Chapter 788: God of War

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"Your Highness, the pier has been taken, and the marines are advancing toward Lujiao City."

The sound of gunfire and artillery in the distance subsided for a moment, and a marine soldier came to report to Zhao Xu.

Zhao Xu nodded, his heart remaining calm and unruffled.

To him, this battle should be easily won.

"The fleet can go and dock at the pier now," Zhou Yi said at this moment.

He then issued an order, and the warships on the sea turned their bows and headed north.

Following this, the two of them arrived at Lujiao City under the escort of soldiers.

Unlike the Lengbao of Malka City, Lujiao City was a traditional Dasong city.

It is no longer known when this city was built, but it proves that Yizhou has belonged to the Central Plains dynasty since ancient times.

"Tonight, this King will spend the night in this Lujiao City." Looking at the city before him, Zhao Xu raised his head to glance at the sun, which had already passed its zenith.

There were two hours left until dark, and he wanted Pan Zhang to take Lujiao City within two hours.

This time, the marines were carrying a sufficient quantity of grenades, as well as rifled cannons and howitzers.

Yet the Shizu Army held only smoothbore flintlocks comparable to those of Dongying, and artillery with a maximum range of only eight hundred meters.

Although Britain had recently transported quite a few firearms and artillery to Wu through Jiaozhi, which was controlled by the Frank,

Wu would certainly not use these firearms and artillery in Yizhou.

After all, to Wu, Yizhou was isolated overseas, and the chances of holding it were very slim.

It was not worth wasting the firearms and artillery given by Britain here.

"Yes, Your Highness," Pan Zhang said.

Zhou Yi complained, "The Westerners taught them a few lousy tricks, and they really treat them like treasures; like rats, digging holes every single day."

Although he said this, he knew in his heart that while these trenches could not determine the final outcome of the battle, they could still delay the time of their advance.

As they were speaking, Pan Zhang had already delivered the order to attack to the artillerymen.

"Boom, boom, boom..." A burst of roaring sounds,

The howitzers threw explosive shells toward the trenches in front of Lujiao City.

At the same time, the rifled cannons adjusted their muzzles, aiming at the city walls, bombarding the artillery positions on the walls to suppress the enemy's artillery.

Inside the first row of trenches, the Wu soldiers were squatting against the trench walls.

Cannonballs exploded continuously above their heads, the powerful force even making the earth tremble.

The huge noise forced them to cover their ears to avoid having their eardrums shattered.

"Boom!" At this moment, a cannonball happened to land in the middle of the first row of trenches.

Flame shot into the sky, kicking up several meters of dust, the dust mixed with shattered clothing, blood, and severed limbs.

The soldiers at the center of the explosion did not even have time to scream before they died miserably on the spot, while nearby soldiers were blown away a distance by the shockwave.

Some were stunned, others were hit by shrapnel, and they kept letting out shrill screams.

Seeing this scene, the Wu soldiers in the trenches turned pale, and some were so scared they urinated.

Every person's face was filled with panic.

They were all new recruits; after the war in Gaoli, the entire state of Wu had gone mad, especially the local Rich Clans.

Rumor had it that Yan Wang was about to lead his army south and strike.

Thereafter, Emperor Liang Feng ordered the recruitment of soldiers, and Rich Clan officials responded one after another.

Not only did they send their own family members to command private troops to join the Wu army, but they also forcibly conscripted many able-bodied men into the army...

The Imperial Court of Wu even devolved the methods of forging firearms and artillery to the Rich Clans, ordering them to forge firearms and artillery to supply the army.

In a short three months, the Wu army increased from the original four hundred thousand to one million.

Every important city also stored up grain and grass, and dug trench fortifications.

There was a strong sense of gathering the strength of Jiangnan to fight Yan Wang to the death.

They were sent to Yizhou to guard Lujiao City at exactly this time.

"Don't be afraid, the General said they only have a few thousand men, while we have thirty thousand. Our Wu is the wealthiest in the world, with a million soldiers and armor, and we have the support of the British; we will definitely defeat Yan Wang."

Just as the soldiers were terrified out of their wits, a general shouted to boost their morale.

In a corner, three soldiers looked at the general, and one muttered, "Bullshit. If you want to die, go die yourself. When Yan Wang comes, he will only skin you Rich Clans and Shizu; he won't touch us commoners at all."

"Exactly. When they oppress us, they are like yakshas, and now they want us to risk our lives. Is this a battle that humans can fight? The Yan King Army is too powerful; what they are throwing is even more terrifying than lightning," another said.

"Shh, keep your voice down. If the Rich Clan's main family troops hear you, just wait to lose your head," one soldier said.

In the current Wu army, the generals were all filled by Rich Clan and Shizu officers.

This general came from a large Rich Clan in Fuyang County, Zhezhou, surnamed Liu, and was the second son of the Head of the Family of the Liu clan.

He led three thousand private troops to Lincheng, and the Imperial Court gave him the title of Colonel.

He then gave the official positions of Head of Squad, Platoon Leader, Squad Leader, and Team Leader to Liu family members or Liu family relatives.

At the same time, he ordered soldiers of the same surname in the army to keep an eye on soldiers like them who came from ordinary backgrounds.

These generals and soldiers who were either Liu family members or Liu family relatives, or of the same surname, naturally belonged to the same faction in the army.

Not only did they boss around those who were not of the Liu family on a daily basis, but they also made others do all the hard and tiring work.

But because they were powerful, many soldiers dared to be angry but dared not speak, and could only comply.

"It's death either way, so why fear him? Let's just stay honestly in this corner. When Yan Wang's soldiers attack, we will surrender."

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One soldier said, "The deserters who came from Jiangbei said that Yan Wang does not kill prisoners and even gives them travel expenses to go home."

The other two heard this and nodded.

Having long resided in Jiangnan, although they were strangers to this Yan Wang and even the Imperial Court, the Rich Clan of Jiangnan did not treat them well either.

Therefore, they did not care at all who sat upon the throne; they only wanted to save their lives.

However, as one Cannonball after another landed in the Trench, the casualties grew more and more numerous.

Not only the ordinary soldiers, but even the Rich Clan soldiers with firm wills to resist were gradually unable to hold on.

In every Trench, there was blood, severed limbs, and mangled corpses everywhere.

Every time a Cannonball whistled over their heads, their hearts would jump into their throats; for them, it was simply like kneeling on an execution ground, waiting for the executioner's blade to fall, which was extremely agonizing and terrifying.

Finally, after the bombardment had continued for two quarter-hours, the Rich Clan soldiers in the fifth row of Trenches were the first to lose their nerve; they climbed out of the Trenches and rushed toward the city gate, pounding on it and begging to be let in.

"They are about to collapse." Zhao Xu had been watching the battlefield, and seeing more and more Wu soldiers surging toward the city gate, he said indifferently...

After entering the age of firearms, just as Napoleon said, artillery is the god of war.

On the battlefield, only artillery can cause massive casualties to the enemy from a long distance.

In the First World War, during the trench stalemate, sixty percent of casualties were caused by artillery.

Therefore, in the development of the Yanzhou Army, he attached great importance to the Artilleryman; whether it was the Prince's Personal Army, the Ningjin Army, or the Qin Army and the Marine Corps, he required the establishment of independent artillery units equipped with various types of Artillery.

Although Trenches have a certain effect in blocking Infantry, the enemy troops in the Trenches also need a very strong will to endure the bombardment of artillery.

The Rich Clan army stationed in Yizhou clearly could not do so.

Pan Zhang naturally also noticed the changes in the situation on the battlefield.

He immediately ordered the Marine Corps soldiers to launch a charge toward the Trenches.

At this moment, he did not order the Artilleryman to cease their attack.

In every war, generals are constantly combining textbooks and summarizing battlefield experience.

In situations where one has also dug Trenches and is close to the opponent's Trenches, one must naturally stop the bombardment before charging.

But now, they had not dug Trenches, but were charging in a long-distance Skirmish Line.

This required artillery to cover the soldiers' charge, suppressing the opponent so they could not lift their heads, and only stopping the bombardment once they were within fifty meters.

Moreover, besides Shrapnel Shell, the Artilleryman also began firing Lime Bomb at this time.

However, the greater purpose of these Lime Bomb was to explode into a cloud of lime powder, which, besides damaging the enemy's eyes, served to obscure the opponent's vision.

"Kill!" The order to charge was given, and the Marine Corps soldiers roared as they rushed toward the Trenches.

Cannonball continued to land on the Trenches.

Most of the soldiers huddled in the Trenches, not daring to straighten their bodies at all.

The Rich Clan generals were in a great panic, and they kept urging their own kinsmen soldiers to counterattack.

Some kinsmen soldiers gritted their teeth and raised their Smoothbore Gun, only to find a vast whiteness in front of them, as if they were in a fog, and they could not see clearly ahead at all.

Pulling the Trigger, they could only fire blindly.

Just then, stick-like objects flew toward them through the white fog.

Before they could react, the sticks landed near them.

"Boom, boom, boom..." Immediately, a series of explosions rang out, and the Rich Clan soldiers who had straightened their bodies suffered heavy casualties.

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