Chapter 89: Indiscriminate Saturation Fire Coverage

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The dense howling sliced the night sky. The first rocket landed first, and the 280‑mm rocket detonated the instant it touched the ground. Its 112‑kilogram high‑explosive warhead released devastating energy in an instant.

Boom!

A massive fireball shot upward, its orange‑red blaze lighting a radius of several hundred meters like daylight. The shockwave radiated from the blast center, lifting sand and stone from the ground as if by an invisible giant hand, forming a deadly shrapnel storm.

Before the 9th Division's soldiers could react, more rockets rained down like raindrops.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The continuous explosions intertwined, sounding as if heaven and earth were splitting. Each rocket's blast gouged a crater over ten meters across, hurling soil and stone upward, only to be caught again by the next shockwave.

"Retreat! Hurry—" a Japanese officer's shout was cut short as a chunk of concrete, lifted by the explosion, smashed his waist cleanly.

The armored vehicle was flipped by the blast, its tracks snapped, the steel plates shattered. The soldiers inside hadn't time to climb out when another rocket struck nearby, and the massive shockwave tossed the overturned vehicle into the air like a toy.

"Baka! What kind of weapon is this?" Xiaoye Zuozuo clung tightly to the command vehicle's handrail, but the violent explosion made the whole vehicle shudder.

Boom—

A rocket detonated less than twenty meters from the command vehicle. The shockwave flipped the vehicle, sending its communications gear, maps and documents swirling into the air. Xiaoye Zuozuo felt as if struck by a giant hammer; darkness flooded his vision as blood poured from his ears.

"Contact... contact the Artillery Regiment!" he struggled to rise, only to find the communications equipment already destroyed by the blast.

The entire battlefield had become a furnace. Rocket explosions rose and fell, weaving a massive firepower net. The 9th Division's formations were torn to pieces, and the soldiers fled in all directions, finding nowhere to hide.

A 75‑mm Field Artillery piece hadn't even fired when a rocket struck it directly. The barrel and carriage were blown to fragments, and the gunner's severed limbs littered the ground.

"Retreat! All troops retreat!" someone shouted, but the voice was faint amid the relentless explosions.

The ground trembled under the nonstop bombardment; some trees were ripped from their roots, and the road was riddled with massive craters. Thick smoke swirled above the battlefield, and the firelight reddened half the sky.

This is the power of the Leader's Staff, the first strike of the Future Steel Torrent. Under such fire coverage, the 9th Division's proud Heavy Artillery Regiment had no chance to return fire.

When the first volley of rockets ended, the battlefield was unrecognizable.

The official road was riddled with pits, each crater over ten meters wide merging into a field like the Moon's ringed craters. Cracks spread like spiderwebs, tearing the solid pavement into fragments.

Roadside trees were either blown apart or uprooted, some charred black by the heat. Scattered branches and broken steel shards stuck in the ground, resembling a snarling thicket of spikes.

The 9th Division's heavy equipment suffered catastrophic losses.

A 95‑type Light Tank was blown to pieces, its turret hurled dozens of meters away and its tracks snapped into sections. Dark red fluid seeped from the cockpit, a mix of fuel and oil, spilling onto the ground.

More armored and transport vehicles were flipped at the roadside, some even piled together into twisted metal wreckage. Their hulls were riddled with dense shrapnel holes, as if a gigantic beast had chewed them.

The Heavy Artillery Regiment's prized 150‑mm mm Howitzer became a heap of scrap. Its barrel was bent, the carriage broken, and unfired shells littered the area. The gunner's corpse was blown to pieces, limbs mingling with mud and metal shards beyond recognition.

The surviving soldiers fared no better.

Some were hurled by the shockwave and lay unconscious on the ground. Others were riddled with shrapnel, writhing in pain. More had their organs ruptured by the blast wave, blood spilling from mouth and nose, making even breathing difficult.

The command system was completely crippled.

Communications gear was destroyed, so orders could not be transmitted. The surviving officers lost contact and could only retreat with their remnants, yet none knew where to go, surrounded by the aura of death.

Xiaoye Zuozuo crawled out of the overturned command vehicle, his legs trembling as he surveyed the scene.

Blood still dripped from his ears, but he could hear nothing. The sight reminded him of hell: fire everywhere, thick smoke obscuring the moon, the air filled with gunpowder and the smell of blood.

"Assemble! Everyone move toward me!" Xiaoye Zuozuo shouted hoarsely, but the ringing from the explosions made his own voice indistinct.

Chaos reigned all around.

Some soldiers curled in craters, trembling; others frantically searched the ruins for cover; more lost their minds and fled in opposite directions.

"Baka! Stop right there!" an officer drew his command sword, trying to halt the fleeing troops. No one listened; some even shoved him aside and kept running.

"Telegram! Send a telegram to the Shantian Regiment quickly!" Xiaoye Zuozuo grabbed a signalman's collar.

"Report... report to the Division Commander," the signalman said, his face ashen. "The telegram machine was destroyed, the telephone lines blown apart..."

Boom!

Another rocket exploded nearby, its blast wave flipping both men onto the ground. Shrapnel struck the signalman's back, killing him instantly.

"Colonel Jingshang! Where is Colonel Jingshang?" Xiaoye Zuozuo rose, scanning the area, but could not find his chief of staff.

A lieutenant staggered over: "Report... report to the Division Commander, Colonel Jingshang was just... blown up dead..."

Xiaoye Zuozuo felt a wave of dizziness. His command system had been shattered in minutes, even basic communications were unreliable.

"Messengers! Send messengers to contact each regiment!" he shouted hysterically, but the messengers were either dead or had already fled.

The signal flag bearer tried to signal a retreat, but amid the sky‑filled fire and thick smoke, who could discern the flag's meaning?

Just as the bugler was about to sound the retreat call, a rocket's shockwave hurled him aloft. The silver‑shining bugle traced an arc in the air before plunging into the flames.

"Heavy Artillery Regiment! Let the Heavy Artillery strike back!" he continued to shout.

"Division Commander! All the heavy guns are gone!" a blood‑soaked artillery officer ran up, "The ammunition carrier was destroyed, the gun positions also..."

Before he could finish, the third volley of rockets arrived.

"Lie down! Everyone lie down!" Xiaoye Zuozuo instinctively threw himself to the ground.

But it was too late. Some soldiers hadn't found cover before the explosion flung them up. Others were turned into shrapnel sieves, and some had their organs shattered by the shockwave.

"Amaterasu..." a young soldier slumped on the ground, his gaze vacant, "This is a demon... this is a demon's weapon..."

More soldiers began to break. They tossed their rifles, discarded gear, scrambling like headless flies. Some even knelt, begging for mercy, though no enemy could be seen around them.

"Hold! Anyone who dares retreat will be shot on the spot!" Xiaoye Zuozuo drew his pistol, but his threat had lost its effect.

Under such firepower, military discipline and rank structure became meaningless. The instinct to survive overrode everything, and even the Imperial Army, famed for its strict discipline, collapsed at that moment.