders can generally understand what kind of job someone is good at from their names.

Shen is the family name in Shenwu; everyone from Shenwu bears the surname Shen. Following "Shen" is their "identity" or "job"—for army officers, it is "wu"; for navy officers, it is "hai"; for craftsmen, it is "gong"; for farmers, it is "nong"; women follow their father’s surname before marriage, and their husband’s surname afterward.

The last part of their name is the personal "name," which can be a few characters. This is also an important reason why Tang Mo rarely does business with people from Shenwu—he doesn’t like it.

At this moment, Shengwu Yuan was utterly confused by what was happening, as he still didn’t know what was going on.

At first, he thought the feeble Zheng Country had lost its mind, sending some troops in an attempt to take back Dongwan Island.

But then the troops he sent out were routed, and the messages they sent back indicated that the forces attacking Dongwan Island were not the easy-to-deal-with Zheng troops.

So, he immediately changed tactics, hoping to use his artillery to suppress the beach while buying time and sending messengers to contact the surrounding troops.

What happened next shattered his common sense and exceeded his imagination—the enemy, wielding some unknown weapons, produced a devastating impact.

It wasn’t just him; his own troops also started to become restless, shoving each other in fear and uneasily looking back at the rising black smoke columns.

"No turning back! Regain formation!" Shengwu Yuan drew his waist sword, tightened his reins, and commanded loudly. He had to restrain his own troops and bring them to their senses; otherwise, there was no point in continuing the fight.

However, even the usually brave Shengwu Yuan didn’t know what to do at that moment—he dared not launch an attack readily, nor was he willing to order a retreat, so he could only wait foolishly here.

As a result, waiting brought on even grimmer developments...

The second round of artillery fire followed swiftly, with more than a dozen shells falling. This time, the aim was even better, landing directly on the supply units trailing at the rear.

The navy’s ship guns adjusted the angle, lowering the barrels slightly, so the second volley was much closer to the place where the white smoke from the gun muzzles rose.

The explosions blew two wagons into the air in an instant, taking the coachmen and the miscellaneous supplies all sky-high.

The unaccustomed Shenwu troops to such horrific cannon fire immediately plunged into chaos, as officers in the rear watched the second-line logistics troops collapse before their eyes.

The commander of the first battalion on the beach felt refreshed after seeing the second round of artillery fire fall. Just a few more barrages, he thought, and this Shenwu force that had suddenly appeared on the shoreline was likely to collapse.

In this way, the only enemy force that could threaten the subsequent landing of the troops would no longer exist, and he could continue organizing the landing with peace of mind.

At this point, he almost wanted to kiss the navy—he had reversed the entire situation with just a few rounds of artillery fire, which was incredibly cool.

And then... there was no more!

Yes, no more! As the first battalion commander excitedly waited for the third round of artillery fire to completely obliterate the huge threat on the flank, the navy’s artillery suddenly... stopped.

There was no warning, it just stopped abruptly, as if nothing had happened, only the black smoke columns that had not yet dissipated testified to the previous fury of the naval guns. ＲÄΝο฿Еs

"What, what’s going on?" The battalion commander widened his eyes and looked toward the sea; for a second, he even feared that he would witness the terrifying sight of warships sinking.

But in reality, the navy cruisers were still afloat on the sea; it was just that the awaited artillery fire had not come.

Equally bewildered was Shengwu Yuan, who sat on his horse, not sure whether to laugh or to cry—he had just been waiting in despair for that dreadful explosion to destroy his infantry and artillery, only for everything to abruptly halt.

It felt utterly absurd; he had braced for death, yet the enemy refused to thrust the knife...

He didn’t know why this was happening, and for a moment, he didn’t know how to respond. He even considered that perhaps the enemy could only fire so many shells in a short period, but he had no way to be sure when the enemy’s artillery would come again.

It was like a death row inmate waiting for his execution, with the date being postponed again and again—the feeling of being unable to live or die was truly tormenting for him.

On the other side, similarly agitated, someone was pacing back and forth on the bridge of the "Wolf 1" cruiser, looking as if he was constipated.

Bernard was truly frustrated because he really wanted to fire at the enemy targets on shore, but he was hesitant and dared not fire indiscriminately anymore.

Earlier, when he saw the white smoke rising from the shore, he decisively ordered to fire, as Great Tang Group’s artillery obviously would not be positioned there.

He fired with a clear conscience! He had no need to consider anything. In his view, as long as the enemy’s artillery positions were destroyed, the threat on the beach would be eliminated as well.

But after firing two quick rounds, he no longer dared to fire casually because he did not know the positions of the allied forces on shore.

No one had informed him whether the allies, in order to remove the threat, had also launched an attack on the enemy’s position. He knew nothing about the situation on shore, so he couldn’t be certain whether the allies would counterattack.

If the allies charged at the enemy’s positions, he didn’t know if his artillery fire would hit his own forces. After all, the accuracy of naval guns is limited, and on the fluctuating sea, accuracy couldn’t be fully guaranteed.

If one misfired due to the swaying and hit one’s own position, how could he face his brothers in the army later?

Therefore, he could only cease firing in good faith and wait for definite news from the shore before planning his next move. Enjoy new adventures from empire

It was precisely because of this that the Navy’s gunfire suddenly stopped, and everything returned to silence. The commanders of the Navy, Army, and enemy forces alike were at a loss, trapped in a long wait.

Minutes after the gunfire died down, the 1st Battalion Commander also realized this problem: he now also did not dare to launch an attack easily to crush the troops of Zheng Country.

Because if he retaliated rashly, who knew if naval artillery would suddenly fall from the sky! That would have far more serious consequences than the enemy’s attack. He would rather crouch on the beach and take his chances with the enemy’s solid-shot "lucky draw" than to test the Navy’s shrapnel...

Just kidding, solid shot! How many people would die out of a hundred shots? That was nothing like the shells used by the Navy’s big guns.

Because they did not need to consider weight, naval artillery could use thicker and longer barrels, employing greater chamber pressure, and naturally, they could use heavier shells! Therefore, with the same caliber, the Army’s artillery was basically no match for the Navy’s.

Moreover, we’re talking about shrapnel! Real exploding shells! One shot could affect nearly half a soccer field! Sending your own troops into that would be tantamount to giving away lives.

Realizing this, the 1st Battalion Commander immediately grasped the critical issue, "Telegraph! Where are the hand-crank generator and telegraph? Aren’t they supposed to be ashore? Can they be used? Hurry up and set them up! Quick!"

As he shouted, he ran toward the beach. He had sharply perceived that communication with the naval warships from the beachfront seemed to be the key to deciding the outcome of the landing operation.

His adjutant followed closely behind, running recklessly toward the beach, and then the two of them, one after the other, searched among the chaotic landing craft for the telegraph equipment that might have come ashore.

Almost at the same moment, Bernard also realized that he should establish effective communication with the beachhead. Thus, he urged his own liberty ship to deliver the telegraph machine to the shore as quickly as possible.

At the same time, the 1st Regiment Commander boarded a landing craft and headed for the coast—he could no longer just watch his troops engage the enemy from the ship.

As a commander, he felt he should be directing from the beach, not cowardly hiding at sea! He was an Army officer, not a Navy sailor!

Regardless of whether there was artillery fire or enemies, the landing craft continued to transport troops to the beach non-stop.

Although the progress was slow, the process never stopped. Soon, more than 100 soldiers landed, most of whom were from the 1st Battalion, carrying their weapons.

No sooner had the soldiers climbed ashore than they joined the battle without even taking the time to empty the sand out of their boots.

Almost instinctively, these soldiers reinforced the surrounding defensive positions and established a new machine-gun emplacement with the second machine-gun that came ashore.

The 1st Battalion Commander, with about 600 soldiers under his command, even felt he was capable of counterattacking. However, he still hadn’t found the telegraph machine and couldn’t contact the fleet at sea, so he dared not organize his troops to enter the area of recent shelling.

Waiting in place, Shengwu Yuan did not know that his opportunity was slipping through his fingers. All that filled his mind was the question, "Big brother... are you still going to fire or not?"

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