Munitions Empire-Chapter 1232: Battle of the Three Wins of 1152

This time, the beach did not erupt in smoke. Such an arrangement was made to ensure the precision of artillery and attack aircraft support, which starkly differed from the Tang Empire troops’ landing tactics.

After all, nearly all intelligence indicated that the Mirage Country’s main forces had abandoned the defenses near the beach, so smoke bombs weren’t used to obscure the enemy’s view.

One landing craft after another lowered their ramps, and Orc soldiers charged out, shouting as they scrambled to spread their formations quickly along the beach.

As the intelligence reports almost precisely predicted, the Mirage Army’s resistance was minimal. Apart from limited counterattacks carried out by soldiers from a few observation posts, most Orc landing forces encountered no resistance at all.

Soon, dense swarms of Orc soldiers filled the beach. Even they were surprised at how unexpectedly smooth their landing was.

Previously, Orc officers who had observed the landing operation at South Island had described such operations as terrifying. They spoke of heavy Tang Army casualties and how formidable the enemy was...

But now, they hadn’t even caught a glimpse of the enemy. The only adversary seemed to be the sand seeping into their boots, which left the landed Orc soldiers in discomfort.

"Looks like they really abandoned the beach," Shan Lu remarked from the deck of his warship in the distance, watching his troops successfully land. He addressed Lu Qianshan, the human general standing beside him.

Lu Qianshan lowered his binoculars, smiling as he replied to Shan Lu, "A smooth landing is a good thing, but I don’t think it’ll be that simple! Your troops are right in the enemy artillery’s range... If things go south, there could be heavy casualties."

"Any cost... is worth it." Shan Lu’s face grew grim upon hearing Lu Qianshan’s analysis. Those enemy artillery positions hidden in the inland mountains and forests were just as challenging as Lu predicted.

Most were outside the range of naval guns. Their concealment was excellent due to the terrain, making them tough targets for attack aircraft to annihilate. freewebnσvel.cѳm

These concealed artillery units would soon unleash their assault on the Orcs on the beach. How the subsequent battles would unfold depended entirely on the judgment of the landed Orc commanders.

On the beach, at least a few thousand Orcs had already landed. They were gradually expanding their foothold until one unfortunate soldier stepped on a landmine buried in the sand.

"Boom!" The landmine exploded, sending the Orc soldier flying into the air. Two nearby Orc soldiers were also caught in the blast, while the surrounding Orcs immediately hit the ground, cautiously rising only after realizing what had happened.

"It’s not an enemy attack! It’s not an enemy attack! It’s a landmine!" An Orc officer kneeled on one knee, waving his arm as he shouted toward the alert allied forces in the distance.

The Mirage Country’s minefield on the beach was not densely laid and resembled booby-trapped mines. These landmines were merely intended to slow the enemy’s advance, so their numbers were sparse.

Just as the Orc soldiers relaxed their guard and cautiously continued their advance, a whistling barrage of shells suddenly rained down upon them.

The Mirage Country’s artillery fired as expected. Hidden observation posts relayed the Orcs’ landing activities to the rear positions, which promptly responded with a suppressing barrage on the beach.

This time, the Mirage Army’s firepower remained severely intact. The artillery hidden in the mountains and forests unleashed a fierce volley, displaying unparalleled ferocity.

Large and small artillery shells were hurled onto the beach, even including old 75mm mountain gun rounds.

Thanks to precise targeting data from measurements, the Mirage Army’s artillery strikes were pinpoint accurate. Though they were few in number, their bombardment caused substantial havoc for the Orc troops.

If the Mirage Country had had more artillery and a less dispersed deployment, the Orc troops might have been completely driven back into the sea.

On the beach, the constant shrieks of shells tearing through the air reverberated. One after another, the shells exploded, kicking up sand and massive water columns mixed with seawater.

The Orc forces, caught off guard, were stunned by the bombardment. Some communicators calling for support from the Great Tang Empire fleet mistakenly believed they were being shelled by their allies.

Before the battle began, Tang Nation instructors aboard the transports had repeatedly reminded all Orc troops to scatter quickly upon landing, expanding the foothold to avoid enemy artillery strikes.

However, having faced no resistance upon reaching the shore, the Orc troops seemed to have forgotten these instructions. Like rookies, they were caught completely off guard.

It was the Great Tang Empire’s attack aircraft units circling above the landing zone that first responded. Stukas and IL aircraft taking off from New Island widened their search area, targeting the enemy artillery positions revealed by their relentless barrages.

These aircraft began their ground suppression operations, taking out several exposed enemy artillery positions and alleviating the beach’s artillery pressure.

The enemy barrage suddenly diminished, allowing the Orc troops to remember their mission. They initiated assaults into the interior, no longer clustering on the beach as sitting ducks for enemy fire.

The Orc troops arriving later finally grasped the brutal reality of the landing operation: stepping off their transports, they witnessed seawater stained red and a beach littered with craters and piles of Orc corpses.

Shan Lu, still observing from the deck of his warship, winced at the carnage. Sighing as he lowered his binoculars, he lamented that he had originally believed losses on the beach would be minimal.

Yet the short barrage by the Mirage Country’s "dwarf lowlifes" almost wiped out the Orc 1st Division, trained for over two months on South Island.

Over two thousand well-trained soldiers were lost on the beach. Most had not even seen what the enemy looked like before joining the embrace of the Orc God.

The Orcs advancing inland were also bewildered. They encountered abandoned trenches and half-constructed bunkers.

Nearby defensive positions resembling a post-apocalyptic wasteland revealed signs of prior bombardment by the Great Tang Empire Navy. Shrapnel was still embedded in tree trunks, and artillery fragments could be found in the soil.

Strangely, there was no sign of any Mirage Country soldiers here—save the occasional Orc unlucky enough to be killed by a concealed mine.

The pace of advancement was slow, partly because many of the still-dizzy Orc soldiers struggled with seasickness. Even so, they found no large concentrations of Mirage Country troops near the beach.

They discovered only concealed observation posts with evident signs of recent use, such as fresh traces of habitation.

However, since these observation posts operated in small teams, they retreated quickly, taking most of their equipment with them.

As time ticked by, Tang Army aircraft increasingly exerted their dominance, hunting for targets near the landing area and launching relentless attacks. Deprived of air superiority, the Mirage Army could barely fight back.

Tang Army pilots began engaging exposed Mirage anti-aircraft weaponry, suppressing them with cannons and working in coordination to strike positions with bombs, clearing out these threats.

The Mirage Army gradually ceased its counteroffensive. They hid the cannons within mountainside tunnels, ignoring Tang Nation’s provocations and refraining from exposing themselves.

Undiscovered artillery positions in the forests also suspended their shelling. Silence ensued, and the Orc troops on the beach were finally spared the torment of enemy artillery harassment.

The Orc forces established their foothold, leaving their elders and command staff, including Shan Lu, satisfied. At the very least, they hadn’t been driven back into the sea. Reports indicated that the front-line troops’ advance was steady, as if victory was within their grasp.

Meanwhile, on the Mirage Country’s side, General Shenwu Ke confirmed the Orcs’ landing. Unable to determine whether Tang Army regulars would also land, he hesitated to make tactical adjustments.

Nonetheless, encouraging news reached him: aside from a few artillery positions destroyed by Tang Nation aircraft, Mirage Army losses were minimal.

It seemed they had achieved a victory—dealing substantial damage to the Tang Nation’s attacking forces, even if the targets were Orc troops. After all, weren’t they also Tang Empire troops?

Tang Nation Air Force also reported considerable success: suffering virtually no losses, they destroyed several enemy artillery positions, providing cover for the Orc allied forces’ landing operation.

On that day, three Great Tang Empire aircraft were shot down, and three others crashed due to mechanical failures. Miraculously, all six pilots were rescued.

The pilots of the three downed planes parachuted near the Orc-controlled beach and were safely retrieved by the Orc troops. The pilots of the three aircraft that malfunctioned were rescued at sea, recovered and treated.

Thus, a battle of "triple victories" was born: everyone believed they had won, and they had seemingly won decisively, splendidly.

Shenwu Ke reported his day’s achievements to the Mirage Emperor: the enemy had been effectively contained between the beach and the main defensive line with extremely light losses, and the troops’ morale was high.

After hearing Shenwu Ke’s report, the Mirage Emperor turned to Shen Haiping. As the Navy’s grand admiral, Shen Haiping assured the emperor that his fleet would launch a full assault that night, aiming to inflict severe damage on the Tang Nation’s landing forces.

Everyone knew that the night’s battle would influence the course of the conflict. Shan Lu, the Orc Commander, went ashore at dusk, while the Mirage Army began deploying forces, preparing to launch a counterstrike against the Orc troops on the beach that night.

Mirage Country dared not confront the Tang Army directly, but facing the Orc forces, they felt some confidence. Thus, a counterattack plan was devised to test the mettle of the Orc troops entrenched on the beach.