Munitions Empire-Chapter 1135 - 1055 declares war on Mirage Country

"War has been declared! War!" An officer, while running, bursts into an office: "The Great Tang Empire has declared war on Mirage Country! The Great Tang Empire has declared war on Mirage Country!"

Everyone in the office stood up at once, looking at the out-of-breath officer by the door, then started grabbing the telephones: "Hello? Hello! The Great Tang Empire has declared war on Mirage Country! War has erupted! Yes! War has erupted!"

"Yes! That’s right! War has been declared! We’ve just received the news! It’s Mirage Country! It’s Mirage Country! Hahaha! It’s confirmed!" In another office, another group of people were laughing excitedly, shouting into the phone on the other end.

Confirming the offensive target of the Great Tang Empire was good news for the other empires. This meant they no longer needed to worry about facing the colossal entity of the Great Tang Empire, and the sense of relief was indescribable.

Out on the runway of the field airport outside Beiyuan City, a P-6 Bomber was uncovered from its tarp, as ground crew were frantically ensuring that every piece of equipment on the aircraft was in excellent working condition.

Pilots were verifying the checklist, ordered to execute their first bombing mission. Using the P-6’s high range and high speed, they were to bomb South Island of Mirage Country, destroy the island’s field airport, and secure a better engagement environment for the navy of the Great Tang Empire.

The capabilities of these P-6 airplanes were absolutely advanced at this moment; their opponents simply couldn’t catch up to their speed. These planes were nearly impossible to intercept nowadays, and their payload was also terrifying. ƒreewebɳovel.com

Normally, if a flying fortress wants to fly beyond 1,500 kilometers, the payload would actually be very low. However, the P-6 could still carry more than three tons of aerial bombs on a range of 2,000 kilometers.

Furthermore, with the application of the most advanced radio navigation equipment and mechanical ballistic computers, the bombing accuracy of this thing was a notch above that of a flying fortress.

What’s more frightening is that these bombers could maintain an altitude of over 12,000 meters before entering the bombing target area, while the intercepting fighter jets couldn’t even fly up to 10,000 meters.

The officer in charge of commanding this bombing mission reminded the leading bombardment commander: "The target is the field airport on the island. Reduce altitude and speed up when entering! Watch out for the Zero Fighter Jets and the Anti-Aircraft Guns on the ground!"

The commander was dressed in an orange life vest, with a flight jacket underneath, and had tubes and a mask to provide oxygen hanging from the front.

He handed the equipment maintenance report back to the ground crew in charge, then said to the commander, "Understood! We will bomb at a relatively safe speed and altitude. Also, are the special munitions ready?"

The commander nodded: "They’re ready. Among the ordnance for bombing, one-tenth are incendiary bombs. These incendiary devices will create burning zones near the target, providing reference points for the night airborne troops."

"That’s good! For the Empire!" The frontline mission commander stood at attention and saluted.

...

"Has the will been written? Check again! Check again! Has the will been written? Everyone must write one, regardless of whether they have something to say or not, everyone must write." In the midst of the paratroopers awaiting boarding, an officer responsible for tallying shouted loudly, waving sheets of paper in hand.

"Couldn’t it be more auspicious?" A soldier with a huge reserve parachute pack hanging in front of him muttered under his breath.

The equipment on his body was so suffocatingly extensive: he had the reserve parachute and the main parachute, the life-saving orange vest, a backpack carrying spare ammunition, personal items, and other miscellaneous items, as well as weapons and ammunition, including a tactical vest.

Beyond that, he was given extra hand grenades, gun grenades to be carried by the grenadier, and a damn communication device spare battery wrapped in waterproof plastic fabric.

Along with a compass, replacement clothes, identification papers, and a raincoat... every paratrooper felt like they had their whole half-house piled on them, making standing a physical test with this whole setup.

"It’s for your own good. If you have a beautiful wife, your will can at least ensure that your pension isn’t used by her to support your son’s stepfather," an older paratrooper teased the young soldier behind him with a smile.

Several soldiers around laughed along, unafraid of death. Since becoming paratroopers, after experiencing rigorous training, they had long become indifferent to life and death.

Jumping from two to three thousand meters high, feeling the cold wind penetrate their clothes, watching the ground rush up to meet them, these warriors had grown accustomed to the thrill of death always accompanying them like the wind.

"Board the plane! Board the plane! Move forward! Watch your step!" The commander, just as heavily equipped, walked through his troops. Each step he took required a strange gait, a bit like a duck, a bit like someone partly paralyzed.

"Try to get some sleep on the plane! Keep your strength up!" An officer reminded his subordinates while walking forward: "Recall the photos you’ve seen before! Memorize the combat recognition buildings and terrain features you’ve learned by heart! Try to find your comrades! Move together!"

He tirelessly repeated things that had already been iterated countless times, all to give these soldiers, who were engaging in battle for the first time, an extra chance to survive in the field.

Starting yesterday afternoon, every paratrooper unit had been issued various photos, maps, and terrain illustrations. All paratroopers had to commit these to memory in order to quickly determine their position upon landing.

In addition, each of them had to carry as much ammunition and other equipment as possible to ensure they could hold out longer behind enemy lines.

They had to intercept Mirage Country’s reinforcement troops for at least 24 hours on their own, and if there were any unexpected issues during the landing, they might have to hold out for another 24 hours... or even longer.

This was no joke. Not only did they have to fight alone in the absence of air superiority, but they also needed to control bridges, destroy high-value targets deep within enemy territory, disrupt enemy movements, confuse enemy intelligence, and create massive confusion within the depths of Mirage Country’s defenses.

They had to rely on gun grenades, rocket launchers, and explosives to counter enemy tanks and use light mortars to fight against the enemy’s heavy artillery.

But that was nothing to them, for they were Great Tang Paratroopers! They were told they were the most formidable unit upon joining, that they were ruthless and bloodthirsty. They were invincible; they had never failed!

The Hercules Transport Aircraft had a huge tailgate, which, when opened, formed a vast ramp, making it much more comfortable for the paratroopers to board than climbing onto a Type 47 transport plane.

The interior of the Hercules Transport Aircraft was also very spacious, accommodating 60 fully armed paratroopers at once. In other words, one Hercules Transport Aircraft was the equivalent of two Type 47 transport planes.

To ensure the success of the mission, the Great Tang Empire mobilized 150 Hercules Transport Aircraft - 50 more than originally estimated!

This was partly to ensure that no airplane would be unable to take off due to malfunction, and also because the paratroopers had been unexpectedly provided with many "heavy" weapons and equipment.

Some paratroopers would parachute with anti-tank RPG rocket launchers to ensure they had some anti-tank capability, inevitably requiring more transport planes.

...

Across the expansive sea, a sailor on the deck of a destroyer belonging to the Great Tang Empire hurriedly tossed his cigarette butt into the water. Behind him, on the massive Dragon Island-class aircraft carrier of the Great Tang Empire, Pirate Fighters were lined up densely with their wings folded in.

"Woo... Second-level alert! Second-level alert! We have entered into the Zero Fighter’s patrol radius! Be vigilant! All anti-aircraft gun positions, switch to combat readiness! Repeat! All anti-aircraft gun crew, take your positions!" The tense warning resounded through the broadcast.

Wearing life jackets and steel helmets, soldiers climbed up the exposed steel ladders to reach the high-angle machine gun platforms.

Ammunition was pulled out of boxes and loaded into the bodies of the high-angle machine guns. Everyone nervously scanned the sky, as if trying to spot the target with their own eyes.

This was just a subconscious action due to nervousness because the lack of radar signals meant there were no enemy planes in the vicinity.

But they couldn’t help but look with their eyes, as if they didn’t quite trust the electronic devices that were prone to malfunctions. Both small and medium caliber anti-aircraft guns pointed at the sky. The sound of waves crashing against the warship created an eerily calm atmosphere.

"Battle report! Battle report! The Empire has declared war on Mirage Country! A minute ago, our fleet’s forward submarine sank a Mirage Country fishing boat..." The broadcast reported the recent event: "Our fleet’s coordinates may have been exposed."

"I bet Mirage Country’s warships are already waiting for us ahead," a gunner sitting at his post, gripping the handle, muttered to the ammo loader beside him.

"Can’t you be more optimistic? Couldn’t those damned goblins from South Island just surrender quietly?" The ammo loader looked around the sky, complaining to the gunner beside him.

"Just talking," the gunner said with a resigned smile, hoping everything would go smoothly: that the enemy would wait like fools until they dropped all the landing troops ashore before responding, that the enemy fleet would never appear around them for the rest of their lives.

Unfortunately, the enemy would not cooperate. They would struggle and strike back... In fact, after the Great Tang Empire declared war on Mirage Country, the main fleet of Mirage Country’s navy began to warm up their boilers, ready to set sail.