Chapter 1653: Chapter 1570: The Great Feat Unachieved by Predecessors
If possible, Frid truly wished to tell everything he had seen to Commander Dorne, to the Emperor of the Ice Cold Empire, and to all those who still held hope for this war.
Before seeing these massive docks, he also had a sliver of hope for this war, thinking that even if he himself was defeated, the side he was on hadn’t yet lost.
But now, seeing dozens of gigantic docks anchored on the beach, forming a bustling port, he was utterly shocked.
As a pilot, he couldn’t possibly know how these enormous docks were constructed, nor did he need to know the details.
All he needed to know was that these docks were real and in operation! The Tang Army was swarming ashore, and this momentum was unstoppable.
"It’s over..." said the human pilot sitting next to Frid, his face pale with fear. Before seeing those towering crane structures, he didn’t believe the Tang Army could construct such a large port in such a short time.
He murmured softly, and everyone, including Frid, felt the same: It’s over! The Ice Cold Empire... or rather, all the countries on the Eastern Continent, are done for!
Of course, these docks were all temporary. With the tides and vibrations, they might face issues or even get ruined in several days. But does any of it matter? A few days are enough for the Tang Army to transport their resources and personnel ashore.
While these men got off the vehicles, bewildered, they saw a kind of ship they had never seen before, with huge fans at the back, rushing onto the beach, kicking up sand, and then lowering a ramp to allow a square-shaped main battle tank to come ashore.
What amazed them even more was that after dropping off the main battle tank, the ship swayed and returned gracefully to the sea...
These pilots, who had flown from the southernmost to the northernmost tip of the Eastern Continent, had their eyes opened for the first time, seeing the hovercraft of this world, and though they didn’t even know its name, they were terrified by its impressive capabilities.
"We lost this war; they actually built such a port in such a short time." Frid gave his desperate judgment.
"Yeah, who would have thought..." others echoed involuntarily: They all knew very well that once the Tang Army could keep coming ashore, nobody could stop their advance.
As these men looked down upon the crowded docks from the temporary roads, a Tang Army general disembarked, standing on the slightly swaying floating dock.
General Feng Kezhi’s 9th Group Army was ordered to set out from Northern Island, arriving on the Eastern Continent that day. His grand army was disembarking, a spectacular scene witnessed by Frid and the other captives.
Countless soldiers with their weapons and backpacks disembarked from the transport ships, curiously looking at the supply-laden beach and at the concrete bunkers, some intact and some half-collapsed, in the distance.
Frankly, they too were very shocked, because according to the 9th Group Army’s landing experience, breaking through such a beach required countless lives.
They would have to brave enemy artillery and countless machine-gun lines to storm the beach, then guide subsequent naval bombardments to destroy these fortifications, using the Engineer Corps to clear obstacles and demolish stubborn enemy points, forcing their way into the enemy’s deeper defenses.
And this process often costs thousands of lives, sometimes even more casualties, and the entire landing operation might still end in failure.
But now, they walked onto the beach and saw the first landing troops easily break through such defenses. Some buildings remained intact, which truly surprised the officers of the 9th Group Army.
They walked past cement mixers, unrolled barbed wire yet to be dealt with, temporary checkpoints, and saw labeled ammo depots and a temporary command post.
Large areas were allocated to these far-traveled soldiers, who would soon engage in combat to expand their gains. Meanwhile, another group army departing from the Western Continent would take over their duties, going to the South Island to relieve the 9th Group Army’s defenses.
"Long live the Emperor! Commander! The 9th Armored Division’s 1st Regiment has landed, and the 9th Infantry Division has entered the temporary base." An officer reported their disembarkation progress to Feng Kezhi, saluting as he did so.
"Long live the Emperor!" Feng Kezhi returned the salute and then glanced at the troops still disembarking from the ship, asking, "Will the enemy harass us with long-range fire?"
"The landing command reports that the enemy occasionally uses one or two Scud missiles to harass the landing area. No missiles have fallen in the past two days, so safety is assured," the officer immediately replied.
"That’s good." Feng Kezhi walked onto the beach, forgoing the waiting vehicle to stride upon the soft sand, heading to a nearby abandoned machine-gun position.
The sandbags were still there, but the ammunition boxes inside had been removed, only a shell remained, faintly showing signs of past occupancy.
As time passed, the area had slightly deformed, and before long, those sandbags might break, spilling sand and leaving the entire post unrecognizable.
Feng Kezhi stood beside the position, looking back at the docks, noticing the shooting range here was actually quite good. He didn’t see bullet holes in the sandbags, assuring him that there had been no substantial battle nearby.
He was right; no battle occurred here. The Tang Army’s special forces had crept up near this position, silently eliminating the sentinels and moving on without a sound.
Not just this small post, even the bunker on the distant cliff behind it, played no role. Not a single shot was fired, and it became a prize for the Tang Army.
"Marshal Tagg achieved a feat no one before him could; for the first time, this world has a united hope," Feng Kezhi remarked with emotion, "The Great Tang Empire will become the greatest empire in this world!"