Munitions Empire-Chapter 1028: The duel that ended with a score of 950
Chapter 1028: The duel that ended with a score of 950
“What’s going on? Why is there an artillery shelling all of a sudden?” On a Dahua military defense position nearby, an officer squinted at the collapsed building not far away, complaining with fear and trepidation.
Normally, there are fewer combat missions when it rains, and everyone can finally get some rest. So, of course, it’s very annoying when a battle suddenly breaks out.
Moreover, they had considered setting up their position in that building before. Now, seeing the building collapse, they naturally feel a chill down their spine.
Lucky for them not to have chosen that spot, or else wouldn’t they be buried alive by now? Watching the collapsed building with lingering fear, this Dahua officer even felt a slight sense of smugness.
His location was a “trench” cleared out from the ruins; there were rubble on both sides, with some doors and the like placed on top covered with canvas and then buried with some sand and soil, which looked pretty good.
But that was just seemingly good: As the rainy weather continued, the originally not so waterproof doors began to let water in! The rubble that supported the doors on both sides also leaked water, making the whole small space damp, muddy, and unbearably cramped, simply driving one to despair.
Now here crammed seven or eight soldiers, along with some ammunition; they could only wear raincoats inside, and the environment was miserably depressing.
But no matter how miserable it was, one’s life was more important. So when everyone saw the collapse of the building in the distance, they all seemed very glad that they hadn’t greedily sought temporary comfort by running to that building to shelter from the rain.
“Damn it! Those Fengjiang bastards have no humanity! Using artillery to destroy buildings in this weather? Shameless!” A soldier peered through the cracks and saw the collapse of the building, cursing non-stop.
Others also felt those Fengjiang scum were lowlifes, shelling places for sheltering from rain in this kind of weather as downright beasts.
The scale of the fighting on both sides also reduced due to the weather. Zhao Chen took advantage of these few days to give the troops a chance to breathe, and the Fengjiang troops took advantage of the terrible weather to reinforce their defense line.
The next day the weather cleared, and after more than two days of rest, everyone seemed to have regained their state.
The Dahua Empire troops recovered some morale during these two days of rest, and also stockpiled some ammunition. Likewise, the Fengjiang garrison did many things, such as getting more new weapons from the Great Tang Empire.
It must be said, in such urban ruins, whether it’s Dahua’s 1918 or Fengjiang’s ZB-26 light machine gun, both were extremely useful.
Their appearance caused direct increases in casualties on both sides during street fighting, and also prompted both sides to rapidly upgrade their tactical arrangements around the machine guns.
Because of the clear sky, the Butcher Fighter Jets of the Fengjiang military, absent for days, appeared over Fengjiang’s urban area early in the morning. Their buzzing engine sounds seemed to awaken the fighting spirit of both sides.
The Dahua Empire artillery began a large-scale bombardment on Fengjiang’s defense line, and Fengjiang responded with counter-fire. The sound of the artillery suddenly merged into one, and the ground of the entire Fengjiang seemed to tremble.
A group of soldiers from the Dahua army advanced through the ruins, bent over, their task was to get close to the positions of the Fengjiang troops to probe the continuity of the enemy’s defense line.
This was something that required risking one’s life because in the environment of urban warfare, the defense line was not that continuous. It was very likely to turn into a tangled situation of interspersed forces due to the wreckage and ruins.
Poor visibility and insufficient coverage of fire would cause this effect. Thus, both sides had to deploy a large number of troops to explore the enemy’s defensive gaps and exploit these openings.
These Dahua soldiers carefully moved forward, but their speed was not slow because previously the area was under their control, and fierce fighting had even occurred here before the rain.
There should have been a large building here before, but yesterday, those damned Fengjiang troops, to prevent them from taking shelter from the rain, bombarded and destroyed the building.
Now as they approached, with the absence of visual obstructions, the soldiers of the Dahua felt that the vicinity had become much emptier.
“Careful! Going further ahead is where the Fengjiang army’s defenses were!” The commander walking in the middle of the squad lowered his voice to alert the leading “pawns”.
As these soldiers carefully moved forward, they came alongside the rubble of the building that was hit by artillery fire yesterday. After climbing over a piece of intact outer wall debris of the building, the leading Dahua soldier was startled.
He paused for a moment, followed by his companion who had just climbed over the bricks: They saw a body on the ground, dressed bizarrely like a beggar, covered all over with scraps of cloth.
“A Fengjiang sniper?” Seeing the fallen rifle next to the body with a scope, a Dahua soldier asked.
Another alert Dahua soldier shook his head, because the weapon seemed to belong to their side: Fengjiang snipers most commonly used the G43 semi-automatic rifles, which were obviously not from the Dahua Empire.
Moreover, from the steel helmet that rolled to the side, it’s likely confirmed that this was a sniper from the Dahua Empire. It’s just that this sniper, for some unknown reason, is wearing a strange and peculiar outfit.
“One shot right in the chest, probably lay here for an hour before he stopped breathing,” the Commander who rushed over after inspecting the body, shared his analysis.
Actually, that one shot wouldn’t have been immediately fatal, but no one came to help this poor shot fellow all night, so he ended up dying in the rainwater. It’s truly a tragic way to die, such a long and desperate wait for death.
“It’s likely that sniper is hiding in the factory building over there!” At a slightly covered position, the officer turned his gaze toward the distant factory buildings.
“He’s probably not there anymore, otherwise he would have shot me just now,” the Dahua officer mused with a sense of relief, feeling lucky about his close call.
Even if that sniper had already left, if there were other Fengjiang troops inside the building, they would have likely shot at him. Although it was about 350 meters away from the opposite side, with them being in a higher position, it was too easy to hit the target.
“What do we do now?” a Dahua soldier asked.
“Let’s take our chances and move forward! Maybe we’ll actually find a good position,” the Commander from the Dahua Empire gestured, ordering his subordinates to continue on their way.
So, the following soldiers walked past the cold corpses lying on the ground, quickly heading toward the distant landmark building.
Many soldiers bowed their heads to glance at the old hunter lying there, eyes lingering on the bloody stains that were washed pale red with rain on the grey strips of fabric on the bodies.
Walking on slightly slippery bricks and tiles, the soldiers bypassed a crater on the ground filled with rainwater, not far from an uncovered manhole.
“Go around!” Observing the terrain, the Dahua Commander set their attack target on the factory building that had collapsed by a third.
If they could take over that place, the merit would certainly be significant. Just as they approached the factory compound wall that had already collapsed in seven or eight places, a type 3 Tank rolled over the roadside rubble, appearing behind them.
With the tank’s cover, the Dahua soldiers were immediately invigorated, leaning against the walls scattered with gaps, and swiftly crossed the barrier that wasn’t really a barrier.
“Quick! Quick! Quick!” The Dahua soldiers’ officer waved his arms vigorously, urging his troops to rush into the building that appeared to be very sturdy.
No one fired. There were no Fengjiang troops here at all, most of the machinery in the factory remained in place, but it was a pity that the equipment like the machine tools was damaged and could only be scrapped after the war ended.
Stepping on the debris on the floor, making a crackling sound, some climbed up the somewhat twisted metal staircase to the second-floor corridor while others went straight to the third floor, to confirm if there were any enemies hiding.
A soldier cautiously searched upstairs and suddenly saw the silhouette of an M35 Steel Helmet, along with the barrel of a Shireck Model 1 bolt-action rifle pointing out of a window.
He was so frightened that he quickly aimed his gun and shouted at the silhouette, “Drop your weapon! Bastard! You’re surrounded! Don’t do anything stupid! Surrender now!”
The opponent seemed to ignore his command, and after he shouted twice more without getting any response, he and two comrades who heard the commotion approached bravely, only to find that it was a Steel Helmet and a discarded rifle.
“Who’s this cruel? Scared me to death.” Several people were falsely alarmed, they took a deep breath and cursed. Once they confirmed the crisis was over, the people below also began to emerge from their hiding spots.
“It’s okay! It’s okay! Damn it, it’s just a Steel Helmet! Scared the hell out of me!” The people upstairs shouted to those downstairs.
The people downstairs burst into laughter, and then they continued to check the other corners of the building.
“Sir… you’d better come see… this,” a soldier quickly ran back from the other side and spoke to the leading Dahua officer.
Unaware of what had happened, the Dahua officer followed his soldier to an open space outside the factory.
It had been a bomb crater, but someone had modified it a bit, covering it with two door panels, and spread with soil on top, disguised as a hiding spot.
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Inside the crater were cans imported from the Great Tang Empire, some candies, and chocolate wrappers…
Looking into the distance, the Dahua Empire officer realized he could see the collapsed building they had passed on the way from here. He thoughtfully looked down again at the camouflaged position on the ground, then turned back to check the factory building behind him.
