Chapter 115: Special Weapon

After the Divine Machine Battalion's round of shelling ended, the entire battlefield became quiet again, which gave the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion a headache; they did not know how this battle should be fought.

Many soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion had been in the army for over a dozen years, yet they had never fought such a frustrating battle.

The Shenwu Great General Cannon had a long range and greater power than the enemy's Elm Cannon, but in this battle, it had not been able to unleash the power of the Shenwu Great General Cannon at all.

Zhang Chao had keen eyes and could see that the group of rebels was standing in trenches over a meter wide; after firing a shot, they would shrink back down.

Even though the Divine Machine Battalion's shells landed on the rebels' positions shortly after, it seemed to have caused no casualties among the rebels; it was obvious that there must be protective mechanisms inside those trenches.

The rebels were hiding in the trenches, and there were crisscrossing trenches all over the battlefield; many places were covered with boards and camouflaged, so one would have no idea where those hidden trenches led without getting close.

The rebels could constantly change positions through the trenches, and if the Divine Machine Battalion dared to approach, they would be met with shells fired from unknown locations.

The battle had now reached a stalemate.

The Elm Cannons used by Meng Yifan's soldiers had a short range; if the enemy did not approach, the soldiers hiding in the trenches could not hit them.

And the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion, not having figured out where the enemy was hiding, did not dare to approach the trenches easily.

Meng Yifan still had some Congreve Rockets, which had a long range and could hit the Divine Machine Battalion's positions, but Congreve Rockets were difficult to produce and the supply was insufficient, so Meng Yifan did not dare to waste them recklessly and could only save them for a critical moment.

The two sides were deadlocked, and the battlefield fell into an eerie silence; without realizing it, an hour passed.

"Lord Zhang, why don't I go to the front to scout?" Wang Zhanbiao said. During this time, he had taken the Antidote Pill, Qi Replenishing Pill, and Healing Pill, and Zhang Chao had also channeled his energy to help him heal; Wang Zhanbiao had basically recovered and could fight again.

Zhang Chao shook his head and said, "The rebels have a type of special Multi-tube Rocket Launcher that is very powerful and also equipped with poison gas shells. It is dangerous for you to rush over; you might just get blown up by the rebels."

"Then what should we do? We can't just keep wasting time here," Wang Zhanbiao said with a worried face, looking at the trenches in front of him, not knowing what to do.

Suddenly, Wang Zhanbiao had a flash of inspiration and thought of a method, saying, "Lord Zhang, the rebels can dig trenches; why can't we do the same?"

"Dig trenches? Earthwork advancement?" Zhang Chao paused, thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "The rebels' Elm Cannons are lightweight and can be carried while running, making them very flexible in the trenches. Our Shenwu Great General Cannon is heavy and inconvenient to transport; it simply cannot be deployed in narrow trenches."

Wang Zhanbiao sighed; this wouldn't work, and that wouldn't work—could it be that they were just going to waste time like this?

"The rebels think that by hiding in the trenches, they can be perfectly safe. Hmph! Let them taste the power of our secret weapon," Zhang Chao said through gritted teeth.

The Divine Machine Battalion had brought a special weapon manufactured by the Immortal Masters of the Imperial Board of Astronomy when they set out to suppress the rebellion this time.

This weapon was extremely precious, and each Thousand-man Unit of the Divine Machine Battalion was only allocated one; it was the trump card of the Divine Machine Battalion. It was originally planned to be used against the Demon Race, but now Zhang Chao decided to use it against the rebels in Luolong County.

Zhang Chao took a heavy brass box down from the supply wagon and used the key he kept on his person to open this large box, inside of which lay a very special shell.

This shell was covered in dense, blood-red runes that looked like blood vessels, and eerie red light flowed within them, making it look very mysterious.

If one listened carefully, one could even hear a thumping heartbeat from inside the shell, as if some terrifying demon were sealed within it.

"The Immortal Masters of the Imperial Board of Astronomy are indeed unfathomable to be able to create such a miraculous shell," Wang Zhanbiao exclaimed.

Zhang Chao had heard the Prefect say that these special shells were refined by the Immortal Masters using the Demon Cores, Blood Essence, and Demon Souls of Fire Element Demon Beasts, and their power was astonishing.

If it weren't for the heavy casualties of the Divine Machine Battalion and having no way to deal with the rebels hiding in the trenches, Zhang Chao would really not have been willing to use this special shell against the rebels.

Zhang Chao moved a bronze cannon engraved with runes down from the supply wagon, stuffed this special shell into it, and then fired it toward the trenches opposite.

"Whoosh!" After this shell, the size of a human head, flew out of the cannon barrel, it grew in the wind, and by the time it flew near the trenches, it had already become a red sphere the size of a millstone.

"Bang!" The red sphere in the sky was still growing, and it seemed as if many living things were scurrying inside, making the surface of the red sphere uneven; they seemed to want to escape from within the red sphere, appearing very eerie.

"What the hell is this?" Meng Yifan was shocked; he found that there were too many strange and bizarre things in the world of the Great Wu Heavenly Dynasty.

Meng Yifan was shouldering a Congreve Rocket Launcher, hesitating whether to blow up the red sphere in mid-air.

Suddenly, the red sphere burst open with a bang, and dozens of blood-red things flew out, growing constantly; by the time they landed on the ground, they had already grown into eerie creatures the size of a village dog.

"Damn! What is this thing?" Meng Yifan widened his eyes, looking at those blood-red things in disbelief.

They had thin, pointed heads, blood-red eyes, and sharp fangs, and they were on all fours; from their appearance, they were somewhat similar to oversized rats.

But these things had no skin, and their muscles and blood vessels were exposed, looking ferocious and terrifying, just like demons that had crawled out of hell.

"Roar! Roar!" The blood-red giant rats let out a series of hisses, then their noses twitched, and they dove into the trenches as fast as lightning.

Meng Yifan's soldiers were all hiding in Cat-Ear Holes with cover boards blocking the outside, but these blood-red giant rats had very sharp claws and teeth; in a few moments, they tore through the thick cover boards and were crazily biting the soldiers inside.

"Ah! Ah!" A short soldier hadn't even reacted before his carotid artery was bitten through by a giant rat, and blood sprayed out.

The soldier stretched out his hands, using his final strength to try to pull the giant rat away from his neck, but the giant rat was very strong, and an ordinary soldier simply could not pull it off; before long, his entire neck was bitten through by the giant rat.

The soldier's eyes still held a lingering attachment to life, his white, broken neck bones exposed to the air, and blood continuously flowing from his chest cavity; the scene was extremely bloody and terrifying.

The giant rats ate the soldiers' flesh and drank their blood, and red light flickered on their bodies; they actually grew a bit larger, and their claws and teeth became even sharper.

A tall soldier was a First Grade Middle Stage Martial Artist; he was agile, bold, and meticulous. Seeing the blood-red giant rat attack, the soldier performed a thrust, using the Stabbing Blade of his Bird Gun to pierce into the body of the blood-red giant rat.

"Squeak! Squeak!" The giant rat let out a shrill, miserable cry, and then red light suddenly shone on its body; like an inflated balloon, its body expanded by a large margin, and then with a boom, it exploded violently.

That tall soldier was blown to smithereens by this sudden explosion.