Chapter 166: Kill

“FIRE!” Upon receiving the Chief of Staff’s order, Artillery Commander Weng Tao roared at the top of his lungs. Across the entire artillery unit, every soldier heard their commander’s voice blare through the radios.

“FIRE!”

“Boom!” “Boom!” “Boom!”

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” Almost instantaneously, the four artillery positions behind Hu Hao’s defensive line opened fire simultaneously, sending a barrage of shells screaming toward the river surface.

“Whoosh—” “Whoosh—” The terrifying sound of shells tearing through the air began to echo.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” “Boom! Boom! Boom!” Soon after, massive explosions erupted across the river surface, sending towering columns of water blasting into the sky.

Caught completely off guard by the sudden bombardment, many Allied soldiers were blown off their feet and forced to hit the dirt.

“Brothers, FIRE!” many surviving officers roared.

“KILL THEM!” The surviving soldiers roared back with everything they had. They had held on for four grueling hours against an attack from over 80,000 Allied troops, while they numbered a mere 40,000 without any artillery support. The only things that had kept them going this far were sheer willpower, their absolute trust in Hu Hao, and an ocean of burning hatred.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The massive artillery barrage continued to detonate across the river surface and the opposite bank. Some shells even fell on their own positions, but no one blamed the artillery. The soldiers in the trenches would rather be blown to pieces themselves as long as they could drag the Allied soldiers down to hell with them.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Damn it! How do they still have so much artillery?!” Standing in the rear, Hakes watched the incredibly dense explosions erupting at the front, utterly shocked.

Ren Kefu and Abusai had also shot to their feet, staring at the opposite bank in sheer disbelief. Judging from the direction of the muzzle flashes, these artillery positions were located exactly where Abusai had bombarded previously!

What they couldn’t understand was: how could there still be artillery there? Hadn’t they almost completely destroyed the previous artillery positions?

“Order our artillery to counter-battery immediately! Counter-battery! Order the vanguard to keep charging! They must cross the river! As long as we get enough troops across successfully, it won’t matter how many cannons they have! Also, tell our artillery to hurry up and take out theirs! Destroy them!” Hakes barked out orders frantically.

He never expected that just as they were on the verge of breaching the Eastern Spirit positions, such a massive artillery force would suddenly emerge.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Get down! Hurry, get down!” The officers leading the Allied vanguard also shouted frantically. The falling artillery shells brought their advance to a grinding halt, while simultaneously inflicting even heavier casualties!

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Brothers, wipe out the Allied forces trying to cross! Kill them! They’re finished!” Wu Kexiao roared.

“Kill them!” The soldiers roared in response. At this moment, the Allied forces didn’t even have the mind to shoot back at the trenches; they could only press themselves into the dirt. Meanwhile, Hu Hao’s soldiers aimed their rifles and fired relentlessly at the prone Allied troops.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

“Heavy machine guns, sweep them! Hurry up, sweep the area!” an officer ordered loudly. Soldiers immediately rushed to the heavy machine gun emplacements, grabbed the weapons, and unleashed a torrent of fire across the river.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The artillery barrage continued to extend forward, blowing countless Allied soldiers high into the air.

But what filled the remaining Allied soldiers was sheer terror. They were caught out in the open, facing a barrage of 120mm and 150mm artillery shells from the Eastern Spirit Empire. With shells like that raining down, the probability of being blown to pieces without any cover was astronomically high.

“Artillery! Hu Hao actually still has artillery! Look, Hu Hao still has artillery! Good! Bomb them to hell! Bomb them to hell!” Watching the drone footage, Jiang Kai almost jumped for joy.

He never expected Hu Hao to still have artillery, let alone so much of it! And to unleash it at this critical juncture, bombarding the entire Allied offensive force!

“Commander, they haven’t retreated yet! I estimate the Allied forces will immediately commence counter-battery fire! But we still have a chance! The reinforcements from the 27th Corps will be able to arrive in time! We can still hold the defensive line!” Sun Qinxue shouted, equally elated.

“Haha! A miracle! A miracle! Hu Hao truly gave me a miracle! Excellent!” Jiang Kai laughed uproariously.

He had initially been preparing to order the entire defensive line to retreat. Yet at this very moment, Hu Hao had actually delivered a miracle—the artillery bombardment! The staff officers in the command center excitedly hugged each other; this was an outcome none of them had anticipated.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” The artillery barrage raged on without pause, continuously bombarding the Allied soldiers caught in the open. The Allied troops pressed into the dirt didn’t dare move an inch.

“Boom—” Suddenly, numerous explosions—including massive, thunderous blasts—erupted from the Allied rear as well.

“What’s going on?! There’s fire over there, near Santong County! Can the drone get a closer look?” Jiang Kai immediately noticed the numerous flashes of fire and asked.

“Probably not. Our drones can only film from this side of the river. If they cross over, the Allied forces will shoot them down,” an engineering staff officer replied.

“What exactly is happening? Does anyone know?!” Jiang Kai looked around the command center. How could the staff officers possibly know? They weren’t at the front lines, so there was no way for them to know what was happening behind the Allied lines.

Meanwhile, behind Santong County, Li Jingsong was leading the tank units and the 1st Regiment’s forces in a divided assault against the Allied artillery positions. Air Cavalry units provided cover from above, while simultaneously unleashing rocket barrages upon the enemy artillery positions below.

“What’s happening?! What’s wrong with our artillery positions?!” Hearing the explosions coming from their artillery positions, Hakes immediately demanded an explanation.

“We don’t know yet!” his Chief of Staff quickly replied, picking up a phone to call the artillery positions.

“Report! Our artillery positions are under attack!” a staff officer ran over and shouted.

“I know we’re under attack! I want to know exactly what unit is attacking our artillery positions, how many troops they have, and where the hell they came from?!” Hakes roared.

Ren Kefu and Abusai exchanged a glance, both seeing the worry in each other’s eyes. This feeling was far too familiar. When they had first faced the Allied forces across the river, many inexplicable and unforeseen events had also occurred. And those very events had ultimately inflicted catastrophic casualties on their troops.

“Report! It’s the Eastern Spirit tank units and their Air Cavalry!” the Chief of Staff relayed to Hakes after contacting the front.

“What did you say?! Their tank units?! Where did they get tank units from?! Where did they come from?!” Hakes stared at the Chief of Staff in sheer shock.

“We don’t know! Right now, no one knows where they came from! Our artillery has suffered catastrophic losses, and they are urgently requesting reinforcements!” the Chief of Staff shook his head.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!” In the distance, where their infantry was advancing, the explosions continued unabated. The Eastern Spirit artillery was still raining down destruction, inflicting catastrophic casualties on the Allied forces.

“Damn it! Why hasn’t our artillery fired yet?!” Countless Allied soldiers cursed inwardly as they lay prone on the ground with their hands over their heads. Because they were pinned down amidst continuous nearby explosions, they had no idea that their artillery positions had already been targeted and neutralized by Hu Hao’s forces.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Hurry up and wipe out those artillery units! We have to cut off the Allied retreat! Hurry, brothers! The brothers on our defensive positions suffered catastrophic casualties just to buy us this opportunity! Wipe them out!” Li Jingsong roared into his radio.

“Rat-a-tat-tat!” The armored vehicles that had charged into the artillery positions alongside the tanks immediately opened up with their heavy machine guns, sweeping through the Allied artillerymen.

The Air Cavalry in the sky strafed the ground below. The Allied artillerymen had never imagined that, despite hiding so far in the rear, they would actually be the first to face an attack from the Eastern Spirit ground forces!

“Reinforcements! We need reinforcements! Hurry, we can’t hold on much longer!” an Artillery Regimental Commander shouted over the comms to Command. His unit was suffering catastrophic casualties.

“Boom! Boom! Boom!”

“Damn it! Why is this happening?! Why is this happening?! We were just about to breach their positions! How could something like this happen?!” Hearing the relentless explosions, Hakes cried out in agony. He truly never expected such an unprecedented twist to occur.

“Kill them! Leave no one alive!” Back on the defensive positions, the infantrymen were still gunning down the Allied soldiers lying on the riverbank. They weren’t taking any prisoners tonight.

Even Mo Qin was gripping a rifle and firing at the Allied soldiers on the riverbank. He no longer cared about being ‘cruel’. This war had taught him that survival was truly a luxury. The surviving soldiers were essentially just seeking revenge—revenge for their fallen brothers. Out of the 400-plus men his company had started with, less than 120 remained. The casualties were nearly an even split between dead and wounded.

“Hurry up and kill them! Once we’re done killing, we’re crossing the river! We’re going to completely annihilate the Allied forces!” Wu Kexiao and the other officers moved swiftly through the trenches, shouting at the top of their lungs. They needed the soldiers to know that in a few moments, they would be crossing the river to fight.

“Kill them!” Many soldiers roared in response.

Hu Hao, however, stood in the command center, gazing at the opposite bank. The staff officers had all emerged and stood behind him; even Xiao Quan stood behind him. They could sense the profound sorrow welling up within Hu Hao—sorrow for the soldiers who had sacrificed themselves in this battle.

They all knew that if Hu Hao had sufficient troops, such massive casualties would never have occurred. The thought made their resentment toward the High Command burn even hotter. However, right now, all they could do was stand behind Hu Hao and await his next order.

(End of Chapter)