Munitions Empire

With each passing second, Battalion Commander Tang Mo had actually moved away from that mass grave, yet he still had the illusion that he could smell the stench of death.

He involuntarily moved even further away, then rubbed his nose with his hand and looked anxiously towards the direction of the mass grave.

Because of this matter, he had handed over the command of the landing operations to the commander of the second battalion, and the number of soldiers here had increased from a dozen to over thirty.

Almost everyone who saw the large pit was stunned by what lay before them; these warriors, who wouldn't bat an eyelid when killing on the battlefield, had no immunity to such a rotting and foul scene.

They could kill on the battlefield without any psychological burden, not even a frown from Lina. But to slaughter civilians, they indeed needed some mental preparation.

Of course, after a massacre order was given, they might actually carry it out, but to kill people and then not even bother to dispose of the bodies properly—this, they could not do.

This was determined by their basic civilized attributes; at least they were still human, with the most basic human nature, not devils brainwashed by some ideology.

Finally, Battalion Commander Tang Mo, growing a bit impatient, saw the military doctor, who covered his mouth as he walked over.

Behind the doctor followed a nurse, her mask hanging off one ear and dangling under her chin on the other side. Just by looking at her face, it was clear the young girl had vomited more than once.

The doctor took off his mask, took a deep breath before reporting, "They were killed by people. We did a preliminary investigation; there are 17 children, 84 adults, men and women, 52 elderly... These are civilians, and there are also 31 soldiers wearing Zheng Country military uniforms."

"Are you sure they were killed by people?" Battalion Commander Tang Mo asked, his expression darkening and his tone somewhat displeased, seeking confirmation.

The doctor nodded without hesitation, affirmatively answering, "Yes, they were all killed by people."

"Why are you so sure?" the Commander continued to verify.

"Well, this!" The doctor extended his hand, passing an item to Battalion Commander Tang Mo.

"A bullet?" Tang Mo instinctively reached out for the object, and then saw the doctor place a small lead ball into the palm of his hand.

The doctor grimaced, "To be precise, it's a flintlock musket lead ball from Shireck, very standard."

He paused for a moment, letting Battalion Commander Tang Mo examine the bullet stained with blood for a while before continuing, "There are also knife marks on some skeletons, likely from chopping blows..."

It was at that moment Battalion Commander Tang Mo realized that the bullet in his palm must have been found in the flesh of the corpses.

He wanted to discard the ill-omened and disgusting object, yet felt compelled to reconsider. He sighed and continued, "Have they gone mad? Not sparing men, women, and children?"

"Yes, it seems to be the villagers, all killed," the doctor mused as he thought of the clothes punctured with holes or torn apart, becoming increasingly irritable.

He couldn't confirm whether there were any atrocious acts like rape, but just judging from the savage way the bodies were handled, the perpetrators of this act... if one could call them human at all, had no trace of humanity left.

"And the reason for killing them?" Battalion Commander Tang Mo's thumb vigorously rubbed his index finger, producing a grating sound.

"That, we do not know," the doctor shook his head, "I am not a forensic expert, I don't have the experience... I came to treat gunshot wounds, to save living people, not to investigate the dead."

"Thank you! Lieutenant," Battalion Commander Tang Mo nodded, signaling the doctor could leave. Then, he turned to his bodyguard: "Let's go, check on the prisoners of war."

...

On the sea, Bernard took the telegram from his adjutant and read the contents carefully once more.

He then furrowed his brows and looked up at his adjutant and the captain of Wolf 1, saying, "Battalion Commander Tang Mo says he's found a mass grave with close to 200 bodies. Most are civilians from Zheng Country..."

"Could it have been the work of those goblins?" The adjutant didn't seem to think it was too serious of an issue; after all, the dead were from Zheng Country and had no direct relation to the Great Tang Group.

It's impossible for him to empathize with such a scene, for if he saw 200 bodies in Brunas, he would likely already be considering what kind of torture to use on the murderer.

"This could be a big or a small matter," remarked the captain of Wolf 1 after reading the telegram, troubled as he looked at Bernard: "General, if we downplay it, this is just a dispute between Zheng Country and the Shenwu Empire, which really doesn't concern us."

He chose his words carefully and then added, "But if we treat it as a significant issue, many in our troops have... you know what I mean, I'm not suggesting that."

After explaining briefly, he continued, "The head of the intelligence department, Li'ao, and the principal... they are the descendants of the black-eyed, black-haired Dahua people..."

Bernard fell into a deep thought upon hearing these words. After all, without having seen the mass grave himself, to claim he was extremely enraged or irritated at this very moment would certainly be an exaggeration.

As the naval commander of the Great Tang Group, with uncountable enemies dying at his hands, a pit containing two hundred bodies was just a minor scene.

But killing enemies on the battlefield and slaughtering civilians are two different things. Bernard felt a need to truly consider Tang Mo's feelings.

As a senior commander of the Great Tang Group, he hadn't fully grasped the purpose of this military operation, but he had heard the gist of it.

Unlike previous wars, this time the Great Tang Group was expanding its own territory, so whatever happened on this land was closely related to the Great Tang Group.

"Send the telegram back to Brunas..." Considering this, Bernard finally decided to make a big deal of the matter, "At least with this, we are on the side of moral justice. Even just as a human being, I cannot stand by as such evil unfolds before my eyes!"

After giving the order, Bernard went on, "Moreover, since we have already exchanged fire with the enemy, the fact that the landing site has been exposed has become a reality... The enemy's fleet will probably arrive here soon, won't they?"

"Based on our time estimates, the enemy could appear on our flank by tomorrow morning," the staff officer reported their calculated results.

"Are we prepared?" Bernard was more interested in the location of the enemy's main fleet than in the mass grave.

"Wolf 3 and Wolf 4 will sortie before tomorrow morning to seize a commanding position and destroy the enemy fleet at the perimeter of the landing area," the staff officer promised, circling a section of the sea on the chart.

It was a joke, of course; facing off against a couple of Wolf-class cruisers was no pressure at all for fleets of dozens of sail warships. The enemy didn't even have a chance to fire, not a single one could escape.

"Leave a Brunas-class ironclad warship to protect the landing site, and we'll move closer," Bernard pondered for a few seconds before making a decision.

He decided to reinforce the forces intercepting the enemy's fleet, for a simple reason—he planned to crush the fleet of the Shengwu Empire with overwhelming force.

"After all, discovering the slaughter pit was quite unsettling... Although we are not certain it was Shengwu Empire's doing, I still need to vent my anger," Bernard explained, then left the bridge, "If Brunas's reply comes through, notify me immediately, and... urge the transport ships to speed up..."

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"Yes!" Everyone on the bridge stood at attention and saluted as they watched Bernard leave.

During this period, the navy had been busy too. They had made great efforts to transfer the troops to the beach as swiftly as possible.

They dispatched soldiers who were strong swimmers to risk diving and check the nearby reefs, ultimately allowing their transport ships to move forward by more than 300 meters.

It might only seem like a short distance, but it had reduced the travel time for the landing crafts and sped up the transportation.

With the expansion of the landing area, some heavy equipment also reached the beach, with dozens of vehicles and several large-caliber artillery pieces coming ashore, accompanied by reconnaissance cavalry and more signal corps.

The beach was crowded, and the organizational structure of the units began to take shape. The battalion headquarters moved a bit, relocating to a place closer to the inland.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The subsequent landing operation unfolded slowly without enemy interference, and the manpower of the 1st battalion had quickly expanded to 600, not too far from being fully staffed.

The 3rd battalion also received reinforcements, now with a strength of over 300 men, it could stand on its own.

The 2nd battalion was quite interesting, with more than 400 men already ashore and their subsequent weapons delivered to the beach, so the 2nd battalion was re-armed and had regained its combat power.

After spending an entire month on the ship, the condition of the 1st battalion was not good, but the enemy was too weak to even make them a little more spirited.

The troops of Shengwu Yuan only happened to be nearby; in fact, the military strength of Shengwu Country here was very sparse, unable to organize a second counterattack.

According to the estimates of the 1st battalion's staff, the news of their landing on Dongwan Island might reach Fengshun City by nightfall today, while Dongwan Port might not become aware of this news until noon or even the afternoon of the next day.

Not everyone in this world has wireless telegraphy devices; clearly, whether it is Zheng Country or Shengwu Country, including the Dahua Empire, they are technologically far behind those countries and regions adjacent to the Great Tang Group.

Whether it be the commander of the 1st battalion or Bernard, even the staff in distant Brunas were confident that by the time Shengwu Country reacted and mobilized troops, it would already be 72 hours later.

By that time... it would all be over!