Munitions Empire

"Captain Cao Fei! Welcome aboard Qingluan No. 3 Amphibious Assault Ship." A young sailor, after checking the credentials of Cao Fei, the naval sniper ace with an impressive record, stood at attention and saluted with a smile.

"Thank you." Cao Fei returned the salute, then, with the help of the sailor, lifted his equipment and placed it on the luggage rack above the bed.

His rank was high enough to secure a cabin for four, a privilege not afforded to ordinary Navy Marine Corps soldiers, who had to sleep in crowded 16-person cabins akin to sardine cans.

In fact, the Marines jokingly referred to the cramped cabins on the landing ships as "sardine cans." Luckily, the ventilation in Tang Army's cabins was decent enough; otherwise, the stench from a bunch of men's feet could cause catastrophic casualties.

Due to the covert nature of the operation, all troop boarding times were set at night and divided into batches. Once onboard, movement was not allowed.

Going up to the deck for fresh air was out of the question; even the night outing was also split into batches and required adherence to time limits—conditions worse than imprisonment, but since it was only for a few days, everyone had to bear it.

Senior officers arrived on the ship later. By the time Cao Fei boarded, nearly everyone was already onboard: the lower deck corridors were piled with various items, including food and life-saving equipment.

To maximize personnel and equipment loading, comfort became a secondary concern. Additionally, while loading the supplies, it was discovered that the miscellaneous details were significant, greatly exceeding original estimates.

"Seasickness medication!" In the corridor, a sailor was distributing seasickness medication while another was responsible for collecting personal items like farewell letters and family correspondence.

The instructor trailing them tirelessly explained the safety passages, life-saving equipment location, and distributed copies of the layout: "These are confidential documents! Destroy them immediately after familiarizing yourself; they're not allowed to be taken ashore!"

He emphasized continuously, but the Army soldiers paid little attention. Cao Fei's roommates gathered to play cards; he, being the last to arrive, did not join, but instead leaned against the door of the cabin with no door, watching the busy sailors in the distant corridor.

Every few feet, there was a watertight cabin door with a lit green passage indicator light – a familiar environment for him and the Navy Marine Corps.

Above him, the spacious flight deck was already filled with helicopters, all secured with steel cables to prevent them from sliding into the sea due to the ship's rocking.

Due to time constraints, the Navy couldn't equip a specialized ground attack helicopter, so Black Hawk Helicopter became their sole choice.

A large number of modified Black Hawk Helicopters could be mounted with rockets, with heavy machine guns installed on the sides. Overall... they could manage air suppression, although professionalism wasn't to be expected.

Anyway, once a location was seized, a Field Airport would be established, and the Army's Armed Helicopters would immediately move in, as planned.

Beneath Cao Fei's feet, Liu Guozhu looked somewhat nervous at the tank inside a new equipment called a hovercraft.

Sailors said this thing, which neither resembled a plane nor a ship, could directly deliver his tank onto the beach, which he found a bit hard to believe.

His tank weighed nearly 50 tons, significantly more than the equipment formerly referred to as tanks. Delivering it directly ashore would be remarkable.

Even harder to believe was that beside the doors at the front of this hovercraft, there were two small turrets that could provide fire cover before landing... quite reassuring.

Everyone was busy as this Qingluan-class giant ship was soon to set sail. After leaving the port, it would meet the carrier fleet at anchorage and form a group to sail into the open sea.

Their route would incline north, meeting the No. 1 logistics fleet that departed earliest from Qingluan Port, then the No. 2 fleet that sailed from Nanshan Port, followed by the Empire's Second Landing Fleet from Dongwan, then the Empire's Main Fleet from Dragon Island, finally joining the No. 3 fleet from Great Southern Bay on South Island, forming the strongest naval fleet ever on this planet.

The entire fleet comprised 11 modern carriers equipped with 300 Flying Shark Fighters, 500 Intruder Attack Aircraft, 35 Early Warning Aircraft, and 40 other service aircraft.

The landing fleet had 12 Qingluan-class landing ships fitted with 400 Black Hawk Helicopters, almost all newly manufactured, specially treated navy-type Black Hawk Helicopters piled on these assault ships.

Escorting these big fellows were 25 missile cruisers, 50 destroyers, and 41 high-performance integrated supply ships. Following the commanding such a massive fleet was Marshal Bernard Naval Command Ship, the world's only dedicated command ship.

Supporting the entire battle fleet were over 200 satellites orbiting this planet in space, providing intelligence support, including weather and images.

Accompanying the fleet were three logistics fleets with over 600 ships, including medical and transport ships, diverse in type and astonishing in quantity.

If the amphibious assault ship was the foot kicking open the opponent's door, then the traditional landing fleet was the giant entering the room, with transport fleets of thousands of transport ships carrying over 150,000 troops, cruising in formation almost covering the entire horizon.

To provide comprehensive fire support, Tang Army even brought out 4 battleships surrendered from Chu Country after annexation.

These old relics had slow speeds; after the Great Tang Empire took over, advanced equipment like radars were installed, and now they followed in the supply fleet, used as artillery support ships.

Additionally, Chu Country's two cruisers were utilized by Tang Army, plus some miscellaneous small destroyers. Chu Country's fleet foundation was fully utilized, and these warships were practically 90% new for Tang Army.

To adapt these relics to modern warfare, Tang Army focused on enhancing their communication capabilities, maximizing the utilization of these old warships in coordinated operations.

After all, Tang Army didn't pay much attention to similar artillery warships, but modern warships might face support delays in landing operations, so they directly brought the artillery warships out to let these veterans shine one last time...