Munitions Empire

Chapter 416 405 Awful Boarding

When the regimental commander returned to the Liberty ship and informed the soldiers that they could land ashore the day after tomorrow morning, the atmosphere turned cheerful.

After such a long sea voyage, they had almost felt that they were going to die on this broken ship.

But now, they had finally reached the end, finally seen hope—this caused the young soldiers to let out enthusiastic cheers uncontrollably.

Even though some were still vomiting, even though some were still listless, everyone began to organize their luggage, checking the equipment they carried with them as required.

The next day, all the soldiers were forced to eat, and everyone had to appear on deck on time to exercise, to bask in the sun. In the early morning of the third day, soldiers on the bridge finally saw a huge island on the sea level.

On the escorting cruisers, gun barrels at every angle pointed towards the coastline, and the atmosphere suddenly became tense.

Minutes later, rope ladders were thrown over both sides of all the Liberty ships, and cranes lowered one after another small boat for landing.

Larger small boats even had gasoline engines as power, while more of them were still manned by sailors, wooden boats rowed with oars.

Soldiers eager to leave the place crowded the deck; some were asked to help operate the cranes, some helped to remove the canvas covering the small boats.

Officers threaded through the gaps in the queue of soldiers awaiting orders, loudly reminding everyone, "Don't panic! Hold steady! Everyone pay attention to safety! When transferring to the small boats! Make sure to be safe!"

"There aren't enough lifebelts! It's impossible to have one for each person!" Inside the bridge, a naval officer frowned as he overlooked the dense crowd on the deck and muttered.

"They can't climb down the rope ladders with lifebelts on their backs..." The adjutant felt that this preparation was a disaster.

Previously, during the landing at Hotwind Port, there was a pier, so the soldiers were more accurately described as disembarking rather than landing.

But now, with the ship rising and falling in the rolling waves, a bunch of "land ducks" climbing a dozen meters down the rope ladders and then leaping onto the waiting small boats below could almost be described as an extreme sport.

"Because we're not sure if there are hidden reefs, we dare not get too close to the coastline... Stopping here is already quite risky" the captain said, putting down his telescope.

In a chaotic situation, the army soldiers who had almost no training in transferring to small boats began to surge toward the rope ladders.

What looked like rope ladders woven from ropes thick as a woman's wrist were actually as soft as mischievous snakes. They offered no sense of security when gripped in hand and were too loose to support one's weight, swaying and slack.

Therefore, soldiers who had just climbed over the ship's side and descended two or three meters began to complain, "My God! Is it this high? Damn it! Who designed this thing... How can we climb when it's so soft?"

A soldier climbing down alongside him exploded with annoyance at these irritating complaints and couldn't help but reprimand in a low voice, "Shut up! Stop nagging! Damn it! I can hardly hold on."

It was barely dawn, deathly quiet all around, and the Liberty ship at a standstill, devoid of the constant rumbling of machinery.

"Leave the backpacks! Bayonets and engineer shovels aren't needed either! Nor the rifles! Helmets! Leave everything on the deck!" Quickly, the officers received their orders and conveyed them through the crowded crowd.

Hearing the order, the soldiers began to remove the equipment they had taken all morning to put on with difficulty.

Soon after, a supplementary order came through. The already dazed officers had to continue loudly reminding everyone, "Those who can swim can carry pistols! If you can swim, take some more gear! Pistols and pistol ammunition! All can be taken!"

"The fully loaded boats can depart now!" Across the sea surface, the sailors' voices could be heard from time to time as they rowed, maneuvering the wooden boats through the waves towards the coast.

Initially there were one or two, but the number of wooden boats heading to the shore gradually increased. Some of the larger wooden boats carried special equipment covered with tarpaulin, including manually operated generators and telegraphs for communication.

"The first batch of boats has already set off!" An officer walked up behind the commander of the 1st Battalion, who was guarding the railing, saluted, and reported.

The battalion commander nodded; he saw that his troops were already making a sprint for the shore and would soon be landing!

Unlike the Normandy landings of World War II, Tang Mo's troops did not have plastic wrapped around their rifles, nor did he need intense artillery preparation.

He didn't even need to lay smoke bombs on the beach to cover his landing troops, protecting the soldiers from the slaughter of enemy machine gun fire.

The Great Tang Group did not have dedicated landing craft with doors that open at the front; they had to rely on the most traditional small boat landing method to send soldiers to the beachhead.

Unlike the advanced landing patterns of the later stages of World War II, this landing form had shockingly major flaws—the small boats, once they reached the sand, found it difficult to return to sea.

The soldiers who boarded the boats first, after a long wait, were nearly at the point where they could touch the beach.

The surroundings remained eerily quiet, with not even a shadow of the enemy in sight. As they neared the beach, the impatient soldiers couldn't wait to leap into the water and staggeringly step toward the land they had long yearned for.

Carrying their rifles, the first soldier to land didn't even choose a spot; he just plopped down on the golden gravel, taking deep breaths of air and occasionally laughing out loud.

Those following him ashore were not in much better shape; they helped each other find a clean spot to sit down and unabashedly relished in the safety and stability of the land.

As for the pre-arranged tasks like seizing the high ground and finding immediate cover, few people could remember them at that moment.

This was more like a drill than a battle. Or perhaps it couldn't even be considered a drill—it was more like a spring outing.

Discarding their weapons and backpacks to the side, taking off their boots and throwing aside their helmets, these first soldiers to land even turned around and went back into the sea to help the subsequent forces with unloading heavy equipment.

"Finally on shore..." Not inclined to prompt his soldiers to regain discipline, the officer also sat on the beach, comfortably sighing with contentment.

Now standing on the sand, they still felt a relentless swaying, making them feel nauseated, as if they were women tormented by morning sickness.

"Yes, finally... we've arrived..." The commander responsible for the landing operations, having just staggered ashore, joined the circle of officers with a sigh of relief: "Next time something like this happens, let's leave it to the 2nd or 3rd Battalion..."