Chapter 705: Disdain

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Twelve field artillery pieces continuously fired grape shot at the Dongying soldiers.

Due to the switch to yellow gunpowder, the range and power of the field artillery were improved.

Previously, when field artillery fired grape shot, they could only kill enemies within four hundred meters.

But now, they were able to fire grape shot when the enemy was six hundred meters away.

Moreover, because the artillerymen were positioned on the left and right flanks, their field of vision was very wide, and the flight path of the cannonballs had no obstacles, allowing them to strike any position of the Dongying Army.

Under the bombardment of the cannonballs, the Dongying soldiers in the front row kept falling.

Almost every round of grape shot killed a small patch of Dongying soldiers.

However, the Dongying soldiers were still advancing, and the gaps in the front line were filled by the Dongying soldiers behind them.

Since the two sides were five hundred meters apart, the movement of the line had to be done at a walking pace to prevent chaos.

During the one hundred and fifty-meter advance, the Dongying Army was constantly subjected to artillery attacks.

When the distance between the two sides was only two hundred meters, more than six hundred Dongying soldier casualties had been left along the path.

At this moment, the marine soldiers all stopped and raised the rifled muskets in their hands.

Meanwhile, the Dongying soldiers were still advancing, attempting to get within one hundred and thirty meters to fire.

"Fire!"

One thousand five hundred marine soldiers, in groups of five hundred per horizontal line, formed three large horizontal formations, corresponding exactly to the length of the Dongying line.

Just by doing this, they did not have a reserve force left like the Dongying Army.

However, clearly, they did not need one either.

"Bang, bang, bang..." The general's order was issued.

The rifled muskets lit up with a flash of fire, and the bullets pierced the air, shooting toward the Dongying soldiers opposite.

In an instant, more than three hundred Dongying soldiers fell like wheat blown by a gale.

Then, the marine soldiers quickly fired a second round, and a third round.

Within a mere thirty seconds, over a thousand Dongying soldiers fell under the muzzles of the marines.

At this time, the field artillery attacks were still continuing.

Cannonball after cannonball landed, and screams could be heard from the Dongying ranks from time to time.

Jiugui Jing was located in the middle of the formation.

Sitting on a short-legged horse, he could observe the situation on the battlefield.

Seeing the heavy casualties among the first two rows of Dongying soldiers, his heart tightened.

The firearms of the Yan Wang soldiers not only had a long range but also seemed very accurate; this was something their own firearms could not achieve.

Even within one hundred and thirty meters, a single round of their fire could only kill or injure twenty to thirty percent of the opposing soldiers.

Yet the opponent was able to kill sixty percent of the Dongying soldiers in one go at a distance of two hundred meters.

Seeing this scene, his heart sank.

His confidence in victory began to waver.

But thinking that this battle concerned the honor of the Jiugui Family, and on this isolated island of Ryukyu, they had no way to retreat,

he could only choose to continue fighting.

Like him, many Dongying generals were still shouting slogans, ordering the soldiers to move forward.

But fear had already filled their bodies.

The soldiers were even worse off, especially the Dongying soldiers in the front row, whose clothes were stained with blood—the blood of the soldiers who had just been shot.

Before setting out, they were high in spirits, but the opponent's artillery and three rounds of fire made them realize that this battle was no different from a massacre.

They had not even touched the enemy, yet they had already suffered over two thousand casualties.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Another round of gunfire rang out.

The advancing Dongying soldiers fell in another row, followed by a second and third round of fire.

With another thousand or so casualties, the Dongying soldiers still did not stop; soldiers from the reserve force replenished the front line and continued to advance.

Jiugui Jing only wanted to get within one hundred and thirty meters to fire at the opponent.

In that way, relying on their numbers, even if they suffered heavy losses, they could still win the victory.

But just like when dealing with the opponent's scattered soldiers earlier, these Yanzhou soldiers would retreat about five meters after firing from the front row.

This meant that they were advancing while the opponent was retreating in an orderly fashion.

The distance between the two sides was always maintained outside the range of their flintlocks.

Round after round of fire.

The corpses of Dongying soldiers paved the road they had traveled.

At the same time, the skirmishers were not idle either, constantly shooting Dongying soldiers from the flanks.

When only two thousand or so Dongying soldiers remained, Jiugui Jing, hiding in the middle of the army, appeared very conspicuous.

He immediately attracted the attention of the artillerymen and the skirmishers.

The artillerymen loaded grape shot and aimed the muzzles at Jiugui Jing.

The skirmishers also aimed at him as he rode on his short-legged horse.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

"Bang, bang, bang..." The sounds of cannons and guns rang out simultaneously.

Before Jiugui Jing, who was struggling to maintain the line formation, could react, he was sent flying backward.

A round of grape shot struck his chest; his sternum shattered, and his lungs were nearly pierced through.

Gazing at the blue sky above, he kept spitting out blood.

"General!" Two Dongying generals lunged toward Jiugui Jing, their eyes bloodshot.

"Avenge me! Kill every Song person!" Jiugui Jing gripped the hands of the two generals tightly.

With his eyes wide open in rage, his head tilted to the side.

Seeing that Jiugui Jing had stopped breathing, the two generals raised their heads, drew the Japanese Swords at their waists, and shouted, "They killed the General, avenge the General!"

At this moment, they no longer cared about any line formation and ordered the remaining Dongying soldiers to launch a charge.

Some Dongying soldiers were extremely terrified and stood in place, refusing to move forward.

The Dongying general did not hesitate to slash his Japanese Sword at their necks; a flash of the blade passed, and a head fell to the ground.

"This is the fate of a coward." The Dongying general picked up the soldier's head and threw it into the air, "Deserters will be executed without mercy."

The Dongying soldiers preparing to flee saw this and were so frightened that they took a step back, having no choice but to scream and charge toward the Yanzhou soldiers.

But their charge was destined to be futile.

Each Marine carried sixty Bullets; their ammunition was sufficient to cope with a high-intensity war.

Aiming at the charging Dongying soldiers, they pulled the Triggers one after another.

"Bang, bang, bang..." Another batch of Dongying soldiers fell.

On the battlefield, the dense mass of Dongying soldiers began to appear sparse.

After this round of Three-Stage Shooting, the Dongying Army, with only a thousand or so men left, finally could no longer endure it.

Ignoring the slashing and killing by the Dongying generals, they fled desperately to the south.

Seeing this, Pan Zhang ordered the Marines to press forward in full force.

"Kono yarō!" As the Marines marched forward, an injured Dongying soldier lying on the ground suddenly crawled up with a ferocious expression, lunging at a Marine, the Dagger in his hand about to stab into the soldier's chest.

"Puchi!" The sound of a blade entering flesh rang out.

The Marine performed a parry and thrust, stabbing into the Dongying soldier's heart.

"Advance to the Pier!" The entire battlefield returned to calm, and Pan Zhang gave the order.

Half an hour later, they arrived near the Pier.

After reconnaissance, Pan Zhang ordered a direct attack on the Fort.

Because the Artillery of the Fort faced the sea and the Artillery were heavy and cumbersome, they could not be turned.

They flanked and attacked from the rear, and the Dongying soldiers at the Fort were completely unable to fight back.

However, the Dongying Army they had routed was clearly not all the Dongying soldiers on Zhongdao.

A Dongying Army of four thousand men appeared on their way to the Fort, blocking them from seizing the Fort.

It was just that eight thousand Dongying soldiers were not their match, and these four thousand men were merely a piecemeal tactic.

In less than half an hour, they routed this Dongying Army and continued to advance toward the Fort.