Munitions Empire-Chapter 1165 - 1085 Onshore Night Battle

"They can see us!" Inside a tank, a goblin from Mirage Country shouted to his comrades, "They can see us!"

Earlier, they were advancing in pitch-black darkness when suddenly a shell struck and destroyed one of their tanks. After that, they were hit by successive shells, suffering heavy losses.

One tank after another was destroyed. After losing seven or eight tanks, they had still not seen where the enemy was or what they looked like.

Now, before his eyes, a heavy tank had already had its armor penetrated. It was ablaze, illuminating the outlines of nearby tanks.

Before the Mirage Country tank could start reversing, a distant sabot armor-piercing round shot straight at it, piercing its first layer of welded frontal armor, then penetrating the second layer of main armor, slicing through all of its front defenses, reducing it to a burning tank wreck.

Already attacking blindly in the dark, the Mirage Country forces were thrown into utter chaos after facing this direct assault. They were wholly unprepared for engagement, and the supposed counterattack by their tank corps was nothing more than a last-minute improvisation.

Shenwu Zhong, either to coordinate with the Navy’s operations or because General Shenwu Ke chose to gamble all his forces, gave the temporary order to deploy the tank corps for the night raid.

The infantry units that had set out earlier had already been locked in fierce combat with the Tang Army for several hours. Overnight, they suffered heavy losses and hadn’t even managed to reach the Tang Army’s outermost defenses.

When the tank corps arrived, the situation became even more chaotic: Tang Army tanks, firing from unseen locations, systematically destroyed Mirage Country tanks that barely made it to the front lines.

Of course, the Mirage Country tank crews had no idea their opponents were using infrared searchlights to locate them in the darkness.

That special light was invisible to the naked eye, which meant the Tang Army was essentially using flashlights in the pitch-black night to hunt Mirage Country forces and annihilate them with bizarre methods.

For the Tang Army—or at least certain units of the Tang Army—the night was as transparent as glass! They had never experienced such dominance; it felt as though vampires were hunting in the shadows.

Shenwu Zhong was destined to get no rest that night. He sat wearily in his seat, waiting for bad news to arrive from all directions.

The night’s counterattack did not exhaust the Tang Army—instead, it sharpened General Feng Kezhi’s ability to detect the Mirage Country forces’ weakness.

No one understood these outdated forces better than Feng Kezhi. He swiftly analyzed the situation, realizing Mirage Country was forcing a counterattack to support its naval actions.

With near-total intelligence transparency, Feng Kezhi decisively ordered prepared units from the 9th Group Army to launch their counteroffensive immediately.

In Leping, Feng Kezhi’s 9th Armored Division, aided by infrared night vision devices, advanced eastward, aiming to reach the Great Southern River.

Simultaneously, Tang Army paratroopers deployed near Dongshan supported the 9th Group Army in their counterattack to retake Bridge No. 1, which had been previously lost.

Even more alarming was that after securing their footing, the Navy Marine Corps’ 1st Division was advancing toward a Mirage Country field airport.

In the latter half of the night, the battlefield dynamic shifted. The 9th Group Army actively sought out Mirage Country forces for nighttime engagements, leaving Mirage Country regretting having initiated night combat.

In Shenwu Zhong’s office, his eyes were bloodshot from two days and nights without sleep. He sat there listening as his officers reported on the battlefield situation: "General! Tang Army units near Leping are advancing toward the Great Southern River area. It seems they want to push us east of the Great Southern River."

The Mirage Country forces near Leping Village were nowhere to be seen—they had retreated over ten kilometers and were still retreating. The harder their counterattack, the farther they were dragged from Leping...

Another officer delivered an even more shocking report: "General, Tang Country paratroopers in the Dongshan direction have successfully retaken Bridge No. 1. Our engineers didn’t install the explosives in time, so the plan to destroy the bridge failed."

Originally, Mirage Country forces had planned to demolish Bridge No. 1 to delay the Tang Army’s advance. However, the counterattack postponed the demolition plan.

The result was that when the Tang Army repelled Mirage Country’s counterattack and turned their focus on Bridge No. 1, Mirage Country’s defeated troops forgot all about blowing up the bridge.

Now Bridge No. 1 was in Tang Army hands, enabling their troops to advance northward at any moment, threatening Mirage Country’s railways and airports in the central region of South Island.

Before long, a staff officer hurried in to deliver even worse news to Shenwu Zhong: "General! The 1st field airport has already fallen. Tang Army tanks have been sighted near the 2nd field airport... Should we order the troops there to withdraw?"

For Shenwu Zhong, this was a thunderclap on a clear day. If Tang Army truly gained control of Mirage Country’s airports, then those damned Butcher Fighters, Yir Attack Aircraft... they’d all appear on the South Island battlefield.

Moreover, once South Island had airport support, those Flying Fortress Bombers could frequently raid New Island, Ben Island, and even the northernmost Northern Island.

Immediately, Shenwu Zhong wanted to issue an order to retake the 1st field airport—but he quickly calmed himself down, realizing that Mirage Country had no significant forces stationed near the 1st field airport.

Shenwu Zhong sat silently, unsure if he was asleep with his eyes open. He said nothing because he genuinely didn’t know what to say.

Everything was beyond his comprehension. He’d never felt this powerless before. The Tang Army’s operational capability, fighting spirit, weaponry—all exceeded his expectations.

Even worse, he still didn’t know where those damned planes came from, why those damned paratroopers held out for so long, or why his elite armored forces couldn’t even break through the enemy’s light infantry defenses!

At that moment, an aviation officer hurried over with another troubling update: "Our risky operation to launch a Dragon Slayer reconnaissance plane brought back some photos… The pilot reported that the enemy landing sites near the shore are brightly lit. I suspect the Tang Army is transporting supplies ashore overnight."

Currently, Mirage Country’s only remaining airport was in the northern part of South Island, which meant the photos would take some time to reach the Great Southern Bay. But the phones were still operational, so the pilot immediately reported what he saw firsthand.

The Tang Army wasn’t idle at night. Large numbers of troops were landing, along with abundant supplies and equipment.

A dozen Huey Helicopters had even moved ashore from a modified transport ship, preparing for missions like casualty evacuation and low-altitude reconnaissance once daylight arrived.

Furthermore, Tang Army engineers had come ashore in large numbers. They were not only busy building floating docks but were also erecting command posts, field hospitals, communication stations, and ammunition depots based on Mirage Country’s defensive structures.

These facilities naturally bolstered the Tang Army’s combat strength. Previously delayed engineering heavy equipment had now arrived on the beaches.

Rocket clearance vehicles, engineering cranes, armored clearance vehicles, and large inland-compatible radar systems for air defense alerts—all this equipment was gradually landing, showcasing the overwhelming scale of the Tang Army’s landing forces.

Of course, this was just a fraction of the personnel and materials carried by the landing fleet, which was why the Tang Army was diligently constructing floating docks to facilitate their operations and expedite the capture of the Great Southern Bay.

When it came to the Great Southern Bay, half of Shenwu Zhong’s hopes lay in holding this strategic stronghold in the short term. He believed that if they could firmly hold onto it, the Tang Army’s logistics would be hampered, giving Mirage Country a chance to turn the tide.

But the strategic plan to defend the Great Southern Bay hadn’t been fully implemented—or rather, he simply hadn’t had the time to execute it.

The seaward side of the Great Southern Bay was relatively well-defended, with eastern and western artillery batteries and sufficient troop deployment. The problem lay in the landward directions—three sides of the Great Southern Bay were practically undefended.

Earlier strategic plans hadn’t considered the possibility of an enemy successfully landing from those directions, so no defensive fortifications had been constructed.

Now, with the enemy truly attacking from inland, Shenwu Zhong scrambled to mobilize civilian laborers to hastily build trenches and other defensive works.

But time was too limited. One day, one night—a ring-shaped trench barely better than a drainage ditch was all they could scrape together.

Thus, when Shenwu Zhong received reports about the state of the city defenses, he wasn’t surprised. The general in charge even asked a slightly embarrassing question after delivering his report: "General! The civilian laborers are slower at digging than expected. Should we conscript some women?"

In fact, Shenwu Zhong had already conscripted nearly all able-bodied male goblins from ages 14 to 60 on the South Island, organizing them into a "New Army" ready to sacrifice everything at the Great Southern Bay.

All other tasks, like building the defensive works around the Great Southern Bay, fell to the women.

"The situation is grim. If the Great Southern Bay falls, the consequences will be unimaginable! General! No matter what, we must hold the Great Southern Bay," the staff officer reminded Shenwu Zhong, whose mind seemed fogged over.

Of course, not all the news was bad. Two support transport ships managed to slip along the coastline to the Great Southern Bay, delivering precious munitions to Shenwu Zhong.

Understanding the importance, Shenwu Zhong instinctively nodded and replied, "You’re right... We absolutely must hold the Great Southern Bay! Send a telegram to Shenwu Erlang… Request him to dispatch forces to reinforce us! Deploy troops along the Great Southern River to prevent the Tang Army from crossing the river!"

By now, he no longer believed in any so-called nighttime counterattacks. His focus had shifted to defending their position, preventing the Tang Army from exploiting the chaos to expand their gains!

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There’s still one more update tonight, which I’ll share later. Everyone can read it tomorrow morning.