Munitions Empire

Chapter 597: 597: 556 doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe

Chapter 597: 556 doesn’t distinguish between friend and foe

"Stop! Fire! Reload!” Liu Guozhu peered through the slit in the observation window and saw a Qi Army tank in the distance rotating its turret.

The hunk of metal opposite them looked incredibly bulky, with short legs and a small head, almost like a clown. In comparison to the Tank No. 4, the Shireck Type 1 tank indeed seemed quite bizarre.

It had a turret as well, but it was very small. Mounted on it was a 75mm gun, also a short barrel, designed to destroy the enemy’s fortifications.

The difference was, this cannon was aimed directly without an optical sighting system—its accuracy, basically depended on lottery luck.

From the very beginning, this gun was not meant to fight enemy tanks, so it was incomparable to the similar weapon on Tank No. 4.

Even though the short-barreled 75mm cannon on the Tank No. 4 was also a low-pressure gun with weak armor-penetrating capability, it was still equipped with an optical sight, allowing it to fire at targets from a longer distance.

Continuous commands flowed from Liu Guozhu’s mouth. The Tank No. 4 paused briefly, and a shell was fired.

Taking advantage of this brief pause, the loader had already reloaded another shell. By the time Liu Guozhu shouted the command “Advance,” the gunner was already selecting his fifth target.

All along their route, they had really resembled cavalry of ancient times, slicing into the battlefield, disrupting the enemy’s formation, and breaking through the enemy’s square formations.

Every enemy tank they encountered received a shell from them, transforming the opponent into an explosion of flames.

At this moment, the gunner was at the pinnacle of exhilaration, for he had just used nine shells to take out five tanks!

For him, this was already an extraordinary performance. After all, this was on the battlefield; to achieve better results than during regular training was something to be proud of.

"Ahead! An enemy tank! Aim!” Liu Guozhu spotted an enemy tank not far ahead and loudly commanded.

As he issued the command, the enemy tank’s little cannon fired a shell, spewing a blast of flame.

"It’s firing! It’s firing!” The gunner had just pointed the sight at this Qi Army tank and was startled by the spouting flame.

"It’s not attacking us! Don’t panic! Stop! Aim at it! Fire!” Liu Guozhu loudly reminded his crew, then immediately followed with the command.

His tank came to a stop once again; the vehicle wobbled slightly before coming to a rest.

After a simple adjustment to the turret angle, the gunner fixed the crosshair of the sight on the Qi Army tank that had just fired.

The next second, he pressed the pedal, firing a lethal shell. Tank No. 4’s short barrel, too, ejected a burst of flame, and right then the Qi Army tank on the opposite side exploded.

The feeling was incredibly satisfying; the tenth shell allowed the gunner to score his sixth kill of the day! And at that moment, the tanks of Qi Country on the battlefield seemed to be dwindling.

"Retreat! Get out of here! Quick!” On the other side, in a Qi Country tank, a commanding Qi officer ordered loudly.

Right next to his tank, a Shireck Type 1 tank had already exploded and was burning, billowing thick smoke.

The burning tank obstructed his view and also made him realize it was time to retreat quickly.

They had come to break through the Tang Army’s position, yet they’d only advanced a few hundred meters when they encountered peers who were several times more formidable than themselves.

Without radio equipment, these Qi Army tanks had failed to detect the group of grim reapers coming from the flank.

They were advancing with single-minded dedication, intending to overrun the Tang Army’s positions and clear the way for the infantry that would follow.

But as one after another Qi Country tank was destroyed, some did spot the danger that suddenly appeared on the flank.

Regrettably, these tank commanders had no way of sharing what they saw with their comrades-in-arms.

They could only deal with whatever they encountered on their own, unable to notify others. This was the sorry state of tank crews without radios: by the time they knew everything, it was too late.

So, one by one, Qi Country tanks were destroyed, the remaining ones advancing like fools.

"Tell them to retreat quickly!” Qin Xiong, observing everything from his position, felt that his country’s tanks were blind.

Watching as the flanks were almost completely slaughtered, the remaining tanks continued to blindly advance, executing their pre-planned operations.

"Someone has been sent to make contact… I… I’ve also signaled with flags on my side The officer in charge of commanding the tanks was ashen-faced, his voice clearly trembling as he spoke.

He knew the moment he saw the threat to the flank that his troops were about to be finished today.

The one who knew his troops best realized there were no good means to control the direction of these steel monsters of Shireck. Once they were deployed into battle, they could only rely on their instincts to fight.

Still, he struggled a few times: he ordered the signal corps to risk their lives going from one tank to another to deliver messages, while he also began to signal with flags on his own position.

This was the most reliable method of communication, using the most primitive method to command the most advanced land weapon: all Shireck tanks had observation windows at the back, for the purpose of observing flag signals from their own positions.

Just now, the attacking Qi Country tank unit saw the flag signal for retreat being frantically waved on their own positions.

And the Qi Country tank unit, which had lost more than half of its force, saw the Tang Army tanks attacking their flank and about to slaughter them after spotting the retreat signal.

Watching his own tanks slowly retreating through a battlefield filled with smoke and debris, Qin Xiong’s face became extremely somber.

Looking at the situation on the battlefield, he realized that his so-called trump cards and secret weapons seemed to have become a joke.

At this moment, he felt like a baby waving its fists in front of an adult, laughably and even endearingly clueless.

Finally, he decided to do something, even if it was just to make things difficult for the opposing Tang Army, to disgust them if nothing else.

With that thought in mind, he suddenly looked at the aide-de-camp beside him and commanded, “Order the artillery to fire! Cover the combat area!”

"General!” Upon hearing this order, the commander of the embattled Qi Army tank unit on the battlefield blurted out with a pale face.

"My lord, our troops are still in the combat zone Another General came out to help, glancing at the already desperate tank unit commander and said, “Recklessly firing… might affect the morale

"I know what you’re trying to say, but in this situation, can those tanks of ours… make it back?” Qin Xiong asked angrily, gritting his teeth.

"This The General who tried to intervene paused, looking embarrassed, and hung his head in acquiescence without saying anything more.

"Chased by Tang Army tanks, our tanks probably can’t even return! It’s better to take the chance while the enemy and our forces are intermingled, to take down the enemy tank units Qin Xiong made up his mind, and commanded fiercely, “Fire! Cover the battle zone!”

The Qi Army tank unit fighting fiercely on the battlefield had no idea they had already been abandoned by their commanders. The Tang Army Armored Corps that had broken into the battlefield also did not know that their enemies had prepared a nasty surprise for them.

Just as Liu Guozhu was preparing to stop and fire another shot to send a reversing Shireck Type 1 tank to the heavens, a 130mm howitzer shell landed on the ground in front of him and exploded, lifting up a curtain of dust that hid the sky.

"Damn! Artillery fire!” Liu Guozhu was startled by the sudden explosion, then quickly realized someone was bombarding his area.

"Artillery! Watch out for artillery!” He grabbed the intercom, and as the second shell landed, he shouted hoarsely.

Meanwhile, a Type 4 tank advancing was hit directly by a shell, and the huge explosion blew off its turret, leaving only the burning hull paralyzed in the position.

This wasn’t the first time a Type 4 tank had been destroyed, but it was the first time Liu Guozhu had witnessed it with his own eyes.

"Turn right! Turn right! Head towards our own position! Get out of here! Get out as fast as possible!” Amidst the chaos, the command from the battalion headquarters timely reached all the tank commanders’ ears.

"Turn right! Accelerate! Charge towards our own defensive position! Fast!” Liu Guozhu also realized this was the quickest and shortest path out of the artillery fire.

Almost all the Type 4 tanks began to turn at once, then sped away without a second thought, leaving behind a battlefield that resembled hell, littered with the remains of tanks, to escape the fire zone.

In the distance, on the Qi Army’s position, the Qi Army tank unit commander, who responded a hundred times faster than his own troops, was now in tears without tears.

He didn’t understand how they managed to manipulate these steel behemoths so exactly, so he could only watch as the shells fell in the midst of the battlefield now occupied only by Qi Army tanks.

A few seconds later, he suddenly remembered something, burst forth, and grabbed Qin Xiong’s arm, “General! Stop the artillery fire! Stop it now!”

Seeing the Tang Army escape, leaving behind a few destroyed Type 4 tanks, Qin Xiong also felt it was meaningless to continue the bombardment. He sighed, and with some regret, commanded, “Send the order to stop the artillery fire

In his view, the loss of his own tank unit was not a pity; the real regret was not being able to take down the formidable Tang Army Armored Corps with them.

If he had a choice, he would prefer to have both sides’ armored corps wiped out together. At least then, he wouldn’t have to worry about someone taking out his headquarters…

Munitions Empire

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