Munitions Empire-Chapter 986 - : Must listen to what 908 Tang People say

Chapter 986: Must listen to what 908 Tang People say

Near Shanping’s defensive line, Dahua troops had just switched to defense, and both sides’ positions were still quite close, with brief moments of tranquility amidst the fierce battle.

Looking at the hillside in the distance, a Dahua Empire soldier was clearly surprised to see some short figures moving around.

“No way, do you see that? On the enemy’s position, why is there a child?” In the trench of the Dahua Empire, the soldier ducked his head back and turned to his squadmate.

“It’s normal, isn’t it? How many people can there be in Fengjiang? When the fighting starts, children have to be sent to the battlefield, don’t they?” His squad leader was smoking a cigarette, a habit that spread worldwide with the proliferation of Great Tang Empire’s merchandise, causing many countries to now have a large population of smokers contributing to the tax revenue.

Hearing his squad leader’s explanation, the soldier nodded in agreement, “When you put it that way, it makes sense. But I just saw quite a few, no idea what’s going on.”

The squad leader dismissed his remark: “Just focus on fighting your battle. Is the rifle in that kid’s hands not a rifle anymore?”

After all, the enemy’s weapons are lethal. Modern weapons have leveled the playing field in terms of physical strength. Regardless of whether you’re strong or weak, a single pistol allows for a fair duel.

Victory no longer favors the strong and valiant races. The goddess of victory stands beside those countries with more guns, steel, and oil.

After grumbling, the squad leader of the Dahua Empire military returned his gaze to their own defensive position: “Check again, make sure there are no issues. The machine gun positions on the other side need to be well concealed, don’t freaking expose them again.”

Behind them was the northernmost perimeter defensive line of Shanping City; from here, they practically had no room to retreat.

Although this place was far from Fengjiang, and that distance had now become a burden for Fengjiang, the very fact that they were fighting here had already greatly dissatisfied His Majesty The Emperor of the Dahua Empire.

Despite Zhao Zheng’s detailed explanation of his intentions in the telegrams submitted, Zhao Kai was raging in private, having given Shen Chuan a severe dressing-down.

In the eyes of the Emperor, or rather, in the eyes of most people, to retreat is to equate with failure. The lie of a triumphant advance all the way to one’s doorstep is merely a fig leaf.

Zhao Kai was extremely displeased because Shanping had unexpectedly become the front line. He ordered Zhao Zheng to hold Shanping at all costs, warning that any retreat would result in military punishment.

On the front line, Zhao Zheng also knew his standing in Zhao Kai’s eyes was only worth so much, so the orders he gave to his troops were to defend Shanping to the death, not retreating a single step.

Hearing their squad leader’s reminder, the Dahua soldiers setting up the defensive line immediately responded, “Understood!”

After so many days of training, they were no longer green recruits. Although they might still be outmatched by the Tang Army, they had experience fighting others of similar capability. Taking advantage of Fengjiang’s lack of tanks, they could make the defensive position more imposing and focus on firepower.

“The Fengjiang Army has been aggressive these past few days; seems they’ve received strict orders from above.” The Dahua Empire soldiers were still marveling at how their opponents had attacked their defensive line with reckless abandon, as if drugged, disregarding the losses.

Just a few days prior, to capture a section of the Dahua Empire’s defense held by its troops, Orc mercenaries had lost 300 men. It might not sound like a lot, but it was already a significant number.

“Boom!” As the Dahua defending soldiers were talking, a shell landed on their position. Everyone ducked, anxiously looking around and listening for a second shell.

Soon, they heard the piercing sound of the air being ripped apart. The squad leader was the first to drop into the trench, shouting at everyone to “Get down!”

Everyone promptly lay flat on the ground. Another shell landed behind the position, throwing up a mass of soil that rained down into the trench, coating the Dahua soldiers’ uniforms and steel helmets.

“The enemy is attacking!” A soldier who got up stuck his head out and saw that down the hill in the distance, a few Dwarves had emerged from their trenches.

Staggering on the soft ground due to their short stature, these Dwarves were indeed fierce, attacking with a full battalion in their first charge.

Hundreds of soldiers sprinting across the battlefield was a spectacular sight. Seconds later, machine guns on the Dahua defending position opened fire. A line of tracer bullets swept through the crowd of Fengjiang troops, scattering the “boy scouts” in chaotic disorder.

“All kids?” Seeing the troops of Fengjiang, with an average height of around 1.4 meters and appearing as if the helmets had come to life, the faces of the Dahua defending soldiers expressed utter amazement.

Occasionally seeing a few Dwarves was understandable, but an entire swarm of kids equivalent to a third-grade class charging out like school had just let out was a shock to everyone.

Shock may be shocking, but on the battlefield where it’s a matter of life and death, one cannot afford to consider anything else. Moreover, these “child soldiers” are not really child soldiers, they are a group of demons who once killed without batting an eye.

Despite the goblins’ law-abiding and obedient behavior under the rule of the Great Tang Empire, seemingly like a group of oppressed child laborers, they were once bona fide soldiers in Beiyuan City and on Dongwan Island.

If it were not for the arrival of the Great Tang Empire, for the arrival of Tang Mo, these soldiers from Mirage Country would have had higher combat effectiveness compared to the militaries of Zheng Country and Qi Country.

“Charge!” Since shouting any slogans was strictly prohibited, these goblins did not yell chaotically. Only the leading soldier, brandishing a long knife nearly his own height, looked majestic like a target.

I heard these command knives were specially manufactured and bestowed by His Majesty The Emperor of the Great Tang Empire as awards for goblin officers willing to fight on the front lines for freedom.

After receiving these command knives, the goblin officers were ecstatic, and some even went without their standard-issue firearms, proudly wielding their command knives instead.

Of course, the actual situation was that the specially tailored military sabers for these goblins were just slightly longer than bayonets, roughly half the length of ceremonial swords worn by officers of the Great Tang Empire.

To talk of majestic… well, it doesn’t really have much to do with majestic, these miraculous objects called Mirage Blades glinted with cold light, exuding a mix of aloofness and a cute charm…

Interestingly, photos of goblin “mercenaries” with Mirage Blades quickly made their way back to Mirage Country and gained widespread acclaim, beloved by the people of Mirage Country, high and low.

Eventually, Mirage Country purchased the design drawings of the Mirage Blade, and even paid to acquire the patent exclusively, making the Mirage Blade a “traditional” equipment unique to the commanders of Mirage Country’s military.

In fact, they thought too much. Besides Mirage Country, only the Dwarf Empire might be interested in these kinds of daggers—however, the dwarves of the Ice Cold Empire disdained these curved blades for being too slender and not conforming to their robust aesthetic.

Seeing a group of children raising their daggers and charging at you as if playing with their lives does bring up a bit of humor. But the goblins quickly proved their existence was not just a fluke by showcasing their traditional madness.

Apart from their height and vicious barbarity, one must admit that these little dwarves were actually quite good warriors; their fearless attacks were once the nightmare of Zheng Country.

“Ah ya ya!” As he jumped into the trench, a goblin soldier let out a frightening scream. His face was smeared with bright red grease, looking as if it were blood.

This was a tradition among part of the goblin troops who used to smear soot. The Great Tang Empire found it too dirty and had it changed to grease. The goblins themselves chose red, believing it to accentuate their bravery and loyalty.

His rifle’s bayonet was plunged into the chest of a Dahua soldier in the trench, but this goblin soldier did not escape either; he too was skewered by the enemy’s bayonet and hung mid-air.

Both fell together, and more goblins leaped into the trench. Due to their short stature, goblins had a high chance of falling when entering trenches. Before they could get up, Dahua soldiers would pounce on them and finish them off.

“Ah!” More goblins charged forward, and bodies of goblin soldiers could be seen everywhere. Out of the three or four hundred who launched the attack, perhaps not even a hundred made it forward.

But by now, the blood had stirred the ferocity in the goblins, and with rage-filled eyes, they vented like fierce spirits, taking down and killing Dahua troops one by one.

Who knows how they’ve lived these ten years under the Great Tang Empire? Who knows what price they’ve paid for their actions?

Remember the coal mines shrouded in endless darkness, the tunnels stretching hundreds of kilometers, waking up every day under the lash of a whip dipped in water, every break spent calculating one’s work points and wondering if insufficient labor output would lead to being hanged and beaten…

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Compared to these, what are the loose cannon fire and panting machine gun sounds of Dahua Empire? Joking, have you ever been to Beiyuan City’s outskirts? Ever felt the true inferno where steel and flame intertwine?

The food delivery guards from the Great Tang Empire are more ferocious than you fiends! The baton in the hands of the prison heads under the mine is more terrifying than your cannons! We goblin mercenaries even if death comes, even if we were to leap from here, we will never go back to mining coal! This time it’s true! No lies!

With thoughts like these, with the killing ongoing, the goblins found that all that was left on the position were Dahua soldiers kneeling and surrendering with their hands raised.

This time the goblins were civilized because they remembered the rule of not killing those who surrendered. The instructor was kind-faced, but every word he said was sacred to the goblins, etched into their marrow.

That instructor didn’t make threats either. He just casually mentioned, “Humans, must not kill, remember?”

No one dared forget. Over ten years, these goblins learned one thing: what Tang People say, must be heeded.