Munitions Empire

"In the future, your tasks will change—search, destruction... many times you will need to operate further afield, and having a partner helps look out for each other. A spotter can also assist you with alertness and observing enemy movements around you," the officer explained.

After he finished speaking, he paused briefly, then continued, "Don't be in a rush. Mike has the sniper training manual, and once he's done with it, he'll pass it on to you. You have three days to look it over before handing it to Sheldon."

Cao Fei nodded his head, well aware of the importance of such a manual. A read-through would give him a clear understanding of the role he was expected to play in combat.

The Great Tang Group's tactical manual was, without a doubt, a valuable asset, combining practical combat experience—even internally, it was highly confidential.

Usually, after circulating it among the appropriate troops, it would be collected back—no copies would be allowed to leak, and the inventory was checked thoroughly.

Having firsthand experience as a sniper, Tang Mo was crystal clear about the operation—single sniper teams would soon be outdated, and the correct development path was in sniper teams.

Knowing the right direction for future development, Tang Mo wouldn't use his precious sniper talent for trial and error. He brought out the most standardized sniper tactics manual, proven in combat.

With such a manual, snipers could avoid paying a high price in battle, and it would also reduce their own side's losses.

"I say, how's the girl?" the officer asked, seemingly more interested in Cao Fei's new bride than the sniper tactical manual.

"She's good, a woman who knows how to manage day-to-day life," Cao Fei replied succinctly. He knew the officer might be asking about the intimate aspects, but he answered in a different respect.

Sure enough, the officer scratched his head in slight disappointment and stood up, "I'll go check on Sheldon; he doesn't smoke either."

Cao Fei stood up, put his chin up, and saluted formally. The officer waved his hand impatiently, "What's with all the formality, get on with your business."

He turned and left while Cao Fei squatted down to continue sorting through his few belongings. To carry the equipment, both the rucksack and tactical vest were newly designed and seemed more comfortable to wear—Cao Fei liked them a lot.

While packing his personal belongings, a photo got tucked into his credentials—it was of a rather frail girl, standing beside him.

To prevent hooligans from pestering the wives of soldiers who were mostly stationed outside the city, the military had a simple and brute solution.

They would arrange for each married couple to have a photo taken, then print several copies for each person to use temporarily as identification.

The women carried these photos with them; should they face an inspection, they could show it, and in case of harassment, it could act as a talisman.

If the audacious still dared to cause trouble, the military would intervene—after a few live-fire practices, the bullies who looked for trouble in the city almost vanished.

It was said that a soldier's wife was hassled by nine thugs. Despite showing her photo, they persisted. She fled to the streets and cried for help, and the nine thugs were cornered in an alley by twenty patrolling soldiers and beaten for an hour.

The police arrived later, took over the case after understanding the situation—and continued the beating for another half hour.

For a while, it was hard to tell who the real hooligans were. The bullies lying unconscious on the ground even thought about calling the police at one point... Reality can sometimes be more fantastical than fiction.

Cao Fei didn't immediately close his notebook but instead looked down at the photo of the slightly shy girl standing next to him.

She wore an ill-fitting work uniform—the only kind the Great Tang Group managed to provide in abundance and at a low cost, readily available.

She stood about a fist's distance from Cao Fei, her eyes downcast not daring to look at the camera lens, her hands nervously twined in front of her, and her hair somewhat disheveled.

However, with a few days of decent meals, her complexion had clearly improved, and it was evident she wasn't bad-looking, at least above average.

Remembering what happened after the collective wedding, Cao Fei's face flushed slightly; he quickly closed the notebook and tucked it into his chest pocket.

...

At Fengshun City, on the docks of Fengshun Port, another group of pale-faced soldiers disembarked. Some leaned over the edge of the dock retching into the sea, while others supported each other, waiting for new orders.

Not far away, an officer with a ledger stood in a spot the troops were sure to pass, loudly asking, "Does anyone know how to swim? Does anyone not get seasick?"

His voice was loud, but the passing soldiers seemed completely uninterested in such matters. They had just arrived here by boat from Brunas, a journey longer than from Dragon Island, naturally showing no interest in swimming or seasickness.

But soon, there were cries that caught their interest, "Sign up and get a subsidy! 50 silver coins a month! Who wants to sign up?"

"I can swim!" In the crowd, a soldier with a slightly healthier complexion raised his arm and was quickly taken to an open space on the other side.

At the edge of the open space, cars were already waiting. The selected soldiers were to be gathered together—they would form the backbone of the Great Tang Group's naval infantry.

Because of the numerous problems that had arisen during the landing at Dongwan this time, Tang Mo and other senior executives of the Great Tang Group realized that establishing a naval infantry was necessary.

At least from the perspective of later developments, landing in Zheng Country, as well as attacking Shen Country, would require a powerful first-wave landing force to expand the beachhead and even capture the port, to help the subsequent troops establish a secure beachhead position and ensure that the following forces could land in a relatively safe environment.

With the requirements established, corresponding improvements were necessary. The Great Tang Group was ready to draw more suitable talent from various units to form a new combat force: the naval infantry.

This force would need to be more adaptable to long-distance sea transportation and able to maintain a strong fighting capacity during the transit at sea.

Everyone would be required to master the various skills needed for landing, be able to use more advanced landing equipment, and be familiar with various tactics of fighting on the beachhead.

Whether it was Bernard, Tagg, Tang Mo, or Luff, nobody wanted to see another group of soldiers getting ashore and vomiting, half-deadly attacking the enemy's likely fortified beachhead defense positions again.

If the fighting power of both sides was at roughly equal levels, such a battle would result in a heavy toll, and the landing might even fail!

"The compensation for falling in battle is higher! There's a monthly allowance, you get navy-level supplies, longer holidays, and quicker promotions..." The officer in charge of establishing the naval infantry waved the carrot, tempting those soldiers familiar with the sea to try their luck.

Not everyone feared the sea; at least in cities with harbors like Brunas and Hotwind Port, there were many people who were comfortable with water and didn't get seasick.

They had lived by the sea since childhood and taking boats was a routine matter for them; they could be full of life and energy even on smaller, more tumultuous sailing ships, so naturally, they could live on liberty ships as well.
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While most of these people had already become sailors or naval personnel, there were still a few serving in the army, and this time they had their chance for promotion.

These soldiers who had come from afar belonged to the Great Tang Group's 5th Light Infantry Division. Their weaponry and equipment had not even been fully issued before they were loaded on ships and sent to Dongwan Island.

This unit, which had only completed basic training, didn't even have a full complement of light weapons. However, soon they received their secondhand weapons on Dongwan Island.

The Maxim heavy machine guns phased out by the 1st Infantry Division were directly allocated to the 5th Division, while the 1st Infantry Division was now starting to reequip with the lighter and more powerful MG42 general-purpose machine gun.

Since Great Tang had always been using 8mm caliber bullets (7.92mm caliber), Tang Mo simply took the initiative to use the light weapons as a complete set.

Now his troops could almost standardize the caliber of their light weapons: apart from the bullets for pistols and submachine guns, general-purpose machine guns, sniper rifles, and rifles all used 8mm caliber bullets, which could at least simplify logistics somewhat.

The performance of the MG42 machine gun was unquestionable; its continuous presence in World War II meant it certainly had its advantages.

Of course, it had its drawbacks as well, like all weapons do, but as long as the shortcomings didn't affect combat use, they could be tolerated.

Based on combat experience, the Great Tang Group's military was adjusting its weapon ratio, emphasizing the frontline combat units that valued firepower, believing that an infantry squad should have about three submachine gunners.

The 1st Division was reequipping according to this experience, increasing the proportion of submachine guns, and also swapping all of its snipers to G43s. The deployment of a significant number of semi-automatic weapons indeed improved the firepower density of the 1st Division.

To accommodate the increased projectile capacity, the 1st Division had to expand its logistics supply unit, equipping more vehicles to transport more ammunition.

The same thing was happening on Dragon Island, where the 3rd Division replacing the 1st Division was also equipping with more new weapons. In contrast, the 2nd Division stationed in Brunas had not started reequipping due to the need for secrecy.

On the 25th day after the battle of Dongwan Island ended, the Great Tang Group had already transported the entirety of the 1st Division, and the majority of the 4th and 5th Divisions to the island.

The entire Dongwan Island had now turned into a huge construction site, a large barracks, and at the same time, a large school.

Loads of textbooks and teachers were brought here by ship, and the sound of reading in Dongwan City and the exercises of the troops outside echoed each other, creating an unexpectedly harmonious atmosphere.

It was also on this day that the first railway constructed by the Great Tang Group on Dongwan Island began construction, laying down the first sleeper. The port inside Dongwan City also got electrified on this day, equipping electric cranes.

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Sorry, it's still two chapters... T-T