Munitions Empire

Chapter 608: 567 Desperate Call

Near the border with Qi Country, at a Tang Army field airfield, Air Force Commander Ibrahim was looking at the officer who had come to deliver the telegram.

The officer reported to Ibrahim the message sent back by their paratroopers from the front line, “Our paratroopers have encountered the Imperial Guards! Jiang Xian’s location has been found, he is in a manor near the drop zone!”

Upon hearing this news, Ibrahim was shocked. The paratroopers were there to carry out the mission to take control of Donghe Bridge, yet they were dropped haphazardly and managed to locate the hiding place of Qi Country’s King?

After he got over his shock, he couldn’t help but enviously mutter to himself, “What kind of luck do they have?”

An officer on the other side grabbed the telegram, glanced at it, and quickly spoke up to remind, “General! Never mind that, the paratrooper division’s plan has changed! They want to capture Jiang Xian alive if possible!”

"Not a bad idea, but can they take out Qi’s Imperial Guards?” Ibrahim asked incredulously.

The officer continued to remind, “General! I’m not sure exactly how many Imperial Guards there are, but the paratroopers are under the command of our Air Force. If the losses are heavy, Your Majesty might have a certain opinion of you.”

Ibrahim subconsciously hadn’t considered the paratroopers as a real part of the Air Force, so it took a moment for him to react.

However, after his subordinate’s reminder, he immediately realized that those paratroopers behind enemy lines were also under his command as ground forces of the Air Force!

So he immediately gave the order, “Almost forgot they are our Air Force men too! Command all planes that can take off to prepare for bombardment on the new coordinates! Inform the paratroopers to deploy ground identification markers to avoid friendly fire!”

"Yes, General!” Several Air Force officers stood at attention, saluted, and left with his orders.

Soon, pilots on their way to various targets all heard the change of attack orders through their headsets.

Commanders of various regiments issued orders to the planes closest to King City of Qi Country to go and support the paratrooper combat operations.

"Bluebird Bluebird! Calling Bluebird! Alter course! Target adjustment! Target adjustment! 4 kilometers east of Qi Country’s King City! Search for areas with obvious ground combat! Mission: Support our ground forces in combat! Mission: Support our ground forces in combat!”

"Understood, Bluebird!” High in the sky at an altitude of over six thousand meters, in the cramped cockpit of a Stuka Dive Bomber, the pilot, wearing an oxygen mask, responded with a constrained voice.

After he responded, he pulled on his control stick, and his plane responded to his maneuver, nimbly deviating from its course.

"Bluebird 2, follow me!” As he altered his course, he called out to his wingman with a roaring sound.

"Bluebird 2 understood!” The wingman’s pilot also pulled the control stick and followed his leader, racing toward the distant target.

On the other side, eight Butcher FW-190 fighters that had just crossed the border also received orders to change their attack targets.

These planes had already lowered their altitude, and now they began to climb again. In the radio, all pilots were excited because this time’s attack target was the King of Qi Country!

In the newly activated field airfield in Nanye, about a dozen Air Force pilots were putting on their gear and running toward their planes on the other side of the runway.

Rows of Stuka Dive Bombers were parked there, and the ground crew had already loaded them with 500-kilogram aerial bombs at the fastest speed.

"The fuel is topped up!” One ground crew member, standing next to the plane, called out to the pilot as he climbed aboard.

Behind the pilot, the gunner who had opened the cockpit door, gave a thumbs up to the ground crew, “Thanks! Is the hydraulic system okay?”

"All good!” Another ground crew member replied, already gesturing with both hands that the plane was clear to start its engines.

Accompanied by intense vibrations, the propeller began to spin rapidly, with the plane in front now aligning with the runway, the wind blowing through the grass, creating waves. ȑΆＮȪＢĘṥ

…

"Tat tat tat!” The smoke had not yet cleared when Xiang Ziyu once again charged into the courtyard filled with Qi Army. This was a garden, surrounded by numerous rooms.

Originally, the nearby rooms were prepared for ministers, and Jiang Xian could not possibly be hiding here by himself. He needed a large machine to maintain his effective control over Qi Country.

The Ministry of Personnel, Ministry of Rites, Ministry of Justice, Ministry of Works… Ministers of various departments, or at least the second-in-commands, were residing here, ready to report the operation of the state to Jiang Xian at any time.

In addition, there were King Shireck’s advisors, the senior officers of various military departments, and the aides, adjutants, and secretaries of these officials and officers…

They were all here, but not necessarily in this courtyard. Some lived elsewhere, some who lived here had already fled.

Those who remained were both men and women, all panicked and clueless about what to do. They didn’t even know how far things had gone, only that the Tang Army was attacking.

"Stop The Minister of Revenue of Qi Country, who was in charge of finances, had barely opened his mouth to speak when bullets sprayed by Xiang Ziyu knocked him to the ground.

"Don’t shoot!” On the other side, another Qi minister clutched his head and scurried away, seeking cover while shouting, “I am the Vice Minister of the Qi Ministry of Justice! I surrender! Don’t shoot!”

He did have the chance to finish his plea, but bullets are not discerning. The women in his company had not caused any additional firing, yet they had been shot dead, lying there spewing blood.

"Murder!” A maidservant screamed, but before she could start running, bullets hit her, and she stumbled to the ground.

Before she could get up, she was stepped on—fleeing had already begun, and trampling was just a minor detail.

The official who stepped on the woman didn’t fare much better himself; he stepped on a soft, squishy body, lost his control, and too fell down.

Then someone else stepped on him, and like that, a once high-ranking official of the Qi Ministry of Personnel was trampled to death by the living.

"Kill!” Xiang Ziyu, knowing there was no chance of taking prisoners, bellowed a command and charged forward. His objective was simple: to find and capture Jiang Xian and thoroughly end the battle here!

What he didn’t know was that at the same time, Tang parachutists had already breached the courtyard wall. These paratroopers entered the estate from another direction, further throwing the Qi troops into chaos.

The estate had completely lost control now. The Qi battalion commander responsible for the house couldn’t restrain his own troops, nor could he mobilize the remnants of his force.

In fact, by now, the remaining strength of the Qi army was not insignificant. Including the unbudged perimeter sentries, the Qi had at least 1300 soldiers left.

However, these troops were either still on the outskirts and not gathered or were in such disarray within the estate that they couldn’t stop the advancing Tang paratroopers.

Explosions of grenades were everywhere, as were the typewriter-like crisp sounds of Tang submachine guns, and the Qi soldiers’ screams of agony filled the air, with no one able to step forward to end this chaos.

Even the guards surrounding King Jiang Xian were somewhat disorganized. Hindered by the cluster of ministers and generals, they couldn’t even form a proper defensive formation.

They were only responsible for protecting Jiang Xian, but now they had to safeguard dozens of generals, ministers, princesses, maidservants, servants, and menials.

There was no choice, for having hidden here for so long, Jiang Xian had also summoned several concubines, who could have imagined that favoritism would ultimately doom these women?

"Get His Majesty on the carriage! Quick! Get His Majesty on the carriage!” Finally, after passing through a scenery spot, the Prime Minister saw the waiting carriage and excitedly started shouting.

He finally saw hope, as long as he could get the King back to King City, they might have a chance! Although King City was also vulnerable, it was still easy to muster a couple of thousand miscellaneous soldiers. Besides, this suddenly appeared Tang force, parachuting from the sky, might not dare to storm into the city!

With this thought, the Prime Minister finally relaxed. He helped Jiang Xian onto the carriage, tried to look back, but was held back by Jiang Xian.

King Jiang Xian, clutching his chest and deathly pale, mustered all his strength to say, “Go with me! Back to King City! Back to King City

Just then, a round iron ball flew over the courtyard wall. This grenade, at least twenty meters away from the carriage, landed and rolled to the feet of a Qi general.

Amidst the chaos, no one noticed this object flying in, and of course, the general had no idea of the tragedy about to befall him.

He tried to push forward, hoping to use the excuse of protecting the King to escape with the carriage.

The next second, the grenade exploded, its shrapnel piercing and tearing his lower body, and the blast wave sent his mutilated upper body skyward.

Everyone nearby was hit, and instantly there were dead and wounded all around. Following closely, another grenade flew in and exploded near the carriage.

Jiang Xian, startled by the explosion so close by, shuddered, and then felt a searing pain in his chest as if he had been struck by a shrapnel fragment.

The Prime Minister realized something was wrong, quickly climbed on the carriage, disregarding the crowd behind, and exhaustedly shouted to the coachman, “Go! Hurry!”

The recent explosion had terrified the horses, which were already whinnying uncontrollably, and the coachman, already scared out of his wits, was jolted by the Prime Minister’s order. With a shake of the reins, he spurred the pained horses, and the carriage began to lurch forward.

Guards at the front were unexpectedly knocked down by the carriage, and in panic, others followed running alongside it. The abandoned ministers chased after the carriage, cursing, while the forsaken women trailed behind, crying as they ran.

On the carriage, the Prime Minister could no longer be concerned with that. Clinging to Jiang Xian’s hand, he desperately called out to his sovereign, “Your Majesty! Your Majesty! Wake up, Your Majesty!”

An additional update—I truly apologize for the regret but the inevitability.

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