Munitions Empire-Chapter 1148: The Stubbornness of the 1068 Light Infantry
Leping village, the encampment where Xiang Ziyu was located had already assembled. Although more than 100 people were still missing, they managed to gather most of the soldiers at the break of dawn and rushed to Leping, this crucial node.
Almost at the same time, the 2nd Armored Division of the Mirage Country also arrived. A light Tank, thinly armored and produced by the Mirage Country itself, appeared in the sight of the Tang Empire Paratroopers, followed by a second and then a third one.
This was clearly a reconnaissance spearhead troop, and their advance was very cautious, with some Infantry scattered around providing cover for the Tanks.
"Not a bad tactic... seems like they’ve learned quite a bit in Fengjiang." Watching the Mirage Country Troops put up a posture of infantry and tank coordination, Xiang Ziyu put down the binoculars in his hand and praised the enemy.
After the mercenary soldiers from Mirage Country returned from the battlefields of Fengjiang, they brought some tactical systems back to the Mirage Country Military: In Fengjiang, this was how they covered Tanks to approach enemy positions, and now they’ve similarly arranged their stance in advance.
"It’s just that they are still too green." The platoon deputy commander grinned and said, "We’ll teach them a lesson in a moment!"
Indeed, no sooner had the platoon deputy commander finished speaking than the mortars positioned behind Leping village opened fire. A dozen 80mm mortars fired a volley of shells, landing with precision amidst the advancing vanguard of Mirage Country’s forces.
"Boom!" The explosions threw Mirage Country’s Infantry around the Tanks into the air, and the Mirage soldiers following beside the Tanks instantly went prone. The Tanks continued to advance, as they could still manage the mortar shrapnel.
"The Navy said air support will only arrive in the afternoon." Xiang Ziyu had no expectations for help from the Navy and casually said, "For now, we can only rely on ourselves. The open space on the left is the most dangerous, they’ll definitely attack from there after probing twice."
On their other side was a small hilltop, manned by the second platoon. The tactical advantage of height made it difficult for Mirage to attack. On the other side was a flat area, a good opening for Tanks, and clearly a more advantageous region for the attackers.
"I’ve positioned most of our anti-tank personnel there; let’s see if those Goblins take the bait," said the platoon deputy commander, while watching the first wave of the Mirage Country Armored Corps starting to retreat in the distance.
Xiang Ziyu glanced down at his watch: "They’ve wasted at least another 20 minutes. By the time they come up again, it will probably be 11 o’clock..."
Indeed, as the minutes ticked by, the Mirage Country Armored Corps initiated their attack once more. Drawing up in front, with a portion of them taking advantage of their numbers, they began stretching into the flanks of Leping.
The battle then quickly reignited. Enemy fire fell within Leping village, a building was hit directly and collapsed, and another nearby, already burnt down to its skeleton, also collapsed completely amidst the tremors.
The mud-brick walls of the courtyard crumbled and collapsed in sections with the thunder of the artillery, making the entire village seem to shake and tremble.
After dozens of shells fell, the Mirage Country’s Tanks could no longer wait and started their charge. This time not only thin-skinned light Tanks but also several sturdy-looking heavy Tanks.
Though called heavy Tanks, they were actually medium: Similar to Japan, Mirage, which only emphasized the development of the Navy, did not allocate abundant steel to its Army’s Tanks.
However, stimulated by the technology of the Great Tang Empire’s Tanks, the Tanks of Mirage Country were much more capable than the Tanks of Japan’s Army during World War II: at least they were equipped with a 75mm caliber long-barreled cannon, copied from the Great Tang Empire’s Panther Tanks!
Unfortunately, that was basically a knockoff; not only was the firepower subpar, but the price was also even higher. The Mirage Country was reluctant to use them on a large scale and ended up purchasing a batch jointly with the Navy.
True enough, this artillery was originally an anti-air gun used on many of the Mirage Country Navy’s Warships, retrofitted to serve as Tank cannons—a traditional skill of many nations.
With a mix of light Tanks and heavy Tanks, the Armored Corps of Mirage Country, covered by at least a battalion of Mirage Infantry, went all in on their initial push.
They appeared to really be in a rush, seemingly not taking the Tang Empire Paratroopers seriously: In their view, light Infantry had no way to counter a heavy armored Tank force.
"Here they come!" A Tang Army Soldier muttered, stuffing a gun grenade into the launcher’s muzzle in front of him.
Don’t think the Great Tang Paratroopers are just light Infantry; their advanced weaponry endows them with fierce firepower.
The snipers hidden in darkness peered at the "close at hand" targets through their scopes, fingers resting on the triggers, followed by a light squeeze, and the recoil from the stock transmitted into their shoulders.
"Bang!" A sudden gunshot mixed with the roar of artillery—A Mirage junior officer who was advancing with the troops fell in response, his chest pierced by the bullet, with blood even splattering onto the nearby Tank’s body.
Accompanied by this gunshot, the Paratroopers’ counterattack also began. Mortar shells rained down one after another, and the Goblin Soldiers flanking the Tanks were even suppressed by the Paratroopers’ firepower to the point they couldn’t raise their heads.
"How much ammunition can they have? They’re firing so fiercely?" On a distant hilltop, the Commander of Mirage’s 2nd Armored Division sneered while observing the battle situation in Leping, disdainfully remarking, "I’ll see what you do after firing all your shells!"
Just as he watched his Troops regrouping and continuing the assault, another round of slightly less powerful shells struck down, landing amidst the crowd of his forces.
He did not know these were the gun grenades from the Great Tang Paratroopers, but the ferocious firepower still made him grit his teeth in hatred. He really had not expected the so-called light Infantry to be this troublesome.
On the other side, the Mirage Country troops extending out also encountered trouble at Leping’s flank: there were Great Tang Paratroopers on the small high grounds of Leping’s flank, which rendered the extension of the Shen Army meaningless.
If they continued to extend toward the flank, it would be equivalent to bypassing Leping: crossing mountains and wild terrain, tanks could get through but the汽车辎重 (vehicle logistic units) could not.
Moreover, taking a detour meant leaving the Tang Army Paratroopers in Leping behind, wasn’t that just handing the entire flank of the Armored Division over to the enemy, allowing them to harass, stealthily attack, and assault at will?
"Continue the attack! Within half an hour, I want to have lunch in Leping." The Division Commander of the 2nd Armored Division didn’t even bother to look at the losses his own troops were suffering on the battlefield, he stuffed the binoculars into the hands of the Commander of the 1st Battalion, issuing a cold command.
"Yes, Sir!" The battalion commander bowed slightly, then immediately ordered: "Send the 2nd Armored Battalion charging in! Contact the following Infantry to send another battalion! At all costs, capture Leping!"
To support their attacking forces, the artillery of the Mirage Country’s Armored Corps really played for keeps: they just arrived at the front line, deployed, and then began a fierce bombardment of the Tang Army’s defensive positions.
The several heavy caliber cannons were obviously more powerful than the Tang Army’s mortars, and the shells fired by the heavy artillery had a better effect than the shells from the paratroopers.
Another dozen or so heavy caliber shells fell on the village of Leping, and some of the less sturdy houses collapsed in the explosions.
The dust stirred up and spread throughout the village, while the Great Tang Empire’s paratroopers continued to return fire at their own pace, without any sign of chaos.
"Firing makes us a target... and then they’ll blast the houses." Watching the ruins behind him, Xiang Ziyu’s deputy platoon leader couldn’t help but grumble.
"We’re approaching the front-line position. It seems that the enemy is really anxious; they even skipped scouting our firepower points." Xiang Ziyu squinted his eyes at the position ahead, where snipers delayed the enemy’s advance and caused a slight gap between the enemy tanks and infantry.
What he needed to do now was to wait for the enemy to come closer, then use machine guns to stop the enemy infantry and let the anti-tank team take care of those tanks that ventured too deep.
There were no other options, he had only this one move. There was no need to hold back—the parachutists’ means of anti-tank warfare were limited to RPG rocket launchers.
So, they could easily repel the enemy’s first attack, but once the enemy became prepared for the second or third attack, it would not be so easy to succeed.
But this is how they had to fight, merely making tactical use of old tactics, recombining them and fighting desperately against the enemy in front of them...
"Dadadada!" According to the pre-planned strategy, gunfire came from the advanced light machine gun positions. The sweeping bullets from the flank really pinned down all the Mirage Country soldiers to the ground.
But the tanks of the Shen Army didn’t know what happened behind them. They continued to advance, twisting their hefty bodies in the fields.
A few seconds later, RPG rocket launchers were shouldered by the hidden Tang Army anti-tank soldiers in foxholes popping up to aim at the advancing tanks of the Shen Army.
"Whoosh!" The Tang Army paratrooper pulled the trigger; a rocket-propelled grenade whizzed forward with white smoke towards the advancing Shen Army tank, blasting a hole in the side armor of the tank, crippling it on the battlefield.
Shaped charges were incredibly effective against steel plate protection, and even more so since the armor of the Mirage Country’s tanks was exceedingly thin. After that tank was destroyed, another advancing Mirage Country tank was taken out by another paratrooper anti-tank soldier in ambush.
"What’s that?" The Mirage Country Commander watching the battlefield furrowed his brows, observing the sudden white smoke trails and his own burning tanks, and asked angrily.
Unfortunately, no one could answer his question. He could only watch helplessly as his tanks were destroyed one by one on the battlefield.
In just this short period, seven or eight tanks were already smoking and ablaze, crippled on the battlefield. And those infantry soldiers who had charged with the tanks were also tortured back and forth by the Tang Army.
Even though they were the elite of the Shen Army, even though they were determined to capture Leping in one attack, these Mirage Country goblins ultimately retreated.
The losses were simply too great. Without understanding the Tang Army’s firepower deployment, blind attacks were in vain. An hour later, the Mirage Country military still hadn’t come close to Leping; they had only left behind the wreckage of a dozen tanks and over 300 fallen soldiers’ bodies in the north of Leping.
"Are these light infantry? Did they really parachute in?" Looking at the devastated battlefield and unable to have lunch in Leping, the incredulous Division Commander of the Mirage Country’s 2nd Armored Division asked.
He truly did not expect that a unit of infantry could hold out so long in front of his tanks... or rather, the enemy seemed to have easily repelled his attack with ease.
"Hurry up and arrange for the follow-up troops! Charge! Within half an hour! At any cost, push into Leping!" He gripped the handle of his command sword at his waist, shouting furiously.
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Two updates today
