Munitions Empire
Chapter 1363: 1280 successfully retreated

Chapter 1363: 1280 successfully retreated

“Helicopters! Fire at those helicopters!” In the darkness, the Qin Army commander pointed at a Tang Army helicopter hovering in midair in the distance and shouted loudly.

Beside him, the soldier responsible for loading ammunition into the Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun was desperately inserting magazines into the cannon.

Just one look at the scene, and it was clear these aircraft weren’t here just for a random attack; they had a purpose. The Qin Army soldiers, under no circumstances, could allow these aircraft to leave leisurely.

“A plane is landing! A plane is landing in the yard! Damn it!” On a nearby machine gun position, another Qin Army soldier saw a vague silhouette slowly descending in height under the moonlight.

He desperately needed a flare, but this was the Central Group Headquarters of the Qin Country, where would anyone prepare something like a flare?

So the only thing this Qin Army commander could do was pray, pray that a nearby Qin Country unit realized the problem and could react, firing a flare to reverse the entire battlefield situation.

Unfortunately, no one answered his prayers. The surrounding Qin Army had no idea what was happening; they only knew they were under attack, unclear of exactly where the enemy was coming from.

There were almost no Anti-Aircraft Guns in the city; most had been redeployed to the retreat routes to deal with Tang Army aircraft.

Moreover, those Anti-Aircraft Guns hadn’t been effective; from the beginning until now, not a single aircraft from the Great Tang Empire had been shot down.

Their best achievement was damaging a Thunderbolt Attack Aircraft, but even though it was hit, it managed to retreat from the battlefield calmly with part of its wing shot off.

Because of this situation, Dongqing City had very few Anti-Aircraft Guns deployed, as they were deemed useless. Most Anti-Aircraft Guns and other anti-aircraft weapons were redeployed to field positions outside the city.

The headquarters had two 40mm caliber Bofors Anti-Aircraft Guns, which was already considered a very good density of anti-aircraft firepower.

Unfortunately, the battle had just begun, and one Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun position was completely silenced. Two rockets hit that Anti-Aircraft Gun position, leaving only a ground full of corpses and the remains of the Anti-Aircraft Gun.

The remaining Anti-Aircraft Gun had just run out of ammunition; unfortunately, that Hind Armed Helicopter was too agile, easily dodging a series of tracer bullets, disappearing behind a nearby building.

Everyone knew it would come back, but when and from where it would return was anyone’s guess. In this precious time, the soldiers at the last remaining Anti-Aircraft Gun position were desperately loading ammunition.

“Faster! It’s coming back soon!” The gunner said nervously. By the moonlight in the sky, he could see some shadowy silhouettes of aircraft, indicating the entire sky was now filled with danger.

Just then, a spotlight finally turned on, sweeping the entire sky. The Qin Army saw several Tang Army Armed Helicopters, as well as some Black Hawk Helicopters.

Some Black Hawk Helicopters had side-mounted machine guns, being operated by members on the aircraft, frantically strafing the ground.

Tracer bullets fell like raindrops on the Qin Army’s positions, knocking down those Qin Army soldiers with little anti-aircraft firing experience.

This kind of battle had never occurred before. The Qin Army was completely on the defensive. What drove them crazy was being attacked defensively in the core of their military formation.

“Ammunition! I need ammunition!” Behind a sandbag bunker, a Qin Army machine gunner waved his arms and loudly shouted to his companions in the distance.

He was very brave because in the next second, Tang Army trace bullets swept over, riddling him with holes, the same fate befalling the sandbags next to him and the MG42 machine gun.

This alert position wasn’t stocked with large amounts of ammunition because this was the group command headquarters where large-scale battles were generally not expected to break out.

A nearby truck filled with fuel was hit several times by tracer bullets and eventually ignited, causing an explosion, with massive flames shooting skyward, immediately lighting up half the sky.

At this time, Qin Army commanders realized that above their heads, there were a dozen Tang Army helicopters circling.

“Hello? Hello!” In the neighboring building, the garrison commander, holding a phone, shouted angrily into the receiver non-stop.

Unfortunately, no matter how many times he said hello, the line remained busy with a tone indicating it was occupied. All his phone lines had been cut, making it impossible to connect to any outside lines.

“I see the Group Headquarters under attack! Yes! Headquarters! Reinforcement! We need reinforcement! Immediately send reinforcements to the headquarters! The enemy is attacking us! They are attacking the headquarters!” Not far away, in an outer perimeter stationed unit, an officer looked at the distant place engulfed in flames, calling for reinforcements on his phone.

The Qin Army had some combat discipline, and soon, nearby units started to respond. But they truly didn’t know how to handle the current situation.

Clearly, Tang Army aircraft were retreating. After suppressing all nearby Qin Army fire points, they only stayed briefly before preparation for withdrawal.

The Black Hawk Helicopter parked in the garden had already lifted off, with the Tang Army special forces carrying out the incursion mission already seated in the helicopter’s cabin.

More special forces merely clipped their waist clips directly to the ropes thrown down by the aircraft, then were winched up into the sky, then pulled into the open helicopter cabin by crew members from both sides of the aircraft.

If not for a Hind Armed Helicopter being hit by the Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun, this operation could have been considered nearly perfect.

As a helicopter trailing flames crashed onto a nearby street, the Tang Army’s operation to capture Ying An came to a close.

One by one, the helicopters departed, and the Hind Armed Helicopter in the rear retaliated by firing all its rockets at the Bofors Anti-Aircraft Gun position responsible for shooting down a helicopter.

The entire Qin Army Central Group Headquarters was engulfed in flames, with explosions everywhere, communication antennas lying down, and tents riddled with bullet holes all over. Gasoline barrels stacked together were lit by raging flames, causing one crisp explosion after another.

By the time the arriving Qin Army units figured out what had happened, the Tang Army’s long-range rocket artillery had already begun their barrage. Countless cluster bombs fell into Dongqing City, immediately engulfing the entire city in a sea of fire.