Munitions Empire-Chapter 647 - : 606 The enemy’s hand grenade

Chapter 647: 606 The enemy’s hand grenade

Liu Guozhu peered through the narrow observation slit, watching the enemy’s machine-gun pillbox ceaselessly firing in the distance. It was less than 200 meters away from his tank, surrounded by collapsed barbed wire and Beiyuan soldiers’ trenches.

“Right front! Watch the right front!” he shouted loudly inside the noisy tank, reminding his gunner ahead, who pressed a button, causing the turret to start turning to the right.

The external hanging steel plates made the No. 4 tank’s turret look like it had expanded one size larger, leading Beiyuan to mistake this shape for a new model of tank.

However, they soon corrected this misjudgment after destroying a tank and confirming the characteristics of the wreckage. The Tang Army’s tanks had not been upgraded, which was definitely good news for other nations.

Such is war, regardless of how advanced weapons are, losses will occur, and even if losses are minimized, they are still losses!

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“I see it! I’ve got it!” Soon, as the turret rotated, the gunner saw the same target Liu Guozhu had identified through his own scope.

The enemy continued their relentless firing, forcing the advancing Tang Army to halt, waiting for friendly tanks to destroy the damned firepoint.

“Boom!” The gunner stepped on the firing pedal, and a short-barreled 75mm caliber howitzer fired a shell, hitting the target 200 meters away dead on.

Great Tang Group’s lens processing technology was very advanced, ensuring precision, which greatly aided the precise aiming systems of the No. 4 tanks, helping the Tang Army’s gunners to aim at their targets.

Although the low chamber pressure and short barrel of the 75mm caliber howitzer did not provide good ballistic performance, within a distance of about 200 meters, it still had very high accuracy.

The shell struck just a few centimeters next to the firing port of the machine-gun pillbox, instantly blowing off the bunker’s roof and killing all the Beiyuan soldiers inside.

The continuous sound of the Maxim machine guns finally halted, and the surrounding Tang soldiers felt the pressure of the attack lift all at once.

A Tang Army bugler lying on the ground seized the bugle beside him and sounded the clear call to attack: “Tweet-hee, tweet-tweet, tweet-hee, tweet-tweet-tweet!”

This was one of Tang Mo’s stubbornnesses, as well as his homage to some mysterious force from the East. The witch’s flute, the call of the Grim Reaper, the bewitching sound of the attack, the prelude to victory… In any case, once this sound was played, an overwhelming attack would commence, crumbling any formidable defenses into dust.

But in this world, advancing with the resounding sound of the bugle were not just well-trained infantry but also tanks rolling forward on their tracks!

“Dead ahead! There’s a hidden firepoint straight ahead! They are adjusting the angle of the machine gun!” Liu Guozhu spotted another target and loudly warned his comrades.

The gunner rotated the turret once more, as bullets fired by Beiyuan soldiers hammered against the tank’s steel plates, dense and frequent like raindrops.

What suffers the most damage during a tank’s assault on enemy defenses? The paint! The enemy’s light weapon bullets would hit the tank densely, practically serving as polish for the tank’s exterior paint.

Some shrapnel and larger-caliber weapons could possibly penetrate the layer of steel plates hanging around the No. 4 tank; hence, there couldn’t be anything valuable stored between those steel plates and the vehicle’s hull.

If you put a steel helmet there, you might find it riddled with holes after the battle; if you put in a water bottle or lunch box, it might leak; the same goes for a tent, clothes, shoes, and socks.

So, mostly what was stored in these compartments were spare bogie wheels and tracks—things that weren’t too afraid of damage but could add some protective capability, killing several birds with one stone.

As for tents, shoes, socks, lunch boxes, water bottles, and such, they were all hung outside the tank, left at the attack position before going into battle, and taken care of by later arriving units.

Don’t think tank units only have tanks; there are also trucks that transport fuel, personnel transporting logistics and maintenance staff, and all sorts of second-line units, adding up to a mighty force.

The heavily scarred No. 4 tank kept wobbling forward. The coaxial machine gun shattered the enemy machine-gun position Liu Guozhu had just discovered.

The battlefield was riddled with shell craters, and sometimes Liu Guozhu’s tank had to stop to avoid the massive pits, choosing a better path to tread.

Maneuvering wasn’t smooth, and within the tight confines of the tank, Liu Guozhu’s head knocked against the ceiling unexpectedly.

He clutched his head in pain, wincing and letting out a groan. The tank crew didn’t have specialized helmets at the time; Liu Guozhu wore a traditional soft hat with a brim, similar to that of the Eighth Route Army.

“Watch out for craters! It’s too bumpy!” he said, rubbing his head while reminding his driver.

As he spoke, the tank’s nose smashed down hard, clearly plunging into another shell hole.

Before Liu Guozhu could react, the tank’s nose lifted sharply, the entire vehicle surged out of the crater, and continued forward.

Tanks in this era were in such a state, and the Type 4 tank, with its small-diameter load-bearing wheels, had this kind of poor cross-country performance on complicated terrains.

It was a problem without a solution; even so, tanks like these were already the most advanced of the time, and there wasn’t much to complain about.

Liu Guozhu’s chest pocket was adorned with a second-class Cavalry Medal, and hanging alongside it was another recently awarded Luozhen Combat Medal given to all the crew members of his vehicle.

This medal recognized the participation of all combat units involved in the defense and attack on Luozhen, including pilots from the Air Force, infantry, and tank soldiers.

“Hold steady! Damn it!” Liu Guozhu cursed loudly, and his tank slightly reduced speed as he did so.

With his head still aching, Liu Guozhu moved closer to the observation window, took a look around, and realized that his tank had already charged straight into the front of the enemy positions.

To his left and right, he could see the trenches of the Beiyuan soldiers, and at close range, there were Beiyuan soldiers moving about.

“We’re on the enemy’s turf now! Keep moving! Cross over the trenches!” On the chaotic battlefield, pausing in place was tantamount to seeking death, so Liu Guozhu decided to push on.

It was at this moment that he saw a Beiyuan soldier hurl something in their direction.

This was the first time he had seen a Beiyuan person make such a gesture, so it took a moment for him to realize what exactly had happened.

In the next instant, he recognized that the action of swinging their arm was exactly like Tang Army soldiers throwing hand grenades.

Indeed, the next second, a hand grenade exploded near his tank. The rising smoke obscured Liu Guozhu’s view, but he did not sustain any material damage.

He was inside the tank, already wearing headphones, which had protected his ears to some extent, preventing him from losing his hearing from the blast.

Moreover, the shockwave caused by the hand grenade did not penetrate the tank’s armor, so although Liu Guozhu felt the blast, he was not injured.

“Damn it, hand grenade!” Despite the lack of visibility, the loader beside him also felt the familiar vibration.

“It’s not ours! Damn it! The Beiyuan soldiers have hand grenades!” Liu Guozhu pressed the throat microphone, and reported loudly to his platoon leader what he had just seen: “I saw Beiyuan soldiers throwing hand grenades!”

“Are you sure? Are you sure?” The platoon leader’s voice came through the headphones urgently.

“I saw them throw something at me, then it exploded!” By this time, Liu Guozhu’s tank had already rolled over the Beiyuan trench, with the tank tracks flipping mud down onto the Beiyuan soldiers in the trench, scaring them so much that they didn’t dare to raise their heads.

“I see your position! Keep moving! Leave the rear to me for cover!” The voice of the platoon leader kept coming.

“Understood! I’m continuing to advance!” Liu Guozhu continued to shout: “Advance! Suppress the Beiyuan firepower directly ahead! They’re retreating! They’re retreating!”

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“Left side! The bunker on the left!” “Right side! Fire! Fire! There’s a machine gun over there!” Shouts from other tank commanders could also be heard through the headphones.

They appeared to be communicating, but what they were shouting was mostly useless. There was no helping it, as a third of the tank platoon’s commanders had been replaced before going into battle.

Liu Guozhu had heard that the third that got pulled out was assigned to new Armored Divisions as commanders. Unwilling to leave the 1st Armored Division, he had stayed behind.

However, he had also been promoted. He should have been reassigned as platoon leader, but since he had requested to stay with platoon 1, he had missed the opportunity for this promotion.

Despite the somewhat chaotic communication, the Tang Army’s offensive was still swift. With the cover of more than 40 tanks, the advancing Tang infantry pierced through Beiyuan’s outer defense lines in just a morning.

The battle wasn’t particularly fierce since the Beiyuan troops were contracting their forces. They intended to focus the main battlefield inside Beiyuan City and weren’t planning to tangle with the Tang Army in the outskirts any longer.

Nevertheless, they did not simply hand over their outer positions; instead, they sent some troops to hold their ground to the last.

In essence, these troops were sacrificed, abandoned. They had no reinforcements and were not allowed to retreat. They were ordered to fight to the last man and had even written their wills before departing.

Unfortunately, those unafraid and willing to die were in the minority. Even with political commissars and zealous commanders enforcing discipline, many among the Beiyuan defenders still chose to surrender.

They laid down their weapons, and among these weapons, the commanders of Tang Country’s frontline forces made some surprising discoveries.