Munitions Empire

The ferocious artillery fire wreaked havoc, causing the Shengwu Troops to completely collapse. After three rounds of bombardment, an eerie silence settled on the battlefield.

The commander of the 1st Battalion ordered a few troops to move out for reconnaissance, but except for corpses, they found nothing.

On the beach, dozens of Shengwu prisoners were still kneeling, and troops from the subsequent landings continued to come ashore, uninterrupted. Everything seemed to be returning to its original track.

This Shengwu military unit, which just happened to appear near the landing site, did not drive the Great Tang Group’s landing troops back into the sea; they had only delayed the process somewhat.

Soon, the commander of the 1st Regiment, as the highest commander of the army landed on Dongwan Island’s beach, accompanied by more than 100 soldiers from the 1st Regiment.

With the arrival of the 1st Regiment commander, the landing troops finally regained their proper order, and the operation plan to expand the landing zone finally began.

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The 1st Battalion was assembled and they began moving forward, searching in the direction where the enemy of Shenwu Yuan had collapsed, and expanding the landing zone to the south.

The troops of the 3rd Battalion took over the northern guard duties from the 1st Battalion, occupied the village ruins, and began a search to the north.

The unfortunate 2nd Battalion continued to be unlucky. Due to a lack of weapons, they were left on the beach to serve as a reserve team, helping the logistics troops unload supplies and personnel from the sea transports.

By the time the commander of the 2nd Battalion came ashore, he was green with regret. He had hoped to eliminate the enemy and make a name for himself, but his battalion had become a logistics force, almost a joke among the entire military.

Since the establishment of the Great Tang Group’s security forces, the 2nd Battalion has become the first battalion-sized unit to be directly routed... They were now thoroughly infamous.

Although none of the three battalions were at full strength, the basic combat power of the 1st and 3rd Battalions had been restored, thus the security of the flanks of the landing zone was assured.

Therefore, the commander of the 1st Regiment focused his main energy on welcoming the subsequent landing troops. Since contact with the fleet had been established, the follow-up work was going very smoothly.

Dozens of landing crafts, amidst the chaos, finally brought more weapons and equipment ashore. Utilizing these boats that originated in the medieval era to transport modern weapons and equipment, one must say that Great Tang Group’s landing was filled with a sense of time-traveling sentiment.

At this moment, 1st Company of the 1st Battalion, which had the most complete organization, was nearly at full strength, and 1st Company of the 3rd Battalion was also fairly assembled. These two companies, one in the south and one in the north, proceeded along the so-called roads, gradually expanding the landing zone.

There were no large Shengwu forces nearby, so their advance was very comfortable.

By the afternoon, the follow-up troops of the 2nd Company of the 1st Battalion caught up with those who were setting up defensive positions, which allowed the 1st Battalion to maintain the basic strength of two companies.

Armed with heavy machine guns and accompanied by a vehicle and a telegraph machine, the 1st Battalion established contact with regimental headquarters and captured nearby high ground, deploying their defensive line.

Similarly, the 3rd Battalion advancing northward established defense positions at the same time. At this point, the entire landing zone had approximately a 10-kilometer depth and was no longer as fragile as before.

The Engineer Corps erected a few tents at the intersection of the beach and the shrubbery, and the temporary headquarters of the 1st Regiment was set up inside these tents.

The unfolded map lay in disarray on the ground, with some captured documents and maps sent back by troops scattered around it.

Standing amidst this mess, the commander of the 1st Regiment held his chin, looking down at the not-so-detailed map of Dongwan Island, getting a rough idea of their location.

They had circled from the southern part of Dongwan Island to land on the western side, meaning they had moved from the offshore of Fengshun City to this position.

The landing site was not far from Fengshun City, which was a temporarily chosen site that seemed easier to expand their victory.

"According to the operation plan, our next step is to head south and capture Fengshun City..." A staff officer, barefoot, used a stick to point at a mark on the map and said to the commander of the 1st Regiment. ⱤＡɴÒ฿Ěᶊ

His shoes were still wet, currently sunning outside the tent. The commander of the 1st Regiment also wasn’t better off, barefoot with soaked shoes set aside. In fact, all the troops involved in the landing were trudging along in their drenched footwear.

"How far are we from Fengshun City now?" the commander of the 1st Regiment asked, staring at the southernmost target on Dongwan Island.

"It’s unclear. According to the map, it’s probably between 60 and 140 kilometers..." The staff officer regretfully provided a very vague figure.

"Can’t you be more specific?" the commander of the 1st Regiment asked, slightly frustrated.

"We don’t have an accurate map... It’s hard to estimate," replied the staff officer, shaking his head even more helplessly.

When they came, they couldn’t find an accurate map, so they had to make do with old maps—in fact, very few maps in this world met the standards of the Great Tang Group, which generally only used their own surveyed maps.

Even many military units, including those from Dorne, Suthers, and Laines, were using Great Tang Group’s surveyed maps, albeit with slightly blurred precision.

Unfortunately, up until now, Great Tang Group had only surveyed certain areas, which did not include Zheng Country or Shengwu Country.

"It’s difficult to draft an operation plan like this. If it’s 60 kilometers, I can have the 1st Battalion conduct a surprise attack on Fengshun City, and we could launch a total assault by tomorrow morning! But if it’s over 100 kilometers, I have to prepare for two or three days of battle... The difference is too huge," the commander of the 1st Regiment complained.

"We haven’t found a local guide yet..." the staff officer explained with extreme frustration: "The maps of Shengwu itself aren’t accurate. They’re basically unusable..."

He knew that the captured maps were already the more accurate military maps of Shengwu, but these maps still did not meet the military map standards of the Great Tang Group.

The scattered documents abandoned by Shengwu were essentially meaningless. A corps commander in an era of poor communications indeed was unlikely to acquire any critical intelligence.

"Not even one guide?" the regimental commander looked up, his gaze turning to the slightly embarrassed commander of the 2nd Battalion standing by.

The commander of the 2nd Battalion shook his head and replied, "We haven’t found any locals yet. The villages have been destroyed by the war, and the locals have disappeared."

"I see. Continue to have your men search... Try to find locals as soon as possible. With them as guides, things will be much easier," the commander of the 1st Regiment said, while he continued to look down at the map.

The commander of the 2nd Battalion truly wanted to grumble and defend his position, reminding the regimental commander that his battalion was capable of fighting.

But the words at the tip of his tongue ultimately went unsaid. After a meaningful sigh, all the explanations condensed into a single word: "Yes!"

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