Munitions Empire

Chapter 620: 579 is the one we killed

On the eastern side of Donghe Bridge, the dense masses of Qi Country troops crowded the road, where an officer caught up with his own troops and loudly questioned why these stationary soldiers remained in place: “Why have we stopped? Huh?”

According to the plan, his troops should have crossed Donghe Bridge and headed west, and by this afternoon they could have reached King City. But now it was almost noon, and they were still wasting time near Donghe Bridge, which was absolutely ridiculous.

Who didn’t know that during wartime, every minute and second was precious, and each hour could very well determine the outcome of a war?

An flustered junior officer ran over, stood at attention, and reported: “Sir! The garrison inside the fortress at the end of Donghe Bridge opened fire on us, and we had to pull back.”

He was also completely baffled. There was supposed to be a battalion of Qi Army stationed here, which by all accounts should be as impenetrable as a fortified wall.

With such solid defensive fortifications, even if the troops of Tang Country really came over, they should not have lost their position so quickly.

Upon hearing what his subordinate said, the general who had come to ask about the situation furrowed his brow in disbelief: “The garrison at Donghe Bridge opened fire on you?”

"Yes, they killed over eighty of our men.” The officer nodded and pointed in the direction of the bridgehead. He was indeed not lying; the advance troops had naively walked over and the enemies began firing indiscriminately, sending them scrambling for cover…

The Qi soldiers, not understanding the situation, were thrown into disarray, and those in front were killed while the remaining men rolled and crawled along the railway embankment, looking for cover as they retreated. Upon returning and checking, they found that the front platoon had been nearly decimated.

"Impossible! We’re already close to King City, how could there be enemies here!” The general was even more incredulous upon hearing his subordinate’s words.

This place was Donghe Bridge, and just a bit further ahead was King City. If Tang Army appeared here, did that mean King City was lost?

For him, this was simply inconceivable. Although he had heard the news of Qi King Jiang Xian’s death, he still didn’t believe such a large contingent of Tang’s military could be here.

"We don’t know either.” Faced with his superior’s questioning, the Qi officer was just as confused. What he knew was probably not even as much as his superior.

Suddenly, the loyal officer of the Second Prince realized the key point: those blocking their return to King City might not be the Tang troops at all, but could very well be people of the First Prince!

It was possible that the First Prince, knowing he couldn’t return to King City faster than the Second Prince, deliberately notified his confidants inside King City to take troops and block Donghe Bridge!

Coming to this conclusion, he suddenly understood.

This damn well was a battle for succession!

Immediately, he looked wisely at his subordinates and firmly commanded: “It’s definitely not the enemy! It’s very likely the First Prince’s confidants causing trouble! They want to prevent His Majesty from returning to King City!”

Fighting Tang’s troops was one thing, but battling his own people in a succession struggle was quite another; while he may not have had the guts to fight Tang’s troops, he had more than enough courage to engage in a fight for the throne…

His men also came to their senses and seemed less frightened: “You’re right! It must be so!”

As soon as their leader spoke, it made them forget that the unique sound of firing they had heard, which resembled that of a cloth-ripping machine, was not something the Qi Army had!

Slightly displeased, he pushed aside his cowardly subordinate, the Qi officer took up his binoculars and looked towards the distant fortress at the bridgehead: “Move! Idiots!”

After looking through the binoculars, he put them down and ordered: “Rally the troops! Charge for me! I want to see what they’re really up to!”

"Yes!” The officers, having heard the command, immediately began to direct their forces. The Qi infantry waiting on either side of the railway gathered at the sound of orders, and, bristling with weapons, once again charged towards the fortress at the bridgehead.

They still had no heavy fire support, since their artillery was still en route; they could only rely on their numerical advantage to confront the machine guns that had already been set up on the fortress.

Inside the stronghold, a paratrooper platoon leader of Tang Army looked through the firing ports and saw a dense mass of approaching Qi troops, immediately warning his men loudly: “Attention everyone! Qi Army’s coming up!”

Bracing the MG-42 machine gun with his shoulder, the paratrooper gunner grinned, revealing his prominent front teeth: “Hehehe, more coming to die! Get ready for battle!”

He cocked his weapon, pressed his face against the gunstock, and looked through the sight, aiming at the Qi troops who had already crossed the broken section of barbed wire.

In the trenches set up by the Qi, a platoon leader holding a submachine gun advised in a hushed voice: “Don’t fire yet, let them get closer! Take out more of them!”

Some Qi troops had already crossed the barbed wire, cautiously moving towards the trenches lined with sandbags, their weapons ready.

"Hold steady! Hold steady!” A paratrooper battalion commander with his face pressed against the sandbags, peering through gaps in the rear line of defense at the advancing Qi troops, muttered incessantly.

The next second, the paratrooper platoon leader next to the machine gunner barked the order to fire: “Frontal machine guns! Fire away!”

Their ammunition supply was limited, despite receiving some replenishment; they still had to conserve their rounds.

So they held fire until the enemy was at a considerably close distance, confident in the density of their firepower and not worried in the least that the people from Qi Country could overrun the trenches due to the short distance.

A second after the fire command was issued, the sound of tearing fabric reverberated through the position.

"Tat-tat-tat-tat!” The distinct sound continued unbroken, and bullets instantly rushed into the crowd, and everywhere, bodies were pierced and fresh blood spurted out.

The marksmen covering the machine gun position also poked their heads out, brandishing Thompson Submachine Guns and pulling the trigger toward the distant Qi Army.

The intensity of the gunfire immediately doubled, and the Qi Country soldiers trying to get past the barbed wire fell down in droves.

"Ah!” The screams then began, wounded on the ground cried out in pain, more and more people instinctively lay down, and no one moved forward anymore.

"Retreat! Retreat!” The Qi Country officers, scared out of their wits by the head-on firepower, lay on the ground and loudly ordered their troops to leave this death zone.

But as easy it was to shout, who would dare to stand up and run back at such a moment? Everyone lay on the ground, using corpses as makeshift cover.

Regrettably, from the bunkers on both sides of the bridge, the concealed machine gun positions of the Tang Army had a clear view of the Qi Army soldiers lying on the ground.

It was as if they were at target practice, one after another, they killed the Qi Country soldiers who lay on the ground, too afraid to move.

Qi Country soldiers, boiling with rage at the thought that they were being shot at by their own men, cursed one after another from the ground, “Damn it, they’re still firing! Sons of bitches! Fire back! Kill them!”

It was only after hearing the cursing that the Qi Country commanders realized what was happening, and immediately, some began loudly calling for surrender, “Men of the First Prince, listen up! Resistance is futile! Surrender! His Majesty guarantees amnesty!”

They thought, everyone was fighting for wealth and glory, and what the First Prince could offer, the Second Prince could provide as well.

As long as they let them through, returned to King City, and helped the Second Prince ascend the throne, everything could be negotiated. Was it just money they wanted? Positions of power? They would give it.

"The Second Prince will soon become His Majesty! With the Second Prince, wealth and honor will be abundant! Let us pass! Rewards for everyone!” They initially shouted “His Majesty,” afraid the other side wouldn’t understand, they explained a bit more.

The Second Prince, though not yet enthroned, had already taken to calling himself “His Majesty,” just like the First Prince.

At first, the soldiers of the Tang Army were confused by the shouting, but after listening a bit more, they finally understood the Qi Army’s calls.

This misunderstanding was better left unclear, for once they understood, the paratroopers who had been fighting for so many days immediately burst into insolent laughter, “Hahaha!”

"What are they shouting?” The Tang Army’s paratrooper battalion commander didn’t hear clearly what the other side was shouting and looked toward a comrade with good hearing.

The soldier, amused, looked at his commander and said, “They’re shouting that His Majesty guarantees amnesty! And promises us wealth and honor.”

"His Majesty?” The commander was somewhat bewildered—wasn’t the King of Qi killed by them?

"They’re talking about some Second Prince, about to become His Majesty,” the soldier explained further.

The commander could barely contain himself, his face full of malice: “Get someone with a loud voice to tell them, their former king Jiang Xian was killed by us!”

"Hahaha!” Hearing their commander say this, a few paratroopers beside him immediately joined in with the malicious laughter. Their commander really had a wicked sense of humor.

"Soldiers of Qi Country! Surrender! We’re the Great Tang paratroopers! Your King Qi, Jiang Xian, was killed by us!” Soon, above the bridgehead, there was someone shouting with a booming voice.

When he shouted, even the gunfire seemed to stop, and his slightly hoarse voice echoed over the battlefield, causing the Qi Army soldiers lying on the ground to tremble.

"What!” The Qi Country officer who heard the shouts turned deathly pale. He had heard everything clearly but still couldn’t believe his ears.

"What are they shouting?” Farther away, a Qi Army general commanding the operations asked someone near him.

Soon, all Qi Army attacking soldiers were in disarray, now realizing that it was these Tang forces who had killed their former king!

A Qi Country officer, desperate, got up and ran back, “Retreat! They are Tang Army, not our own!”

"Damn it!” The remaining Qi Country soldiers also started running.

The machine guns roared behind them, but these Qi soldiers had no care for that anymore, running desperately, running recklessly, just wanting to get away, far from the demons behind them.

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