Munitions Empire-Chapter 1139 - 1059 The Long Night

Inside the command post of South Island in Mirage Country, Shengwu Zhong received telephone calls or telegrams from various defense zones. He was aware that paratroopers from the Great Tang Empire had landed on South Island, but their exact location was unclear.

Countless troops observed planes in the night sky and the parachutes of the descending paratroopers; at the same time, they were under attack from the Imperial Paratroopers, plunging the entire defense into chaos.

"Hello? Hello! Speak clearly! You’re saying soldiers are attacking your camp? Organize a counterattack! What? They have too many troops, and you can’t hold it?" It was the middle of the night, yet the command post was still bustling, with many people making and receiving calls, the noise persisting unabated.

An officer approached, delivering a telegram report from the troops in the southern part of the island: "Report! General! Paratroopers from the Great Tang Empire have appeared near Airport No. 8... The enemy is attempting to seize the airport, and the troops guarding it are desperately holding on. They need reinforcements, should we send support?"

Shengwu Zhong took the telegram and ordered: "Airport No. 8? Have the 779th Regiment stationed there move out!"

"Yes, sir!" The officer saluted crisply and turned to convey the orders.

Meanwhile, the Chief of Staff came over and spoke to Shengwu Zhong: "General! Troops deployed in Dongshan Village report spotting paratrooper landings. They dispatched a search team, but we’ve lost contact with them!"

Understanding the importance of Dongshan Village, Shengwu Zhong immediately ordered reinforcements: "Tell them to fortify their defenses! Dongshan Village must not be lost! Additionally, withdraw the two battalions stationed south of Dongshan Village to the village itself!"

"Yes, sir!" Another Military Officer behind the Chief of Staff left once again to relay the command.

The Chief of Staff didn’t leave, but continued: "General! There are Imperial Paratroopers scattered everywhere tonight... It seems that the enemy fleet has already entered the strike range of our fighter jets."

His concern wasn’t with the paratroopers descending from the sky, but rather with the vast fleet that followed.

Intelligence obtained from other countries revealed that the Great Tang Empire had amassed thousands of ships carrying tens of thousands of soldiers, likely soon to appear near South Island.

While the attack on South Island by Tang forces had been speculated earlier, now with the Imperial Paratroopers already on the ground, it was certain that South Island was a target for the Tang Army.

For this reason, Mirage Country immediately mobilized two divisions’ worth of troops from New Island, sending them by boat overnight to reinforce South Island, readying for the decisive battle there.

Shengwu Zhong nodded in agreement with his Chief of Staff’s view: "Indeed! The enemy fleet will definitely take advantage of tonight to surge towards the landing zones!"

"Most of the paratroopers... they’re concentrated around Dongshan Village and Leping Village. Should we send additional troops there?" The Chief of Staff expressed his concerns tentatively.

According to the battle reports, the enemy paratroopers were mainly dropping in areas to the south of these two villages, which effectively blocked the path of Mirage Country’s Armored Corps from reaching the southern beaches. If the Tang Country Paratroopers captured Leping Village and Dongshan Village, the defending forces of Mirage Country on the southern beach landing grounds would be isolated.

Rubbing his temples, an exhausted Shengwu Zhong ordered: "Just send the 59th Division nearby for reinforcement. Any more... I’m afraid it will affect our preparation for the counterstrike operations."

Having been busy all day, he hadn’t anticipated the Tang Army’s swift arrival by morning, and by noon and afternoon, he had to handle the aftermath of bombings, only to face a second wave of bombing by dusk, followed by the arrival of the Imperial Paratroopers...

Having not had proper rest for a whole day and night, he was extremely weary, his spirit clearly languishing. However, as the Commander, he must keep himself up and respond to the ongoing battles.

The Chief of Staff worriedly reminded: "But General, if the enemy lands at the southern beach area and not at Great Southern Bay, losing Dongshan Village and Leping Village... If there’s trouble at Bridge No. 1, we won’t be able to dispatch the Armored Corps there in time."

Shengwu Zhong calmly stated his judgment: "The Tang paratroopers must be a diversion! If they land on the southern beaches, then the subsequent troop landings will definitely be slow, and I’ll have plenty of time to reclaim Bridge No. 1, retake Dongshan Village and Leping Village! Why panic?"

He never believed the Tang Army would land on the barren beaches, even though it was indeed convenient for landings; the conditions for subsequent landings were simply too poor.

As the Commander, he believed that landing near Great Southern Bay was the Tang Army’s only viable option: they must capture a beachhead and then quickly take a port to ensure the swift landing of subsequent troops.

The Chief of Staff simply voiced his perspective; in truth, he also considered Great Southern Bay the most dangerous point. So he didn’t insist, standing at attention, he saluted: "Yes, General!"

"What’s most urgent now is to repair the not too badly damaged Airport No. 1 tonight, and organize the troops that have been reinforced from New Island!" Shengwu Zhong added a few more sentences, perhaps to reassure others or himself: "There’s nothing to worry about with the enemy paratroopers. As soon as day breaks tomorrow, we can mobilize troops and wipe out these reckless invaders!"

"Yes, sir!" The Chief of Staff responded with another salute.

He felt that what Shengwu Zhong said made sense; there were only four more hours before daylight, and once the sun rose, Mirage Country’s numerical and heavy equipment advantages would be brought to bear. The Great Tang paratroopers, lacking tank support, would not be able to stop the advance of Mirage Country’s armored corps.

By then these paratrooper troops could only become prisoners of Mirage Country, becoming a bargaining chip to force the Great Tang Empire into withdrawing and surrendering.

...

In the darkness of night, the soldiers of Mirage Country stationed in the trenches seemed a bit tense. They saw paratroopers from the Great Tang Empire descending from the sky, but they did not dare to climb out of their trenches in search of the enemy in this pitch-black night.

Actually, they didn’t really need to take the initiative to attack; as long as they stayed in the trenches and protected the anti-aircraft gun positions behind them, they would have already considered their mission accomplished.

After all, as long as they held their ground until daylight, with their tanks from Mirage Country’s arriving, those paratroopers from the Great Tang Empire would be done for. Not only tanks, but with the break of day, they could also count on support from Zero Fighters!

Unfortunately, in places they could not see, Great Tang Empire paratroopers, holding weapons and using infrared lights on their weapons, were carefully moving their feet, inching closer to their targets.

In the darkness, they could see very clearly, and the distance between the two sides was even less than seventy meters. Behind those paratroopers equipped with infrared night-vision gear, several had already aimed their gun grenades at the trenches of the Shen Army.

"The assault team is in position! Just launch according to the parameters!" Noticing that the assault team had reached the forefront of the enemy’s position and raised their arms, the soldier wearing night-vision equipment whispered to remind the platoon leader beside him.

"Fire!" The platoon leader shouted, and three soldiers pulled the triggers at the front of their magazines. The gun grenades "boom" flew out and accurately hit the anti-aircraft gun positions.

"Boom! Boom boom!" Three explosions stunned the soldiers of Mirage Country in the trenches—they had not expected the enemy to launch an attack at night, nor did they anticipate such precision with the enemy’s grenades.

The three consecutive explosions happened almost within the trenches, and several soot-covered Goblins barely poked their heads out of the trenches, only to be shot through the head by bullets coming at them face-on.

Because they were close enough, they were just too conspicuous. The paratroopers wearing night vision equipment took aim at the Goblins who poked out their heads and easily took out these silly targets who showed themselves.

The assault team, which had taken advantage of the night to approach the trenches, now leaped up and charged into the Goblin’s trenches.

The few remaining Goblin soldiers didn’t even realize what had happened before they were systematically killed one after another by the tall and formidable Tang Army paratroopers.

"Tat-tat-tat-tat! Tat-tat-tat-tat!" Intense gunfire erupted from the anti-aircraft gun position, while in another trench, a group of Mirage Country soldiers was still unclear about the situation and had no idea what had transpired.

They probably guessed that Tang Army soldiers had launched an attack, but they dared not go to reinforce because they didn’t know if there were any Tang forces in front of them...

A soldier of Mirage Country on the anti-aircraft gun position raised a torch, seemingly trying to illuminate the surroundings, only to have his arm shot off by a bullet flying their way.

The torch fell to the ground, rolled a couple of times, and then went out, and where there had been loud gunfire from the trenches just now, there was now silence.

"Don’t shoot! Don’t shoot! We surrender!" Seeing that the soldier who had lost his arm was motionless on the ground, the gun commander of Mirage Country’s anti-aircraft gun, cowering behind the sandbags, shouted loudly, pleading for mercy.

...

"Marshal! Just confirmed the news, the paratrooper troops have successfully air-landed in the designated area, and they are trying to take control of Leping and Dongshan." The Chief of Staff approached Bernard and reported: "The landing craft of the 1st Marine Division is approaching the southern beach... they are the fastest."

"Very good! Everything up to now is progressing according to our plan... This is a good sign." Bernard had just woken up; he had rested after receiving successful bombing news from the Air Force in the afternoon.

After pausing for a few seconds, the naval Marshal ordered: "Prepare the first wave of bombers for a sortie in three hours... We must paralyze the enemy’s island airfields as much as possible before their Zero Fighters take off."

For many, this night was a long one, but at least Bernard was more fortunate than Nanyun Zhongyi because the main fleet of the Mirage Country Navy he was wary of... had no aircraft carriers.

--------

Two updates today, will continue to make up updates tomorrow.