Munitions Empire

In the conference room, Tang Mo looked at Harry and others, including Luff Leo, with a somewhat annoying gesture spread his hands, "I don’t want it to be this way either, but after all, some things can’t be hidden from everyone forever."

"Dorne’s envoy has formally requested to visit and inspect the ’flying weapons,’" Harry said. "The envoys from the Suthers Kingdom have also asked to see our new weapons, and according to the bank transfer records, they seem to be ready to pay."

"No one can refuse ’flying weapons,’ a matter we had already discussed before." Tang Mo shrugged, with a there’s-nothing-I-can-do attitude.

Yulin smiled helplessly, stood behind Tang Mo, and began to massage his shoulders obediently.

"Yes, because compared to the ground, the blue sky overhead is still a blank. If there really are weapons in the sky, it means that those who possess such weapons can penetrate deep into enemy territory and attack any target they wish—even targets deep within enemy land," Luff cautiously commented.

"In fact, we do have such weapons." Tang Mo, enjoying Yulin’s massage, said with a mischievous smile, "A weapon that can break directly into the enemy’s hinterland from the sky, as if it were no man’s land!"

The Kirov Airships of the Great Tang Group, or rather the imitative bombing airships, were impossible to keep completely secret on their way to the battlefield.

These huge beasts traveled in groups across the Western Endless Sea, and it’s imaginable how many transport fleets must have seen them.

Furthermore, these weapons weren’t exactly discreet when moving about on Dongwan Island, so the transport ships of other countries that came and went to Dongwan Island naturally saw their fearsome silhouettes.

Tang Mo actually had no intention of hiding these kinds of weapons because only when everyone had seen the weapons for themselves would they truly appreciate their power.

Once it was realized that these weapons could easily tear through defenses and attack the King City of an enemy’s kingdom, everyone would try hard to equip themselves with such weapons and find ways to procure defensive armament against them.

Whether buying airships or anti-aircraft machine guns and anti-aircraft guns for defense, the Great Tang Group would make a killing from either, which was an anticipated outcome.

As an arms dealer, Tang Mo naturally had to sell weapons, and the highest realm of arms dealing is that by showing a small vial of phosgene, one can make all the military forces in the world equip themselves with gas masks!

Tang Mo’s thinking was also very clear: as new weapons, airships were definitely something he would promote, because after all, his real trump card was the airplane.

Selling airships actually wouldn’t maximize profit, only the anti-aircraft guns that Tang Mo had already designed, and production of which had started in many factories, were his real big money-making projects.

The threat of an Air Force would compel all military forces to seriously consider deploying anti-air defenses around their industrial cities, which was also inevitable.

"Respond to their requests. Tell them that I’ll personally take them to see the military airships the day after tomorrow. If they are interested, everyone is free to place orders." Eventually, Tang Mo gave a clear answer, "Tell them that in addition to airships, we have anti-aircraft guns, anti-aircraft machine guns, and other weapons, and let them get their money ready..."

"I understand," Harry promptly nodded in agreement.

In Harry’s view, it seemed that the Great Tang Group would soon receive countless orders, with every country trying hard to order bombing airships, and every kingdom also equipping its King City and heavy industrial bases with innumerable anti-aircraft guns.

...

On Dongwan Island, an officer stood in front of Cao Fei, personally fitting him with new shoulder epaulets. Cao Fei, as a Ranger, had performed exceptionally well in this operation and thus received a well-deserved promotion.

He had been officially promoted from a junior non-commissioned officer to a sergeant. At the same time, his arm’s name had been confirmed as changed—he had now become an independent sniper.

A brand new branch of the military created by the Great Tang Group, equipped with modern weapons, and possessing fierce combat prowess!

"This is your new weapon and equipment... I hope you make good use of these weapons and gear, to fight bravely for yourself and for Great Tang!" The officer turned, pointing to a new rifle, new camouflage gear, and other equipment neatly arranged on the ground.

The brand new rifle was a long-range semi-automatic sniper rifle developed and produced by the Great Tang Group, the G43 model with a short-stroke piston gas system.

This rifle was still in a confidential phase, and the Great Tang Group had no plans for large-scale production of this precise weapon. However, Tang Mo liked to use semi-automatic rifles as sniper rifles, which could improve sniper efficiency.

The traditional bolt-action rifles required the user to forsake their aim and manually reload after each shot, which was not efficient.

The semi-automatic rifle did not have this flaw. It could keep firing until the magazine was empty before needing to reload, which could significantly increase a sniper’s firepower.

Therefore, Tang Mo planned to equip all of his snipers with semi-automatic rifles to maximize their effectiveness.

Meanwhile, the Great Tang Group had also installed optical sights on these semi-automatic rifles, which extended the snipers’ attack distance and improved their accuracy.

Tang Mo attached a 4x magnifying scope to this kind of sniper rifle, which, when paired with a precision rifle, allows the sniper to accurately kill human-sized targets at a distance of around 200 meters.

If the sniper had ample experience, he could even engage stationary targets at around 400 meters, especially since the G43 rifles produced by the Great Tang Group were quite accurate.

To enhance the snipers’ close-quarters combat capability, in addition to being issued semi-automatic rifles, they were also provided with an S3-type semi-automatic pistol. They were given three extra magazines for close-range defense.

Additionally, the snipers had their own special camouflage raincoats, which could be temporarily transformed into a rainproof single-person tent. Apart from this, the snipers also had woodland ghillie suits developed by the Great Tang Group, which effectively reduced the distance at which the sniper could be detected.

Even the sniper’s uniform differed from that of ordinary soldiers; this new jacket-style uniform was, in fact, reversible, with one side being stark white for winter camouflage, and the other side being the classic universal three-color camo.

To prevent reflections, the sniper’s helmet also had a camouflage cover with a netting fixture for attaching branches to further enhance concealment.

Cao Fei checked his gear and found that he had many more items to carry. The optical sight was a very delicate item, so it was protected by a cylindrical guard in peacetime to prevent damage.

Truth be told, the concept of a sniper rifle is nothing more than a simple combination of a telescope and a rifle; it’s not as complicated as one might think.

However, machining a scope to synchronize with a rifle for aiming and firing, and ensuring its battlefield usability, was a true test of manufacturing processes.

It was not a simple matter, and even up to the twenty-first century, only a few countries could produce high-precision sniper scopes that were up to standard.

To ensure that the snipers could operate independently, even the rations issued by the troops had been upgraded several notches. No joke, the snipers’ provisions were basically on par with those of the Navy.

"Don’t worry, your assistant gunner will arrive soon," the officer squatted on the ground, helping Cao Fei sort through the spread-out items.

Toothbrush, toothpaste, soap, cigarettes, and chocolate milk candies, a small mirror, a small wooden comb, a foldable spoon, and fork, spare socks and underwear as well as sealed desiccants... In fact, the snipers even had the latest black technology from the Great Tang Group: simple tablets for purifying spring water.

Looking at these individual soldier supplies alone, the Great Tang Group’s snipers were already not much different from modern infantry.

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If these items were replaced with newer materials and the weapons with modern rifles, they would not be inferior to the twenty-first-century Marine Corps at all.

"Only one?" Cao Fei picked up the hand grenade and asked the officer.

"You can apply for a second one, but to reduce weight, indeed one was cut," the officer picked up the cigarettes. "Do you smoke?"

"I don’t," Cao Fei shook his head. "The squad leader took them before."

"Then it’s my lucky day," the officer said, smiling as he pocketed the cigarettes, but he did not ask for the windproof lighter.

After all, in the field, lighting a fire is often not just for smoking, but also potentially for cooking. Having a lighter clearly made things a lot more convenient.

Putting the lighter and the low-end version of the "quick burn" for cooking into the new double-shouldered backpack, the officer got curious, "I heard you married a local girl?"

"Yes," Cao Fei answered somewhat sheepishly. He hadn’t thought he would ever take a wife, but when the policy came out, he had to respond.

The locals had an urgent need to marry their women to the occupying military soldiers, in exchange for security and living supplies.

The Great Tang Group also hoped that through marriage, they could quickly recover the population size and absorb the natives into becoming "Tang People." It was a perfect match, and thus, widespread arranged marriages began.

As long as one was unmarried, they could take a wife on Dongwan Island. Caught up in such an atmosphere, Cao Fei honestly married the widow that wanted to wed him.

By marrying him, she immediately received housing in Dongwan City and was assigned to a school where she learned and managed the cafeteria—essentially serving as the cafeteria attendant.

Because he married a local, Cao Fei was granted leave once every two weeks! He could use this day off to return to Dongwan City and reunite with his wife.

"Why are they in pairs?" Cao Fei, accustomed to being alone, suddenly brought the conversation back around, asking somewhat uncomfortably.

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