Munitions Empire

On the southwest of Dragon Island, on a pleasant sandy beach, several sailors exerted all their strength to drag a small boat to a place beyond the reach of the waves.

Then, these sailors began to pour the seawater out of their boots and figure out how to clean the sand off their bodies. Read new chapters at m_v-l'e|m,p| y- r

"This place is really nice." The leading officer brushed the sea sand off his body and surveyed the surrounding scenery with high praise, "It is my honor to expand the territory for His Majesty the King."

"When will the follow-up troops be able to land?" After speaking, he turned to look at the subordinates by his side and asked.

"Sir, the troops will be able to land soon, and the following sailors and workers will all be able to get ashore before dinner today," the deputy officer on the same boat replied.

Not far behind him, on another small boat, soldiers armed to the teeth were jumping down one after another.

A brown flag was unfolded and hoisted onto a flagpole, then erected on the beach. This flag fluttered in the sea breeze, its golden steering wheel emblem particularly conspicuous.

"This land belongs to Taren Kingdom! Long live!" When the leading officer saw his nation's flag billowing in the wind on the island, he let out a cheer.

"Long live!" Everyone who landed shouted together, they had gone through hardship to get here, all for such a glorious moment.

"Set up the camp! Send out a scouting team... Wait, over there... What is that?" Just as everyone was excited about gaining control of the new island, the leading officer saw rolls of black smoke in the distance, near the mountain peaks.

"It could be a volcano," the deputy officer, touching the Longsword at his waist, said to his commander: "It's probably an active volcano."

"Perhaps." The Taren Kingdom's naval commander also touched the Longsword at his waist and raised his chin to look at the black smoke as he spoke.

After thought, the deputy officer offered another explanation: "Or it could be a forest burning, possibly due to lightning strikes or something."

"Send out a scouting party! Let them go check out the black smoke, see exactly what is burning..." the commander of the Taren Kingdom ordered anew.

"At your command!" The deputy officer nodded, ready to select a group of soldiers to take a closer look deep on the island.

Then, they saw a man emerge from the jungle, pushing through the shrubs and walking towards them as they were landing.

"What's going on? How can there be people here?" Commander Housen, who believed he was the first to land on this uninhabited island and expand territory for his motherland, exclaimed incredulously.

His deputy was also surprised because this unnamed island should have been recently discovered by several maritime powers.

He didn't look like a person from Zheng Country with black eyes and black hair, nor was he one of the elves from Poplar Kingdom. So where was this man in front of them from?

"Who are you?" The captain of a Ranger squad that had patrolled this way, unarmed, walked straight up to the group of people on the beach and asked.

"We are the pioneers of Taren Kingdom, this is our nation's territory! How come you are here?" Housen prepared to overwhelm the other side with his presence, having the other side acknowledge that this land belonged to Taren Kingdom.

"Sorry, Commander! When we were building the city here, there wasn't a single person around," boasted the captain of the Great Tang Group's Ranger squad in retort: "How did this place become your territory?"

"Unfortunately, this place was discovered first by our Taren Kingdom, so by convention, this has already become our territory," Housen revealed a vicious smile on his face: "Now that you have already built a small town, I hereby declare... I'm your town mayor now! Now, take me to your town."

"I think you better think carefully, because this could easily lead to a dispute," the Ranger squad captain replied sternly, staring into the other's eyes: "Leave this place, or you will regret invading Great Tang Group's territory for the rest of your life."

"Whoosh!" A group of soldiers armed with Shireck Firearms pointed their guns at the Ranger squad captain, as Commander Housen's smile grew even crueler: "I think you are the one who hasn't understood the situation! I declare, this place is Taren Kingdom's territory, and it is now Taren Kingdom's territory!

You better show me the way obediently, and if I'm in a good mood, I might reward you with a Gold Coin!"

"You still haven't understood the situation! If you dare to shoot me, I guarantee you will die much more miserably than I will. Leave this place, because this is Great Tang Group's territory!" the Ranger squad captain retorted unyieldingly.

"Hahaha!" Housen drew a Shireck flintlock pistol from his waist, cocked the firing mechanism, and aimed at the Ranger squad captain: "I think it's you who hasn't grasped the situation! Fool!"

"Bang!" He pulled the trigger, a bullet pierced through the Ranger squad captain's head, and the body fell straight to the ground, blood staining the sand red.

"It seems this is no longer no man's land... someone has built a town here, which is much more interesting than I thought," Housen stepped into the crowd and said to his lieutenant, "What I've heard is not that a country has been built here, but something called the Great Tang Group... Since it isn't a country, we have the legal high ground."

"Gather the troops immediately, pass through the forest in the middle; we aim to reach by this afternoon..." He pointed towards the bushes, ready to order his troops to ambush the village and catch the opposition off guard.

But before his words hit the ground, a gunshot echoed in the sky. A soldier was caught off guard and fell, his body only a few steps away from Housen.

"Damn it! They've still got people! Find the enemy! Quick!" Using the landing boats as cover, Housen shouted loudly.

After the gunshot dissipated, all returned to silence, save for the sound of the waves and a group of soldiers crouching on the beach looking all around.

"Get the troops to carefully check the bushes! If you encounter anyone, kill on sight!" Housen gestured and shouted to his lieutenant, "If the enemy has escaped, then immediately move out! They will go back and send word. Once those bastards are prepared, they won't be so easy to deal with!"

"And! Have the warships search along the coastline! If there's a small town, it must be on the shore! There should also be a dock! Find it, then block it off!"

"Yes!" The lieutenant immediately agreed, and then a group of soldiers dressed in brown military uniforms rushed into the shrubbery, searching for the enemy.

Soon, seven or eight sail-powered warships set sail and slowly advanced into the distance.

Meanwhile, deep in the jungle, two soldiers, tears in their eyes, pushed aside the branches around them and ran back in the direction they'd come from.

They needed to get back to the central island's watch station and use the telegraph equipment there to send word back to Dragon City of the intrusion on Dragon Island.

"We must avenge the captain!" The man carrying two rifles hissed through clenched teeth, "I'm going to kill them all!"

"If it wasn't vital to deliver the message, I would have stayed and emptied my bullets! Bastards!" The other soldier yelled as he ran, not looking back.

There was no choice, as the captain had left the two of them on watch. If the enemy had ill intentions, they had to get back to the lookout and deliver the message to Dragon City.

The two men ran swiftly until they reached the watch station established in the middle of the island by noon.

One of them immediately mounted the bicycle generator in the room, beginning to vigorously pedal to generate electricity for the telegraph equipment.

The other, clearly trained for this, opened the codebook on the table, referring to the text inside to send the telegraph back to Dragon City.

Minutes later, at Dragon City's anchorage outside the harbor, a plume of faint black smoke started to billow from an ironclad warship's chimney. Another warship that had been patrolling the sea headed straight towards the horizon.

The commander of the Dragon Island garrison, Tagg, upon seeing the telegram, immediately issued orders to assemble the troops.

An infantry battalion of the Dragon Island garrison, along with the artillery, totaling over 1,900 men, took up positions in the defensive perimeter outside of Dragon City and stood by.

"We must leave one warship to protect the harbor! Otherwise, if we miss the enemy's fleet, our warships won't be able to return in time to protect the docks and shipyards," Tagg, after arranging the defense mission, rushed to the city hall and met with a grave-looking Roger.

Then, he conveyed his thoughts to Roger, the person in charge of the island, "Our troops can't launch an immediate attack either, as we don't know from which direction the enemy will approach. If we miss the enemy forces, Dragon City will be in grave danger."

"We can only wait for them to strike first and then engage and annihilate them," Tagg said. "I hear a captain has been sacrificed."

"I've heard as well! They must pay a price for this!" Roger clenched his fist and, grinding his teeth, said to Tagg, "I've already telegraphed for reinforcements back to Brunas. I believe the backup troops will arrive soon."

"Reinforcements?" Tagg didn't think his troops wouldn't be able to hold Dragon City.

"Yes, reinforcements! Two Brunas-class warships will be on their way here immediately. That's what the reply from Brunas said," Roger informed Tagg. "Also, the reply included orders to enter a state of war and activate the first set of wartime communication codes."

"Understood! I'll return to headquarters right now! We'll first secure the factories around Dragon City and then figure out how to find the enemy's main landing force," Tagg nodded, took the first set of communication codes from Roger, and turned to leave.

About an hour later, the ironclad warship billowing with black smoke disappeared into the horizon. Another warship, now fully operational, took its place, patrolling outside the port.