Munitions Empire

The Tang Army has used their initial tactic, but is their second tactic really just those Imperial Paratroopers ready to penetrate deep alone?

Obviously not; the reason the Great Tang Empire is determined to launch landing operations in the Ice Cold Empire's fortified territories is primarily because Tang Mo prepared a new set of tactics for his troops.

With a technical advantage, the Tang Army can clearly act unpredictably; the three-pronged strategy is not the only tactic the Tang Army can employ.

While Tang Army aircraft bombarded the Steel Rampart, forcing the dwarves' focus inland, silent submersibles released Tang Empire special forces donned in black diving suits beneath the quiet waters.

In the pitch-black waters, the Commander gave attack orders using glow sticks and hand signals, and once the Tang Empire special forces abandoned the submersibles, they surfaced like ghosts in the shallow sea.

Removing their swim goggles and oxygen masks, the fully armed soldiers tore open sealed plastic bags to retrieve the night vision devices inside.

Equipped with the latest low-light night vision devices, these somewhat futuristic warriors shed their flippers and quietly made their way ashore.

Under the cover of darkness, they approached one by one, clutching rifles with silencers, until they reached the first trench dug by the dwarves.

Two combat engineers knelt on one knee, cutting through the dense barbed wire with such sharp cutters that the empty cans didn't even sway to make a sound.

After opening the path, the black-clad special forces filed in, unaware to the dwarf sentinels gazing at the explosions and flames; it seemed the Tang Empire's landing had already begun unnoticed.

A gloved hand reached out from the darkness, bypassing a dwarf sentinel's neck with a knife. Before the sentinel could react, the blade had already cut through his throat.

Inside the dim front-line command post, the battalion commander of the dwarf troops suddenly felt uneasy. Frowning, he looked toward the entrance just as he saw his guard being pulled into an unseen corner.

"Who's there?" the dwarf battalion commander shouted, reaching for his waist holster, his hair standing on end in alarm.

His answer was the barrel of a gun intruding into the room, with a muzzle as thick as a fist, flickering firelight with only a low hiss.

It was as though a gigantic iron hammer struck his chest, and blood scattered from the dwarf battalion commander's chest as he uncontrollably collapsed to the ground. He never got to shout about the enemy attack, losing consciousness and turning into a gradually cooling body.

The dwarf officers and guards who responded to the shout almost instantly fell to the ground.

Once everything was silent, the Tang Empire soldiers, faces painted with waterproof black and green oil paint, entered, securing the vital front-line command post with weapons in hand.

A camera was brought out, and the intelligence-gathering officer began filming the defense maps spread on the table and command scrolls filled with orders. The real-time footage would be transmitted to the Tang Army command center, like a television broadcast.

One checkpoint after another was eliminated by the special forces wearing night vision devices, and the dwarf soldiers couldn't fathom their opponents were warriors capable of swift action even in the dark.

The instructions from the officers above indicated the Tang Army would commence bombing tonight, and only at dawn would the main Tang Empire forces launch a fierce attack on the beachhead.

So now, most of the dwarf soldiers on the beachhead were resting and conserving energy, with only a few officers and sentinels on duty.

And the sentinels' vigilance level was low because they did not believe the Tang Army would launch a landing operation at night without artillery preparation and with unclear enemy movements.

What they didn't know was that the Tang Army special forces personnel had repeatedly studied these positions through satellite images for many days, grasping every detail clearly, and could even estimate the dwarf troop deployment through comparisons.

"Toxins have infiltrated! The enemy is becoming paralyzed." After receiving the news about the successful landing and intrusion by the special forces, the adjutant informed both Marshals Bernard and Tagg of the good news.

"It seems the operation is proceeding smoothly; the next battle plan can begin." Bernard looked at Tagg, acknowledging that this tactic would indeed be formidable, though he hadn't expected such effectiveness.

After Tang Mo proposed the broad application of special forces, using infiltration tactics to initially destroy enemy coastal defenses, the senior Tang Army officers had an epiphany: special forces could do more than just decapitation strikes; they can be deployed en masse.

Tagg nodded: "Let's begin then!"

As orders were issued, follow-up troops in inflatable rafts began rushing the shore; they were not fast, but their numbers were overwhelming. Each raft carried less than ten soldiers, but there were so many it seemed like ants on a rotten apple.

Raft after raft surged up the beach, but the places where dwarf sentinels should have been stationed were now left with only blood on the ground. Dense packs of Tang Army soldiers fanned out along the beach, seizing one after another of the vacant bunkers and trenches.

A special forces team member carrying a heavy backpack stumbled over a tangled wire while passing through a cut barbed wire area, causing nearby cans to clang in succession, yet no sentinels' questioning voices could be heard.

It was impossible for the sleeping dwarf soldiers in the underground shelters to hear the cans clattering, and those who should have heard them were now piled up and hidden in a corner.

In the darkened, resting dwarf underground barracks, a soldier groggily got up and walked toward the door; he drank too much water last night and was now getting up to relieve himself.

The distant rumbling explosions did nothing to dispel his sleepiness. He had another two hours before his shift, leaving him time to enjoy a good sleep.

At the corner of the passageway, he was suddenly blocked by a shadow. His irritation from waking made him glance up at the other's face, only to meet two round lenses emitting a faint green light.

For a moment, he thought he'd encountered some monster; before he could shout, his mouth was covered from behind. The next second, a sharp knife penetrated his chest from behind, slipping through his ribs to emerge at the front, the knife's tip bloodied, chillingly cold.