Munitions Empire
Chapter 1376: The one wrapped in a blanket in 1293

Chapter 1376: The one wrapped in a blanket in 1293

In a shrub stripped of leaves, a few soldiers of the Qin Army huddled together, enduring yet another night. Despite the fact that during this night, the commander of the central cluster of the Qin Army was captured alive by the Tang Army,

Wang Luo, the supreme commander of the Northern Cluster, was among these few men right now. He, along with his adjutant and the head of the guards, had been hiding from one place to another until now.

Indeed, the entire Northern Cluster no longer had any decent organized troops, just some remnants hiding in every corner like rats.

The Tang Army’s small groups were capturing prisoners everywhere, and now they had captured hundreds of thousands. The fact is, the Northern Cluster of the Qin Army was already finished, only Qin Country itself did not want to admit or perhaps simply did not know.

The weather had become extremely cold, Wang Luo still had a blanket over him, while the clothes on the few officers were quite varied and colorful: some wore military coats, some donned cotton clothing from God knows where, and some just had a scarf wrapped around their necks.

The few men hadn’t eaten anything since last night, their command vehicle, cars, and armored vehicles were all destroyed, and their guards were dispersed by the Tang Army pursuing them.

With fewer and fewer people around them, only these few managed to barely escape the pursuit, huddling in this shrub overnight.

Now that it was daylight, they finally found out where they were: beside a highway, or rather… next to a large troop of Tang Country forces.

Less than 50 meters away, Tang Empire soldiers’ tents and temporary camps were connected together, the soldiers were cooking, with a never-before-seen track armored vehicle of the Qin Army parked beside them.

The camouflage of the opponent was quite different from before, with colors looking very complex, from afar, the lines of that armored vehicle were obscured by the camouflage.

The adjutant, scared, drew out his pistol from his belt, while Wang Luo squinted at the Tang Empire soldiers as they brushed their teeth and washed their faces, occasionally bursting into laughter.

“Don’t shoot! If we fire, we’re doomed,” an officer held down the adjutant’s trembling hand and continued to persuade Wang Luo: “Commander, let’s leave quickly, detour from the other side, and continue west… perhaps we’ll reach Dongqing soon.”

The scattering might have some benefits, or rather, the Qin Army being disbanded was not without advantages, the maneuverability of the Tang Army being very high left behind some issues.

The advance speed of Tang Country troops was so fast that they didn’t have time to build a fixed defense line—no defense line, no heavy forces, and thus no complete encirclement.

Without a complete defense line cut-off, there are gaps, and small groups of forces can escape, evading the pursuit of the Tang Army.

Even though, as time passed, Tang Army’s search became increasingly precise, with small troops in search and combat, Tang Country’s experience became richer and more seasoned, and their weapons were also more suitable, there remained many “possibilities.”

Escaping westward, Wang Luo and his men relied on these gaps. They retreated slowly westward, first following scattered troops, later moving on their own.

Finally, after their guard unit was dispersed, they relied on a few men low-profile fleeing, avoiding the Tang Army’s searches several times.

Looking at the small number of people around him, Wang Luo had completely lost the arrogance of a seventy-thousand-strong army commander of the Northern Cluster, now seemingly like a refugee in flight, his beard hadn’t been shaved for many days.

To hide his identity, Wang Luo even changed his military uniform; he now wore a uniform of a Qin Country captain, while the “military ranks” of the people around him were higher.

“Let’s go!” He sighed, turned around to part the shrubs, and squeezed back into the pit where they had just rested.

The followers left in the pit had packed up things, some carrying submachine guns, others holding luggage, looking not a bit like soldiers.

With visual obstructions, they left their hiding spot from yesterday, walking along a path trampled by scattered soldiers, heading west.

On the side of this path, there was still abandoned rifles, and some odds and ends. There were M35 steel helmets of the Qin Army, bullets, and also some ration packaging.

Cans licked clean were half-buried in the soil, not far away lay the corpse of a shot soldier. No one went to check how this person died because no one cared.

If it were in normal times, seeing a corpse on the road would likely alert everyone, but now, having seen so many corpses, everyone had become numb.

Along the way, the chief of staff was killed, the army commander also died, the head of the guard battalion was also dead. The size of your rank and where you stand couldn’t guarantee your safety, so nobody engaged in researching how to stay alive anymore.

Facts proved that in such rout, life or death was only related to luck. There were no tricks, no experiences to summarize and conclude.

As they walked, suddenly a gunshot echoed in the wilds, reverberating back and forth repeatedly.

A person in a blanket in the team dropped straight down, leaving the rest to numbly look toward the direction the gunshot came from.

They hadn’t realized what happened yet, but when the second shot rang out and the second person collapsed, they finally remembered, the person they needed to protect seemed to have died.

“Don’t shoot! We surrender!” The remaining three raised their hands high, shouting loudly, fearing delayed action might cost them their lives.

Sure enough, the gunshots ceased, and a few seconds later a figure rose from an inconspicuous spot. The sniper of the Tang Army dressed in a ghillie suit, blending with the bare shrubs and soil around. If he hadn’t stood up, no one could have possibly spotted his location.

This sniper… or rather, the observer holding an assault rifle walked step by step towards the three with raised hands, scrutinizing these Qin Army soldiers with dirt-covered faces: “Officer?”

“Yes!” The head of the guards nodded nervously, answering the other’s question: “I am the captain of the private guard unit of the commander of the Northern Cluster! He is the commander’s adjutant, and that one is the secretary.”

“Captain? Adjutant?” Clearly, the sniper of the Tang Army hadn’t expected these men looking no different from beggars to be big fish: “He wouldn’t be the commander, would he?”

Half-jokingly, his gaze landed on the corpse his teammate shot dead.

“He’s not, he’s the head of the communication section of the command, a lieutenant colonel.” The reply made the Tang Country soldier relieved.

However, the following words left him a bit at a loss: “That is Commander Wang Luo… the one you shot first, the one wrapped in a blanket…”