Munitions Empire-Chapter 1231 - 1151 Ben Island Landing Battle
Shen Haiping sat in his seat, listening to the desperate cries of the suicide boat captain coming through the radio. The voice was mixed with cannon fire, indicating a fierce battle.
He remained silent, just listening there, as the officers in the command center also remained silent, listening to the terrified screams of the front-line captain from the speakers.
Over the radio, a captain shouted into the microphone with sobs in his voice, "They’ve deployed a new type of artillery! It’s terrifying! They’re so accurate!" freewēbnoveℓ.com
No one could imagine what kind of weapon this new artillery was, and it would take some time for the observation posts along the coastline to deliver the organized information.
But they all knew that this time, the enemy was approaching to provoke, to tell the Mirage Country Navy: your suicide boats are no longer effective.
No one spoke, only the cries coming through the loudspeakers: "The captain’s boat has been hit! Help, they’re firing at us... Ah!"
Previously, there were reports of certain boats being sunk, but now nothing similar could be heard, as the whole suicide boat unit was in chaos; there were only cries and no one could calmly report the battle conditions.
In fact, the situation no longer needed reporting: everyone could tell that the boats were being sunk one after another, and no miracles were happening.
After a slight electric interference noise ended, another terrifying scream came: "The enemy’s artillery is very fierce, we can’t get close to them! Requesting retreat! Requesting retreat!"
"Help! Help!" Immediately followed by the desperate cries from sailors on another boat, which made every officer in the command room tremble with fear.
The captain of yet another boat reported the battle situation, confirming to the officers in the command room that this suicide attack had failed: "No boats got close to the enemy ship! We didn’t manage to ram it... We’re all wiped out..."
"We’re done... Done!" After the last boat’s captain shouted this, the radio fell silent.
Only the faint electric sound lingered in the speaker, and the command room was as silent as a grave. Everyone was looking at Shen Haiping, who sat motionless, and the atmosphere was stifling.
The suicide boat tactic they had relied on so many times seemed to have failed: the Tang Country’s destroyers were equipped with a new type of weapon capable of effectively intercepting these suicide boats.
The Mirage Country could no longer prevent the enemy’s landing operations, and the Navy’s last fig leaf was torn away by the Tang Country Navy.
All the officers present looked at Shen Haiping, yet he did nothing. After a long while, he slowly raised his head and said, "What’s there to fear? We can still fight at night!"
What he meant by night battle was actually to take advantage of the Tang Empire Navy Fleet being bogged down near the landing sites on Ben Island. In that case, the Mirage Country’s suicide boat unit could have a chance to attack and could launch strikes at night.
With the cover of darkness, the warships of the Tang Army might not be able to sink these suicide boats so accurately; they still had a chance.
Some of the Mirage Country’s officers breathed a sigh of relief, thinking Shen Haiping might have a point, while others remained worried, lost in thought.
Three days later, the news that two of the Great Tang Empire Navy’s aircraft carriers had left Linshui Port was delivered to the Mirage Country Navy Headquarters.
Meanwhile, unknown to the Mirage Country Navy, a large fleet had set sail from Dragon Island heading north. This fleet included three modified Beiyuan-class destroyers equipped with OTO naval guns.
The next morning, a convoy of about 50 transport ships set sail from Beiyuan Port, carrying 60,000 fully armed Orc infantry.
Subsequently, an oil transportation fleet escorted by 20 destroyers set sail from Nanshan Port, heading towards South Island.
Nearly a thousand various types of transport and warships were converging on South Island, and a massive landing operation was about to begin.
Within the Mirage Country Navy Headquarters, where the atmosphere had been rather bleak these days, Shen Haiping felt the pressure of an impending great battle. He stood in front of the map, staring at the marked possible positions of the enemy fleets, his face gloomy to the extreme.
The news coming from various channels wasn’t good: the Great Tang Empire was gathering its fleets, just like the previous times. But this time, Shen Haiping was without a fleet, and the effectiveness of the suicide boat unit was no longer guaranteed.
All he could do now was hide his strength and wait for the night of the Tang Army’s landing to launch a desperate counterattack with all the boats he had.
According to his order, the only two remaining usable destroyers stationed on Northern Island were also preparing to head south; they were to cover the suicide boats on the night of the decisive battle, attracting as much enemy fire as possible.
If these two warships weren’t sunk, they would retreat to Shen Capital Port the next morning, where they would be grounded on the front beach to serve as gun emplacements.
In this upcoming sea battle, the Mirage Country Navy was throwing in all its resources, leaving nothing for itself.
What made Shen Haiping uneasy were some intelligence reports obtained by the Mirage Country Army during prior combat meetings: there were numerous signs indicating that the Tang Army might receive reinforcement from Orc troops this time.
First, near Beiyuan City, Tang Army transport ships were seen leaving the port full of Orc troops. This was witnessed by many, and there was no denying it.
Moreover, there were already large numbers of Orc units on New Island and South Island, which was no secret to the Mirage Country side either.
This effectively meant that an entire Orc Corps was being added to the 9th Group Army of the Tang Army, making their forces likely exceed 300,000 troops!
For the Mirage Country side, this certainly wasn’t good news. They still had the will to fight against a smaller Tang Army, but with the addition of tens of thousands of Orc cannon fodder, it was a different story.
"General! Just confirmed news, the Tang Army fleet stationed at New Island Port has approached Ben Island and shelled our dummy defense line along the coast... A total of 5 destroyers." An officer reported the recent events to Shen Haiping, standing behind him.
The Tang Army had begun clearing coastal obstacles, and this was surely not a good sign! Their fleets were gathering, and the landing forces were already on their way.
"Deploy all remaining mines... in the shelling area!" Shen Haiping exhaled and ordered.
The Mirage Country’s production capacity was actually quite low; the number of mines produced during the war wasn’t very large, and they didn’t know where best to deploy them.
Previously, they would place the limited mines near the ports, but they found their ports were usually surrounded and captured from the land, making sea assaults by the Tang Army highly unlikely.
Later, they tried deploying mines near potential landing sites chosen by the Tang Army but repeatedly guessed wrong, wasting many mines.
Now the factory had been bombed, nearly crippling mine production, leaving only a handful of mines in Shen Haiping’s hands, which couldn’t change the situation.
Still, they had to be used, so Shen Haiping planned to try once more, hoping to sink a few of the Tang Country’s ships, making the most out of what little they had.
At the same moment Shen Haiping prepared to lay mines, the Tang Army launched 5 Scud ballistic missiles in one go, continuing their attack on Shen Capital.
The Mirage Country civilians once again played a deadly game, and an hour later, Tang Army bombers, hitherto committed to bombing factories, cities, and ports, suddenly shifted their targets to attack the Mirage Country’s radar stations and airports.
Caught off guard, 4 main airports in Mirage Country were paralyzed, with runways full of craters, and over a hundred planes were destroyed, rendering their Air Force nearly combat-ineffective in an instant.
In the following two days, Tang Country bombers continued their relentless attempts to destroy the Mirage Country’s airport runways, bombing constantly as if they had endless ammunition.
The H-6 bombers ignored the Mirage Country’s anti-aircraft gun defenses, as cluster munitions rained down across entire areas, destroying forests, roads, and the hidden airfields, with smoke billowing everywhere and wildfires raging.
Anyway, this would become the Orcs’ land in the future, so it didn’t matter what condition it was left in. Therefore, the Tang Army’s bombing was wanton, unconcerned about the possibility of their munitions malfunctioning.
The Flying Fortress bombers traveled in neat formations at altitudes of over ten thousand meters, unbothered by the Mirage Army’s anti-aircraft guns.
They dropped their bombs leisurely, indifferent to where the wind might carry them. In any case, they paid no mind to bombing accuracy—just dropping bombs over the target area was sufficient.
As for the extent of the damage... that wasn’t important! If one or two bombs hit the target, their mission was accomplished.
The continuous day-and-night bombing paralyzed the Mirage Country’s Air Force, preventing any aircraft from taking off during the days when the Tang Army’s fleet was assembling.
When the Tang Country warships reappeared near the coastline of the Mirage Country’s Ben Island, the observation posts of the Mirage Country nearly dropped their binoculars in shock.
Countless warships appeared on the horizon, followed by dozens of minesweepers clearing the already scarce mines, creating a landing area over ten kilometers long by that morning.
Countless landing boats lined up on the sea, loaded with Orc soldiers transported from New Island and South Island, approaching the coastline of the Mirage Country’s Ben Island.
Naval guns roared minutes later, instantly sending up countless smoke plumes along the coast. In the skies, Pirate Fighters and Stuka Dive Bombers circled like vultures.
On September 1st, the long-delayed Orc landing on Ben Island finally commenced, as Orc soldiers wearing M35 Steel Helmets set foot on what they claimed as their land.
