Munitions Empire-Chapter 1143: Where does 1063 come from?

As dawn began to break, Xiang Ziyu and his comrades finally received their reinforcement troops, another company of paratroopers arrived at Leping Village, and saw the fruits of their battle.

Some soldiers were dealing with corpses; they had one casualty and two injured last night, but they captured Leping and eliminated about 400 Goblins.

Now the entire village was littered with bodies, and a 75 mm caliber field gun lay overturned next to a courtyard wall. The Goblin troops had destroyed it, fearing that it would be used by the Tang Army.

The platoon leader of 3rd Platoon looked at Xiang Ziyu, gestured towards a building that was no longer ablaze but still smoking, and asked, "Pretty ruthless, did you set the fire?"

"No, they hid inside and refused to come out, so they set the fire themselves," Xiang Ziyu answered truthfully.

"Right, that’s what you should say," the leader of 3rd Platoon nodded in agreement and said, "The battalion headquarters will be here soon, we need to establish defensive fortifications to prevent the Goblins from passing through here and reinforcing the coast."

"I’m telling the truth," Xiang Ziyu clarified again, then he no longer had the energy to argue with the platoon leader of 3rd Platoon, "I’m getting ready to build a defense line; the road must be destroyed, and defensive positions set up on the small hill outside the village, forming mutually supportive states with the village."

"No problem, which side do you want me to defend?" the magnanimous platoon leader of 3rd Platoon let Xiang Ziyu choose first, "You’ve been fighting all night and your unit is not at full strength, you pick first."

"Then I’ll defend the village," Xiang Ziyu didn’t hesitate to choose a position that was easier to defend.

The leader of 3rd Platoon was not pretentious; since he let Xiang Ziyu choose first, he prepared to defend the high ground.

The two companies quickly dispersed, the larger 3rd Platoon began to build defensive fortifications on the small hill outside the village, and Xiang Ziyu’s troops established a defense system within the village.

The heavy machine gun team climbed onto the rooftops, finding a good spot within the pointed roof. The window provided a good field of fire, effectively suppressing any enemy trying to approach the village.

Of course, the downside was evident: if the enemy had heavy artillery or the like, once the firing position was exposed, they would be obliterated by artillery shells.

Soon a messenger riding a motorcycle arrived at Leping, bringing several pieces of good news: their paratroopers had taken control of Dongshan Village and the No.1 Bridge, completing the tasks set by their superiors before the battle.

Now, they were about to face the enemy’s counterattack: if the enemy confirmed the landing troops’ direction of action, then a large number of Armored Corps would definitely press forward.

"Get some rest! Don’t waste your energy! Try to eat something, don’t go hungry!" Xiang Ziyu walked by his men’s defensive positions, urging the soldiers to quickly recuperate to be ready for the fierce battle that lay ahead.

At this moment, at sea, the Great Tang Empire Navy destroyers had spotted a Mirage Country fishing boat, and quickly the destroyers opened fire and sank the Mirage Country vessel, but before it was sunk, the captain indeed sent a message to the Shengwu Zhong headquarters: "Enemy warship spotted."

Combining the fishing boat’s number and position, as dawn began to break, Shengwu Zhong realized that he had guessed wrong.

The enemy fleet’s position was clearly closer to the southern beach direction, meaning that the Great Tang Empire Navy’s choice of landing site was not the Great Southern Bay.

Realizing his mistake, Shengwu Zhong responded at once, Dongshan Village, Leping Village, and the No.1 Bridge, they were all essential routes for reinforcing the southern beach.

"We must retake these places! Order the 2nd and 3rd Armored Divisions to advance towards the No.1 Bridge and Leping at all costs, take these places back!" A frustrated Shengwu Zhong issued the order, "Alert the nearby southern beach garrison to enter first-level readiness! All troops, man defensive fortifications! Prepare for battle!"

"Furthermore! Dispatch aircraft, head to the southern beach! Sink these damn Great Tang Empire warships!" Clenching his fist, Shengwu Zhong added the order through gritted teeth.

Minutes later, following Shengwu Zhong’s orders, the Mirage Country coastal defense troops resting in the barracks behind immediately entered their defensive positions. The alarm bells echoed through all the various bunkers constructed by the Mirage Country, and soldiers dashed through trenches and dark tunnels towards their pillboxes and shelters.

As these Mirage Country soldiers peeked out of the firing holes or gaps between sandbags towards the sea, they were instantly stunned by the sight before them.

The sea in their field of vision was filled with boats of all sizes; everywhere they looked was occupied by vessels, and warships were rotating their turrets, aiming the dark muzzles at them.

They hadn’t seen any warships the previous evening, but now a massive fleet was unfolding before their eyes.

Countless small landing craft were docked on both sides of large transport ships, and dense ranks of Navy Marine Corps soldiers were climbing down.

"My God... so many ships." A Mirage Country soldier let out a soft sigh, next to him, an old Mirage Country soldier tried to light a cigarette but found his hand shaking uncontrollably.

"Open fire as soon as someone lands! Let them know our might!" A Mirage Country officer, holding his dagger-like command knife, walked past the trenches, reminding his soldiers to fight bravely: "For the Shen Emperor Your Majesty! Fight to the last drop of blood!"

In a bunker built of sandbags and logs, a Mirage Country machine gunner cocked his gun, aiming the muzzle of the Maxim machine gun at the beach clearing.

They were all waiting, waiting for the enemy to rush onto the beach, into their line of fire, and then a massacre would begin, their bullets cutting down the Great Tang Empire’s landing troops like mowing wheat.

Silence was broken by a roar from artillery, followed by countless shells slicing through the air, landing on the beach and on the defensive works of the Mirage Country nearby.

"Boom!" A massive explosion hit near the trench, nearly burying the goblins inside with lifted soil. At least 20 Destroyers continuously fired their main cannons, their shells falling on the defensive works of the Shen Army like they cost nothing.

Some shells blew away the barbed wire in front of the Shen Army positions, while others landed on reinforced concrete bunkers, blowing off chunks of hard concrete.

Then the Mirage Country artillery troops began to retaliate; although with little accuracy, the sight of huge water columns stirred up by shells hitting the water was exhilarating.

Up in the sky, twenty Zero Fighters, having taken off in a hurry, skimmed low, heading towards the Great Tang Empire warships afloat on the sea.

And above them, in the clouds, ten Pirate Fighters rolled down, diving towards these targets.

For a moment, the sound of the planes’ engines filled the sky, soldiers from the Mirage Country in the trenches and Great Tang soldiers on the ships both looked up, nervously watching the fierce air battle above.

"Where did those planes come from? Where did they get their planes?" Passing just alongside an inverted gull-wing Pirate Fighter, the Goblin Flight Team Leader piloting a Zero Fighter dodged incoming bullets while loudly asking.

"I don’t know, Commander! I have no idea!" The wingman following him was equally surprised; their fierce approach, ready to bully their targets, was unexpectedly met by the enemy’s planes.

And damn it... looking at the way they’re flying, these planes that resemble Stukas... seem to be even faster than theirs.

"Evade! Evade!" Watching the Dragon Bombers being dispersed by the Tang Empire’s Pirate Fighters, the Goblin Flight Team Leader in charge of frontline command shouted in despair.

"It’s over! Let’s shake these damn things off first! Climb to 3,000 meters!" Watching a Dragon Bomber fall into the sea trailing thick black smoke, he had no choice but to order the escorting Zero Fighters to quickly regain altitude.

Initially, they hadn’t planned to entangle with the Great Tang Empire’s Air Force: they had not anticipated the Great Tang Empire to have any planes participating in the battle, so they intended to implement low-level strafing runs, to intimidate the Great Tang Empire Navy first.

But they had never expected that just as they appeared over the southern beach landing site, the Great Tang Empire’s air-superiority fighters would come killing over.

Those bent-wing Pirate Fighters were extremely agile in the air, taking advantage of their speed to attack recklessly. The cumbersome Dragon Bombers were unable to keep formation, one after another being shot down.

The Goblin Pilots in Zero Fighters tried to clamp onto the tails of these Pirate Fighters, only to find that once they got a lock, the enemy would start a vertical rolling maneuver, causing the Zero Fighter’s speed to drop sharply.

Then the enemy’s wingman would cut in, firing from a very tricky angle, almost speedless Zero Fighters had no way to evade and were quickly shot down.

And if the Zero Fighters didn’t fall for the bait and didn’t chase those Pirate Fighters, then these Pirate Fighters would use their speed advantage to cut into the Dragon Bomber formations, attacking the slow-moving Dragon Bombers like a wolf among sheep.

For the pilots of the Great Tang Empire Navy Air Force, this was practically a game. They knew all the enemy’s weaknesses, needing only to seize the moment when the opponent showed a weakness and deliver a fierce attack.

Meanwhile, those Goblin Pilots in Zero Fighters felt a sense of helplessness, as though their strength was useless; no matter how they maneuvered, they seemed to have no way to deal with those Pirate Fighters that looked much like Stukas.

"Are they toying with us?" Seeing a Zero Fighter brought down by a Pirate Fighter using the "Thach Weave" tactic, the Goblin Flight Team Leader bellowed furiously.

In his roar, the Great Tang Empire Navy’s landing ships began to deploy amphibious Tanks and amphibious armored vehicles. These armored vehicles, following the landing craft, began their assault towards the Mirage Country coastline.