Munitions Empire

Shireck's advisors had left, and they had their ways of leaving Beiyuan City no matter what. These men took small boats from the docks at night before transferring to larger ships to return to Shen Country, even escorted by warships along the way.

Now, because Tang Country warships frequently attacked Shen Country transport ships, the shipping route between Beiyuan and Shen Country was no longer safe.

So whether it was transporting materials or troops, escort by warships was required. However, compared to the number of transport ships, there clearly weren't enough Shen Country warships to go around.

This directly led to a serious problem: whether it was because the ports were destroyed, or transport required escort, the total volume of shipments to Beiyuan City from Shen Country had been reduced by four-fifths!

Eighty percent, a full eighty percent!

With so much ammunition lost, and so many reinforcements missing, the Shen Country military defending Beiyuan City fell into despair.

Injured soldiers who should have been transported back were stranded within Beiyuan City, and the place was rife with wounded, with military rogues running amok, keeping Shenwu Sanlang furious at all times.

Meanwhile, the Tang Army was also encroaching upon the Shen Army's control outside the city, destroying Shen Country's defense lines, forcing Shen troops to continually retreat towards Beiyuan City.

"Boom!" A shell landed on the main defensive belt set up by Shen Country outside the city. Before the dust it had kicked up had a chance to settle, a row of Shen Country soldiers carrying their rifles moved past the trench.

Not a hundred meters from this trench, a Tank 4 assault gun was turning around. Its treads rolled over the edge of the trench, and the falling mud terrified the Shen Country soldiers underneath to the extreme.

Just as the Shen Country soldiers huddled under the assault gun, preparing to attack its rear once it passed, a Tang Country grenadier jumped out of the trench at the side of the assault gun.

He held a Thompson submachine gun and sprayed bullets at the Shen Country soldiers hiding in the trench, knocking them all to the ground.

A Shen Country soldier charging with a stick grenade shouted and ran forward, only to be killed by another Tang country grenadier who had jumped into the trench. The two then lay down on the other side.

The grenade exploded amidst a group of Shen Country defenders, spurting a mist of blood. The unbridled Tank 4 assault gun continued forward, with more Tang Army soldiers jumping down into the trench and then flipping out to follow behind the moving vehicle.

"Tat-tat-tat!" The remaining Tang Army soldiers who entered the trench began to incessantly attack both sides, being much more cautious than before.

Because their opponents now had steel helmets and grenades, their combat power in the trenches was rapidly rising.

With the deadly weapon that was the hand grenade now in their possession, the Shen Army's combat effectiveness in the trenches had noticeably improved – they were no longer powerless under the Tang Army's pressure.

"Watch out for grenades!" Following this shout, another grenade exploded. It wasn't clear if it was thrown by the Tang Army themselves or lobbed over by a Shen Country soldier. Continue your journey with My Virtual Library Empire

After the explosion, the distinctive chattering sound of the Tang Army submachine guns rang out again, indicating that the grenade had not had the desired effect.

Because they lacked automatic weapons, the Shen Country military still found themselves in defeat at the hands of the Tang Army soldiers in the trenches, even with the presence of hand grenades.

Therefore, more Shen Army troops converged from both sides, hoping to push back the Tang Army forces that had breached their defense line.

"Long live Your Majesty, the King!" A Shen Country soldier charged with his bayonet shouting the slogan, thrusting at a Tang Army soldier in front of him.

But what greeted him was the merciless bullets from a submachine gun. Seven or eight shots hit him squarely, turning him into a sieve; he stumbled forward a few steps before collapsing reluctantly to the ground.

"They're using their firepower to drive us in that direction! Do you see that? The clearing! Looks as though it's been left there on purpose." In the trench, a Tang Army platoon leader put down his binoculars and pointed towards a relatively calm area in the distance.

"Exactly, looking at it, there's at least crossfire from machine guns on both sides! The position is too good, practically perfect!" The company commander following the platoon leader was an expert and knew all about the Shen Country military's standard setups.

"Not just that! It looks like there are anti-tank mines too!" the platoon leader said, observing a Tank 4 assault gun that seemed to have been tricked and was advancing towards the clearing.

"Let's warn our assault guns not to fall for it!" Patting the company commander's shoulder, the platoon leader added, "I'll arrange for someone to suppress the gunfire on your side and minimize casualties as much as possible!"

"Understood!" the company commander nodded, then ran along the trench towards where the assault guns were.

These vehicles were now precious commodities, coveted by every assault group, virtually worth their weight in gold, for all soldiers wished for an iron beast that could draw all enemy fire during an assault.

"Machine gun team! Set up on that small rise over there! Suppress enemy fire! Keep calm! Wait for a good opportunity!" Once the company commander had left, the platoon leader called over a brawny man carrying a machine gun and issued new orders.

After an encounter with mines, the Tang Army's assault gun crews were obviously more cautious. They weren't rushing to attack but waited for the infantry to discover and mark the enemy's hidden fire points.

This tactic indeed reduced the losses of the assault guns, but it made the infantry too dangerous. In these last few days, Tang Army suffered a ten percent increase in soldier casualties, a result that command above certainly didn't want to see.

There was no helping it, as war, with the constant development and changes in weapons each side invested in, had gradually started to become bloody.

The kind of situation where a kingdom was conquered after a frenzied rush of a hundred miles overnight and a civil exchange of a couple of shots, would likely never happen again.

The strength of each side's forces had grown so vast that they could cover the entire front line, making the classic maneuvers of flanking and breakthrough exceedingly difficult.

On the front, the Shen Army couldn't hold on any longer; they were collapsing. If bayonets could solve everything, perhaps they could have persisted a bit longer.

Inside a primary position, a Shen commander paced back and forth, still unaware that the neighboring allied forces had not received the orders to support him.

"Ratatatata!" Suddenly, right behind him, the machine gunners of the Shen started opening fire. They had spotted the enemy, who were now within arm's reach.

"Tang Army has launched its attack, sir. Do you want to..." A cautious company commander responsible for the defense of this area suggested.

"No need! The orders I received prohibit retreat by even one step!" The leading Shen officer waved his hand and drew a pistol from his waist.

It was a PPK pistol manufactured by Brunas, from a long time ago. It was an export model and had only been supplied in limited quantities to Tang Country's security forces.

"Fix bayonets!" Next to him in the trench, a Shen platoon leader had drawn his saber and was giving orders loudly.

Following his shout, Shen soldiers drew their bayonets from their waists and fixed them onto their rifles, which were nearly as tall as they were.

"Long live the King! Long live the King!" They cried out madly, ready to leap out of the trenches and engage in a decisive battle with the approaching Tang Army.

But amid their cries, a grenade rolled to their feet. A loud blast followed, filling the area with black smoke.

The Shen soldiers in the trench were thrown into disarray, and before the rest could get to their feet, Tang soldiers arrived from the flanks, continuously firing their weapons, stopping to reload on the spot once their ammo was spent, while comrades behind them surged past to maintain the rapid advance.

Such fast-paced progress caught the Shen soldiers off guard. Inside the concrete bunkers, including the leading Shen commander, everyone had to immediately engage in battle. They defended the entrance and managed to hold off Tang Army's first wave of attack.

At extremely close range, both sides kept firing relentlessly, with grenades exploding near the entrance of the Shen defense works from time to time.

Soon, the Shen defenders couldn't hold on any more: they only had a few pistols, and the rest were armed with Shireck Model 1 rifles, which were far less powerful than the Tang Army's Thompson Submachine Guns.

On average, by the time Tang soldiers emptied a magazine, the Shen could barely get a shot off in return. If they could hold out in such a fight, they would truly be War Gods.

As the Tang Army drew closer, their grenade-throwing accuracy became more exaggerated: it wasn't long before a grenade was precisely thrown into the bunker's doorway, followed by a dull explosion inside.

"Boom!" The Shen soldiers were blown off their feet. The Tang soldiers took the opportunity to charge into the bunker, turning everyone attempting to flee or rise into a sieve.

"I surrender!" A Shen officer hid behind a table, raising his hands, but before he could stand up, a Tang soldier sprayed a volley of bullets in his direction.

The thin wooden board was no match against the bullets, so when the Tang soldier finished firing and came over to check, the Shen officer was already dead.

"It gave me a scare," the Tang grenadier who opened fire explained somewhat awkwardly, "It was just a reflex..."

"Nobody's blaming you," another grenadier kicked the body on the ground, reassuringly indifferent, "Dead is dead, just apologize afterward and it's done."

Seeing the rookie actually start to step forward, his squad leader quickly put a hand on his shoulder, "He was just pulling your leg, and you were actually gonna do it?"

"Huh?" The new soldier finally realized he had been played by the veteran. He scratched his head, looking a little embarrassed and somewhat flushed.

"Let's go, Happy Nut," the veteran who joked shook his gun barrel, ready to cross through the entire bunker and exit from a door on the other side.

"I'm not called Happy Nut," the new soldier defended himself.

"Alright, Happy Nut. Got it, Happy Nut, let's go... Happy Nut." Around here, no one cares what you're called unless you can survive and make everyone know that following you means survival!