Munitions Empire-Chapter 1070 - 992-lined welcome
Chapter 1070: 992-lined welcome
A transport ship full of soldiers slowly docked at the Chu Country’s most important Nanshan Port. The gangway was lowered, and one by one, soldiers descended from the deck and began to form lines on the pier.
These soldiers wore different military uniforms compared to those of Chu Country. From the styles, it seemed as if the two groups belonged to different eras. The soldiers of the Great Tang Empire resembled those from the 1990s of Lighthouse Country, while Chu Country had a distinct 1939 German retro style.
The uniforms of the Great Tang Empire soldiers were narrow-cuffed jacket styles, while the uniforms in Chu Country were still those provided by the Tang Empire, in a monochrome grey-green without any tightened cuff designs.
Compared to the Great Tang Empire, Chu Country’s uniforms seemed more like ceremonial attire, whereas the Tang Empire’s soldiers had clearly distinguished between ceremonial and combat uniforms.
Unfortunately, wealth allows for such caprice: the ordinary soldiers of the Great Tang Empire each had more than three sets of uniforms, including ceremonial attire for events, training uniforms for regular wear, and military camouflage for formal combat.
Aside from the differences in camouflage, the soldiers of Chu Country wore the traditional high-waisted combat boots inherited from Germany – these were Tang Empire’s former standard issue, yet not very practical on the battlefield.
The Tang Empire, however, had already adopted more modern mid-waist leather boots with soles made of synthetic materials, which were more durable and flexible, obviously more rational and easier to mass produce.
The steel helmets worn by soldiers from the two sides were also entirely different; the Tang Empire soldiers were now commonly equipped with helmets made from synthetic materials, while Chu Country’s soldiers wore the Tang’s M35 Steel Helmets, which were aesthetically pleasing but less functional.
Moreover, Chu Country lacked the tactical vest design that the Tang Empire possessed. They used the Y-straps that Tang had phased out but modified for Chu’s specific operational environment.
The Tang Empire, on the other hand, had already equipped their troops with tactical vests made from more breathable materials. If needed, these vests could also be fitted with ballistic steel plates to enhance the soldiers’ protection.
Furthermore, this type of vest could distribute weight, increase the carrying capacity of the troops, allocate equipment positions more effectively, and enhance soldiers’ combat reaction speed.
The soldiers of the Great Tang, fully armed from head to toe, disembarked one by one and formed into squadrons on the pier.
Platoon and company leaders continuously barked orders, amidst which another transport ship at a dock specifically built by a Tang Empire construction crew slowly opened its lateral hatch.
As the ramp was lowered, a Type 113 armored vehicle drove out of the ship’s hull and onto the pier. The dock workers of Chu Country, who usually handled cargo at the pier, were utterly astonished by the scene in front of them, clueless about what was happening or why soldiers from the Tang Empire were there.
“Isn’t it a suzerain country? Why are there so many soldiers here?” an old dock worker asked perplexedly.
“I don’t know, haven’t heard of any issues,” another dock worker muttered, watching more Type 113 armored vehicles leave the ship, slightly flustered.
They weren’t necessarily frightened by the Tang Empire’s soldiers, as for the past two years, those unloading the cargo had already grown familiar and friendly with the approachable Tang crewmen.
The visitors were rational, willing to pay, generous, and kind. Such people were easily welcomed, especially since many in Chu Country were hoping they could become one of the Tang People.
Their shock stemmed from the fact that everything seemed fine yesterday, and suddenly today, so many soldiers had appeared: they weren’t worried about becoming Tang People, they were worried about war breaking out in their homeland…
Indeed, becoming a Tang Person was fine, but becoming a casualty before achieving that was a tragedy, wasn’t it?
Everyone watched the enormous transport ships — these two ships, not typically seen here, had a displacement of at least twenty to thirty thousand tons each, clearly something other countries couldn’t produce.
“Ah!” Following that, from within the ship that continuously launched Type 113 armored vehicles, a Panther Tank slowly drove out and stopped behind a Type 113 armored vehicle.
Then came the second Panther Tank, the third Panther Tank… The dockworkers watching grew increasingly astonished, while a squad of soldiers from the Great Tang Empire, pulled from the formation, had already reached the Chu Country’s guard post on the pier.
“Commander! We have been notified…” The tone of the Chu Country duty officer carried a hint of reluctance, but he still extended his hand in friendship.
The platoon leader from the Tang Empire also extended his hand and shook with the officer. Then, he stepped back, stood at attention, his salute crisp and precise: “The handover ceremony can commence! Please pass the guard post to our military! Thank you for maintaining the order at Nanshan Port!”
“Now! You can stand down, we are taking over!” After saying this, the platoon leader from the Great Tang Empire once again stood at attention and saluted: “Long live His Majesty The Emperor!”
Although the order stated that the handover ceremony should take place at noon, the opposing Chu Country officer didn’t fuss over the timing, also stood at attention and saluted, then side-stepped to vacate his position.
In the entire guard post, all the soldiers of Chu Country were unarmed, their weapons had been transported out of the city yesterday.
Smoothly, the Great Tang soldiers equipped with Type 56 assault rifles took their places inside the guardhouse, holding their rifles and looking into the distance, while the Chu Country soldiers who had vacated their positions earlier climbed onto a truck that had been prepared beforehand.
According to the agreement reached between the Great Tang Empire and Chu Country, all facilities within Nanshan Port and all the lands outside the city within a certain range now belonged to the Great Tang Empire.
This included pipelines extending into the port, railways connecting to Shu Country and Qin Country, and even all residents within this area, all had to be under the administration of the Great Tang Empire.
Everyone inside Nanshan Port now automatically acquired citizenship of the Great Tang Empire, they must live under the laws of the Great Tang Empire in the future and enjoy the rights of an empire citizen, as well as fulfill the duties of an empire citizen.
Right after the guard post handover was completed, a burst of cheers suddenly came from the dock. These were cheers from Chu Country dockworkers, who finally knew the truth.
On the main roads, many people who knew about the impending takeover of Nanshan Port by the Great Tang Empire had already gathered at street corners, waiting for the thrilling moment.
They saw the armored cars driving out from the dock, with the Dragon Banner of the Great Tang Empire draped on the front slant. People waved their arms towards the soldiers of the Great Tang Empire who were half out of the armored cars, cheering loudly.
“Long live the Great Tang Empire!” Someone initiated the slogan, and the streets filled with People of Chu started chanting along, the slogan echoing continuously like thunderous waves: “Long live the Great Tang Empire! Long live His Majesty The Emperor!”
In a corner florist, the lady owner, with a basket in hand, rushed to the side of the convoy and threw a handful of flower petals at the soldiers in the armored cars.
The sourc𝗲 of this content is frёeωebɳovel.com.
Her action scared many because the low-ranking commanders of the Great Tang Empire behind the armored vehicles knew very well that they were loaded with live ammunition.
Before the operation, during the meeting called by the battalion commander on the ship, it was emphasized numerous times that they might encounter resistance and civilian attacks, reminding everyone to be cautious of their safety.
This kind of meeting had all the soldiers of the Great Tang Empire landing at the docks extremely tense, until they saw a group of dockworkers weeping with joy.
With the florist starting to throw petals, things began to walk on a knife-edge afterwards. People began poking their heads out from buildings gradually, cheering and waving their arms, and many began humming songs from the Great Tang Empire.
The situation looked out of control, with so many windows and crowds piled up on the streets, the soldiers responsible for security could hardly keep up.
However, the feared rooftop snipers and situations of stones being thrown at the troops of the Great Tang Empire did not occur, forcing them to lower their guard and slack off.
Jokingly, if the streets had been empty, they could have performed their security tasks, but now with tens of thousands of people on the street, their eyes were simply not enough, what else could they do but slack off?
Seeing that they had passed one street, and there were even more civilians on the second street. People on both sides of the street were singing various popular songs from the Great Tang Empire, anyone unknowing might even think it was a victory parade.
The bakery owner rushed to the side of the formation, stuffing bread into the soldiers’ arms one by one. Seeing him do this, the owner of a bun shop began to follow suit.
And that wasn’t even the most bizarre part, people began forcibly offering various odd types of food regardless of what they were selling, and soon someone grabbed noodles and stuffed them directly into a soldier’s arms.
The sauce from the noodles splashed all over the soldier, with many noodles hanging directly on the ammunition pouches on the soldier’s chest, making the soldier wryly smile, wave his hand in refusal, yet someone stuffed an egg into his hand.
“Great Tang! Great Tang! Great Tang!” Someone somehow found a giant Dragon Banner of the Great Tang Empire, and just draped it from the rooftop beside the street, covering an entire wall of the building.
Because the bottom hadn’t been secured yet, the giant Dragon Banner began fluttering with the wind, pushing the celebrating crowd below to a climax.
“They are welcoming us! Can you believe it?” a soldier asked his comrades incredulously. His comrade was busy eating a burger given to him by some civilian, waving at a group of beautiful women in the distance, not bothering to pay attention to his friend nearby.
