Munitions Empire-Chapter 643 - : Train Home 602

Chapter 643: Train Home 602

“Ever seen paratroopers like us?” Sitting on the train, the squad leader looked at Xiang Ziyu and joked, “It’s too frustrating, we still have to take a train to go home.”

They had been sent to Donghe Bridge by plane, where they also killed the King of Qi Country, Jiang Xian. Now that their holiday was over and they had no further assignments, they could only return to their original base by train.

The latter half of the train was filled with wounded soldiers, some without arms, some without legs. These men would be taken to hospitals in the rear for careful treatment and then assigned to local offices to perform clerical work.

There was no helping it; literate and qualified civil servants were simply too rare to meet demand, and the military had kept the best talent for themselves. For those soldiers phased out due to injuries, being placed in local positions was definitely a coveted opportunity.

It was said that squad leaders who were injured could at least become village heads if placed locally, and platoon leaders could even become county heads.

As for company and battalion commanders being sent to local positions, there was still no news. After all, commanders of this level in the Tang Army rarely died in battle, and those with specialized injuries were even fewer.

...

“It’s nothing, it’s much safer than flying,” Xiang Ziyu didn’t feel riding a train home was anything to be ashamed of.

At least, they all came back safely. The urns of their comrades’ ashes and the collected personal effects stored next to them could no longer voice any complaints.

The entire train carriage was like a place where a smoke grenade had been dropped; nearly everyone was smoking, puffing clouds of smoke without feeling there was anything wrong with it.

Those who had been on the battlefield quickly needed a mental crutch, and cigarettes were probably the cheapest and most effective form of such a dependance. As long as soldiers had these, they could calm down during tense battle breaks and numb all sensations.

Xiang Ziyu originally didn’t smoke, but now he had learned to. With a cigarette pinched between his fingers and the second-class Blade Medal hanging on his chest, he looked quite imposing.

Soldiers who could earn a second-class Blade Medal in their first battle were truly brave warriors. Such people would be quickly promoted and treated as talents for key training.

In fact, on his return this time, Xiang Ziyu would be awarded the first-class Blade Medal, becoming the first soldier in the entire military to receive this level of commendation.

He was now a star amongst the paratroopers, as well as a War God in the eyes of the infantry. His posters had already begun to be distributed everywhere, representing the valiant fighting spirit of the soldiers of the Great Tang Kingdom.

All the paratroopers in the carriage had enjoyed a seven-day holiday in the King City of Qi Country. They could walk in the streets enjoying the peaceful sunlight and see the Nobility of Qi Country bowing and scraping to them, while also witnessing the perverse opulence of the old world.

To be frank, if a place was backward and isolated enough, entertainment could flourish to stupefying levels—King City of Qi Country was as flashy and debauched, with some “amusements” that could only be described as perverted.

As long as one had money and power, it seemed that King City of Qi Country was also a paradise, comparable to the paradise of Brunas.

And the Tang Army, which had just occupied this place, seemed to have both money and power, meeting the conditions to be above others here perfectly.

Therefore, in the past seven days, the life of Xiang Ziyu and his companions was enviable. Every day when they woke up, their tables would be piled high with all sorts of food, as if the world had never known what it was to worry about food shortages.

They could embrace all sorts of beauties, without worrying that these fallen girls would ask them to take responsibility the next morning.

Of course, after enjoying seven days in King City of Qi Country, they inevitably had to return to reality, and remember that they were just paratroopers.

“That girl named Li Xiang from the Drunken Fragrance House was really something; I almost decided to pay for her freedom,” lamented a muscular paratrooper sitting nearby, still savoring the memory as he smoked.

“Are you insane?” teased the comrade sitting next to him, tearing apart a roast chicken with greasy hands.

The muscular paratrooper grunted in dissatisfaction and explained, “Li Xiang is a good girl; if her mother hadn’t been so heartless as to sell her to the Drunken Fragrance House to get money for her brother’s treatment, she wouldn’t have been in the flesh trade.”

“Is that what she told you?” The squad leader from another group raised an eyebrow, clearly indifferent to such a tale.

These women always have their standard sob stories. Each time they told them, none of them claimed to be there voluntarily.

Typically, they would say they were forced into it, with tragic life stories where their parents were sick with no money for treatment; they had a young brother who was just a child, their male relatives were dead with no money for burial, or their family was in debt and harassed by the landlord.

Sure enough, the muscular paratrooper who had never heard this spiel before immediately said, “She has a younger brother, gravely ill from a young age, who needs to take expensive medicine every day…”

“Hold on, the Nobility who forced your Li Xiang, it wasn’t that Landlord Liu from outside the city, was it?” asked another paratrooper with a change in expression, anxiously inquiring.

“How did you know?” the brawny paratrooper asked, startled, then turned to look at the other man.

“I, I—I… that day I met a girl… She, she too, was forced into the Piaoxiang House by Old Master Liu…” The paratrooper seemed to finally realize he had been duped, and his face turned pale with fear: “This, this…”

“…” The brawny paratrooper had never seen this kind of trick before, but he wasn’t stupid. He realized that he might have… might have lost a pure love.

“Brother, don’t sweat the small stuff. It’s just a few Gold Coins given away, no big deal!” Several paratroopers began to comfort those poor souls who had thought they found true love in the King City of Qi Country just moments before.

A sense of joy once again filled the carriage. They quickly forgot about the relics and ashes next door and the soldiers with severed limbs in the farther carriages.

To those who had faced death, nothing seemed to matter much anymore. They were soon laughing, scolding, and tussling with each other.

Xiang Ziyu watched the lively scene and shook his head, remaining silent. Unlike those paratroopers from Brunas, who had squandered all their money, he had sent his earnings back home.

Compared to the people of the Eastern Continent, the Chinese preferred to accumulate wealth; their concepts naturally were not the same. Xiang Ziyu’s squad leader was aware that these black-haired soldiers were brave and fearless in combat but tended to be more introverted in nature so he didn’t comment further and went back to reading a book on engine maintenance.

It wasn’t until the train stopped at the platform that everyone realized they had returned to Tang Country territory, or rather, to the former territory of Tang Country.

“All paratroopers, disembark! Take your equipment! Your luggage! Check your belongings! Don’t lose anything!” The officers waiting on the platform immediately brought their megaphones to their mouths, loudly reminding everyone.

All the paratroopers, holding their weapons and equipment, departed the train, along with some who carried the relics of their comrades, crowding onto the platform.

When Xiang Ziyu, with a second-class Blade Medal on his chest, stepped out of the carriage, the officers on the platform stood at attention and saluted in unison.

This was the glory reserved for frontline combat heroes; officers and soldiers below the rank of colonel must stand at attention and salute upon seeing such heroes.

However, this salute was more ceremonial in nature and did not require awaiting a response before the saluter could finish the gesture. Xiang Ziyu earnestly returned a military salute and then followed his comrades towards the exit of the platform.

The war had not ended yet; they had no extra leave. They were to wait here for new weapon equipment, then begin adaptive training.

Tang Mo planned to give priority in distributing the new weaponry to the paratroopers to enhance their combat capability.

After all, paratroopers were few in number, of higher soldier quality, rich in combat experience, and in greater need of handy weapon equipment.

The weapon distributed to the paratroopers was the newly produced AK assault rifle, named in the Tang Army as the Type 56 assault rifle—Tang Mo simply did not want to explain to his engineers why this rifle was called the Kalashnikov-47 model.

So, he directly assigned a number and named his mass-produced AKM assault rifle the “Type 56” assault rifle.

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As for why the number 56 was chosen, Tang Mo bluntly answered that he liked the number, with no special significance.

In any case, the newly mass-produced Type 56 assault rifles from the Great Tang Group were immediately issued to the paratroopers to replace the Thompson Submachine Guns in the paratrooper units. The deployment also began with the new 7.62x39mm ammunition.

Seizing the opportunity of the rifle upgrade, the paratroopers also switched to a brand-new Beretta 92F pistol. The new pistols had already been distributed to many officers for a series of battlefield tests.

Although the 9mm pistol rounds couldn’t outperform the .45 caliber rounds, they still had their own advantages: the new 9mm caliber pistol could carry 2 additional rounds, giving soldiers more options on the battlefield.

At the same time, against unprotected targets, the 9mm round’s stopping power was still sufficient.

Moreover, the downsizing of pistol calibers matched with the increase in the primary weapons’ firepower for the paratroopers: although their pistols were slightly reduced in power, the replacement of the submachine guns with assault rifles significantly improved combat effectiveness.

The Type 56 assault rifles distributed to the paratroopers featured a metal folding stock, considered a special provision.

Once the paratroopers had tested the new weapons, they immediately fell in love with them, preferring them over the submachine guns for their greater firepower, lower recoil, shorter barrels, and easier handling.

They were not too keen on what was called the Model 9 pistol— the Beretta 92F, feeling the 9mm bullets lacked the power of the .45 caliber rounds.

However, with the assault rifles in hand, they were not opposed to making their secondary weapons more portable.