Chapter 1326: 1243 inexplicable retreat

“Hello? Hello! What do you mean by unable to reach them? Hello! You damn well better make your words clearer to me!” Gripping the handset, the Division Commander of the Empire’s 5th Armored Division was already infuriated.

He had been shouting the whole day, and yet their troops, with hundreds of radios and tanks, suddenly all faced problems with their communication equipment.

Throughout the journey, they had never encountered such bizarre circumstances; despite increasing the radio frequency, only a few nearby troops received intermittent signals.

The rest of the troops heard nothing but hissing and crackling interference, and the efficient command seen during the previous attacks on Dahua troops was completely paralyzed at the Tang Empire border.

The intense unease had already made many of the Empire’s junior commanders’ hairs stand on end. They did not believe it was some nonsense mystical problem; they suspected it was definitely the doing of the Tang Army’s new weapons.

Soon, a more serious issue arose. It was reported that Zhang Cheng, the fierce general of the Empire from the 3rd Armored Army, was killed by a mysterious artillery shell at a temporary command post a hundred kilometers from the frontline.

The shell also killed the Chief of Staff of the 3rd Armored Army, 15 senior officers above the rank of major, four secretaries, and 22 communications equipment operators…

This almost wiped out the entire command leadership of the 3rd Armored Division, along with their most important radio equipment system.

Thus, the valiant 3rd Armored Army of the Empire suddenly became like headless chickens, and all the troops stood foolishly at the same spot for a day, only receiving unclear orders to continue standing still.

No one knew where the damned shell came from or even saw whether it was a shell.

Witnesses only knew that the massive explosion directly lifted the camp with the most communication antennas. Several tents were blown away, and screams echoed continuously. As he staggered over, all he saw was a crater and scattered remains.

Carrying weapons and diverse supplies, the infantry from the Great Qin Empire charged from Xiajiang City to the border, trudging towards the forward base they departed from in the morning, under the late fall sun.

Along the way, there were undoubtedly complaints. They hadn’t even clearly seen their enemy before being ordered to retreat.

As they moved, the scenes before their eyes stunned them: cars with burnt wreckage and tanks still smoldering, not seen on their way there.

A seemingly advancing Empire armored unit appeared to be attacked and hadn’t had time to disperse and hide, before being wiped out by the Tang Empire on the highway.

The tank turret twisted to one side, and the Empire soldiers familiar with these vehicles knew it was their trusted Empire Type 4 Tank.

The young Empire soldiers, carrying rifles and wearing steel helmets, bypassed the wrecked Empire Type 4 Tank only to see another charred Empire Type 4 Tank body.

Where the turret had gone, nobody knew, as there was a third and fourth tank of the same model at the back; some had burned down, while some seemed intact.

Corpses of some tank crew members were hanging on the tanks, while a few tank drivers, faces covered in smoke and soot, sat smoking under the roadside trees. They numbly watched the retreating infantry without saying a word.

Behind several tanks were the 113-type armored vehicles imported from the Tang Empire. Vehicle after vehicle was destroyed as if they all appeared in a morning, lined up and decimated here.

“Where did the enemies come from? Are we surrounded?” a soldier, with three machine gun ammo belts slung across his body, asked curiously as he hurried ahead to catch up with his companion.

“Weren’t you always beside me? I had breakfast with you this morning! I know as much as you do!” The young soldier looked at the bodies and tank carcasses along the roads, already deeply anxious, and responded with irritation to his companion.

Who knows how the fighting ended up like this? Earlier, their company commander attempted radio contact with battalion headquarters, only to find communications were completely cut off. The channels were filled with static, and any audible frequency featured the damned surrender announcement read by Tang Empire female announcers.

Ever since their communication officer ordered a retreat to Qili Village, they’ve been unable to contact their regiment’s headquarters, let alone the division headquarters.

You tell me, what can a bunch of clueless soldiers do in such a situation? Besides carrying out the last order, they don’t know what else they should do.

But follow-up orders were non-existent, as if only after reaching Qili Village would they receive the next directive.

Occasionally on the way, they could hear the distant roar of jet fighter engines, but most of the time, they saw no aircraft crossing the sky.

The whole war seemed unrelated to them, like they were on an armed tour. It felt boring earlier, but after seeing the armored corps wreckage and the bodies hanging on the tanks, they realized… the war had started in a way they couldn’t comprehend…

“So many tanks, and just like that, they got knocked out? Can’t they even turn a corner?” A hot-blooded soldier shouted at the tank soldiers smoking under the tree.

The leading Empire tank commander removed the cigarette from his mouth, exhaled a puff of white smoke, and retorted with a sneer, “Don’t worry! You’re not far from dying yourselves!”

After shouting, he looked down at his still trembling fingers; even now, he hadn’t fully awakened from that nightmare.

Two gray and ugly planes suddenly descended from high altitude, their terrifying front guns spitting fire tongues, charging across the convoy’s overhead.

With one pass, the terrifying ammunition ripped open all the armored vehicles’ roofs; some tanks exploded instantly while others caught fire… Tracer bullets drew lines, slicing everything into fragments!

He was the luckiest, crawling out of the tank and reaching the roadside, only burning one shoe. By the time he extinguished the flames on his foot and looked back at his tank, the convoy was already like an inferno.

This was not a battle… it was a massacre. The Tang Empire was not cowardly and corrupt, nor afraid of conflict with the Empire! It had evolved into a greedy and lazy demon, squatting in its lair, patiently waiting for naive prey to walk in on its own, wanting only to chew once served into its mouth!