Chapter 1108: Mood

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The Howitzers of the Western Lands Allied Forces let out bursts of thunderous roars.

Spherical, hollow Cannonballs with wooden wedges inserted in the front flew into the sky, traveled over a distance of more than nine hundred meters, and landed on the Trench positions of the Da Song army, exploding one after another.

Without a doubt, compared to the Da Song Howitzers that could fire Cannonballs out to about ten li, the Howitzers of the Western Lands Allied Forces were still far behind.

However, due to the sheer number of their Howitzers, the instantaneous bombardment caused the several rows of Trenches in front of the Da Song Trench fortifications to be covered by explosions.

It was just that the Westerners would not have imagined that, aside from blowing up a patch of dirt, their counterattack did not cause any harm to the Da Song soldiers inside the Trenches.

This was because, after comparing the disparity between the two sides' firearms and Artillery.

Qin Shan and Guan Tong had made a bold decision.

This was to dig inner and outer rings of Trenches.

The outer ring of Trenches was the Trench line close to the Western Lands Allied Forces, with a depth of about nine hundred meters, corresponding to the firing range of the Western Lands Allied Forces' Howitzers.

Beyond that was the inner ring of Trenches.

Between the outer and inner rings of Trenches, there was a blank zone about thirty meters wide, with only twelve longitudinal Trenches dug to connect the inner and outer rings, making it convenient for soldiers in the inner ring to enter the outer ring.

At the same time, Machine Gun Teams were deployed at the junctions of the inner and outer rings.

On ordinary days, in order to mislead the Western Lands Allied Forces, the outer ring was also defended by Da Song soldiers.

But today, before the Da Song army launched its bombardment, the Da Song soldiers guarding the outer ring had already withdrawn into the inner ring.

Therefore, the Western Lands Allied Forces were truly firing into thin air right now.

However, even if the Western Lands Allied Forces realized this and dispatched soldiers to occupy the outer ring, they were not worried at all.

Because the Trenches in the outer ring were wide and shallow; as long as the Western Lands Allied Forces entered, they would suffer bombardment.

Furthermore, when the soldiers in the outer ring withdrew, they had also buried Landmines within the Trenches and left markers.

Even if they stepped on all the Landmines, the soldiers in the inner ring could quickly enter the outer ring to counterattack.

Moreover, since they had previously captured the high ground on both sides of the battlefield, they had set up Artillery and Machine Guns.

Supplemented by the flexibility of the Qin-series Rifles and the powerful lethality of the Machine Guns, the outer ring would only be a graveyard for the Western soldiers.

Of course, Qin Shan and Guan Tong believed even more that the Western Lands Allied Forces would not take the initiative to attack.

The setting of the inner and outer rings was mainly to expose the enemy's Artillery positions.

After suffering losses at the hands of the Da Song army, the Western Lands had also learned to be clever.

The placement of their Artillery was more concealed, with many pieces of Artillery covered in hay and layered with mud.

If the enemy did not fire, it was difficult to discover the locations of their Artillery.

"Hehe, now a good number of their Howitzer positions have been exposed." Looking at the outer ring of Trenches covered by artillery fire, Guan Tong laughed twice.

At this moment, his mood was very relaxed, because the next few days would be an exchange of artillery fire.

Before destroying the majority of the Western Lands Allied Forces' Artillery, they were not prepared to launch a charge.

There was no need for that.

After all, due to the range advantage of their Artillery, they could hit the enemy, but the enemy could not hit them.

Since there was an advantage to be had, naturally it had to be taken to the fullest.

Qin Shan nodded upon hearing this, expressing agreement with Guan Tong's assessment.

Then, the two of them simply crossed their arms and watched the battlefield.

At the same time.

In front of the field command tent behind the Trench fortifications of the Western Lands Allied Forces, Hariman and Wesley were both holding Monoculars, watching the area covered by the Da Song army's artillery fire.

Unlike the relaxed state of Qin Shan and Guan Tong, both of them had grave expressions.

After the joint exercises of the various nations in Calcutta concluded, they had led the Coalition soldiers to the front line.

During this period, in addition to focusing their defense on the Trench fortifications at the border between Tianzhu and Piaoman.

They had selected three strategic locations that were easy to defend and difficult to attack along the route to Calcutta, and had set up three more lines of fortifications.

Regarding these three lines of fortifications, neither Hariman nor Wesley hoped to use them; they hoped even more to end the war right here.

"Wesley, I am starting to believe you; I fear this will be a difficult war." Lowering his Monocular, Hariman was filled with worry.

The sporadic skirmishes during this period were not enough for him to feel the overall strength of the Da Song army.

But the sight of a thousand guns firing at once right now made it impossible for him to deceive himself.

Standing in front of the tent, he could faintly see the positions of the Da Song army's Artillerymen.

They had brazenly placed their Artillery on open ground far away, without any attempt to conceal their positions.

Normally, when two armies engaged in battle, both would hide their respective Artillery positions in order to preserve their Artillery as much as possible during the artillery duel.

Therefore, the Da Song army doing this was a naked mockery of them.

Because they were unable to pose any threat to the Da Song army's Artillery.

"Thank you; this is only the beginning, and you will have a deeper experience later on." Wesley said "thank you," but there was no gratitude in his tone at all; it sounded more like mockery.

The gentlemen of the parliament believed that it was his incompetence that caused the failure of the war in Dongtu.

Now, Hariman could testify for him.

However, although dissatisfied with the parliament, Wesley still did not want this war to end in a crushing defeat.

After thinking for a moment, he reminded Hariman, "Do not expose the positions of all your Artillery; they will be destroyed by the Da Song army very quickly."

"I have noticed; I do not need you to remind me." Hariman froze for a moment, then used annoyance to cover up his oversight.

Just as Wesley had said, after they counterattacked, their Artillery seemed to have been targeted.

Howitzers were continuously being destroyed by the enemy's direct-fire Artillery.

"A bunch of bastards, let's see how long they can keep shelling." Hariman cursed again.

Then he immediately sent someone to inquire with the frontline commanders to understand the casualties from the bombardment.

Upon learning that the casualties from the bombardment were thirty percent lower than at Malacca, his mood worsened even further.

Clearly, the trenches they had improved were effective, but the effect was not very significant.

This was because the conical cannonballs of the Great Song army could hold more gunpowder, making them extremely powerful.

Many soldiers were not killed by direct explosions, but were instead killed by the shockwaves.

These soldiers might have had no external wounds, yet when they were discovered, they had died with blood flowing from their seven orifices.

"Damn it," Hariman cursed again.

For years, the army of Britain had run rampant across the world; they were the only ones who used guns and cannons to bully others, so when had they ever been bullied by others using guns and cannons?

This reversal of the strong and the weak made it impossible for Hariman to accept it psychologically.

Therefore, like many generals from the Western Lands.

He was currently both frustrated and, due to his past arrogance, still believed they could defeat the Great Song army.

It was also this conviction that made them willing to endure casualties at this moment, waiting for the hand-to-hand combat between the two sides' soldiers after the bombardment.

Their soldiers were numerous and equipped with the most advanced rifled muskets, which had already narrowed the gap with the Great Song soldiers.

They had reinstated grenadiers, who could contend with the hand grenades of the Great Song army.

They also had indigenous troops provided by the princely states of Tianzhu to serve as cannon fodder.

Although they were at a disadvantage, they also had advantages.

Who would lose? Who would win?

It was not yet certain!

Thinking this, Hariman's mood improved quite a bit.

Then he looked up and saw something seemingly flying up on the opposite side.