Munitions Empire-Chapter 1138 - 1058 snow white petals

For the landing fleet of the Great Tang Empire, it was actually a bit too tense. They did not encounter the patrolling Zero Fighters, nor saw any Dragon Bombers or similar twin-engine long-range bombers.

It seemed that Mirage Country had not dispatched any aircraft to guard their sea area, so the fleet of the Great Tang Empire continued to advance into the night without encountering Mirage Country’s Navy or Air Force.

The truth of the matter was, the Zero Fighters and Dragon Bombers that were scheduled to go on patrol had all their sorties canceled due to the level 6 bombing.

The Mirage Country’s airfields had been destroyed, and many aircraft were crippled on the ground, making it impossible for them to take off for patrol duties.

Meanwhile, those airfields that were not destroyed were busy from the afternoon into the night with receiving planes returning from other airfields, with no time or manpower to spare for patrol tasks.

Busy with such tasks until nightfall, it was then that Mirage Country realized they had not dispatched any planes for patrols, but by then it was too late to send any.

Thus, the Mirage Country troops on South Island entered the critical night completely unaware of the situation.

Around eight or nine o’clock, the Flying Fortress Bombers launched by the Great Tang Empire arrived over South Island, beginning another round of nighttime bombing.

These bombers dropped a large number of bombs, blasting some areas of Mirage Country’s South Island again. The defending Mirage Country garrison did not know what was happening. They retaliated with their limited number of Anti-Aircraft Guns, which could only scatter the Great Tang Empire bombers dropping bombs near the Great Southern Bay.

Finally, as the Great Tang Empire’s Flying Fortress Bombers flew back home, the soldiers on duty at the Mirage Country radar stations were finally able to take a break.

But before they could prepare something to eat for themselves, a large number of blips appeared on their radar screens again.

"Officer! Officer! They’re here again! They’re coming again!" a soldier exclaimed loudly while staring at the crowded blips on the screen.

"Sound the combat alarm!" cried the duty officer, almost in tears: "Again? When will this ever end?"

The air raid alarm in the Great Southern Bay sounded once more, and the Anti-Aircraft Artillery Troops, who had barely rested for less than two hours, rushed out of the barracks again, running to the anti-aircraft gun positions and cranking the handles to aim the barrels into the sky.

However, they did not find their targets, and the few searchlights swung back and forth in the pitch-dark night, failing to spot any enemy bomber coming to drop bombs.

...

"For His Majesty! Long live the Great Tang Empire!" Inside the open aircraft cabin, the cold air was raging around everyone. The ready Great Tang Imperial Paratroopers, standing up and peering at the dim lights below, rose to their feet.

"Check your parachute lines!" the leading officer loudly reminded his soldiers, and though his words were somewhat lost in the turbulent airflow, the soldiers in the front row all raised their fists in response.

The troops at the back checked the parachutes and weapons of the ones in the front and then patted the shoulders of those ahead, who after ensuring their comrades’ gear was secured, did the same for the person in front of them.

Passing the checks down the line, everyone eventually lowered their fists. The platoon leader at the front nodded to everyone, and the paratroopers then charged out of the aircraft cabin into the faintly twinkling green lights.

There was almost no anti-aircraft fire in the sky around them, as all of Mirage Country’s strategic deployments had been disrupted by the intensive strategic bombings of the Great Tang Empire. The Mirage Country military, which had scarcely rested throughout the day, had no inkling that the assault had already begun.

Against the backdrop of twinkling stars, clusters of white parachutes bloomed in the sky; over a hundred transport aircraft flew in formation at less than two thousand meters, leaving trails of white blossoms across the sky where they passed.

"Ratatatata!" Small-caliber anti-aircraft guns began to fire, lighting up lines of light with tracer bullets. Troops from a nearby anti-air defense position in Mirage Country finally mounted a substantial counterattack.

But judging from the intensity of the fire, the Mirage Country forces nearby must not have been numerous. They were launching counterattacks with only the weapons they had, appearing so lonely and helpless.

Most of the Great Tang Empire paratroopers encountered no danger; they gradually approached the land in the whooshing wind, with their miscellaneous packs and other equipment tied under their feet.

In complete darkness, Xiang Ziyu hit the ground hard. After his legs touched down, he toppled over from the inertia, rolling twice on the ground before coming to a stop.

By the time he finally managed to get up, his parachute had fallen over him and enveloped him… It took him a while to free himself from the parachute and he retrieved his assault rifle fixed to his chest.

To move more freely, Xiang Ziyu unhooked the spare parachute hanging on his chest and abdomen, and simultaneously removed the conspicuous red inflatable life jacket.

By the light of the moon, he spotted a vague forest in the distance and fires still burning further away, likely the remains of incendiary bombs dropped during the day, not yet completely extinguished.

Watching as a dark figure crashed onto the ground not far away, the parachute then gradually floated down, covering the unlucky fellow underneath.

Xiang Ziyu, clutching his weapon, crept over. Only after the other party crawled out from the parachute did he lower his voice to confirm: "Snow white!"

"Petal!" The soldier immediately responded nervously with the password. He was struggling to free himself from his spare parachute, but due to the heavy equipment, his movements were somewhat clumsy.

Xiang Ziyu went over to help him undo the buckles, remove the parachute, as well as that annoying orange life jacket: "What’s your backup gear?"

"Batteries! Officer!" Recognizing the lieutenant’s insignia on Xiang Ziyu’s helmet, he replied in a lowered voice: "There should be two gun grenades in my pack."

"Snow white!" At this time, a voice called out the password from behind. Xiang Ziyu ducked lower and responded to the call: "Petal!"

A few paratroopers pushed through the grass and bent over to reach Xiang Ziyu’s side: "Officer! It’s really good to see you."

"Li Tao! Give the batteries to the signaler! And your gun grenades, remember to hand them to me." Xiang Ziyu tidied his weapon, attached the gun grenades, and checked the magazines on his chest: "Try to make contact with battalion headquarters!"

"Prepare the flashlights! Respond to them with light signals if someone tries to communicate with lamps!" Xiang Ziyu assigned tasks one by one: "You, you, and you! Establish a perimeter for guard duty! Move!"

"Liu! Establish contact with battalion headquarters as soon as possible! Has anyone found any familiar landmarks?" He looked at another seven or eight soldiers who had gathered and asked.

"No! There’s an enemy High-Angle Machine Gun emplacement on that hill! Other than that, we didn’t discover anything!" someone replied.

"Old Chen! Old Chen! Take two men! Form a patrol squad! Gather all the scattered soldiers nearby! Stay alert! And by the way, see if there are any enemies around... it would be even better if you could find a reference point!"

The one called Old Chen, a squad leader, immediately nodded: "Understood, Platoon Leader! You and you! Come with me!"

"Are the personnel from the Company’s direct night combat squad present?" Xiang Ziyu pulled out a raincoat from his baggage, covered his flashlight with it, and looked at the map wrapped in plastic cloth. Unfortunately, with no landmarks, he couldn’t pinpoint his exact location.

However, they were already quite fortunate this time with the airdrop; until now, they had not encountered any Mirage Country troops, which for them as paratroopers, was almost equivalent to saying there had been no resistance.

"Haven’t seen them!" a soldier replied. Right then, the platoon leader of the 1st platoon came over with about fifteen men, including a signaler and some carrying two RPG rockets—yes, just the rockets, no launcher...

"Anyway, our situation now is much better than expected, at least we weren’t dropped onto the enemy’s positions," said the platoon leader of the 1st platoon with relief upon seeing Xiang Ziyu, the Company Leader.

"You’re right, but we need to find a reference point as soon as possible, then ascertain our position, and locate the target we must seize..." Xiang Ziyu stood up, looking at the Mirage Army’s Anti-Aircraft Guns still firing into the sky: "How about you take some men over there to scout around for directions?"

"I have no objections! 1st platoon, follow me..." The platoon leader of the 1st platoon did not hesitate for a moment, immediately ready to execute the order.

"Don’t rush! Wait for Old Chen to return, let’s get a clear picture of the surrounding situation first." Xiang Ziyu held the other’s shoulder: "We still haven’t found the 2nd and 3rd platoons’ people."

"The direct night combat squad has been found! But only three of them! No sign of the others yet," a soldier hastened over, bringing three soldiers with him.

These soldiers were equipped with the Great Tang Empire’s individual night vision gear and belonged to a special force capable of operating in the dark.

More and more soldiers were gathering, and in a moment, there were already over fifty soldiers here. At this time, Xiang Ziyu turned to the platoon leader of the 1st platoon and instructed: "Go and carry out the mission. Take down that Anti-Aircraft Gun position and try to bring back some prisoners!"

"Yes!" The platoon leader of the 1st platoon saluted, turned around to leave.

Xiang Ziyu stopped him once more: "Take the night combat squad with you, no casualties allowed!"

"Rest assured! Company Leader!" The platoon leader of the 1st platoon smiled, revealing a set of white teeth, his face camouflaged like a phantom in the night: "1st platoon, follow me!"

About twenty soldiers followed the platoon leader of the 1st platoon away. Before long, the platoon leader of the 2nd platoon arrived with over thirty soldiers.

They had first encountered Old Chen’s patrol squad, then learned the direction and converged. With that, Xiang Ziyu’s company started to swell in strength: Including the 1st platoon on their mission, they had now found over eighty people.

Xiang Ziyu’s paratrooper company had a total of 210 soldiers; this meant that over one-third of the soldiers had already regrouped.